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| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-14 18:36:30 -0700 |
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| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-14 18:36:30 -0700 |
| commit | cfad50801c30697f87d998640bc77be646c22294 (patch) | |
| tree | 45e5e1084d799631ec74f30394ced64d1fae86db /44166-h | |
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diff --git a/44166-h/44166-h.htm b/44166-h/44166-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..cafb7ed --- /dev/null +++ b/44166-h/44166-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,19420 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=UTF-8" /> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of Life of Abraham Lincoln, Sixteenth President of the United States, by Frank Crosby. + </title> + <link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> + <style type="text/css"> + +body { + margin-left: 40px; + margin-right: 40px; + line-height: 1.2; +} + +h1,h2, h3 { + text-align: center; + clear: both; + margin-top: 2.5em; + margin-bottom: 1em; +} + +h3 {margin-top: 1.5em;} +h2+p {margin-top: 1.5em;} +h2>.subhead {display: block; margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em;} + +.transnote h2 { + margin-top: .5em; 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+ margin-right: -0.2em; +} + +span.locked {white-space:nowrap;} + +@media print, handheld +{ + h1, h2, .newpage {page-break-before: always;} + + p { + margin-top: .5em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .25em; + } + + table {width: 100%;} + + .tdl { + padding-left: .5em; + text-indent: -.5em; + padding-right: .5em; + } + .toc>.tdr {width: 1em; padding-left: 0;} + + blockquote { + margin: 1.5em .5em 1.5em .5em; + line-height: 1.1; + } + + blockquote .hang { + margin: .5em 0 1em 0; + text-align: justify; + padding-left: 1em; + text-indent: -1em; +} + + + .poem { + margin: .5em 0 .5em 2em; + display: block; + } +} + +@media handheld +{ + body {margin: 0;} + + hr { + margin-top: .1em; + margin-bottom: .1em; + visibility: hidden; + color: white; + display: none; + } + + .transnote { + page-break-inside: avoid; + margin-left: 2%; + margin-right: 2%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; + padding: .5em; + } + span.right {padding-left: 2em;} + .covernote {visibility: visible; display: block; text-align: center;} + +} + </style> + </head> +<body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44166 ***</div> + +<div class="transnote covernote">Cover created by Transcriber, using +an illustration from the original book, and placed in the Public Domain.</div> + +<blockquote class="p4"> +<p class="p2 b0">“If this country cannot be saved without giving up the principle of Liberty, I was +about to say I would rather be assassinated on this spot than surrender it.”</p> + +<p class="p0 sigright"> +<i>From Mr. Lincoln’s Speech at Independence Hall, Philadelphia, February 21, 1861.</i><br /> +</p> + +<p class="p2 b0">“I believe this Government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free.”</p> + +<p class="p0 sigright"><i>Springfield, Illinois, June, 1858.</i><br /> +</p> + +<p class="p2 b0">“I am exceedingly anxious that this Union, the Constitution, and the liberties of the +people shall be perpetuated in accordance with the original idea for which the Revolution +was made.”</p> + +<p class="p0 sigright"><i>Trenton, New Jersey, February 21, 1861.</i><br /> +</p> + +<p class="p2 b0">“Having thus chosen our course, without guile and with pure purpose, let us renew +our trust in God, and go forward without fear and with manly hearts.”</p> + +<p class="p0 sigright"><i>Message, July 5, 1861.</i><br /> +</p> + +<p class="p2 b0">“In giving freedom to the slaves, we assure freedom to the free; honorable alike in +what we give and what we preserve.”</p> + +<p class="p0 sigright"><i>Message, December 1, 1862.</i><br /> +</p> + +<p class="p2 b0">“I hope peace will come soon, and come to stay; and so come as to be worth the +keeping in all future time.”</p> + +<p class="p0 sigright"><i>Springfield Letter, August 26, 1863.</i><br /> +</p> + +<p class="p2 b0">“The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here; but it can never +forget what the brave men, living and dead, did here.”</p> + +<p class="p0 sigright"><i>Speech at Gettysburg, November 19, 1863.</i><br /> +</p> + +<p class="p2 b0">“I shall not attempt to retract or modify the Emancipation Proclamation, nor shall I +return to slavery any person who is free by the terms of that proclamation, or by any +of the Acts of Congress.”</p> + +<p class="p0 sigright"><i>Amnesty Proclamation, December 8, 1863.</i><br /> +</p> + +<p class="p2 b0">“I claim not to have controlled events, but confess plainly that events have controlled +me.”</p> + +<p class="p0 sigright"><i>Letter to A. G. Hodges, April 4, 1864.</i><br /> +</p> + +<p class="p2 b0">“With malice towards none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right, as God +gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in.”</p> + +<p class="p0 sigright"><i>Last Inaugural, March 4, 1865.</i><br /> +</p></blockquote> + +<hr /> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 288px;"> +<img src="images/frontis.jpg" width="288" height="400" class="p2" alt="Abraham Lincoln" /> +</div> + +<hr /> + +<h1 class="vspace3"> +LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN,<br /> +<span class="small">SIXTEENTH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES</span>.</h1> + +<p class="small center">CONTAINING</p> + +<p class="p4 center">HIS EARLY HISTORY AND POLITICAL CAREER; TOGETHER<br /> +WITH THE SPEECHES, MESSAGES, PROCLAMATIONS AND<br /> +OTHER OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS ILLUSTRATIVE OF<br /> +HIS EVENTFUL ADMINISTRATION.</p> + +<p class="p4 vspace center"><span class="large">BY FRANK CROSBY,</span><br /> +<span class="smaller">MEMBER OF THE PHILADELPHIA BAR.</span></p> + +<div class="p4 center-container"><div class="poem smaller"> +“<span class="smcap">Let all the ends thou aim’st at be thy country’s,<br /> +Thy God’s and Truth’s; then if thou fall’st<br /> +Thou fall’st a blessed martyr.</span>”<br /> +</div></div> + +<p class="p4 center vspace">NEW YORK<br /> +<span class="larger">INTERNATIONAL BOOK COMPANY</span><br /> +<span class="smaller"><span class="smcap">310–318 Sixth Avenue</span></span><br /> +</p> + +<hr /> + +<p class="p4 vspace3 center"> +DEDICATED<br /> + +<span class="gesperrt">TO THE GOOD AND TRUE<br /> + +OF THE NATION</span><br /> + +REDEEMED​—​REGENERATED​—​DISENTHRALLED.<br /> +</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">7</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="b2"><a name="PREFACE" id="PREFACE">PREFACE.</a></h2> + +<p>An attempt has been made in the following pages to portray +Abraham Lincoln, mainly in his relations to the country at large +during his eventful administration.</p> + +<p>With this view, it has not been deemed necessary to cumber the +work with the minute details of his life prior to that time. This +period has, therefore, been but glanced at, with a care to present +enough to make a connected whole. His Congressional career +and his campaign with Senator Douglas are presented in outline, +yet so, it is believed, that a clear idea of these incidents in his life +can be obtained.</p> + +<p>After the time of his election as President, however, a different +course of treatment has been pursued. Thenceforward, to the close +of his life, especial pains have been taken to present everything +which should show him as he was​—​the Statesman persistent, resolute, +free from boasting or ostentation, destitute of hate, never +exultant, guarded in his prophecies, threatening none at home or +abroad, indulging in no utopian dreams of a blissful future, moving +quietly, calmly, conscientiously, irresistibly on to the end he saw +with clearest vision.</p> + +<p>Yet, even in what is presented as a complete record of his administration, +too much must not be expected. It is impossible, for +example, to thoroughly dissect the events of the great Rebellion in +a work like the present. Nothing of the kind has been attempted. +The prominent features only have been sketched; and that solely +for the purpose of bringing into the distinct foreground him whose +life is under consideration.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">8</a></span> +Various Speeches, Proclamations, and Letters, not vitally +essential to the unity of the main body of the work, yet valuable +as affording illustrations of the man​—​have been collected in the +Appendix.</p> + +<p>Imperfect as this portraiture must necessarily be, there is one +conciliatory thought. The subject needs no embellishment. It +furnishes its own setting. The acts of the man speak for themselves. +Only such an arrangement is needed as shall show the +bearing of each upon the other, the development of each, the processes +of growth.</p> + +<p>Those words of the lamented dead which nestle in our hearts so +tenderly​—​they call for no explanation. Potent, searching, taking +hold of our consciences, they will remain with us while reason lasts.</p> + +<p>Nor will the people’s interest be but for the moment. The baptism +of blood to which the Nation has been called, cannot be forgotten +for generations. And while memories of him abide, there +will inevitably be associated with them the placid, quiet face, not +devoid of mirth​—​its patient, anxious, yet withal hopeful expression​—​the +sure, elastic step​—​the clearly cut, sharply defined speech +of him, who, under Providence, was to lead us through the trial +and anguish of those bitter days to the rest and refreshing of a +peace, whose dawn only, alas! he was to see.</p> + +<p>Though this work may not rise to the height required, it is +hoped that it is not utterly unworthy of the subject. Such as it is​—​a +labor of love​—​it is offered to those who loved and labored with +the patriot and hero, with the earnest desire that it may not be +regarded an unwarrantable intrusion upon ground on which any +might hesitate to venture.</p> + +<p class="p0 sigright"> +F. C.</p> +<p class="p0 in0"> +<i>Philadelphia, June, 1865.</i> +</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">9</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS">CONTENTS</a></h2> + +<table id="toc" class="p1" border="0" summary="Contents"> + + <tr> + <td class="tdc p1 larger" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I.</a></td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">BOYHOOD AND EARLY MANHOOD.</td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Preliminary​—​Birth of Abraham Lincoln​—​Removal from Kentucky​—​At Work​—​Self Education​—​Personal +Characteristics​—​Another Removal​—​Trip to New Orleans​—​Becomes +Clerk​—​Black Hawk War​—​Engages in Politics​—​Successive Elections to the Legislature​—​Anti-Slavery +Protest​—​Commences Practice as a Lawyer​—​Traits of Character​—​Marriage​—​Return +to Politics​—​Election to Congress</td> + + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_13">13</a></td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdc p1 larger" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II.</a></td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">IN CONGRESS AND ON THE STUMP.</td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdl">The Mexican War​—​Internal Improvements​—​Slavery in the District of Columbia​—​Public +Lands​—​Retires to Private Life​—​Kansas-Nebraska Bill​—​Withdraws in Favor of Senator +Trumbull​—​Formation of Republican Party​—​Nominated for U. S. Senator​—​Opening +Speech of Mr. Lincoln​—​Douglas Campaign​—​The Canvass​—​Tribute to the Declaration +of Independence​—​Result of the Contest</td> + + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_19">19</a></td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdc p1 larger" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III.</a></td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">BEFORE THE NATION.</td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Speeches in Ohio​—​Extract from the Cincinnati Speech​—​Visits the East​—​Celebrated +Speech at the Cooper Institute, New York​—​Interesting Incident</td> + + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_34">34</a></td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdc p1 larger" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV.</a></td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">NOMINATED AND ELECTED PRESIDENT.</td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdl">The Republican National Convention​—​Democratic Convention​—​Constitutional Union Convention​—​Ballotings +at Chicago​—​The Result​—​Enthusiastic Reception​—​Visit to Springfield​—​Address +and Letter of Acceptance​—​The Campaign​—​Result of the Election​—​South +Carolina’s Movements​—​Buchanan’s Pusillanimity​—​Secession of States​—​Confederate +Constitution​—​Peace Convention​—​Constitutional Amendments​—​Terms of the +Rebels</td> + + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_60">60</a></td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdc p1 larger" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V.</a></td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">TO WASHINGTON.</td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdl">The Departure​—​Farewell Remarks​—​Speech at Toledo​—​At Indianapolis​—​At Cincinnati​—​At +Columbus​—​At Steubenville​—​At Pittsburgh​—​At Cleveland​—​At Buffalo​—​At Albany​—​At +Poughkeepsie​—​At New York​—​At Trenton​—​At Philadelphia​—​At “Independence +Hall”​—​Flag Raising​—​Speech at Harrisburg​—​Secret Departure for Washington​—​Comments</td> + + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_67">67</a></td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdc p1 larger" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI.</a></td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">THE NEW ADMINISTRATION.</td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Speeches at Washington​—​The Inaugural Address​—​Its Effect​—​The Cabinet​—​Commissioners +from Montgomery​—​Extracts from A. H. Stephens’ Speech​—​Virginia Commissioners​—​Fall +of Fort Sumter</td> + + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_90">90</a></td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdc p1 larger" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII.</a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">10</a></span></td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">PREPARING FOR WAR.</td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Effects of Sumter’s Fall​—​President’s Call for Troops​—​Response in the Loyal States​—​In +the Border States​—​Baltimore Riots​—​Maryland’s Position​—​President’s Letter to +Maryland Authorities​—​Blockade Proclamation​—​Additional Proclamation​—​Comments +Abroad​—​Second Call for Troops​—​Special Order for Florida​—​Military Movements</td> + + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_108">108</a></td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdc p1 larger" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII.</a></td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">THE FIRST SESSION OF CONGRESS.</td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Opening of Congress​—​President’s First Message​—​Its Nature​—​Action of Congress​—​Resolution +Declaring the Object of the War​—​Bull Run​—​Its Effect</td> + + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_117">117</a></td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdc p1 larger" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX.</a></td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">CLOSE OF 1861.</td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Election of the Rebels​—​Davis’ Boast​—​McClellan appointed Commander of Potomac Army​—​Proclamation +of a National Fast​—​Intercourse with Rebels Forbidden​—​Fugitive Slaves​—​Gen. +Butler’s Views​—​Gen. McClellan’s Letter from Secretary Cameron​—​Act of August +6th, 1861​—​Gen. Fremont’s Order​—​Letter of the President Modifying the Same​—​Instructions +to Gen. Sherman​—​Ball’s Bluff​—​Gen. Scott’s Retirement​—​Army of the Potomac</td> + + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_137">137</a></td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdc p1 larger" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X.</a></td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">THE CONGRESS OF 1861–62.</td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdl">The Military Situation​—​Seizure of Mason and Slidell​—​Opposition to the Administration​—​President’s +Message​—​Financial Legislation​—​Committee on the Conduct of the War​—​Confiscation +Bill</td> + + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_148">148</a></td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdc p1 larger" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI.</a></td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">THE SLAVERY QUESTION.</td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Situation of the President​—​His Policy​—​Gradual Emancipation​—​Message​—​Abolition of +Slavery in the District of Columbia​—​Repudiation of Gen. Hunter’s Emancipation Order​—​Conference +with Congressmen from the Border Slave States​—​Address to the Same​—​Military +Order​—​Proclamation under the Conscription Act</td> + + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_171">171</a></td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdc p1 larger" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII.</a></td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">THE PENINSULAR CAMPAIGN.</td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdl">President’s War Order​—​Reason for the Same​—​Results in West and South-west​—​Army +of the Potomac​—​Presidential Orders​—​Letter to McClellan​—​Order for Army Corps​—​The +Issue of the Campaign​—​Unfortunate Circumstances​—​President’s Speech at Union +Meeting​—​Comments​—​Operations in Virginia and Maryland​—​In the West and South-west</td> + + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_181">181</a></td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdc p1 larger" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII.</a></td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">FREEDOM TO MILLIONS.</td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Tribune Editorial​—​Letter to Mr. Greeley​—​Announcement of the Emancipation Proclamation​—​Suspension +of the <i>Habeas Corpus</i> in certain Cases​—​Order for Observance of the +Sabbath​—​The Emancipation Proclamation</td> + + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_190">190</a></td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdc p1 larger" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV.</a></td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">LAST SESSION OF THE THIRTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS.</td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Situation of the Country​—​Opposition to the Administration​—​President’s Message</td> + + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_199">199</a></td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdc p1 larger" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV.</a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">11</a></span></td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">THE TIDE TURNED.</td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Military Successes​—​Favorable Elections​—​Emancipation Policy​—​Letter to Manchester +(Eng.) Workingmen​—​Proclamation for a National Fast​—​Letter to Erastus Corning​—​Letter +to a Committee on Recalling Vallandigham</td> + + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_226">226</a></td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdc p1 larger" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI.</a></td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">LETTERS AND SPEECHES.</td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Speech at Washington​—​Letter to Gen. Grant​—​Thanksgiving Proclamation​—​Letter Concerning +the Emancipation Proclamation​—​Proclamation for Annual Thanksgiving​—​Dedicatory +Speech at Gettysburg</td> + + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_242">242</a></td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdc p1 larger" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">CHAPTER XVII.</a></td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">THE THIRTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS.</td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Organization of the House​—​Different Opinions as to Reconstruction​—​Provisions for Pardon +of Rebels​—​President’s Proclamation of Pardon​—​Annual Message​—​Explanatory +Proclamation</td> + + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_263">263</a></td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdc p1 larger" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">CHAPTER XVIII.</a></td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">PROGRESS.</td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdl">President’s Speech at Washington​—​Speech to a New York Committee​—​Speech in Baltimore​—​Letter +to a Kentuckian​—​Employment of Colored Troops​—​Davis’ Threat​—​General +Order​—​President’s Order on the Subject</td> + + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_275">275</a></td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdc p1 larger" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIX">CHAPTER XIX.</a></td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">RENOMINATED.</td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Lieut. Gen. Grant​—​His Military Record​—​Continued Movements​—​Correspondence with the +President​—​Across the Rapidan​—​Richmond Invested​—​President’s Letter to a Grant +Meeting​—​Meeting of Republican National Convention​—​The Platform​—​The Nomination​—​Mr. +Lincoln’s Reply to the Committee of Notification​—​Remarks to Union League +Committee​—​Speech at a Serenade​—​Speech to Ohio Troops</td> + + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_285">285</a></td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdc p1 larger" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XX">CHAPTER XX.</a></td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">RECONSTRUCTION.</td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdl">President’s Speech at Philadelphia​—​Philadelphia Fair​—​Correspondence with Committee +of National Convention​—​Proclamation of Martial Law in Kentucky​—​Question of Reconstruction​—​President’s +Proclamation on the Subject​—​Congressional Plan</td> + + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_298">298</a></td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdc p1 larger" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXI">CHAPTER XXI.</a></td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN OF 1864.</td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Proclamation for a Fast​—​Speech to Soldiers​—​Another Speech​—​“To Whom it may Concern”​—​Chicago +Convention​—​Opposition Embarrassed​—​Resolution No. 2​—​McClellan’s +Acceptance​—​Capture of the Mobile Forts and Atlanta​—​Proclamation for Thanksgiving​—​Remarks +on Employment of Negro Soldiers​—​Address to Loyal Marylanders</td> + + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_314">314</a></td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdc p1 larger" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXII">CHAPTER XXII.</a></td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">RE-ELECTED</td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Presidential Campaign of 1864​—​Fremont’s Withdrawal​—​Wade and Davis​—​Peace and War +Democrats​—​Rebel Sympathizers​—​October Election​—​Result of Presidential Election​—​Speech +to Pennsylvanians​—​Speech at a Serenade​—​Letter to a Soldier’s Mother​—​Opening +of Congress​—​Last Annual Message</td> + + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_325">325</a></td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdc p1 larger" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIII">CHAPTER XXIII.</a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">12</a></span></td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">TIGHTENING THE LINES.</td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Speech at a Serenade​—​Reply to a Presentation Address​—​Peace Rumors​—​Rebel Commissioners​—​Instructions +to Secretary Seward​—​The Conference in Hampton Roads​—​Result​—​Extra +Session of the Senate​—​Military Situation​—​Sherman​—​Charleston​—​Columbia​—​Wilmington​—​Fort +Fisher​—​Sheridan​—​Grant​—​Rebel Congress​—​Second Inauguration​—​Inaugural​—​English +Comment​—​Proclamation to Deserters</td> + + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_350">350</a></td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdc p1 larger" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIV">CHAPTER XXIV.</a></td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">IN RICHMOND.</td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdl">President Visits City Point​—​Lee’s Failure​—​Grant’s Movement​—​Abraham Lincoln in +Richmond​—​Lee’s Surrender​—​President’s Impromptu Speech​—​Speech on Reconstruction​—​Proclamation +Closing Certain Ports​—​Proclamation Relative to Maritime Rights​—​Supplementary +Proclamation​—​Orders from the War Department​—​The Traitor President</td> + + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_362">362</a></td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdc p1 larger" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXV">CHAPTER XXV.</a></td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">THE LAST ACT.</td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Interview with Mr. Colfax​—​Cabinet Meeting​—​Incident​—​Evening Conversation​—​Possibility +of Assassination​—​Leaves for the Theatre​—​In the Theatre​—​Precautions for the +Murder​—​The Pistol Shot​—​Escape of the Assassin​—​Death of the President​—​Pledges +Redeemed​—​Situation of the Country​—​Effect of the Murder​—​Obsequies at Washington​—​Borne +Home​—​Grief of the People​—​At Rest</td> + + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_374">374</a></td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdc p1 larger" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVI">CHAPTER XXVI.</a></td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">THE MAN.</td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Reasons for His Re-election​—​What was Accomplished​—​Leaning on the People​—​State +Papers​—​His Tenacity of Purpose​—​Washington and Lincoln​—​As a Man​—​Favorite Poem​—​Autobiography​—​His +Modesty​—​A Christian​—​Conclusion</td> + + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_382">382</a></td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdc p1 larger" colspan="2"><a href="#APPENDIX">APPENDIX.</a></td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdc size110" colspan="2">Mr. Lincoln’s Speeches in Congress and Elsewhere, Proclamations, Letters, etc., not +included in the Body of the Work.</td></tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Speech on the Mexican War, (In Congress, Jan. 12, 1848)</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_391">391</a></td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Speech on Internal Improvements, (In Congress, June 20, 1848)</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_403">403</a></td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Speech on the Presidency and General Politics, (In Congress, July 27, 1848)</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_417">417</a></td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Speech in Reply to Mr. Douglas, on Kansas, the Dred Scott Decision, and the Utah Question, (At Springfield, June 26, 1857)</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_431">431</a></td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Speech in Reply to Senator Douglas, (At Chicago, July 10, 1858)</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_442">442</a></td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Opening Passages of his Speech at Freeport</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_459">459</a></td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Letter to Gen. McClellan</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_464">464</a></td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Letter to Gen. Schofield Relative to the Removal of Gen. Curtis</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_466">466</a></td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Three Hundred Thousand Men Called For</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_466">466</a></td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Rev. Dr. McPheeters​—​President’s Reply to an Appeal for Interference</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_468">468</a></td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">An Election Ordered in the State of Arkansas</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_470">470</a></td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Letter to William Fishback on the Election in Arkansas</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_471">471</a></td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Call for Five Hundred Thousand Men</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_471">471</a></td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Letter to Mrs. Gurney</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_473">473</a></td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">The Tennessee Test Oath</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_474">474</a></td></tr> +</table> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">13</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="LIFE_OF_ABRAHAM_LINCOLN" id="LIFE_OF_ABRAHAM_LINCOLN">LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.</a></h2> + +<hr /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I.</a><br /> + +<span class="subhead">BOYHOOD AND EARLY MANHOOD.</span></h2> + +<blockquote> + +<p class="hang">Preliminary​—​Birth of Abraham Lincoln​—​Removal from Kentucky​—​At Work​—​Self +Education​—​Personal Characteristics​—​Another Removal​—​Trip to New Orleans​—​Becomes +Clerk​—​Black Hawk War​—​Engages in Politics​—​Successive Elections to the +Legislature​—​Anti-Slavery Protest​—​Commences Practice as a Lawyer​—​Traits of Character​—​Marriage​—​Return +to Politics​—​Election to Congress.</p></blockquote> + +<p>The leading incidents in the early life of the men who have +most decidedly influenced the destinies of our republic, present +a striking similarity. The details, indeed, differ; but the +story, in outline, is the same​—​“the short and simple annals +of the poor.”</p> + +<p>Of obscure parentage​—​accustomed to toil from their tender +years​—​with few facilities for the education of the school​—​the +most struggled on, independent, self-reliant, till by their +own right hands they had hewed their way to the positions +for which their individual talents and peculiarities stamped +them as best fitted. Children of nature, rather than of art, +they have ever in their later years​—​amid scenes and associations +entirely dissimilar to those with which in youth and +early manhood, they were familiar​—​retained somewhat indicative +of their origin and training. In speech or in action​—​often +in both​—​they have smacked of their native soil. If +they have lacked the grace of the courtier, ample compensation +has been afforded in the honesty of the man. If their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">14</a></span> +address was at times abrupt, it was at least frank and unmistakable. +Both friend and foe knew exactly where to find +them. Unskilled in the doublings of the mere politician or +the trimmer, they have borne themselves straight forward to +the points whither their judgment and conscience directed. +Such men may have been deemed fit subjects for the jests +and sneers of more cultivated Europeans, but they are none +the less dear to us as Americans​—​will none the less take their +place among those whose names the good, throughout the +world, will not willingly let die.</p> + +<p>Of this class, pre-eminently, was the statesman whose life +and public services the following pages are to exhibit.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln</span>, Sixteenth President of the United +States, son of Thomas and Nancy Lincoln​—​the former a +Kentuckian, the latter a Virginian​—​was born February 12th, +1809, near Hodgenville, the county-seat of what is now known +as La Rue county, Kentucky. He had one sister, two years +his senior, who died, married, in early womanhood; and his +only brother, his junior by two years, died in childhood.</p> + +<p>When nine years of age, he lost his mother, the family +having, two years previously, removed to what was then the +territory of Indiana, and settled in the southern part, near +the Ohio river, about midway between Louisville and Evansville. +The thirteen years which the lad spent here inured +him to all the exposures and hardships of frontier life. An +active assistant in farm duties, he neglected no opportunity +of strengthening his mind, reading with avidity such instructive +works as he could procure​—​on winter evenings, oftentimes, +by the light of the blazing fire-place. As satisfaction +for damage accidentally done to a borrowed copy of Weems’ +Life of Washington​—​the only one known to be in the neighborhood​—​he +pulled fodder for two days for the owner.</p> + +<p>At twenty years of age, he had reached the height of +nearly six feet and four inches, with a comparatively slender +yet uncommonly strong muscular frame​—​a youthful giant<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">15</a></span> +among a race of giants. Morally, he was proverbially honest, +conscientious, and upright.</p> + +<p>In 1830, his father again emigrated, halting for a year on +the north fork of the Sangamon river, Illinois, but afterwards +pushing on to Coles county, some seventy miles to the eastward, +on the upper waters of the Kaskaskia and Embarrass, +where his adventurous life ended in 1851, he being in his +seventy-third year. The first year in Illinois the son spent +with the father; the next he aided in constructing a flat-boat, +on which, with other hands, a successful trip to New Orleans +and back was made. This city​—​then the El Dorado of the +Western frontiersman​—​had been visited by the young man, +in the same capacity, when he was nineteen years of age.</p> + +<p>Returning from this expedition, he acted for a year as +clerk for his former employer, who was engaged in a store +and flouring mill at New Salem, twenty miles below Springfield. +While thus occupied, tidings reached him of an Indian +invasion on the western border of the State​—​since known as +the Black Hawk war, from an old Sac chief of that name, +who was the prominent mover in the matter. In New Salem +and vicinity, a company of volunteers was promptly raised, +of which young Lincoln was elected captain​—​his first promotion. +The company, however, having disbanded, he again +enlisted as a private, and during the three months’ service of +this, his first short military campaign, he faithfully discharged +his duty to his country, persevering amid peculiar hardships +and against the influences of older men around him.</p> + +<p>With characteristic humor and sarcasm, while commenting, +in a Congressional speech during the canvass of 1848, upon +the efforts of General Cass’s biographers to exalt their idol +into a military hero, he thus alluded to this episode in his +life:</p> + +<p>“By the way, Mr. Speaker, did you know I am a military +hero? Yes, sir, in the days of the Black Hawk war, I fought, +bled, and came away. Speaking of General Cass’s career,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">16</a></span> +reminds me of my own. I was not at Stillman’s defeat, but +I was about as near it as Cass to Hull’s surrender; and like +him, I saw the place very soon afterward. It is quite certain +I did not break my sword, for I had none to break; but I +bent a musket pretty badly on one occasion. If Cass broke +his sword, the idea is, he broke it in desperation; I bent the +musket by accident. If General Cass went in advance of me +in picking whortleberries, I guess I surpassed him in charges +upon the wild onions. If he saw any live, fighting Indians, +it was more than I did, but I had a good many bloody struggles +with the mosquitoes; and although I never fainted from +loss of blood, I can truly say I was often very hungry.</p> + +<p>“Mr. Speaker, if I should ever conclude to doff whatever +our Democratic friends may suppose there is of black-cockade +Federalism about me, and, thereupon, they should take me +up as their candidate for the Presidency, I protest they shall +not make fun of me as they have of General Cass, by attempting +to write me into a military hero.”</p> + +<p>This bit of adventure over, Mr. Lincoln​—​who had determined +to become a lawyer, in common with most energetic, +enterprising young men of that period and section​—​embarked +in politics, warmly espousing the cause of Henry Clay, in a +State at that time decidedly opposed to his great leader, and +received a gratifying evidence of his personal popularity where +he was best known, in securing an almost unanimous vote in +his own precinct in Sangamon county as a candidate for representative +in the State Legislature, although a little later in +the same canvass General Jackson, the Democratic candidate +for the Presidency, led his competitor, Clay, one hundred and +fifty-five votes.</p> + +<p>While pursuing his law studies, he engaged in land surveying +as a means of support. In 1834, not yet having been +admitted to the bar​—​a backwoodsman in manner, dress, and +expression​—​tall, lank, and by no means prepossessing​—​he +was first elected to the Legislature of his adopted State,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">17</a></span> +being the youngest member, with a single exception. During +this session he rarely took the floor to speak, content to play +the part of an observer rather than of an actor. It was at +this period that he became acquainted with Stephen A. +Douglas, then a recent immigrant from Vermont, in connection +with whom he was destined to figure so prominently +before the country.</p> + +<p>In 1836, he was elected for a second term. During this +session, he put upon record, together with one of his colleagues, +his views relative to slavery, in the following protest, +bearing date March 3d, 1837:​—​</p> + +<p>“Resolutions upon the subject of domestic slavery having +passed both branches of the General Assembly, at its present +session, the undersigned hereby protest against the passage +of the same.</p> + +<p>“They believe that the institution of slavery is founded on +both injustice and bad policy; but that the promulgation of +abolition doctrines tends rather to increase than abate its +evils.</p> + +<p>“They believe that the Congress of the United States has +no power, under the Constitution, to interfere with the institution +of slavery in the different States.</p> + +<p>“They believe that the Congress of the United States has +the power, under the Constitution, to abolish slavery in the +District of Columbia; but that the power ought not to be +exercised, unless at the request of the people of said district.”</p> + +<p>In 1838 and 1840, he was again elected and received the +vote of his party for the speakership. First elected at +twenty-five, he had been continued so long as his inclination +allowed, and until by his kind manners, his ability, and unquestioned +integrity, he had won a position, when but a little +past thirty, as the virtual leader of his party in Illinois. His +reputation as a close and logical debater had been established; +his native talent as an orator had been developed; his earnest +zeal for his party had brought around him troops of friends;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">18</a></span> +while his acknowledged goodness of heart had knit many to +him, who, upon purely political grounds, would have held +themselves aloof.</p> + +<p>While a member of the Legislature, he had devoted himself, +as best he could​—​considering the necessity he was under +of eking out a support for himself, and the demands made +upon his time by his political associates​—​to mastering his +chosen profession, and in 1836 was admitted to practice. +Securing at once a good amount of business, he began to +rise as a most effective jury advocate, who could readily +perceive, and promptly avail himself of, the turning points of +a case. A certain quaint humor, withal, which he was wont +to employ in illustration​—​combined with his sterling, practical +sense, going straight to the core of things​—​stamped him +as an original. Disdaining the tricks of the mere rhetorician, +he spoke from the heart to the heart, and was universally +regarded by those with whom he came in contact as every +inch a man, in the best and broadest sense of that term. His +thoughts, his manner, his address were eminently his own. +Affecting none of the cant of the demagogue, the people +trusted him, revered him as one of the best, if not the best, +among them. Their sympathies were his​—​their weal his +desire, their interests a common stock with his own.</p> + +<p>Having permanently located himself at Springfield, the +seat of Sangamon county​—​which ever after he called his +home​—​he devoted himself to the practice of his profession, +and on the 4th of November, 1842, married Mary Todd, +daughter of the Hon. Robert S. Todd of Lexington, Kentucky, +a lady of accomplished manners and refined social +tastes.</p> + +<p>Although he had determined to retire from the political +arena and taste the sweets which a life with one’s own family +can alone secure, his earnest wishes were at length overruled +by the as earnest demands of that party with the success +of which he firmly believed his country’s best interests identified,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">19</a></span> +and in 1844 he thoroughly canvassed his State in +behalf of Clay​—​afterward passing into Indiana, and daily +addressing immense gatherings until the day of election. +Over the defeat of the great Kentuckian he sorrowed as one +almost without hope; feeling it, indeed, far more keenly than +his generous nature would have done, had it been a merely +personal discomfiture.</p> + +<p>Two years later, in 1846, Mr. Lincoln was persuaded to +accept the Whig nomination for Congress in the Sangamon +district, and was elected by an unprecedently large majority. +Texas had meanwhile been annexed; the Mexican war was +in progress; the Tariff of 1842 had been repealed.</p> + +<p>With the opening of the Thirtieth Congress​—​December +6th, 1847​—​Mr. Lincoln took his seat in the lower house of +Congress, Stephen A. Douglas also appearing for the first +time as a member of the Senate.</p> + +<hr /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II.</a><br /> + +<span class="subhead">IN CONGRESS AND ON THE STUMP.</span></h2> + +<blockquote> + +<p class="hang">The Mexican War​—​Internal Improvements​—​Slavery in the District of Columbia​—​Public +Lands​—​Retires to Private Life​—​Kansas-Nebraska Bill​—​Withdraws in favor of +Senator Trumbull​—​Formation of Republican Party​—​Nominated for U. S. Senator​—​Opening +Speech of Mr. Lincoln​—​Douglas Campaign​—​The Canvass​—​Tribute to the +Declaration of Independence​—​Result of the Contest.</p></blockquote> + +<p>Mr. Lincoln was early recognized as one of the foremost +of the Western men upon the floor of the House. His +Congressional record is that of a Whig of those days. +Believing that Mr. Polk’s administration had mismanaged +affairs with Mexico at the outset, he, in common with others +of his party, was unwilling, while voting supplies and favoring +suitable rewards for our gallant soldiers, to be forced +into an unqualified indorsement of the war with that country +from its beginning to its close.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">20</a></span> +Accordingly, December 22d, 1847, he introduced a series of +resolutions of inquiry concerning the origin of the war, calling +for definite official information, which were laid over under +the rule, and never acted upon. Upon a test question on +abandoning the war, without any material result accomplished, +he voted with the minority in favor of laying that +resolution upon the table.</p> + +<p>In all questions bearing upon the matter of internal +improvements, he took an active interest. He took manly +ground in favor of the unrestricted right of petition, and +favored a liberal policy toward the people in disposing of +the public lands. He exerted himself during the canvass +of 1848, to secure the election of General Taylor, delivering +several effective campaign speeches in New England and +the West.</p> + +<p>At the second session of the Thirtieth Congress, he voted +in favor of laying upon the table a resolution instructing the +Committee on the District of Columbia to report a bill prohibiting +the slave-trade in the District, and subsequently read +a substitute which he favored. This substitute contained the +form of a bill enacting that no person not already within the +District, should be held in slavery therein, and providing for +the gradual emancipation of the slaves already within the +District, with compensation to the owners, if a majority of +the legal voters of the District should assent to the act, at +an election to be holden for the purpose. It made an exception +of the right of citizens of the slave-holding States +coming to the District on public business, to “be attended +into and out of said District, and while there, by the necessary +servants of themselves and their families.”</p> + +<p>In regard to the grant of public lands to the new States, +to aid in the construction of railways and canals, he favored +the interests of his own constituents, under such restrictions +as the proper scope of these grants required.</p> + +<p>Having declined to be a candidate for re-election, he retired<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">21</a></span> +once more to private life, resuming the professional practice +which had been temporarily interrupted by his public duties, +and taking no active part in politics through the period of +General Taylor’s administration, or in any of the exciting +scenes of 1850.</p> + +<p>The introduction of the Kansas-Nebraska bill by Stephen +A. Douglas, in 1854, aroused him from his repose, and +summoned him once more to battle for the right. In the +canvass of that year, he was one of the most active leaders +of the anti-Nebraska movement, addressing the people repeatedly +from the stump, with all his characteristic earnestness +and energy, and powerfully aided in effecting the +remarkable political changes of that year in Illinois.</p> + +<p>The Legislature that year having to choose a United States +Senator, and for the first time in the history of the State, the +election of one opposed to the Democratic party being within +the reach of possibility, Mr. Lincoln, although the first +choice of the great body of the opposition, with characteristic +self-sacrificing disposition, appealed to his old Whig friends +to go over in a solid body to Mr. Trumbull, a man of Democratic +antecedents, who could command the full vote of the +anti-Nebraska Democrats; and the latter was consequently +elected. Mr. Lincoln was subsequently offered the nomination +for Governor of Illinois, but declined the honor in favor +of Col. William H. Bissell, who was elected by a decisive +majority.</p> + +<p>In the formation of the Republican party as such, Mr. +Lincoln bore an active and influential part, his name being +presented, but ineffectually, at the first National Convention +of that party, for Vice-President; laboring earnestly during +the canvass of 1856, for the election of General Fremont, +whose electoral ticket he headed.</p> + +<p>After Mr. Douglas had taken ground against Mr. Buchanan’s +administration relative to the so-called Lecompton +Constitution of Kansas, and had received the indorsement of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">22</a></span> +the Democratic party of Illinois​—​his re-election as Senator +depending upon the result of the State election in 1858​—​the +Republican Convention of that year with shouts of +applause, unanimously resolved that Abraham Lincoln was +“the first and only choice of the Republicans of Illinois for +the United States Senate, as the successor of Stephen A. +Douglas.” At the close of the proceedings, he delivered the +following speech, which struck the key-note of his contest +with Senator Douglas, one of the most exciting and remarkable +ever witnessed in this country:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Gentlemen of the Convention</span>:​—​If we could first know +where we are, and whither we are tending, we could then +better judge what to do, and how to do it. We are now far +on into the fifth year, since a policy was initiated, with the +avowed object, and confident promise of putting an end to +slavery agitation. Under the operation of that policy, that +agitation had not only not ceased, but has constantly augmented. +In my opinion, it will not cease, until a crisis shall +have been reached, and passed. ‘A house divided against +itself can not stand.’ I believe this Government can not +endure, permanently, half slave and half free. I do not expect +the Union to be dissolved​—​I do not expect the house to +fall​—​but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become +all one thing, or all the other. Either the opponents of +slavery will arrest the further spread of it, and place it where +the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in course of +ultimate extinction, or its advocates will push it forward, till +it shall become alike lawful in all the States, old as well as +new​—​North as well as South.</p> + +<p>“Have we no tendency to the latter condition? Let any +one who doubts, carefully contemplate that now almost complete +legal combination​—​piece of machinery, so to speak​—​compounded +of the Nebraska doctrine, and the Dred Scott +decision. Let him consider not only what work the machinery +is adapted to do, and how well adapted, but also let him study<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">23</a></span> +the history of its construction, and trace, if he can, or rather +fail, if he can, to trace the evidences of design, and concert of +action, among its chief master-workers from the beginning.</p> + +<p>“But, so far, Congress only had acted; and an indorsement +by the people, real or apparent, was indispensable, to save +the point already gained, and give chance for more. The new +year of 1854 found slavery excluded from more than half the +States by State Constitutions, and from most of the national +territory by Congressional prohibition. Four days later commenced +the struggle, which ended in repealing that Congressional +prohibition. This opened all the national territory to +slavery, and was the first point gained.</p> + +<p>“This necessity had not been overlooked, but had been +provided for, as well as might be, in the notable argument of +‘<i>squatter sovereignty</i>,’ otherwise called ‘<i>sacred right of self-government</i>,’ +which latter phrase, though expressive of the +only rightful basis of any government, was so perverted in +this attempted use of it as to amount to just this: that if any +one man choose to enslave another, no third man shall be +allowed to object. That argument was incorporated into the +Nebraska Bill itself, in the language which follows: ‘It being +the true intent and meaning of this act not to legislate slavery +into any Territory or State, nor exclude it therefrom; but to +leave the people thereof perfectly free to form and regulate +their domestic institutions in their own way, subject only to +the Constitution of the United States.’</p> + +<p>“Then opened the roar of loose declamation in favor of +‘squatter sovereignty,’ and ‘sacred right of self-government.’</p> + +<p>“‘But,’ said opposition members, ‘let us be more specific​—​let +us <i>amend</i> the bill so as to expressly declare that the +people of the territory <i>may</i> exclude slavery.’ ‘Not we,’ said +the friends of the measure; and down they voted the amendment.</p> + +<p>“While the Nebraska Bill was passing through Congress, +a law case, involving the question of a negro’s freedom, by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">24</a></span> +reason of his owner having voluntarily taken him first into a +free State and then a territory covered by the Congressional +prohibition, and held him as a slave​—​for a long time in each​—​was +passing through the U. S. Circuit Court for the District +of Missouri; and both the Nebraska Bill and law suit were +brought to a decision in the same month of May, 1854. The +negro’s name was ‘Dred Scott,’ which name now designates +the decision finally made in the case.</p> + +<p>“Before the then next Presidential election case, the law +came to, and was argued in the Supreme Court of the United +States; but the decision of it was deferred until <i>after</i> the +election. Still, <i>before</i> the election, Senator Trumbull, on the +floor of the Senate, requests the leading advocate of the +Nebraska Bill to state <i>his opinion</i> whether a people of a territory +can constitutionally exclude slavery from their limits; +and the latter answers, ‘That is a question for the Supreme +Court.’</p> + +<p>“The election came. Mr. Buchanan was elected, and the +<i>indorsement</i>, such as it was, secured. That was the <i>second</i> +point gained. The indorsement, however, fell short of a +clear popular majority by nearly four hundred thousand votes, +and so, perhaps, was not overwhelmingly reliable and satisfactory. +The outgoing President in his last annual message, +as impressively as possible echoed back upon the people the +weight and authority of the indorsement.</p> + +<p>“The Supreme Court met again; did not announce their +decision, but ordered a re-argument. The Presidential inauguration +came, and still no decision of the court; but the +incoming President, in his Inaugural Address, fervently exhorted +the people to abide by the forthcoming decision, <i>whatever +it might be</i>. Then, in a few days came the decision.</p> + +<p>“This was the third point gained.</p> + +<p>“The reputed author of the Nebraska Bill finds an early +occasion to make a speech at this capitol indorsing the Dred +Scott decision and vehemently denouncing all opposition to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">25</a></span> +it. The new President, too, seizes the early occasion of the +Silliman letter to indorse and strongly construe that decision, +and to express his astonishment that any different view had +ever been entertained. At length a squabble springs up +between the President and the author of the Nebraska Bill +on the mere question of fact, whether the Lecompton Constitution +was or was not, in any just sense, made by the people +of Kansas; and, in that squabble, the latter declares that all +he wants is a fair vote for the people, and that he cares not +whether slavery be voted down or voted up. I do not understand +his declaration that he cares not whether slavery be +voted down or voted up, to be intended by him other than as +an apt definition of the policy he would impress upon the +public mind​—​the principle for which he declares he has +suffered much, and is ready to suffer to the end.</p> + +<p>“And well may he cling to that principle. If he has any +parental feeling, well may he cling to it. That principle is +the only shred left of his original Nebraska doctrine. Under +the Dred Scott decision, ‘squatter sovereignty’ squatted out +of existence, tumbled down like temporary scaffolding​—​like +the mould at the foundry, served through one blast, and fell +back into loose sand​—​helped to carry an election, and then +was kicked to the winds. His late joint struggle with the +Republicans, against the Lecompton Constitution, involves +nothing of the original Nebraska doctrine. That struggle +was made on a point​—​the right of a people to make their +own Constitution​—​upon which he and the Republicans have +never differed.</p> + +<p>“The several points of the Dred Scott decision, in connection +with Senator Douglas’s ‘care not’ policy, constitute the +piece of machinery in its present state of advancement. The +working points of that machinery are:</p> + +<p>“First, That no negro slave, imported as such from Africa, +and no descendant of such, can ever be a citizen of any State<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">26</a></span> +in the sense of that term as used in the Constitution of the +United States.</p> + +<p>“This point is made in order to deprive the negro, in +every possible event, of the benefit of this provision of the +United States Constitution, which declares that​—​‘The citizens +of each State shall be entitled to all the privileges and immunities +of citizens in the several States.’</p> + +<p>“Secondly, that ‘subject to the Constitution of the United +States,’ neither Congress nor a Territorial Legislature can +exclude slavery from any United States Territory.</p> + +<p>“This point is made in order that individual men may fill +up the Territories with slaves, without danger of losing them +as property, and thus to enhance the chances of permanency +to the institution through all the future.</p> + +<p>“Thirdly, that whether the holding a negro in actual +slavery in a free State makes him free, as against the holder, +the United States courts will not decide, but will leave it to be +decided by the courts of any slave State the negro may be +forced into by the master.</p> + +<p>“This point is made, not to be pressed immediately; but, +if acquiesced in for a while, and apparently indorsed by the +people at an election, then, to sustain the logical conclusion +that what Dred Scott’s master might lawfully do with Dred +Scott, in the free State of Illinois, every other master may +lawfully do with any other one, or one thousand slaves, in +Illinois, or in any other free State.</p> + +<p>“Auxiliary to all this, and working hand in hand with it, +the Nebraska doctrine, or what is left of it, is to educate and +mould public opinion, at least Northern public opinion, not to +care whether slavery is voted down or voted up.</p> + +<p>“This shows exactly where we now are, and partially also, +whither we are tending.</p> + +<p>“It will throw additional light on the latter, to go back and +run the mind over the string of historical facts already +stated. Several things will now appear less dark and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">27</a></span> +mysterious than they did when they were transpiring. The +people were to be left “perfectly free,” “subject only to the +Constitution.” What the Constitution had to do with it, +outsiders could not then see. Plainly enough now, it was an +exactly fitted niche for the Dred Scott decision afterward to +come in, and declare that perfect freedom of the people to be +just no freedom at all.</p> + +<p>“Why was the amendment expressly declaring the right +of the people to exclude slavery, voted down? Plainly +enough now, the adoption of it would have spoiled the niche +for the Dred Scott decision.</p> + +<p>“Why was the court decision held up? Why even a +Senator’s individual opinion withheld till after the Presidential +election? Plainly enough now; the speaking out +then would have damaged the “<i>perfectly free</i>” argument +upon which the election was to be carried.</p> + +<p>“Why the outgoing President’s felicitation on the indorsement? +Why the delay of a re-argument? Why the incoming +President’s advance exhortation in favor of the decision? +These things look like the cautious patting and +petting of a spirited horse preparatory to mounting him, +when it is dreaded that he may give the rider a fall. And +why the hasty after-indorsements of the decision, by the +President and others?</p> + +<p>“We cannot absolutely know that all these exact adaptations +are the result of pre-concert. But when we see a lot +of framed timbers, different portions of which we know have +been gotten out, at different times and places, and by different +workmen​—​Stephen, Franklin, Roger, and James, for instance​—​and +when we see these timbers joined together, and +see they exactly make the frame of a house or a mill, all the +tenons and mortices exactly fitting, and all the lengths and +proportions of the different pieces exactly adapted to their +respective places, and not a piece too many or too few​—​not +omitting even scaffolding​—​or, if a single piece be lacking,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">28</a></span> +we can see the place in the frame exactly fitted and prepared +to yet bring such piece in​—​in such a case, we find it impossible +not to believe that Stephen and Franklin and Roger and +James all understood one another from the beginning, and all +worked upon a common plan or draft drawn up before the +first blow was struck.</p> + +<p>“It should not be overlooked that, by the Nebraska bill, +the people of a State as well as Territory, were to be left +‘<i>perfectly free</i>,’ ‘<i>subject only to the Constitution</i>.’ Why +mention a State? They were legislating for Territories, and +not for or about States. Certainly the people of a State are +and ought to be subject to the Constitution of the United +States; but why is mention of this lugged into this merely +territorial law? Why are the people of a Territory and the +people of a State therein lumped together, and their relation +to the Constitution therein treated as being precisely the +same?</p> + +<p>“While the opinion of the court, by Chief Justice Taney, +in the Dred Scott case, and the separate opinions of all the +concurring judges, expressly declare that the Constitution of +the United States neither permits Congress nor a Territorial +Legislature, to exclude slavery from any United States +Territory, they all omit to declare whether or not the same +Constitution permits a State, or the people of a State, to +exclude it. <i>Possibly</i>, this was a mere <i>omission</i>; but who +can be quite sure, if McLean or Curtis had sought to get +into the opinion a declaration of unlimited power in the +people of a State to exclude slavery from their limits, just as +Chase and Mace sought to get such declaration, in behalf of +the people of a Territory, into the Nebraska bill​—​I ask, who +can be quite sure that it would not have been voted down, in +the one case as it had been in the other.</p> + +<p>“The nearest approach to the point of declaring the power +of a State over slavery, is made by Judge Nelson. He +approaches it more than once, using the precise idea, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">29</a></span> +almost the language, too, of the Nebraska Act. On one +occasion his exact language is, ‘except in cases where the +power is restrained by the Constitution of the United States, +the law of the State is supreme over the subject of slavery +within its jurisdiction.’</p> + +<p>“In what cases the power of the State is so restrained by +the United States Constitution, is left an open question, precisely +as the same question, as to the restraint on the power +of the Territories was left open in the Nebraska Act. Put +that and that together, and we have another nice little niche, +which we may ere long, see filled with another Supreme +Court decision, declaring that the Constitution of the United +States does not permit a State to exclude slavery from its +limits. And this may especially be expected if the doctrine +of ‘care not whether slavery be voted down or voted up,’ +shall gain upon the public mind sufficiently to give promise +that such a decision can be maintained when made.</p> + +<p>“Such a decision is all that slavery now lacks of being +alike lawful in all the States. Welcome or unwelcome, such +decision is probably coming, and will soon be upon us, +unless the power of the present political dynasty shall be met +and overthrown. We shall lie down pleasantly dreaming +that the people of Missouri are on the verge of making +their State free; and we shall awake to the reality, instead, +that the Supreme Court has made Illinois a slave State.</p> + +<p>“To meet and overthrow the power of that dynasty, is the +work now before all those who would prevent that consummation. +That is what we have to do. But how can we +best do it?</p> + +<p>“There are those who denounce us openly to their own +friends, and yet whisper softly, that Senator Douglas is the +<i>aptest</i> instrument there is, with which to effect that object. +They do not tell us, nor has he told us, that he wishes any +such object to be effected. They wish us to infer all, from +the facts that he now has a little quarrel with the present<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">30</a></span> +head of the dynasty; and that he has regularly voted with +us, on a single point, upon which he and we have never +differed.</p> + +<p>“They remind us that <i>he</i> is a very <i>great man</i>, and that +the largest of us are very small ones. Let this be granted. +But ‘a <i>living dog</i> is better than a <i>dead lion</i>.’ Judge +Douglas, if not a <i>dead</i> lion for this work, is at least a <i>caged</i> +and <i>toothless</i> one. How can he oppose the advances of +slavery? He don’t care anything about it. His avowed +mission is impressing the ‘public heart’ to care nothing +about it.</p> + +<p>“A leading Douglas Democrat newspaper thinks Douglas’s +superior talent will be needed to resist the revival of the +African slave-trade. Does Douglas believe an effort to +revive that trade is approaching? He has not said so. +Does he <i>really</i> think so? But if it is, how can he resist it? +For years he has labored to prove it a <i>sacred right</i> of white +men to take negro slaves into the new Territories. Can he +possibly show that it is less a sacred right to buy them where +they can be bought cheapest? And, unquestionably they +can be bought cheaper in Africa than in Virginia.</p> + +<p>“He has done all in his power to reduce the whole question +of slavery to one of a mere right of property; and as such, +how can he oppose the foreign slave-trade​—​how can he +refuse that trade in that ‘property’ shall be ‘perfectly +free’​—​unless he does it as a <i>protection</i> to the home production? +And as the home <i>producers</i> will probably not ask the +protection, he will be wholly without a ground of opposition.</p> + +<p>“Senator Douglas holds, we know, that a man may +rightfully be wiser to-day than he was yesterday​—​that +he may rightfully change when he finds himself wrong. But +can we for that reason run ahead and infer that he will make +any particular change, of which he himself has given no +intimation? Can we safely base our action upon any such +vague inferences?</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">31</a></span></p> +<p>“Now, as ever, I wish not to misrepresent Judge Douglas’s +position, question his motives, or do aught that can be personally +offensive to him. Whenever, <i>if ever</i>, he and we can +come together on <i>principle</i>, so that our great cause may +have assistance from his great ability, I hope to have interposed +no adventitious obstacle.</p> + +<p>“But clearly, he is not now with us​—​he does not pretend +to be​—​he does not promise ever to be. Our cause, then, +must be intrusted to, and conducted by its own undoubted +friends​—​those whose hands are free, whose hearts are in the +work​—​who do care for the result.</p> + +<p>“Two years ago the Republicans of the nation mustered +over thirteen hundred thousand strong. We did this under +the single impulse of resistance to a common danger, with +every external circumstance against us. Of strange, discordant, +and even hostile elements, we gathered from the +four winds, and formed and fought the battle through, under +the constant hot fire of a disciplined, proud and pampered +enemy. Did we brave all then to falter now?​—​<i>now</i>​—​when +that same enemy is wavering, dissevered and belligerent?</p> + +<p>“The result is not doubtful. We shall not fail​—​if we +stand firm, we shall not fail. <i>Wise counsels</i> may <i>accelerate</i> +or <i>mistakes delay</i> it, but, sooner or later, the victory is <i>sure</i> +to come.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>In this most vigorously prosecuted canvass Illinois was +stumped throughout its length and breadth by both candidates +and their respective advocates, and the struggle was watched +with interest by the country at large. From county to +county, from township to township, and village to village the +two champions travelled, frequently in the same car or carriage, +and in the presence of immense crowds of men, women, +and children​—​for the wives and daughters of the hardy yeomanry +were naturally interested​—​argued, face to face, the +important points of their political belief and contended nobly +for the mastery.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">32</a></span> +In one of his speeches during this memorable campaign, +Mr. Lincoln paid the following tribute to the Declaration of +<span class="locked">Independence:​—​</span></p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“These communities, (the thirteen colonies,) by their +representatives in old Independence Hall, said to the world +of men, ‘we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men +are born equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with +inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the +pursuit of happiness.’ This was their majestic interpretation +of the economy of the universe. This was their lofty, and +wise, and noble understanding of the justice of the Creator to +His creatures. Yes, gentlemen, to all His creatures, to the +whole great family of man. In their enlightened belief, nothing +stamped with the Divine image and likeness was sent +into the world to be trodden on, and degraded, and imbruted +by its fellows. They grasped not only the race of men then +living, but they reached forward and seized upon the furthest +posterity. They created a beacon to guide their children and +their children’s children, and the countless myriads who +should inhabit the earth in other ages. Wise statesmen as +they were, they knew the tendency of prosperity to breed +tyrants, and so they established these great self-evident +truths that when, in the distant future, some man, some faction, +some interest, should set up the doctrine that none but +rich men, or none but white men, or none but Anglo-Saxon +white men, were entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of +happiness, their posterity might look up again to the Declaration +of Independence, and take courage to renew the battle, +which their fathers began, so that truth, and justice, and +mercy, and all the humane and Christian virtues might not +be extinguished from the land; so that no man would hereafter +dare to limit and circumscribe the great principles on +which the temple of liberty was being built.</p> + +<p>“Now, my countrymen, if you have been taught doctrines +conflicting with the great landmarks of the Declaration of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">33</a></span> +Independence; if you have listened to suggestions which +would take away from its grandeur, and mutilate the fair +symmetry of its proportions; if you have been inclined to believe +that all men are not created equal in those inalienable +rights enumerated by our chart of liberty, let me entreat you +to come back​—​return to the fountain whose waters spring +close by the blood of the Revolution. Think nothing of me, +take no thought for the political fate of any man whomsoever, +but come back to the truths that are in the Declaration of +Independence.</p> + +<p>“You may do any thing with me you choose, if you will +but heed these sacred principles. You may not only defeat +me for the Senate, but you may take me and put me to death. +While pretending no indifference to earthly honors, I <i>do claim</i> +to be actuated in this contest by something higher than an +anxiety for office. I charge you to drop every paltry and +insignificant thought for any man’s success. It is nothing; I +am nothing; Judge Douglas is nothing. <i>But do not destroy +that immortal emblem of humanity​—​the Declaration of American +Independence.</i>”</p></blockquote> + +<p>In the election which closed this contest, the Republican +candidate received 126,084 votes; the Douglas Democrats, +121,940; and the Lecompton Democrats, 5,091. Mr. +Douglas was, however, re-elected to the Senate by the Legislature, +in which, owing to the peculiar apportionment of the +legislative districts his supporters had a majority of eight +in joint ballot.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">34</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III.</a><br /> + +<span class="subhead">BEFORE THE NATION.</span></h2> + +<blockquote> + +<p class="center">Speeches in Ohio​—​Extract from his Cincinnati Speech​—​Visits the East​—​Celebrated +Speech at the Cooper Institute, New York​—​Interesting Incident.</p></blockquote> + +<p>The issue of this contest with Douglas, seemingly a defeat, +was destined in due time to prove a decisive triumph. Mr. +Lincoln’s reputation as a skillful debater and master of political +fence was secure, and admitted throughout the land. +During the year ensuing he again devoted himself almost +exclusively to professional labors, delivering, however, in the +campaign of 1859, at the earnest solicitation of the Republicans +of Ohio, two most convincing speeches in that State, +one at Columbus, and the other at Cincinnati.</p> + +<p>In his speech in the latter city, alluding to the certainty of +a speedy Republican triumph in the nation, Mr. Lincoln thus +sketched what he regarded as the inevitable results of such +a victory:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“I will tell you, so far as I am authorized to speak for the +opposition, what we mean to do with you. We mean to +treat you, as nearly as we possibly can, as Washington, +Jefferson, and Madison treated you. We mean to leave you +alone, and in no way interfere with your institution; to abide +by all and every compromise of the Constitution; and, in a +word, coming back to the original proposition to treat you, +so far as degenerated men (if we have degenerated) may, +imitating the example of those noble fathers, Washington, +Jefferson, and Madison. We mean to remember that you are +as good as we; that there is no difference between us other +than the difference of circumstances. We mean to recognize<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">35</a></span> +and bear in mind always that you have as good hearts in +your bosoms as other people, or as we claim to have, and +treat you accordingly. We mean to marry your girls when +we have a chance​—​the white ones I mean​—​and I have the +honor to inform you that I once did get a chance in that +way.</p> + +<p>“I have told you what we mean to do. I want to know, +now, when that thing takes place, what you mean to do. I +often hear it intimated that you mean to divide the Union +whenever a Republican, or any thing like it, is elected President +of the United States. [A voice, ‘That is so.’] ‘That +is so,’ one of them says. I wonder if he is a Kentuckian? +[A voice, ‘He is a Douglas man.’] Well, then, I want to +know what you are going to do with your half of it? Are +you going to split the Ohio down through, and push your +half off a piece? Or are you going to keep it right alongside +of us outrageous fellows? Or are you going to build up a wall +some way between your country and ours, by which that +movable property of yours can’t come over here any more, +and you lose it? Do you think you can better yourselves on +that subject, by leaving us here under no obligation whatever +to return those specimens of your movable property that +come hither? You have divided the Union because we +would not do right with you, as you think, upon that subject; +when we cease to be under obligations to do any thing for +you, how much better off do you think you will be? Will +you make war upon us and kill us all? Why, gentlemen, I +think you are as gallant and as brave men as live; that you +can fight as bravely in a good cause, man for man, as any +other people living; that you have shown yourselves capable +of this upon various occasions; but, man for man, you are +not better than we are, and there are not so many of you as +there are of us. You will never make much of a hand at +whipping us. If we were fewer in numbers than you, I +think that you could whip us; if we were equal it would<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">36</a></span> +likely be a drawn battle; but being inferior in numbers, you +will make nothing by attempting to master us.</p> + +<p>“I say that we must not interfere with the institution of +Slavery in the States where it exists, because the Constitution +forbids it, and the general welfare does not require us to do +so. We must not withhold an efficient fugitive slave law +because the Constitution requires us, as I understand it, not +to withhold such a law, but we must prevent the outspreading +of the institution, because neither the constitution nor the +general welfare requires us to extend it. We must prevent +the revival of the African slave-trade and the enacting by +Congress of a Territorial slave code. We must prevent each +of these things being done by either Congresses or Courts. +<span class="smcap">The people of these United States are the rightful +masters of both Congresses and Courts</span>, not to overthrow +the Constitution, but to overthrow the men who pervert +that Constitution.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>In the spring of 1860, Mr. Lincoln yielded to the urgent +calls which came to him from the East for his aid in the exciting +canvasses then in progress in that section, and spoke +at various places in Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Rhode +Island, and also in New York city, and was everywhere +warmly welcomed by immense audiences.</p> + +<p>Without doubt, one of the greatest speeches of his life was +that delivered by him in the Cooper Institute, in New York, +on the 27th of February, 1860, in the presence of a crowded +assembly which received him with the most enthusiastic +demonstrations. We subjoin a full report of this masterly +analysis of men and measures. After being introduced in +highly complimentary terms by the venerable William Cullen +Bryant, who presided on the occasion, he proceeded:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Mr. President and Fellow Citizens of New York</span>:​—​The +facts with which I shall deal this evening are mainly old +and familiar; nor is there any thing new in the general use +I shall make of them. If there shall be any novelty, it will<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">37</a></span> +be in the mode of presenting the facts, and the inferences and +observations following that presentation.</p> + +<p>“In his speech last autumn, at Columbus, Ohio, as reported +in <i>The New York Times</i>, Senator Douglas said:</p> + +<p>“‘Our fathers, when they framed the Government under +which we live, understood this question just as well, and +even better than we do now.’</p> + +<p>“I fully indorse this and I adopt it as a text for this discourse. +I so adopt it because it furnishes a precise and +agreed starting point for the discussion between Republicans +and that wing of Democracy headed by Senator Douglas. It +simply leaves the inquiry: ‘What was the understanding +those fathers had of the questions mentioned?’</p> + +<p>“What is the frame of Government under which we live?</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>“I take these ‘thirty-nine,’ for the present, as being ‘our +fathers who framed the Government under which we live.’</p> + +<p>“What is the question which, according to the text, those +fathers understood just as well, and even better than we do +now?</p> + +<p>“It is this: Does the proper division of local from federal +authority, or any thing in the Constitution, forbid our Federal +Government control as to slavery in our Federal Territories?</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">38</a></span></p> +<p>“Upon this, Douglas holds the affirmative, and Republicans +the negative. This affirmative and denial form an issue; and +this issue​—​this question​—​is precisely what the text declares +our fathers understood better than we.</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>“In 1784​—​three years before the Constitution​—​the +United States then owning the Northwestern Territory, and +no other​—​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​—​thus showing that, in their +understanding, no line dividing local from federal authority, +nor any thing else, properly forbade the Federal Government +to control as to slavery in federal territory. The other of the +four​—​James McHenry​—​voted against the prohibition, showing +that, for some cause, he thought it improper to vote +for it.</p> + +<p>“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 territory again came before the Congress of the Confederation; +and three more of the ‘thirty-nine’ who afterward +signed the Constitution, were in that Congress, and voted on +the question. They were William Blount, William Few, +and Abraham Baldwin; and they all voted for the prohibition​—​thus +showing that, in their understanding, no line dividing +local from federal authority, nor any thing else, properly forbids +the Federal Government to control as to slavery in +federal territory. This time the prohibition became a law,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">39</a></span> +being part of what is now well known as the Ordinance +of ’87.</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>“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. In this Congress there +were sixteen of the ‘thirty-nine’ fathers who framed the original +Constitution. They were John Langdon, Nicholas Gilman, +Wm. S. Johnson, Roger Sherman, Robert Morris, +Thos. Fitzsimmons, William Few, Abraham Baldwin, Rufus +King, William Patterson, George Clymer, Richard Bassett, +George Read, Pierce Butler, Daniel Carrol, James Madison.</p> + +<p>“This shows that, in their understanding, no line dividing +local from federal authority, nor any thing 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.</p> + +<p>“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 any thing in the +Constitution, forbade the Federal Government to control as +to slavery in Federal territory.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">40</a></span> +“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. +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. 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. 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 any thing in the Constitution, properly forbade +the Federal Government to control as to slavery in Federal +territory.</p> + +<p>“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;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">41</a></span> +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:</p> + +<p>“<i>First.</i> That no slave should be imported into the territory +from foreign parts.</p> + +<p>“<i>Second.</i> That no slave should be carried into it who had +been imported into the United States since the first day of +May, 1798.</p> + +<p>“<i>Third.</i> 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.</p> + +<p>“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. 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 proper dividing local from Federal +authority or any provision of the Constitution.</p> + +<p>“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. 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 any thing 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.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">42</a></span> +“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.</p> + +<p>“To enumerate the persons who thus acted, as being four +in 1784, three in 1787, seventeen in 1789, three in 1798, two +in 1804, and two in 1819–20​—​there would be thirty-one of +them. But this would be counting John Langdon, Roger +Sherman, William Few, Rufus King, and George Read, each +twice, and Abraham Baldwin four 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 any way.</p> + +<p>“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 +‘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 any thing 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.</p> + +<p>“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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">43</a></span> +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 any thing in the Constitution, +forbade the Federal Government to control as to slavery in +Federal Territory.</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>“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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">44</a></span> +Hamilton, and Governeur Morris​—​while there was not one +now known to have been otherwise, unless it may be John +Rutledge, of South Carolina.</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>“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 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 property without due process of law;’ +while Senator Douglas and his peculiar adherents plant +themselves upon the tenth commandment, providing that +‘the powers not granted by the Constitution are reserved to +the States respectively, and to the people.’</p> + +<p>“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 north-western<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">45</a></span> +territory. Not only was it the same Congress, but they +were the identical, same individual men who, 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.</p> + +<p>“That Congress, consisting in all of seventy-six members, +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.</p> + +<p>“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 were really inconsistent, better than we​—​better than he +who affirms that they are inconsistent.</p> + +<p>“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.’ 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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">46</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>“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​—​we 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.</p> + +<p>“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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">47</a></span> +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.’</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>“And now, if they would listen​—​as I suppose they will +not​—​I would address a few words to the Southern people.</p> + +<p>“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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">48</a></span> +us seems to be an indispensable prerequisite​—​license, so to +speak​—​among you to be admitted or permitted to speak at +all.</p> + +<p>“Now can you, or not, be prevailed upon to pause and to +consider whether this is quite just to us, or even to yourselves?</p> + +<p>“Bring forward your charges and specifications, and then +be patient long enough to hear us deny or justify.</p> + +<p>“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 us 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 it 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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">49</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>“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 some time have a confederacy +of free States.</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>“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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">50</a></span> +have considerable variety of 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.</p> + +<p>“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, re-adopt the precepts and policy of the old +times.</p> + +<p>“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.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">51</a></span> +If you do know it, you are inexcusable to not designate the +man, and prove the fact. If you do not know it, you are +inexcusable to assert it, and especially to persist 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.</p> + +<p>“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 declarations which were not held to and made by +our fathers who framed the government under which we live. +You never deal 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 any thing 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 contest 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.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">52</a></span> +“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? 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 free men, black +or white, supply it. The explosive materials are everywhere +in parcels; but there neither are, nor can be supplied, the +indispensable connecting trains.</p> + +<p>“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. The gunpowder plot of British +history, though not connected with the 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 poisoning 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.</p> + +<p>“In the language of Mr. Jefferson, uttered many years ago, +‘It is still in our power to direct the process of emancipation,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">53</a></span> +and deportation, peaceably, and in such slow degrees, as that +the evil will wear off insensibly; and their places be, <i>pari +passu</i>, 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.’</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>“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 in 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.</p> + +<p>“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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">54</a></span> +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?</p> + +<p>“But you will break up the Union rather than submit to a +denial of your Constitutional rights.</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>“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 +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.</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>“This, plainly stated, is your language to us. 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 Courts have decided the question for you in a sort of +way. The Courts have substantially said, it is your Constitutional +right to take slaves into the Federal Territories, and +to hold them there as property.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">55</a></span> +“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; 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.’</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>“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 due,’ as a ‘debt’ payable +in service or labor. 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.</p> + +<p>“To show all this is easy and certain.</p> + +<p>“When this obvious mistake of the Judges shall be brought +to their notice, is it not reasonable to expect that they will<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">56</a></span> +withdraw the mistaken statement, and reconsider the conclusion +based upon it?</p> + +<p>“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 a 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.</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>“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!</p> + +<p>“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!’</p> + +<p>“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 threat +of death to me, to extort my money, and threat of destruction +to the Union, to extort my vote, can scarcely be distinguished +in principle.</p> + +<p>“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.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">57</a></span> +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?</p> + +<p>“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 any thing to do +with invasions and insurrections; and yet this total abstaining +does not exempt us from the charge and the denunciation.</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>“These natural, and apparently adequate means all failing, +what will convince them? This, and this only: cease to call +slavery <i>wrong</i>, and join them in calling it <i>right</i>. And this +must be done thoroughly​—​done in <i>acts</i> as well as in <i>words</i>. +Silence will not be tolerated​—​we must place ourselves +avowedly with them. 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.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">58</a></span> +“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.</p> + +<p>“I am also aware they have not, as yet, in terms, demanded +the overthrow of our Free-State Constitutions. 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.</p> + +<p>“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. 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?</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">59</a></span></p> +<p>“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?</p> + +<p>“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 ‘dont 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.</p> + +<p>“Neither let us be slandered from our duty by false accusations +against us, not 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.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>It was during this visit to New York that the following +incident occurred, as related by a teacher in the Five-Points +House of Industry, in that city:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“Our Sunday-school in the Five-Points was assembled, +one Sabbath morning, a few months since, when I noticed a +tall and remarkable-looking man enter the room and take a +seat among us. He listened with fixed attention to our exercises, +and his countenance manifested such genuine interest +that I approached him and suggested that he might be willing +to say something to the children. He accepted the invitation<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">60</a></span> +with evident pleasure, and, coming forward, began a +simple address, which at once fascinated every little hearer, +and hushed the room into silence. His language was +strikingly beautiful, and his tones musical with intensest +feeling. The little faces around would droop into sad conviction +as he uttered sentences of warning, and would brighten +into sunshine as he spoke cheerful words of promise. Once +or twice he attempted to close his remarks, but the imperative +shout of ‘Go on!’ ‘Oh, do go on!’ would compel him to resume. +As I looked upon the gaunt and sinewy frame of the +stranger, and marked his powerful head and determined +features, now touched into softness by the impressions of the +moment, I felt an irrepressible curiosity to learn something +more about him, and when he was quietly leaving the room +I begged to know his name. He courteously replied, ‘It is +Abra’m Lincoln, from Illinois!’”</p></blockquote> + +<hr /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV.</a><br /> + +<span class="subhead">NOMINATED AND ELECTED PRESIDENT.</span></h2> + +<blockquote> + +<p class="hang">The Republican National Convention​—​Democratic Convention​—​Constitutional Union +Convention​—​Ballotings at Chicago​—​The Result​—​Enthusiastic Reception​—​Visit to +Springfield​—​Address and Letter of Acceptance​—​The Campaign​—​Result of the Election​—​South +Carolina’s Movements​—​Buchanan’s pusillanimity​—​Secession of states​—​Confederate +Constitution​—​Peace Convention​—​Constitutional Amendments​—​Terms of the +Rebels.</p></blockquote> + +<p>On the 16th of May, 1860, the Republican National Convention +met at Chicago, to present candidates for the Presidency +and Vice-Presidency. The Democratic Convention +had previously adjourned, after a stormy session of some two +weeks, at which it was apparent that, if Mr. Douglas’s friends +persisted in placing him in nomination, another candidate +would be presented by the wing opposed to his peculiar views<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">61</a></span> +on the slavery question, and the great party would thus be +disrupted. Another convention, claiming to represent, in a +peculiarly individual manner, the party in favor of the Constitution +and the Union, had met at Baltimore and put in +nomination John Bell, of Tennessee, and Edward Everett, of +Massachusetts.</p> + +<p>The aspect seemed favorable for the election of the Republican +candidates, and that convention, on the morning of the +18th of May​—​one day having been spent in organizing and +another in the adoption of a platform of principles​—​amid the +intense excitement of the twelve thousand people inside of +the “Wigwam” (as the building was styled in which the body +was in session), voted to proceed at once to ballot for a candidate +for President of the United States.</p> + +<p>Seven names were formally presented in the following order: +William H. Seward, of New York; Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois; +William L. Dayton, of New Jersey; Simon Cameron, +of Pennsylvania; Salmon P. Chase, of Ohio; Edward Bates, +of Missouri; and John McLean, of Ohio.</p> + +<p>On the first ballot Mr. Seward received 173 votes, Mr. +Lincoln 102, Mr. Cameron 50, Mr. Chase 49, Mr. Bates 48, +Mr. Dayton 14, Mr. McLean 12, and there were 16 votes +scattered among candidates not put in nomination. For a +choice, 233 votes were required.</p> + +<p>On the second ballot (Mr. Cameron’s name having been +withdrawn) the vote for the several candidates was as follows: +Mr. Seward 184, Mr. Lincoln 181, Mr. Chase 42, Mr. Bates +35, Mr. Dayton 10, Mr. McLean 8, scattering 4.</p> + +<p>The third ballot was immediately taken, and, when the call +of the roll was ended, the footings were as follows: For Mr. +Lincoln 231, Mr. Seward 180, Mr. Chase 24, Mr. Bates. 22, +all others 7. Immediately before the result was announced, +four Ohio delegates changed their votes to Mr. Lincoln, giving +him a majority.</p> + +<p>The scene which followed​—​the wild, almost delirious outburst<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">62</a></span> +of applause within and without the building, the congratulations, +the hand-shakings, the various manifestations of +joy, continued with scarcely any interruption for some three-quarters +of an hour​—​was probably never before witnessed +in a popular assembly.</p> + +<p>The nomination having been made unanimous, the ticket +was completed by the selection of Senator Hannibal Hamlin, +of Maine, as Vice-President.</p> + +<p>The country then felt that the right man had for once +been put in the right place. As a man of the people, in cordial +sympathy with the masses, Mr. Lincoln enjoyed the +unhesitating confidence of the sincere friends of free labor, +regardless of party distinctions. His tried integrity and incorruptible +honesty gave promise of a return to the better +days of the republic. Every man, laboring for the advancement +of his fellow, knew that in him humanity, irrespective +of race or condition, had a tried and trusty friend.</p> + +<p>The committee, appointed to apprise him of his nomination, +found him at his home, in Springfield, a frame two-storied +house, apparently about thirty-five or forty feet square, standing +at the corner of two streets. After entering the parlor, +which was very plainly furnished, though in good taste, a +brief address was made by the chairman of the convention, +upon the utterance of the first sentence of which a smile played +round Mr. Lincoln’s large, firm-set mouth, his eyes lit up, +and his face conveyed to those who then for the first time +met him, an impression of that sincere, loving nature which +those who had known him long and well had learned in some +measure to comprehend and revere.</p> + +<div class="tb">*<span class="in2">*</span><span class="in2">*</span><span class="in2">*</span><span class="in2">*</span></div> + +<p>In response to this address, Mr. Lincoln said:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Committee</span>: I +tender to you, and through you to the Republican National +Convention, and all the people represented in it, my profoundest +thanks for the high honor done me, which you now +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">63</a></span>formally announce. Deeply, and even painfully sensible of +the great responsibility which is inseparable from this high +honor​—​a responsibility which I could almost wish had fallen +upon some one of the far more eminent men and experienced +statesmen whose distinguished names were before the Convention, +I shall, by your leave, consider more fully the resolutions +of the Convention, denominated the platform, and without +unnecessary and unreasonable delay, respond to you, Mr. +Chairman, in writing, not doubting that the platform will be +found satisfactory, and the nomination gratefully accepted. +And now I will not longer defer the pleasure of taking you, +and each of you, by the hand.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>In reply to the formal letter of the President of the Convention, +apprising him of the nomination, Mr. Lincoln addressed +the following:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p class="sigright"> + +“<i>Springfield, Illinois</i>, May 23d, 1860.</p> + +<p class="hangleft">“<span class="smcap">Hon. George Ashman</span>, <i>President of the Republican National +Convention</i>.<br /> +</p> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Sir</span>: I accept the nomination tendered me by the Convention +over which you presided, and of which I am formally +apprised in the letter of yourself and others, acting as a Committee +of the Convention for that purpose.</p> + +<p>“The declaration of principles and sentiments, which accompanies +your letter, meets my approval; and it shall be +my care not to violate, or disregard it, in any part.</p> + +<p>“Imploring the assistance of Divine Providence, and with +due regard to the views and feelings of all who were represented +in the Convention; to the rights of all the States and +Territories, and people of the nation; to the inviolability of +the Constitution, and the perpetual union, harmony and prosperity +of all, I am most happy to co-operate for the practical +success of the principles declared by the Convention,</p> + +<p class="sigright"> +<span class="l2">“Your obliged friend and fellow-citizen,</span><br /> +“<span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln</span>.”<br /> +</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">64</a></span> +The breach in the Democratic party, threatened at Charleston, +was subsequently effected by the nomination of Stephen +A. Douglas and Herschel V. Johnson, of Georgia, by one +wing, and of John C. Breckinridge, of Kentucky, and Joseph +Lane, of Oregon, by the other.</p> + +<p>Although the election of Mr. Lincoln was, under the circumstances, +almost a foregone conclusion, yet the canvass +which ensued was acrimonious and vindictive in the extreme, +the choicest selections from the rank Billingsgate vocabularies +being lavished on the head of Mr. Lincoln and his supporters.</p> + +<p>On the 6th of November, 1860, Mr. Lincoln received +1,866,452 votes, securing the electoral votes of the States of +Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode +Island, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, +Illinois, Michigan, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, California, +Oregon, and four votes of New Jersey, 180 in all; Douglas, +1,375,157 votes, and the electoral votes of Missouri, and three +of New Jersey, 12 in all; Breckinridge, 847,953, and the +votes of Maryland, Delaware, North Carolina, South Carolina, +Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, +and Texas, 72 in all; and Bell, 590,631, and the votes of +Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee, 39 in all.</p> + +<p>And now was to be tested whether words were to ripen +into deeds​—​whether threats would be reduced to practice​—​whether, +indeed, there were madness enough in any State or +States to attempt the life of the republic. Unfortunately, a +short space of time elapsed before all doubts were at an end. +Men were to be found​—​not confined to a single State, but +representatives of nearly, if not quite all​—​not to be counted +by scores or hundreds even, but by thousands, and soon by +tens of thousands​—​ready to lay their unhallowed hands upon +the Union, the ark of our nation’s glory and strength.</p> + +<p>To South Carolina belongs the bold, bad eminence of +taking the initiation in this conspiracy against the interests +of humanity. While this State​—​doomed forever after to an<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">65</a></span> +ignominy from which centuries of unquestioned loyalty cannot +free her​—​was taking the requisite steps toward secession, +the then President, James Buchanan, with a pusillanimity​—​to +use no stronger term​—​which modern history certainly has +never paralleled, in his annual message, after having urged +the unconstitutionality of the proceeding, gave explicit notification +that he had no constitutional power to prevent the +proposed measures being hastened to successful completion. +Neither, though appealed to, at a still earlier day, by the +veteran chief of the army, to occupy and hold the United +States on the Southern coast, could he find any warrant for +protecting and defending the national property.</p> + +<p>Surely nothing more could the conspirators have desired. +On the 20th of December, 1860, South Carolina claims to +secede​—​Government forts and arsenals are seized, and +placed under the protection of the flag of the State. Georgia’s +Governor lays hand on the United States forts on the coast +of that State, on the 3d of January, 1861; as did the Executive +of Alabama on the following day.</p> + +<p>Events of a startling nature follow in rapid succession. +On the 9th of January, hostile shots are fired upon a vessel +bringing tardy reinforcements to Fort Sumter, and Mississippi +assumes to put herself out of the Union. Alabama, Florida, +and Georgia are not laggard; nor are Texas and Louisiana +found wanting. Cabinet officers from the slave States either +resigned, after having aided the fell work to their utmost, or +remained only to hasten its consummation. A new constitution, +“temporary” in its nature, was declared by delegates +from the seven States then in rebellion, and a President and +Vice-President appointed.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile a convention, composed of delegates from most +of the Free States, and from all the border Slave States, was +striving, at Washington, to heal existing difficulties by compromise. +Of its members some were acting in good faith, +others were using it as a breakwater for the States already<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">66</a></span> +in overt rebellion. A series of resolutions, however, aiming +at peace on the basis of a preserved Union was agreed to by +a majority, and the body adjourned on the 1st of March.</p> + +<p>On the 11th of February, moreover, the National House of +Representatives unanimously adopted a resolution​—​shortly +afterward concurred in by the Senate​—​providing for an +amendment to the Constitution, forever prohibiting any Congressional +legislation interfering with slavery in any State. +Some there were, too, who were willing to concede almost +every thing and surrender the long mooted question of slavery +in the territories by the adoption of the so-called Crittenden +resolutions, which were killed in cold blood by Southern +Senators.</p> + +<p>But no concession, short of actual national degradation, +would satisfy the recusants. Jefferson Davis, the head of the +“Confederacy,” on placing himself at the head of the rebellion, +at Montgomery, Alabama, February 18th, modestly defined +the position of himself and his co-conspirators thus:</p> + +<p>“If a just perception of neutral interest shall permit us +peaceably to pursue our separate political career, my most +earnest desire will have been fulfilled. But if this be denied +us, and the integrity of our territory and jurisdiction be +assailed, it will but remain for us with firm resolve to appeal +to arms, and invoke the blessing of Providence on a just +cause.”</p> + +<p>This was at once clinched by a recommendation that “a +well-instructed, disciplined army, more numerous than would +usually be required, on a peace establishment,” should be at +once organized and put in training for the emergency.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">67</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V.</a><br /> + +<span class="subhead">TO WASHINGTON.</span></h2> + +<blockquote> + +<p class="hang">The Departure​—​Farewell Remarks​—​Speech at Toledo​—​At Indianapolis​—​At Cincinnati​—​At +Columbus​—​At Steubenville​—​At Pittsburgh​—​At Cleveland​—​At Buffalo​—​At Albany​—​At +Poughkeepsie​—​At New York​—​At Trenton​—​At Philadelphia​—​At “Independence +Hall”​—​Flag-raising​—​Speech at Harrisburg​—​Secret Departure for Washington​—​Comments.</p></blockquote> + +<p>Thus matters stood​—​the air filled with mutterings of an +approaching storm​—​the most filled with a certain undefinable +anxiety​—​the hearts of many failing them through fear​—​when, +on the morning of the 11th of February, 1861, the +President elect with his family, bade adieu to that prairie +home which, alas! he was never again to see.</p> + +<div class="tb">*<span class="in2">*</span><span class="in2">*</span><span class="in2">*</span><span class="in2">*</span></div> + +<p>The large throng which had assembled at the railway +station on the occasion of his departure, he addressed in +words replete with the pathos of every true manly nature:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">My Friends</span>:​—​No one, not in my position, can appreciate +the sadness I feel at this parting. To this people I owe +all that I am. Here I have lived more than a quarter of a +century; here my children were born, and here one of them +lies buried. I know not how soon I shall see you again. A +duty devolves upon me which is, perhaps, greater than that +which has devolved upon any other man since the days of +Washington. He never could have succeeded except for the +aid of Divine Providence, upon which he at all times relied. +I feel that I cannot succeed without the same Divine aid +which sustained him; and in the same Almighty being I +place my reliance for support, and I hope you, my friends, will +all pray that I may receive that Divine assistance, without +which I can not succeed, but with which success is certain. +Again, I bid you all an affectionate farewell.”</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">68</a></span> +Along the route, multitudes gathered at the stations to +greet him. At Toledo, Ohio, in reply to repeated calls, he +appeared on the platform of the car and said:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“I am leaving you on an errand of national importance, +attended, as you are aware, with considerable difficulties. +Let us believe, as some poet has expressed it, ‘Behind the +cloud the sun is shining still.’ I bid you an affectionate farewell.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>At Indianapolis, on the evening of the same day, in reply +to an official address of welcome, he gave the first direct +public intimation of his views concerning the absorbing +topics of the day, in which homely sense and cheerful +pleasantry were blended with a skill beyond the power of +mere art:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Fellow Citizens of the State of Indiana</span>:​—​I am here +to thank you for this magnificent welcome, and still more for +the very generous support given by your State to that +political cause, which, I think, is the true and just cause of +the whole country, and the whole world. Solomon says, +‘there is a time to keep silence;’ and when men wrangle by +the mouth, with no certainty that they mean the same thing +while using the same words, it perhaps were as well if they +would keep silence.</p> + +<p>“The words ‘coercion’ and ‘invasion’ are much used in +these days, and often with some temper and hot blood. Let +us make sure, if we can, that we do not misunderstand the +meaning of those who use them. Let us get the exact definitions +of these words, not from dictionaries, but from the +men themselves, who certainly deprecate the things they +would represent by the use of the words.</p> + +<p>“What, then, is coercion? What is invasion? Would +the marching of an army into South Carolina, without +the consent of her people, and with hostile intent toward +them, be invasion? I certainly think it would, and it would +be coercion also, if the South Carolinians were forced to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">69</a></span> +submit. But if the United States should merely hold and +retake its own forts and other property, and collect the duties +on foreign importations, or even withhold the mails from +places where they were habitually violated, would any or all +of these things be invasion or coercion? Do our professed +lovers of the Union, who spitefully resolve that they will +resist coercion and invasion, understand that such things as +these, on the part of the United States, would be coercion or +invasion of a State? If so, their idea of means to preserve +the object of their great affection would seem to be exceedingly +thin and airy. If sick, the little pills of the homeopathist +would be much too large for it to swallow. In their view, +the Union, as a family relation, would seem to be no regular +marriage, but rather a sort of ‘free-love’ arrangement, to be +maintained on passional attraction.</p> + +<p>“By the way, in what consists the special sacredness of a +State? I speak not of the position assigned to a State in the +Union by the Constitution, for that is a bond we all recognize. +That position, however, a State cannot carry out of +the Union with it. I speak of that assumed primary right +of a State to rule all which is less than itself, and to ruin all +which is larger than itself. If a State and a County, +in a given case, should be equal in number of inhabitants, in +what, as a matter of principle, is the State better than +the County? Would an exchange of name be an exchange +of rights? Upon what principle, upon what rightful principle, +may a State, being no more than one-fiftieth part of the +nation in soil and population, break up the nation, and then +coerce a proportionally large sub-division of itself in the +most arbitrary way? What mysterious right to play tyrant +is conferred on a district or country with its people, by +merely calling it a State? Fellow citizens, I am not asserting +any thing. I am merely asking questions for you to +consider. And now allow me to bid you farewell.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>Proceeding to Cincinnati, he received a most enthusiastic<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">70</a></span> +welcome. Having been addressed by the mayor of the city, +and escorted by a civic and military procession to the Burnet +House, he addressed the assemblage in these words:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Fellow-Citizens</span>: I have spoken but once before this in +Cincinnati. That was a year previous to the late Presidential +election. On that occasion in a playful manner, but with +sincere words, I addressed much of what I said to the Kentuckians. +I gave my opinion that we, as Republicans, would +ultimately beat them as Democrats, but that they could postpone +the result longer by nominating Senator Douglas for the +Presidency than they could in any other way. They did not, +in any true sense of the word, nominate Mr. Douglas, and the +result has come certainly as soon as ever I expected.</p> + +<p>“I also told them how I expected they would be treated +after they should have been beaten, and now wish to call +their attention to what I then said:</p> + +<p>“‘When we do, as we say we will, beat you, you perhaps +want to know what we will do with you. I will tell you​—​as +far as I am authorized to speak for the opposition​—​what +we mean to do with you. We mean to treat you as near as +we possibly can, as Washington, Jefferson, and Madison +treated you. We mean to leave you alone, and in no way to +interfere with your institutions; to abide by all and every +compromise of the Constitution. In a word, coming back to +the original proposition, to treat you, as far as degenerate +men​—​if we have degenerated​—​may, according to the example +of those noble fathers, Washington, Jefferson, and Madison. +We mean to remember that you are as good as we; +that there is no difference between us other than the difference +of circumstances. We mean to recognize and bear in mind +always that you have as good hearts in your bosoms as other +people, or as we claim to have, and to treat you accordingly.’</p> + +<p>“Fellow-citizens of Kentucky, friends, brethren: May I +call you such? In my new position I see no occasion and +feel no inclination to retract a word of this. If it shall<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">71</a></span> +not be made good be assured that the fault shall not be +mine.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>On the next morning he left Cincinnati, and arrived at +Columbus, where he was received with every demonstration +of enthusiasm. He visited the Governor in the Executive +Chamber, and was subsequently introduced to the members +of the Legislature in joint session, when he was formally +welcomed by the Lieutenant-Governor, to whom Mr. Lincoln +responded in these words:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“It is true, as has been said by the President of the Senate, +that very great responsibility rests upon me in the position +to which the votes of the American people have called me. +I am deeply sensible of that weighty responsibility. I cannot +but know, what you all know, that without a name​—​perhaps +without a reason why I should have a name​—​there +has fallen upon me a task such as did not rest upon the +Father of his Country. And so feeling, I cannot but turn +and look for the support without which it will be impossible +for me to perform that great task. I turn, then, and look to +the American people, and to that God who has never forsaken +them.</p> + +<p>“Allusion has been made to the interest felt in relation to +the policy of the new Administration. In this, I have received +from some a degree of credit for having kept silence, +from others some depreciation. I still think I was right. In +the varying and repeatedly shifting scenes of the present, +without a precedent which could enable me to judge for the +past, it has seemed fitting, that before speaking upon the +difficulties of the country I should have gained a view of the +whole field. To be sure, after all, I would be at liberty to +modify and change the course of policy as future events +might make a change necessary.</p> + +<p>“I have not maintained silence from any want of real anxiety. +It is a good thing that there is no more than anxiety, +for there is nothing going wrong. It is a consoling circumstance<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">72</a></span> +that when we look out there is nothing that really +hurts anybody. We entertain different views upon political +questions, but nobody is suffering any thing. This is a most +consoling circumstance, and from it I judge that all we want +is time and patience, and a reliance on that God who has +never forsaken this people.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>On the 14th of February, Mr. Lincoln proceeded to Pittsburgh. +At Steubenville, on the route, in reply to an address, +he said:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“I fear the great confidence placed in my ability is unfounded. +Indeed, I am sure it is. Encompassed by vast +difficulties, as I am, nothing shall be wanted on my part, if +sustained by the American people and God. I believe the +devotion to the Constitution is equally great on both sides of +the river. It is only the different understanding of that instrument +that causes difficulties. The only dispute is ‘What +are their rights?’ If the majority should not rule who should +be the judge? Where is such a judge to be found? We +should all be bound by the majority of the American people​—​if +not, then the minority must control. Would that be +right? Would it be just or generous? Assuredly not.” He +reiterated, the majority should rule. If he adopted a wrong +policy, then the opportunity to condemn him would occur in +four years’ time. “Then I can be turned out and a better +man with better views put in my place.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>The next morning he left for Cleveland, but before his departure +he made an address to the people of Pittsburgh, in +which he said:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“In every short address I have made to the people, and in +every crowd through which I have passed of late, some allusion +has been made to the present distracted condition of +the country. It is naturally expected that I should say +something upon this subject, but to touch upon it at all would +involve an elaborate discussion of a great many questions +and circumstances, would require more time than I can at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">73</a></span> +present command, and would perhaps unnecessarily commit +me upon matters which have not yet fully developed themselves.</p> + +<p>“The condition of the country, fellow-citizens, is an extraordinary +one, and fills the mind of every patriot with +anxiety and solicitude. My intention is to give this subject +all the consideration which I possibly can before I speak fully +and definitely in regard to it, so that, when I do speak, I +may be as nearly right as possible. And when I do speak, +fellow-citizens, I hope to say nothing in opposition to the +spirit of the Constitution, contrary to the integrity of the +Union, or which will in any way prove inimical to the liberties +of the people or to the peace of the whole country. +And, furthermore, when the time arrives for me to speak on +this great subject, I hope to say nothing which will disappoint +the reasonable expectations of any man, or disappoint +the people generally throughout the country, especially if +their expectations have been based upon any thing which I +may have heretofore said.</p> + +<p>“Notwithstanding the troubles across the river [the +speaker, smiling, pointed southwardly to the Monongahela +river], there is really no crisis springing from any thing in +the Government itself. In plain words, there is really no +crisis except an artificial one. What is there now to warrant +the condition of affairs presented by our friends ‘over the +river?’ Take even their own view of the questions involved, +and there is nothing to justify the course which they are pursuing. +I repeat it, then, there is no crisis, except such a one +as may be gotten up at any time by turbulent men, aided by +designing politicians. My advice, then, under such circumstances, +is to keep cool. If the great American people will +only keep their temper on both sides of the line, the trouble +will come to an end, and the question which now distracts +the country will be settled just as surely as all other difficulties +of like character which have originated in this +government have been adjusted. Let the people on both<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">74</a></span> +sides keep their self-possession, and just as other clouds have +cleared away in due time, so will this, and this great nation +shall continue to prosper as heretofore.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>He then referred to the subject of the tariff, and said:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“According to my political education, I am inclined to +believe that the people in the various portions of the country +should have their own views carried out through their representatives +in Congress. That consideration of the tariff bill +should not be postponed until the next session of the National +Legislature. No subject should engage your representatives +more closely than that of the tariff. If I have +any recommendation to make, it will be that every man who +is called upon to serve the people, in a representative capacity, +should study the whole subject thoroughly, as I intend +to do myself, looking to all the varied interests of the common +country, so that, when the time for action arrives, adequate +protection shall be extended to the coal and iron of +Pennsylvania, and the corn of Illinois. Permit me to express +the hope that this important subject may receive such consideration +at the hands of your representatives that the +interests of no part of the country may be overlooked, but +that all sections may share in the common benefits of a just +and equitable tariff.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>Mr. Lincoln, upon his arrival in Cleveland, adverted to the +same subject in the following terms:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“It is with you, the people, to advance the great cause of +the Union and the Constitution, and not with any one man. +It rests with you alone. This fact is strongly impressed on +my mind at present. In a community like this, whose appearance +testifies to their intelligence, I am convinced that +the cause of liberty and the Union can never be in danger. +Frequent allusion is made to the excitement at present existing +in national politics. I think there is no occasion for any +excitement. The crisis, as it is called, is altogether an artificial +crisis. In all parts of the nation, there are differences<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">75</a></span> +of opinion in politics. There are differences of opinion even +here. You did not all vote for the person who now addresses +you. And how is it with those who are not here? Have +they not all their rights as they ever had? Do they not have +their fugitive slaves returned now as ever? Have they not +the same Constitution that they have lived under for seventy +odd years? Have they not a position as citizens of this +common country, and have we any power to change that +position? What, then, is the matter with them? Why all +this excitement? Why all these complaints? As I said +before, this crisis is all artificial. It has no foundation in +fact. It was ‘argued up,’ as the saying is, and cannot be +argued down. Let it alone, and it will go down itself.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>On Saturday he proceeded to Buffalo, where he arrived +at evening, and was met by an immense concourse of citizens +headed by Ex-President Fillmore.</p> + +<p>Arriving at the hotel, Mr. Lincoln was welcomed in a +brief speech by the acting chief magistrate, to which he made +a brief reply, as follows:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Mr. Mayor and Fellow Citizens</span>:​—​I am here to thank +you briefly for this grand reception given to me not personally, +but as the representative of our great and beloved country. +Your worthy Mayor has been pleased to mention in his +address to me, the fortunate and agreeable journey which I +have had from home​—​only it is rather a circuitous route to +the Federal Capitol. I am very happy that he was enabled, +in truth, to congratulate myself and company on that fact. +It is true, we have had nothing thus far to mar the pleasure +of the trip. We have not been met alone by those who +assisted in giving the election to me; I say not alone, but by +the whole population of the country through which we have +passed. This is as it should be. Had the election fallen to +any other of the distinguished candidates instead of myself, +under the peculiar circumstances, to say the least, it would +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">76</a></span>have been proper for all citizens to have greeted him as you +now greet me. It is an evidence of the devotion of the whole +people to the Constitution, the Union, and the perpetuity of +the liberties of this country. I am unwilling, on any occasion, +that I should be so meanly thought of as to have it supposed +for a moment that these demonstrations are tendered +to me personally. They are tendered to the country, to the +institutions of the country, and to the perpetuity of the liberties +of the country for which these institutions were made and +created. Your worthy mayor has thought fit to express the +hope that I may be able to relieve the country from the present, +or, I should say, the threatened difficulties. I am sure +I bring a heart true to the work. For the ability to perform +it, I trust in that Supreme Being who has never forsaken this +favored land, through the instrumentality of this great and +intelligent people. Without that assistance I should surely +fail; with it I cannot fail. When we speak of the threatened +difficulties to the country, it is natural that it should be expected +that something should be said by myself with regard to +particular measures. Upon more mature reflection, however, +I think,​—​and others will agree with me​—​that, when it is considered +that these difficulties are without precedent, and never +have been acted upon by any individual situated as I am, it +is most proper that I should wait and see the developments, +and get all the light possible, so that, when I do speak +authoritatively, I may be as near right as possible. When I +shall speak authoritatively, I hope to say nothing inconsistent +with the Constitution, the Union, the rights of all the States, +of each State, and of each section of the country, and not to +disappoint the reasonable expectations of those who have +confided to me their votes. In this connection, allow me to +say that you, as a portion of the great American people, need +only to maintain your composure, stand up to your sober +convictions of right, to your obligations to the Constitution, +and act in accordance with those sober convictions, and the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">77</a></span> +clouds which now arise in the horizon will be dispelled, and +we shall have a bright and glorious future; and, when this +generation shall have passed away, tens of thousands shall +inhabit this country where only thousands inhabit it now. I +do not propose to address you at length. I have no voice for +it. Allow me again to thank you for this magnificent reception, +and bid you farewell.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>Mr. Lincoln then proceeded from Buffalo to Albany. Here +he was met by the Mayor, the City Councils, and the Legislative +Committees, and was conducted to the Capitol, where +he was welcomed by Governor Morgan, and responded briefly, +as follows:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Governor Morgan</span>:​—​I was pleased to receive an invitation +to visit the capital of the great Empire State of this +nation, while on my way to the Federal capital. I now thank +you, and you, the people of the capital of the State of New +York, for this most hearty and magnificent welcome. If I am +not at fault, the great Empire State at this time contains a +larger population than did the whole of the United States of +America at the time they achieved their national independence; +and I was proud to be invited to visit its capital, to +meet its citizens as I now have the honor to do. I am notified +by your governor that this reception is tendered by citizens +without distinction of party. Because of this, I accept it the +more gladly. In this country, and in any country where freedom +of thought is tolerated, citizens attach themselves to political +parties. It is but an ordinary degree of charity to attribute +this act to the supposition that, in thus attaching themselves +to the various parties, each man, in his own judgment, +supposes he thereby best advances the interests of the whole +country. And when an election is passed, it is altogether +befitting a free people that, until the next election, they should +be one people. The reception you have extended me to-day +is not given to me personally. It should not be so, but as the +representative, for the time being, of the majority of the nation.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">78</a></span> +If the election had fallen to any of the more distinguished citizens, +who received the support of the people, this same honor +should have greeted him that greets me this day, in testimony +of the unanimous devotion of the whole people to the Constitution, +the Union, and to the perpetual liberties of succeeding +generations in this country. I have neither the voice nor the +strength to address you at any greater length. I beg you +will, therefore, accept my most grateful thanks for this manifest +devotion​—​not to me but to the institutions of this great +and glorious country.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>He was then conducted to the Legislative halls, where, in +reply to an address of welcome, he again adverted to the troubles +of the country in the following terms:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Legislature Of +The State of New York</span>:​—​It is with feelings of great diffidence, +and, I may say, feelings even of awe, perhaps greater +than I have recently experienced, that I meet you here in this +place. The history of this great State, the renown of its great +men, who have stood in this chamber, and have spoken their +thoughts, all crowd around my fancy, and incline me to shrink +from an attempt to address you. Yet I have some confidence +given me by the generous manner in which you have invited +me, and the still more generous manner in which you have received +me. You have invited me and received me without distinction +of party. I could not for a moment suppose that this +has been done in any considerable degree with any reference +to my personal self. It is very much more grateful to me +that this reception and the invitation preceding it were given +to me as the representative of a free people, than it could possibly +have been were they but the evidence of devotion to me +or to any one man. It is true that, while I hold myself, +without mock-modesty, the humblest of all the individuals +who have ever been elected President of the United States, I +yet have a more difficult task to perform than any one of them +has ever encountered. You have here generously tendered<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">79</a></span> +me the support, the united support, of the great Empire State. +For this, in behalf of the nation​—​in behalf of the President +and of the future of the nation​—​in behalf of the cause of civil +liberty in all time to come​—​I most gratefully thank you. I +do not propose now to enter upon any expressions as to the +particular line of policy to be adopted with reference to the +difficulties that stand before us in the opening of the incoming +administration. I deem that it is just to the country, to myself, +to you, that I should see every thing, hear every thing, +and have every light that can possibly be brought within my +reach to aid me before I shall speak officially, in order that, +when I do speak, I may have the best possible means of +taking correct and true grounds. For this reason, I do not +now announce any thing in the way of policy for the new +Administration. When the time comes, according to the custom +of the Government, I shall speak, and speak as well as I +am able for the good of the present and of the future of this +country​—​for the good of the North and of the South​—​for the +good of one and of the other, and of all sections of it. In the +meantime, if we have patience, if we maintain our equanimity, +though some may allow themselves to run off in a burst of +passion, I still have confidence that the Almighty Ruler of +the Universe, through the instrumentality of this great and +intelligent people, can and will bring us through this difficulty, +as he has heretofore brought us through all preceding difficulties +of the country. Relying upon this, and again thanking +you, as I forever shall, in my heart, for this generous reception +you have given me, I bid you farewell.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>At Albany, he was met by a delegation from the city +authorities of New York, and on the 19th started for that +city. At Poughkeepsie, he was welcomed by the Mayor of +the city. Mr. Lincoln, in reply, said:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“I am grateful for this cordial welcome, and I am gratified +that this immense multitude has come together not to meet<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">80</a></span> +the individual man, but the man who, for the time being, will +humbly but earnestly represent the majesty of the nation. +These receptions have been given me at other places, and, as +here, by men of different parties, and not by one party alone. +It shows an earnest effort on the part of all to save, not the +country, for the country can save itself, but to save the institutions +of the country​—​those institutions under which, for at +least three-quarters of a century, we have become the +greatest, the most intelligent, and the happiest people in the +world. These manifestations show that we all make common +cause for these objects; that if some of us are successful in an +election, and others are beaten, those who are beaten are not +in favor of sinking the ship in consequence of defeat, but are +earnest in their purpose to sail it safely through the voyage +in hand, and, in so far as they may think there has been any +mistake in the election, satisfying themselves to take their +chance of setting the matter right the next time. That +course is entirely right. I am not sure​—​I do not pretend to +be sure​—​that in the election of the individual who has been +elected this term, the wisest choice has been made. I fear +it has not. In the purposes and in the principles that have +been sustained, I have been the instrument selected to carry +forward the affairs of this Government. I can rely upon you, +and upon the people of the country; and with their sustaining +hand, I think that even I shall not fail in carrying the +Ship of State through the storm.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>The reception of President Lincoln in New York City was +a most imposing demonstration. Places of business were +generally closed, and hundreds of thousands were in the +streets. On the next day, he was welcomed to the city by +Mayor Wood, and replied as follows:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Mr. Mayor</span>: It is with feelings of deep gratitude that I +make my acknowledgments for the reception given me in the +great commercial city of New York. I cannot but remember<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">81</a></span> +that this is done by a people who do not, by a majority, +agree with me in political sentiment. It is the more grateful, +because in this I see that, for the great principles of our +Government, the people are almost unanimous. In regard +to the difficulties that confront us at this time, and of which +your Honor has thought fit to speak so becomingly and +so justly, as I suppose, I can only say that I agree in the +sentiments expressed. In my devotion to the Union, I hope +I am behind no man in the nation. In the wisdom with +which to conduct the affairs tending to the preservation of the +Union, I fear that too great confidence may have been reposed +in me; but I am sure I bring a heart devoted to the work. +There is nothing that could ever bring me to willingly consent +to the destruction of this Union, under which not only +the great commercial city of New York, but the whole +country, acquired its greatness, except it be the purpose for +which the Union itself was formed. I understand the ship to +be made for the carrying and the preservation of the cargo, and +so long as the ship can be saved with the cargo, it should never +be abandoned, unless it fails the possibility of its preservation, +and shall cease to exist, except at the risk of throwing overboard +both freight and passengers. So long, then, as it is +possible that the prosperity and the liberties of the people be +preserved in this Union, it shall be my purpose at all times to +use all my powers to aid in its perpetuation. Again thanking +you for the reception given me, allow me to come to a close.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>On the next day he left for Philadelphia. At Trenton he +remained a few hours, and visited both Houses of the Legislature. +On being received in the Senate, he thus addressed +that body:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Senate of The +State of New Jersey</span>:​—​I am very grateful to you for the +honorable reception of which I have been the object. I cannot +but remember the place that New Jersey holds in our early history.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">82</a></span> +In the early Revolutionary struggle, few of the States +among the old Thirteen had more of the battle-fields of the +country within its limits than old New Jersey. May I be pardoned, +if, upon this occasion, I mention that away back in my +childhood, the earliest days of my being able to read, I got +hold of a small book, such a one as few of the younger members +have ever seen, ‘Weems’ Life of Washington.’ I remember +all the accounts there given of the battle-fields and struggles +for the liberties of the country, and none fixed themselves +upon my imagination so deeply as the struggle here at +Trenton, New Jersey. The crossing of the river​—​the +contest with the Hessians​—​the great hardships endured +at that time​—​all fixed themselves on my memory more than +any single revolutionary event; and you all know, for +you have all been boys, how these early impressions last +longer than any others. I recollect thinking then, boy even +though I was, that there must have been something more +than common that those men struggled for. I am exceedingly +anxious that that thing which they struggled for​—​that +something even more than National Independence​—​that +something that held out a great promise to all the people of +the world to all time to come​—​I am exceedingly anxious +that this Union, the Constitution, and the liberties of the +people, shall be perpetuated in accordance with the original +idea for which that struggle was made, and I shall be most +happy indeed, if I shall be an humble instrument in the +hands of the Almighty, and of this, His almost chosen +people, for perpetuating the object of that great struggle. +You give me this reception, as I understand, without distinction +of party. I learn that this body is composed of a +majority of gentlemen who, in the exercise of their best +judgment in the choice of a Chief Magistrate, did not think +I was the man. I understand, nevertheless, that they came +forward here to greet me as the Constitutional President of +the United States​—​as citizens of the United States, to meet +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">83</a></span>the man who, for the time being, is the representative man of +the nation, united by a purpose to perpetuate the Union and +liberties of the people. As such, I accept this reception +more gratefully than I could do did I believe it was tendered +to me as an individual.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>He then passed into the Chamber of the Assembly, and +upon being introduced by the Speaker, addressed that body +as follows:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Mr. Speaker and Gentlemen</span>:​—​I have just enjoyed the +honor of a reception by the other branch of this Legislature, +and I return to you and them my thanks for the reception +which the people of New Jersey have given, through their +chosen representatives, to me, as the representative, for the +time being, of the majesty of the people of the United +States. I appropriate to myself very little of the demonstrations +of respect with which I have been greeted. I think +little should be given to any man, but that it should be +a manifestation of adherence to the Union and the Constitution. +I understand myself to be received here by the representatives +of the people of New Jersey, a majority of whom +differ in opinion from those with whom I have acted. This +manifestation is therefore to be regarded by me as expressing +their devotion to the Union, the Constitution, and the +liberties of the people. You, Mr. Speaker, have well said, +that this is the time when the bravest and wisest look with +doubt and awe upon the aspect presented by our national +affairs. Under these circumstances, you will readily see why +I should not speak in detail of the course I shall deem it +best to pursue. It is proper that I should avail myself of +all the information and all the time at my command, in order +that when the time arrives in which I must speak officially, +I shall be able to take the ground which I deem the best and +safest, and from which I may have no occasion to swerve. I +shall endeavor to take the ground I deem most just to the +North, the East, the West, the South, and the whole country.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">84</a></span> +I take it, I hope, in good temper​—​certainly with no malice +towards any section. I shall do all that may be in my power +to promote a peaceful settlement of all our difficulties. The +man does not live who is more devoted to peace than I am​—​none +who would do more to preserve it. But it may be +necessary to put the foot down firmly. And if I do my duty, +and do right, you will sustain me, will you not? Received, +as I am, by the members of a Legislature, the majority of +whom do not agree with me in political sentiments, I trust +that I may have their assistance in piloting the Ship of +State through this voyage, surrounded by perils as it is; for +if it should suffer shipwreck now, there will be no pilot ever +needed for another voyage.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>On his arrival in Philadelphia, he was received with great +enthusiasm, and to an address from the Mayor Mr. Lincoln +replied:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Mr. Mayor and Fellow-citizens of Philadelphia</span>:​—​I +appear before you to make no lengthy speech but to +thank you for this reception. The reception you have given +me to-night is not to me, the man, the individual, but to the +man who temporarily represents, or should represent, the +majesty of the nation. It is true, as your worthy Mayor has +said, that there is anxiety among the citizens of the United +States at this time. I deem it a happy circumstance that +this dissatisfied portion of our fellow-citizens do not point us +to any thing in which they are being injured, or are about to +be injured; for which reason I have felt all the while justified +in concluding that the crisis, the panic, the anxiety of the +country at this time, is artificial. If there be those who differ +with me upon this subject, they have not pointed out the +substantial difficulty that exists. I do not mean to say that +an artificial panic may not do considerable harm; that it has +done such I do not deny. The hope that has been expressed +by your Mayor, that I may be able to restore peace, harmony, +and prosperity to the country, is most worthy of him; and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">85</a></span> +happy indeed will I be if I shall be able to verify and fulfil +that hope. I promise you, in all sincerity, that I bring to +the work a sincere heart. Whether I will bring a head equal +to that heart, will be for future times to determine. It were +useless for me to speak of details or plans now; I shall speak +officially next Monday week, if ever. If I should not speak +then, it were useless for me to do so now. If I do speak +then, it is useless for me to do so now. When I do speak, I +shall take such grounds as I deem best calculated to restore +peace, harmony, and prosperity to the country, and tend to +the perpetuity of the nation, and the liberty of these States +and these people. Your worthy Mayor has expressed the +wish, in which I join with him, that if it were convenient for +me to remain with your city long enough to consult your +merchants and manufacturers; or, as it were, to listen to +those breathings rising within the consecrated walls wherein +the Constitution of the United States, and, I will add, the +Declaration of Independence, were originally framed and +adopted. I assure you and your Mayor, that I had hoped +on this occasion, and upon all occasions during my life, that +I shall do nothing inconsistent with the teachings of these +holy and most sacred walls. I never asked any thing that +does not breathe from those walls. All my political warfare +has been in favor of the teachings that come forth from these +sacred walls. May my right hand forget its cunning, and +my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if ever I prove +false to those teachings. Fellow-citizens, now allow me to +bid you good-night.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>On the next morning Mr. Lincoln visited the old “Independence +Hall,” for the purpose of raising the national flag +over it. Here he was received with a warm welcome, and +made the following address:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“I am filled with deep emotion at finding myself standing +here, in this place, where were collected the wisdom, the +patriotism, the devotion to principle, from which sprang the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">86</a></span> +institutions under which we live. You have kindly suggested +to me that in my hands is the task of restoring peace to the +present distracted condition of the country. I can say in +return, sir, that all the political sentiments I entertain have +been drawn, so far as I have been able to draw them, from +the sentiments which originated and were given to the world +from this hall. I have never had a feeling politically that +did not spring from the sentiments embodied in the Declaration +of Independence. I have often pondered over the +dangers which were incurred by the men who assembled +here, and framed and adopted that Declaration of Independence. +I have pondered over the toils that were endured by +the officers and soldiers of the army who achieved that independence. +I have often inquired of myself what great principle +or idea it was that kept this Confederacy so long +together. It was not the mere matter of the separation of +the colonies from the mother-land, but that sentiment in the +Declaration of Independence which gave liberty, not alone to +the people of this country, but, I hope, to the world for all +future time. It was that which gave promise that in due +time the weight would be lifted from the shoulders of all men. +This is a sentiment embodied in the Declaration of Independence. +Now, my friends, can this country be saved upon +this basis? If it can, I will consider myself one of the +happiest men in the world if I can help to save it. If it +cannot be saved upon that principle, it will be truly awful. +But if this country cannot be saved without giving up that +principle, I was about to say I would rather be assassinated +on this spot than surrender it. Now, in my view of the +present aspect of affairs, there need be no bloodshed or war. +There is no necessity for it. I am not in favor of such a +course, and I may say, in advance, that there will be no +blood shed unless it be forced upon the government, and then +it will be compelled to act in self-defence.</p> + +<p>“My friends, this is wholly an unexpected speech, and I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">87</a></span> +did not expect to be called upon to say a word when I came +here. I supposed it was merely to do something towards +raising the flag. I may, therefore, have said something indiscreet. +I have said nothing but what I am willing to live +by, and, if it be the pleasure of Almighty God, to die by.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>The party then proceeded to a platform erected in front +of the State House, when the President-elect was invited to +raise the flag. Mr. Lincoln responded in a brief speech, +stating his cheerful compliance with the request, and alluded +to the original flag of thirteen stars, saying that the number +had increased as time rolled on, and we now became a happy +and a powerful people, each star adding to its prosperity. +“The future,” he added, “is in the hands of the people. It is +on such an occasion as this that we can reason together, reaffirm +our devotion to the country and the principles of the +Declaration of Independence. Let us make up our mind, +that when we do put a new star upon our banner, it shall be +a fixed one, never to be dimmed by the horrors of war, but +brightened by the contentment and prosperity of peace. Let +us go on to extend the area of our usefulness, add star upon +star, until their light shall shine upon five hundred millions +of a free and happy people.”</p> + +<p>The President-elect then raised the flag to the top of the +staff.</p> + +<p>At half-past 9 o’clock the party left for Harrisburg. Both +Houses of the Legislature were visited by Mr. Lincoln, and to +an address of welcome he thus replied:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“I appear before you only for a very few brief remarks, in +response to what has been said to me. I thank you most +sincerely for this reception, and the generous words in which +support has been promised me upon this occasion. I thank +your great commonwealth for the overwhelming support it +recently gave, not to me personally, but the cause, which I +think a just one, in the late election. Allusion has been +made to the fact​—​the interesting fact, perhaps we should say​—​that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">88</a></span> +I, for the first time, appear at the Capital of the great +Commonwealth of Pennsylvania upon the birthday of the +Father of his Country, in connection with that beloved anniversary +connected with the history of this country. I have +already gone through one exceedingly interesting scene this +morning in the ceremonies at Philadelphia. Under the high +conduct of gentlemen there, I was, for the first time, allowed +the privilege of standing in Old Independence Hall, to have +a few words addressed to me there, and opening up to me an +opportunity of expressing, with much regret, that I had not +more time to express something of my own feelings, excited +by the occasion, somewhat to harmonize and give shape to +the feelings that had been really the feelings of my whole life. +Besides this, our friends there had provided a magnificent +flag of the country. They had arranged it so that I was +given the honor of raising it to the head of its staff. And +when it went up I was pleased that it went to its place by +the strength of my own feeble arm; when, according to the +arrangement, the cord was pulled, and it flaunted gloriously +to the wind without an accident, in the bright glowing sunshine +of the morning, I could not help hoping that there was +in the entire success of that beautiful ceremony at least something +of an omen of what is to come. Nor could I help +feeling then, as I often have felt, in the whole of that proceeding, +I was a very humble instrument. I had not provided +the flag; I had not made the arrangements for elevating it to +its place. I had applied but a very small portion of my +feeble strength in raising it. In the whole transaction I was +in the hands of the people who had arranged it; and if I can +have the same generous coöperation of the people of the +nation, I think the flag of our country may yet be kept +flaunting gloriously. I recur for a moment but to repeat +some words uttered at the hotel in regard to what has been +said about the military support which the General Government +may expect from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">89</a></span>in a proper emergency. To guard against any possible mistake +do I recur to this. It is not with any pleasure that I +contemplate the possibility that a necessity may arise in this +country for the use of the military arm. While I am exceedingly +gratified to see the manifestation upon your streets of +your military force here, and exceedingly gratified at your +promise here to use that force upon a proper emergency​—​while +I make these acknowledgements, I desire to repeat, in +order to preclude any possible misconstruction, that I do +most sincerely hope that we shall have no use for them; that +it will never become their duty to shed blood, and most +especially never to shed fraternal blood. I promise that, so +far as I have wisdom to direct, if so painful a result shall in +any wise be brought about, it shall be through no fault of +mine. Allusion has also been made by one of your honored +speakers to some remark recently made by myself at Pittsburg, +in regard to what is supposed to be the especial +interest of this great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. I +now wish only to say, in regard to that matter, that the few +remarks which I uttered on that occasion were rather carefully +worded. I took pains that they should be so. I have +seen no occasion since to add to them or subtract from them. +I leave them precisely as they stand, adding only now, that +I am pleased to have an expression from you, gentlemen of +Pennsylvania, significant that they are satisfactory to you. +And now, gentlemen of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth +of Pennsylvania, allow me to return you again +my most sincere thanks.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>Arrangements had been made for his departure from Harrisburg +on the following morning; but the timely discovery +of a plot to assassinate him on his way through Baltimore​—​a +plot in which several of the leading citizens of that place +were believed to be interested, although the work was to be +done by other hands​—​caused a change in the schedule, and +on the evening of the day on which he had been received by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">90</a></span> +the Legislature, he left on a special train for Philadelphia, +and thence proceeded in the sleeping-car attached to the regular +midnight train to Washington, where he arrived at an +early hour on the morning of the 23d.</p> + +<p>As an evidence how little the extent to which unscrupulous +men were prepared to go, was understood at this time, it may +be remarked that not a few made themselves very merry over +this midnight ride​—​a leading pictorial even indulging itself +in an attempt at a humorous illustration of it, an act which, +viewed in the light of a startling event but little more than +four years later, in which a native of the same city was directly +concerned, would hardly have been repeated.</p> + +<hr /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI.</a><br /> + +<span class="subhead">THE NEW ADMINISTRATION.</span></h2> + +<blockquote> + +<p class="hang">Speeches at Washington​—​The Inaugural Address​—​Its Effect​—​The Cabinet​—​Commissioners +from Montgomery​—​Extract from A. H. Stephens’s speech​—​Virginia Commissioners​—​Fall +of Fort Sumter.</p></blockquote> + +<p>A few days after his arrival in Washington, the President +elect was waited upon by the Mayor and other municipal authorities, +welcoming him the city, to whom he made the following +reply:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“Mr. <span class="smcap">Mayor</span>: I thank you, and through you the municipal +authorities of this city who accompany you, for this welcome. +And as it is the first time in my life since the present phase +of politics has presented itself in this country, that I have +said anything publicly within a region of country where the +institution of slavery exists, I will take this occasion to say +that I think very much of the ill feeling which has existed, +and still exists, between the people in the sections from +whence I came and the people here, is dependent upon a +misunderstanding of one another. I therefore avail myself<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">91</a></span> +of this opportunity to assure you, Mr. Mayor, and all the +gentlemen present, that I have not now, and never have had, +any other than as kindly feelings towards you as towards +the people of my own section. I have not now, nor never +have had, any disposition to treat you in any respect otherwise +than as my own neighbors. I have not now any purpose +to withhold from you any of the benefits of the Constitution, +under any circumstances, that I would not feel myself +constrained to withhold from my neighbors; and I hope, in a +word, that when we shall become better acquainted, and I +say it with great confidence, we shall like each other the +more. I thank you for the kindness of this reception.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>On the following evening, at the close of a serenade tendered +him by the Republican Association, he thus addressed +the crowd:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">My Friends</span>: I suppose that I may take this as a compliment +paid to me, and as such please accept my thanks for it. +I have reached this city of Washington under circumstances +considerably differing from those under which any other man +has ever reached it. I am here for the purpose of taking an +official position amongst the people, almost all of whom were +politically opposed to me, and are yet opposed to me as I +suppose. I propose no lengthy address to you. I only propose +to say, as I did on yesterday, when your worthy Mayor +and Board of Aldermen called upon me, that I thought much +of the ill feeling that has existed between you and the people +of your surroundings and that people from amongst whom I +came, has depended, and now depends, upon a misunderstanding.</p> + +<p>“I hope that, if things shall go on as prosperously as I +believe we all desire they may, I may have it in my power to +remove something of this misunderstanding, that I may be +enabled to convince you, and the people of your section of the +country, that we regard you as in all things our equals, and +in all things entitled to the same respect and the same treatment<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">92</a></span> +that we claim for ourselves; that we are in nowise disposed, +if it were in our power, to oppress you, to deprive +you of any of your rights under the Constitution of the +United States, or even narrowly to split hairs with you in +regard to those rights, but are determined to give you, as far +as lies in our hands, all your rights under the Constitution​—​not +grudgingly, but fully and fairly. I hope that, by thus +dealing with you, we will become better acquainted, and be +better friends. And now, my friends, with these few remarks, +and again returning my thanks for this compliment, +and expressing my desire to hear a little more of your good +music, I bid you good-night.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>Never, in the history of the country, has the inaugural +address of any President been so anxiously awaited as was +that of Mr. Lincoln. The most of his countrymen, even in +States whose loyalty to the Government was beyond suspicion, +were certain to be disappointed, whatever that inaugural +might prove to be. An impression prevailed, for which +no good grounds could be shown, that somehow, in some inexplicable +way, this particular address would operate as a +panacea to heal the nation’s malady. One class, who knew +not the man, hoped, almost against hope, that such concessions +would be made to the rebels as would bridge over existing +difficulties, and restore the good old times when men +could vend their goods and principles​—​or what served them +in lieu thereof​—​without being annoyed by war or rumor of +war. Another would be satisfied with nothing short of the +most positive and unqualified denunciations of the rebels, +coupled with the details in advance of dealing with them. +Still another were simply curious in the premises to know +what could be said. Whisperings, too, that the address would +be prevented by violence, and hints of assassination were +heard here and there.</p> + +<p>All necessary precautions, however, having been taken to +guard against the latter contingencies, Mr. Lincoln appeared<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">93</a></span> +at the east front of the capitol, and received, at the hour appointed, +the oath of office from Chief Justice Taney. Then +followed, in a clear, steady tone of voice, in the presence of +more than ten thousand of his fellow-citizens, the address:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Fellow-citizens of the United States</span>:​—​In compliance +with a custom as old as the Government itself, I appear before +you to address you briefly, and to take, in your presence, +the oath prescribed by the Constitution of the United States +to be taken by the President before he enters on the execution +of his office.</p> + +<p>“I do not consider it necessary, at present, for me to discuss +those matters of administration about which there is no +special anxiety or excitement. Apprehension seems to exist +among the people of the Southern States, that, by the accession +of a Republican Administration, their property and their +peace and personal security are to be endangered. There +has never been any reasonable cause for such apprehension. +Indeed, the most ample evidence to the contrary has all the +while existed, and been open to their inspection. It is found +in nearly all the published speeches of him who now addresses +you. I do but quote from one of those speeches, when I +declare that ‘I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere +with the institution of slavery in the States where it +exists.’ I believe I have no lawful right to do so; and I +have no inclination to do so. Those who nominated and +elected me, did so with the full knowledge that I had made +this, and made many similar declarations, and had never +recanted them. And, more than this, they placed in the +platform, for my acceptance, and as a law to themselves and +to me, the clear and emphatic resolution which I now read:</p> + +<p>“‘<i>Resolved</i>, That the maintenance inviolate of the rights +of the States, and especially the right of each State to order +and control its own domestic institutions according to its own +judgment exclusively, is essential to that balance of power +on which the perfection and endurance of our political fabric<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">94</a></span> +depend; and we denounce the lawless invasion, by armed +force, of the soil of any State or Territory, no matter under +what pretext, as among the gravest of crimes.’</p> + +<p>“I now reiterate these sentiments; and in doing so I only +press upon the public attention the most conclusive evidence +of which the case is susceptible, that the property, peace and +security of no section are to be in anywise endangered by the +now incoming administration.</p> + +<p>“I add, too, that all the protection which, consistently with +the Constitution and the laws, can be given, will be cheerfully +given to all the States when lawfully demanded, for whatever +cause, as cheerfully to one section as to another.</p> + +<p>“There is much controversy about the delivering up of +fugitives from service or labor. The clause I now read is +as plainly written in the Constitution as any other of its +provisions:</p> + +<p>“‘No person held to service or labor in one State under +the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in consequence +of any law or regulation therein, be discharged from such +service or labor, but shall be delivered up on claim of the +party to whom such service or labor may be due.’</p> + +<p>“It is scarcely questioned that this provision was intended +by those who made it for the reclaiming of what we call fugitive +slaves; and the intention of the lawgiver is the law.</p> + +<p>“All members of Congress swear their support to the +whole Constitution​—​to this provision as well as any other. +To the proposition, then, that slaves whose cases come within +the terms of this clause ‘shall be delivered up,’ their oaths +are unanimous. Now, if they would make the effort in good +temper, could they not, with nearly equal unanimity, frame +and pass a law by means of which to keep good that unanimous +oath?</p> + +<p>“There is some difference of opinion whether this clause +should be enforced by National or by State authority; but +surely that difference is not a very material one. If the slave<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">95</a></span> +is to be surrendered, it can be of but little consequence to +him or to others by which authority it is done; and should +any one, in any case, be content that this oath shall go unkept +on a merely unsubstantial controversy as to how it shall +be kept?</p> + +<p>“Again, in any law upon this subject, ought not all the safeguards +of liberty known in civilized and humane jurisprudence +to be introduced, so that a free man be not, in any case, surrendered +as a slave? And might it not be well at the same +time to provide by law for the enforcement of that clause in the +Constitution which guarantees that ‘the citizens of each State +shall be entitled to all the privileges and immunities of citizens +in the several States?’</p> + +<p>“I take the official oath to-day with no mental reservations, +and with no purpose to construe the Constitution or laws by +any hypercritical rules; and while I do not choose now to +specify particular acts of Congress as proper to be enforced, I +do suggest that it will be much safer for all, both in official +and private stations, to conform to and abide by all those acts +which stand unrepealed, than to violate any of them, trusting +to find impunity in having them held to be unconstitutional.</p> + +<p>“It is seventy-two years since the first inauguration of a +President under our National Constitution. During that +period, fifteen different and very distinguished citizens have in +succession administered the executive branch of the Government. +They have conducted it through many perils, and +generally with great success. Yet, with all this scope for +precedent, I now enter upon the same task, for the brief constitutional +term of four years, under great and peculiar difficulties.</p> + +<p>“A disruption of the Federal Union, heretofore only menaced, +is now formidably attempted. I hold that in the contemplation +of universal law and of the Constitution, the Union of +these States is perpetual. Perpetuity is implied, if not expressed, +in the fundamental law of all national governments.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">96</a></span> +It is safe to assert that no government proper ever had a provision +in its organic law for its own termination. Continue +to execute all the express provisions of our National Constitution, +and the Union will endure forever, it being impossible +to destroy it, except by some action not provided for in the +instrument itself.</p> + +<p>“Again, if the United States be not a government proper, +but an association of States in the nature of a contract merely, +can it, as a contract, be peaceably unmade by less than all the +parties who made it? One party to a contract may violate +it​—​break it, so to speak; but does it not require all to lawfully +rescind it? Descending from these general principles, +we find the proposition that in legal contemplation the Union +is perpetual, confirmed by the history of the Union itself.</p> + +<p>“The Union is much older than the Constitution. It was +formed, in fact, by the Articles of Association in 1774. It +was matured and continued in the Declaration of Independence +in 1776. It was further matured, and the faith of all +the then thirteen States expressly plighted and engaged that +it should be perpetual, by the Articles of the Confederation, in +1778; and, finally, in 1787, one of the declared objects for +ordaining and establishing the Constitution was to form a +more perfect Union. But if the destruction of the Union by +one or by a part only of the States be lawfully possible, the +Union is less than before, the Constitution having lost the vital +element of perpetuity.</p> + +<p>“It follows from these views that no State, upon its own mere +motion, can lawfully get out of the Union; that resolves and +ordinances to that effect, are legally void; and that acts of +violence within any State or States against the authority of +the United States, are insurrectionary or revolutionary, according +to circumstances.</p> + +<p>“I therefore consider that, in view of the Constitution and +the laws, the Union is unbroken, and, to the extent of my +ability, I shall take care, as the Constitution itself expressly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">97</a></span> +enjoins upon me, that the laws of the Union shall be faithfully +executed in all the States. Doing this, which I deem to be +only a simple duty on my part, I shall perfectly perform it, +so far as is practicable, unless my rightful masters, the American +people, shall withhold the requisition, or in some authoritative +manner direct the contrary.</p> + +<p>“I trust this will not be regarded as a menace, but only +as the declared purpose of the Union that it will constitutionally +defend and maintain itself.</p> + +<p>“In doing this there need be no bloodshed or violence, and +there shall be none unless it is forced upon the National +authority.</p> + +<p>“The power confided to me <i>will be used to hold, occupy, and +possess the property and plants belonging to the Government</i>, +and collect the duties and imposts; but beyond what may be +necessary for these objects there will be no invasion, no using +of force against or among the people anywhere.</p> + +<p>“Where hostility to the United States shall be so great and +so universal as to prevent competent resident citizens from +holding Federal offices, there will be no attempt to force obnoxious +strangers among the people that object. While the +strict legal right may exist of the Government to enforce the +exercise of these offices, the attempt to do so would be so +irritating, and so nearly impracticable withal, that I deem it +best to forego, for the time, the uses of such offices.</p> + +<p>“The mails, unless repelled, will continue to be furnished in +all parts of the Union.</p> + +<p>“So far as possible, the people everywhere shall have that +sense of perfect security which is most favorable to calm +thought and reflection.</p> + +<p>“The course here indicated will be followed, unless current +events and experience shall show a modification or change to +be proper; and in every case and exigency my best discretion +will be exercised according to the circumstances actually existing, +and with a view and hope of a peaceful solution of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">98</a></span> +National troubles and the restoration of fraternal sympathies +and affections.</p> + +<p>“That there are persons, in one section or another, who +seek to destroy the Union at all events, and are glad of any +pretext to do it, I will neither affirm nor deny. But if there +be such, I need address no word to them.</p> + +<p>“To those, however, who really love the Union, may I not +speak, before entering upon so grave a matter as the destruction +of our National fabric, with all its benefits, its memories, +and its hopes? Would it not be well to ascertain why we do +it? Will you hazard so desperate a step, while any portion +of the ills you fly from have no real existence? Will you, while +the certain ills you fly to are greater than all the real ones +you fly from? Will you risk the commission of so fearful a +mistake? All profess to be content in the Union if all constitutional +rights can be maintained. Is it true, then, that +any right, plainly written in the Constitution, has been +denied? I think not. Happily the human mind is so constituted, +that no party can reach to the audacity of doing this.</p> + +<p>“Think, if you can, of a single instance in which a plainly-written +provision of the Constitution has ever been denied. +If, by the mere force of numbers, a majority should deprive +a minority of any clearly-written constitutional right, it might, +in a moral point of view, justify revolution; it certainly +would, if such right were a vital one. But such is not our +case.</p> + +<p>“All the vital rights of minorities and of individuals are so +plainly assured to them by affirmations and negations, guaranties +and prohibitions in the Constitution, that controversies +never arise concerning them. But no organic law can ever +be framed with a provision specifically applicable to every +question which may occur in practical administration. No +foresight can anticipate, nor any document of reasonable +length contain, express provisions for all possible questions. +Shall fugitives from labor be surrendered by National or by +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">99</a></span>State authorities? The Constitution does not expressly say. +Must Congress protect slavery in the Territories? The +Constitution does not expressly say. From questions of this +class, spring all our constitutional controversies, and we +divide upon them into majorities and minorities.</p> + +<p>“If the minority will not acquiesce, the majority must, or +the Government must cease. There is no alternative for +continuing the Government but acquiescence on the one side +or the other. If a minority in such a case will secede rather +than acquiesce, they make a precedent which, in turn, will +ruin and divide them, for a minority of their own will secede +from them whenever a majority refuses to be controlled by +such a minority. For instance, why not any portion of a +new Confederacy, a year or two hence, arbitrarily secede +again, precisely as portions of the present Union now claim +to secede from it? All who cherish disunion sentiments are +now being educated to the exact temper of doing this. Is +there such perfect identity of interests among the States to +compose a new Union as to produce harmony only, and prevent +renewed secession? Plainly, the central idea of secession +is the essence of anarchy.</p> + +<p>“A majority held in restraint by constitutional check and +limitation, and always changing easily with deliberate changes +of popular opinions and sentiments, is the only true sovereign +of a free people. Whoever rejects it, does, of necessity, fly to +anarchy or to despotism. Unanimity is impossible; the rule +of a majority, as a permanent arrangement, is wholly inadmissible. +So that, rejecting the majority principle, anarchy +or despotism, in some form, is all that is left.</p> + +<p>“I do not forget the position assumed by some that constitutional +questions are to be decided by the Supreme Court, +nor do I deny that such decisions must be binding in any +case upon the parties to a suit, as to the object of that suit, +while they are also entitled to a very high respect and consideration +in all parallel cases by all other departments of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">100</a></span> +Government; and while it is obviously possible that such +decision may be erroneous in any given case, still the evil +effect following it, being limited to that particular case, with +the chance that it may be overruled and never become a +precedent for other cases, can better be borne than could the +evils of a different practice.</p> + +<p>“At the same time the candid citizen must confess that if +the policy of the Government upon the vital question affecting +the whole people is to be irrevocably fixed by the decisions +of the Supreme Court, the instant they are made, as in +ordinary litigation between parties in personal actions, the +people will have ceased to be their own masters, unless +having to that extent practically resigned their Government +into the hands of that eminent tribunal.</p> + +<p>“Nor is there in this view any assault upon the Court or +the Judges. It is a duty from which they may not shrink, to +decide cases properly brought before them; and it is no fault +of theirs if others seek to turn their decisions to political purposes. +One section of our country believes slavery is right +and ought to be extended, while the other believes it is wrong +and ought not to be extended; and this is the only substantial +dispute; and the fugitive slave clause of the Constitution, and +the law for the suppression of the foreign slave-trade, are +each as well enforced, perhaps, as any law can ever be in a +community where the moral sense of the people imperfectly +supports the law itself. The great body of the people abide +by the dry legal obligation in both cases, and a few break +over in each. This, I think, can not be perfectly cured, and +it would be worse in both cases after the separation of the +sections than before. The foreign slave-trade, now imperfectly +suppressed, would be ultimately revived, without +restriction, in one section; while fugitive slaves, now only +partially surrendered, would not be surrendered at all by the +other.</p> + +<p>“Physically speaking we can not separate; we can not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">101</a></span> +remove our respective sections from each other, nor build an +impassable wall between them. A husband and wife may be +divorced, and go out of the presence and beyond the reach +of each other, but the different parts of our country can not +do this. They can not but remain face to face; and intercourse, +either amicable or hostile, must continue between +them. Is it possible, then, to make that intercourse more +advantageous or more satisfactory after separation than +before? Can aliens make treaties easier than friends can +make laws? Can treaties be more faithfully enforced between +aliens than laws can among friends? Suppose you go +to war, you can not fight always; and when, after much loss +on both sides, and no gain on either, you cease fighting, the +identical questions as to terms of intercourse are again upon +you.</p> + +<p>“This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people +who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the +existing government, they can exercise their constitutional +right of amending, or their revolutionary right to dismember +or overthrow it. I can not be ignorant of the fact that many +worthy and patriotic citizens are desirous of having the +National Constitution amended. While I make no recommendation +of amendment, I fully recognize the full authority +of the people over the whole subject, to be exercised in +either of the modes prescribed in the instrument itself, and I +should, under existing circumstances, favor rather than +oppose, a fair opportunity being afforded the people to +act upon it.</p> + +<p>“I will venture to add, that to me the Convention mode +seems preferable, in that it allows amendments to originate +with the people themselves, instead of only permitting them +to take or reject propositions originated by others not especially +chosen for the purpose, and which might not be precisely +such as they would wish either to accept or refuse. I understand<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">102</a></span> +that a proposed amendment to the Constitution (which +amendment, however, I have not seen) has passed Congress, +to the effect that the Federal Government shall never interfere +with the domestic institutions of States, including that +of persons held to service. To avoid misconstruction of +what I have said, I depart from my purpose not to speak of +particular amendments, so far as to say that, holding such a +provision to now be implied constitutional law, I have no +objection to its being made express and irrevocable.</p> + +<p>“The Chief Magistrate derives all his authority from the +people, and they have conferred none upon him to fix the +terms for the separation of the States. The people themselves, +also, can do this if they choose, but the Executive, +as such, has nothing to do with it. His duty is to administer +the present government as it came to his hands, and to +transmit it unimpaired by him to his successor. Why should +there not be a patient confidence in the ultimate justice of +the people? Is there any better or equal hope in the world? +In our present differences is either party without faith of +being in the right? If the Almighty Ruler of nations, with +his eternal truth and justice, be on your side of the North, +or on yours of the South, that truth and that justice will +surely prevail by the judgment of this great tribunal, the +American people. By the frame of the government under +which we live, this same people have wisely given their +public servants but little power for mischief, and have with +equal wisdom provided for the return of that little to their +own hands at very short intervals. While the people retain +their virtue and vigilance, no administration, by any extreme +wickedness or folly, can very seriously injure the government +in the short space of four years.</p> + +<p>“My countrymen, one and all, think calmly and well upon +this whole subject. Nothing valuable can be lost by taking +time.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">103</a></span> +“If there be an object to hurry any of you, in hot haste, +to a step which you would never take deliberately, that +object will be frustrated by taking time: but no good object +can be frustrated by it.</p> + +<p>“Such of you as are now dissatisfied, still have the old +Constitution unimpaired, and on the sensitive point, the laws +of your own framing under it; while the new administration +will have no immediate power, if it would, to change either.</p> + +<p>“If it were admitted that you who are dissatisfied hold +the right side in the dispute, there is still no single reason for +precipitate action. Intelligence, patriotism, Christianity, +and a firm reliance on Him who has never yet forsaken this +favored land, are still competent to adjust, in the best way, +all our present difficulties.</p> + +<p>“In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and +not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The Government +will not assail you.</p> + +<p>“You can have no conflict without being yourselves the +aggressors. You have no oath registered in Heaven to destroy +the Government; while I shall have the most solemn +one to ‘preserve, protect, and defend’ it.</p> + +<p>“I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but friends. +We must not be enemies. Though passion may have +strained, it must not break our bonds of affection.</p> + +<p>“The mystic cords of memory, stretching from every battle-field +and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone +all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the +Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the +better angels of our nature.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>One point was established, at least, by this inaugural, +whatever uncertainties might cluster about it​—​we had, at +last, a Government. No Buchanan ruled the hour. Loyal +men of every shade breathed more freely. At the same time, +the whole drift was toward securing, if possible, an honorable +reconciliation. If, after this lucid, temperate statement of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">104</a></span> +the plans and purposes of the new Administration, the blow +must fall, which all wished to avoid, it was encouraging to +feel​—​as every one who heard Mr. Lincoln on that eventful +day must have felt​—​that a man was at the helm who had +firm faith that the organic law, so far from providing for the +dissolution of the Union, had vitality and force within itself +sufficient to defend the nation against dangers from within as +well as from without.</p> + +<p>The announcement of the President’s cabinet, likewise​—​composed, +as it was, of the ablest men in his own party, the +majority of whom had been deemed worthy of presentation +as candidates for the high office which he held​—​imparted +confidence to all who wished well to the country. The able +pen of the Secretary of State was at once called into requisition +to communicate, through the newly appointed ministers +abroad, the true state of affairs to the European powers. As +speedily as possible the Departments were purged of disloyal +officials, although the deceptions and subterfuges which constituted +a goodly portion of the stock in trade of the rebellion rendered +this a work of more time than was satisfactory to many.</p> + +<p>The Davis dynasty, at Montgomery, having, on the 9th of +March, passed an act to organize a Confederate army, two +persons​—​one from Alabama and the other from Georgia​—​announced +themselves, three days later, as “Confederate +Commissioners,” accredited for the purpose of negotiating a +treaty. The President declined to recognize these “Commissioners,” +who were referred to a copy of his inaugural enclosed +for a full statement of his views.</p> + +<p>On the 21st of March, Alexander H. Stephens, of Georgia, +Vice-President of the Montgomery traitors, up to that time +regarded as one of the most moderate​—​as he certainly was +one of the ablest​—​of the conspirators, in a speech at Savannah, +silenced all questionings as to the intent of himself and +co-workers.</p> + +<p>He said on that occasion:</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">105</a></span></p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“The new Constitution (that adopted at Montgomery) has +put at rest forever all the agitating questions relating to our +peculiar institutions​—​African slavery as it exists among us​—​the +proper status of the negro in our form of civilization. +This was the immediate cause of the late rupture and present +revolution. Jefferson, in his forecast, had anticipated this +as the rock upon which the old Union would split. He was +right. What was conjecture with him, is now a realized fact. +But whether he fully comprehended the great truth upon +which that rock stood and stands, may be doubted. The +prevailing ideas, entertained by him and most of the leading +statesmen, at the time of the formation of the old Constitution, +were, that the enslavement of the African was in violation +of the laws of nature; that it was wrong in principle, +socially, morally, and politically. It was an evil they knew +not well how to deal with; but the general opinion of the +men of that day was, that, somehow or other, in the order of +Providence, the institution would be evanescent and pass +away. * * *</p> + +<p>“Our new Government is founded upon exactly the opposite +ideas. Its foundations are laid, its corner-stone rests +upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white +man; that slavery, subordination to the superior race, is his +natural and normal condition. This, our new Government, +is the first in the history of the world based upon this great +physical, philosophical, and moral truth. * * * It is +upon this, as I have stated, our social fabric is firmly planted; +and I can not permit myself to doubt the ultimate success of +a full recognition of this principle throughout the civilized and +enlightened world. * * * This stone, which was rejected +by the first builders, ‘is become the chief stone of the +corner’ in our new edifice.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>On the 13th of April, the President was waited upon by a +committee from a Convention of the State of Virginia, which +Convention was discussing the question whether to go with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">106</a></span> +the States already in rebellion, or to remain in the Union, for +the sake of furthering the ends of the rebels. The object of +the visit, and its result, may be determined from Mr. Lincoln’s +response:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Gentlemen</span>:​—​As a committee of the Virginia Convention, +now in session, you present me a preamble and resolution, +in these words:</p> + +<p>“‘<span class="smcap">Whereas</span>, In the opinion of this Convention, the uncertainty +which prevails in the public mind as to the policy +which the Federal Executive intends to pursue towards the +seceded States is extremely injurious to the industrial and +commercial interests of the country, tends to keep up an excitement +which is unfavorable to the adjustment of the pending +difficulties, and threatens a disturbance of the public +peace; therefore,</p> + +<p>“<i>Resolved</i>, That a committee of three delegates be appointed +to wait on the President of the United States, present +to him this preamble, and respectfully ask him to communicate +to this Convention the policy which the Federal Executive +intends to pursue in regard to the Confederate States.’</p> + +<p>“In answer, I have to say, that having, at the beginning +of my official term, expressed my intended policy as plainly +as I was able, it is with deep regret and mortification I now +learn there is great and injurious uncertainty in the public +mind as to what that policy is, and what course I intend to +pursue. Not having as yet seen occasion to change, it is now +my purpose to pursue the course marked out in the inaugural +address. I commend a careful consideration of the whole +document as the best expression I can give to my purposes. +As I then and therein said, I now repeat, ‘The power confided +in me, will be used to hold, occupy, and possess property +and places belonging to the Government, and to collect +the duties and imposts; but beyond what is necessary for +these objects, there will be no invasion, no using of force<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">107</a></span> +against or among the people anywhere.’ By the words +‘property and places belonging to the Government,’ I chiefly +allude to the military posts and property which were in possession +of the government when it came into my hands. But +if, as now appears to be true, in pursuit of a purpose to drive +the United States authority from these places, an unprovoked +assault has been made upon Fort Sumter, I shall hold myself +at liberty to repossess it, if I can, like places which had been +seized before the Government was devolved upon me, and in +any event I shall, to the best of my ability, repel force by +force. In case it proves true that Fort Sumter has been +assaulted, as is reported, I shall, perhaps, cause the United +States mails to be withdrawn from all the States which claim +to have seceded, believing that the commencement of actual +war against the Government justifies and possibly demands +it. I scarcely need to say that I consider the military forts +and property, situated within the States which claim to have +seceded, as yet belonging to the Government of the United +States, as much as they did before the supposed secession. +Whatever else I may do for the purpose, I shall not attempt +to collect the duties and imposts by any armed invasion of +any part of the country​—​not meaning by this, however, that +I may not land a force deemed necessary to relieve a fort upon +the border of the country. From the fact that I have quoted +a part of the inaugural address, it must not be inferred that I +repudiate any other part, the whole of which I reaffirm, except +so far as what I now say of the mails may be regarded +as a modification.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>Fort Sumter fell on the day following the reception of these +commissioners, after every effort, consistent with the means +at the disposal of the government, had been made to prevent +what then seemed a catastrophe. This action could bear but +one interpretation. A reconciliation of difficulties was utterly +impracticable. An appeal had been made to the sword.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">108</a></span> +The power and authority of the United States had been defied +and insulted. No loyal man could now hesitate. If, however, +there were any who, even then, clung to the fallacy that +compromise could save us, Abraham Lincoln was not of the +number.</p> + +<hr /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII.</a><br /> + +<span class="subhead">PREPARING FOR WAR.</span></h2> + +<blockquote> + +<p class="hang">Effects of Sumter’s Fall​—​President’s Call for Troops​—​Response in the Loyal States​—​In +the Border States​—​Baltimore Riot​—​Maryland’s Position​—​President’s Letter to Maryland +Authorities​—​Blockade Proclamation​—​Additional Proclamation​—​Comments Abroad​—​Second +Call for Troops​—​Special Order for Florida​—​Military Movements.</p></blockquote> + +<p>Sumter fell, but the nation arose. With one mind the +Free States determined that the rebellion must be put down. +All were ablaze with patriotic fire. The traitors at heart, +who lurked in the loyal States, found it a wise precaution to +float with the current. The shrewder ones among them saw +well how such a course would give them vantage-ground +when the reaction, which they hoped, and for which in secret +they labored, should come. But the great mass of the people +would not have admitted the possibility of any reaction​—​action +was to continue the order of the day until the business +in hand was finished.</p> + +<div class="tb">*<span class="in2">*</span><span class="in2">*</span><span class="in2">*</span><span class="in2">*</span></div> + +<p>On the 15th of April, 1861, the President issued his first +proclamation:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Whereas</span>, The laws of the United States have been for +some time past, and now are opposed, and the execution +thereof obstructed, in the States of South Carolina, Georgia, +Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, by +combinations too powerful to be suppressed by the ordinary +course of judicial proceedings, or by the powers vested in +the marshals by law; now, therefore, I, <span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln</span>,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">109</a></span> +President of the United States, in virtue of the power in me +vested by the Constitution and the laws, have thought fit to +call forth, and hereby do call forth, the militia of the several +States of the Union to the aggregate number of seventy-five +thousand, in order to suppress said combinations and to cause +the laws to be duly executed.</p> + +<p>“The details for this object will be immediately communicated +to the State authorities through the War Department. +I appeal to all loyal citizens to favor, facilitate, and aid this +effort to maintain the honor, the integrity, and existence of +our national Union, and the perpetuity of popular government, +and to redress wrongs already long enough endured. +I deem it proper to say that the first service assigned to the +forces hereby called forth, will probably be to repossess the +forts, places, and property which have been seized from the +Union; and in every event the utmost care will be observed, +consistently with the objects aforesaid, to avoid any devastation, +any destruction of, or interference with property, or any +disturbance of peaceful citizens of any part of the country; +and I hereby command the persons composing the combinations +aforesaid, to disperse and retire peaceably to their +respective abodes, within twenty days from this date.</p> + +<p>“Deeming that the present condition of public affairs presents +an extraordinary occasion, I do hereby, in virtue of the +power in me vested by the Constitution, convene both Houses +of Congress. The Senators and Representatives are, therefore, +summoned to assemble at their respective chambers at +twelve o’clock, noon, on Thursday, the fourth day of July +next, then and there to consider and determine such measures +as in their wisdom, the public safety and interest may seem +to demand.</p> + +<p>“In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and +caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.</p> + +<p>“Done at the City of Washington, this fifteenth day of +April, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">110</a></span> +and sixty-one, and of the independence of the United States +the eighty-fifth.</p> + +<p> +“By the President: <span class="right"><span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln</span></span><br /> + +“<span class="smcap">William H. Seward</span>, Secretary of State.”<br /> +</p></blockquote> + +<p>In response to this proclamation enthusiastic public meetings +were held throughout the loyal States; all party lines +seemed obliterated; enlistments were almost universal; +Washington, which was at one time in imminent danger, was +soon considered amply defended. The majority entertained +no doubt that with the force summoned the rebellion would +be nipped in the bud; the more sagacious minority shook +their heads, and wished that a million of men had been +asked.</p> + +<p>An excellent opportunity was afforded to the border slave +States for pronouncing their election​—​whether to stand by +the Government, or, practically, to furnish aid and comfort to +the rebels. Magoffin, Governor of Kentucky, was soon heard +from: “Kentucky will furnish no troops,” said he, “for the +wicked purpose of subduing her sister Southern States.” +Letcher, of Virginia: “The militia of Virginia will not be +furnished to the powers at Washington for any such case or +purpose as they have in view;” and on the 17th, the State +was dragooned into passing, in secret, an ordinance of secession, +and immediately commenced those warlike preparations, +whose evil fruits she was destined so soon and in so much +sorrow to reap. The Executives of Tennessee and North +Carolina refused compliance; and those States, together with +Arkansas, went over to the “Confederacy.”</p> + +<p>How was the call for troops received by the rebel conclave +at Montgomery? They laughed.</p> + +<p>The first blood shed in the war was in the streets of Baltimore, +on the 19th of April. Massachusetts troops, passing +through that city for the defence of the common capitol, were +attacked by a mob, instigated and encouraged by men of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">111</a></span> +property and social standing. The State hung trembling in +the balance between loyalty and treason. Had its geographical +position been other than it was, it would have undeniably +embraced the fortune of the South. Its Governor was, however, +strongly inclined to support the Government, although +the peculiar circumstances in which he was placed called for +peculiar tact and dexterity in management. It was seriously +proposed that no more troops should be sent through Baltimore.</p> + +<div class="tb">*<span class="in2">*</span><span class="in2">*</span><span class="in2">*</span><span class="in2">*</span></div> + +<p>The day following this attack, the President sent the +following letter in reply to a communication broaching this +modest proposition:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p class="sigright"> + +“<i>Washington</i>, April 20th, 1861.</p> + +<p class="in0">“<span class="smcap">Governor Hicks and Mayor Brown</span>:<br /> +</p> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Gentlemen</span>:​—​Your letter by Messrs. Bond, Dobbin, and +Brune, is received. I tender you both my sincere thanks for +your efforts to keep the peace in the trying situation in which +you are placed. For the future, troops <i>must</i> be brought here, +but I make no point of bringing them <i>through</i> Baltimore.</p> + +<p>“Without any military knowledge myself, of course I +must leave details to General Scott. He hastily said this +morning in presence of those gentlemen, ‘March them <i>around</i> +Baltimore, and not through it.’</p> + +<p>“I sincerely hope the General, on fuller reflection, will consider +this practical and proper, and that you will not object +to it. By this a collision of the people of Baltimore with +the troops will be avoided, unless they go out of the way to +seek it. I hope you will exert your influence to prevent +this. Now and ever, I shall do all in my power for peace, +consistently with the maintenance of government.</p> + +<p class="sigright"> +<span class="l2">“Your obedient servant,</span><br /> +“<span class="smcap">A. Lincoln</span>.”<br /> +</p></blockquote> + +<p>To a delegation of rebel sympathizers from the same +State, who demanded a cessation of hostilities until Congress<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">112</a></span> +should assemble, and accompanied their demand with the +statement that seventy-five thousand Marylanders would +dispute the passage of any more United States troops over +the soil of that State, he quietly remarked that he presumed +there was room enough in the State to bury that number, and +declined to accede to their proposal. The Maryland imbroglio +was, after no great time, adjusted, and ample precautions +taken to guard against any future trouble in that quarter.</p> + +<div class="tb">*<span class="in2">*</span><span class="in2">*</span><span class="in2">*</span><span class="in2">*</span></div> + +<p>On the 19th of April, every port of the States in rebellion +was declared blockaded by the following proclamation:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Whereas</span>, An insurrection against the Government of +the United States has broken out in the States of South +Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, +and Texas, and the laws of the United States for the collection +of the revenue can not be efficiently executed therein +conformably to that provision of the Constitution which +requires duties to be uniform throughout the United States:</p> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">And Whereas</span>, A combination of persons, engaged in +such insurrection, have threatened to grant pretended letters +of marque to authorize the bearers thereof to commit assaults +on the lives, vessels, and property of good citizens of the +country lawfully engaged in commerce on the high seas, and +in waters of the United States:</p> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">And Whereas</span>, An Executive Proclamation has already +been issued, requiring the persons engaged in these disorderly +proceedings to desist therefrom, calling out a militia force +for the purpose of repressing the same, and convening Congress +in extraordinary session to deliberate and determine +thereon:</p> + +<p>“Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the +United States, with a view to the same purposes before mentioned, +and to the protection of the public peace, and the +lives and property of quiet and orderly citizens pursuing +their lawful occupations, until Congress shall have assembled +and deliberated on the said unlawful proceedings, or until<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">113</a></span> +the same shall have ceased, have further deemed it advisable +to set on foot a blockade of the ports within the States aforesaid, +in pursuance of the laws of the United States, and of +the laws of nations in such cases provided. For this purpose +a competent force will be posted so as to prevent +entrance and exit of vessels from the ports aforesaid. If, +therefore, with a view to violate such blockade, a vessel +shall approach, or shall attempt to leave any of the said +ports, she will be duly warned by the commander of one of +the blockading vessels, who will indorse on her register the +fact and date of such warning; and if the same vessel shall +again attempt to enter or leave the blockaded port, she will +be captured and sent to the nearest convenient port, for such +proceedings against her and her cargo as prize, as may be +deemed advisable.</p> + +<p>“And I hereby proclaim and declare, that if any person, +under the pretended authority of said States, or under any +other pretence, shall molest a vessel of the United States, +or the persons or cargo on board of her, such person will be +held amenable to the laws of the United States for the +prevention and punishment of piracy.</p> + +<p> +“By the President: <span class="right"><span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln</span>.</span><br /> + +“<span class="smcap">William H. Seward</span>, Secretary of State.”<br /> +</p></blockquote> + +<p>On the 27th of April, the following additional proclamation +was issued:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Whereas</span>, For the reasons assigned in my proclamation +of the 19th instant, a blockade of the ports of the States of +South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, +and Texas was ordered to be established; <span class="smcap">And +whereas</span>, since that date public property of the United States +has been seized, the collection of the revenue obstructed, and +duly commissioned officers of the United States, while engaged<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">114</a></span> +in executing the orders of their superiors, have been +arrested and held in custody as prisoners, or have been +impeded in the discharge of their official duties, without due +legal process, by persons claiming to act under authority of +the States of Virginia and North Carolina, an efficient +blockade of the ports of these States will therefore also be +established.</p> + +<p>“In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and +caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.</p> + +<p>“Done at the City of Washington, this 27th day of April, +in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and +sixty-one, and of the independence of the United States the +eighty-fifth.</p> + +<p> +“By the President: <span class="right"><span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln</span>.</span><br /> + +“<span class="smcap">William H. Seward</span>, Secretary of State.”<br /> +</p></blockquote> + +<p>This greatly affected the commercial interests of the European +powers, who made haste to announce that the blockade +must be an effectual one, in order to be respected; supposing, +in common with the rebels, that they were demanding what +would prove to be an impossibility. To say that they erred +decidedly in this opinion, is but stating a matter of general +notoriety, and simply adds another to the list of serious mistakes +made, during the progress of the war, by the two +European nations most deeply interested in its issue.</p> + +<p>It was soon perceived that more men would be needed in +the field, Davis, in a message to his Congress, having proposed +“to organize and hold in readiness for instant action, +in view of the exigencies of the country, an army of six +hundred thousand men.” On the 3d of May, accordingly, +another call was made, in anticipation of its ratification at the +extra session of Congress, which ratification took place, without +opposition.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Whereas</span>, Existing exigencies demand immediate and +adequate measures for the protection of the national Constitution<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">115</a></span> +and the preservation of the national Union by the +suppression of the insurrectionary combinations now existing +in several States for opposing the laws of the Union and obstructing +the execution thereof, to which end a military force, +in addition to that called forth by my Proclamation of the +fifteenth day of April, in the present year, appears to be indispensably +necessary, now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, +President of the United States, and Commander-in-chief of +the Army and Navy thereof, and of the militia of the several +States, when called into actual service, do hereby call into +the service of the United States forty-two thousand and +thirty-four volunteers, to serve for a period of three years, +unless sooner discharged, and to be mustered into service as +infantry and cavalry. The proportions of each arm, and the +details of enrolment and organization will be made known +through the Department of War; and I also direct that the +regular army of the United States be increased by the addition +of eight regiments of infantry, one regiment of cavalry +and one regiment of artillery, making altogether a maximum +aggregate increase of twenty-two thousand seven hundred +and fourteen officers and enlisted men, the details of which +increase will also be made known through the Department of +War; and I further direct the enlistment, for not less than +one nor more than three years, of eighteen thousand seamen, +in addition to the present force, for the naval service of the +United States. The details of the enlistment and organization +will be made known through the Department of the +Navy. The call for volunteers, hereby made, and the direction +of the increase of the regular army, and for the enlistment +of seamen hereby given, together with the plan of organization +adopted for the volunteers and for the regular forces +hereby authorized, will be submitted to Congress as soon as +assembled.</p> + +<p>“In the meantime, I earnestly invoke the coöperation of +all good citizens in the measures hereby adopted for the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">116</a></span> +effectual suppression of unlawful violence, for the impartial +enforcement of constitutional laws, and for the speediest possible +restoration of peace and order, and with those of +happiness and prosperity throughout our country.</p> + +<p>“In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and +caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.</p> + +<p>“Done at the City of Washington, this third day of May, +in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and +sixty-one, and of the Independence of the United States the +eighty-fifth.</p> + +<p> +“By the President: <span class="right"><span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln</span>.</span><br /> + +“<span class="smcap">William H. Seward</span>, Secretary of State.”<br /> +</p></blockquote> + +<p>On the 10th of May, 1861, the following proclamation was +promulgated:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“Whereas, An insurrection exists in the State of Florida, +by which the lives, liberty, and property of loyal citizens of +the United States are endangered.</p> + +<p>“And Whereas, It is deemed proper that all needful measures +should be taken for the protection of such citizens and +all officers of the United States in the discharge of their public +duties in the State aforesaid:</p> + +<p>“Now, therefore, be it known that I, Abraham Lincoln, +President of the United States, do hereby direct the commander +of the forces of the United States on the Florida coast +to permit no person to exercise any office or authority upon +the islands of Key West, the Tortugas, and Santa Rosa, +which may be inconsistent with the laws and Constitution of +the United States, authorizing him at the same time, if he +shall find it necessary, to suspend there the writ of <i>habeas +corpus</i>, and to remove from the vicinity of the United States +fortresses all dangerous or suspected persons.</p> + +<p>“In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and +caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.</p> + +<p>“Done at the City of Washington, this tenth day of May, in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">117</a></span> +the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, +and of the Independence of the United States the eighty-fifth.</p> + +<p> +“By the President: <span class="right"><span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln</span>.</span><br /> + +“<span class="smcap">William H. Seward</span>, Secretary of State.”<br /> +</p></blockquote> + +<p>Volunteers meanwhile presented themselves for the defence +of the country in numbers greater than could be accepted, +and the strife was who should secure the coveted distinction +of a citizen soldier. An early movement upon the rebel +army in Virginia was contemplated, and it was confidently +anticipated that to advance was to put the enemies of the +Government to flight.</p> + +<hr /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII.</a><br /> + +<span class="subhead">THE FIRST SESSION OF CONGRESS.</span></h2> + +<blockquote> + +<p class="center">Opening of Congress​—​President’s First Message​—​Its Nature​—​Action of Congress​—​Resolution +Declaring the Object of the War​—​Bull Run​—​Its Effect.</p></blockquote> + +<p>The first session of Congress during Mr. Lincoln’s Administration +commenced on the 4th of July, 1861, in pursuance +of his call to that effect. The following message was transmitted +from the Executive:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives</span>:​—​Having +been convened on an extraordinary +occasion, as authorized by the Constitution, your attention is +not called to any ordinary subject of legislation. At the +beginning of the present Presidential term, four months ago, +the functions of the Federal Government were found to be +generally suspended within the several States of South Carolina, +Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Florida, +excepting only those of the Post-office Department.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">118</a></span> +“Within these States, all the Forts, Arsenals, Dock-Yards, +Custom-Houses, and the like, including the movable and stationary +property in and about them, had been seized, and +were held in open hostility to this Government, excepting +only Forts Pickens, Taylor and Jefferson, on and near the +Florida coast, and Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor, South +Carolina. The forts thus seized had been put in improved +condition, new ones had been built, and armed forces had +been organized, and were organizing, all avowedly with the +same hostile purpose.</p> + +<p>“The forts remaining in possession of the Federal Government +in and near these States were either besieged or menaced +by warlike preparations, and especially Fort Sumter was +nearly surrounded by well-protected hostile batteries, with +guns equal in quality to the best of its own, and outnumbering +the latter as, perhaps, ten to one​—​a disproportionate +share of the Federal muskets and rifles had somehow found +their way into these States, and had been seized to be used +against the Government.</p> + +<p>“Accumulations of the public revenue lying within them +had been seized for the same object. The navy was scattered +in distant seas, leaving but a very small part of it within the +immediate reach of the Government.</p> + +<p>“Officers of the Federal Army had resigned in great numbers, +and of those resigning a large proportion had taken up +arms against the Government.</p> + +<p>“Simultaneously, and in connection with all this, the purpose +to sever the Federal Union was openly avowed. In +accordance with this purpose an ordinance had been adopted +in each of these States, declaring the States respectively to +be separated from the National Union. A formula for instituting +a combined Government of those States had been +promulgated, and this illegal organization, in the character +of the ‘Confederate States,’ was already invoking recognition, +aid and intervention from foreign powers.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">119</a></span> +“Finding this condition of things, and believing it to be an +imperative duty upon the incoming Executive to prevent, if +possible, the consummation of such attempt to destroy the +Federal Union, a choice of means to that end became indispensable. +This choice was made and was declared in the +Inaugural Address.</p> + +<p>“The policy chosen looked to the exhaustion of all peaceful +measures before a resort to any stronger ones. It sought +only to hold the public places and property not already +wrested from the Government, and to collect the revenue, +relying for the rest on time, discussion, and the ballot-box. +It promised a continuance of the mails, at Government +expense, to the very people who were resisting the Government, +and it gave repeated pledges against any disturbances +to any of the people, or any of their rights, of all that which +a President might constitutionally and justifiably do in such +a case; every thing was forborne, without which it was +believed possible to keep the Government on foot.</p> + +<p>“On the 5th of March, the present incumbent’s first full +day in office, a letter from Major Anderson, commanding at +Fort Sumter, written on the 28th of February, and received +at the War Department on the 4th of March, was by that +Department placed in his hands. This letter expressed the +professional opinion of the writer, that reinforcements could +not be thrown into that fort within the time for its relief +rendered necessary by the limited supply of provisions, and +with a view of holding possession of the same, with a force +less than twenty thousand good and well-disciplined men. +This opinion was concurred in by all the officers of his command, +and their memoranda on the subject were made +inclosures of Major Anderson’s letter. The whole was immediately +laid before Lieutenant-General Scott, who at once +concurred with Major Anderson in his opinion. On reflection, +however, he took full time, consulting with other officers, both +of the Army and Navy, and at the end of four days came<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">120</a></span> +reluctantly but decidedly to the same conclusion as before. +He also stated at the same time that no such sufficient force +was then at the control of the Government, or could be raised +and brought to the ground, within the time when the provisions +in the fort would be exhausted. In a purely military +point of view, this reduced the duty of the Administration in +the case to the mere matter of getting the garrison safely out +of the fort.</p> + +<p>“It was believed, however, that to so abandon that position, +under the circumstances, would be utterly ruinous; that the +necessity under which it was to be done would not be fully +understood; that by many it would be construed as a part of +a voluntary policy; that at home it would discourage the +friends of the Union, embolden its adversaries, and go far to +insure to the latter a recognition abroad; that, in fact, it +would be our national destruction consummated. This could +not be allowed. Starvation was not yet upon the garrison, +and ere it would be reached, Fort Pickens might be reinforced. +This last would be a clear indication of policy, and +would better enable the country to accept the evacuation of +Fort Sumter as a military necessity. An order was at once +directed to be sent for the landing of the troops from the +steamship Brooklyn into Fort Pickens. This order could not +go by land, but must take the longer and slower route by +sea. The first return news from the order was received just +one week before the fall of Sumter. The news itself was +that the officer commanding the Sabine, to which vessel the +troops had been transferred from the Brooklyn, acting upon +some quasi armistice of the late Administration, and of the +existence of which the present Administration, up to the time +the order was dispatched, had only too vague and uncertain +rumors to fix attention, had refused to land the troops. To +now reinforce Fort Pickens before a crisis would be reached +at Fort Sumter, was impossible, rendered so by the near +exhaustion of provisions at the latter named fort. In precaution<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">121</a></span> +against such a conjuncture the Government had a +few days before commenced preparing an expedition, as well +adapted as might be, to relieve Fort Sumter, which expedition +was intended to be ultimately used or not, according to +circumstances. The strongest anticipated case for using it +was now presented, and it was resolved to send it forward as +had been intended. In this contingency it was also resolved +to notify the Governor of South Carolina that he might expect +an attempt would be made to provision the fort, and that if +the attempt should not be resisted there would be no attempt +to throw in men, arms or ammunition, without further notice, +or in case of an attack upon the fort. This notice was +accordingly given, whereupon the fort was attacked and +bombarded to its fall, without even awaiting the arrival of +the provisioning expedition.</p> + +<p>“It is thus seen that the assault upon and reduction of +Fort Sumter, was in no sense, a matter of self-defense on +the part of the assailants. They well knew that the garrison +in the fort could by no possibility commit aggression upon +them; they knew they were expressly notified that the giving +of bread to the few brave and hungry men of the garrison +was all which would, on that occasion, be attempted, unless +themselves, by resisting so much, should provoke more. +They knew that this Government desired to keep the garrison +in the fort, not to assail them, but merely to maintain visible +possession, and thus to preserve the Union from actual and +immediate dissolution; trusting, as hereinbefore stated, to +time, discussion, and the ballot-box for final adjustment, and +they assailed and reduced the fort, for precisely the reverse +object, to drive out the visible authority of the Federal Union, +and thus force it to immediate dissolution; that this was +their object the Executive well understood, having said to +them in the Inaugural Address, ‘You can have no conflict +without being yourselves the aggressors.’ He took pains not +only to keep this declaration good, but also to keep the case<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">122</a></span> +so far from ingenious sophistry as that the world should not +misunderstand it. By the affair at Fort Sumter, with its +surrounding circumstances, that point was reached. Then +and thereby the assailants of the Government began the +conflict of arms​—​without a gun in sight, or in expectancy, to +return their fire, save only the few in the fort sent to that +harbor years before, for their own protection, and still ready +to give that protection in whatever was lawful. In this act, +discarding all else, they have forced upon the country the +distinct issue, immediate dissolution or blood, and this issue +embraces more than the fate of these United States. It +presents to the whole family of man the question whether a +Constitutional Republic or Democracy, a Government of the +people, by the same people, can or can not maintain its territorial +integrity against its own domestic foes. It presents +the question whether discontented individuals, too few in +numbers to control the Administration according to the +organic law in any case, can always, upon the pretenses made +in this case, or any other pretenses, or arbitrarily without any +pretense, break up their Government, and thus practically put +an end to free government upon the earth. It forces us to +ask, ‘Is there in all republics this inherent and fatal weakness?’ +‘Must a Government of necessity be too strong for +the liberties of its own people, or too weak to maintain its +own existence?’ So viewing the issue, no choice was left but +to call out the war power of the Government, and so to resist +the force employed for its destruction by force for its +preservation. The call was made, and the response of the +country was most gratifying, surpassing, in unanimity and +spirit, the most sanguine expectation. Yet none of the +States, commonly called Slave States, except Delaware, gave +a regiment through the regular State organization. A few +regiments have been organized within some others of those +States by individual enterprise, and received into the Government +service. Of course the seceded States so called, and to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">123</a></span> +which Texas had been joined about the time of the inauguration, +gave no troops to the cause of the Union. The Border +States, so called, were not uniform in their action, some of +them being almost for the Union, while in others, as in Virginia, +North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas, the Union +sentiment was nearly repressed and silenced. The course +taken in Virginia was the most remarkable, perhaps the most +important. A Convention, elected by the people of that +State to consider this very question of disrupting the Federal +Union, was in session at the capitol of Virginia when Fort +Sumter fell.</p> + +<p>“To this body the people had chosen a large majority of +professed Union men. Almost immediately after the fall of +Sumter many members of that majority went over to the +original disunion minority, and with them adopted an ordinance +for withdrawing the State from the Union. Whether +this change was wrought by their great approval of the +assault upon Sumter, or their great resentment at the Government’s +resistance to that assault, is not definitely known. +Although they submitted the ordinance for ratification to a +vote of the people, to be taken on a day then somewhat more +than a month distant, the Convention, and the Legislature, +which was also in session at the same time and place, with +leading men of the State, not members of either, immediately +commenced acting as if the State was already out of the +Union. They pushed military preparations vigorously forward +all over the State. They seized the United States +Armory at Harper’s Ferry, and the Navy Yard at Gosport, +near Norfolk. They received, perhaps invited into their +State, large bodies of troops, with their warlike appointments, +from the so-called seceded States.</p> + +<p>“They formally entered into a treaty of temporary alliance +with the so-called Confederate States, and sent members to +their Congress at Montgomery, and finally they permitted +the insurrectionary Government to be transferred to their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">124</a></span> +capitol at Richmond. The people of Virginia have thus +allowed this giant insurrection to make its nest within her +borders, and this Government has no choice left but to deal +with it where it finds it, and it has the less to regret as the +loyal citizens have, in due form, claimed its protection. +Those loyal citizens this Government is bound to recognize +and protect as being in Virginia. In the Border States, so +called, in fact the Middle States, there are those who favor +a policy which they call armed neutrality, that is, an arming +of those States to prevent the Union forces passing one way +or the disunion forces the other, over their soil. This would +be disunion completed. Figuratively speaking, it would be +the building of an impassable wall along the line of separation, +and yet not quite an impassable one, for under the guise +of neutrality it would tie the hands of the Union men, and +freely pass supplies from among them, to the insurrectionists, +which it could not do as an open enemy. At a stroke it +would take all the trouble off the hands of secession, except +only what proceeds from the external blockade. It would do +for the disunionists that which of all things they most desire, +feed them well, and give them disunion, without a struggle +of their own. It recognizes no fidelity to the Constitution, +no obligation to maintain the Union, and while very many +who have favored it are doubtless loyal citizens, it is, nevertheless, +very injurious in effect.</p> + +<p>“Recurring to the action of the Government, it may be +stated that at first a call was made for seventy-five thousand +militia, and rapidly following this, a proclamation was issued +for closing the ports of the insurrectionary districts by proceedings +in the nature of a blockade. So far all was believed +to be strictly legal.</p> + +<p>“At this point the insurrectionists announced their purpose +to enter upon the practice of privateering.</p> + +<p>“Other calls were made for volunteers, to serve three +years, unless sooner discharged, and also for large additions to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">125</a></span> +the regular army and navy. These measures, whether strictly +legal or not, were ventured upon under what appeared to be +a popular demand and a public necessity, trusting then, as +now, that Congress would ratify them.</p> + +<p>“It is believed that nothing has been done beyond the constitutional +competency of Congress. Soon after the first call +for militia it was considered a duty to authorize the commanding +general, in proper cases, according to his discretion, +to suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus; or, +in other words, to arrest and detain, without resort to the +ordinary processes and forms of law, such individuals as he +might deem dangerous to the public safety. This authority +has purposely been exercised, but very sparingly. Nevertheless, +the legality and propriety of what has been done +under it are questioned, and the attention of the country has +been called to the proposition, that one who is sworn to take +care that the laws be faithfully executed should not himself +violate them. Of course some consideration was given to +the questions of power and propriety before this matter was +acted upon. The whole of the laws, which were required to +be faithfully executed, were being resisted, and failing of execution +in nearly one-third of the States. Must they be +allowed to finally fail of execution, even had it been perfectly +clear that, by use of the means necessary to their execution, +some single law, made in such extreme tenderness of the +citizen’s liberty that practically it relieves more of the guilty +than the innocent, should, to a very great extent, be violated? +To state the question more directly, are all the +laws but one to go unexecuted, and the Government itself to +go to pieces, lest that one be violated? Even in such a case +would not the official oath be broken, if the Government +should be overthrown when it was believed that disregarding +the single law would tend to preserve it?</p> + +<p>“But it was not believed that this question was presented. +It was not believed that any law was violated. The provision<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">126</a></span> +of the Constitution, that the privilege of the writ of +habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when, in cases +of rebellion or invasion, the public safety may require it, is +equivalent to a provision that such privilege may be suspended +when, in cases of rebellion or invasion, the public +safety does require it. It was decided that we have a case +of rebellion, and that the public safety does require the +qualified suspension of the privilege of the writ, which was +authorized to be made. Now, it is insisted that Congress, +and not the Executive, is vested with this power. But the +Constitution itself is silent as to which or who is to exercise +the power; and as the provision was plainly made for a dangerous +emergency, it cannot be believed that the framers of +the instrument intended that in every case the danger should +run its course until Congress could be called together, the +very assembling of which might be prevented, as was intended +in this case by the rebellion. No more extended +argument is now afforded, as an opinion at some length will +probably be presented by the Attorney-General. Whether +there shall be any legislation on the subject, and if so, what, +is subject entirely to the better judgment of Congress. The +forbearance of this Government had been so extraordinary, +and so long continued, as to lead some foreign nations to +shape their action as if they supposed the early destruction +of our National Union was probable. While this, on discovery, +gave the Executive some concern, he is now happy to +say that the sovereignty and rights of the United States are +now everywhere practically respected by foreign powers, and +a general sympathy with the country is manifested throughout +the world.</p> + +<p>“The reports of the Secretaries of the Treasury, War, and +the Navy, will give the information, in detail, deemed necessary +and convenient for your deliberation and action, while +the Executive and all the Departments will stand ready<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">127</a></span> +to supply omissions or to communicate new facts considered +important for you to know.</p> + +<p>“It is now recommended that you give the legal means for +making this contest a short and decisive one; that you place +at the control of the Government for the work, at least +400,000 men and $400,000,000; that number of men is about +one-tenth of those of proper ages within the regions where +apparently all are willing to engage, and the sum is less than +a twenty-third part of the money value owned by the men +who seem ready to devote the whole. A debt of $600,000,000 +now is a less sum per head than was the debt of our Revolution +when we came out of that struggle, and the money +value in the country bears even a greater proportion to what +it was then than does the population. Surely each man has +as strong a motive now to preserve our liberties, as each had +then to establish them.</p> + +<p>“A right result at this time will be worth more to the +world than ten times the men and ten times the money. The +evidence reaching us from the country, leaves no doubt that +the material for the work is abundant, and that it needs only +the hand of legislation to give it legal sanction, and the hand +of the Executive to give it practical shape and efficiency. +One of the greatest perplexities of the Government is to +avoid receiving troops faster than it can provide for them; +in a word, the people will save their Government if the +Government will do its part only indifferently well. It might +seem at first thought to be of little difference whether the +present movement at the South be called secession or rebellion. +The movers, however, well understand the difference. +At the beginning they knew that they could never raise their +treason to any respectable magnitude by any name which +implies violation of law; they knew their people possessed +as much of moral sense, as much of devotion to law and +order, and as much pride in its reverence for the history and +government of their common country, as any other civilized +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">128</a></span>and patriotic people. They knew they could make no advancement +directly in the teeth of these strong and noble +sentiments. Accordingly they commenced by an insidious +debauching of the public mind; they invented an ingenious +sophism, which, if conceded, was followed by perfectly logical +steps through all the incidents of the complete destruction of +the Union. The sophism itself is that any State of the +Union may, consistently with the nation’s Constitution, and +therefore lawfully and peacefully, withdraw from the Union +without the consent of the Union or of any other State.</p> + +<p>“The little disguise that the supposed right, is to be exercised +only for just cause, themselves to be the sole judge of +its justice, is too thin to merit any notice with rebellion. +Thus sugar-coated, they have been drugging the public mind +of their section for more than thirty years, and until at +length they have brought many good men to a willingness to +take up arms against the Government the day after some +assemblage of men have enacted the farcical pretence of +taking their State out of the Union, who could have been +brought to no such thing the day before. This sophism +derives much, perhaps the whole of its currency, from the +assumption that there is some omnipotent and sacred supremacy +pertaining to a State, to each State of our Federal +Union. Our States have neither more nor less power than +that reserved to them in the Union by the Constitution, no +one of them ever having been a State out of the Union. +The original ones passed into the Union before they cast off +their British Colonial dependence, and the new ones came +into the Union directly from a condition of dependence, +excepting Texas, and even Texas, in its temporary independence, +was never designated as a State. The new ones only +took the designation of States on coming into the Union, +while that name was first adopted for the old ones in and by +the Declaration of Independence. Therein the United Colonies +were declared to be <i>free</i> and <i>independent</i> States. But<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">129</a></span> +even then the object plainly was not to declare their independence +of one another of the Union, but directly the contrary, +as their mutual pledge and their mutual action before, +at the time, and afterward, abundantly show. The express +plight of faith by each and all of the original thirteen States +in the Articles of Confederation two years later that the +Union shall be perpetual, is most conclusive. Having never +been States either in substance or in name outside of the +Union, whence this magical omnipotence of State rights, +asserting a claim of power to lawfully destroy the Union +itself? Much is said about the sovereignty of the States, but +the word even is not in the National Constitution, nor, as is +believed, in any of the State constitutions. What is sovereignty +in the political sense of the word? Would it be far +wrong to define it a political community without a political +superior? Tested by this, no one of our States, except +Texas, was a sovereignty, and even Texas gave up the +character on coming into the Union, by which act she acknowledged +the Constitution of the United States; and the laws +and treaties of the United States, made in pursuance of +States, have their status in the Union, made in pursuance of +the Constitution, to be for her the supreme law. The States +have their status in the Union, and they have no other legal +status. If they break from this, they can only do so against +law and by revolution. The Union and not themselves, +separately procured their independence and their liberty by +conquest or purchase. The Union gave each of them whatever +of independence and liberty it has. The Union is older +than any of the States, and, in fact, it created them as States. +Originally, some dependent Colonies made the Union, and in +turn the Union threw off their old dependence for them, and +made them States, such as they are. Not one of them ever +had a State constitution independent of the Union. Of +course it is not forgotten that all the new States formed their +constitutions before they entered the Union; nevertheless,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">130</a></span> +dependent upon, and preparatory to coming into the Union. +Unquestionably the States have the powers and rights reserved +to them in and by the National Constitution.</p> + +<p>“But among these surely are not included all conceivable +powers, however mischievous or destructive, but at most +such only as were known in the world at the time as governmental +powers, and certainly a power to destroy the Government +itself had never been known as a governmental, as a +merely administrative power. This relative matter of +National power and State rights as a principle, is no other +than the principle of generality and locality. Whatever concerns +the whole should be conferred on the whole General +Government, while whatever concerns only the State should +be left exclusively to the State. This is all there is of original +principle about it. Whether the National Constitution, +in defining boundaries between the two, has applied the principle +with exact accuracy, is not to be questioned. We are +all bound by that defining without question. What is now +combatted is the position that secession is consistent with the +Constitution, is lawful and peaceful. It is not contended +that there is any express law for it, and nothing should ever +be implied as law which leads to unjust or absurd consequences. +The nation purchased with money the countries +out of which several of these States were formed. Is it just +that they shall go off without leave and without refunding? +The nation paid very large sums in the aggregate, I believe +nearly a hundred millions, to relieve Florida of the aboriginal +tribes. Is it just that she shall now be off without consent, +or without any return? The nation is now in debt for money +applied to the benefit of these so-called seceding States, in +common with the rest. Is it just, either that creditors shall +go unpaid, or the remaining States pay the whole? A part +of the present National debt was contracted to pay the old +debt of Texas. Is it just that she shall leave and pay no +part of this herself? Again, if one State may secede, so may +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">131</a></span>another, and when all shall have seceded none is left to pay +the debts. Is this quite just to creditors? Did we notify +them of this sage view of ours when we borrowed their +money? If we now recognize this doctrine by allowing the +seceders to go in peace, it is difficult to see what we can do +if others choose to go, or to extort terms upon which they +will promise to remain. The seceders insist that our Constitution +admits of secession. They have assumed to make a +National Constitution of their own, in which, of necessity, +they have either discarded or retained the right of secession, +as they insist exists in ours. If they have discarded it, they +thereby admit that on principle it ought not to exist in ours; +if they have retained it, by their own construction of ours +that shows that to be consistent, they must secede from one +another whenever they shall find it the easiest way of settling +their debts, or effecting any other selfish or unjust object. +The principle itself is one of disintegration, and upon which +no Government can possibly endure. If all the States save +one should assert the power to drive that one out of the +Union, it is presumed the whole class of seceder politicians +would at once deny the power, and denounce the act as the +greatest outrage upon State rights. But suppose that precisely +the same act, instead of being called driving the one +out, should be called the seceding of the others from that one, +it would be exactly what the seceders claim to do, unless, +indeed, they made the point that the one, because it is a +minority, may rightfully do what the others, because they are +a majority, may not rightfully do. These politicians are +subtle, and profound in the rights of minorities. They are +not partial to that power which made the Constitution, and +speaks from the preamble, calling itself, ‘We, the people.’ +It may be well questioned whether there is to-day a majority +of the legally qualified voters of any State, except, perhaps, +South Carolina, in favor of disunion. There is much reason +to believe that the Union men are the majority in many, if not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">132</a></span> +in every one of the so-called seceded States. The contrary +has not been demonstrated in any one of them. It is ventured +to affirm this, even of Virginia and Tennessee, for the +result of an election held in military camps, where the bayonets +are all on one side of the question voted upon, can +scarcely be considered as demonstrating popular sentiment. +At such an election all that large class who are at once for +the Union and against coercion would be coerced to vote +against the Union. It may be affirmed, without extravagance, +that the free institutions we enjoy have developed the +powers and improved the condition of our whole people beyond +any example in the world. Of this we now have a +striking and impressive illustration. So large an army as the +Government has now on foot was never before known, without +a soldier in it but who has taken his place there of his +own free choice. But more than this, there are many single +regiments whose members, one and another, possess full +practical knowledge of all the arts, sciences, professions, and +whatever else, whether useful or elegant, is known in the +whole world, and there is scarcely one from which there could +not be selected a President, a Cabinet, a Congress, and perhaps +a Court, abundantly competent to administer the Government +itself. Nor do I say this is not true also in the army +of our late friends, now adversaries, in this contest. But it +is so much better the reason why the Government which has +conferred such benefits on both them and us should not be +broken up. Whoever in any section proposes to abandon +such a Government, would do well to consider in deference +to what principle it is that he does it. What better he is +likely to get in its stead, whether the substitute will give, or +be intended to give so much of good to the people. There +are some foreshadowings on this subject. Our adversaries +have adopted some declarations of independence in which, +unlike our good old one penned by Jefferson, they omit the +words, ‘all men are created equal.’ Why? They have +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">133</a></span>adopted a temporary National Constitution, in the preamble +of which, unlike our good old one signed by Washington, +they omit, ‘We, the people,’ and substitute, ‘We, the deputies +of the sovereign and independent States.’ Why? Why +this deliberate pressing out of view the rights of men and the +authority of the people? This is essentially a people’s contest. +On the side of the Union it is a struggle for maintaining +in the world that form and substance of Government +whose leading object is to elevate the condition of men, to +lift artificial weights from all shoulders, to clear the paths of +laudable pursuit for all, to afford all an unfettered start and a +fair chance in the race of life, yielding to partial and temporary +departures from necessity. This is the leading object of +the Government for whose existence we contend.</p> + +<p>“I am most happy to believe that the plain people understand +and appreciate this. It is worthy of note that while +in this, the Government’s hour of trial, large numbers of those +in the army and navy who have been favored with the offices, +have resigned and proved false to the hand which pampered +them, not one common soldier or common sailor is known to +have deserted his flag. Great honor is due to those officers +who remained true despite the example of their treacherous +associates, but the greatest honor and the most important fact +of all, is the unanimous firmness of the common soldiers and +common sailors. To the last man, so far as known, they have +successfully resisted the traitorous efforts of those whose commands +but an hour before they obeyed as absolute law. This +is the patriotic instinct of plain people. They understand +without an argument that the destroying the Government +which was made by Washington means no good to them. +Our popular Government has often been called an experiment. +Two points in it our people have settled: the successful establishing +and the successful administering of it. One still +remains. Its successful maintenance against a formidable +internal attempt to overthrow it. It is now for them to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">134</a></span> +demonstrate to the world that those who can fairly carry an +election, can also suppress a rebellion; that ballots are the +rightful and peaceful successors of bullets, and that when ballots +have fairly and constitutionally decided, there can be no +successful appeal except to ballots themselves at succeeding +elections. Such will be a great lesson of peace, teaching men +that what they cannot take by an election, neither can they +take by a war, teaching all the folly of being the beginners of +a war.</p> + +<p>“Lest there should be some uneasiness in the minds of +candid men as to what is to be the course of the Government +toward the Southern States after the rebellion shall have been +suppressed, the Executive deems it proper to say it will be his +purpose then, as ever, to be guided by the Constitution and the +laws, and that he probably will have no different understanding +of the powers and duties of the Federal Government relatively +to the rights of the United States and the people under +the Constitution than that expressed in the Inaugural Address. +He desires to preserve the Government that it may be administered +for all, as it was administered by the men who made +it. Loyal citizens everywhere have a right to claim this of +their Government, and the Government has no right to withhold +or neglect it. It is not perceived that in giving it there +is any coercion, conquest or subjugation in any sense of these +terms.</p> + +<p>“The Constitution provided, and all the States have accepted +the provision, ‘that the United States shall guarantee +to every State in this Union a Republican form of government,’ +but if a State may lawfully go out of the Union, +having done so, it may also discard the Republican form of +Government. So that to prevent its going out is an indispensable +means to the end of maintaining the guaranty mentioned; +and when an end is lawful and obligatory, the indispensable +means to it are also lawful and obligatory.</p> + +<p>“It was with the deepest regret that the Executive found<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">135</a></span> +the duty of employing the war power. In defence of the +Government forced upon him, he could but perform this duty +or surrender the existence of the Government. No compromise +by public servants could in this case be a cure, not +that compromises are not often proper, but that no popular +government can long survive a marked precedent, that those +who carry an election can only save the Government from +immediate destruction by giving up the main point upon +which the people gave the election. The people themselves +and not their servants can safely reverse their own deliberate +decisions.</p> + +<p>“As a private citizen the Executive could not have consented +that these institutions shall perish, much less could he, +in betrayal of so vast and so sacred a trust as these free +people had confided to him. He felt that he had no moral +right to shrink, nor even to count the chances of his own life +in what might follow.</p> + +<p>“In full view of his great responsibility, he has so far done +what he has deemed his duty. You will now, according to +your own judgment, perform yours. He sincerely hopes that +your views and your actions may so accord with his as to assure +all faithful citizens who have been disturbed in their +rights, of a certain and speedy restoration to them, under the +Constitution and laws; and having thus chosen our cause +without guile, and with pure purpose, let us renew our trust +in God, and go forward without fear and with manly hearts.</p> + +<p>“July 4, 1861. <span class="right"><span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln.</span>”</span><br /> +</p></blockquote> + +<p>This document, it will be observed, sets forth in temperate +language the facts bearing upon the rebellion in its then +stage​—​facts so stated that the common people could readily +comprehend the exact situation of affairs. Such a message, +always in place, was never more needed than at a juncture +when​—​as seemed not altogether impossible to many​—​an +appeal might yet have to be made again and again to the +great mass of the people for men and money to maintain the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">136</a></span> +unity of the nation. It may be safely asserted, that the messages +of none of our Presidents have been so generally read +and so thoroughly mastered by the average mind, as those of +Mr. Lincoln, himself the tribune of the people.</p> + +<p>Congress granted five hundred millions in money, and +directed a call for five hundred thousand volunteers for the +army; made provisions for a popular national loan; revised +the tariff; passed a direct tax bill; adopted measures, moderate +in their scope, for the confiscation of rebel property; +legalized the official acts of the President during the emergency +in which the country had been placed; and the House +of Representatives, with but two dissentients, passed the following +resolution:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<i>Resolved, By the House of Representatives of the Congress +of the United States</i>, That the present deplorable civil +war has been forced upon the country by the disunionists of +the Southern States, now in revolt against the Constitutional +Government, and in arms around the capital; that in this +national emergency Congress, banishing all feeling of mere +passion or resentment, will recollect only its duty to the +whole country; that this war is not waged on our part in any +spirit of oppression, nor for any purpose of conquest or subjugation, +nor purpose of authorizing or interfering with the +rights or established institutions of the States, but to defend +and maintain the supremacy of the Constitution, and to +preserve the Union, with all the dignities, equality, and +rights of the several States unimpaired, and that as soon as +these objects are accomplished the war ought to cease.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>On the 21st of July, the Army of the Union, under the +direct command of General McDowell, and the general supervision +of the veteran Scott​—​from whose onward movement +against the rebels in Virginia so much had been expected​—​met +with a serious reverse at Bull Run. They went forth, +exulting in victory as certain; they came back a panic-stricken +mob. For an instant, despondency took possession of every<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">137</a></span> +loyal heart; all manner of vague fears seized the people; +Washington would be captured; the cause was lost.</p> + +<p>It was but for an instant, however. The rebound came. +Washington which might easily have been captured and +sacked, had the rebels known how to improve their success, +was securely fortified and amply garrisoned. One did not +then comprehend what now the most concede​—​that Bull Run +was a necessary discipline​—​a school in which all learned +somewhat​—​though, unfortunately, not all of us as much as we +should. That came later.</p> + +<hr /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX.</a><br /> + +<span class="subhead">CLOSE OF 1861.</span></h2> + +<blockquote> + +<p class="hang">Elation of the Rebels​—​Davis’s boast​—​McClellan appointed Commander of Potomac Army​—​Proclamation +of a National Fast​—​Intercourse with rebels forbidden​—​Fugitive slaves​—​Gen. +Butler’s views​—​Gen. McClellan’s letter from Secretary Cameron​—​Act of August +6th, 1861​—​Gen. Fremont’s order​—​Letter of the President modifying the same​—​Instructions +to Gen. Sherman​—​Ball’s Bluff​—​Gen. Scott’s retirement​—​Army of the +Potomac.</p></blockquote> + +<p>The victory of the conspirators at Bull Run, as was to have +been expected, elated them no little. Their President in his +message was supercilious and confident. Lauding the prowess +and determination of his confederates, he said:</p> + +<p>“To speak of subjugating such a people, so united and +determined, is to speak in a language incomprehensible to +them: to resist attack on their rights or their liberties is with +them an instinct. Whether this war shall last one, or three, +or five years, is a problem they leave to be solved by the +enemy alone. It will last till the enemy shall have withdrawn +from their borders; till their political rights, their +altars, and their homes are freed from invasion. Then, and +then only, will they rest from this struggle to enjoy in peace,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">138</a></span> +the blessings which, with the favor of Providence, they have +secured by the aid of their own strong hearts and steady arms.”</p> + +<p>On the 25th of July, a new commander was assigned to the +Army of the Potomac, upon the warm recommendation of +Gen. Scott; George B. McClellan, who had already become +favorably known from his conducting a successful campaign +in Western Virginia. With the extravagance so characteristic +of the American people, this commander​—​whose laurels +were yet to be won​—​was hailed as a young Napoleon, lauded +to the skies, and failure under him regarded as an utter impossibility.</p> + +<p>And the General betook himself to the organizing, disciplining, +and supplying his army, to which large accessions +were continually making from week to week.</p> + +<p>On the 12th day of August was issued the following proclamation:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Whereas</span>, A joint committee of both Houses of Congress +has waited on the President of the United States, and requested +him to ‘recommend a day of public humiliation, prayer, +and fasting, to be observed by the people of the United States +with religious solemnities, and the offering of fervent supplications +to Almighty God for the safety and welfare of these +States, His blessings on their arms, and a speedy restoration +of peace.’</p> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">And whereas</span>, It is fit and becoming in all people, at all +times, to acknowledge and revere the Supreme Government +of God; to bow in humble submission to his chastisements; +to confess and deplore their sins and transgressions, in the +full conviction that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of +wisdom, and to pray, with all fervency and contrition, for the +pardon of their past offences, and for a blessing upon their +present and prospective action.</p> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">And whereas</span>, When our own beloved country, once, by +the blessing of God, united, prosperous, and happy, is now +afflicted with faction and civil war, it is peculiarly fit for us<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">139</a></span> +to recognize the hand of God in this terrible visitation, and, +in sorrowful remembrance of our own faults and crimes as a +nation, and as individuals, to humble ourselves before Him, +and to pray for His mercy​—​to pray that we may be spared +further punishment, though most justly deserved; that our +arms may be blessed and made effectual for the re-establishment +of law, order, and peace throughout the wide extent of +our country; and that the inestimable boon of civil and religious +liberty, earned under His guidance and blessing by the +labors and sufferings of our fathers, may be restored in all its +original excellence;</p> + +<p>“<i>Therefore, I</i>, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United +States, do appoint the last Thursday in September next as a +day of humiliation, prayer, and fasting for all the people of +the nation. And I do earnestly recommend to all the people, +and especially to all ministers and teachers of religion, of all +denominations, and to all heads of families, to observe and +keep that day, according to their several creeds and modes of +worship, in all humility, and with all religious solemnity, to +the end that the united prayer of the nation may ascend to the +Throne of Grace, and bring down plentiful blessings upon our +country.</p> + +<p>“In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and +caused the seal of the United States to be affixed, this 12th +day of August, <span class="smcap smaller">A. D.</span> 1861, and of the Independence of the +United States of America the eighty-sixth.</p> + +<p> +“By the President: <span class="right"><span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln</span>.</span><br /> + +“<span class="smcap">William H. Seward</span>, Secretary of State.”<br /> +</p></blockquote> + +<p>And four days later the following:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Whereas</span>, On the 15th day of April, the President of the +United States, in view of an insurrection against the laws, +Constitution, and Government of the United States, which +had broken out within the States of South Carolina, Georgia, +Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, and in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">140</a></span> +pursuance of the provisions of an act entitled an act to provide +for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the Union, +suppress insurrections and repel invasions, and to repeal the +act now in force for that purpose, approved February 28th, +1795, did call forth the militia to suppress said insurrection +and cause the laws of the Union to be duly executed​—​and the +insurgents have failed to disperse by the time directed by the +President; <span class="smcap smaller">AND WHEREAS</span>, such insurrection has since broken +out and yet exists within the States of Virginia, North Carolina, +Tennessee, and Arkansas; <span class="smcap smaller">AND WHEREAS</span>, the insurgents +in all the said States claim to act under authority thereof, and +such claim is not discarded or repudiated by the persons exercising +the functions of government in such State or States, or +in the part or parts thereof, in which such combinations exist, +nor has such insurrection been suppressed by said States.</p> + +<p>“Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the +United States, in pursuance of the Act of Congress approved +July 13th, 1861, do hereby declare that the inhabitants of the +said States of Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, +Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Florida, except +the inhabitants of that part of the State of Virginia lying +west of the Allegheny Mountains, and of such other parts of +that State and the other States hereinbefore named as may +maintain a loyal adhesion to the Union and the Constitution, +or may be, from time to time occupied and controlled by the +forces of the United States engaged in the dispersion of said +insurgents, are in a state of insurrection against the United +States, and that all commercial intercourse between the same +and the inhabitants thereof, with the exception aforesaid, and +the citizens of other States and other parts of the United +States, is unlawful, and will remain unlawful until such insurrection +shall cease or has been suppressed; that all goods and +chattels, wares and merchandise, coming from any of the said +States, with the exceptions aforesaid, into other parts of the +United States, without the special license and permission of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">141</a></span> +the President, through the Secretary of the Treasury, or proceeding +to any of the said States, with the exception aforesaid, +by land or water, together with the vessel or vehicle +conveying the same, or conveying persons to and from the +said States, with the said exceptions, will be forfeited to the +United States; and that, from and after fifteen days from the +issuing of this proclamation, all ships and vessels belonging, +in whole or in part, to any citizen or inhabitant of any of the +said States, with the said exceptions, found at sea in any part +of the United States, will be forfeited to the United States; +and I hereby enjoin upon all District Attorneys, Marshals, +and officers of the revenue of the military and naval forces of +the United States, to be vigilant in the execution of the said +act, and in the enforcement of the penalties and forfeitures +imposed or declared by it, leaving any party who may think +himself aggrieved thereby, to his application to the Secretary +of the Treasury for the remission of any penalty or forfeiture, +which the said Secretary is authorized by law to grant, if in +his judgment, the special circumstances of any case shall +require such a remission.</p> + +<p>“In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and +caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.</p> + +<p>“Done in the City of Washington, this, the 16th day of +August, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred +and sixty-one, and of the Independence of the United States +of America the eighty-sixth.</p> + +<p> +“By the President: <span class="right"><span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln</span>.</span><br /> + +“<span class="smcap">William H. Seward</span>, Secretary of State.”<br /> +</p></blockquote> + +<p>The question as to the disposition to be made of the slaves +of rebel masters presented itself early in the contest, and it +was at once perceived that its settlement would be attended +with no little embarrassment.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">142</a></span> +As early as May 27th, 1861, General Butler, in command +at Fortress Monroe, had informed the War Department as to +his views relative to the fugitive slaves​—​that they were to be +regarded as “contraband of war”​—​and Secretary Cameron, +under date of May 30th, had instructed that commander +neither to permit any interference by persons under his command +with the relations of persons held to service under the +laws of any State; nor, on the other hand, while such States +remained in rebellion, to surrender such persons to their +alleged masters, but to employ them in such service as would +be most advantageous, keeping an account of the value of +their labor and the expenses of their support​—​the question +of their final disposition to be reserved for future determination.</p> + +<p>At about the same time, General McClellan, advancing into +Western Virginia to the aid of the loyal men of that section, +used this language in his address to the people:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“Notwithstanding all that has been said by the traitors to +induce you to believe that our advent among you will be +signalized by interference with your slaves, understand one +thing clearly​—​not only will we abstain from all such interference, +but we will, on the contrary, with an iron hand, +crush any attempt at insurrection on their part.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>On the 8th of August, Secretary Cameron, in reply to a +second letter from General Butler upon the same subject, +said:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">General</span>:​—​The important question of the proper disposition +to be made of fugitives from service in the States in insurrection +against the Federal Government, to which you have +again directed my attention, in your letter of July 20th, has +received my most attentive consideration. It is the desire +of the President that all existing rights in all the States be +fully respected and maintained. The war now prosecuted on +the part of the Federal Government is a war for the Union,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">143</a></span> +for the preservation of all the Constitutional rights of the +States and the citizens of the States in the Union; hence no +question can arise as to fugitives from service within the +States and Territories in which the authority of the Union is +fully acknowledged. The ordinary forms of judicial proceedings +must be respected by the military and civil authorities +alike for the enforcement of legal forms. But in the States +wholly or in part under insurrectionary control, where the +laws of the United States are so far opposed and resisted that +they can not be effectually enforced, it is obvious that the +rights dependent upon the execution of these laws must +temporarily fail, and it is equally obvious that the rights +dependent on the laws of the States within which military +operations are conducted must necessarily be subordinate to +the military exigencies created by the insurrection, if not +wholly forfeited by the treasonable conduct of the parties +claiming them. To this the general rule of the right to +service forms an exception. The act of Congress approved +August 6, 1861, declares that if persons held to service shall +be employed in hostility to the United States, the right to +their services shall be discharged therefrom. It follows of +necessity that no claim can be recognized by the military +authority of the Union to the services of such persons when +fugitives.</p> + +<p>“A more difficult question is presented in respect to persons +escaping from the service of loyal masters. It is quite +apparent that the laws of the State under which only the +service of such fugitives can be claimed must needs be wholly +or almost wholly superseded, as to the remedies, by the +insurrection and the military measures necessitated by it; +and it is equally apparent that the substitution of military for +judicial measures for the enforcement of such claims must be +attended by great inconvenience, embarrassments and injuries. +Under these circumstances, it seems quite clear that the substantial +rights of loyal masters are still best protected by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">144</a></span> +receiving such fugitives, as well as fugitives from disloyal +masters, into the service of the United States, and employing +them under such organizations and in such occupations as +circumstances may suggest or require. Of course a record +should be kept showing the names and descriptions of the +fugitives, the names and characters, as loyal or disloyal, of +their masters, and such facts as may be necessary to a correct +understanding of the circumstances of each case.</p> + +<p>“After tranquility shall have been restored upon the return +of peace, Congress will doubtless properly provide for all the +persons thus received into the service of the Union, and for a +just compensation to loyal masters. In this way only, it +would seem, can the duty and safety of the Government and +just rights of all be fully reconciled and harmonized. You +will, therefore, consider yourself instructed to govern your +future action in respect to fugitives from service by the +premises herein stated, and will report from time to time, and +at least twice in each month, your action in the premises to +this Department. You will, however, neither authorize nor +permit any interference by the troops under your command +with the servants of peaceable citizens in a house or field, nor +will you in any manner encourage such citizens to leave the +lawful service of their masters, nor will you, except in cases +where the public good may seem to require it, prevent the +voluntary return of any fugitive to the service from which he +may have escaped.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>The Act of Congress to which allusion has already been +made, as providing for the confiscation of the estates of +persons in open rebellion against the Government, limited the +penalty to property actually employed in the service of the +rebellion, with the knowledge and consent of its owners; and, +instead of emancipating slaves thus employed, left the disposition +to be made of them to be determined by the United +States Courts, or by subsequent legislation.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">145</a></span> +General Fremont, in command of the Department of +Missouri, in an order dated August 30th, declaring martial +law established throughout that State, used the following +language:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“Real and personal property of those who shall take +up arms against the United States, or who shall be directly +proven to have taken an active part with their enemies in the +field, is declared confiscated to public use, and their slaves +if any they have, are hereby declared free men.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>This order violated the above-named act, and could only be +justified upon the ground of imperative military necessity. +Some correspondence which passed between the President +and General Fremont upon this topic, resulted in the following +official letter, dated Washington, D. C., Sept. 11, +1861:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p class="in0"> +“<span class="smcap">Major General John C. Fremont</span>:​—​<br /> +</p> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Sir</span>,​—​Yours of the 8th, in answer to mine of the 2d +inst., is just received. Assured that you, upon the ground, +could better judge of the necessities of your position than I +could at this distance, on seeing your proclamation of August +30, I perceived no general objection to it; the particular +clause however, in relation to the confiscation of property +and the liberation of slaves, appeared to me to be objectionable +in its non-conformity to the Act of Congress passed the +6th of last August, upon the same subjects, and hence I +wrote you, expressing my wish that that clause should +be modified accordingly. Your answer just received expresses +the preference on your part that I should make an +open order for the modification, which I very cheerfully do. +It is, therefore, ordered that the said clause of the said proclamation +be so modified, held and construed, as to conform +with, and not to transcend the provisions on the same subject +contained in the Act of Congress entitled ‘An Act to confiscate +property used for insurrectionary purposes,’ approved<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">146</a></span> +August 6, 1861, and that said Act be published at length +with this order.</p> + +<p class="sigright"> +<span class="l2">“Your obedient servant,</span><br /> +“<span class="smcap">A. Lincoln</span>.”<br /> +</p></blockquote> + +<p>In the instructions from the War Department to General +Sherman, in command of the land forces destined to operate +on the South Carolina coast, that commander was directed to +govern himself relative to this class of persons, by the principles +of the letters addressed to General Butler, exercising, +however, his own discretion as to special cases. If particular +circumstances seemed to require it, they were to be employed +in any capacity, with such organization in squads, companies, +or otherwise, as should be by him deemed most beneficial to +the service. This, however, not to mean a general arming +of them for military service. All loyal masters were to be +assured that Congress would provide just compensation +to them for any loss of the services of persons so employed.</p> + +<p>This phase​—​varying and indefinite​—​at that time did that +question present, which was at a later period to take, under +the moulding hand of the President, body and form clearly +defined and unmistakable.</p> + +<p>The battle of Ball’s Bluff​—​the first under the direction of +the new commander on the Potomac​—​fought October 21st +was but Bull Run repeated; happily, however, on a somewhat +smaller scale. A convenient scapegoat upon whom to +throw the responsibility​—​General Stone​—​was found, and the +indignation of the country was measurably, and for the time, +appeased.</p> + +<p>Directly after this affair, the veteran Scott having asked to +be relieved from active service, his request was granted in +the following highly complimentary order:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p class="sigright"> + +“<i>Executive Mansion, Washington</i>, Nov. 1, 1861.<br /> +</p> + +<p>“On the 1st day of November, A. D., 1861, upon his own +application to the President of the United States, Brevet<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">147</a></span> +Lieutenant-General Winfield Scott is ordered to be placed, +and hereby is placed, upon the list of retired officers of the +Army of the United States, without reduction in his current +pay, subsistence, or allowances.</p> + +<p>“The American people will hear with sadness and deep +emotion that General Scott has withdrawn from the active +control of the army, while the President and the unanimous +Cabinet express their own and the nation’s sympathy in his +personal affliction, and their profound sense of the important +public services rendered by him to his country during his +long and brilliant career, among which will ever be gratefully +distinguished his faithful devotion to the Constitution, the +Union, and the flag, when assailed by a parricidal rebellion.</p> + +<p class="sigright"> +“<span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln.</span>”<br /> +</p></blockquote> + +<p>To General McClellan, now the ranking officer of the army, +the duties of General-in-chief were assigned by the President.</p> + +<p>The autumnal months passed away​—​gorgeous and golden​—​men +thought them made for fighting, if fighting must be; +but no fighting for the Army of the Potomac​—​an occasional +skirmish only​—​mainly reviews.</p> + +<p>The winter months came​—​the dry season had passed. +The Grand Army being now thoroughly organized, disciplined, +and equipped went​—​to fight?​—​no​—​into winter +quarters.</p> + +<p>And the people, patient ever and forgiving, when inclination +impels, forgot Ball’s Bluff​—​forgot what they had hoped +for​—​trusted in the prudent caution of the general in command, +and waited for the springtide.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">148</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X.</a><br /> + +<span class="subhead">THE CONGRESS OF 1861–2.</span></h2> + +<blockquote> + +<p class="hang">The Military Situation​—​Seizure of Mason and Slidell​—​Opposition to the Administration​—​President’s +Message​—​Financial Legislation​—​Committee on the Conduct of the War​—​Confiscation +Bill.</p></blockquote> + +<p>At the time of the re-assembling of Congress, December +2d, 1861, the military situation was by no means as promising +as the liberal expenditure of money and the earnest efforts of +the Administration toward a vigorous prosecution of the war +might have led the people to expect. True, the National +Capitol had been protected, and Maryland, West Virginia, +Kentucky, and Missouri had not, as had been at various times +threatened, been brought in subjection to the rebels. Nothing +more, however​—​though this would have been judged no +little, had the people been less sanguine of great results immediately +at hand​—​than this had been accomplished in the +East; and in the West, large rebel forces threatened Kentucky +and Missouri, and the Mississippi river was in their possession +from its mouth to within a short distance of the mouth +of the Ohio.</p> + +<p>The seizure of the emissaries, Mason and Slidell likewise​—​though +afterwards disposed of by the Government in such a +way as to secure the acquiescence of the nation​—​taken in +connection with the position assumed by the British Government​—​in +every way unpalatable to the mass of the people​—​seemed +likely to entangle us in foreign complications exceedingly +undesirable at that juncture. It was generally believed +that England and France, while neutral on the surface, were +in reality affording very material aid and comfort to the rebel +cause, our commercial interests being very seriously impaired<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">149</a></span> +by the construction which those powers saw fit to place upon +their duties as neutrals.</p> + +<p>Efforts, moreover, were making to organize a formidable +party in antagonism to the Administration, comprising the +loose ends of every class of malcontents; those who had +always opposed the war, though for a time cowed down by +the outburst which followed the fall of Sumter; those who +were satisfied that no more progress had been made; those +who were inclined, constitutionally, to oppose any thing +which any Administration, under any circumstances, might +do; those who were beginning to tire of the war, and were +ready to patch matters up in any way, so only that it should +come to an end; and those who were on the alert for some +chance whereby to make capital, political or pecuniary, for +their own dear selves.</p> + +<p>As a whole, affairs were by no means a cheering aspect at +the opening of this Session.</p> + +<p>That the President was fully alive to the true state of the +case, the views announced in the following message clearly +show:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Fellow-citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives</span>:​—​In +the midst of unprecedented political troubles, +we have cause of great gratitude to God for unusual good +health and most abundant harvests.</p> + +<p>“You will not be surprised to learn that, in the peculiar +exigences of the times, our intercourse with foreign nations +has been attended with profound solicitude, chiefly turning +upon our own domestic affairs.</p> + +<p>“A disloyal portion of the American people have, during the +whole year, been engaged in an attempt to divide and destroy +the Union. A nation which endures factious domestic +division, is exposed to disrespect abroad; and one party, +if not both, is sure, sooner or later, to invoke foreign intervention.</p> + +<p>“Nations thus tempted to interfere, are not always able to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">150</a></span> +resist the counsels of seeming expediency and ungenerous ambition, +although measures adopted under such influences seldom +fail to be unfortunate and injurious to those adopting them.</p> + +<p>“The disloyal citizens of the United States who have +offered the ruin of our country, in return for the aid and comfort +which they have invoked abroad, have received less +patronage and encouragement than they probably expected. +If it were just to suppose, as the insurgents have seemed to +assume, that foreign nations, in this case, discarding all +moral, social and treaty obligations, would act solely, and +selfishly, for the most speedy restoration of commerce, including, +especially, the acquisition of cotton, those nations +appear, as yet, not to have seen their way to their objects +more directly, or clearly, through the destruction than +through the preservation of the Union. If we could dare to +believe that foreign nations are actuated by no higher principle +than this, I am quite sure a sound argument could be +made to show them that they can reach their aim more +readily and easily by aiding to crush this rebellion than by +giving encouragement to it.</p> + +<p>“The principal lever relied on by the insurgents for exciting +foreign nations to hostility against us, as already intimated, +is the embarrassment of commerce. Those nations, +however, not improbably, saw from the first, that it was the +Union which made, as well our foreign, as our domestic commerce. +They can scarcely have failed to perceive that the +effort for disunion produces the existing difficulty; and that +one strong nation promises more durable peace, and a more +extensive, valuable and reliable commerce, than can the same +nation broken into hostile fragments.</p> + +<p>“It is not my purpose to review our discussions with +foreign States; because whatever might be their wishes or +dispositions, the integrity of our country and the stability of +our Government mainly depend, not upon them, but on the +loyalty, virtue, patriotism and intelligence of the American<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">151</a></span> +people. The correspondence itself, with the usual reservations, +is herewith submitted.</p> + +<p>“I venture to hope it will appear that we have practiced +prudence and liberality toward foreign powers, averting +causes of irritation, and with firmness maintaining our own +rights and honor.</p> + +<p>“Since, however, it is apparent that here, as in every other +State, foreign dangers necessarily attend domestic difficulties, +I recommend that adequate and ample measures be adopted +for maintaining the public defences on every side. While, +under this general recommendation, provision for defending +our sea-coast line readily occurs to the mind, I also, in the +same connection, ask the attention of Congress to our great +lakes and rivers. It is believed that some fortifications and +depots of arms and munitions, with harbor and navigation +improvements, all at well-selected points upon these, would +be of great importance to the National defence and preservation. +I ask attention to the views of the Secretary of War, +expressed in his report, upon the same general subject.</p> + +<p>“I deem it of importance that the loyal regions of East +Tennessee and Western North Carolina should be connected +with Kentucky, and other faithful parts of the Union, by +railroad. I therefore recommend, as a military measure, that +Congress provide for the construction of such road as speedily +as possible. Kentucky, no doubt, will co-operate, and, +through her Legislature, make the most judicious selection +of a line. The northern terminus must connect with some +existing railroad; and whether the route shall be from Lexington +or Nicholasville to the Cumberland Gap, or from +Lebanon to the Tennessee line, in the direction of Knoxville, +or on some still different line, can easily be determined. +Kentucky and the General Government coöperating, the +work can be completed in a very short time; and when done, +it will be not only of vast present usefulness, but also a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">152</a></span> +valuable permanent improvement, worth its cost in all the +future.</p> + +<p>“Some treaties, designed chiefly for the interests of commerce, +and having no grave political importance, have been +negotiated, and will be submitted to the Senate for their consideration.</p> + +<p>“Although we have failed to induce some of the commercial +powers to adopt a desirable amelioration of the rigor of maritime +war, we have removed all obstructions from the way of +this humane reform, except such as are merely of temporary +and accidental occurrence.</p> + +<p>“I invite your attention to the correspondence between +Her Britannic Majesty’s Minister, accredited to this Government, +and the Secretary of State, relative to the detention of +the British ship Perthshire, in June last, by the United States +steamer Massachusetts, for a supposed breach of the blockade. +As this detention was occasioned by an obvious misapprehension +of the facts, and as justice requires that we should commit +no belligerent act not founded in strict right, as sanctioned +by public law, I recommend that an appropriation be +made to satisfy the reasonable demand of the owners of the +vessel for her detention.</p> + +<p>“I repeat the recommendation of my predecessor, in his +annual message to Congress in December last, in regard to +the disposition of the surplus which will probably remain +after satisfying the claims of the American citizens against +China, pursuant to the awards of the commissioners under +the act of the 3d of March, 1859. If, however, it should +not be deemed advisable to carry that recommendation into +effect, I would suggest that authority be given for investing +the principal, over the proceeds of the surplus referred to, in +good securities, with a view to the satisfaction of such other +just claims of our citizens against China as are not unlikely +to arise hereafter in the course of our extensive trade with +that empire.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">153</a></span> +“By the act of the 5th of August last, Congress authorized +the President to instruct the commanders of suitable vessels +to defend themselves against and to capture pirates. This +authority has been exercised in a single instance only. For +the more effectual protection of our extensive and valuable +commerce, in the Eastern seas especially, it seems to me that +it would also be advisable to authorize the commanders of +sailing vessels to recapture any prizes which pirates may +make of United States vessels and their cargoes, and the +consular courts, now established by law in Eastern countries, +to adjudicate the cases, in the event that this should not be +objected to by the local authorities.</p> + +<p>“If any good reason exists why we should persevere longer +in withholding our recognition of the independence and sovereignty +of Hayti and Liberia, I am unable to discern it. +Unwilling, however, to inaugurate a novel policy in regard +to them without the approbation of Congress, I submit for +your consideration the expediency of an appropriation for +maintaining a charge d’affaires near each of those new States. +It does not admit of doubt that important commercial advantages +might be secured by favorable treaties with them.</p> + +<p>“The operations of the treasury during the period which +has elapsed since your adjournment, have been conducted +with signal success. The patriotism of the people has +placed at the disposal of the Government the large means +demanded by the public exigencies. Much of the national +loan has been taken by citizens of the industrial classes, +whose confidence in their country’s faith, and zeal for their +country’s deliverance from present peril, have induced them +to contribute to the support of the Government the whole of +their limited acquisitions. This fact imposes peculiar obligations +to economy in disbursement, and energy in action.</p> + +<p>“The revenue from all sources, including loans, for the +financial year ending on the 30th of June, 1861, was eighty-six +million eight hundred and thirty-five thousand nine<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">154</a></span> +hundred dollars and twenty-seven cents, and the expenditures +for the same period, including payments on account of the +public debt, were eighty-four million five hundred and seventy-eight +thousand eight hundred and thirty-four dollars and +forty-seven cents; leaving a balance in the treasury on the +1st of July of two million two hundred and fifty-seven +thousand sixty-five dollars and eighty cents. For the first +quarter of the financial year, ending on the 30th of September, +1861, the receipts from all sources, including the balance +of the 1st of July, were one hundred and two million five +hundred and thirty-two thousand five hundred and nine +dollars and twenty-seven cents, and the expenses ninety-eight +million two hundred and thirty-nine thousand seven +hundred and thirty-three dollars and nine cents; leaving a +balance on the 1st of October, 1861, of four million two hundred +and ninety-two thousand seven hundred and seventy-six +dollars and eighteen cents.</p> + +<p>“Estimates for the remaining three-quarters of the year, +and for the financial year 1863, together with his views of +ways and means for meeting the demands contemplated by +them, will be submitted to Congress by the Secretary of the +Treasury. It is gratifying to know that the expenditures +made necessary by the rebellion are not beyond the resources +of the loyal people, and to believe that the same patriotism +which has thus far sustained the Government will continue +to sustain it till peace and Union shall again bless the land.</p> + +<p>“I respectfully refer to the report of the Secretary of War +for information respecting the numerical strength of the +Army, and for recommendations having in view an increase +of its efficiency and the well-being of the various branches +of the service intrusted to his care. It is gratifying to know +that the patriotism of the people has proved equal to the +occasion, and that the number of troops tendered greatly +exceeds the force which Congress authorized me to call into +the field.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">155</a></span> +“I refer with pleasure to those portions of his report which +make allusion to the creditable degree of discipline already +attained by our troops, and to the excellent sanitary condition +of the entire army.</p> + +<p>“The recommendation of the Secretary for an organization +of the militia upon a uniform basis is a subject of vital importance +to the future safety of the country, and is commended +to the serious attention of Congress.</p> + +<p>“The large addition to the regular army, in connection +with the defection that has so considerably diminished the +number of its officers, gives peculiar importance to his recommendation +for increasing the corps of cadets to the greatest +capacity of the Military Academy.</p> + +<p>“By mere omission, I presume, Congress has failed to provide +chaplains for hospitals occupied by volunteers. This +subject was brought to my notice, and I was induced to draw +up the form of a letter, one copy of which, properly addressed, +has been delivered to each of the persons, and at the dates +respectively named and stated, in a schedule, containing also +the form of the letter, marked A, and herewith transmitted.</p> + +<p>“These gentlemen, I understand, entered upon the duties +designated, at the times respectively stated in the schedule, +and have labored faithfully therein ever since. I therefore +recommend that they be compensated at the same rate as +chaplains in the army. I further suggest that general provision +be made for chaplains to serve at hospitals, as well as +with regiments.</p> + +<p>“The report of the Secretary of the Navy presents in detail +the operations of that branch of the service, the activity and +energy which have characterized its administration, and the +results of measures to increase its efficiency and power. Such +have been the additions, by construction and purchase, that it +may almost be said a navy has been created and brought into +service since our difficulties commenced.</p> + +<p>“Besides blockading our extensive coast, squadrons larger<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">156</a></span> +than ever before assembled under our flag have been put +afloat, and performed deeds which have increased our naval +renown.</p> + +<p>“I would invite special attention to the recommendation +of the Secretary for a more perfect organization of the Navy +by introducing additional grades in the service.</p> + +<p>“The present organization is defective and unsatisfactory, +and the suggestions submitted by the Department will, it is +believed, if adopted, obviate the difficulties alluded to promote +harmony, and increase the efficiency of the Navy.</p> + +<p>“There are three vacancies on the bench of the Supreme +Court​—​two by the decease of Justices Daniel and McLean, +and one by the resignation of Justice Campbell. I have so +far forborne making nominations to fill these vacancies for +reasons which I will now state. Two of the outgoing judges +resided within the States now overrun by revolt; so that if +successors were appointed in the same localities, they could +not now serve upon their circuits; and many of the most +competent men there probably would not take the personal +hazard of accepting to serve, even here, upon the Supreme +Bench. I have been unwilling to throw all the appointments +northward, thus disabling myself from doing justice to the +South on the return of peace; although I may remark that +to transfer to the North one which has heretofore been in the +South would not, with reference to territory and population, +be unjust.</p> + +<p>“During the long and brilliant judicial career of Judge +McLean, his circuit grew into an empire​—​altogether too large +for any one judge to give the courts therein more than a +nominal attendance​—​rising in population from one million +four hundred and seventy thousand and eighteen, in 1830, to +six million one hundred and fifty-one thousand four hundred +and five, in 1860.</p> + +<p>“Besides this, the country generally has outgrown our +present judicial system. If uniformity was at all intended,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">157</a></span> +the system requires that all the States shall be accommodated +with circuit courts, attended by supreme judges, while, in +fact, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Kansas, Florida, Texas, +California, and Oregon, have never had any such courts. +Nor can this well be remedied without a change in the +system; because the adding of judges to the Supreme Court, +enough for the accommodation of all parts of the country, +with circuit courts, would create a court altogether too numerous +for a judicial body of any sort. And the evil, if it +be one, will increase as new States come into the Union. +Circuit courts are useful, or they are not useful; if useful, +no State should be denied them; if not useful, no State +should have them. Let them be provided for all, or abolished +as to all.</p> + +<p>“Three modifications occur to me, either of which, I think, +would be an improvement upon our present system. Let the +Supreme Court be of convenient number in every event. +Then, first, let the whole country be divided into circuits of +convenient size, the supreme judges to serve in a number of +them corresponding to their own number, and independent +circuit judges be provided for all the rest. Or, secondly, let +the supreme judges be relieved from circuit duties, and circuit +judges provided for all the circuits. Or, thirdly, dispense +with circuit courts altogether, leaving the judicial functions +wholly to the district courts, and an independent Supreme +Court.</p> + +<p>“I respectfully recommend to the consideration of Congress +the present condition of the statute laws, with the hope that +Congress will be able to find an easy remedy for many of the +inconveniences and evils which constantly embarrass those +engaged in the practical administration of them. Since the +organization of the Government, Congress has enacted some +five thousand acts and joint resolutions, which fill more than +six thousand closely printed pages, and are scattered through +many volumes. Many of these acts have been drawn in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">158</a></span> +haste and without sufficient caution, so that their provisions +are often obscure in themselves, or in conflict with each other, +or at least so doubtful as to render it very difficult for even +the best informed persons to ascertain precisely what the +statute law really is.</p> + +<p>“It seems to me very important that the statute laws +should be made as plain and intelligible as possible, and be +reduced to as small a compass as may consist with the fulness +and precision of the will of the legislature and the perspicuity +of its language. This well done, would, I think, +greatly facilitate the labors of those whose duty it is to assist +in the administration of the laws, and would be a lasting +benefit to the people, by placing before them in a more accessible +and intelligible form, the laws which so deeply concern +their interests and their duties.</p> + +<p>“I am informed by some whose opinions I respect, that all +the acts of Congress now in force, and of a permanent and +general nature, might be revised and re-written, so as to be +embraced in one volume (or at most, two volumes) of ordinary +and convenient size. And I respectfully recommend to +Congress to consider the subject, and, if my suggestion be +approved, to devise such plan as to their wisdom shall seem +most proper for the attainment of the end proposed.</p> + +<p>“One of the unavoidable consequences of the present +insurrection, is the entire suppression, in many places, of all +the ordinary means of administering civil justice by the +officers and in the forms of existing law. This is the case, in +whole or in part, in all insurgent States; and as our armies +advance upon and take possession of parts of those States +the practical evil becomes more apparent. There are no +courts nor officers to whom the citizens of other States may +apply for the enforcement of their lawful claims against +citizens of the insurgent States; and there is a vast amount +of debt constituting such claims. Some have estimated it as +high as two hundred million dollars, due in large part, from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">159</a></span> +insurgents in open rebellion to loyal citizens, who are even +now making great sacrifices in the discharge of their patriotic +duty, to support the Government.</p> + +<p>“Under these circumstances, I have been urgently solicited +to establish by military power, courts to administer summary +justice in such cases. I have thus far declined to do it, not +because I had any doubt that the end proposed​—​the collection +of the debts​—​was just and right in itself, but because I +have been unwilling to go beyond the pressure of necessity +in the unusual exercise of power. But the powers of Congress, +I suppose, are equal to the anomalous occasion, and +therefore I refer the whole matter to Congress, with the hope +that a plan may be devised for the administration of justice +in all such parts of the insurgent States and Territories as +may be under the control of this Government, whether by a +voluntary return to allegiance and order, or by the power of +our arms. This, however, not to be a permanent institution, +but a temporary substitute, and to cease as soon as the ordinary +courts can be re-established in peace.</p> + +<p>“It is important that some more convenient means should +be provided, if possible, for the adjustment of claims against +the Government, especially in view of their increased number +by reason of the war. It is as much the duty of Government +to render prompt justice against itself, in favor of citizens, as +it is to administer the same between private individuals. The +investigation and adjudication of claims, in their nature, belong +to the judicial department; besides, it is apparent that +the attention of Congress will be more than usually engaged +for some time to come with great national questions. It was +intended, by the organization of the Court of Claims, mainly +to remove this branch of business from the halls of Congress; +but while the court has proved to be an effective and valuable +means of investigation, it in a great degree fails to effect the +object of its creation for want of power to make its judgments +final.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">160</a></span> +“Fully aware of the delicacy, not to say the danger, of the +subject, I commend to your careful consideration whether this +power of making judgments final may not properly be given +to the court, reserving the right of appeal on questions of law +to the Supreme Court, with such other provisions as experience +may have shown to be necessary.</p> + +<p>“I ask attention to the report of the Postmaster General, +the following being a summary statement of the condition of +the department:</p> + +<p>“The revenue from all sources during the fiscal year ending +June 30th, 1861, including the annual permanent appropriation +of seven hundred thousand dollars for the transportation +of ‘free mail matter,’ was nine million forty-nine thousand +two hundred and ninety-six dollars and forty cents, being +about two per cent. less than the revenue for 1860.</p> + +<p>“The expenditures were thirteen million six hundred and +six thousand seven hundred and fifty-nine dollars and eleven +cents, showing a decrease of more than eight per cent. as +compared with those of the previous year, and leaving an +excess of expenditure over the revenue for the last fiscal year +of four million five hundred and fifty-seven thousand four +hundred and sixty-two dollars and seventy-one cents.</p> + +<p>“The gross revenue for the year ending June 30th, 1863, +is estimated at an increase of four per cent. on that of 1861, +making eight million six hundred and eighty-three thousand +dollars, to which should be added the earnings of the department +in carrying free matter, viz: seven hundred thousand +dollars, making nine million three hundred and eighty-three +thousand dollars.</p> + +<p>“The total expenditures for 1863 are estimated at twelve +million five hundred and twenty-eight thousand dollars, leaving +an estimated deficiency of three million one hundred and +forty-five thousand dollars to be supplied from the treasury, +in addition to the permanent appropriation.</p> + +<p>“The present insurrection shows, I think, that the extension<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">161</a></span> +of this District across the Potomac river, at the time of establishing +the capital here, was eminently wise, and consequently +that the relinquishment of that portion of it which lies within +the State of Virginia was unwise and dangerous. I submit +for your consideration the expediency of regaining that part +of the District, and the restoration of the original boundaries +thereof, through negotiations with the state of Virginia.</p> + +<p>“The report of the Secretary of the Interior, with the accompanying +documents, exhibits the condition of the several +branches of the public business pertaining to that department. +The depressing influences of the insurrection have been +specially felt in the operations of the Patent and General +Land Offices. The cash receipts from the sales of public +lands during the past year have exceeded the expenses of our +land system only about two hundred thousand dollars. The +sales have been entirely suspended in the Southern States, +while the interruptions to the business of the country, and +the diversions of large numbers of men from labor to military +service, have obstructed settlements in the new States and +Territories of the North-west.</p> + +<p>“The receipts of the Patent Office have declined in nine +months about one hundred thousand dollars, rendering a large +reduction of the force employed necessary to make it self-sustaining.</p> + +<p>“The demands upon the Pension Office will be largely increased +by the insurrection. Numerous applications for +pensions, based upon the casualties of the existing war, have +already been made. There is reason to believe that many who +are now upon the pension rolls, and in receipt of the bounty +of the Government, are in the ranks of the insurgent army, or +giving them aid and comfort. The Secretary of the Interior +has directed a suspension of the payment of the pensions of +such persons upon the proof of their disloyalty. I recommend +that Congress authorize that officer to cause the names of +such persons to be stricken from the pension rolls.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">162</a></span> +“The relations of the Government with the Indian tribes +have been greatly disturbed by the insurrection, especially in +the Southern Superintendency and in that of New Mexico. +The Indian country south of Kansas is in the possession of +insurgents from Texas and Arkansas. The agents of the +United States appointed since the 4th of March for this superintendency +have been unable to reach their posts, while the +most of those who were in office before that time have espoused +the insurrectionary cause, and assume to exercise the +powers of agents by virtue of commissions from the insurrectionists. +It has been stated in the public press that a portion +of those Indians have been organized as a military force, and +are attached to the army of the insurgents. Although the +Government has no official information upon this subject, +letters have been written to the Commissioner of Indian +Affairs by several prominent chiefs, giving assurance of their +loyalty to the United States, and expressing a wish for the +presence of Federal troops to protect them. It is believed +that upon the repossession of the country by the Federal +forces the Indians will readily cease all hostile demonstrations, +and resume their former relations to the Government.</p> + +<p>“Agriculture, confessedly the largest interest of the nation, +has not a department, nor a bureau, but a clerkship only, +assigned to it in the Government. While it is fortunate that +this great interest is so independent in its nature as to not +have demanded and extorted more from the Government, I +respectfully ask Congress to consider whether something +more can not be given voluntarily with general advantage.</p> + +<p>“Annual reports exhibiting the condition of our agriculture, +commerce, and manufactures, would present a fund of information +of great practical value to the country. While I make +no suggestion as to details, I venture the opinion that an +agricultural and statistical bureau might profitably be organized.</p> + +<p>“The execution of the laws for the suppression of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">163</a></span> +African slave-trade has been confided to the Department of +the Interior. It is a subject of gratulation that the efforts +which have been made for the suppression of this inhuman +traffic have been recently attended with unusual success. +Five vessels being fitted out for the slave-trade have been +seized and condemned. Two mates of vessels engaged in the +trade, and one person in equipping a vessel as a slaver, have +been convicted and subjected to the penalty of fine and imprisonment, +and one captain, taken with a cargo of Africans +on board his vessel, has been convicted of the highest grade +of offence under our laws, the punishment of which is death.</p> + +<p>“The Territories of Colorado, Dakota, and Nevada, created +by the last Congress, have been organized, and civil administration +has been inaugurated therein under auspices especially +gratifying, when it is considered that the leaven of treason +was found existing in some of these new countries when the +Federal officers arrived there.</p> + +<p>“The abundant natural resources of these Territories, with +the security and protection afforded by organized government, +will doubtless invite to them a large immigration when peace +shall restore the business of the country to its accustomed +channels. I submit the resolutions of the Legislature of +Colorado, which evidence the patriotic spirit of the people of +the Territory. So far, the authority of the United States has +been upheld in all the Territories, as it is hoped it will be in +the future. I commend their interests and defence to the enlightened +and generous care of Congress.</p> + +<p>“I recommend to the favorable consideration of Congress +the interests of the District of Columbia. The insurrection +has been the cause of much suffering and sacrifice to its inhabitants, +and as they have no representative in Congress, +that body should not overlook their just claims upon the +Government.</p> + +<p>“At your late session a joint resolution was adopted authorizing +the President to take measures for facilitating a proper<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">164</a></span> +representation of the industrial interests of the United States +at the exhibition of the industry of all nations, to be holden in +London in the year 1862. I regret to say I have been +unable to give personal attention to this subject​—​a subject +at once so interesting in itself, and so extensively and intimately +connected with the material prosperity of the world. +Through the Secretaries of State and of the Interior a plan, +or system, has been devised, and partly matured, and which +will be laid before you.</p> + +<p>“Under and by virtue of the act of Congress entitled ‘An +act to confiscate property used for insurrectionary purposes,’ +approved August 6, 1861, the legal claims of certain persons +to the labor and service of certain other persons have become +forfeited; and numbers of the latter, thus liberated, are +already dependent on the United States, and must be provided +for in some way. Besides this, it is not impossible that some +of the States will pass similar enactments for their own benefit +respectively, and by operation of which persons of the +same class will be thrown upon them for disposal. In such +case I recommend that Congress provide for accepting such +persons from such States according to some mode of valuation, +in lieu, <i>pro tanto</i>, of direct taxes, or upon some other +plan to be agreed on with such States, respectively; that +such persons, on such acceptance by the General Government, +be at once deemed free; and, that, in any event, steps be +taken for colonizing both classes (or the one first mentioned, +if the other shall not be brought into existence) at some place +or places in a climate congenial to them. It might be well to +consider, too, whether the free colored people already in the +United States could not, so far as individuals may desire, be +included in such colonization.</p> + +<p>“To carry out the plan of colonization may involve the +acquiring of territory, and also the appropriation of money +beyond that to be expended in the territorial acquisition. +Having practiced the acquisition of territory for nearly sixty<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">165</a></span> +years, the question of constitutional power to do so is no +longer an open one with us. The power was questioned at +first by Mr. Jefferson, who, however, in the purchase of +Louisiana, yielded his scruples on the plea of great expediency. +If it be said that the only legitimate object of acquiring +territory is to furnish homes for white men, this +measure effects that object, for the emigration of colored men +leaves additional room for white men remaining or coming +here. Mr. Jefferson, however, placed the importance of procuring +Louisiana more on political and commercial grounds +than on providing room for population.</p> + +<p>“On this whole proposition, including the appropriation of +money with the acquisition of territory, does not the expediency +amount to absolute necessity​—​that without which the +Government itself cannot be perpetuated?</p> + +<p>“The war continues. In considering the policy to be +adopted for suppressing the insurrection, I have been anxious +and careful that the inevitable conflict for this purpose shall +not degenerate into a violent and remorseless revolutionary +struggle. I have, therefore, in every case thought it proper +to keep the integrity of the Union prominent as the primary +object of the contest on our part, leaving all questions which +are not of vital military importance to the more deliberate +action of the legislature.</p> + +<p>“In the exercise of my best discretion, I have adhered to +the blockade of the ports held by the insurgents, instead of +putting in force, by proclamation, the law of Congress +enacted at the late session for closing those ports.</p> + +<p>“So, also, obeying the dictates of prudence, as well as the +obligations of law, instead of transcending, I have adhered to +the act of Congress to confiscate property used for insurrectionary +purposes. If a new law upon the same subject shall +be proposed, its propriety will be duly considered. The +Union must be preserved; and hence all indispensable means +must be employed. We should not be in haste to determine<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">166</a></span> +that radical and extreme measures, which may reach the loyal +as well as the disloyal, are indispensable.</p> + +<p>“The inaugural address at the beginning of the administration, +and the message to Congress at the late special +session, were both mainly devoted to the domestic controversy +out of which the insurrection and consequent war have +sprung. Nothing now occurs to add or subtract to or from +the principles or general purposes stated and expressed in +those documents.</p> + +<p>“The last ray of hope for preserving the Union peaceably +expired at the assault upon Fort Sumter; and a general +review of what has occurred since may not be unprofitable. +What was painfully uncertain then is much better defined and +more distinct now; and the progress of events is plainly in +the right direction. The insurgents confidently claimed a +strong support from north of Mason and Dixon’s line, and the +friends of the Union were not free from apprehension on the +point. This, however, was soon settled definitely, and on +the right side. South of the line, noble little Delaware led +off right from the first. Maryland was made to <i>seem</i> against +the Union. Our soldiers were assaulted, bridges were burned, +and railroads torn up within her limits, and we were many +days, at one time, without the ability to bring a single regiment +over her soil to the capital. Now her bridges and +railroads are repaired and open to the Government; she +already gives seven regiments to the cause of the Union and +none to the enemy; and her people, at a regular election, +have sustained the Union by a larger majority and a larger +aggregate vote than they ever before gave to any candidate +or any question. Kentucky, too, for some time in doubt, is +now decidedly, and, I think, unchangeably, ranged on the +side of the Union. Missouri is comparatively quiet, and I +believe can not again be overrun by the insurrectionists. +These three States of Maryland, Kentucky and Missouri, +neither of which would promise a single soldier at first, have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">167</a></span> +now an aggregate of not less than forty thousand in the field +for the union; while of their citizens certainly not more than +a third of that number, and they of doubtful whereabouts and +doubtful existence, are in arms against it. After a somewhat +bloody struggle of months, winter closes on the Union +people of Western Virginia, leaving them masters of their +own country.</p> + +<p>“An insurgent force of about fifteen hundred, for months +dominating the narrow peninsular region, constituting the +counties of Accomac and Northampton, and known as the +eastern shore of Virginia, together with some contiguous +parts of Maryland, have laid down their arms; and the people +there have renewed their allegiance to, and accepted the +protection of the old flag. This leaves no armed insurrectionist +north of the Potomac or east of the Chesapeake.</p> + +<p>“Also we have obtained a footing at each of the isolated +points, on the southern coast, of Hatteras, Port Royal, Tybee +Island, near Savannah, and Ship Island; and we likewise +have some general accounts of popular movements, in behalf +of the Union, in North Carolina and Tennessee.</p> + +<p>“These things demonstrate that the cause of the Union is +advancing steadily and certainly southward.</p> + +<p>“Since your last adjournment, Lieut.-Gen. Scott has retired +from the head of the army. During his long life, the nation +has not been unmindful of his merit; yet, on calling to mind +how faithfully, ably and brilliantly he has served the country, +from a time far back in our history, when few of the now +living had been born, and thenceforward continually, I can +not but think we are still his debtors. I submit, therefore, +for your consideration, what further mark of recognition is +due to him, and to ourselves, as a grateful people.</p> + +<p>“With the retirement of Gen. Scott came the Executive +duty of appointing, in his stead, a General-in-chief of the +army. It is a fortunate circumstance that neither in council +nor country was there, so far as I know, any difference of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">168</a></span> +opinion as to the proper person to be selected. The retiring +chief repeatedly expressed his judgment in favor of Gen. McClellan +for the position, and in this the nation seemed to give +a unanimous concurrence. The designation of Gen. McClellan +is, therefore, in considerable degree, the selection of the +country as well as of the Executive; and hence there is better +reason to hope there will be given him the confidence and +cordial support thus, by fair implication, promised, and without +which he can not, with so full efficiency, serve the country.</p> + +<p>“It has been said that one bad General is better than two +good ones; and the saying is true, if taken to mean no more +than that an army is better directed by a single mind, though +inferior, than by two superior ones at variance and cross-purposes +with each other.</p> + +<p>“And the same is true in all joint operations wherein those +engaged <i>can</i> have none but a common end in view, and <i>can</i> +differ only as to the choice of means. In a storm at sea, no +one on board <i>can</i> wish the ship to sink, and yet, not unfrequently, +all go down together because too many will direct +and no single mind can be allowed to control.</p> + +<p>“It continues to develop that the insurrection is largely, if +not exclusively, a war upon the first principle of popular government​—​the +rights of the people. Conclusive evidence of +this is found in the most grave and maturely-considered public +documents, as well as in the general tone of the insurgents. +In those documents we find the abridgment of the existing +right of suffrage and the denial to the people of all right to +participate in the selection of public officers, except the legislative, +boldly advocated, with labored arguments to prove that +large control of the people in government is the source of all +political evil. Monarchy itself is sometimes hinted at as a +possible refuge from the power of the people.</p> + +<p>“In my present position I could scarcely be justified were I +to omit raising a warning voice against this approach of +returning despotism.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">169</a></span> +“It is not needed nor fitting here that a general argument +should be made in favor of popular institutions; but there is +one point, with its connections, not so hackneyed as most +others, to which I ask a brief attention. It is the effort to +place <i>capital</i> on an equal footing with, if not above <i>labor</i>, in +the structure of government. It is assumed that labor is +available only in connection with capital​—​that nobody labors +unless somebody else, owning capital, somehow by the use of +it induces him to labor. This assumed, it is next considered +whether it is best that capital shall <i>hire</i> laborers, and thus +induce them to work by their own consent, or <i>buy</i> them, +and drive them to it without their consent. Having proceeded +so far, it is naturally concluded that all laborers are either +<i>hired</i> laborers, or what we call slaves. And further, it is +assumed that whoever is once a hired laborer is fixed in that +condition for life.</p> + +<p>“Now, there is no such relation between capital and labor as +assumed; nor is there any such thing as a free man being fixed +for life in the condition of a hired laborer. Both these assumptions +are false, and all inferences from them are groundless.</p> + +<p>“Labor is prior to and independent of capital. Capital is +only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had +not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves +much the higher consideration. Capital has its rights, which +are as worthy of protection as any other rights. Nor is it +denied that there is, and probably always will be, a relation +between labor and capital producing mutual benefits. The +error is in assuming that the whole labor of community exists +within that relation. A few men own capital, and that few +avoid labor themselves, and with their capital hire or buy +another few to labor for them. A large majority belong to +neither class​—​neither work for others nor have others working +for them. In most of the Southern States a majority of the +whole people, of all colors, are neither slaves nor masters, +while in the Northern a large majority are neither hirers nor<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">170</a></span> +hired. Men, with their families​—​wives, sons, and daughters​—​work +for themselves, on their farms, in their houses, and in +their shops, taking the whole product to themselves, and asking +no favors of capital, on the one hand, nor of hired laborers or +slaves on the other. It is not forgotten that a considerable +number of persons mingle their own labor with capital​—​that +is, they labor with their own hands, and also buy or hire others +to labor for them; but this is only a mixed, and not a distinct +class. No principle stated is disturbed by the existence of this +mixed class.</p> + +<p>“Again, as has already been said, there is not, of necessity, +any such thing as the free hired laborer being fixed to that +condition for life. Many independent men everywhere in these +States, a few years back in their lives, were hired laborers. +The prudent, penniless beginner in the world, labors for wages +awhile, saves a surplus with which to buy tools or land for himself, +then labors on his own account another while, and at length +hires another new beginner to help him. This is the just, and +generous, and prosperous system, which opens the way to all​—​gives +hope to all, and consequent energy, and progress, and +improvement of condition to all. No men living are more +worthy to be trusted than those who toil up from poverty; +none less inclined to take or touch aught which they have not +honestly earned. Let them beware of surrendering a political +power which they already possess, and which, if surrendered, +will surely be used to close the door of advancement against +such as they, and to fix new disabilities and burdens upon +them, till all of liberty shall be lost.</p> + +<p>“From the first taking of our National Census to the last are +seventy years; and we find our population at the end of the +period eight times as great as it was at the beginning. The +increase of those other things which men deem desirable has +been even greater. We thus have at one view what the popular +principle, applied to Government through the machinery of +the States and the Union, has produced in a given time, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">171</a></span> +also what if firmly maintained, it promises for the future. +There are already among us those who, if the Union be preserved, +will live to see it contain two hundred and fifty millions. +The struggle <i>of</i> to-day is not altogether <i>for</i> to-day; it is for a +vast future also. With a reliance on Providence all the more +firm and earnest, let us proceed in the great task which events +have devolved upon us.</p> + +<p class="sigright b0"> +“<span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln.</span><br /> +</p> + +<p class="p0">“<span class="smcap">Washington</span>, December 3, 1861.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>At this session, provision was made for the issue of legal +tender notes, and an internal revenue bill was matured, for +the purposing of increasing largely the receipts of the Treasury, +affording a basis for the payment of interest on authorized +loans, and insuring confidence in the National currency.</p> + +<p>A Congressional committee on the conduct of the war was +also appointed, the evidence obtained by which was submitted +to the President for his consideration and eventually given to +the public.</p> + +<p>A confiscation bill was passed, with a special provision for +conditional pardon and amnesty, limiting the forfeiture of real +estate to the lifetime of its rebel owners.</p> + +<hr /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI.</a><br /> + +<span class="subhead">THE SLAVERY QUESTION.</span></h2> + +<blockquote> + +<p class="hang">Situation of the President​—​His Policy​—​Gradual Emancipation Message​—​Abolition of +Slavery in the District of Columbia​—​Repudiation of General Hunter’s Emancipation +Order​—​Conference with Congressmen from the Border Slave States​—​Address to the +same​—​Military Order​—​Proclamation under the Confiscation Act.</p></blockquote> + +<p>What was to be the final disposition of the question of +slavery could not be thrust aside. The intimate connection +of this institution with our military operations, was perpetually<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">172</a></span> +forcing it upon the attention of the nation. This subject had, +since it had been rendered patent to all, that it was to be no +holiday struggle in which we were engaged, but a life and +death grapple with desperate and determined foes, been ever +present to Mr. Lincoln’s mind. His action was, however, to +a certain extent, not suffered to be independent. Could he +have boldly assumed the initiative, assured that the great +mass of the people were at his back, he could have acted far +otherwise than he was necessitated to act, considering the +delicate nature of the question, the utter lack of precedents, +the intertwining of interests, the dangers resulting from +a single misstep, the divisions on this point, existing in the +ranks even of his own political supporters, and the conflicting +views held by men whose loyalty and devotion to the +country were unimpeachable.</p> + +<p>He chose not to go far ahead of popular indications; he +deemed it the wiser statesmanship, in the existing state of +affairs, to keep in the lead but a little, feeling, so to speak, +his way along​—​making haste slowly. That this would dissatisfy +many of his political friends he well knew; but he, +upon mature deliberation, decided that it was for the interest +of the country, and that to that consideration everything else +must yield.</p> + +<p>On the 6th of March, 1862, he sent to the Congress the following +message concerning this question, the resolution +embodied in which, was passed by both Houses:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives</span>:​—​I +recommend the adoption of a joint resolution +by your honorable bodies, which shall be substantially as +follows:</p> + +<p>“<i>Resolved</i>, That the United States ought to coöperate with +any State which may adopt gradual abolishment of slavery, +giving to such State pecuniary aid, to be used by such State +in its discretion, to compensate for the inconveniences, public +and private, produced by such change of system.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">173</a></span> +“If the proposition contained in the resolution does not +meet the approval of Congress and the country, there is the +end; but if it does command such approval, I deem it of +importance that the States and people immediately interested, +should be at once distinctly notified of the fact, so that they +may begin to consider whether to accept or reject it. The +Federal Government would find its highest interest in such +a measure as one of the most efficient means of self-preservation. +The leaders of the existing insurrection entertain the +hope that this Government will ultimately be forced to +acknowledge the independence of some part of the disaffected +region, and that all the slave States north of such part will +then say, ‘the Union for which we have struggled being +already gone, we now choose to go with the southern +section.’ To deprive them of this hope substantially ends the +rebellion, and the initiation of emancipation completely deprives +them of it as to all the States initiating it. The point +is not that <i>all</i> the States tolerating slavery would very soon, +if at all, initiate emancipation, but that, while the offer is +equally made to all, the more northern shall, by such initiation, +make it certain to the more southern that in no event +will the former ever join the latter in their proposed confederacy. +I say ‘initiation,’ because in my judgment, +gradual, and not sudden emancipation, is better for all. In +the mere financial or pecuniary view, any member of Congress, +with the census tables and treasury reports before him, can +readily see for himself how very soon the current expenditures +of this war would purchase, at fair valuation, all the slaves +in any named State. Such a proposition on the part of the +general Government sets up no claim of a right by Federal +authority to interfere with slavery within State limits, referring, +as it does, the absolute control of the subject in each +case to the State and its people immediately interested. It +is proposed as a matter of perfectly free choice with them.</p> + +<p>“In the annual message last December, I thought fit to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">174</a></span> +say, ‘the Union must be preserved; and hence all indispensable +means must be employed.’ I said this not hastily, but +deliberately. War has been made, and continues to be an +indispensable means to this end. A practical re-acknowledgment +of the national authority would render the war unnecessary, +and it would at once cease. If, however, resistance +continues, the war must also continue, and it is impossible to +foresee all the incidents which may attend, and all the ruin +which may follow it. Such as may seem indispensable, or +may obviously promise great efficiency toward ending the +struggle, must and will come.</p> + +<p>“The proposition now made, though an offer only, I hope +it may be esteemed no offence to ask whether the pecuniary +consideration tendered would not be of more value to the +States and private persons concerned, than are the institutions +and property in it, in the present aspect of affairs.</p> + +<p>“While it is true that the adoption of the proposed resolution +would be merely initiatory, and not within itself a practical +measure, it is recommended in the hope that it would +soon lead to important practical results. In full view of my +great responsibility to my God and to my country, I earnestly +beg the attention of Congress and the people to the +subject.</p> + +<p>“March 6, 1862. <span class="right"><span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln.</span>”</span><br /> +</p></blockquote> + +<p>A bill abolishing slavery in the District of Columbia having +passed both Houses of Congress early in April, the President, +in communicating his approval of the measure, judged it +necessary to accompany the same with the following message:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives</span>:​—​The +act entitled ‘An act for the release of +certain persons held to service or labor in the District of +Columbia,’ has this day been approved and signed.</p> + +<p>“I have never doubted the constitutional authority of Congress +to abolish slavery in this District, and I have ever desired +to see the National Capital freed from the institution in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">175</a></span> +some satisfactory way. Hence there has never been, in my +mind, any question upon the subject except the one of expediency, +arising in view of all the circumstances. If there be +matters within and about this act which might have taken a +course or shape more satisfactory to my judgment, I do not +attempt to specify them. I am gratified that the two principles +of compensation and colonization are both recognized +and practically applied in the act.</p> + +<p>“In the matter of compensation it is provided that claims +may be presented within ninety days from the passage of the +act, ‘but not thereafter,’ and there is no saving for minors, +<i>femes-covert</i>, insane or absent persons. I presume this is +an omission by mere oversight, and I recommend that it be +supplied by an amendatory or supplemental act.</p> + +<p> +“April 16, 1862. <span class="right"><span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln.</span>”</span><br /> +</p></blockquote> + +<p>The President’s repudiation, by the following proclamation, +of an emancipation order of General Hunter, was conclusive +evidence that he was determined to keep the control of this +vexed question in his own hands, and to suffer no military +commander to exercise jurisdiction over it:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Whereas</span>, There appears in the public prints what purports +to be a proclamation of Major-General Hunter, in the +words and figures following, to wit:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p class="sigright"> + +‘Head-Quarters, Department of the South,<br /> + +<span class="l2">‘<i>Hilton Head, S. C.</i>, May 9th, 1862.</span></p> + +<p class="in0">‘<span class="smcap">General Orders</span> No. 11.</p> + +<p>‘The three States of Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina, +comprising the Military Department of the South, having +deliberately declared themselves no longer under the protection +of the United States of America, and having taken up +arms against the said United States, it becomes a military +necessity to declare them under martial law. This was +accordingly done on the twenty-fifth day of April, 1862. +Slavery and martial law in a free country are altogether incompatible. +The persons in these three States, Georgia,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">176</a></span> +Florida, and South Carolina, heretofore held as slaves, are +therefore declared forever free.</p> + +<p class="sigright"> +‘<span class="smcap">David Hunter</span>, <i>Major-General Commanding</i>.<br /> +</p> + +<p class="p0 b0">‘Official:</p> + +<p class="p0 in1">‘<span class="smcap">Ed. W. Smith</span>, <i>Acting Assistant Adjutant-General</i>.’<br /> +</p></blockquote> + +<p>‘<span class="smcap">And Whereas</span>, The same is producing some excitement +and misunderstanding,</p> + +<p>“<i>Therefore</i>, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United +States, proclaim and declare that the government of the United +States had no knowledge or belief of an intention, on the part +of General Hunter, to issue such a proclamation, nor has it +yet any authentic information that the document is genuine; +and further, that neither General Hunter nor any other commander +or person has been authorized by the government of +the United States to make proclamation declaring the slaves +of any State free, and that the supposed proclamation now in +question, whether genuine or false, is altogether void, so far +as respects such declaration.</p> + +<p>“I further make known, that whether it be competent for +me as commander-in-chief of the army and navy to declare +the slaves of any State or States free, and whether at any time, +or in any case, it shall become a necessity indispensable to the +maintenance of the Government to exercise such supposed +power, are questions which, under my responsibility, I reserve +to myself, and which I cannot feel justified in leaving to the +decision of commanders in the field. These are totally different +questions from those of police regulations in armies and +camps.</p> + +<p>“On the sixth day of March last, by a special message, I +recommended to Congress the adoption of a joint resolution, +to be substantially as follows:</p> + +<p>“<i>Resolved</i>, That the United States ought to coöperate with +any State which may adopt a gradual abolishment of slavery, +giving to such State pecuniary aid, to be used by such State +in its discretion, to compensate for the inconveniences, public +and private, produced by such change of system.’</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">177</a></span></p> +<p>“The resolution, in the language above quoted, was adopted +by large majorities in both branches of Congress, and now +stands an authentic, definite and solemn proposal of the nation +to the States and people most immediately interested in the +subject matter. To the people of these States I now earnestly +appeal. I do not argue; I beseech you to make the arguments +for yourselves. You cannot, if you would, be blind to +the signs of the times. I beg of you a calm and enlarged consideration +of them, ranging, if it may be, far above personal +and partisan politics. This proposal makes common cause +for a common object, casting no reproaches upon any. It acts +not the Pharisee. The change it contemplates would come +gently as the dews of Heaven, not rending or wrecking any +thing. Will you not embrace it? So much good has not +been done by one effort in all past time, as in the Providence +of God it is now your high privilege to do. May the vast +future not have to lament that you have neglected it.</p> + +<p>“In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and +caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.</p> + +<p>“Done at the City of Washington, this nineteenth day of +May, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred +and sixty-two, and of the Independence of the United States +the eighty-sixth.</p> + +<p> +“By the President: <span class="right"><span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln</span>.</span><br /> + +“<span class="smcap">William H. Seward</span>, Secretary of State.”<br /> +</p></blockquote> + +<p>A short time before the adjournment of Congress, while the +country was in a state of great despondency, owing to the +miscarriage of the Peninsular Campaign, the President, +knowing that whatever measures events should point out as +necessary to put down the rebellion must be adopted, and +anticipating that a blow directed at the institution of slavery +would, probably, at no distant period have to be dealt, invited +the Senators and Representatives of the Border Slave +States to a conference, for the purpose of preparing their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">178</a></span> +minds for the happening of such a contingency. On this occasion +he read to them the following carefully prepared +address, to which he received an approving response from but +nine of the twenty-nine:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Gentlemen</span>:​—​After the adjournment of Congress, now +near, I shall have no opportunity of seeing you for +several months. Believing that you of the Border States +held more power for good than any other equal number of +members, I feel it a duty which I can not justifiably waive to +make this appeal to you.</p> + +<p>“I intend no reproach or complaint when I assure you that, +in my opinion, if you all had voted for the resolution in the +gradual emancipation message of last March, the war would +now be substantially ended. And the plan therein proposed +is yet one of the most potent and swift means of ending it. +Let the States which are in rebellion see definitely and certainly +that in no event will the States you represent ever join +their proposed Confederacy, and they can not much longer +maintain the contest. But you can not divest them of their +hope to ultimately have you with them so long as you show +a determination to perpetuate the institution within your +own States. Beat them at elections, as you have overwhelmingly +done, and, nothing daunted, they still claim you +as their own. You and I know what the lever of their power +is. Break that lever before their faces, and they can shake +you no more forever.</p> + +<p>“Most of you have treated me with kindness and consideration, +and I trust you will not now think I improperly touch +what is exclusively your own, when, for the sake of the whole +country, I ask, ‘Can you, for your States, do better than to +take the course I urge?’ Discarding <i>punctilio</i> and maxims +adapted to more manageable times, and looking only to the +unprecedentedly stern facts of our case, can you do better in +any possible event? You prefer that the constitutional relations +of the States to the nation shall be practically restored<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">179</a></span> +without disturbance of the institution; and, if this were done, +my whole duty in this respect, under the Constitution and my +oath of office, would be performed. But it is not done, and +we are trying to accomplish it by war. The incidents of the +war can not be avoided. If the war continues long, as it must +if the object be not sooner attained, the institution in your +States will be extinguished by mere friction and abrasion​—​by +the mere incidents of the war. It will be gone, and you +will have nothing valuable in lieu of it. Much of its value is +gone already. How much better for you and for your people +to take the step which at once shortens the war, and secures +substantial compensation for that which is sure to be wholly +lost in any other event! How much better to thus save the +money which else we sink forever in the war! How much +better to do it while we can, lest the war, ere long, render us +pecuniarily unable to do it! How much better for you, as +seller, and the nation, as buyer, to sell out and buy out that +without which the war could never have been, than to sink +both the thing to be sold and the price of it, in cutting one +another’s throats!</p> + +<p>“I do not speak of emancipation at once, but of a decision +at once to emancipate gradually. Room in South America +for colonization can be obtained cheaply and in abundance, +and when numbers shall be large enough to be company and +encouragement for one another, the freed people will not be +so reluctant to go.</p> + +<p>“I am pressed with a difficulty not yet mentioned​—​one +which threatens division among those who, united, are none +too strong. An instance of it is known to you. General +Hunter is an honest man. He was, and I hope still is, my +friend. I valued him none the less for his agreeing with me +in the general wish that all men everywhere could be freed. +He proclaimed all men free within certain States, and I repudiated +the proclamation. He expected more good and less +harm from the measure than I could believe would follow.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">180</a></span> +Yet, in repudiating it, I gave dissatisfaction, if not offence, to +many whose support the country can not afford to lose. And +this is not the end of it. The pressure in this direction is still +upon me, and is increasing. By conceding what I now ask +you can relieve me, and, much more, can relieve the country +in this important point.</p> + +<p>“Upon these considerations, I have again begged your +attention to the Message of March last. Before leaving the +Capitol, consider and discuss it among yourselves. You are +patriots and statesmen, and as such, I pray you consider this +proposition, and, at the least, commend it to the consideration +of your States and people. As you would perpetuate popular +government for the best people in the world, I beseech +you that you do in no wise omit this. Our common country +is in great peril, demanding the loftiest views and boldest +action to bring a speedy relief. Once relieved, its form of +government saved to the world, its beloved history and cherished +memories are vindicated, and its happy future fully +assured and rendered inconceivably grand. To you, more +than to any others, the privilege is given to assure that happiness, +and swell that grandeur, and to link your own names +therewith forever.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>On the twenty-second of July, the following order was +issued:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p class="sigright"> +“<span class="smcap">War Department</span>, <i>Washington</i>, July 22d, 1862.<br /> +</p> + +<p>“<i>First.</i> Ordered that military commanders within the +States of Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, +Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, and Arkansas, in an ordinary +manner seize and use any property, real or personal, which +may be necessary or convenient for their several commands, +for supplies, or for other military purposes; and that while +property may be destroyed for proper military objects, none +shall be destroyed in wantonness or malice.</p> + +<p>“<i>Second.</i> That military and naval commanders shall employ<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">181</a></span> +as laborers, within and from said States, so many +persons of African descent as can be advantageously used for +military or naval purposes, giving them reasonable wages for +their labor.</p> + +<p>“<i>Third.</i> That, as to both property, and persons of African +descent, accounts shall be kept sufficiently accurate and in +detail to show quantities and amounts, and from whom both +property and such persons shall have come, as a basis upon +which compensation can be made in proper cases; and the +several departments of this government shall attend to and +perform their appropriate parts toward the execution of these +orders.</p> + +<p class="sigmiddle b0">“By order of the President.</p> + +<p class="p0 sigright">“<span class="smcap">Edwin M. Stanton</span>, Secretary of War.”<br /> +</p></blockquote> + +<p>And on the twenty-fifth of July, by proclamation, the President +warned all persons to cease participating in aiding, +countenancing, or abetting the rebellion, and to return to +their allegiance, under penalty of the forfeitures and seizures +provided by an act “to suppress insurrections, to punish +treason and rebellion, to seize and confiscate the property of +rebels, and for other purposes,” approved July 17th, 1862.</p> + +<hr /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII.</a><br /> + +<span class="subhead">THE PENINSULAR CAMPAIGN.</span></h2> + +<blockquote> + +<p class="hang">President’s War Order​—​Reason for the same​—​Results in West and South-west​—​Army of +the Potomac​—​Presidential Orders​—​Letter to McClellan​—​Order for Army Corps​—​The +Issue of the Campaign​—​Unfortunate Circumstances​—​President’s Speech at Union Meeting​—​Comments​—​Operations +in Virginia and Maryland​—​In the West and South-west.</p></blockquote> + +<p>Early in 1862 appeared the following:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p class="sigright"> + +“<i>Executive Mansion, Washington</i>, January 27th, 1862.</p> + +<p class="p0 in0">[President’s General War Order, No. 1.] +</p> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Ordered</span>, That the 22d day of February, 1862, be the day +for a general movement of the land and naval forces of the +United States against the insurgent forces.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">182</a></span></p> +<p>“That especially the Army at and about Fortress Monroe, +the Army of the Potomac, the Army of Western Virginia, the +Army near Mumfordsville, Kentucky, the Army and Flotilla +at Cairo, and a Naval force in the Gulf of Mexico, be ready +for a movement on that day.</p> + +<p>“That all other forces, both land and naval, with their respective +commanders, obey existing orders for the time, and +be ready to obey additional orders when duly given.</p> + +<p>“That the Heads of Departments, and especially the Secretaries +of War and of the Navy, with all their subordinates, +and the General-in-chief, with all other commanders and +subordinates of land and naval forces, will severally be held to +their strict and full responsibilities for the prompt execution +of this order.</p> + +<p class="sigright"> +“<span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln.</span>”<br /> +</p></blockquote> + +<p>In thus resuming whatever of his constitutional duties as +Commander-in-chief of the army and navy might have been +temporarily devolved upon others, and directing immediate +and energetic aggressive measures, the President only acted +as the exponent of the popular feeling, which had become +manifest, of dissatisfaction at the apparently inexcusable want +of action in military affairs.</p> + +<p>In the West and South-west followed the successful battle +at Mill Spring, Kentucky; the capture of Forts Henry and +Donelson, compelling the evacuation of Nashville, and ridding +Kentucky of any organized rebel force; the hardly contested, +but successful battle of Pea Ridge, Arkansas, relieving Missouri, +in a great degree; victory for our arms wrested from +the jaws of defeat at Shiloh; and the occupation of New +Orleans, giving control of the Mouth of the Mississippi.</p> + +<p>What at the East?​—​Roanoke Island.</p> + +<p>Touching the movements of the Army of the Potomac, to +which the country looked so expectantly for grand results, +efficiently officered, thoroughly disciplined, and splendidly +equipped as it was known or supposed to be, the first difficulty<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">183</a></span> +was to fix upon a plan. For the purpose of leading +the attention of its General to something like a definite decision +however, the order of January 27th was succeeded by +the following:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p class="sigright"> + +“<i>Executive Mansion, Washington</i>, January 31st, 1862.<br /> +</p> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Ordered</span>, That all the disposable force of the Army of the +Potomac, after providing safely for the defence of Washington, +be formed into an expedition for the immediate object of +seizing and occupying a point upon the railroad south-westward +of what is known as Manassas Junction; all details to +be in the discretion of the Commander-in-chief, and the expedition +to move before, or on the twenty-second day of February +next.</p> + +<p class="sigright"> +“<span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln.</span>”<br /> +</p></blockquote> + +<p>General McClellan objecting to this movement and earnestly +urging a plan of advance upon Richmond by the Lower Rappahannock +with Urbana as a base, the President addressed +him the following letter:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p class="sigright"> +“<i>Executive Mansion, Washington</i>, February 3d, 1862.<br /> +</p> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">My Dear Sir</span>:​—​You and I have distinct and different +plans for a movement of the Army of the Potomac; yours to +be done by the Chesapeake, up the Rappahannock to Urbana, +and across land to the terminus of the railroad on the York +river; mine to move directly to a point on the railroad south-west +of Manassas.</p> + +<p>“If you will give satisfactory answers to the following +questions, I shall gladly yield my plan to yours:</p> + +<p>“First. Does not your plan involve a greatly larger expenditure +of <i>time</i> and <i>money</i> than mine?</p> + +<p>“Second. Wherein is a victory <i>more certain</i> by your plan +than mine?</p> + +<p>“Third. Wherein is a victory <i>more valuable</i> by your plan +than mine?</p> + +<p>“Fourth. In fact, would it not be <i>less</i> valuable in this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">184</a></span> +that it would break no great line of the enemy’s communications, +while mine would?</p> + +<p>“Fifth. In case of disaster, would not a retreat be more +difficult by your plan than mine?</p> + +<p class="b0 in4"> +“Yours, truly, <span class="right"><span class="smcap">A. Lincoln</span>.</span></p> + +<p class="p0">“<span class="smcap">Major-General McClellan.</span>”<br /> +</p></blockquote> + +<p>Which plain, practical questions were never directly answered.</p> + +<p>This army being without any organization into Army Corps, +the President, on the 8th of March, as a movement was about +to be made toward Manassas, issued a peremptory order to +the Commanding General to attend forthwith to such organization, +naming the Corps and their Commanders, according to +seniority of rank.</p> + +<p>On the same day, the President, who had, against his own +judgment, yielded the plan for an advance upon Richmond +which should at the same time cover Washington, wise +through experience, issued the following:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p class="sigright"> +“<i>Executive Mansion, Washington</i>, March 8th, 1862.<br /> +</p> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Ordered.</span> That no change of the base of operations of +the Army of the Potomac shall be made without leaving in +and about Washington such a force as, in the opinion of the +General-in-chief and the commanders of Army Corps, shall +leave said city entirely secure.</p> + +<p>“That no more than two Army Corps (about fifty thousand +troops) of said Army of the Potomac shall be moved <i>en route</i> +for a new base of operations until the navigation of the +Potomac, from Washington to the Chesapeake Bay, shall be +freed from the enemy’s batteries, and other obstructions, or +until the President shall hereafter give express permission.</p> + +<p>“That any movement as aforesaid, <i>en route</i> for a new base +of operations, which may be ordered by the General-in-chief, +and which may be intended to move upon Chesapeake Bay, +shall begin to move upon the bay as early as the 18th of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">185</a></span> +March, instant, and the General-in-chief shall be responsible +that it moves as early as that day.</p> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Ordered</span>, That the Army and Navy coöperate in an +immediate effort to capture the enemy’s batteries upon the +Potomac between Washington and the Chesapeake Bay.</p> + +<p class="sigright b0"> +“<span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln.</span><br /> +</p> + +<p class="p0">“<span class="smcap">L. Thomas</span>, Adjutant-General.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>Finally​—​after delays manifold, correspondence voluminous, +discussions heated, and patience nearly worn threadbare​—​commenced +that military movement, which has passed into +history as the American Peninsular Campaign; by virtue of +which, commencing about the middle of March, 1862, a large +body of finely disciplined troops​—​their numbers varying, +according to various accounts, from one hundred thousand +nine hundred and seventy, to one hundred and twenty-one +thousand five hundred men​—​left Alexandria for Richmond, +<i>via</i> Yorktown, and succeeded, after sanguinary battles, swamp +sickness, severe exposures, and terrible hardships, in returning +(how many of them?) to Alexandria <i>via</i> Harrison’s +Landing, by about the middle of August, 1862.</p> + +<p>That campaign was the most disastrous drawback of the +war, not merely in the loss of men, nor in the failure to reach +the end aimed at, but mainly in its enervating effect upon +the supporters of the Government. It was Bull Run over +again, only immensely magnified, indefinitely prolonged. +Fortune seemed determined never to favor our Eastern +braves.</p> + +<p>Into the details of that campaign it is needless to enter +here. Every schoolboy knows them by heart, so far as they +are spread upon the record. Equally idle is it to attempt a +criticism upon the campaign in a military point of view. +That has been already done to a nauseating extent; yet will, +doubtless, continue to be done while the reader lives.</p> + +<p>No details, nor military criticism therefore here. But that +President Lincoln may fairly be presented in his relations to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">186</a></span> +this campaign, certain observations must be made. And this +is the place to make them.</p> + +<p>Conceding to General McClellan all the ability, patriotism, +and bravery which have been claimed for him by his warmest +admirers, there still remain some unfortunate circumstances +connected with him, by reason of which​—​even though he, +personally, were responsible for no single one of them​—​not +all the ability, patriotism, and bravery of a Napoleon, Tell, +and Bayard combined, could have secured in his person what +this country needed for the rooting out of the great rebellion.</p> + +<p>It was unfortunate for him that, at the very outset​—​when +so little was known of him, when he had done so little​—​sycophantic +flatterers should have exalted him at once into a +great military chieftain. Peculiarly unfortunate was this, +considering that the changeable American people were to +pass upon him and his actions​—​that people, in their relations +to their leading men, with their “Hosannas” to-day and their +“Crucify him’s” to-morrow. The sequel of “going up like a +rocket” is not generally supposed to be particularly agreeable.</p> + +<p>It was unfortunate for him that the opinion obtained, in the +minds of many, impartial and competent to judge, that, in his +case, caution had passed the bounds of prudence and run +mad. There are emergencies when every thing must be +risked that nothing be lost.</p> + +<p>It was unfortunate for him that he was made the especial +pet of those individuals who were most clamorous against an +Administration which, whatever its short comings, every +candid man knew was earnestly intent upon ending the war +upon such a basis as could alone, in its judgment, secure +permanent peace. If a subordinate general could not agree +with his superiors, or content himself with matters purely +military, he should have declined to remain in the service.</p> + +<p>It was unfortunate for him that his especial friends sought, +in print, and public speech, and private conversation, to +create the impression that the President did not desire that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">187</a></span> +he should succeed, owing to a fear that he might prove +a formidable competitor at the next Presidential election. +Peculiarly unfortunate, when one remembers that this President +had, at the outbreak of the war, put at the head of three +important military departments three of the most decided of +his political opponents​—​Patterson, Butler, and McClellan​—​that +no man ever occupied the Presidential chair, unless it be +its first occupant, who had less selfishness and more disinterestedness +in his composition than President Lincoln.</p> + +<p>It was unfortunate for him that such desperate efforts +were made by his supporters to fasten the responsibility for +admitted failures upon other parties. This began at Ball’s +Bluff, as has already been noted. The Secretary of War was +dragged in, as well as the President, in connection with the +Peninsular Campaign. As to this last, nothing more to the +point can be adduced than the words of a man, whose honesty +and truthfulness were known wherever he was known​—​Abraham +Lincoln​—​in a characteristic speech made by him +at a Union meeting in Washington, August 6th, 1862, when +the issue of the campaign was certain:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Fellow-citizens</span>:​—​I believe there is no precedent for my +appearing before you on this occasion; but it is also true +that there is no precedent for your being here yourselves, and +I offer, in justification of myself and of you, that, upon examination, +I have found nothing in the Constitution against +it. I, however, have an impression that there are younger +gentlemen who will entertain you better, and better address +your understanding than I will or could, and therefore I propose +but to detain you a moment longer.</p> + +<p>“I am very little inclined on any occasion to say any thing +unless I hope to produce some good by it. The only thing I +think of just now not likely to be better said by some one else +is a matter in which we have heard some other persons +blamed for what I did myself. There has been a very widespread +attempt to have a quarrel between General McClellan<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">188</a></span> +and the Secretary of War. Now, I occupy a position that +enables me to observe, that at least these two gentlemen are not +nearly so deep in the quarrel as some pretending to be their +friends. General McClellan’s attitude is such that, in the +very selfishness of his nature, he cannot but wish to be successful, +and I hope he will​—​and the Secretary of War is in +precisely the same situation. If the military commanders in +the field cannot be successful, not only the Secretary of War, +but myself, for the time being the master of them both, can +not be but failures. I know that General McClellan wishes +to be successful, and I know he does not wish it any more +than the Secretary of War for him, and both of them together +no more than I wish it. Sometimes we have a dispute about +how many men General McClellan has had, and those who +would disparage him say that he has had a very large number, +and those who would disparage the Secretary of War +insist that General McClellan has had a very small number. +The basis for this is, there is always a wide difference, and on +this occasion perhaps a wider one, between the grand total +on McClellan’s rolls and the men actually fit for duty; and +those who would disparage him talk of the grand total on +paper, and those who would disparage the Secretary of War +talk of those at present fit for duty. General McClellan has +sometimes asked for things that the Secretary of War did not +give him. General McClellan is not to blame for asking +what he wanted and needed, and the Secretary of War is +not to blame for not giving when he had none to give. And +I say here, as far as I know, the Secretary of War has withheld +no one thing at any time in my power to give him. +I have no accusation against him. I believe he is a brave +and able man, and I stand here, as justice requires me to do, +to take upon myself what has been charged on the Secretary +of War, as withholding from him. I have talked longer +than I expected to, and now I avail myself of my privilege +of saying no more.”</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">189</a></span> +It was unfortunate for him that the precedents were so +numerous in American history for making a successful military +man President. This must have embarrassed him no +little, and tempted him into much of that correspondence +which otherwise he would have avoided. Had it not been +for these fatal precedents, he, assuredly, would not have +leisurely seated himself at Harrison’s Landing to write to the +President a lengthy homily on affairs of State at a moment +when it was doubtful whether he would long have an army +of which he could be General in command.</p> + +<p>Finally, it was unfortunate for him that he had not, when +learning to command, learned also to obey. This would have +spared himself and the country and the cause several entirely +superfluous inflictions.</p> + +<p>Whoever would form a correct estimate of President Lincoln’s +connection with the Peninsular campaign and its +commander, must bear these facts in mind. Aside from all +considerations of a purely military nature, they are indispensable +in reaching an unbiassed decision.</p> + +<p>What dogged the heels of the unfortunate campaign must +be briefly told. Vigorous orders from Pope, “headquarters +in the saddle,” turned into most melancholy bombast by his +failure, occasioned either by want of brains or willful lack of +coöperation; a rebel invasion of Maryland; the battle of +South Mountain gained under McClellan; Antietam, not the +victory it might have been, for which a ream of reasons were +given; the withdrawal of the rebels; Government hard at +work urging McClellan to follow; supersedure of the latter +by the President, who survived his cabinet in clinging to +him; appointment of Burnside, much against his wishes; +another defeat at Fredericksburg; and the Army of the +Potomac in winter-quarters again.</p> + +<p>Such is the summary in the East for A. D. 1862.</p> + +<p>In the West, the year closed with the opening of the battle +of Murfreesboro and Vicksburg still held out against all our +attempts to take it.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">190</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII.</a><br /> + +<span class="subhead">FREEDOM TO MILLIONS.</span></h2> + +<blockquote> + +<p class="hang">Tribune Editorial​—​Letter to Mr. Greeley​—​Announcement of the Emancipation Proclamation​—​Suspension +of the <i>Habeas Corpus</i> in certain cases​—​Order for Observance of the +Sabbath​—​The Emancipation Proclamation.</p></blockquote> + +<p>An editorial article having appeared in the <i>New York +Tribune</i>, in the month of August, 1862, in the form of a +letter addressed to the President, severely criticising his +action relative to the question of slavery​—​a letter written in +ignorance of the fact that a definite policy had already been +matured, which would be announced at a suitable moment​—​Mr. +Lincoln responded as follows:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p class="sigright"> +“<i>Executive Mansion</i>, Washington, Aug. 22, 1862.<br /> +</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Hon. Horace Greeley</span>​—​<i>Dear Sir</i>: I have just read yours +of the 19th, addressed to myself through the <i>New York +Tribune</i>. If there be in it any statements or assumptions of +fact which I may know to be erroneous, I do not now and +here controvert them. If there be in it any inference which +I may believe to be falsely drawn, I do not now and here +argue against them. If there be perceptible in it an impatient +and dictatorial tone, I waive it in deference to an old friend, +whose heart I have always supposed to be right.</p> + +<p>“As to the policy I ‘seem to be pursuing,’ as you say, I +have not meant to leave any one in doubt.</p> + +<p>“I would save the Union. I would save it the shortest +way under the Constitution. The sooner the National +authority can be restored, the nearer the Union will be ‘the +Union as it was.’ If there be those who would not save the +Union unless they could at the same time <i>save</i> Slavery, I do +not agree with them. If there be those who would not save +the Union unless they could at the same time <i>destroy</i> Slavery, +I do not agree with them. My paramount object in this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">191</a></span> +struggle <i>is</i> to save the Union, and is <i>not</i> either to save or +destroy Slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing +<i>any</i> slave, I would do it; and if I could do it by freeing <i>all</i> +the slaves, I would do it; and if I could do it by freeing some +and leaving others alone, I would also do that. What I do +about Slavery and the colored race, I do because I believe it +helps to save this Union; and what I forbear, I forbear +because I do <i>not</i> believe it would help to save the Union. I +shall do <i>less</i> whenever I shall believe what I am doing hurts +the cause, and I shall do <i>more</i> whenever I shall believe doing +more will help the cause. I shall try to correct errors when +shown to be errors; and I shall adopt new views so fast as +they shall appear to be true views. I have here stated my +purpose according to my view of <i>official</i> duty, and I intend +no modification of my oft-expressed <i>personal</i> wish that all +men, every where, could be free.</p> + +<p class="in4"> +“Yours, <span class="right"><span class="smcap">A. Lincoln</span>.”</span><br /> +</p></blockquote> + +<p>What that policy was, every manly heart learned with delight +when the following Proclamation appeared, the most +important state-paper ever penned by any American President:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“I, <span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln</span>, President of the United States of +America, and Commander-in-chief of the Army and Navy +thereof, do hereby proclaim and declare, that hereafter, as +heretofore, the war will be prosecuted for the object of practically +restoring the constitutional relation between the United +States and the people thereof, in those States in which that +relation is, or may be, suspended or disturbed; that it is my +purpose, upon the next meeting of Congress, to again recommend +the adoption of a practical measure tendering pecuniary +aid to the free acceptance or rejection of all the Slave States, +so-called, the people whereof may not then be in rebellion +against the United States, and which States may then have +voluntarily adopted, or thereafter may voluntarily adopt, the +immediate or gradual abolishment of slavery within their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">192</a></span> +respective limits, and that the effort to colonize persons of +African descent, with their consent, upon the continent or +elsewhere, with the previously obtained consent of the government +existing there, will be continued; that on the first +day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight +hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within +any State, or any designated part of a State, the people +whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, +<span class="smcap">SHALL BE THEN, THENCEFORWARD AND FOREVER, FREE</span>, and the +Executive Government of the United States, including the +military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and +maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or +acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts +they may make for their actual freedom; that the Executive +will, on the first day of January aforesaid, by proclamation, +designate the States, and parts of States, if any, in which the +people thereof respectively shall be in rebellion against +the United States; and the fact that any State, or the people +thereof, shall on that day be in good faith represented in the +Congress of the United States by members chosen thereto, +at elections wherein a majority of the qualified voters of such +State shall have participated, shall, in the absence of strong +countervailing testimony, be deemed conclusive evidence that +such State and the people thereof have not been in rebellion +against the United States.</p> + +<p>“That attention is hereby called to an act of Congress, +entitled, ‘An act to make an additional article of war,’ approved +March 13, 1862, and which act is in the words and +figures following:</p> + +<p>“‘<i>Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives +of the United States of America, in Congress assembled</i>, That +hereafter the following shall be promulgated as an additional +Article of War for the government of the Army of the United +States, and shall be observed and obeyed as such.</p> + +<p>“‘<i>Article ​—​.</i> All officers or persons of the military or<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">193</a></span> +naval service of the United States, are prohibited from employing +any of the forces under their respective commands +for the purpose of returning fugitives from service or labor +who may have escaped from any persons to whom such service +or labor is claimed to be due; and any officer who shall +be found guilty by a court-martial of violating this article +shall be dismissed from the service.</p> + +<p>“‘<i>Section 2</i>. And be it further enacted, That this act shall +take effect from and after its passage.’</p> + +<p>“Also to the ninth and tenth sections of an act entitled, +‘An act to suppress insurrection, to punish treason and rebellion, +to seize and confiscate property of rebels, and for +other purposes,’ approved July 17, 1862, and which sections +are in the words and figures following:</p> + +<p>“‘<i>Section 9</i>. And be it further enacted, That all slaves of +persons who shall hereafter be engaged in rebellion against +the government of the United States, or who shall in any +way give aid or comfort thereto, escaping from such persons +and taking refuge within the lines of the army; and all +slaves captured from such persons or deserted by them, and +coming under the control of the government of the United +States, and all slaves of such persons found on (or being +within) any place occupied by rebel forces and afterwards +occupied by the forces of the United States, shall be deemed +captives of war, and shall be forever free of their servitude, +and not again held as slaves.</p> + +<p>“<i>Section 10.</i> And be it further enacted, That no slave +escaping into any State, Territory, or the District of Columbia, +from any of the States, shall be delivered up, or in +any way impeded or hindered of his liberty, except for crime, +or some offence against the laws, unless the person claiming +said fugitive shall first make oath that the person to whom +the labor or service of such fugitive is alleged to be due, is +his lawful owner, and has not been in arms against the United +States in the present rebellion, nor in any way given aid and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">194</a></span> +comfort thereto; and no person engaged in the military or +naval service of the United States shall, under any pretence +whatever, assume to decide on the validity of the claim of +any person to the service or labor of any other person, or +surrender up any such person to the claimant, on pain of +being dismissed from the service.</p> + +<p>“And I do hereby enjoin upon, and order all persons +engaged in the military and naval service of the United +States to observe, obey and enforce within their respective +spheres of service, the act and sections above recited.</p> + +<p>“And the executive will in due time recommend that all +citizens of the United States who shall have remained loyal +thereto throughout the rebellion, shall (upon the restoration +of the constitutional relation between the United States and +their respective States and people, if the relation shall have +been suspended or disturbed) be compensated for all losses by +acts of the United States, including the loss of slaves.</p> + +<p>“In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and +caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.</p> + +<p>“Done at the City of Washington, this twenty-second day +of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight +hundred and sixty-two, and of the Independence of the +United States the eighty-seventh.</p> + +<p> +“By the President: <span class="right"><span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln</span>.</span><br /> + +“<span class="smcap">William H. Seward</span>, Secretary of State.”<br /> +</p></blockquote> + +<p>This herald of freedom to millions was, of course, intensely +disliked by those who omitted no opportunity to cavil at the +Administration. As efforts were making​—​not entirely without +success​—​to embarrass the Government in securing the +necessary reinforcements for the army, and certain lewd fellows +of the baser sort holding themselves in readiness to take advantage +of the bitter prejudices existing in the minds of a +portion of the people against the negroes among us, +the following proclamation was issued two days later, that no<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">195</a></span> +one might plead ignorance of results, if such treasonable +practices should be persisted in:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Whereas</span>, It has become necessary to call into service, not +only volunteers, but also portions of the militia of the States by +draft, in order to suppress the insurrection existing in the +United States, and disloyal persons are not adequately restrained +by the ordinary processes of law from hindering this +measure, and from giving aid and comfort in various ways to +the insurrection:</p> + +<p>“Now, therefore, be it ordered:</p> + +<p>“<i>First.</i> That during the existing insurrection, and as a +necessary measure for suppressing the same, all rebels and insurgents, +their aiders and abettors, within the United States, +and all persons discouraging volunteer enlistments, resisting +militia drafts, or guilty of any disloyal practice affording aid +and comfort to the rebels against the authority of the United +States, shall be subject to martial law, and liable to trial and +punishment by courts-martial or military commission.</p> + +<p>“<i>Third.</i> That the writ of <i>habeas corpus</i> is suspended in +respect to all persons arrested, or who are now, or hereafter +during the rebellion shall be imprisoned in any fort, camp, +arsenal, military prison, or other place of confinement, by any +military authority or by the sentence of any court-martial or +military commission.</p> + +<p>“In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and +caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.</p> + +<p>“Done at the City of Washington, this twenty-fourth day of +September, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred +and sixty-two, and of the Independence of the United +States the eighty-seventh.</p> + +<p> +“By the President: <span class="right"><span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln</span>.</span><br /> + +“<span class="smcap">William H. Seward</span>, Secretary of State.”<br /> +</p></blockquote> + +<p>It would be paying but a poor compliment to the sagacity +which prompted this proclamation, if one were not obliged to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">196</a></span> +say that it was exceedingly distasteful to many. Truth, however, +compels us to add that the evils aimed at ceased, to +a very great extent, shortly after its appearance.</p> + +<p>The following order, issued November 16th, 1862, is but +one among the many evidences of that deep and earnest reverence +for Christianity which formed a noticeable feature, +not only in most of Mr. Lincoln’s official papers, but also in +the character of the man:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“The President, Commander-in-chief of the Army and +Navy, desires and enjoins the orderly observance of the Sabbath, +by the officers and men in the military and naval service. +The importance, for man and beast, of the prescribed weekly +rest, the sacred rights of Christian soldiers and sailors, a becoming +deference to the best sentiment of a Christian people, +and a due regard for the Divine will, demand that Sunday +labor in the army and navy be reduced to the measure of strict +necessity.</p> + +<p>“The discipline and character of the National forces should +not suffer, nor the cause they defend be imperiled, by the profanation +of the day or name of the Most High. ‘At this time +of public distress,’ adopting the words of Washington in +1776, ‘men may find enough to do in the service of God and +their country, without abandoning themselves to vice and immorality.’ +The first general order issued by the Father of +his Country, after the Declaration of Independence, indicates +the spirit in which our institutions were founded and should +ever be defended: ‘The General hopes and trusts that every +officer and man will endeavor to live and act as becomes a +Christian soldier defending the dearest rights and liberties of +his country.’</p> + +<p class="sigright"> +“<span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln.</span>”<br /> +</p></blockquote> + +<p>On the 1st day of January, 1863, appeared that proclamation +which was to supplement that of September 22d, 1862, +crowning with complete fullness that great work and giving +it health and being:</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">197</a></span></p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Whereas</span>, On the twenty-second day of September, in +the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, +a proclamation was issued by the President of the +United States, containing, among other things, the following, +to wit:</p> + +<p>“That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord +one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held +as slaves within any State, or any designated part of a State +the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the +United States, shall be thenceforward and forever free, and +the Executive Government of the United States, including +the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and +maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or +acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts +they may make for their actual freedom.</p> + +<p>“That the Executive will, on the first day of January +aforesaid, by proclamation, designate the States and parts of +States, if any, in which the people thereof respectively shall +then be in rebellion against the United States, and the fact +that any State, or the people thereof, shall on that day be in +good faith represented in the Congress of the United States +by members chosen thereto at elections wherein a majority of +the qualified voters of such State shall have participated, shall, +in the absence of strong countervailing testimony, be deemed +conclusive evidence that such State and the people thereof +are not then in rebellion against the United States.</p> + +<p>“Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the +United States, by virtue of the power in me vested as Commander-in-chief +of the Army and Navy of the United States, +in time of actual armed rebellion against the authority and +Government of the United States, and as a fit and necessary +war measure for repressing said rebellion, do, on this first +day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight +hundred and sixty-three, and in accordance with my purpose +so to do, publicly proclaimed for the full period of one hundred<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">198</a></span> +days from the day of the first above-mentioned order +designate, as the States and parts of States wherein the +people thereof respectively are this day in rebellion against +the United States, the following, to wit: Arkansas, Texas, +Louisiana, except the parishes of St. Bernard, Plaquemines, +Jefferson, St. John, St. Charles, St. James, Ascension, Assumption, +Terre Bonne, Lafourche, St. Mary, St. Martin, and +Orleans, including the city of New Orleans, Mississippi, Alabama, +Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and +Virginia, except the forty-eight counties designated as West +Virginia, and also the counties of Berkeley, Accomac, Northampton, +Elizabeth City, York, Princess Ann, and Norfolk, +including the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth, and which +excepted parts are, for the present, left precisely as if this +proclamation were not issued.</p> + +<p>“And by virtue of the power and for the purpose aforesaid, +I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within +said designated States and parts of States are, and henceforward +shall be free; and that the Executive Government of +the United States, including the military and naval authorities +thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said +persons.</p> + +<p>“And I hereby enjoin upon the people so declared to be +free, to abstain from all violence, unless in necessary self-defence, +and I recommend to them, that in all cases, when +allowed, they labor faithfully for reasonable wages.</p> + +<p>“And I further declare and make known that such persons +of suitable condition will be received into the armed service +of the United States to garrison forts, positions, stations, and +other places, and to man vessels of all sorts in said service.</p> + +<p>“And upon this, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, +warranted by the Constitution, upon military necessity, I +invoke the considerate judgment of mankind and the gracious +favor of Almighty God.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">199</a></span> +“In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and +caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.</p> + +<p>“Done at the city of Washington, this first day of January, +in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, +and of the Independence of the United States the +eighty-seventh.</p> + +<p class="b0"> +“By the President: <span class="right"><span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln</span>.</span></p> + +<p class="p0">“<span class="smcap">W. H. Seward</span>, Secretary of State.” +</p></blockquote> + +<hr /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV.</a><br /> + +<span class="subhead">LAST SESSION OF THE THIRTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS.</span></h2> + +<blockquote> + +<p class="center">Situation of the Country​—​Opposition to the Administration​—​President’s Message.</p></blockquote> + +<p>Dark days for the friends of freedom in this country were +those at the close of 1862. Prior to the autumn of that year +the elections had shown a popular indorsement of the acts of +the Administration. Then came a change. The three leading +States​—​New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania​—​through +manifestations and misrepresentations which it is unnecessary +here to detail, had been induced to give majorities against +the Government. Not the least singular of the many remarkable +instances of inconsistency which our political annals +afford, was furnished in the State first-named, which had +actually elected a “Peace” man as its Governor, on the platform +of “a more vigorous prosecution of the war.”</p> + +<p>The failure of the Peninsular Campaign was charged upon +the President. The war, it was asserted, had been perverted +from its original purpose. It was no longer waged to preserve +the Union, but to free the slave; or, in the more +elegant phraseology of the day, it had become “a nigger +war.” With the ignorant and unthinking such statements +passed as truths.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">200</a></span> +The number of those who, never having invested any principle +in the struggle, had become tired of the war, had largely +increased. The expectation of a draft​—​or a “conscription,” +as it better suited the objects of the disaffected to term it​—​which +was passed at the next session of Congress, made the +lukewarm love of many to wax cold.</p> + +<p>Newspapers and stump-speakers had the hardihood to +demand peace upon any terms. It was even claimed that an +opposition majority had been secured in the lower House of +the next Congress. Their representatives in the Congress of +1862 began to re-assume those airs of insolence and defiance +which they had previously found it convenient to lay aside +for the time.</p> + +<p>Dark days, indeed, when the Thirty-seventh Congress +assembled for its last session, on the 1st of December, 1862.</p> + +<p>Yet there was one who never faltered in purpose, however +discouraging the prospect; one, who, assured that he was +right, was determined to follow the right, wherever it might +lead him. And, though his careworn expression and anxious +look told plainly how the fearful responsibilities of his office +weighed upon him, he had ever a cheerful word, a happy +illustration, a kindly smile, or a look of sympathy for those +with whom he came in contact.</p> + +<div class="tb">*<span class="in2">*</span><span class="in2">*</span><span class="in2">*</span><span class="in2">*</span></div> + +<p>The essential portions of his Annual Message on this occasion +are given below:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Fellow-citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives</span>:​—​Since +your last annual assembling, another +year of health and bountiful harvests has passed. And, +while it has not pleased the Almighty to bless us with a +return of peace, we can but press on, guided by the best light +He gives us, trusting that, in His own good time and wise +way, all will yet be well....</p> + +<p>“If the condition of our relations with other nations is less +gratifying than it has usually been at former periods, it is certainly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">201</a></span> +more satisfactory than a nation so unhappily distracted +as we are, might reasonably have apprehended. In the month +of June last there were some grounds to expect that the maritime +powers which, at the beginning of our domestic difficulties, +so unwisely and unnecessarily, as we think, recognized +the insurgents as a belligerent, would soon recede from that +position, which has proved only less injurious to themselves +than to our own country. But the temporary reverses which +afterward befell the National arms, and which were exaggerated +by our own disloyal citizens abroad, have hitherto +delayed that act of simple justice.</p> + +<p>“The civil war, which has so radically changed, for the +moment, the occupations and habits of the American people, +has necessarily disturbed the social condition, and affected +very deeply the prosperity of the nations with which we have +carried on a commerce that has been steadily increasing +throughout a period of half a century. It has, at the same +time, excited political ambitions and apprehensions which +have produced a profound agitation throughout the civilized +world. In this unusual agitation we have forborne from +taking part in any controversy between foreign States, and +between parties or factions in such States. We have attempted +no propagandism, and acknowledged no revolution. +But we have left to every nation the exclusive conduct and +management of its own affairs. Our struggle has been, of +course, contemplated by foreign nations with reference less +to its own merits, than to its supposed, and often exaggerated, +effects and consequences resulting to those nations themselves. +Nevertheless, complaint on the part of this Government, even +if it were just, would certainly be unwise.</p> + +<p>“The treaty with Great Britain for the suppression of the +slave-trade, has been put into operation, with a good prospect +of complete success. It is an occasion of special pleasure to +acknowledge that the execution of it, on the part of Her +Majesty’s Government, has been marked with a jealous respect<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">202</a></span> +for the authority of the United States, and the rights of their +moral and loyal citizens....</p> + +<p>“Applications have been made to me by many free Americans +of African descent to favor their emigration, with a view +to such colonization, as was contemplated in recent acts of +Congress. Other parties, at home and abroad​—​some from +interested motives, others upon patriotic considerations, and +still others influenced by philanthropic sentiments​—​have suggested +similar measures; while, on the other hand, several +of the Spanish-American republics have protested against +the sending of such colonies to their respective territories. +Under these circumstances I have declined to move any such +colony to any State, without first obtaining the consent of its +Government, with an agreement on its part to receive and +protect such emigrants in all the rights of freemen; and I +have, at the same time, offered to the several States situated +within the tropics, or having colonies there, to negotiate with +them, subject to the advice and consent of the Senate, to favor +the voluntary emigration of persons of that class to their +respective territories, upon conditions which shall be equal, +just, and humane. Liberia and Hayti are, as yet, the only +countries to which colonists of African descent from here, +could go with certainty of being received and adopted as +citizens; and I regret to say such persons, contemplating +colonization, do not seem so willing to migrate to those +countries, as to some others, nor so willing as I think their +interest demands. I believe, however, opinion among them +in this respect is improving; and that, ere long, there will +be an augmented and considerable migration to both these +countries, from the United States....</p> + +<p>“I have favored the project for connecting the United +States with Europe by an Atlantic telegraph, and a similar +project to extend the telegraph from San Francisco, to connect +by a Pacific telegraph with the line which is being +extended across the Russian Empire.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">203</a></span> +“The Territories of the United States, with unimportant +exceptions, have remained undisturbed by the civil war; +and they are exhibiting such evidence of prosperity as justifies +an expectation that some of them will soon be in a +condition to be organized as States, and be constitutionally +admitted into the Federal Union.</p> + +<p>“The immense mineral resources of some of those territories +ought to be developed as rapidly as possible. Every step +in that direction would have a tendency to improve the +revenues of the Government, and diminish the burdens of the +people. It is worthy of your serious consideration whether +some extraordinary measures to promote that end can not be +adopted. The means which suggests itself as most likely to +be effective, is a scientific exploration of the mineral regions +in those Territories, with a view to the publication of its +results at home and in foreign countries​—​results which can +not fail to be auspicious.</p> + +<p>“The condition of the finances will claim your most +diligent consideration. The vast expenditures incident to +the military and naval operations required for the suppression +of the rebellion, have hitherto been met with a promptitude +and certainty unusual in similar circumstances; and the public +credit has been fully maintained. The continuance of the +war, however, and the increased disbursements made necessary +by the augmented forces now in the field, demand your +best reflections as to the best modes of providing the necessary +revenue, without injury to business, and with the least +possible burdens upon labor.</p> + +<p>“The suspension of specie payments by the banks, soon +after the commencement of your last session, made large +issues of United States notes unavoidable. In no other way +could the payment of the troops, and the satisfaction of other +just demands, be so economically or so well provided for. +The judicious legislation of Congress, securing the receivability +of these notes for loans and internal duties, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">204</a></span> +making them a legal tender for other debts, has made them +a universal currency; and has satisfied, partially at least, +and for the time, the long felt want of an uniform circulating +medium, saving thereby to the people immense sums in discounts +and exchanges.</p> + +<p>“A return to specie payments, however, at the earliest +period compatible with due regard to all interests concerned, +should ever be kept in view. Fluctuations in the value of +currency are always injurious, and to reduce these fluctuations +to the lowest possible point, will always be a leading purpose +in wise legislation. Convertibility, prompt and certain convertibility +into coin, is generally acknowledged to be the best +and the surest safeguard against them; and it is extremely +doubtful whether a circulation of United States notes, payable +in coin, and sufficiently large for the wants of the people, +can be permanently, usefully and safely maintained.</p> + +<p>“Is there, then, any other mode in which the necessary +provision for the public wants can be made, and the great +advantages of a safe and uniform currency secured?</p> + +<p>“I know of none which promises so certain results, and is, +at the same time, so unobjectionable, as the organization of +banking associations, under a general Act of Congress, well +guarded in its provisions. To such associations the Government +might furnish circulating notes, on the security of the +United States bonds deposited in the treasury. These notes, +prepared under the supervision of proper officers, being +uniform in appearance and security, and convertible always +into coin, would at once protect labor against the evils of a +vicious currency, and facilitate commerce by cheap and safe +exchanges.</p> + +<p>“A moderate reservation from the interest on the bonds +would compensate the United States for the preparation and +distribution of the notes, and a general supervision of the +system, and would lighten the burden of that part of the +public debt employed as securities. The public credit, moreover,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">205</a></span> +would be greatly improved, and the negotiation of new +loans greatly facilitated by the steady market demand for +Government bonds which the adoption of the proposed system +would create.</p> + +<p>“It is an additional recommendation of the measure of +considerable weight, in my judgment, that it would reconcile +as far as possible, all existing interests, by the opportunity +offered to existing institutions to reörganize under the act, +substituting only the secured uniform national circulation for +the local and various circulation, secured and unsecured, now +issued by them.</p> + +<p>“The receipts into the treasury, from all sources, including +loans, and balance from the preceding year, for the fiscal year +ending on the 30th June, 1862, were $583,885,247 06, of +which sum $49,056,397 62 were derived from customs +$1,795,331 73 from the direct tax; from public lands, +$152,203 77; from miscellaneous sources, $931,787 64 +from loans in all forms, $529,692,460 50. The remainder +$2,257,065 80, was the balance from last year.</p> + +<p>“The disbursements during the same period were for Congressional, +Executive, and Judicial purposes, $5,939,009 29; +for foreign intercourse, $1,339,710 35; for miscellaneous +expenses, including the mints, loans, post office deficiencies, +collection of revenue, and other like charges, $14,129,771 50; +for expenses under the Interior Department, $3,102,985 52; +under the War Department, $394,368,407 36; under the +Navy Department, $42,674,569 69; for interest on public +debt, $13,190,324 45; and for payment of public debt, including +reimbursement of temporary loan, and redemptions +$96,096,922 09; making an aggregate of $570,841,700 25, +and leaving a balance in the treasury on the first day of July, +1862, of $13,043,546 81.</p> + +<p>“It should be observed that the sum of $96,096,922 09, +expended for reimbursements and redemption of public debt, +being included also in the loans made, may be properly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">206</a></span> +deducted, both from receipts and expenditures, leaving the +actual receipts for the year, $487,788,324 97; and the expenditures, +$474,744,778 16....</p> + +<p>“On the 22d day of September last a proclamation was +issued by the Executive, a copy of which is herewith submitted.</p> + +<p>“In accordance with the purpose expressed in the second +paragraph of that paper, I now respectfully call your attention +to what may be called ‘compensated emancipation.’</p> + +<p>“A nation may be said to consist of its territory, its people +and its laws. The territory is the only part which is of +certain durability. ‘One generation passeth away and another +generation cometh, but the earth abideth forever.’ It is of +the first importance to duly consider, and estimate, this ever-enduring +part. That portion of the earth’s surface which is +owned and inhabited by the people of the United States, is +well adapted to be the home of one national family; and it is +not well adapted for two or more. Its vast extent, and its +variety of climate and productions, are of advantage, in this +age, for one people, whatever they might have been in former +ages. Steam, telegraphs and intelligence have brought these +to be an advantageous combination for one united people.</p> + +<p>“In the inaugural address I briefly pointed out the total +inadequacy of disunion, as a remedy for the differences between +the people of the two sections. I did so in language +which I can not improve, and which, therefore, I beg to +repeat:</p> + +<p>“‘One section of our country believes Slavery is <i>right</i>, and +ought to be extended, while the other believes it is <i>wrong</i> +and ought not to be extended. This is the only substantial +dispute. The fugitive slave clause of the Constitution, and +the law for the suppression of the foreign slave-trade, are each +as well enforced, perhaps, as any law can ever be in a community +where the moral sense of the people imperfectly +supports the law itself. The great body of the people<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">207</a></span> +abide by the dry legal obligation in both cases, and a +few break over in each. This, I think, can not be +perfectly cured; and it would be worse in both cases <i>after</i> +the separation of the sections, than before. The foreign +slave-trade, now imperfectly suppressed, would be ultimately +revived without restriction in one section; while fugitive +slaves, now only partially surrendered, would not be surrendered +at all by the other.</p> + +<p>“‘Physically speaking, we can not separate. We can not +remove our respective sections from each other, nor build an +impassable wall between them. A husband and wife may be +divorced, and go out of the presence, and beyond the reach +of each other; but the different parts of our country can not +do this. They cannot but remain face to face; and intercourse, +either amicable or hostile, must continue between +them. Is it possible, then, to make that intercourse more +advantageous, or more satisfactory, <i>after</i> separation than +<i>before</i>? Can aliens make treaties easier than friends can +make laws? Can treaties be more faithfully enforced between +aliens, than laws can among friends? Suppose you go to +war, you can not fight always; and when, after much loss on +both sides, and no gain on either, you cease fighting, the +identical old questions, as to terms of intercourse, are again +upon you.</p> + +<p>“‘There is no line, straight or crooked, suitable for a +National boundary, upon which to divide. Trace through, +from east to west, upon the line between the free and slave +country, and we shall find a little more than one-third of its +length are rivers, easy to be crossed, and populated, or soon +to be populated, thickly, upon both sides; while nearly all its +remaining length are merely surveyors’ lines, over which +people may walk back and forth without any consciousness +of their presence. No part of this line can be made any more +difficult to pass, by writing it down on paper, or parchment, +as a national boundary. The fact of separation, if it comes,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">208</a></span> +gives up, on the part of the seceding, the fugitive slave clause, +along with all other constitutional obligations upon the section +seceded from, while I should expect no treaty stipulation +would ever be made to take its place.</p> + +<p>“But there is another difficulty. The great interior region, +bounded east by the Alleghanies, north by the British Dominions, +west by the Rocky Mountains, and south by the +line along which the culture of corn and cotton meets, and +which includes part of Virginia, part of Tennessee, all of +Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, +Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Minnesota, and The territories of +Dakota, Nebraska, and part of Colorado, already has above +ten millions of people, and will have fifty million within fifty +years, if not prevented by any political folly or mistake. It +contains more than one-third of the country owned by the +United States​—​certainly more than one million of square +miles. Once half as populous as Massachusetts already is, it +would have more than seventy-five millions of people. A +glance at the map shows that, territorially speaking, it is the +great body of the Republic. The other parts are but marginal +borders to it; the magnificent region sloping west from +the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific, being the deepest, and +also the richest, in undeveloped resources. In the production +of provisions, grains, grasses, and all which proceed from +them, this great interior region is naturally one of the most +important in the world. Ascertain from the statistics the +small proportion of the region which has, as yet, been brought +into cultivation, and also the large and rapidly increasing +amount of its products, and we shall be overwhelmed with +the magnitude of the prospect presented. And yet this +region has no sea-coast, touches no ocean any where. As +part of one nation, its people now find, and may forever find, +their way to Europe by New York, to South America and +Africa by New Orleans, and to Asia by San Francisco. But +separate our common country into two nations, as designed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">209</a></span> +by the present rebellion, and every man of this great interior +region is thereby cut off from some one or more of these +outlets, not, perhaps, by a physical barrier, but by embarrassing +and onerous trade regulations.</p> + +<p>“And this is true, <i>wherever</i> a dividing or boundary line +may be fixed. Place it between the now free and slave +country, or place it south of Kentucky, or north of Ohio, and +still the truth remains, that none south of it can trade to any +port or place north of it, and none north of it can trade to any +port or place south of it, except upon terms dictated by a +government foreign to them. These outlets, east, west, and +south, are indispensable to the well-being of the people inhabiting, +and to inhabit, this vast interior region. <i>Which</i> of +the three may be the best, is no proper question. All are +better than either; and all, of right, belong to that people, and +to their successors forever. True to themselves, they will not +ask <i>where</i> a line of separation shall be, but will vow, rather, +that there shall be no such line. Nor are the marginal regions +less interested in these communications to, and through +them, to the great outside world. They, too, and each of +them, must have access to this Egypt of the West, without +paying toll at the crossing of any National boundary.</p> + +<p>“Our National strife springs not from our permanent part; +not from the land we inhabit; not from our National homestead. +There is no possible severing of this, but would multiply, +and not mitigate, evils among us. In all its adaptations +and aptitudes, it demands union, and abhors separation. In +fact it would, ere long, force reunion, however much of blood +and treasure the separation might have cost.</p> + +<p>“Our strife pertains to ourselves​—​to the passing generations +of men; and it can, without convulsion, be hushed forever +with the passing of one generation.</p> + +<p>“In this view, I recommend the adoption of the following +resolution and articles amendatory to the Constitution of the +United States:</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">210</a></span> +“<i>Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of +the United States of America in Congress assembled</i>, (two-thirds +of both Houses concurring,) That the following articles +be proposed to the Legislatures (or conventions) of the several +States as amendments to the Constitution of the United +States, all or any of which articles, when ratified by three-fourths +of the said Legislatures (or conventions), to be valid +as part or parts of the said Constitution, viz.:</p> + +<p>“<i>Article ​—​.</i> Every State, wherein Slavery now exists, +which shall abolish the same therein, at any time, or times, +before the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one +thousand and nine hundred, shall receive compensation from +the United States as follows, to wit:</p> + +<p>“The President of the United States shall deliver, to every +such States, bonds of the United States, bearing interest at +the rate of ​—​— per cent. per annum, to an amount equal to +the aggregate sum of ​—​— for each slave shown to +have been therein, by the eighth census of the United States, +said bonds to be delivered to such State by installments, or in +one parcel, at the completion of the abolishment, accordingly +as the same shall have been gradual, or at one time, within +such State; and interest shall begin to run upon any such +bond, only from the proper time of its delivery as aforesaid. +Any State, having received bonds as aforesaid, and afterward +re-introducing or tolerating slavery therein, shall refund to +the United States the bonds so received, or the value thereof, +and all interest paid thereon.</p> + +<p>“<i>Article ​—​.</i> All slaves who shall have enjoyed actual +freedom by the chances of the war, at any time before the +end of the rebellion, shall be forever free; but all owners of +such, who shall not have been disloyal, shall be compensated +for them, at the same rates as is provided for States adopting +abolishment of slavery, but in such way, that no slave shall +be twice accounted for.</p> + +<p>“<i>Article ​—​.</i> Congress may appropriate money, and otherwise<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">211</a></span> +provide for colonizing free colored persons, with their +own consent, at any place or places without the United +States.</p> + +<p>“I beg indulgence to discuss these proposed articles at some +length. Without slavery, the rebellion could never have existed; +without slavery, it could not continue.</p> + +<p>“Among the friends of the Union, there is great diversity +of sentiment, and of policy, in regard to slavery, and the +African race among us. Some would perpetuate slavery; +some would abolish it suddenly, and without compensation; +some would abolish it gradually, and with compensation; +some would remove the freed people from us, and some +would retain them with us; and there are yet other minor diversities. +Because of these diversities, we waste much strength +in struggles among ourselves. By mutual concession we +should harmonize, and act together. This would be compromise; +but it would be compromise among the friends, and +not with the enemies of the Union. These articles are intended +to embody a plan of such mutual concessions. If the +plan shall be adopted, it is assumed that emancipation will +follow, at least in several of the States.</p> + +<p>“As to the first article, the main points are: first, the +emancipation; secondly, the length of time for consummating +it​—​thirty-seven years; and thirdly, the compensation.</p> + +<p>“The emancipation will be unsatisfactory to the advocates +of perpetual slavery; but the length of time should greatly +mitigate their dissatisfaction. The time spares both races +from the evils of sudden derangement​—​in fact, from the +necessity of any derangement​—​while most of those whose +habitual course of thought will be disturbed by the measure, +will have passed away before its consummation. They will +never see it. Another class will hail the prospect of emancipation, +but will deprecate the length of time. They will feel +that it gives too little to the now living slaves. But it really +gives them much. It saves them from the vagrant destitution<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">212</a></span> +which must largely attend immediate emancipation in localities +where their numbers are very great; and it gives the +inspiring assurance that their posterity shall be free forever. +The plan leaves to each State, choosing to act under it, to +abolish slavery now, or at the end of the century, or at any +intermediate time, or by degrees extending over the whole +or any part of the period; and it obliges no two States to +proceed alike. It also provides for compensation, and, generally, +the mode of making it. This, it would seem, must +further mitigate the dissatisfaction of those who favor perpetual +slavery, and especially of those who are to receive the +compensation. Doubtless, some of those who are to pay, and +not to receive, will object. Yet the measure is both just and +economical. In a certain sense, the liberation of slaves is the +destruction of property​—​property acquired by descent, or by +purchase, the same as any other property. It is no less true +for having been often said, that the people of the South are +not more responsible for the original introduction of this +property, than are the people of the North; and when it is +remembered how unhesitatingly we all use cotton and sugar +and share the profits of dealing in them, it may not be quite +safe to say, that the South has been more responsible than the +North for its continuance. If, then, for a common object, this +property is to be sacrificed, is it not just that it be done at a +common charge?</p> + +<p>“And if, with less money, or money more easily paid, we +can preserve the benefits of the Union by this means, than we +can by the war alone, is it not also economical to do it? Let +us consider it then. Let us ascertain the sum we have expended +in the war since compensated emancipation was proposed +last March, and consider whether, if that measure had +been promptly accepted, by even some of the slave States, the +same sum would not have done more to close the war, than +has been otherwise done. If so, the measure would save +money, and, in that view, would be a prudent and economical<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">213</a></span> +measure. Certainly it is not so easy to pay <i>something</i> as it +is to pay <i>nothing</i>; but it is easier to pay a <i>large</i> sum, than it +is to pay a <i>larger</i> one. And it is easier to pay any sum +<i>when</i> we are able, than it is to pay it <i>before</i> we are able. +The war requires large sums, and requires them at once. +The aggregate sum necessary for compensated emancipation, +of course, would be large. But it would require no ready +cash; nor the bonds even, any faster than the emancipation +progresses. This might not, and probably would not, close +before the end of the thirty-seven years. At that time we +shall probably have a hundred millions of people to share the +burden, instead of thirty-one millions, as now. And not only +so, but the increase of our population may be expected to +continue for a long time after that period, as rapidly as before; +because our territory will not have become full. I do +not state this inconsiderately. At the same ratio of increase +which we have maintained, on an average, from our first +National census, in 1790, until that of 1860, we should, in +1900, have a population of one hundred and three million, two +hundred and eight thousand, four hundred and fifteen. And +why may we not continue that ratio far beyond that period? +Our abundant room​—​our broad National homestead​—​is our +ample resource. Were our territory as limited as are the +British Isles, very certainly our population could not expand +as stated. Instead of receiving the foreign born, as now, we +should be compelled to send part of the native born away. +But such is not our condition. We have two millions nine +hundred and sixty-three thousand square miles. Europe has +three millions and eight hundred thousand, with a population +averaging seventy-three and one-third persons to the square +mile. Why may not our country, at some time, average as +many? Is it less fertile? Has it more waste surface, by +mountains, rivers, lakes, deserts, or other causes? Is it inferior +to Europe in any natural advantage? If, then, we are, +at some time, to be as populous as Europe, how soon? As<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">214</a></span> +to when this <i>may</i> be, we can judge by the past and the present, +as to when it <i>will</i> be, if ever, depends much on whether +we maintain the Union. Several of our States are already +above the average of Europe​—​seventy-three and a third to +the square mile. Massachusetts has one hundred and fifty-seven; +Rhode Island, one hundred and thirty-three; Connecticut, +ninety-nine; New York and New Jersey, each, eighty. +Also two other great States, Pennsylvania and Ohio, are not +far below, the former having sixty-three and the latter fifty-nine. +The States already above the European average, except +New York, have increased in as rapid a ratio, since +passing that point, as ever before; while no one of them is +equal to some other parts of our country, in natural capacity +for sustaining a dense population.</p> + +<p>“Taking the nation in the aggregate, and we find its population +and ratio of increase, for the several decennial periods, +to be as follows:</p> + +<table class="narrow" summary="Population"> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">1790</td> + <td class="tdr">3,929,827</td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">1800</td> + <td class="tdr top">5,305,937</td> + <td class="tdr top lpad">35.02</td> + <td class="tdc lpad" colspan="2">per cent. ratio of increase</td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">1810</td> + <td class="tdr top">7,239,814</td> + <td class="tdr top">36.45</td> + <td class="tdc lpad">“</td> + <td class="tdc lpad">“</td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">1820</td> + <td class="tdr top">9,638,131</td> + <td class="tdr top">33.13</td> + <td class="tdc lpad">“</td> + <td class="tdc lpad">“</td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">1830</td> + <td class="tdr top">12,866,020</td> + <td class="tdr top">33.49</td> + <td class="tdc lpad">“</td> + <td class="tdc lpad">“</td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">1840</td> + <td class="tdr top">17,069,453</td> + <td class="tdr top">32.67</td> + <td class="tdc lpad">“</td> + <td class="tdc lpad">“</td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">1850</td> + <td class="tdr top">23,191,876</td> + <td class="tdr top">35.87</td> + <td class="tdc lpad">“</td> + <td class="tdc lpad">“</td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">1860</td> + <td class="tdr top">31,443,790</td> + <td class="tdr top">35.58</td> + <td class="tdc lpad">“</td> + <td class="tdc lpad">“</td></tr> +</table> + +<p>“This shows an average decennial increase of 34.60 per +cent. in population through the seventy years from our first +to our last census yet taken. It is seen that the ratio of increase, +at one of these seven periods, is either two per cent. +below, or two per cent. above, the average, thus showing how +inflexible, and, consequently, how reliable, the law of increase, +in our case is. Assuming that it will continue, gives the following +results:</p> + +<table class="narrow" summary="Future population"> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">1870</td> + <td class="tdr lpad">42,423,341</td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">1880</td> + <td class="tdr">56,967,216</td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">1890</td> + <td class="tdr">76,677,872<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">215</a></span></td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">1900</td> + <td class="tdr">103,208,415</td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">1910</td> + <td class="tdr">138,918,526</td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">1920</td> + <td class="tdr">186,984,335</td></tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">1930</td> + <td class="tdr">251,680,914</td></tr> +</table> + +<p>“These figures show that our country <i>may</i> be as populous +as Europe now is, at some point between 1920 and 1930​—​say +about 1925​—​our territory, at seventy-three and a third +persons to the square mile, being the capacity to contain +217,186,000.</p> + +<p>“And we <i>will</i> reach this, too, if we do not ourselves relinquish +the chance, by the folly and evil of disunion, or by long +and exhausting war, springing from the only great element +of National discord among us. While it can not be foreseen +exactly how much one huge example of secession, breeding +lesser ones indefinitely, would retard population, civilization, +and prosperity, no one can doubt that the extent of it would +be very great and injurious.</p> + +<p>“The proposed emancipation would shorten the war, perpetuate +peace, insure this increase of population, and proportionately +the wealth of the country. With these, we should +pay all the emancipation would cost, together with our other +debt, easier than we should pay our other debt, without it. +If we had allowed our old National debt to run at six per +cent. per annum, simple interest, from the end of our Revolutionary +struggle until to-day, without paying any thing on +either principal or interest, each man of us would owe less +upon that debt now, than each man owed upon it then; and +this because our increase of men, through the whole period, +has been greater than six per cent.; has run faster than the +interest upon the debt. Thus, time alone relieves a debtor +nation, so long as its population increases faster than unpaid +interest accumulates on its debt.</p> + +<p>“This fact would be no excuse for delaying payment of +what is justly due; but it shows the great importance of time<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">216</a></span> +in this connection​—​the great advantage of a policy by which +we shall not have to pay until we number a hundred millions, +what, by a different policy, we would have to pay now, when +we number but thirty-one millions. In a word, it shows that +a dollar will be much harder to pay for the war, than will be +a dollar for emancipation on the proposed plan. And then the +latter will cost no blood, no precious life. It will be a saving +of both.</p> + +<p>“As to the second article, I think it would be impracticable +to return to bondage the class of persons therein contemplated. +Some of them, doubtless, in the property sense, belong +to loyal owners; and hence, provision is made in this +article for compensating such.</p> + +<p>“The third article relates to the future of the freed people. +It does not oblige, but merely authorizes, Congress to aid in +colonizing such as may consent. This ought not to be regarded +as objectionable, on the one hand, or on the other, in +so much as it comes to nothing, unless by the mutual consent +of the people to be deported, and the American voters, +through their representatives in Congress.</p> + +<p>“I can not make it better known than it already is, that I +strongly favor colonization. And yet I wish to say there is +an objection urged against free colored persons remaining in +the country, which is largely imaginary, if not sometimes +malicious.</p> + +<p>“It is insisted that their presence would injure, and displace +white labor and white laborers. If there ever could be +a proper time for mere catch arguments, that time surely is +not now. In times like the present, men should utter nothing +for which they would not willingly be responsible through +time and in eternity. Is it true, then, that colored people can +displace any more white labor by being free, than by remaining +slaves? If they stay in their old places, they jostle no +white laborers; if they leave their old places, they leave them +open to white laborers. Logically, there is neither more nor<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">217</a></span> +less of it. Emancipation, even without deportation, would, +probably enhance the wages of white labor, and, very surely, +would not reduce them. Thus, the customary amount of +labor would still have to be performed; the freed people +would surely not do more than their old proportion of it, and +very probably, for a time, would do less, leaving an increased +part to white laborers, bringing their labor into greater demand, +and, consequently, enhancing the wages of it. With deportation, +even to a limited extent, enhanced wages to white +labor is mathematically certain. Labor is like any other +commodity in the market​—​increase the demand for it, and +you increase the price of it. Reduce the supply of black +labor, by colonizing the black laborer out of the country, and, +by precisely so much you increase the demand for, and wages +of, white labor.</p> + +<p>“But it is dreaded that the freed people will swarm forth, +and cover the whole land. Are they not already in the land? +Will liberation make them any more numerous? Equally +distributed among the whites of the whole country, and there +would be but one colored to seven whites. Could the one, in +any way, greatly disturb the seven? There are many communities +now, having more than one free colored person to +seven whites; and this without any apparent consciousness +of evil from it. The District of Columbia, and the States of +Maryland and Delaware, are all in this condition. The District +has more than one free colored to six whites; and yet, +in its frequent petitions to Congress, I believe it has never +presented the presence of free colored persons as one of its +grievances. But why should emancipation South send the +freed people North? People, of any color, seldom run, unless +there be something to run from. <i>Heretofore</i>, colored people, +to some extent, have fled North from bondage; and <i>now</i>, +perhaps, from both bondage and destitution. But if gradual +emancipation and deportation be adopted, they will have +neither to flee from. Their old masters will give them wages,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">218</a></span> +at least until new laborers can be procured; and the freed +men, in turn, will gladly give their labor for the wages, till +new homes can be found for them, in congenial climes, and +with people of their own blood and race. This proposition +can be trusted on the mutual interests involved. And, in any +event, can not the North decide for itself, whether to receive +them?</p> + +<p>“Again, as practice proves more than theory, in any case +has there been any irruption of colored people northward, +because of the abolishment of slavery in this District last +spring?</p> + +<p>“What I have said of the proportion of free colored persons +to the whites, in the District, is from the census of +1860, having no reference to persons called contrabands, nor +to those made free by the Act of Congress abolishing slavery +here.</p> + +<p>“The plan consisting of these articles is recommended, not +but that a restoration of the National authority would be +accepted without its adoption.</p> + +<p>“Nor will the war, nor proceedings under the proclamation +of September 22d, 1862, be stayed because of the <i>recommendation</i> +of this plan. Its timely <i>adoption</i>, I doubt not, +would bring restoration, and thereby stay both.</p> + +<p>“And, notwithstanding this plan, the recommendation that +Congress provide by law for compensating any State which +may adopt emancipation, before this plan shall have been +acted upon, is hereby earnestly renewed. Such would be +only an advance part of the plan, and the same arguments +apply to both.</p> + +<p>“This plan is recommended as a means, not in exclusion +of, but in addition to, all others for restoring and preserving +the National authority throughout the Union. The subject +is presented exclusively in its economical aspect. The plan +would, I am confident, secure peace more speedily, and maintain +it more permanently, than can be done by force alone;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">219</a></span> +while all it would cost, considering amounts, and manner of +payment, and times of payment, would be easier paid than +will be the additional cost of the war, if we rely solely upon +force. It is much​—​very much​—​that it would cost no blood +at all.</p> + +<p>“The plan is proposed as permanent constitutional law. +It cannot become such without the concurrence of, first, two-thirds +of Congress, and, afterward, three-fourths of the States. +The requisite three-fourths of the States, will necessarily include +seven of the slave States. Their concurrence, if +obtained, will give assurance of their severally adopting emancipation, +at no very distant day, upon the new constitutional +terms. This assurance would end the struggle now, and save +the Union forever.</p> + +<p>“I do not forget the gravity which should characterize a +paper addressed to the Congress of the nation, by the Chief +Magistrate of the nation. Nor do I forget that some of you +are my seniors; nor that many of you have more experience +than I, in the conduct of public affairs. Yet I trust that, in +view of the great responsibility resting upon me, you will +perceive no want of respect to yourselves, in any undue +earnestness I may seem to display.</p> + +<p>“Is it doubted, then, that the plan I propose, if adopted, +would shorten the war, and thus lessen its expenditure +of money and of blood? Is it doubted that it would restore +the national authority and national prosperity, and perpetuate +both indefinitely? Is it doubted that we here​—​Congress and +Executive​—​can secure its adoption? Will not the good +people respond to a united and earnest appeal from us? Can +we, can they, by any other means, so certainly or so speedily, +assure these vital objects? We can succeed only by concert. +It is not, ‘Can <i>any</i> of us <i>imagine</i> better?’ but, ‘Can we <i>all</i> +do better?’ Object whatsoever is possible, still the question +recurs, ‘Can we do better?’ The dogmas of the quiet past +are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">220</a></span> +high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As +our case is new, so we must think anew, and act anew. We +must disinthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our +country.</p> + +<p>“Fellow-citizens, <i>we</i> can not escape history. We of this +Congress and this Administration, will be remembered in +spite of ourselves. No personal significance, or insignificance, +can spare one or another of us. The fiery trial +through which we pass, will light us down, in honor or +dishonor, to the latest generation. We <i>say</i> we are for the +Union. The world will not forget that we say this. We +know how to save the Union. The world knows we do +know how to save it. We​—​even <i>we here</i>​—​hold the power, +and bear the responsibility. In <i>giving</i> freedom to the <i>slave</i>, +we <i>assure</i> freedom to the <i>free</i>​—​honorable alike in what we +give and what we preserve. We shall nobly save, or meanly +lose, the last best hope of earth. Other means may succeed; +this could not fail. The way is plain, peaceful, generous, +just​—​a way which, if followed, the world will forever +applaud, and God must forever bless.</p> + +<p> +Dec. 1, 1862. <span class="right">“<span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln.</span>”</span><br /> +</p></blockquote> + +<hr /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV.</a><br /> + +<span class="subhead">THE TIDE TURNED.</span></h2> + +<blockquote> + +<p class="hang">Military Successes​—​Favorable Elections​—​Emancipation Policy​—​Letter to Manchester +(England) Workingmen​—​Proclamation for a National Fast​—​Letter to Erastus Corning​—​Letter +to a Committee on recalling Vallandigham.</p></blockquote> + +<p>It had been decreed by a kind Providence that the year +1863 was to mark a turn in the almost unbroken line of +reverses which the Union army had experienced for some +time previous.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">221</a></span> +True, Hooker, who had superseded Burnside in command +of the Army of the Potomac, had been signally repulsed at +Chancellorsville; but this was more than compensated by the +decided victory achieved by the same troops, under Meade, +over the rebels at Gettysburg. Grant, by the capture of +Vicksburg, and the surrender of Port Hudson, which was the +inevitable result, had opened the Mississippi to the Gulf, and +completely severed the bastard confederacy. We moreover +secured East Tennessee, and by the victories of Lookout +Mountain and Missionary Ridge, and the repulse of a rebel +attempt to retake Knoxville, paved the way for an offensive +movement into the vitals of Georgia.</p> + +<p>The sober, second thought of the people was manifest. +Vallandigham in Ohio, who for his treasonable practices had +been tried by Burnside’s order, convicted, and ordered South +to his friends, but who had been suffered to return <i>via</i> Canada, +and was put forward as the exponent of “Democracy” in +Ohio, was shelved by some one hundred thousand majority. +Pennsylvania, likewise, more than redeemed herself. In fact +every loyal State​—​except New Jersey​—​showed decided +majorities for the Administration.</p> + +<p>In this election, be it remembered, the emancipation policy +of the President had entered largely as an element of discussion; +and the results were the more gratifying as it established +conclusively, that however unfavorable early indications +might have been, the great pulse of the people beat in +unison with freedom for man as man. If in a contest like +that in which the nation was then engaged, all merely mercenary +considerations could be overlooked, deep-rooted prejudices +mastered, and long withheld rights cheerfully granted, +there would be, indeed, strong grounds to hope for the +progress of our race.</p> + +<p>At the beginning of the year, the President received a +gratifying evidence of the appreciation in which his efforts for +freedom were held, in a testimonial of sympathy and confidence<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">222</a></span> +from the workingmen of Manchester, England; to +which address he made the following reply:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p class="sigright"> + +“<i>Executive Mansion</i>, Washington, January 19, 1863.<br /> +</p> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">To the Workingmen of Manchester</span>:​—​I have the +honor to acknowledge the receipt of the address and resolutions +which you sent me on the eve of the new year.</p> + +<p>“When I came, on the 4th of March, 1861, through a free +and constitutional election, to preside in the Government of +the United States, the country was found at the verge of +civil war. Whatever might have been the cause, or whosesoever +the fault, one duty, paramount to all others, was +before me, namely, to maintain and preserve at once the Constitution +and the integrity of the Federal Republic. A conscientious +purpose to perform this duty is the key to all the +measures of administration which have been, and to all +which will hereafter be pursued. Under our frame of government +and my official oath, I could not depart from this +purpose if I would. It is not always in the power of +governments to enlarge or restrict the scope of moral results +which follow the policies that they may deem it necessary, +for the public safety, from time to time to adopt.</p> + +<p>“I have understood well that the duty of self-preservation +rests solely with the American people. But I have, at the +same time, been aware that the favor or disfavor of foreign +nations might have a material influence in enlarging and prolonging +the struggle with disloyal men in which the country +is engaged. A fair examination of history has seemed to +authorize a belief that the past action and influences of the +United States were generally regarded as having been beneficial +toward mankind. I have, therefore, reckoned upon the +forbearance of nations. Circumstances​—​to some of which +you kindly allude​—​induced me especially to expect that, if +justice and good faith should be practised by the United +States, they would encounter no hostile influence on the part +of Great Britain. It is now a pleasant duty to acknowledge<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">223</a></span> +the demonstration you have given of your desire that a spirit +of peace and amity toward this country may prevail in the +councils of your Queen, who is respected and esteemed in +your own country only more than she is by the kindred nation +which has its home on this side of the Atlantic.</p> + +<p>“I know, and deeply deplore, the sufferings which the +workingmen at Manchester, and in all Europe, are called to +endure in this crisis. It has been often and studiously +represented that the attempt to overthrow this Government, +which was built upon the foundation of human rights, and to +substitute for it one which should rest exclusively on the +basis of human slavery, was likely to obtain the favor of +Europe. Through the action of our disloyal citizens, the +workingmen of Europe have been subjected to severe trial, +for the purpose of forcing their sanction to that attempt. +Under these circumstances, I can not but regard your decisive +utterances upon the question as an instance of sublime Christian +heroism, which has not been surpassed in any age or in +any country. It is indeed an energetic and reinspiring assurance +of the inherent power of truth, and of the ultimate +and universal triumph of justice, humanity and freedom. I +do not doubt that the sentiments you have expressed will be +sustained by your great nation; and, on the other hand, I +have no hesitation in assuring you that they will excite admiration, +esteem, and the most reciprocal feelings of friendship +among the American people. I hail this interchange of +sentiment, therefore, as an augury that, whatever else may +happen, whatever misfortune may befall your country or my +own, the peace and friendship which now exist between the +two nations will be, as it shall be my desire to make them, +perpetual.</p> + +<p class="sigright"> +“<span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln.</span>”<br /> +</p></blockquote> + +<p>On the 30th of March the following proclamation was +issued in pursuance of a request to that effect from the +Senate:</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">224</a></span></p><blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Whereas</span>, The Senate of the United States, devoutly +recognizing the supreme authority and just government of +Almighty God in all the affairs of men and of nations, has by +a resolution requested the President to designate and set +apart a day for National prayer and humiliation;</p> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">And whereas</span>, It is the duty of nations, as well as of +men, to own their dependence upon the overruling power of +God, to confess their sins and transgressions in humble sorrow +yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to +mercy and pardon, and to recognize the sublime truth announced +in the Holy Scriptures, and proven by all history, +that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord;</p> + +<p>“And, insomuch as we know that, by His Divine law, +nations, like individuals, are subjected to punishments and +chastisements in this world, may we not justly fear that the +awful calamity of civil war, which now desolates the land, +may be but a punishment inflicted upon us for our presumptuous +sins, to the needful end of our National reformation as a +whole people? We have been the recipients of the choicest +bounties of Heaven. We have been preserved, these many +years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, +wealth and power, as no other nation has ever grown. But +we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious +hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched +and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in +the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were +produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. +Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient +to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving +grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us!</p> + +<p>“It behooves us, then, to humble ourselves before the +offended Power, to confess our National sins, and to pray for +clemency and forgiveness.</p> + +<p>“Now, therefore, in compliance with the request, and fully +concurring in the views of the Senate, I do, by this my proclamation, +designate and set apart Thursday, the thirteenth<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">225</a></span> +day of April, 1863, as a day of National humiliation, fasting +and prayer. And I do hereby request all the people to +abstain on that day from their ordinary secular pursuits, and +to unite, at their several places of public worship and their +respective homes, in keeping the day holy to the Lord, and +devoted to the humble discharge of the religious duties proper +to that solemn occasion.</p> + +<p>“All this being done in sincerity and truth, let us then +rest humbly in the hope, authorized by the Divine teachings, +that the united cry of the Nation will be heard on high, and +answered with blessings, no less than the pardon of our +National sins, and restoration of our now divided and suffering +country to its former happy condition of unity and peace.</p> + +<p>“In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and +caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.</p> + +<p>“Done at the City of Washington, on this thirtieth day of +March, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred +and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the United States +the eighty-seventh.</p> + +<p> +“By the President: <span class="right"><span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln</span>.</span><br /> + +“<span class="smcap">William H. Seward</span>, Secretary of State.”<br /> +</p></blockquote> + +<p>The following letter, which belongs in this place, will explain +itself:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p class="sigright"> +“<i>Executive Mansion</i>, Washington, June 13th, 1863.<br /> +</p> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Hon. Erastus Corning</span> and others​—​<i>Gentlemen</i>:​—​Your +letter of May 19th, inclosing the resolutions of a public meeting +held at Albany, New York, on the 16th of the same +month, was received several days ago.</p> + +<p>“The resolutions, as I understand them, are resolvable into +two propositions​—​first, the expression of a purpose to sustain +the cause of the Union, to secure peace through victory, and +to support the Administration in every constitutional and +lawful measure to suppress the rebellion; and, secondly, a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">226</a></span> +declaration of censure upon the Administration for supposed +unconstitutional action, such as the making of military arrests. +And from the two propositions a third is deduced, which is, +that the gentlemen composing the meeting are resolved on +doing their part to maintain our common Government and +country, despite the folly or wickedness, as they may conceive, +of any Administration. This position is eminently +patriotic, and as such I thank the meeting and congratulate +the nation for it. My own purpose is the same; so that the +meeting and myself have a common object, and can have no +difference, except in the choice of means or measures for +effecting that object.</p> + +<p>“And here I ought to close this paper, and would close it, if +there were no apprehension that more injurious consequences +than any merely personal to myself might follow the censures +systematically cast upon me for doing what, in my view of +duty, I could not forbear. The resolutions promise to support +me in every constitutional and lawful measure to suppress +the rebellion, and I have not knowingly employed, nor +shall knowingly employ, any other. But the meeting, by +their resolutions, assert and argue that certain military +arrests and proceedings following them, for which I am ultimately +responsible, are unconstitutional. I think they are +not. The resolutions quote from the Constitution the definition +of treason, and also the limiting safeguards and guaranties +therein provided for the citizen on trial for treason, and +on his being held to answer for capital, or otherwise infamous +crimes; and in criminal prosecutions, his right to a speedy +and public trial by an impartial jury. They proceed to resolve, +‘that these safeguards of the rights of the citizen +against the pretensions of arbitrary power were intended +more <i>especially</i> for his protection in times of civil commotion.’</p> + +<p>“And, apparently to demonstrate the proposition, the +resolutions proceed: ‘They were secured substantially to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">227</a></span> +English people <i>after</i> years of protracted civil war, and were +adopted into our Constitution at the <i>close</i> of the Revolution. +Would not the demonstration have been better if it could have +been truly said that these safeguards had been adopted and +applied <i>during</i> the civil wars and <i>during</i> our Revolution, instead +of <i>after</i> the one and at the <i>close</i> of the other? I, too, +am devotedly for them <i>after</i> civil war, and <i>before</i> civil war, +and at all times, ‘except when, in cases of rebellion or invasion, +the public safety may require’ their suspension. The +resolutions proceed to tell us that these safeguards ‘have +stood the test of seventy-six years of trial, under our republican +system, under circumstances which show that, while +they constitute the foundation of all free government, they +are the elements of the enduring stability of the Republic.’ +No one denies that they have so stood the test up to the +beginning of the present rebellion, if we except a certain occurrence +at New Orleans; nor does any one question that +they will stand the same test much longer after the rebellion +closes. But these provisions of the Constitution have no application +to the case we have in hand, because the arrests +complained of were not made for treason​—​that is, not for <i>the</i> +treason defined in the Constitution, and upon conviction of +which the punishment is death​—​nor yet were they made to +hold persons to answer for any capital or otherwise infamous +crimes; nor were the proceedings following, in any constitutional +or legal sense, ‘criminal prosecutions.’ The arrests +were made on totally different grounds, and the proceedings +following accorded with the grounds of the arrest. Let +us consider the real case with which we are dealing, and +apply to it the parts of the Constitution plainly made for such +cases.</p> + +<p>“Prior to my installation here, it had been inculcated that +any State had a lawful right to secede from the National +Union, and that it would be expedient to exercise the right +whenever the devotees of the doctrine should fail to elect a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">228</a></span> +President to their own liking. I was elected contrary to +their liking, and accordingly, so far as it was legally possible, +they had taken seven States out of the Union, and had seized +many of the United States forts, and had fired upon the +United States flag, all before I was inaugurated, and, of +course, before I had done any official act whatever. The rebellion +thus began soon ran into the present civil war; and, +in certain respects, it began on very unequal terms between +the parties. The insurgents had been preparing for it for +more than thirty years, while the Government had taken no +steps to resist them. The former had carefully considered all +the means which could be turned to their account. It undoubtedly +was a well-pondered reliance with them that, in +their own unrestricted efforts to destroy Union, Constitution, +and law together, the Government would, in a great degree, +be restrained by the same Constitution and law from arresting +their progress. Their sympathizers pervaded all departments +of the Government, and nearly all communities of the +people. From this material, under cover of ‘liberty of +speech,’ ‘liberty of the press,’ and ‘<i>habeas corpus</i>,’ they +hoped to keep on foot among us a most efficient corps of +spies, informers, suppliers, and aiders and abettors of their +cause in a thousand ways. They knew that in times such as +they were inaugurating, by the Constitution itself, the ‘<i>habeas +corpus</i>’ might be suspended; but they also knew they had +friends who would make a question as to <i>who</i> was to suspend +it; meanwhile, their spies and others might remain at large +to help on their cause. Or if, as has happened, the Executive +should suspend the writ, without ruinous waste of time, +instances of arresting innocent persons might occur, as are +always likely to occur in such cases, and then a clamor could +be raised in regard to this which might be, at least, of some +service to the insurgent cause. It needed no very keen perception +to discover this part of the enemy’s programme, so +soon as, by open hostilities, their machinery was put fairly in +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">229</a></span>motion. Yet, thoroughly imbued with a reverence for the +guaranteed rights of individuals, I was slow to adopt the +strong measures which by degrees I have been forced to regard +as being within the exceptions of the Constitution, and +as indispensable to the public safety. Nothing is better +known to history than that courts of justice are utterly incompetent +to such cases. Civil courts are organized chiefly for +trials of individuals, or, at most, a few individuals acting in +concert, and this in quiet times, and on charges of crimes well +defined in the law. Even in times of peace, bands of horse-thieves +and robbers frequently grow too numerous and powerful +for the ordinary courts of justice. But what comparison, +in numbers, have such bands ever borne to the insurgent +sympathizers even in many of the loyal States? Again, a +jury too frequently has at least one member more ready +to hang the panel, than to hang the traitor. And yet, again +he who dissuades one man from volunteering, or induces one +soldier to desert, weakens the Union cause as much as he +who kills a Union soldier in battle. Yet this dissuasion +or inducement may be so conducted as to be no defined +crime of which any civil court would take cognizance.</p> + +<p>“Ours is a case of rebellion​—​so called by the resolution +before me​—​in fact, a clear, flagrant, and gigantic case of +rebellion; and the provision of the Constitution that ‘the +privilege of the writ of <i>habeas corpus</i> shall not be suspended +unless when, in cases of rebellion or invasion, the public +safety may require it,’ is <i>the</i> provision which specially applies +to our present case. This provision plainly attests the understanding +of those who made the Constitution, that ordinary +courts of justice are inadequate to ‘cases of rebellion’​—​attests +their purpose that, in such cases, men may be held in custody +whom the courts, acting on ordinary rules, would discharge. +<i>Habeas corpus</i> does not discharge men who are proved to be +guilty of defined crime; and its suspension is allowed by the +Constitution on purpose that men may be arrested and held<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">230</a></span> +who can not be proved to be guilty of defined crime, ‘when, +in cases of rebellion or invasion, the public safety may require +it.’ This is precisely our present case​—​a case of rebellion, +wherein the public safety <i>does</i> require the suspension. Indeed, +arrests by process of courts, and arrests in cases of +rebellion, do not proceed altogether upon the same basis. +The former is directed at the small percentage of ordinary and +continuous perpetration of crime; while the latter is directed +at sudden and extensive uprisings against the Government, +which at most will succeed or fail in no great length of time. +In the latter case arrests are made, not so much for what has +been done as for what probably would be done. The latter +is more for the preventive and less for the vindictive than the +former. In such cases the purposes of men are much more +easily understood than in cases of ordinary crime. The man +who stands by and says nothing when the peril of his Government +is discussed, can not be misunderstood. If not hindered, +he is sure to help the enemy; much more, if he talks ambiguously​—​talks +for his country with ‘buts,’ and ‘ifs’ and ‘ands.’ +Of how little value the constitutional provisions I have +quoted will be rendered, if arrests shall never be made until +defined crimes shall have been committed, may be illustrated +by a few notable examples. General John C. Breckinridge, +General Robert E. Lee, General Joseph E. Johnston, General +John B. Magruder, General William B. Preston, General +Simon B. Buckner, and Commodore Franklin Buchanan, now +occupying the very highest places in the rebel war service, +were all within the power of the Government since the rebellion +began, and were nearly as well known to be traitors +then as now. Unquestionably, if we had seized and held +them, the insurgent cause would be much weaker. But no +one of them had then committed any crime defined by law. +Every one of them, if arrested, would have been discharged +on <i>habeas corpus</i>, were the writ allowed to operate. In view +of these and similar cases, I think the time not unlikely to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">231</a></span>come when I shall be blamed for having made too few arrests +rather than too many.</p> + +<p>“By the third resolution, the meeting indicate their opinion +that military arrests may be constitutional in localities where +rebellion actually exists, but that such arrests are unconstitutional +in localities where rebellion or insurrection does <i>not</i> +actually exist. They insist that such arrests shall not be +made ‘outside of the lines of necessary military occupation +and the scenes of insurrection.’ Inasmuch, however, as the +Constitution itself makes no such distinction, I am unable to +believe that there <i>is</i> any such constitutional distinction. I +concede that the class of arrests complained of can be constitutional +only when, in cases of rebellion or invasion, the public +safety may require them; and I insist that in such cases +they are Constitutional <i>wherever</i> the public safety does require +them; as well in places to which they may prevent the +rebellion extending, as in those where it may be already +prevailing; as well where they may restrain mischievous interference +with the raising and supplying of armies to suppress +the rebellion, as where the rebellion may actually be; as well +where they may restrain the enticing men out of the army, as +where they would prevent mutiny in the army; equally constitutional +at all places where they will conduce to the public +safety, as against the dangers of rebellion or invasion. Take +the particular case mentioned by the meeting. It is asserted, +in substance, that Mr. Vallandigham was, by a military commander, +seized and tried ‘for no other reason than words +addressed to a public meeting, in criticism of the course of +the Administration, and in condemnation of the military +orders of the general.’ Now, if there be no mistake about +this; if this assertion is the truth and the whole truth; if +there was no other reason for the arrest, then I concede that +the arrest was wrong. But the arrest, as I understand, was +made for a very different reason. Mr. Vallandigham avows +his hostility to the war on the part of the Union; and his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">232</a></span> +arrest was made because he was laboring, with some effect, +to prevent the raising of troops; to encourage desertion from +the army, and to leave the rebellion without an adequate military +force to suppress it. He was not arrested because he +was damaging the political prospects of the Administration, +or the personal interests of the commanding general, but because +he was damaging the army, upon the existence and +vigor of which the life of the nation depends. He was warring +upon the military, and this gave the military constitutional +jurisdiction to lay hands upon him. If Mr. Vallandigham +was not damaging the military power of the country, +then this arrest was made on mistake of fact, which I would +be glad to correct on reasonably satisfactory evidence.</p> + +<p>“I understand the meeting whose resolutions I am considering +to be in favor of suppressing the rebellion by military +force​—​by armies. Long experience has shown that armies +cannot be maintained unless desertions shall be punished by +the severe penalty of death. The case requires, and the law +and the Constitution sanction, this punishment. Must I +shoot a simple-minded soldier boy who deserts, while I must +not touch a hair of a wily agitator who induces him to desert? +This is none the less injurious when effected by getting a +father, or brother, or friend, into a public meeting, and there +working upon his feelings till he is persuaded to write the +soldier boy that he is fighting in a bad cause, for a wicked +Administration of a contemptible Government, too weak to +arrest and punish him if he shall desert. I think that in such +a case to silence the agitator and save the boy is not only +constitutional, but withal a great mercy.</p> + +<p>“If I be wrong on this question of constitutional power, +my error lies in believing that certain proceedings are constitutional +when, in cases of rebellion or invasion, the public +safety requires them, which would not be constitutional when, +in the absence of rebellion or invasion, the public safety does +<i>not</i> require them; in other words, that the Constitution is not,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">233</a></span> +in its application, in all respects the same​—​in cases of rebellion +or invasion involving the public safety, as it is in time of +profound peace and public security. The Constitution itself +makes the distinction; and I can no more be persuaded that +the Government can constitutionally take no strong measures +in time of rebellion, because it can be shown that the same +could not be lawfully taken in time of peace, than I can be +persuaded that a particular drug is not good medicine for a +sick man, because it can be shown not to be good food for a +well one. Nor am I able to appreciate the danger apprehended +by the meeting, that the American people will, by +means of military arrests during the rebellion, lose the right +of public discussion, the liberty of speech and the press, the +law of evidence, trial by jury, and <i>habeas corpus</i>, throughout +the indefinite peaceful future, which I trust lies before them, +any more than I am able to believe that a man could contract +so strong an appetite for emetics, during temporary illness, as +to persist in feeding upon them during the remainder of his +healthful life.</p> + +<p>“In giving the resolutions that earnest consideration which +you request of me, I can not overlook the fact that the meeting +speak as ‘Democrats.’ Nor can I, with full respect for +their known intelligence, and the fairly presumed deliberation +with which they prepared their resolutions, be permitted to +suppose that this occurred by accident, or in any way other +than that they preferred to designate themselves ‘Democrats’ +rather than ‘American Citizens.’ In this time of National +peril, I would have preferred to meet you on a level one step +higher than any party platform; because I am sure that, from +such more elevated position, we could do better battle for the +country we all love than we possibly can from those lower +ones where, from the force of habit, the prejudices of the past, +and selfish hopes of the future, we are sure to expend much +of our ingenuity and strength in finding fault with and aiming +blows at each other. But, since you have denied me this, I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">234</a></span> +will yet be thankful for the country’s sake, that not all Democrats +have done so. He on whose discretionary judgment +Mr. Vallandigham was arrested and tried is a Democrat, +having no old party affinity with me; and the judge who rejected +the constitutional view expressed in these resolutions, +by refusing to discharge Mr. Vallandigham on <i>habeas corpus</i>, +is a Democrat of better days than these, having received his +judicial mantle at the hands of President Jackson. And +still more, of all those Democrats who are nobly exposing +their lives and shedding their blood on the battle-field, I have +learned that many approve the course taken with Mr. Vallandigham, +while I have not heard of a single one condemning +it. I can not assert that there are none such.</p> + +<p>“And the name of Jackson recalls an incident of pertinent +history: After the battle of New Orleans, and while the fact +that the treaty of peace had been concluded was well known +in the city, but before official knowledge of it had arrived, +Gen. Jackson still maintained martial or military law. Now +that it could be said the war was over, the clamor against +martial law, which had existed from the first, grew more +furious. Among other things, a Mr. Louiallier published a +denunciatory newspaper article. Gen. Jackson arrested him. +A lawyer by the name of Morrel procured the United States +Judge Hall to issue a writ of <i>habeas corpus</i> to relieve Mr. +Louiallier. Gen. Jackson arrested both the lawyer and the +judge. A Mr. Hollander ventured to say of some part of +the matter that ‘it was a dirty trick.’ Gen. Jackson arrested +him. When the officer undertook to serve the writ of <i>habeas +corpus</i>, Gen. Jackson took it from him, and sent him away +with a copy. Holding the judge in custody a few days, the +general sent him beyond the limits of his encampment, and +set him at liberty, with an order to remain till the ratification +of peace should be regularly announced, or until the British +should have left the Southern coast. A day or two more +elapsed, the ratification of a treaty of peace was regularly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">235</a></span> +announced, and the judge and others were fully liberated. +A few days more, and the judge called Gen. Jackson into +court and fined him $1,000 for having arrested him and the +others named. The general paid the fine, and there the +matter rested for nearly thirty years, when Congress refunded +principal and interest. The late Senator Douglas, +then in the House of Representatives, took a leading part in +the debates, in which the constitutional question was much +discussed. I am not prepared to say whom the journals +would show to have voted for the measure.</p> + +<p>“It may be remarked: First, that we had the same Constitution +then as now; secondly, that we then had a case of +invasion, and now we have a case of rebellion; and, thirdly, +that the permanent right of the people to public discussion, +the liberty of speech and of the press, the trial by jury, the +law of evidence, and the <i>habeas corpus</i>, suffered no detriment +whatever by that conduct of Gen. Jackson, or its subsequent +approval by the American Congress.</p> + +<p>“And yet, let me say that, in my own discretion, I do not +know whether I would have ordered the arrest of Mr. Vallandigham. +While I can not shift the responsibility from +myself, I hold that, as a general rule, the commander in the +field is the better judge of the necessity in any particular +case. Of course, I must practise a general directory and +revisory power in the matter.</p> + +<p>“One of the resolutions expresses the opinion of the meeting +that arbitrary arrests will have the effect to divide and +distract those who should be united in suppressing the rebellion, +and I am specifically called on to discharge Mr. Vallandigham. +I regard this as, at least, a fair appeal to me on +the expediency of exercising a constitutional power which I +think exists. In response to such appeal, I have to say, it +gave me pain when I learned that Mr. Vallandigham had +been arrested​—​that is, I was pained that there should have +seemed to be a necessity for arresting him​—​and that it will<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">236</a></span> +afford me great pleasure to discharge him so soon as I can, +by any means, believe the public safety will not suffer by it. +I further say that, as the war progresses, it appears to me, +opinion and action which were in great confusion at first, +take shape and fall into more regular channels, so that the +necessity for strong dealing with them gradually decreases. +I have every reason to desire that it should cease altogether; +and far from the least is my regard for the opinions and +wishes of those who, like the meeting at Albany, declare their +purpose to sustain the Government in every constitutional +and lawful measure to suppress the rebellion. Still, I must +continue to do so much as may seem to be required by the +public safety.</p> + +<p class="sigright"> +“<span class="smcap">A. Lincoln.</span>”<br /> +</p></blockquote> + +<p>Mr. Lincoln, having been waited upon by a Committee of +Ohio “Democrats,” who urged him to recall Vallandigham, +whom they sought to exalt as a “martyr to popular rights,” +addressed the following reply, the quiet sarcasm of which is +not the least of its many good points:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p class="sigright"> + +“Washington, June 29, 1863.<br /> +</p> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Gentlemen</span>:​—​The resolutions of the Ohio Democratic +State Convention, which you present me, together with your +introductory and closing remarks, being, in position and +argument, mainly the same as the resolutions of the Democratic +meeting at Albany, New York, I refer you to my +response to the latter as meeting most of the points in the +former.</p> + +<p>“This response you evidently used in preparing your +remarks, and I desire no more than that it be used with +accuracy. In a single reading of your remarks, I only discovered +one inaccuracy in matter which I suppose you took +from that paper. It is where you say, ‘The undersigned are +unable to agree with you in the opinion you have expressed +that the Constitution is different in time of insurrection or +invasion from what it is in time of peace and public security.’</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">237</a></span></p> +<p>“A recurrence to the paper will show you that I have not +expressed the opinion you suppose. I expressed the opinion +that the Constitution is different <i>in its application</i> in cases of +rebellion or invasion involving the public safety, from what it +is in times of profound peace and public security. And this +opinion I adhere to, simply because, by the Constitution itself, +things may be done in the one case which may not be done +in the other.</p> + +<p>“I dislike to waste a word on a merely personal point, but +I must respectfully assure you that you will find yourselves +at fault should you ever seek for evidence to prove your +assumption that I ‘opposed, in discussions before the people, +the policy of the Mexican War.’</p> + +<p>“You say: ‘Expunge from the Constitution this limitation +upon the power of Congress to suspend the writ of <i>habeas +corpus</i>, and yet the other guaranties of personal liberty +would remain unchanged.’ Doubtless, if this clause of the +Constitution, improperly called, as I think, a limitation upon +the power of Congress, were expunged, the other guaranties +would remain the same; but the question is, not how those +guaranties would stand with that clause <i>out</i> of the Constitution, +but how they stand with that clause remaining in it, in +case of rebellion or invasion involving the public safety. If +the liberty could be indulged in expunging that clause, letter +and spirit, I really think the constitutional argument would +be with you.</p> + +<p>“My general view on this question was stated in the +Albany response, and hence I do not state it now. I only +add that, as seems to me, the benefit of the writ of <i>habeas +corpus</i> is the great means through which the guaranties of +personal liberty are conserved and made available in the last +resort; and corroborative of this view is the fact that Mr. +Vallandigham, in the very case in question, under the advice +of able lawyers, saw not where else to go but to the <i>habeas +corpus</i>. But by the Constitution the benefit of the writ of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">238</a></span> +<i>habeas corpus</i> itself may be suspended, when, in case of rebellion +or invasion, the public safety may require it.</p> + +<p>“You ask, in substance, whether I really claim that I may +override all the guaranteed rights of individuals, on the plea +of conserving the public safety​—​when I may choose to say +the public safety requires it. This question, divested of the +phraseology calculated to represent me as struggling for an +arbitrary personal prerogative, is either simply a question +<i>who</i> shall decide, or an affirmation that <i>nobody</i> shall decide, +what the public safety does require in cases of rebellion or +invasion. The Constitution contemplates the question as +likely to occur for decision, but it does not expressly declare +who is to decide it. By necessary implication, when rebellion +or invasion comes, the decision is to be made from time to +time; and I think the man whom, for the time, the people +have, under the Constitution, made their Commander-in-chief +of the Army and Navy, is the man who holds the power and +bears the responsibility of making it. If he uses the power +justly, the same people will probably justify him; if he +abuses it, he is in their hands, to be dealt with by all the +modes they have reserved to themselves in the Constitution.</p> + +<p>“The earnestness with which you insist that persons can +only, in times of rebellion, be lawfully dealt with in accordance +with the rules for criminal trials and punishments in times of +peace, induces me to add a word to what I said on that point +in the Albany response. You claim that men may, if they +choose, embarrass those whose duty it is to combat a giant +rebellion, and then be dealt with only in turn as if there were +no rebellion. The Constitution itself rejects this view. The +military arrests and detentions which have been made, including +those of Mr. Vallandigham, which are not different +in principle from the other, have been for <i>prevention</i>, and not +for <i>punishment</i>​—​as injunctions to stay injury, as proceedings +to keep the peace​—​and hence, like proceedings in such cases +and for like reasons, they have not been accompanied with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">239</a></span> +indictments, or trial by juries, nor in a single case by any +punishment whatever beyond what is purely incidental to the +prevention. The original sentence of imprisonment in Mr. +Vallandigham’s case was to prevent injury to the military +service only, and the modification of it was made as a less +disagreeable mode to him of securing the same prevention.</p> + +<p>“I am unable to perceive an insult to Ohio in the case of +Mr. Vallandigham. Quite surely nothing of this sort was or +is intended. I was wholly unaware that Mr. Vallandigham +was, at the time of his arrest, a candidate for the Democratic +nomination for Governor, until so informed by your reading +to me the resolutions of the convention. I am grateful to +the State of Ohio for many things, especially for the brave +soldiers and officers she has given, in the present national +trial, to the armies of the Union.</p> + +<p>“You claim, as I understand, that, according to my own +position in the Albany response, Mr. Vallandigham should be +released; and this because, as you claim, he has not damaged +the military service by discouraging enlistments, encouraging +desertions, or otherwise; and that if he had, he should have +been turned over to the civil authorities under the recent Act +of Congress. I certainly do not <i>know</i> that Mr. Vallandigham +has specifically and by direct language advised against enlistments +and in favor of desertions and resistance to drafting. +We all know that combinations, armed, in some instances, +to resist the arrest of deserters, began several months ago; +that more recently the like has appeared in resistance to the +enrollment preparatory to a draft; and that quite a number +of assassinations have occurred from the same <i>animus</i>. +These had to be met by military force, and this again has led +to bloodshed and death. And now, under a sense of responsibility +more weighty and enduring than any which is merely +official, I solemnly declare my belief that this hindrance +of the military, including maiming and murder, is due to the +cause in which Mr. Vallandigham has been engaged, in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">240</a></span> +a greater degree than to any other cause; and it is due to +him personally in a greater degree than to any other one +man.</p> + +<p>“These things have been notorious, known to all, and of +course known to Mr. Vallandigham. Perhaps I would not +be wrong to say they originated with his especial friends and +adherents. With perfect knowledge of them he has frequently, +if not constantly, made speeches in Congress and +before popular assemblies; and if it can be shown that, with +these things staring him in the face, he has ever uttered +a word of rebuke or counsel against them, it will be a +fact greatly in his favor with me, and one of which, as +yet, I am totally ignorant. When it is known that the +whole burden of his speeches has been to stir up men against +the prosecution of the war, and that in the midst of resistance +to it he has not been known in any instance to +counsel against such resistance, it is next to impossible +to repel the inference that he has counselled directly in favor +of it.</p> + +<p>“With all this before their eyes, the convention you represent +have nominated Mr. Vallandigham for Governor of +Ohio, and both they and you have declared the purpose to +sustain the National Union by all constitutional means; but, +of course, they and you, in common, reserve to yourselves to +decide what are constitutional means, and, unlike the Albany +meeting, you omit to state or intimate that, in your opinion, +an army is a constitutional means of saving the Union against +a rebellion, or even to intimate that you are conscious of an +existing rebellion being in progress with the avowed object +of destroying that very Union. At the same time, your +nominee for Governor, in whose behalf you appeal, is known +to you, and to the world, to declare against the use of an +army to suppress the rebellion. Your own attitude, therefore, +encourages desertion, resistance to the draft, and the +like, because it teaches those who incline to desert and to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">241</a></span> +escape the draft, to believe it is your purpose to protect +them, and to hope that you will become strong enough to +do so.</p> + +<p>“After a personal intercourse with you, gentlemen of +the Committee, I can not say I think you desire this effect to +follow your attitude; but I assure you that both friends and +enemies of the Union look upon it in this light. It is a substantial +hope, and by consequence, a real strength to the +enemy. If it is a false hope, and one which you would +willingly dispel, I will make the way exceedingly easy. +I send you duplicates of this letter, in order that you, or +a majority of you, may, if you choose, indorse your names +upon one of them, and return it thus indorsed to me, with +the understanding that those signing are thereby committed +to the following propositions, and to nothing else:</p> + +<p>“1. That there is now a rebellion in the United States, the +object and tendency of which is to destroy the National +Union; and that, in your opinion, an army and navy are +constitutional means for suppressing that rebellion.</p> + +<p>“2. That no one of you will do any thing which, in his own +judgment, will tend to hinder the increase, or favor the +decrease, or lessen the efficiency of the Army and Navy, +while engaged in the effort to suppress that rebellion; <span class="locked">and​—​</span></p> + +<p>“3. That each of you will, in his sphere, do all he can to +have the officers, soldiers, and seamen of the Army and +Navy, while engaged in the effort to suppress the rebellion, +paid, fed, clad, and otherwise well provided and supported.</p> + +<p>“And with the further understanding that upon receiving +the letter and names thus indorsed, I will cause them to be +published, which publication shall be, within itself, a revocation +of the order in relation to Mr. Vallandigham.</p> + +<p>“It will not escape observation that I consent to the +release of Mr. Vallandigham upon terms not embracing any +pledge from him or from others as to what he will or will not +do. I do this because he is not present to speak for himself,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">242</a></span> +or to authorize others to speak for him; and hence I shall +expect that on returning he would not put himself practically +in antagonism with the position of his friends. But I do it +chiefly because I thereby prevail on other influential gentlemen +of Ohio to so define their position as to be of immense +value to the army​—​thus more than compensating for the consequences +of any mistake in allowing Mr. Vallandigham to +return, so that, on the whole, the public safety will not have +suffered by it. Still, in regard to Mr. Vallandigham and all +others, I must hereafter, as heretofore, do so much as the +public service may seem to require.</p> + +<p>“I have the honor to be respectfully, yours, etc.,</p> + +<p class="sigright"> +“<span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln</span>.”<br /> +</p></blockquote> + +<hr /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI.</a><br /> + +<span class="subhead">LETTERS AND SPEECHES.</span></h2> + +<blockquote> + +<p class="hang">Speech at Washington​—​Letter to General Grant​—​Thanksgiving Proclamation​—​Letter +concerning the Emancipation Proclamation​—​Proclamation for Annual Thanksgiving​—​Dedicatory +Speech at Gettysburg.</p></blockquote> + +<p>On the evening of the 4th of July, 1863, having been serenaded +by many of the citizens of Washington, jubilant over +the defeat of the rebels at Gettysburg, the President acknowledged +the compliment thus:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Fellow-citizens</span>:​—​I am very glad indeed to see you to-night, +and yet I will not say I thank you for this call; but I +do most sincerely thank Almighty God for the occasion on +which you have called. How long ago is it​—​eighty odd +years​—​since, on the 4th of July, for the first time in the history +of the world, a nation, by its representatives, assembled +and declared as a self-evident truth, ‘that all men are created +equal?’ That was the birthday of the United States of America.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">243</a></span> +Since then, the 4th of July has had several very peculiar +recognitions. The two men most distinguished in the framing +and support of the Declaration, were Thomas Jefferson and +John Adams​—​the one having penned it, and the other sustained +it the most forcibly in debate​—​the only two, of the +fifty-five who signed it, who were elected Presidents of the +United States. Precisely fifty years after they put their +hands to the paper, it pleased Almighty God to take both +from this stage of action. This was indeed an extraordinary +and remarkable event in our history. Another President, +five years after, was called from this stage of existence on the +same day and month of the year; and now, on this last 4th +of July just passed, when we have a gigantic rebellion, at +the bottom of which is an effort to overthrow the principle +that all men were created equal, we have the surrender of a +most powerful position and army on that very day. And not +only so, but in a succession of battles in Pennsylvania, near +to us, through three days, so rapidly fought that they might +be called one great battle, on the 1st, 2d, and 3d of the month +of July, and on the 4th the cohorts of those who opposed the +declaration that all men are created equal, ‘turned tail’ and +run. Gentlemen, this is a glorious theme, and the occasion +for a speech; but I am not prepared to make one worthy of +the occasion. I would like to speak in terms of praise due to +the many brave officers and soldiers who have fought in the +cause of the Union and liberties of their country from the +beginning of the war. These are trying occasions, not only +in success, but for the want of success. I dislike to mention +the name of one single officer, lest I might do wrong to those +I might forget. Recent events bring up glorious names, and +particularly prominent ones; but these I will not mention. +Having said this much, I will now take the music.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>The following letter, addressed to General Grant after the +capture of Vicksburg, gives an insight into the transparent +candor and frankness of the President.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">244</a></span></p> + +<blockquote> + +<p class="sigright"> +“<i>Executive Mansion</i>, Washington, July 13th, 1863.<br /> +</p> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Major-General U. S. Grant</span>​—​<i>My Dear General</i>: I do +not remember that you and I ever met personally. I write +this now as a grateful acknowledgment of the almost inestimable +service you have done the country. I write to say +a word further. When you first reached the vicinity of +Vicksburg, I thought you should do what you finally did​—​march +the troops across the neck, run the batteries with the +transports, and thus go below; and I never had any faith, +except a general hope that you knew better than I, that the +Yazoo Pass expedition, and the like, could succeed. When +you got below, and took Port Gibson, Grand Gulf, and vicinity, +I thought you should go down the river and join General +Banks, and when you turned northward, east of the Big +Black, I feared it was a mistake. I now wish to make the +personal acknowledgment, that you were right and I was +wrong.</p> + +<p class="sigright"> +<span class="l2">“Yours, truly,</span><br /> +“<span class="smcap">A. Lincoln</span>.”<br /> +</p></blockquote> + +<p>The following was issued in commemoration of the victories +at Vicksburg, Port Hudson, and Gettysburg:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">By the President of the United States of America.​—​A +Proclamation.</span>​—​It has pleased Almighty God to hearken +to the supplications and prayers of an afflicted people, and to +vouchsafe to the Army and Navy of the United States, on the +land and on the sea, victories so signal and so effective as to +furnish reasonable grounds for augmented confidence that the +Union of these States will be maintained, their Constitution +preserved, and their peace and prosperity permanently +secured; but these victories have been accorded, not without +sacrifice of life, limb, and liberty, incurred by brave, patriotic, +and loyal citizens. Domestic affliction, in every part of the +country, follows in the train of these fearful bereavements. +It is meet and right to recognize and confess the presence of +the Almighty Father, and the power of his hand equally in +these triumphs and these sorrows.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">245</a></span> +“Now, therefore, be it known, that I do set apart Thursday, +the 6th day of August next, to be observed as a day for +National Thanksgiving, praise, and prayer; and I invite the +people of the United States to assemble on that occasion in +their customary places of worship, and in the form approved +by their own consciences, render the homage due to the +Divine Majesty, for the wonderful things he has done in the +Nation’s behalf, and invoke the influence of his Holy Spirit, +to subdue the anger which has produced, and so long sustained, +a needless and cruel rebellion; to change the hearts +of the insurgents; to guide the counsels of the Government +with wisdom adequate to so great a National emergency, and +to visit with tender care, and consolation, throughout the +length and breadth of our land, all those who, through the +vicissitudes of marches, voyages, battles, and sieges, have +been brought to suffer in mind, body, or estate; and finally, +to lead the whole nation through paths of repentance and +submission to the Divine will, back to the perfect enjoyment +of union and fraternal peace.</p> + +<p>“In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and +caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.</p> + +<p>“Done at the City of Washington, this fifteenth day of +July, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and +sixty-three, and of the Independence of the United States +of America the eighty-eighth.</p> + +<p> +“By the President: <span class="right"><span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln</span>.</span><br /> + +“<span class="smcap">William H. Seward</span>, Secretary of State.”<br /> +</p></blockquote> + +<p>The following letter, written in August, 1863, in answer +to an invitation to attend a meeting of unconditional Union +men held in Illinois, gives at length the President’s views +at that time on his Emancipation proclamation:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p class="sigright"> + +“<span class="smcap">Executive Mansion</span>, Washington, August 26th, 1863.<br /> +</p> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">My Dear Sir</span>:​—​Your letter inviting me to attend a mass +meeting of unconditional Union men, to be held at the capital +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">246</a></span>of Illinois on the third day of September, has been received. +It would be very agreeable to me thus to meet my old friends +at my own home; but I cannot just now be absent from this +city so long as a visit there would require. The meeting is +to be of all those who maintain unconditional devotion to the +Union; and I am sure that my old political friends will thank +me for tendering, as I do, the nation’s gratitude to those +other noble men whom no partisan malice or partisan hope +can make false to the nation’s life. There are those who are +dissatisfied with me. To such I would say:​—​You desire +peace, and you blame me that we do not have it. But how +can we attain it? There are but three conceivable ways:​—​First, +to suppress the rebellion by force of arms. This I am +trying to do. Are you for it? If you are, so far we are +agreed. If you are not for it, a second way is to give up the +Union. I am against this. If you are, you should say so, +plainly. If you are not for force, nor yet for dissolution, there +only remains some imaginable compromise. I do not believe +that any compromise embracing the maintenance of the Union +is now possible. All that I learn leads to a directly opposite +belief. The strength of the rebellion is its military​—​its +army. That army dominates all the country and all the +people within its range. Any offer of any terms made by +any man or men within that range in opposition to that army +is simply nothing for the present, because such man or men +have no power whatever to enforce their side of a compromise, +if one were made with them. To illustrate: Suppose +refugees from the South and peace men of the North +get together in convention, and frame and proclaim a compromise +embracing the restoration of the Union. In what +way can that compromise be used to keep General Lee’s +army out of Pennsylvania? General Meade’s army can keep +Lee’s army out of Pennsylvania, and I think can ultimately +drive it out of existence. But no paper compromise to which +the controllers of General Lee’s army are not agreed, can at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">247</a></span> +all affect that army. In an effort at such compromise we +would waste time which the enemy would improve to our +disadvantage, and that would be all. A compromise, to be +effective, must be made either with those who control the +rebel army, or with the people, first liberated from the domination +of that army by the success of our army. Now, allow +me to assure you that no word or intimation from the rebel +army, or from any of the men controlling it, in relation to any +peace compromise, has ever come to my knowledge or belief. +All charges and intimations to the contrary are deceptive and +groundless. And I promise you that if any such propositions +shall hereafter come, it shall not be rejected and kept secret +from you. I freely acknowledge myself to be the servant of +the people, according to the bond of service, the United +States Constitution; and that, as such, I am responsible to +them. But, to be plain. You are dissatisfied with me about +the negro. Quite likely there is a difference of opinion between +you and myself upon that subject. I certainly wish +that all men could be free, while you, I suppose, do not. Yet +I have neither adopted nor proposed any measure which is +not consistent with even your view, provided you are for the +Union. I suggested compensated emancipation, to which +you replied that you wished not to be taxed to buy negroes. +But I have not asked you to be taxed to buy negroes, except +in such way as to save you from greater taxation, to save the +Union exclusively by other means.</p> + +<p>“You dislike the emancipation proclamation, and perhaps +would have it retracted. You say it is unconstitutional. I +think differently. I think that the Constitution invests its +Commander-in-chief with the law of war in time of war. The +most that can be said, if so much, is, that the slaves are +property. Is there, has there ever been, any question that +by the law of war, property, both of enemies and friends, may +be taken when needed? And is it not needed whenever +taking it helps us or hurts the enemy? Armies, the world<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">248</a></span> +over, destroy enemies’ property when they cannot use it; and +even destroy their own to keep it from the enemy. Civilized +belligerents do all in their power to help themselves or hurt +the enemy, except a few things regarded as barbarous or +cruel. Among the exceptions are the massacre of vanquished +foes and non-combatants, male and female. But the proclamation, +as law, is valid or is not valid. If it is not valid +it needs no restriction. If it is valid it cannot be retracted, +any more than the dead can be brought to life. Some of you +profess to think that its retraction would operate favorably for +the Union. Why better after the retraction than before the +issue? There was more than a year and a half of trial to +suppress the rebellion before the proclamation was issued, the +last one hundred days of which passed under an explicit +notice, that it was coming unless averted by those in revolt +returning to their allegiance. The war has certainly progressed +as favorably for us since the issue of the proclamation +as before. I know as fully as one can know the opinions of +others, that some of the commanders of our armies in the +field, who have given us our most important victories, believe +the emancipation policy and the aid of colored troops constitute +the heaviest blows yet dealt to the rebellion, and that at +least one of those important successes could not have been +achieved when it was but for the aid of black soldiers. +Among the commanders holding these views are some who +have never had any affinity with what is called abolitionism +or with ‘republican party politics,’ but who hold them +purely as military opinions. I submit their opinions as being +entitled to some weight against the objections often urged that +emancipation and arming the blacks are unwise as military +measures, and were not adopted as such in good faith. You +say that you will not fight to free negroes. Some of them +seem to be willing to fight for you​—​but no matter. Fight +you, then, exclusively to save the Union. I issued the proclamation +on purpose to aid you in saving the Union. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">249</a></span> +Whenever you shall have conquered all resistance to the +Union, if I shall urge you to continue fighting, it will be an +apt time then for you to declare that you will not fight to free +negroes. I thought that in your struggle for the Union, to +whatever extent the negroes should cease helping the enemy, +to that extent it weakened the enemy in his resistance to you. +Do you think differently? I thought that whatever negroes +can be got to do as soldiers, leaves just so much less for white +soldiers to do in saving the Union. Does it appear otherwise +to you? But negroes, like other people, act upon motives. +Why should they do any thing for us if we will do nothing +for them? If they stake their lives for us they must be +prompted by the strongest motive, even the promise of freedom. +And the promise being made, must be kept. The signs +look better. The Father of Waters again goes unvexed to +the sea. Thanks to the great North-west for it. Nor yet +wholly to them. Three hundred miles up they met New +England, Empire, Keystone, and Jersey, hewing their way +right and left. The Sunny South, too, in more colors than +one, also lent a hand. On the spot, their part of the history +was jotted down in black and white. The joy was a great +national one, and let none be banned who bore an honorable +part in it; and, while those who have cleared the great river +may well be proud, even that is not all. It is hard to say +that any thing has been more bravely and better done than at +Antietam, Murfreesboro’, Gettysburg, and on many fields of +less note. Nor must Uncle Sam’s web feet be forgotten. +At all the waters’ margins they have been present​—​not only +on the deep sea, the broad bay, and the rapid river, but also +up the narrow, muddy bayou; and wherever the ground was +a little damp they have been and made their tracks. Thanks +to all. For the great Republic​—​for the principles by which +it lives and keeps alive​—​for man’s vast future​—​thanks to all. +Peace does not appear so far distant as it did. I hope it will +come soon, and come to stay: and so come as to be worth the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">250</a></span> +keeping in all future time. It will then have been proved that +among freemen there can be no successful appeal from the +ballot to the bullet, and that they who take such appeal are +sure to lose their case and pay the cost. And then there will +be some black men who can remember that, with silent +tongue, and clenched teeth, and steady eye, and well poised +bayonet, they have helped mankind on to this great consummation; +while I fear that there will be some white men unable +to forget that with malignant heart and deceitful speech +they have striven to hinder it. Still let us not be over sanguine +of a speedy final triumph. Let us be quite sober. Let +us diligently apply the means, never doubting that a just +God, in his own good time, will give us the rightful result.</p> + +<p class="in4"> +“Yours very truly, <span class="right"><span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln</span>.”</span><br /> +</p></blockquote> + +<p>Desirous of inaugurating the custom of setting apart each +year a common day throughout the land for thanksgiving and +prayer, Mr. Lincoln issued the following:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">By the President of the United States of America.​—​A +Proclamation</span>:​—​The year that is drawing towards its +close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and +healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly +enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which +they come, others have been added which are of so extraordinary +a nature that they can not fail to even penetrate and +soften the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever +watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a +civil war of unequalled magnitude and severity, which has +sometimes seemed to invite and provoke the aggressions of +foreign States, peace has been preserved with all nations, +order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and +obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere, except in +the theatre of military conflict. While that theatre has been +greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the +Union, the needful diversion of wealth and strength from the +fields of peaceful industry to the national defence, has not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">251</a></span> +arrested the plow, the shuttle, or the ship. The axe has +enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as +well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded +even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has +steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been +made in the camp, the siege, and the battle-field; and the +country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength +and vigor, is permitted to expect a continuance of years, with +a large increase of freedom. No human counsel hath devised, +nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. +They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, +while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless +remembered mercy.</p> + +<p>“It hath seemed to me fit and proper that they should be +solemnly, devoutly, and gratefully acknowledged, as with one +heart and voice, by the whole American people. I do, therefore, +invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United +States, and also those who are at sea, and those who are +sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last +Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving and +prayer to our beneficent Father, who dwelleth in the heavens. +And I recommend to them that, while offering up the ascriptions +justly due to him for such signal deliverances and blessings, +they do also, with humble penitence for our National +perverseness and disobedience, commend to his tender care +all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners, or +sufferers, in the lamentable civil strife in which we are +unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition +of the Almighty hand to heal the wounds of the nation, and +to restore it, as soon as may be consistent with the Divine +purposes, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity, +and union.</p> + +<p>“In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and +caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.</p> + +<p>“Done at the City of Washington, this, the third day of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">252</a></span> +October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred +and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the United States +the eighty-eighth.</p> + +<p class="b0"> +“By the President: <span class="right"><span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln</span>.</span></p> + +<p class="p0">“<span class="smcap">William H. Seward</span>, Secretary of State.”<br /> +</p></blockquote> + +<p>On the 19th of November, 1863, President Lincoln delivered +the following dedicatory address upon the occasion of consecrating +a National Cemetery at Gettysburg, for the secure +rest of those brave men who yielded up their lives in behalf +of their country during the three days’ battle at that place:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth +upon 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 battle-field of that war. +We are met to dedicate a portion of it as the final resting-place +of those who here gave their lives that that nation +might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should +do this.</p> + +<p>“But in a larger sense we can not dedicate, we can not +consecrate, we can not hallow this ground. The brave men, +living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far +above our 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 that they have thus +far so nobly carried on. 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 the cause for +which they here gave the last full measure of devotion​—​that +we here highly resolve that the dead shall not have died in +vain, that the nation shall, under God, have a new birth of +freedom, and that the government of the people, by the +people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”</p></blockquote> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">253</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII">CHAPTER XVII.</a><br /> + +<span class="subhead">THE THIRTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS.</span></h2> + +<blockquote> + +<p class="hang">Organization of the House​—​Different Opinions as to Reconstruction​—​Provisions for Pardon +of Rebels​—​President’s Proclamation of Pardon​—​Annual Message​—​Explanatory +Proclamation.</p></blockquote> + +<p>Upon the assembling of the Thirty-eighth Congress, December +7th, 1863​—​that Congress, in the lower branch of +which the Opposition had counted upon a majority​—​the supporters +of the Government found no difficulty in electing their +candidates for Speaker by a majority of twenty, nor a radical +anti-slavery man as Chaplain, albeit against the latter was +offered as candidate an Episcopalian Bishop, nameless here, +who had had the effrontery since the outbreak of the war to +appear before the public as a defender of the institution upon +Christian principles.</p> + +<p>With the success of our arms​—​movements toward an organization +of the local governments in the States of Tennessee, +Louisiana, and Arkansas being in progress​—​the difficult +question as to the principles upon which such reorganization +should be effected presented itself for settlement.</p> + +<p>Some took the ground that, by virtue of their rebellion, the +disloyal States had lapsed into mere territorial organizations, +and should remain in that condition until again admitted into +the Union.</p> + +<p>Others contended that this would be, in effect, to recognise +secession, and maintained that, whatever might have been the +acts of the inhabitants of any State, the State as such still +constituted an integral member of the Union, entitled to all +privileges as such, whenever a sufficient number of loyal +citizens chose to exercise the right of suffrage​—​the General<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">254</a></span> +Government seeing to it, as was its duty under the Constitution, +that a republican form was guarantied. As to +what number of loyal inhabitants should suffice, opinions +differed.</p> + +<p>Congress had provided, by an act approved July 17, 1862:</p> + +<p>That the President is hereby authorized, at any time hereafter, +by proclamation, to extend to persons who may have +participated in the existing rebellion in any State or part +thereof, pardon and amnesty, with such exceptions, and at +such time, and on such conditions, as he may deem expedient +for the public welfare.</p> + +<p>In accordance with this authority, the following proclamation +was issued by Mr. Lincoln, by which it appeared he held +himself pledged, before the world and to the persons immediately +affected by it, to make an adherence to the policy of +emancipation, inaugurated by him, a condition precedent to +any act of clemency to be exercised by himself:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Whereas</span>, In and by the Constitution of the United +States, it is provided that the President ‘shall have power to +grant reprieves and pardons for offences against the United +States, except in cases of impeachment;’ and whereas, a rebellion +now exists whereby the loyal State Governments of +several States have for a long time been subverted, and many +persons have committed and are now guilty of treason against +the United States; and whereas, with reference to said rebellion +and treason, laws have been enacted by Congress declaring +forfeitures and confiscation of property and liberation +of slaves, all upon terms and conditions therein stated; and +also declaring that the President was thereby authorized at +any time thereafter, by proclamation, to extend to persons +who may have participated in the existing rebellion, in any +State or part thereof, pardon and amnesty, with such exceptions +and at such times and on such conditions as he may +deem expedient for the public welfare; and whereas, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">255</a></span> +Congressional declaration for limited and conditional pardon +accords with well-established judicial exposition of the pardoning +power; and whereas, with reference to said rebellion, +the President of the United States has issued several proclamations, +with provisions in regard to the liberation of slaves; +and whereas, it is now desired by some persons heretofore +engaged in said rebellion, to resume their allegiance to the +United States, and to reinaugurate loyal State Governments +within and for their respective States; therefore,</p> + +<p>“I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, do +proclaim, declare, and make known to all persons who have, +directly or by implication, participated in the existing rebellion, +except as hereinafter excepted, that a full pardon is +hereby granted to them and each of them, with restoration of +all rights of property, except as to slaves, and in property +cases where rights of third parties shall have intervened, and +upon the condition that every such person shall take and +subscribe an oath, and thenceforward keep and maintain said +oath inviolate; and which oath shall be registered for permanent +preservation, and shall be of the tenor and effect +following, to wit:</p> + +<p>“‘I, ​—​— ​—​—, do solemnly swear, in presence of Almighty +God, that I will henceforth faithfully support, protect and +defend the Constitution of the United States, and the Union +of the States thereunder; and that I will, in like manner, +abide by and faithfully support all acts of Congress passed +during the existing rebellion with reference to slaves, so long +and so far as not repealed, modified, or held void by Congress, +or by decision of the Supreme Court; and that I will, in like +manner, abide by and faithfully support all proclamations of +the President made during the existing rebellion having +reference to slaves, so long and so far as not modified or +declared void by decision of the Supreme Court. So help me +God.’</p> + +<p>“The persons excepted from the benefits of the foregoing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">256</a></span> +provisions are all who are, or shall have been, civil or diplomatic +officers or agents of the so-called Confederate Government; +all who have left judicial stations under the United +States to aid the rebellion; all who are, or shall have been, +military or naval officers of the said so-called Confederate +Government, above the rank of colonel in the army, or of lieutenant +in the navy; all who left seats in the United States +Congress to aid the rebellion; all who resigned commissions +in the Army or Navy of the United States, and afterward +aided the rebellion; and all who have engaged in any way in +treating colored persons, or white persons in charge of such, +otherwise than lawfully as prisoners of war, and which +persons may have been found in the United States service as +soldiers, seamen, or in any other capacity.</p> + +<p>“And I do further proclaim, declare, and make known, that +whenever, in any of the States of Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, +Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South +Carolina, and North Carolina, a number of persons, not less +than one-tenth in number of the votes cast in such State at +the Presidential election of the year of our Lord 1860, each +having taken the oath aforesaid, and not having since violated +it, and being a qualified voter by the election law of the State +existing immediately before the so-called act of secession, and +excluding all others, shall re-establish a State Government +which shall be republican, and in nowise contravening said +oath, such shall be recognized as the true Government of the +State, and the State shall receive thereunder the benefits of +the constitutional provision which declares that ‘the United +States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a republican +form of government, and shall protect each of them +against invasion; and on application of the Legislature, or +the Executive, (when the Legislature cannot be convened) +against domestic violence.’</p> + +<p>“And I do further proclaim, declare, and make known that +any provision which may be adopted by such State Government<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">257</a></span> +in relation to the freed people of such State, which shall +recognize and declare their permanent freedom, provide for +their education, and which may yet be consistent, as a +temporary arrangement, with their present condition as a +laboring, landless, and homeless class, will not be objected to +by the National Executive. And it is suggested as not improper, +that, in constructing a loyal State Government in any +State, the name of the State, the boundary, the subdivisions, +the Constitution, and the general code of laws, as before the +rebellion, be maintained, subject only to the modifications +made necessary by the conditions hereinbefore stated, and +such others, if any, not contravening said conditions, and +which may be deemed expedient by those framing the new +State Government.</p> + +<p>“To avoid misunderstanding, it may be proper to say that +this proclamation, so far as it relates to State Governments, +has no reference to States wherein loyal State Governments +have all the while been maintained. And for the same reason, +it may be proper to further say that whether members sent to +Congress from any State shall be admitted to seats constitutionally, +rests exclusively with the respective Houses, and +not to any extent with the Executive. And still further, that +this proclamation is intended to present the people of the +States wherein the National authority has been suspended, +and loyal State Governments have been subverted, a mode in +and by which the National authority and loyal State Governments +may be re-established within said States, or in any of +them; and, while the mode presented is the best the Executive +can suggest, with his present impressions, it must not be +understood that no other possible mode would be acceptable.</p> + +<p>“Given under my hand at the city of Washington, the eighth +day of December, A. D. 1863, and of the Independence of the +United States of America the eighty-eighth.</p> + +<p class="sigright"> +“<span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln.</span>”<br /> +</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">258</a></span> +The Annual Message sent in to Congress on the 9th day +of December, omitting matters of but temporary interest​—​is +as follows:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives</span>:​—​Another +year of health and sufficiently abundant +harvests, has passed. For these, and especially for the +improved condition of our National affairs, our renewed and +profoundest gratitude to God is due.</p> + +<p>“We remain in peace and friendship with foreign powers.</p> + +<p>“The efforts of disloyal citizens of the United States to +involve us in foreign wars, to aid an inexcusable insurrection, +have been unavailing. Her Britannic Majesty’s Government, +as was justly expected, have exercised their authority to prevent +the departure of new hostile expeditions from British +ports. The Emperor of France has, by a like proceeding, +promptly vindicated the neutrality which he proclaimed at +the beginning of the contest. Questions of great intricacy +and importance have arisen, out of the blockade and other +belligerent operations, between the Government and several +of the maritime powers, but they have been discussed, and, +as far as was possible, accommodated in a spirit of frankness, +justice, and mutual good will. It is especially gratifying +that our prize courts, by the impartiality of their adjudications, +have commanded the respect and confidence of maritime +powers.</p> + +<p>“The supplementary treaty between the United States and +Great Britain for the suppression of the African slave-trade, +made on the 17th of February last, has been duly ratified, +and carried into execution. It is believed that, so far as +American ports and American citizens are concerned, that +inhuman and odious traffic has been brought to an end....</p> + +<p>“Incidents occurring in the progress of our civil war have +forced upon my attention the uncertain state of international +questions touching the rights of foreigners in this country +and of United States citizens abroad. In regard to some<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">259</a></span> +Governments, these rights are at least partially defined +by treaties. In no instance, however, is it expressly stipulated +that, in the event of civil law, a foreigner residing +in this country, within the lines of the insurgents, is to +be exempted from the rule which classes him as a belligerent, +in whose behalf the Government of his country can not +expect any privileges or immunities distinct from that +character. I regret to say, however, that such claims have +been put forward, and, in some instances, in behalf of +foreigners who have lived in the United States the greater +part of their lives.</p> + +<p>“There is reason to believe that many persons born +in foreign countries, who have declared their intention to +become citizens, or who have been fully naturalized, have +evaded the military duty required of them by denying the +fact, and thereby throwing upon the Government the burden +of proof. It has been found difficult or impracticable to +obtain this proof, from the want of guides to the proper +sources of information. These might be supplied by requiring +clerks of courts, where declarations of intention may be +made or naturalizations effected, to send, periodically, lists of +the names of the persons naturalized, or declaring their intention +to become citizens, to the Secretary of the Interior, in +whose Department those names might be arranged and +printed for general information.</p> + +<p>“There is also reason to believe that foreigners frequently +become citizens of the United States for the sole purpose of +evading duties imposed by the laws of their native countries, +to which, on becoming naturalized here, they at once repair, +and, though never returning to the United States, they +still claim the interposition of this Government as citizens. +Many altercations and great prejudices have heretofore arisen +out of this abuse. It is, therefore, submitted to your serious +consideration. It might be advisable to fix a limit, beyond<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">260</a></span> +which no citizen of the United States residing abroad +may claim the interposition of his Government.</p> + +<p>“The right of suffrage has often been assumed and exercised +by aliens, under pretences of naturalization, which they +have disavowed when drafted into the military service. +I submit the expediency of such an amendment of the law as +will make the fact of voting an estoppel against any plea of +exemption from military service, or other civil obligation, on +the ground of alienage....</p> + +<p>“The condition of the several organized Territories is +generally satisfactory, although Indian disturbances in New +Mexico have not been entirely suppressed. The mineral +resources of Colorado, Nevada, Idaho, New Mexico, and +Arizona, are proving far richer than has been heretofore +understood. I lay before you a communication on this subject +from the Governor of New Mexico. I again submit to +your consideration the expediency of establishing a system +for the encouragement of immigration. Although this source +of national wealth and strength is again flowing with greater +freedom than for several years before the insurrection occurred, +there is still a great deficiency of laborers in every field of +industry, especially in agriculture and in our mines, as well +of iron and coal as of the precious metals. While the +demand for labor is thus increased here, tens of thousands of +persons, destitute of remunerative occupation, are thronging +our foreign consulates, and offering to emigrate to the +United States if essential, but very cheap, assistance can be +afforded them. It is easy to see that, under the sharp discipline +of civil war, the nation is beginning a new life. This +noble effort demands the aid, and ought to receive the attention +and support, of the Government.</p> + +<p>“Injuries, unforeseen by the Government and unintended, +may, in some cases, have been inflicted on the subjects +or citizens of foreign countries, both at sea and on land,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">261</a></span> +by persons in the service of the United States. As this +Government expects redress from other powers when similar +injuries are inflicted by persons in their service upon citizens +of the United States, we must be prepared to do justice +to foreigners. If the existing judicial tribunals are inadequate +to this purpose, a special court may be authorized, with +power to hear and decide such claims of the character +referred to as may have arisen under treaties and the public +law. Conventions for adjusting the claims by joint commission, +have been proposed to some Governments, but no definite +answer to the propositions has yet been received from +any.</p> + +<p>“In the course of the session, I shall probably have occasion +to request you to provide indemnification to claimants +where decrees of restitution have been rendered, and damages +awarded by admiralty courts, and in other cases, where this +Government may be acknowledged to be liable in principle, +and where the amount of that liability has been ascertained +by an informal arbitration.</p> + +<p>“The proper officers of the Treasury have deemed themselves +required, by the law of the United States upon the +subject, to demand a tax upon the incomes of foreign consuls +in this country. While such demand may not, in strictness, +be in derogation of public law, or perhaps of any existing +treaty between the United States and a foreign country, the +expediency of so far modifying the act as to exempt from tax +the income of such consuls as are not citizens of the United +States, derived from the emoluments of their office, or from +property not situated in the United States, is submitted +to your serious consideration. I make this suggestion upon +the ground that a comity which ought to be reciprocated +exempts our consuls, in all other countries, from taxation to +the extent thus indicated. The United States, I think, ought +not to be exceptionally illiberal to international trade and +commerce.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">262</a></span> +“The operations of the Treasury during the last year have +been successfully conducted. The enactment by Congress of +a National Banking Law has proved a valuable support +of the public credit; and the general legislation in relation to +loans has fully answered the expectations of its favorers. +Some amendments may be required to perfect existing laws; +but no change in their principles or general scope is believed +to be needed.</p> + +<p>“Since these measures have been in operation, all demands +on the Treasury, including the pay of the Army and Navy, +have been promptly met and fully satisfied. No considerable +body of troops, it is believed, were ever more amply provided +and more liberally and punctually paid; and it may be +added that by no people were the burdens incident to a great +war ever more cheerfully borne.</p> + +<p>“The receipts during the year from all sources, including +loans and the balance in the Treasury at its commencement, +were $901,125,674 86, and the aggregate disbursements, +$895,796,630 65, leaving a balance on the 1st of July, 1863, +of $5,329,044 21. Of the receipts there were derived +from customs, $69,059,642 40; from internal revenue, +$37,640,787 95; from direct tax, $1,485,103 61; from lands, +$167,617 17; from miscellaneous sources, $3,046,615 35; +and from loans, $776,682,361 57; making the aggregate, +$901,125,674 86. Of the disbursements, there were, for the +civil service, $23,253,922 08; for pensions and Indians, +$4,216,520 79; for interest on public debt, $24,729,846 51; +for the War Department, $599,298,600 83; for the Navy +department, $63,211,105 27; for payment of funded and +temporary debt, $181,086,635 07; making the aggregate, +$895,796,630 65; and leaving the balance of $5,329,044 21. +But the payment of funded and temporary debt, having been +made from moneys borrowed during the year, must be +regarded as merely nominal payments, and the moneys +borrowed to make them as merely nominal receipts; and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">263</a></span> +their amount, $181,086,635 07, should therefore be deducted +both from receipts and disbursements. This being done, +there remain as actual receipts, $720,039,039 79; and the +actual disbursements, $714,709,995 58, leaving the balance +as already stated.</p> + +<p>“The actual receipts and disbursements for the first quarter, +and the estimated receipts and disbursements for the remaining +three-quarters, of the current fiscal year 1864, will +be shown in detail by the report of the Secretary of the +Treasury, to which I invite your attention. It is sufficient to +say here that it is not believed that actual results will exhibit +a state of the finances less favorable to the country than the +estimates of that officer heretofore submitted; while it is +confidently expected that at the close of the year both disbursements +and debt will be found very considerably less +than has been anticipated.</p> + +<p>“The report of the Secretary of War is a document of +great interest. It consists <span class="locked">of​—​</span></p> + +<p>“1. The military operations of the year, detailed in the +report of the General-in-Chief.</p> + +<p>“2. The organization of colored persons into the war +service.</p> + +<p>“3. The exchange of prisoners, fully set forth in the letter +of General Hitchcock.</p> + +<p>“4. The operations under the act for enrolling and calling +out the National forces, detailed in the report of the Provost +Marshal General.</p> + +<p>“5. The organization of the Invalid Corps; and,</p> + +<p>“6. The operation of the several departments of the Quartermaster +General, Commissary General, Paymaster General, +Chief of Engineers, Chief of Ordnance, and Surgeon General.</p> + +<p>“It has appeared impossible to make a valuable summary +of this report, except such as would be too extended for this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">264</a></span> +place, and hence I content myself by asking your careful +attention to the report itself.</p> + +<p>“The duties devolving on the Naval branch of the service +during the year, and throughout the whole of this unhappy +contest, have been discharged with fidelity and eminent success. +The extensive blockade has been constantly increasing +in efficiency, and the Navy has expanded; yet on so long a +line it has so far been impossible to entirely suppress illicit +trade. From returns received at the Navy Department, it +appears that more than one thousand vessels have been captured +since the blockade was instituted, and that the value of +prizes already sent in for adjudication, amounts to over thirteen +million dollars.</p> + +<p>“The naval force of the United States consists, at this time, +of five hundred and eighty-eight vessels, completed and in the +course of completion, and of these seventy-five are iron-clad or +armored steamers. The events of the war give an increased +interest and importance to the Navy, which will probably extend +beyond the war itself.</p> + +<p>“The armored vessels in our Navy, completed and in service, +or which are under contract and approaching completion, +are believed to exceed in number those of any other Power. +But while these may be relied upon for harbor defence and +coast service, others, of greater strength and capacity, will be +necessary for cruising purposes, and to maintain our rightful +position on the ocean.</p> + +<p>“The change that has taken place in naval vessels and +naval warfare since the introduction of steam as a motive +power for ships-of-war, demands either a corresponding +change in some of our existing navy-yards, or the establishment +of new ones, for the construction and necessary repairs +of modern naval vessels. No inconsiderable embarrassment, +delay, and public injury have been experienced from the want +of such Governmental establishments. The necessity of such +a navy-yard, so furnished, at some suitable place upon the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">265</a></span> +Atlantic seaboard, has, on repeated occasions, been brought +to the attention of Congress by the Navy Department, and is +again presented in the report of the Secretary which accompanies +this communication. I think it my duty to invite your +special attention to this subject, and also to that of establishing +a yard and depot for naval purposes upon one of the Western +rivers. A naval force has been created on those interior +waters, and under many disadvantages, within little more than +two years, exceeding in numbers the whole naval force of the +country at the commencement of the present Administration. +Satisfactory and important as have been the performances of +the heroic men of the Navy at this interesting period, they are +scarcely more wonderful than the success of our mechanics +and artisans in the production of war vessels, which has +created a new form of naval power.</p> + +<p>“Our country has advantages superior to any other nation +in our resources of iron and timber, with inexhaustible quantities +of fuel in the immediate vicinity of both, and all available +and in close proximity to navigable waters. Without +the advantage of public works, the resources of the nation +have been developed, and its power displayed, in the construction +of a navy of such magnitude, which has, at +the very period of its creation, rendered signal service to the +Union.</p> + +<p>“The increase of the number of seamen in the public service, +from seven thousand five hundred men in the spring of +1861, to about thirty-four thousand at the present time, has +been accomplished without special legislation or extraordinary +bounties to promote that increase. It has been found, however, +that the operation of the draft, with the high bounties +paid for army recruits, is beginning to affect injuriously the +naval service, and will, if not corrected, be likely to impair its +efficiency, by detaching seamen from their proper vocation +and inducing them to enter the army. I therefore respectfully +suggest that Congress might aid both the army and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">266</a></span> +naval services by a definite provision on this subject, which +would at the same time be equitable to the communities more +especially interested.</p> + +<p>“I commend to your consideration the suggestions of the +Secretary of the Navy in regard to the policy of fostering and +training seamen, and also the education of officers and engineers +for the naval service. The Naval Academy is rendering +signal service in preparing midshipmen for the highly responsible +duties which in after-life they will be required to +perform. In order that the country should not be deprived +of the proper quota of educated officers for which legal provision +has been made at the Naval School, the vacancies +caused by the neglect or omission to make nominations from +the States in insurrection have been filled by the Secretary of +the Navy. The school is now more full and complete than at +any former period, and in every respect entitled to the favorable +consideration of Congress.</p> + +<p>“During the past fiscal year the financial condition of the +Post Office Department has been one of increasing prosperity, +and I am gratified in being able to state that the actual postal +revenue has nearly equaled the entire expenditures; the +latter amounting to $11,314,206 84, and the former to +$11,163,789 59, leaving a deficiency of but $150,411 25. In +1860, the year immediately preceding the rebellion, the deficiency +amounted to $5,656,705 49, the postal receipts of +that year being $2,645,722 19 less than those of 1863. The +decrease since 1860 in the annual amount of transportation +has been only about twenty-five per cent., but the annual expenditure +on account of the same has been reduced thirty-five +per cent. It is manifest, therefore, that the Post Office +Department may become self-sustaining in a few years, even +with the restoration of the whole service.</p> + +<p>“The quantity of land disposed of during the last and the +first quarter of the present fiscal years was 3,841,549 acres, +of which 161,911 acres were sold for cash, 1,456,514 acres<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">267</a></span> +were taken up under the homestead law, and the residue disposed +of under laws granting lands for military bounties, for +railroad and other purposes. It also appears that the sale of +public lands is largely on the increase.</p> + +<p>“It has long been a cherished opinion of some of our wisest +statesmen that the people of the United States had a higher +and more enduring interest in the early settlement and substantial +cultivation of the public lands than in the amount of +direct revenue to be derived from the sale of them. This +opinion has had a controlling influence in shaping legislation +upon the subject of our National domain. I may cite, as +evidence of this, the liberal measures adopted in reference to +actual settlers; the grants to the States of the overflowed +lands within their limits; in order to their being reclaimed +and rendered fit for cultivation; the grants to railway companies +of alternate sections of land upon the contemplated +lines of their roads, which, when completed, will so largely +multiply the facilities for reaching our distant possessions. +This policy has received its most signal and beneficent illustration +in the recent enactment granting homesteads to actual +settlers. Since the 1st day of January last, the before-mentioned +quantity of 1,456,514 acres of land have been taken up +under its provisions. This fact and the amount of sales furnish +gratifying evidence of increasing settlement upon the +public lands, notwithstanding the great struggle in which the +energies of the Nation have been engaged, and which has required +so large a withdrawal of our citizens from their accustomed +pursuits.</p> + +<p>“The measures provided at your last session for the removal +of certain Indian tribes, have been carried into effect. +Sundry treaties have been negotiated which will, in due +time, be submitted for the constitutional action of the Senate. +They contain stipulations for extinguishing the possessory +rights of the Indians to large and valuable tracts of lands. +It is hoped that the effect of these treaties will result in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">268</a></span> +establishment of permanent friendly relations with such of +these tribes as have been brought into frequent and bloody +collision with our outlying settlements and emigrants. Sound +policy and our imperative duty to these wards of the Government +demand our anxious and constant attention to their +material well-being, to their progress in the arts of civilization, +and above all, to that moral training which, under the +blessing of Divine Providence, will confer upon them the +elevated and sanctifying influences, the hopes and consolations +of the Christian faith.</p> + +<p>“When Congress assembled a year ago, the war had +already lasted nearly twenty months; and there had been +many conflicts on both land and sea, with varying results. +The rebellion had been pressed back into reduced limits; yet +the tone of public feeling and opinion, at home and abroad, +was not satisfactory. With other signs, the popular elections, +then just past, indicated uneasiness among ourselves, +while, amid much that was cold and menacing, the kindest +words coming from Europe were uttered in accents of pity +that we were too blind to surrender a hopeless cause. Our +commerce was suffering greatly by a few armed vessels built +upon and furnished from foreign shores; and we were threatened +with such additions from the same quarter as would +sweep our trade from the sea and raise our blockade. We +had failed to elicit from European Governments any thing +hopeful upon this subject. The preliminary Emancipation +Proclamation, issued in September, was running its assigned +period to the beginning of the new year. A month later the +final proclamation came, including the announcement that +colored men of suitable condition would be received into the +war service. The policy of emancipation, and of employing +black soldiers, gave to the future a new aspect, about which +hope, and fear, and doubt contended in uncertain conflict. +According to our political system, as a matter of civil administration, +the General Government had no lawful power to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">269</a></span> +effect emancipation in any State; and for a long time it had +been hoped that the rebellion could be suppressed without +resorting to it as a military measure. It was all the while +deemed possible that the necessity for it might come, and +that, if it should, the crisis of the contest would then be presented. +It came, and as was anticipated, it was followed by +dark and doubtful days. Eleven months having now passed, +we are permitted to take another review. The rebel borders +are pressed still further back, and by the complete opening +of the Mississippi the country dominated by the rebellion is +divided into distinct parts, with no practical communication +between them. Tennessee and Arkansas have been substantially +cleared of insurgent control, and influential citizens in +each, owners of slaves and advocates of slavery at the beginning +of the rebellion, now declare openly for emancipation +in their respective States. Of those States not included in +the Emancipation Proclamation, Maryland and Missouri, +neither of which, three years ago, would tolerate any restraint +upon the extension of slavery into new Territories, only dispute +now as to the best mode of removing it within their own +limits.</p> + +<p>“Of those who were slaves at the beginning of the rebellion, +full one hundred thousand are now in the United States military +service, about one-half of which number actually bear +arms in the ranks; thus giving the double advantage of taking +so much labor from the insurgent cause, and supplying the +places which otherwise must be filled with so many white +men. So far as tested, it is difficult to say they are not as +good soldiers as any. No servile insurrection, or tendency +to violence or cruelty, has marked the measures of emancipation +and arming the blacks. These measures have been much +discussed in foreign countries, and contemporary with such +discussion the tone of public sentiment there is much improved. +At home the same measures have been fully discussed, +supported, criticised, and denounced, and the annual<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">270</a></span> +elections following are highly encouraging to those whose +official duty it is to bear the country through this great trial. +Thus we have the new reckoning. The crisis which threatened +to divide the friends of the Union is past.</p> + +<p>“Looking now to the present and future, and with reference +to a resumption of the National authority within the States +wherein that authority has been suspended, I have thought +fit to issue a proclamation, a copy of which is herewith transmitted. +On examination of this proclamation it will appear, +as is believed, that nothing is attempted beyond what is +amply justified by the Constitution. True, the form of an +oath is given, but no man is coerced to take it. The man is +only promised a pardon in case he voluntarily takes the oath. +The Constitution authorizes the Executive to grant or withhold +the pardon at his own absolute discretion; and this +includes the power to grant on terms, as is fully established +by judicial and other authorities.</p> + +<p>“It is also proffered that if, in any of the States named, a +State Government shall be, in the mode prescribed, set up, +such Government shall be recognized and guarantied by the +United States, and that under it the State shall, on the constitutional +conditions, be protected against invasion and domestic +violence. The constitutional obligation of the United +States to guarantee to every State in the Union a republican +form of government, and to protect the State, in the cases +stated, is explicit and full. But why tender the benefits of +this provision only to a State Government set up in this particular +way? This section of the Constitution contemplates +a case wherein the element within a State favorable to republican +government, in the Union, may be too feeble for an +opposite and hostile element external to or even within the +State; and such are precisely the cases with which we are +now dealing.</p> + +<p>“An attempt to guarantee and protect a revived State +Government, constructed in whole, or in preponderating part,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">271</a></span> +from the very element against whose hostility and violence it +is to be protected, is simply absurd. There must be a test +by which to separate the opposing element, so as to build +only from the sound; and that test is a sufficiently liberal +one, which accepts as sound whoever will make a sworn recantation +of his former unsoundness.</p> + +<p>“But if it be proper to require, as a test of admission to the +political body, an oath of allegiance to the Constitution of the +United States, and to the Union under it, why also to the +laws and proclamations in regard to slavery? Those laws +and proclamations were enacted and put forth for the purpose +of aiding in the suppression of the rebellion. To give them +their fullest effect, there had to be a pledge for their maintenance. +In my judgment they have aided, and will further +aid, the cause for which they were intended. To now abandon +them would be not only to relinquish a lever of power, +but would also be a cruel and an astounding breach of faith. +I may add at this point that, while I remain in my present +position, I shall not attempt to retract or modify the Emancipation +Proclamation; nor shall I return to slavery any +person who is free by the terms of that proclamation, or by +any of the acts of Congress. For these and other reasons, it +is thought best that support of these measures shall be +included in the oath; and it is believed the Executive may +lawfully claim it in return for pardon and restoration of forfeited +rights, which he has clear constitutional power to +withhold altogether, or grant upon the terms which he shall +deem wisest for the public interest. It should be observed, +also, that this part of the oath is subject to the modifying +and abrogating power of legislation and supreme judicial +decision.</p> + +<p>“The proposed acquiescence of the National Executive in +any reasonable temporary State arrangement for the freed +people, is made with the view of possibly modifying the confusion +and destitution which must, at best, attend all classes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">272</a></span> +by a total revolution of labor throughout whole States. It +is hoped that the already deeply afflicted people in those +States may be somewhat more ready to give up the cause of +their affliction, if, to this extent, this vital matter be left to +themselves; while no power of the National Executive to +prevent an abuse, is abridged by the proposition.</p> + +<p>“The suggestion in the proclamation as to maintaining the +political framework of the States on what is called reconstruction, +is made in the hope that it may do good without +danger of harm. It will save labor, and avoid great confusion.</p> + +<p>“But why any proclamation now upon this subject? This +question is beset with the conflicting views that the step +might be delayed too long or be taken too soon. In some +States the elements for resumption seem ready for action, but +remain inactive, apparently for want of a rallying point​—​a +plan of action. Why shall A adopt the plan of B, rather +than B that of A? And if A and B should agree, how can +they know but that the General Government here will reject +their plan? By the proclamation a plan is presented which +may be accepted by them as a rallying point, and which +they are assured in advance will not be rejected here. This +may bring them to act sooner than they otherwise would.</p> + +<p>“The objection to a premature presentation of a plan by +the National Executive consists in the danger of committals +on points which could be more safely left to further developments. +Care has been taken to so shape the document as +to avoid embarrassment from this source. Saying that, on +certain terms, certain classes will be pardoned, with rights +restored, it is not said that other classes or other terms will +never be included. Saying that reconstruction will be +accepted, if presented in a specific way, it is not said it will +never be accepted in any other way.</p> + +<p>“The movements, by State action, for emancipation in +several of the States, not included in the Emancipation Proclamation,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">273</a></span> +are matters of profound congratulation. And +while I do not repeat in detail what I have heretofore so +earnestly urged upon this subject, my general views and feelings +remain unchanged; and I trust that Congress will omit +no fair opportunity of aiding these important steps to a great +consummation.</p> + +<p>“In the midst of other cares, however important, we must +not lose sight of the fact that the war power is still our main +reliance. To that power alone can we look, yet for a time, +to give confidence to the people in the contested regions that +the insurgent power will not again overrun them. Until that +confidence shall be established, little can be done anywhere +for what is called reconstruction. Hence our chiefest care +must still be directed to the Army and Navy, who have thus +far borne their harder part so nobly and well. And it may +be esteemed fortunate that in giving the greatest efficiency to +these indispensable arms, we do also honorably recognize the +gallant men, from commander to sentinel, who compose them, +and, to whom, more than to others, the world must stand indebted +for the home of freedom disenthralled, regenerated, enlarged, +and perpetuated.</p> + +<p>Dec. 8, 1863. <span class="right">“Abraham Lincoln.”</span><br /> +</p></blockquote> + +<p>On the twenty-sixth of March, 1864, the following proclamation, +explanatory of the one issued on the eighth of +December, 1863, was published:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Whereas</span>, It has become necessary to define the cases in +which insurgent enemies are entitled to the benefits of the +Proclamation of the President of the United States, which +was made on the 8th day of December, 1863, and the manner +in which they shall proceed to avail themselves of these +benefits;</p> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">And whereas</span>, The objects of that proclamation were to +suppress the insurrection and to restore the authority of the +United States;</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">274</a></span></p> +<p>“<span class="smcap">And whereas</span>, The amnesty therein proposed by the +President was offered with reference to these objects alone;</p> + +<p>“Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the +United States, do hereby proclaim and declare that the said +proclamation does not apply to the cases of persons who, at +the time when they seek to obtain the benefits thereof, by +taking the oath thereby prescribed, are in military, naval or +civil confinement or custody, or under bonds or on parole of +the civil, military or naval authorities or agents of the United +States, as prisoners of war, or persons detained for offences +of any kind, either before or after conviction; and that on the +contrary, it does apply only to those persons who, being at +large and free from any arrest, confinement or duress, shall +voluntarily come forward and take the said oath, with the +purpose of restoring peace and establishing the national authority.</p> + +<p>“Prisoners excluded from the amnesty offered in the said +proclamation may apply to the President for clemency, like +all other offenders, and their application will receive due consideration.</p> + +<p>“I do further declare and proclaim that the oath prescribed +in the aforesaid proclamation of the 8th of December, 1863, +may be taken and subscribed to before any commanding +officer, civil, military or naval, in the service of the United +States, or any civil or military officer of a State or Territory +not in insurrection, who, by the laws thereof, may be qualified +for administering oaths.</p> + +<p>“All officers who receive such oaths are hereby authorized +to give certificates thereon to the persons respectively by +whom they are made, and such officers are hereby required to +transmit the original records of such oaths at as early a day +as may be convenient to the Department of State, where they +will be deposited and remain in the archives of the Government.</p> + +<p>“The Secretary of State will keep a register thereof, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">275</a></span> +will, on application, in proper cases, issue certificates of such +records in the customary form of official certificates.</p> + +<p>“In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and +caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.</p> + +<p>“Done at the city of Washington, this twenty-sixth day of +March, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred +and sixty-four, and of the Independence of the United States +the eighty-eighth.</p> + +<p class="b0"> +“By the President: <span class="right"><span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln</span>.</span></p> + +<p class="p0">“<span class="smcap">W. H. Seward</span>, Secretary of State.”<br /> +</p></blockquote> + +<hr /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII">CHAPTER XVIII.</a><br /> + +<span class="subhead">PROGRESS.</span></h2> + +<blockquote> + +<p class="hang">President’s Speech at Washington​—​Speech to a New York Committee​—​Speech In Baltimore​—​Letter +to a Kentuckian​—​Employment of Colored Troops​—​Davis’s Threat​—​General +Order​—​President’s Order on the Subject.</p></blockquote> + +<p>On the night of the eighteenth of March, 1864, in response +to a call from the multitude at a fair held in the Patent +Office at Washington, in aid of an organization for the relief +of Union soldiers everywhere, Mr. Lincoln spoke as follows:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Ladies and Gentlemen</span>:​—​I appear, to say but a word. +This extraordinary war in which we are engaged falls heavily +upon all classes of people, but the most heavily upon the +soldier. For it has been said, ‘All that a man hath will he +give for his life;’ and, while all contribute of their substance, +the soldier puts his life at stake, and often yields it up in his +country’s cause. The highest merit, then, is due to the +soldier.</p> + +<p>“In this extraordinary war, extraordinary developments +have manifested themselves, such as have not been seen in +former wars; and among these manifestations nothing has<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">276</a></span> +been more remarkable than these fairs for the relief of suffering +soldiers and their families. And the chief agents in these +fairs are the women of America. I am not accustomed to +the use of the language of eulogy; I have never studied the +art of paying compliments to women; but I must say, that, +if all that has been said by orators and poets, since the creation +of the world, in praise of women, were applied to the +women of America, it would not do them justice for their +conduct during this war. I will close by saying, God bless +the women of America!”</p></blockquote> + +<p>Three days later, a committee appointed by the Workingmen’s +Democratic Republican Association of New York +waited on the President, and presented him with an address +informing him that he had been elected a member of that +organization. After the chairman had stated the object of +the visit, Mr. Lincoln made the following reply:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Gentlemen of the Committee</span>:​—​The honorary membership +in your Association so generously tendered is gratefully +accepted. You comprehend, as your address shows, that the +existing rebellion means more and tends to more than the +perpetuation of African slavery​—​that it is, in fact, a war +upon the rights of all working people. Partly to show that +the view has not escaped my attention, and partly that I cannot +better express myself, I read a passage from the message +to Congress in December, 1861:</p> + +<p>“‘It continues to develop that the insurrection is largely, +if not exclusively, a war upon the first principle of popular +government​—​the rights of the people. Conclusive evidence +of this is found in the most grave and maturely considered +public documents, as well as in the general tone of the insurgents. +In those documents we find the abridgement of +the existing right of suffrage, and the denial to the people of +all right to participate in the selection of public officers, except +the legislative body, boldly advocated with labored<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">277</a></span> +arguments, to prove that large control of the people in government +is the source of all political evil. Monarchy is +sometimes hinted at as a possible refuge from the power of +the people. In my present position, I could scarcely be justified +were I to omit raising my voice against this approach +of returning despotism.</p> + +<p>“‘It is not needed or fitting here that a general argument +should be made in favor of popular institutions; but there is +one point, with its connections, not so hackneyed as most +others, to which I ask a brief attention. It is the effort to +place <i>capital</i> on an equal footing with, if not above, <i>labor</i> in +the structure of the Government. It is assumed that labor is +available only in connection with capital; that nobody labors +unless somebody else owning capital somehow, by use of it, +induces him to labor.</p> + +<p>“‘This assumed, it is next considered whether it is best +that capital shall <i>hire</i> laborers, and thus induce them to work +by their own consent, or <i>buy them</i> and drive them to it without +their consent. Having proceeded so far, it is naturally +concluded that all laborers are either hired laborers or what +we call slaves. And, further, it is assumed that whoever is +once a hired laborer is fixed in that condition for life. Now +there is no such relation between capital and labor as assumed, +nor is there any such thing as a free man being fixed +for life in the condition of a hired laborer. Both of these +assumptions are false, and all inferences from them are +groundless.</p> + +<p>“‘Labor is prior to and independent of capital. Capital is +only the fruit of labor, and never could have existed if labor +had not first existed. Labor is the support of capital, and +deserves much the higher consideration. Capital has its +rights, which are as worthy of protection as any other rights. +Nor is it denied that there is, and probably always will be, a +relation between labor and capital producing mutual benefits. +The error is in assuming that the whole labor of a community<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">278</a></span> +exists within that relation. A few men own capital, and that +few avoid labor themselves, and with that capital hire or buy +another few to labor for them.</p> + +<p>“‘A large majority belong to neither class​—​neither work +for others nor have others working for them. In most of the +Southern States a majority of the whole people, of all colors, +are neither slaves nor masters, while, in the Northern States, +a large majority are neither hirers nor hired. Men with their +families​—​wives, sons, and daughters​—​work for themselves +on their farms, in their houses, and in their shops, taking the +whole product to themselves, and asking no favors of capital +on the one hand nor of hired laborers or slaves on the other. +It is not forgotten that a considerable number of persons +mingle their own labor with capital​—​that is, they labor with +their own hands and also buy or hire others to labor for them; +but this is only a mixed and not a distinct class. No principle +stated is disturbed by the existence of this mixed class.</p> + +<p>“‘Again. As has already been said, there is not of necessity +any such thing as the free hired laborer being fixed to +that condition for life. Many independent men everywhere +in these States, a few years back in their lives, were hired +laborers. The prudent, penniless beginner in the world +labors for wages awhile, saves a surplus with which to buy +tools or lands for himself, then labors on his own account another +while, and at length hires another new beginner to help +him. This is the just, and generous, and prosperous system +which opens the way to all​—​gives hope to all, and consequent +energy, and progress, and improvement to all. No +men living are more worthy to be trusted than those who toil +up from poverty​—​none less inclined to take or touch +aught which they have not honestly earned. Let them beware +of surrendering a political power which they already +possess, and which, if surrendered, will surely be used to +close the door of advancement against such as they, and to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">279</a></span> +fix new disabilities and burdens upon them till all of liberty +shall be lost.’</p> + +<p>“The views then expressed remain unchanged​—​nor have I +much to add. None are so deeply interested to resist the +present rebellion as the working people. Let them beware +of prejudices working disunion and hostility among themselves. +The most notable feature of a disturbance in your +city last summer, was the hanging of some working people +by other working people. It should never be so. The +strongest bond of human sympathy, outside of the family relation, +should be one uniting all working people, of all +nations, tongues, and kindreds. Nor should this lead to +a war upon property or the owners of property. Property +is the fruit of labor; property is desirable; is a positive good +in the world. That some should be rich, shows that others +may become rich, and hence is just encouragement to industry +and enterprise. Let not him who is houseless pull down the +house of another, but let him labor diligently and build one +for himself; thus, by example, assuring that his own shall be +safe from violence when built.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>And in Baltimore​—​that Baltimore through which, in +February, 1861, he had been compelled to pass by stealth, to +avoid the assassin, on his way to his inauguration​—​on the +18th of April, 1864, the anniversary eve of that murder +of loyal citizens armed in defence of their imperilled country​—​Mr. +Lincoln spoke at a similar Fair, and spoke, too, of +slavery, as of an institution practically annihilated in Maryland.</p> + +<p>Truly some advance had been made during those three +years, so pregnant with events!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Ladies and Gentlemen</span>:​—​Calling it to mind that we are +in Baltimore, we cannot fail to note that the world moves. +Looking upon the many people I see assembled here to serve +as they best may the soldiers of the Union, it occurs to me<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">280</a></span> +that three years ago those soldiers could not pass through +Baltimore. I would say, blessings upon the men who have +wrought these changes, and the ladies who have assisted +them. This change which has taken place in Baltimore, is +part only of a far wider change that is taking place all over +the country.</p> + +<p>“When the war commenced, three years ago, no one +expected that it would last this long, and no one supposed +that the institution of slavery would be materially affected by +it. But here we are. The war is not yet ended, and +slavery has been very materially affected or interfered with. +So true is it that man proposes and God disposes.</p> + +<p>“The world is in want of a good definition of the word +liberty. We all declare ourselves to be for liberty, but we do +not all mean the same thing. Some mean that a man can do +as he pleases with himself and his property. With others, +it means that some men can do as they please with other +men and other men’s labor. Each of these things are called +liberty, although they are entirely different. To give an +illustration: A shepherd drives the wolf from the throat of +his sheep when attacked by him, and the sheep, of course, +thanks the shepherd for the preservation of his life; but the +wolf denounces him as despoiling the sheep of his liberty​—​especially +if it be a black sheep.</p> + +<p>“This same difference of opinion prevails among some of +the people of the North. But the people of Maryland have +recently been doing something to properly define the meaning +of the word, and I thank them from the bottom of my heart +for what they have done and are doing.</p> + +<p>“It is not very becoming for a President to make a speech +at great length, but there is a painful rumor afloat in the +country, in reference to which a few words shall be said. It +is reported that there has been a wanton massacre of some +hundreds of colored soldiers at Fort Pillow, Tennessee, +during a recent engagement there, and it is fit to explain<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">281</a></span> +some facts in relation to the affair. It is said by some +persons that the Government is not, in this matter, doing its +duty. At the commencement of the war, it was doubtful +whether black men would be used as soldiers or not. The +matter was examined into very carefully, and after mature +deliberation, the whole matter resting as it were with himself, +he, in his judgment, decided that they should.</p> + +<p>“He was responsible for the act to the American people, +to a Christian nation, to the future historian, and above all, +to his God, to whom he would have, one day, to render +an account of his stewardship. He would now say that +in his opinion the black soldier should have the same protection +as the white soldier, and he would have it. It was an +error to say that the Government was not acting in the +matter. The Government has no direct evidence to confirm +the reports in existence relative to this massacre, but he himself +believed the facts in relation to it to be as stated. When +the Government does know the facts from official sources, and +they prove to substantiate the reports, retribution will be +surely given.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>Mr. Lincoln’s policy upon the question of slavery, is +tersely presented in the following letter written by him to a +Kentuckian, dated Executive Mansion, Washington, April 4, +1864.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p class="in0"> +“<span class="smcap">A. G. Hodges, Esq.</span>, Frankfort, Ky.:<br /> +</p> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">My Dear Sir</span>:​—​You ask me to put in writing the +substance of what I verbally said the other day in your presence, +to Governor Bramlette and Senator Dixon. It was +about as follows:</p> + +<p>“I am naturally anti-slavery. If slavery is not wrong, +nothing is wrong. I can not remember when I did not so +think and feel. And yet, I have never understood that the +Presidency conferred upon me an unrestricted right to act +officially upon this judgment and feeling. It was in the oath +I took, that I would, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">282</a></span> +and defend the Constitution of the United States. I +could not take the office without taking the oath. Nor was +it my view, that I might take an oath to get power, and +break the oath in using the power. I understood, too, that in +ordinary civil administration, this oath even forbade me to +practically indulge my primary, abstract judgment, on the +moral question of slavery. I had publicly declared this many +times, and in many ways. And I aver that, to this day, I +have done no official act in mere deference to my abstract +judgment and feeling on slavery.</p> + +<p>“I did understand, however, that my oath to preserve the +Constitution to the best of my ability, imposed upon me the +duty of preserving, by every indispensable means, the Government​—​that +Nation​—​of which that Constitution was the +organic law. Was it possible to lose the Nation, and yet +preserve the Constitution?</p> + +<p>“By general law, life and limb must be protected: yet often +a limb must be amputated to save a life; but a life is never +wisely given to save a limb. I feel that measures, otherwise +unconstitutional, might become lawful, by becoming indispensable +to the preservation of the Constitution, through the +preservation of the Nation. Right or wrong, I assumed this +ground and now avow it. I could not feel that to the best +of my ability I had even tried to preserve the Constitution, if +to save slavery or any minor matter, I should permit the +wreck of Government, Country and Constitution, all together. +When early in the war, Gen. Fremont attempted military +emancipation, I forbade it, because I did not then think it an +indispensable necessity. When a little later, Gen. Cameron, +then Secretary of War, suggested the arming of the blacks, I +objected, because I did not yet think it an indispensable +necessity. When, still later, Gen. Hunter attempted military +emancipation, I again forbade it, because I did not yet think +the indispensable necessity had come.</p> + +<p>“When, in March, and May, and July, 1862, I made<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">283</a></span> +earnest and successive appeals to the Border States to favor +compensated emancipation, I believed the indispensable +necessity for military emancipation and arming the blacks +would come, unless averted by that measure. They declined +the proposition, and I was, in my best judgment, driven to +the alternative of either surrendering the Union, and with it +the Constitution, or of laying strong hand upon the colored +element. I chose the latter. In choosing it, I hoped for +greater gain than loss; but of this I was not entirely confident. +More than a year of trial now shows no loss by it, in +our foreign relations; none in our home popular sentiment; +none in our white military force​—​no loss by it anyhow or +anywhere. On the contrary, it shows a gain of quite a +hundred and thirty thousand soldiers, seamen, and laborers. +These are palpable facts, about which, as facts, there can be +no caviling. We have the men, and we could not have had +them without the measure.</p> + +<p>“And now, let any Union man who complains of the +measure, test himself, by writing down in one line that he is +for subduing the rebellion by force of arms, and in the next +that he is for taking these one hundred and thirty thousand +men from the Union side, and placing them where they +would be, but for the measure he condemns. If he can not +face his cause so stated, it is only because he can not face the +truth.</p> + +<p>“I add a word, which was not in the verbal conversation. +In telling this tale, I attempt no compliment to my own +sagacity. I claim not to have controlled events, but confess +plainly that events have controlled me. Now, at the end of +three years’ struggle, the Nation’s condition is not what either +party or any man devised or expected. God alone can claim +it. Whither it is tending, seems plain. If God now wills +the removal of a great wrong, and wills also that we of the +North, as well as you of the South, shall pay fairly for +our complicity in that wrong, impartial history will find<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">284</a></span> +therein new cause to attest and revere the justice and goodness +of God.</p> + +<p class="sigright"> +<span class="l2">“Yours truly,</span><br /> +“<span class="smcap">A. Lincoln</span>.”<br /> +</p></blockquote> + +<p>The results of the employment of negro soldiers​—​a measure +which, at the time it was first announced, caused no little +commotion among the over-sensitive in the loyal States, and +was looked upon with disfavor by many white soldiers, as well​—​as +shown in the above letter, precluded further arguments +upon the question.</p> + +<p>The Davis combination at Richmond, having announced +that none of the immunities recognized under the laws of war +would be granted to colored soldiers or their officers, General +Orders No. 100, under date of April 24, 1863, “previously +approved by the President,” promulgating general instructions +for the government of our armies, was issued, containing +the following:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“The law of nations knows of no distinction of color; and +if an enemy of the United States should enslave and sell any +captured persons of their army, it would be a case for the +severest retaliation, if not redressed upon complaint. The +United States cannot retaliate by enslavement; therefore, +death must be the retaliation for this crime against the law +of nations.</p> + +<p>“All troops of the enemy known or discovered to give no +quarter in general, or to any portion of the army, will receive +none.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>The following order of the President, issued by him as +Commander-in-chief, and communicated to the entire army +deals with this subject alone:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p class="sigright"> +“<i>Executive Mansion</i>, Washington, July 30, 1863.<br /> +</p> + +<p>“It is the duty of every Government to give protection to +its citizens of whatever class, color or condition, and especially +to those who are duly organized as soldiers in the +public service. The law of nations, and the usages and customs<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">285</a></span> +of war, as carried on by civilized powers, prohibit no +distinction as to color in the treatment of prisoners of war as +public enemies. To sell or enslave any captured person, on +account of his color, and for no offence against the laws of +war, is a relapse into barbarism, and a crime against the civilization +of the age.</p> + +<p>“The Government of the United States will give the same +protection to all its soldiers; and if the enemy shall sell or +enslave any one because of his color, the offence shall be punished +by retaliation upon the enemy’s prisoners in our possession.</p> + +<p>“It is therefore ordered, that for every soldier of the United +States killed in violation of the laws of war, a rebel soldier +shall be executed; and for every one enslaved by the enemy +or sold into slavery, a rebel soldier shall be placed at hard +labor on the public works, and continued at such labor until +the one shall be released and receive the treatment due to a +prisoner of war.</p> + +<p class="sigright"> +“<span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln.</span>”<br /> +</p></blockquote> + +<hr /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIX" id="CHAPTER_XIX">CHAPTER XIX.</a><br /> + +<span class="subhead">RENOMINATED.</span></h2> + +<blockquote> + +<p class="hang">Lieut. Gen. Grant​—​His Military Record​—​Continued Movements​—​Correspondence with the +President​—​Across the Rapidan​—​Richmond Invested​—​President’s Letter to a Grant +Meeting​—​Meeting of Republican National Convention​—​The Platform​—​The Nomination​—​Mr. +Lincoln’s Reply to the Committee of Notification​—​Remarks to Union League +Committee​—​Speech at a Serenade​—​Speech to Ohio Troops.</p></blockquote> + +<p>In 1864, those grand military combinations were planned +and had their commencement which were to give the quietus +to that gigantic rebellion, which, as we had been gravely and +repeatedly assured by patronizing foreigners and ill-wishers +of the Republic here at home, could never be subdued​—​to +which, they being judges, the United States would eventually +be forced to succumb.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">286</a></span> +On the 2nd of March, the President approved a bill, passed +by Congress on the 26th of February, reviving the grade of +Lieutenant-General in the Army, to which position he at +once nominated, and the Senate unanimously confirmed, +Ulysses S. Grant, then Major-General.</p> + +<p>Like the President, Gen. Grant sprang from “plain +people;” arose from humble circumstances, and had none of +those advantages of birth, or family connections, or large +estate, which have so often furnished such material leverage for +men who have attained distinction. Entering the army as +Colonel of an Illinois regiment, on the point of being disbanded, +which within a month he had made noticeable for its discipline +and character, even when compared with those noteworthy +regiments which Illinois has furnished; promoted to the grade +of Brigadier-General; preventing, by the battle of Belmont​—​criticised +at the time, but, like many other engagements, +little understood​—​the reinforcement of the rebels in Southern +Missouri by troops from Columbus; seizing, with a strong +force, which he had quietly gathered near Smithland, almost +at one fell swoop, Forts Henry and Donelson​—​a rebel army, +with artillery, and material, being captured in each; starting +the till then defiant rebels on a run from Kentucky and Tennessee, +which did not end until they reached Corinth; next +fighting the battle of Shiloh, a critical point of the war, with +Sherman as Chief Lieutenant​—​Shiloh, of which he said, at the +close of the first day’s fight, when every thing seemed against +us, “Tough work to-day, but we’ll beat them to-morrow;” +superseded by Buell, patiently sitting at the long, unprofitable +siege of Corinth, until he was transferred to Vicksburg, which +in due time greeted him with the surrender of another rebel +army, reopening the Father of Waters to navigation; then +Chattanooga, which he ordered Thomas to hold fast, and not +to give up, if he starved​—​and it was not given up, and East +Tennessee was freed from rebels; these had been the prominent +points of Grant’s military career during the rebellion up<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">287</a></span> +to the time when he was summoned to the command of all +the armies then engaged in its suppression.</p> + +<p>On the 9th of March, being upon official business at Washington, +the General was invited to the White House, and addressed +as follows by the President, who handed him his +commission:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">General Grant</span>:​—​The expression of the nation’s approbation +of what you have already done, and its reliance on you +for what remains to do in the existing great struggle, is now +presented with this commission, constituting you Lieutenant-General +of the Army of the United States.</p> + +<p>“With this high honor devolves on you an additional +responsibility. As the country herein trusts you, so, under +God, it will sustain you. I scarcely need add, that with +what I here speak for the country, goes my own hearty personal +concurrence.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>Sherman having been left in command in the south-west, +with instructions to capture Atlanta, the vital point in +Georgia, commenced that grand series of flanking movements, +which, for a time, seemed to occasion intense satisfaction to +the rebels, whose commander, Johnston, upon all occasions +had Sherman exactly where he wished him; while Grant​—​taciturn, +cool, and collected, with no set speeches, no flourish +of reviews​—​proceeded with the difficult task which he had +taken in hand​—​the annihilation or capture of Lee’s army, the +mainstay of the rebels’ military resources, and the occupation +of Richmond.</p> + +<p>On the 30th of April, the President addressed the following +letter to the new Commander:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Lieutenant-General Grant</span>:​—​Not expecting to see you +before the spring campaign opens, I wish to express in this +way my entire satisfaction with what you have done up to +this time, so far as I understand it. The particulars of your +plan I neither know, nor seek to know. You are vigilant<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">288</a></span> +and self-reliant; and pleased with this, I wish not to obtrude +any restraints or constraints upon you. While I am very +anxious that any great disaster or capture of our men in +great numbers shall be avoided, I know that these points are +less likely to escape your attention than they would be mine.</p> + +<p>“If there be any thing wanting which is in my power to +give, do not fail to let me know it. And now, with a brave +army and a just cause, may God sustain you!</p> + +<p> +“Yours, very truly, <span class="right"><span class="smcap">A. Lincoln</span>.”</span><br /> +</p></blockquote> + +<p>To which the General, from Culpepper Court House, Va., +on the 1st of May, thus replied:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">To The President</span>:​—​Your very kind letter is just received. +The confidence you express for the future and satisfaction +for the past, in my military administration, is acknowledged +with pride. It shall be my earnest endeavor that you +and the country shall not be disappointed.</p> + +<p>“From my first entrance into the volunteer service of the +country to the present day, I have never had cause of complaint, +have never expressed or implied a complaint against +the Administration, or the Secretary of War, for throwing +any embarrassment in the way of my vigorously prosecuting +what appeared to be my duty.</p> + +<p>“Indeed, since the promotion which placed me in command +of all the armies, and in view of the great responsibility and +importance of success, I have been astonished at the readiness +with which every thing asked for has been yielded, without +even an explanation being asked. Should my success be less +than I desire and expect, the least I can say is, the fault is +not with you.</p> + +<p class="b0">“Very truly, your obedient servant,</p> + +<p class="p0 sigright"> +“<span class="smcap">U. S. Grant</span>, Lieutenant-General.”<br /> +</p></blockquote> + +<p>Beginning at the right end​—​profiting by the experience of +others​—​wasting no time nor strength in mere display​—​<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">289</a></span>promptly +breaking up, as an essential preliminary, the cliques +and cabals which had so long hindered the usefulness of the +Army of the Potomac​—​when the Lieutenant-General was at +last ready, he moved across the Rapidan, was attacked impetuously +by Lee with his whole army before he had fairly +posted his own​—​“Any other man,” said Mr. Lincoln, “would +have been on this side of the Rapidan after the first three +days’ fighting”​—​still fought​—​moved by the left flank​—​fought +on​—​prepared, after six days very heavy work, as he telegraphed +the President, “to fight it out on that line, if it +took all summer”​—​outgeneralled Lee at Spottsylvania Court +House​—​secured his position​—​and held it till the contemplated +movements in other quarters should place the prize he aimed +at within his grasp.</p> + +<p>Holding his ground, undeterred by an attempted diversion, +in July, in the shape of a rebel raid toward Washington and +an invasion of Maryland​—​a favorite summer pastime, in +those days, for the Confederates​—​he bided his time, his teeth +fixed, and the utmost efforts of his wily opponent could not +induce him to relax that grim hold. Richmond papers +sneered and scolded and abused​—​proved that he ought to +have acted entirely otherwise​—​asseverated that he was no +strategist, but simply a lucky blunderer, a butcher on a vast +scale; and rebel sympathizers in the North served up, in +talk and print, approved re-hashes of the same staple, and +were in the highest dudgeon that General McClellan was not +recalled instanter to save the Capital at least, if not to take +Richmond. But Grant still held on​—​the teeth still set​—​and +could not be moved.</p> + +<p>While this campaign was progressing, the President addressed +the following letter to the Committee of Arrangements +of a mass meeting in New York, which had been called as a +testimonial of confidence in General Grant, and of satisfaction +that his efforts had been crowned with so large a measure +of success:</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">290</a></span></p> + +<blockquote> + +<p class="sigright"> +“<i>Executive Mansion</i>, Washington, June 3d, 1864.<br /> +</p> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Gentlemen</span>:​—​Your letter inviting me to be present at a +mass meeting of the loyal citizens to be held at New York +on the 4th instant, for the purpose of expressing gratitude +to Lieutenant-General Grant for his signal services, was +received yesterday. It is impossible for me to attend. I +approve, nevertheless, whatever may tend to strengthen and +sustain General Grant and the noble armies now under his +direction. My previous high estimate of General Grant has +been maintained and heightened by what has occurred in the +remarkable campaign he is now conducting; while the magnitude +and difficulty of the task before him do not prove less +than I expected. He and his brave soldiers are now in the +midst of their great trial, and I trust that at your meeting +you will so shape your good words that they may turn to +men and guns moving to his and their support.</p> + +<p> +“Yours truly, <span class="right"><span class="smcap">A. Lincoln</span>.”</span><br /> +</p></blockquote> + +<p>On the 7th of June, the Republican National Convention +met at Baltimore for the purpose of nominating candidates for +the Presidency and Vice-Presidency.</p> + +<p>For some time prior to the assembling of this body, the +popular voice had pronounced decidedly in favor of the renomination +of Mr. Lincoln. State Legislatures, mass meetings, +State Conventions, the large majority of the loyal press +demanded that the man, to whose election, constitutionally +effected, the rebels had refused to submit and who, during +three years of the most arduous labors, had evinced his +patriotism, his ability, and his integrity, should have the satisfaction +of seeing the work commenced by himself as President +brought to a successful completion while an incumbent of the +same high office.</p> + +<p>A few, however, in the ranks of the loyal and patriotic, +were not satisfied that the good work, whose consummation +they so ardently and perhaps, impatiently, desired, had been<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">291</a></span> +pushed forward as vigorously and earnestly as it might have +been under other auspices. A portion of these favored the +postponement of the Convention till a later day, after the +fourth of July ensuing, in the expectation that the country +would be in a better condition to judge whether, indeed, +Mr. Lincoln was the best man for the place. Another +portion had already assembled at Chicago and put in nomination, +upon a platform devoted mainly to criticisms of Mr. +Lincoln’s Administration without any practical or pertinent +suggestion as to the points wherein improvement was to be +made, General Fremont for the Presidency and General +Cochrane as Vice-President. The former had therefore resigned +his commission in the army, not having been in active +service for some time, and accepted the nomination conditionally +that the Baltimore Convention nominated no +other candidate than Mr. Lincoln.</p> + +<p>This opposition, however, was more apparent than real. +The general feeling throughout the country was to support +that man heartily who should secure the nomination of the +Republican Convention, waiving all minor questions for the +sake of the common weal.</p> + +<p>On the second day, the convention adopted by acclamation +the following platform:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<i>Resolved</i>, That it is the highest duty of every American +citizen to maintain against all their enemies the integrity of +the Union and the paramount authority of the Constitution +and laws of the United States; and that, laying aside all +differences of political opinion, we pledge ourselves as Union +men, animated by a common sentiment, and aiming at a +common object, to do every thing in our power to aid the +Government in quelling by force of arms the rebellion now +raging against its authority, and in bringing to the punishment +due to their crimes, the rebels and traitors arrayed +against it.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">292</a></span> +“<i>Resolved</i>, That we approve the determination of the Government +of the United States not to compromise with rebels, +nor to offer any terms of peace except such as may be based +upon an ‘unconditional surrender’ of their hostility and a +return to their just allegiance to the Constitution and laws of +the United States, and that we call upon the Government to +maintain this position and to prosecute the war with the +utmost possible vigor to the complete suppression of the +rebellion, in full reliance upon the self-sacrifice, the patriotism, +the heroic valor, and the undying devotion of the American +people to their country and its free institutions.</p> + +<p>“<i>Resolved</i>, That, as Slavery was the cause, and now constitutes +the strength, of this rebellion, and as it must be +always and everywhere hostile to the principles of republican +government, justice and the national safety demand its utter +and complete extirpation from the soil of the Republic; and +that we uphold and maintain the acts and proclamations by +which the Government, in its own defence, has aimed a +death-blow at this gigantic evil. We are in favor, furthermore, +of such an amendment to the Constitution, to be made +by the people in conformity with its provisions, as shall +terminate and forever prohibit the existence of Slavery within +the limits of the jurisdiction of the United States.</p> + +<p>“<i>Resolved</i>, That the thanks of the American people are due +to the soldiers and sailors of the army and of the navy, who +have perilled their lives in defence of their country, and in +vindication of the honor of the flag; that the Nation owes to +them some permanent recognition of their patriotism and their +valor, and ample and permanent provision for those of their +survivors who have received disabling and honorable wounds +in the service of the country; and that the memories of those +who have fallen in its defence shall be held in grateful and +everlasting remembrance.</p> + +<p>“<i>Resolved</i>, That we approve and applaud the practical +wisdom, the unselfish patriotism, and unswerving fidelity to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">293</a></span> +the Constitution and the principles of American liberty, with +which Abraham Lincoln has discharged, under circumstances +of unparalleled difficulty, the great duties and responsibilities +of the presidential office; that we approve and indorse, as +demanded by the emergency, and essential to the preservation +of the Nation, and as within the Constitution, the measures +and acts which he has adopted to defend the Nation against +its open and secret foes; that we approve especially the +Proclamation of Emancipation, and the employment as Union +soldiers of men heretofore held in Slavery; and that we have +full confidence in his determination to carry these and all +other constitutional measures essential to the salvation of the +country into full and complete effect.</p> + +<p>“<i>Resolved</i>, That we deem it essential to the general welfare +that harmony should prevail in the National councils, and we +regard as worthy of public confidence and official trust those +only who cordially indorse the principles contained in those +resolutions, and which should characterize the administration +of the Government.</p> + +<p>“<i>Resolved</i>, That the Government owes to all men employed +in its armies, without regard to distinction of color, the full +protection of the laws of war; and that any violation of these +laws or of the usages of civilized nations in the time of war by +the Rebels now in arms, should be made the subject of full +and prompt redress.</p> + +<p>“<i>Resolved</i>, That the foreign immigration, which in the past +has added so much to the wealth and development of resources +and increase of power to this Nation, the asylum of +the oppressed of all nations, should be fostered and encouraged +by a liberal and just policy.</p> + +<p>“<i>Resolved</i>, That we are in favor of the speedy construction +of the railroad to the Pacific.</p> + +<p>“<i>Resolved</i>, That the national faith pledged for the redemption +of the public debt must be kept inviolate, and that for +this purpose we recommend economy and rigid responsibility<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">294</a></span> +in the public expenditures, and a vigorous and just system +of taxation; that it is the duty of every loyal State to sustain +the credit and promote the use of the national currency.</p> + +<p>“<i>Resolved</i>, That we approve the position taken by the +Government that the people of the United States can never +regard with indifference the attempt of any European power +to overthrow by force, or to supplant by fraud the institutions +of any republican government on the Western Continent; +and that they will view with extreme jealousy, as +menacing to the peace and independence of this our country +the efforts of any such power to obtain new footholds for +monarchical governments, sustained by a foreign military +force in near proximity to the United States.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>Upon the first ballot for a candidate for President, <span class="smcap">Abraham +Lincoln</span> received the vote of every State, except Missouri, +whose delegates voted for Gen. Grant. The nomination +having, on motion of a Missourian, been made unanimous, +a scene of the wildest enthusiasm followed, the whole convention +being on their feet shouting, and the band playing “Hail +Columbia.”</p> + +<p>For Vice-President, the following names were presented: +Andrew Johnson, of Tennessee; Hannibal Hamlin, of Maine; +Gen. L. H. Rousseau, of Kentucky; and Daniel S. Dickinson, +of New York.</p> + +<p>As the vote proceeded, it was soon apparent that <span class="smcap">Andrew +Johnson</span> was to be the nominee; and before the result was +announced the various States whose delegations had been +divided, commenced changing their votes, and went unanimously +for Mr. Johnson, amid the greatest enthusiasm.</p> + +<p>On the 9th of June, Mr. Lincoln was waited on by a committee +of the convention, and notified of his nomination by +the chairman, ex-Governor Dennison, of Ohio, who, in the +course of his address, said:</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">295</a></span></p><blockquote> + +<p>“I need not say to you, sir, that the Convention, in thus +unanimously nominating you for re-election, but gave utterance +to the almost universal voice of the loyal people of the +country. To doubt of your triumphant election would be +little short of abandoning the hope of a final suppression of +the rebellion and the restoration of the Government over the +insurgent States. Neither the Convention nor those represented +by that body entertained any doubt as to the final result, +under your administration, sustained by the loyal people, +and by our noble army and gallant navy. Neither did the +Convention, nor do this Committee doubt the speedy suppression +of this most wicked and unprovoked rebellion.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>In reply the President said:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Committee</span>:​—​I +will neither conceal my gratification nor restrain the expression +of my gratitude that the Union people, through their +Convention, in the continued effort to save and advance the +nation, have deemed me not unworthy to remain in my +present position. I know no reason to doubt that I shall +accept the nomination tendered; and yet, perhaps, I should +not declare definitely before reading and considering what is +called the platform.</p> + +<p>“I will say now, however, that I approve the declaration +in favor of so amending the Constitution as to prohibit slavery +throughout the nation. When the people in revolt, with the +hundred days explicit notice that they could within those +days resume their allegiance without the overthrow of their +institutions, and that they could not resume it afterward, +elected to stand out, such an amendment of the Constitution +as is now proposed became a fitting and necessary conclusion +to the final success of the Union cause.</p> + +<p>“Such alone can meet and cover all cavils. I now perceive +its importance, and embrace it. In the joint name of +Liberty and Union let us labor to give it legal form and practical +effect.”</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">296</a></span> +On the following day, in reply to a congratulatory address +from a deputation of the National Union League, the President +said:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Gentlemen</span>:​—​I can only say in response to the remarks +of your Chairman, I suppose, that I am very grateful for the +renewed confidence which has been accorded to me, both by +the Convention and by the National League. I am not insensible +at all to the personal compliment there is in this; +yet I do not allow myself to believe that any but a small portion +of it is to be appropriated as a personal compliment +to me.</p> + +<p>“The Convention and the Nation, I am assured, are alike +animated by a higher view of the interests of the country for +the present and the great future, and that part I am entitled +to appropriate as a compliment is only that which I may lay +hold of, as being the opinion of the Convention and the +League, that I am not entirely unworthy to be entrusted with +the place I have occupied for the last three years.</p> + +<p>“I have not permitted myself, gentlemen, to conclude that +I am the best man in the country; but I am reminded in this +connection, of the story of an old Dutch farmer, who remarked +to a companion once, that ‘it was not best to swop horses +when crossing streams.’”</p></blockquote> + +<p>Prolonged and tumultuous laughter followed this last characteristic +remark, given with that telling force which only +those who had the privilege of meeting Mr. Lincoln in his +moments of relaxation and semi-<i>abandon</i> can appreciate.</p> + +<p>Having been serenaded, on the 9th, by the delegation from +Ohio, he addressed the assemblage as follows:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Gentlemen</span>:​—​I am very much obliged to you for this +compliment. I have just been saying, and will repeat it, +that the hardest of all speeches I have to answer is a serenade. +I never knew what to say on such occasions.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">297</a></span></p> +<p>“I suppose you have done me this kindness in connection +with the action of the Baltimore Convention, which has recently +taken place, and with which, of course, I am very well +satisfied. What we want still more than Baltimore Conventions +or Presidential elections, is success under General +Grant.</p> + +<p>“I propose that you constantly bear in mind that the support +you owe to the brave officers and soldiers in the field is +of the very first importance, and we should therefore lend all +our energies to that point.</p> + +<p>“Now, without detaining you any longer, I propose that +you help me to close up what I am now saying with three +rousing cheers for General Grant and the officers and +soldiers under his command.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>And the cheers were given with a will, the President +leading off and waving his hat with as much earnestness as +the most enthusiastic individual present.</p> + +<p>To a regiment of Ohio troops, one hundred days men, volunteers +for the emergency then upon the country, who called, +on the 11th, upon Mr. Lincoln, he spoke as follows:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Soldiers</span>:​—​I understand you have just come from Ohio​—​come +to help us in this the nation’s day of trial, and also +of its hopes. I thank you for your promptness in responding +to the call for troops. Your services were never needed +more than now. I know not where you are going. You +may stay here and take the places of those who will be sent +to the front; or you may go there yourselves. Wherever +you go, I know you will do your best. Again I thank you. +Good-bye.”</p></blockquote> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">298</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XX" id="CHAPTER_XX">CHAPTER XX.</a><br /> + +<span class="subhead">RECONSTRUCTION.</span></h2> + +<blockquote> + +<p class="hang">President’s Speech at Philadelphia​—​Philadelphia Fair​—​Correspondence with Committee +of National Convention​—​Proclamation of Martial Law in Kentucky​—​Question of Reconstruction​—​President’s +Proclamation on the subject​—​Congressional Plan.</p></blockquote> + +<p>On the 16th of June, the President was present at a Fair +held in Philadelphia in aid of that noble organization, +the United States Sanitary Commission, which was productive +of so much good during the war, placing as it did, the +arrangements for the care and comfort of our brave boys on +a basis which no nation​—​not France, not England, though +experienced in war, and generally of admirable promptitude +in availing themselves of all facilities to its successful prosecution​—​had +ever before been able to secure.</p> + +<p>On the occasion of this visit, Philadelphia witnessed +one of her largest crowds. Not less than fifteen thousand +people were straining to get a glimpse of their beloved +President at one and the same moment.</p> + +<p>After the customary hand-shaking, borne by the victim +with contagious good humor, a collation was served, at +the close of which, in acknowledgment of a toast to his +health, drank with the heartiest sincerity by all present, the +President said:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“I suppose that this toast is intended to open the way for +me to say something. War at the best is terrible; and +this of ours in its magnitude and duration is one of the most +terrible the world has ever known. It has deranged business +totally in many places, and perhaps in all.</p> + +<p>“It has destroyed property, destroyed life, and ruined +homes. It has produced a national debt and a degree of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">299</a></span> +taxation unprecedented in the history of this country. It has +caused mourning among us until the heavens may almost be +said to be hung in black. And yet it continues. It has had +accompaniments not before known in the history of the +world.</p> + +<p>“I mean the Sanitary and Christian Commissions, with +their labors for the relief of the soldiers, and the Volunteer +Refreshment Saloon, understood better by those who hear me +than by myself. These Fairs, too, first began at Chicago, +then held in Boston, Cincinnati, and other cities.</p> + +<p>“The motive and object which lies at the bottom of them +is worthy of the most that we can do for the soldier who +goes to fight the battles of his country. By the fair and +tender hand of woman is much, very much, done for the +soldier, continually reminding him of the care and thought of +him at home. The knowledge that he is not forgotten is +grateful to his heart.</p> + +<p>“And the view of these institutions is worthy of thought. +They are voluntary contributions, giving proof that the +national resources are not at all exhausted, and that the +national patriotism will sustain us through all. It is a pertinent +question​—​when is this war to end?</p> + +<p>“I do not wish to name a day when it will end, lest +the end should not come at the given time. We accepted +this war, and did not begin it. We accepted it for an object; +and when that object is accomplished, the war will end; +and I hope to God it will never end until that object +is accomplished.</p> + +<p>“We are going through with our task, so far as I am +concerned, if it takes us three years longer. I have not been +in the habit of making predictions, but I am almost tempted +now to hazard one. I will. It is that Grant is this evening +in a position, with Meade and Hancock of Pennsylvania, +where he can never be dislodged by the enemy until Richmond +is taken.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">300</a></span> +“If I shall discover that General Grant may be facilitated +in the capture of Richmond by rapidly pouring to him +a large number of armed men at the briefest notice, will you +go? [Cries of ‘Yes.’] Will you march on with him? +[Cries of ‘Yes, yes.’]</p> + +<p>“Then I shall call upon you when it is necessary.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>The following correspondence passed between Mr. Lincoln +and the Committee of the National Convention relative to his +nomination:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p class="sigright"> + +“New York, June 14, 1864.</p> + +<p class="in0">“<span class="smcap">Hon. Abraham Lincoln</span>: +</p> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Sir</span>:​—​The National Union Convention, which assembled +in Baltimore on June 7, 1864, has instructed us to inform you +that you were nominated with enthusiastic unanimity, for the +Presidency of the United States for four years from the +4th of March next.</p> + +<p>“The resolutions of the Convention, which we have +already had the honor of placing in your hands, are a +full and clear statement of the principles which inspired its +action, and which, as we believe, the great body of Union men +in the country heartily approve. Whether those resolutions +express the national gratitude to our soldiers and sailors, or +the national scorn of compromise with rebels, and consequent +dishonor; or the patriotic duty of Union and success; whether +they approve the Proclamation of Emancipation, the Constitutional +amendment, the employment of former slaves as +Union soldiers, or the solemn obligation of the Government +promptly to redress the wrongs of every soldier of the +Union, of whatever color or race; whether they declare the +inviolability of the pledged faith of the nation, or offer +the national hospitality to the oppressed of every land, +or urge the union, by railroad, of the Atlantic and Pacific +oceans; whether they recommend public economy and a +vigorous taxation, or assert the fixed popular opposition<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">301</a></span> +to the establishment of avowed force of foreign monarchies +in the immediate neighborhood of the United States, or +declare that those only are worthy of official trust who +approve unreservedly the views and policy indicated in +the resolutions​—​they were equally hailed with the heartiness +of profound conviction.</p> + +<p>“Believing with you, sir, that this is the people’s war for +the maintenance of a government which you have justly described +as ‘of the people, by the people, for the people,’ we +are very sure that you will be glad to know, not only from +the resolutions themselves, but from the singular harmony +and enthusiasm with which they were adopted, how warm +is the popular welcome of every measure in the prosecution +of the war, which is as vigorous, unmistakable, and unfaltering +as the National purpose itself. No right, for instance, is +so precious and sacred to the American heart as that of personal +liberty. Its violation is regarded with just, instant, and +universal jealousy. Yet in this hour of peril every faithful +citizen concedes that, for the sake of National existence and +the common welfare, individual liberty may, as the Constitution +provides in case of rebellion, be sometimes summarily +constrained, asking only with painful anxiety that in every +instance, and to the least detail, that absolutely necessary +power shall not be hastily or unwisely exercised.</p> + +<p>“We believe, sir, that the honest will of the Union men of +the country was never more truly represented than in this +Convention. Their purpose we believe to be the overthrow +of armed rebels in the field, and the security of permanent +peace and Union by liberty and justice under the Constitution. +That these results are to be achieved amid cruel perplexities, +they are fully aware. That they are to be reached +only by cordial unanimity of counsel, is undeniable. That +good men may sometimes differ as to the means and the time, +they know. That in the conduct of all human affairs the highest +duty is to determine, in the angry conflict of passion, how<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">302</a></span> +much good may be practically accomplished, is their sincere persuasion. +They have watched your official course, therefore, +with unflagging attention; and amid the bitter taunts of eager +friends and the fierce denunciations of enemies, now moving +too fast for some, now too slowly for others, they have seen +you throughout this tremendous contest patient, sagacious, +faithful, just, leaning upon the heart of the great mass of the +people, and satisfied to be moved by its mighty pulsation.</p> + +<p>“It is for this reason that, long before the Convention met, +the popular instincts had plainly indicated you as its candidate; +and the Convention, therefore, merely recorded the +popular will. Your character and career proves your unswerving +fidelity to the cardinal principles of American +Liberty and of the American Constitution. In the name of +that Liberty and Constitution, sir, we earnestly request your +acceptance of this nomination; reverently commending our +beloved country, and you, its Chief Magistrate, with all its +brave sons who, on sea and land, are faithfully defending the +good old American cause of equal rights, to the blessings of +Almighty God, we are, sir, very respectfully, your friends +and fellow-citizens.</p> + +<p class="sigright b0"> +“<span class="smcap">William Dennison</span>, <i>Ohio</i>, Chairman.</p> + +<p class="p0">“<i>And signed by the Committee.</i>”<br /> +</p></blockquote> + +<div class="tb">*<span class="in2">*</span><span class="in2">*</span><span class="in2">*</span><span class="in2">*</span></div> + +<blockquote> + +<p class="sigright"> +“<i>Executive Mansion</i>, Washington, June 27th, 1863.<br /> +</p> + +<p>“Hon. <span class="smcap">William Dennison</span> and others:</p> + +<p class="in0"> +“<i>A Committee of the National Union Convention</i>:<br /> +</p> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Gentlemen</span>:​—​Your letter of the 14th inst., formally +notifying me that I had been nominated by the Convention +you represent for the Presidency of the United States for four +years from the 4th of March next, has been received. The +nomination is gratefully accepted, as the Resolutions of the +Convention​—​called the Platform​—​are heartily approved.</p> + +<p>“While the resolution in regard to the supplanting of Republican +Government upon the Western Continent is fully<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">303</a></span> +concurred in, there might be misunderstanding were I not to +say that the position of the Government in relation to the +action of France in Mexico, as assumed through the State +Department and endorsed by the Convention, among the +measures and acts of the Executive, will be faithfully maintained +so long as the state of facts shall leave that position +pertinent and applicable.</p> + +<p>“I am especially gratified that the soldiers and seamen +were not forgotten by the Convention, as they forever must +and will be remembered by the grateful country for whose +salvation they devote their lives.</p> + +<p>“Thanking you for the kind and complimentary terms in +which you have communicated the nomination and other proceedings +of the Convention, I subscribe myself,</p> + +<p>“Your obedient servant, <span class="right"><span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln</span>.”</span></p></blockquote> + +<p>On the 5th of July, appeared the following proclamation, +ordering martial law in Kentucky:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Whereas</span>, By a proclamation, which was issued on the +15th day of April, 1861, the President of the United States +announced and declared that the laws of the United States +had been for some time past, and then were, opposed and the +execution thereof obstructed, in certain States therein mentioned, +by combinations too powerful to be suppressed by the +ordinary course of judicial proceedings, or by the power +vested in the marshals by law; and,</p> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Whereas</span>, Immediately after the issuing of the said proclamation, +the land and naval force of the United States were +put into activity to suppress the said insurrection and rebellion; +and,</p> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Whereas</span>, The Congress of the United States, by an act +approved on the 3d day of March, 1863, did enact that during +the said rebellion the President of the United States, whenever +in his judgment the public safety may require it, is +authorized to suspend the privilege of the writ of <i>habeas corpus</i><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">304</a></span> +in any case throughout the United States, or any part +thereof; and,</p> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Whereas</span>, The said insurrection and rebellion still continues, +endangering the existence of the Constitution and +Government of the United States; and,</p> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Whereas</span>, The military forces of the United States are +now actively engaged in suppressing the said insurrection and +rebellion in various parts of the States where the said rebellion +has been successful in obstructing the laws and public +authorities, especially in the States of Virginia and Georgia; +and,</p> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Whereas</span>, On the 15th day of September last, the President +of the United States duly issued his proclamation, +wherein he declared that the privilege of the writ of <i>habeas +corpus</i> should be suspended throughout the United States, in +cases where, by the authority of the President of the United +States, the military, naval, and civil officers of the United +States, or any of them, hold persons under their command or +in their custody either as prisoners of war, spies, or aiders or +abettors of the enemy, or officers, soldiers, or seamen, enrolled, +or drafted, or mustered, or enlisted in, or belonging to, the +land or naval forces of the United States, or as deserters +therefrom, or otherwise amenable to military law or the rules +and articles of war, or the rules and regulations prescribed +for the military or naval service by authority of the President +of the United States, or for resisting a draft, or for any other +offence against the military or naval service; and,</p> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Whereas</span>, Many citizens of the State of Kentucky have +joined the forces of the insurgents, have on several occasions +entered the said State of Kentucky in large force, and not +without aid and comfort furnished by disaffected and disloyal +citizens of the United States residing therein, have not only +greatly disturbed the public peace, but have overborne the +civil authorities and made flagrant civil war, destroying +property and life in various parts of the State; and,</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">305</a></span></p> +<p>“<span class="smcap">Whereas</span>, It has been made known to the President of the +United States by the officers commanding the National +armies, that combinations have been formed in the said State +of Kentucky, with a purpose of inciting the rebel forces to +renew the said operations of civil war within the said State, +and thereby to embarrass the United States armies now operating +in the said States of Virginia and Georgia, and even to +endanger their safety;</p> + +<p>“Now, therefore, I, <span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln</span>, President of the +United States, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the +Constitution and laws, do hereby declare, that in my judgment +the public safety especially requires that the suspension +of the privilege of the writ of <i>habeas corpus</i>, so proclaimed +in the said proclamation of the fifteenth of September, 1863, +be made effectual, and be duly enforced in and throughout the +said State of Kentucky, and that martial law be for the present +ordered therein. I do therefore hereby require of the +military officers in the said State that the privilege of the +writ of <i>habeas corpus</i> be effectually suspended within the said +State, according to the aforesaid proclamation, and that martial +law be established therein, to take effect from the date of +this proclamation, the said suspension and establishment of +martial law to continue until this proclamation shall be revoked +or modified, but not beyond the period when the said +rebellion shall have been suppressed or come to an end. And +I do hereby require and command as well military officers as +all civil officers and authorities existing or found within the +said State of Kentucky, to take notice of this proclamation +and to give full effect to the same. The martial law herein +proclaimed, and the things in that respect herein ordered, +will not be deemed or taken to interfere with the holding of +elections, or with the proceedings of the Constitutional Legislature +of Kentucky, or with the administration of justice in +the courts of law existing therein between citizens of the +United States in suits or proceedings which do not affect the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">306</a></span> +military operations or the constituted authorities of the Government +of the United States.</p> + +<p>“In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and +caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.</p> + +<p>“Done at the City of Washington, this fifth day of July, +in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and +sixty-four, and of the Independence of the United States the +eighty-eighth.</p> + +<p> +“By the President: <span class="right"><span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln</span>.</span><br /> + +“<span class="smcap">William H. Seward</span>, Secretary of State.”<br /> +</p></blockquote> + +<p>The question as to what principles should be adopted in +reconstructing the rebel States, as fast as the insurrection +within their limits should be suppressed, had already, as remarked +upon a former page, presented itself as one to be met +and disposed of. Congress having, at almost the last moment +of its session, passed a bill intended to meet this case, the +President issued the following proclamation, on the 9th of +July, practically approving the same and accepting its spirit, +but making exception in the case of Louisiana and Arkansas, +which States had been reorganized according to the spirit and +intent of a previous proclamation, making the will of one-tenth +of the voters of a State sufficient for its return to allegiance​—​the +bill under notice requiring the votes of a majority:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Whereas</span>, At the last session, Congress passed a bill to +guarantee to certain States whose Governments have been +usurped or overthrown, a republican form of government, a +copy of which is hereunto annexed; and,</p> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Whereas</span>, The said bill was presented to the President +of the United States for his approval, less than one hour +before the <i>sine die</i> adjournment of said session, and was not +signed by him; and,</p> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Whereas</span>, The said bill contains, among other things, a +plan for restoring the States in rebellion to the proper practical<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">307</a></span> +relation in the Union, which plan presents the sense of +Congress upon that subject, and which plan it is now thought +fit to lay before the people for their consideration:</p> + +<p>“Now, therefore, I, <span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln</span>, President of the +United States, do proclaim, declare, and make known, that, +while I am, as I was in December last, when by proclamation +I propounded a plan for restoration, unprepared, by a +formal approval of this bill, to be inflexibly committed to any +single plan of restoration, and while I am also unprepared +to declare that the Free State Constitutions and Governments +already adopted and installed in Arkansas and Louisiana shall +be set aside and held for naught, thereby repelling and discouraging +the loyal citizens who have set up the same, as to +further effort, or to declare a constitutional competency in +Congress to establish slavery in States, but am at the same +time sincerely hoping and expecting that a constitutional +amendment abolishing slavery throughout the nation may be +adopted; nevertheless I am fully satisfied with the system of +restoration contained in the bill as one very proper plan for +the loyal people of any State choosing to adopt it, and that +I am and at all times shall be prepared to give the Executive +aid and assistance to any such people, so soon as the military +resistance to the United States shall have been suppressed in +any such State, and the people thereof shall have sufficiently +returned to their obedience to the Constitution and the laws +of the United States, in which cases military Governors will +be appointed, with directions to proceed according to the bill.</p> + +<p>“In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, +and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.</p> + +<p>“Done at the City of Washington, this eighth day of +July, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and +sixty-four, and of the Independence of the United States +of America the eighty-ninth.</p> + +<p> +“By the President: <span class="right"><span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln</span></span><br /> + +“<span class="smcap">William H. Seward</span>, Secretary of State.”<br /> +</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">308</a></span> +The following is the bill, a copy of which was annexed to +the proclamation:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“A <span class="smcap">Bill</span> to guarantee to certain States whose Governments +have been overthrown or usurped, a Republican form of +Government.</p> + +<p>“<i>Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives +of the United States of America, in Congress assembled</i>, That +in the States declared in rebellion against the United States, +the President shall, by and with the advice and consent of +the Senate, appoint for each a Provisional Governor, whose +pay and emoluments shall not exceed those of a Brigadier-General +of Volunteers, who shall be charged with the +civil administration of such State, until a State Government +therein shall be recognized as hereinafter provided.</p> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Section 2.</span> <i>And be it further enacted</i>, That so soon +as the military resistance to the United States shall have been +suppressed in any such State, and the people thereof shall +have sufficiently returned to their obedience to the Constitution +and laws of the United States, the Provisional Governor +shall direct the Marshal of the United States, as speedily as +may be, to name a sufficient number of deputies, and to +enroll all white male citizens of the United States, resident +in the State, in their respective counties, and to require each +one to take the oath to support the Constitution of the United +States, and in his enrollment to designate those who take and +those who refuse to take that oath, which rolls shall be forthwith +returned to the Provisional Governor; and if the +persons taking that oath shall amount to a majority of +the persons enrolled in the State, he shall, by proclamation, +invite the loyal people of the State to elect delegates to a +Convention, charged to declare the will of the people of the +State, relative to the reëstablishment of a State Government +subject to, and in conformity with the Constitution of the +United States.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">309</a></span> +“<span class="smcap">Section 3.</span> That the Convention shall consist of as many +members as both Houses of the last Constitutional State +Legislature, apportioned by the Provisional Governor among +the counties, parishes, or districts of the State, in proportion +to the white population returned as electors by the Marshal, +in compliance with the provisions of this Act. The Provisional +Governor shall, by proclamation, declare the number +of delegates to be elected by each county, parish, or election +district; name a day of election not less than thirty days +thereafter; designate the place of voting in each county, +parish, or election district, conforming as nearly as may +be convenient, to the places used in the State elections +next preceding the rebellion; appoint one or more Commissioners +to hold the election at each place of voting, and provide +an adequate force to keep the peace during the election.</p> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Section 4.</span> That the delegates shall be elected by the +loyal white male citizens of the United States, of the age of +twenty-one years, and resident at the time in the county, +parish, or election district in which they shall offer to +vote, and enrolled as aforesaid, or absent in the military +service of the United States, and who shall take and subscribe +the oath of allegiance to the United States in the form contained +in the Act of Congress of July 2, 1862; and all such +citizens of the United States who are in the military service +of the United States, shall vote at the head-quarters of their +respective commands, under such regulations as may be prescribed +by the Provisional Governor for the taking and return +of their votes; but no person who has held or exercised any +office, civil or military, State or Confederate, under the rebel +usurpation, or who has voluntarily borne arms against the +United States, shall vote or be eligible to be elected as delegate +at such election.</p> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Section 5.</span> That the said Commissioners, or either of +them, shall hold the election in conformity with this Act, and +so far as may be consistent therewith, shall proceed in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">310</a></span> +the manner used in the State prior to the rebellion. The +oath of allegiance shall be taken and subscribed on the poll-book +in the form above described, but every person known by +or proved to the Commissioners to have held or exercised any +office, civil or military, State or Confederate, under the rebel +usurpation, or to have voluntarily borne arms against the +United States, shall be excluded, though he offer to take the +oath; and in case any person who shall have borne arms +against the United States shall offer to vote, he shall be +deemed to have borne arms voluntarily, unless he shall prove +the contrary by the testimony of a qualified voter. The poll-book, +showing the name and oath of each voter, shall +be returned to the Provisional Governor by the Commissioner +of elections, or the one acting, and the Provisional +Governor shall canvass such return, and declare the person +having the highest number of votes elected.</p> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Section 6.</span> That the Provisional Governor shall, by +proclamation, convene the delegates elected as aforesaid, at +the Capital of the State, on a day not more than three months +after the election, fixing at least thirty days’ notice of such +day. In case the said Capital shall in his judgment be unfit, +he shall in his proclamation appoint another place. He shall +preside over the deliberations of the Convention, and administer +to each delegate, before taking his seat in the +Convention, the oath of allegiance to the United States in +the form above prescribed.</p> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Section 7.</span> That the Convention shall declare, on behalf +of the people of the State, their submission to the Constitution +and laws of the United States, and shall adopt the +following provisions, hereby prescribed by the United States +in the execution of the Constitutional duty to guarantee a +republican form of government to every State, and incorporate +them in the Constitution of the State; that is to say:</p> + +<p>“<i>First.</i> No person who has held or exercised any office, +civil or military, except offices merely ministerial, and military<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">311</a></span> +offices below the grade of Colonel, State or corporate, +under the usurping power, shall vote for, or be a member of +the Legislature, or Governor.</p> + +<p>“<i>Second.</i> Involuntary servitude is forever prohibited, +and the freedom of all persons is guaranteed in said State.</p> + +<p>“<i>Third.</i> No debt, State or corporate, created by or under +the sanction of the usurping power, shall be recognized or +paid by the State.</p> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Section 8.</span> That when the Convention shall have adopted +these provisions, it shall proceed to reëstablish a republican +form of Government, and ordain a Constitution containing +these provisions, which, when adopted, the Convention shall, +by ordinance, provide for submitting to the people of the +State entitled to vote under this law, at an election to be held +in the manner prescribed by the Act for the election of delegates, +but at a time and place named by the Convention, at +which Election the said Electors, and none others, shall vote +directly for or against such Constitution and form of State +government; and the returns of said election shall be made +to the Provisional Governor, who shall canvass the same in +the presence of the electors, and if a majority of the votes +cast shall be for the Constitution and form of government, he +shall certify the same, with a copy thereof, to the President +of the United States, who, after obtaining the assent of Congress +shall, by proclamation, recognize the government so +established, and none other, as the Constitutional Government +of the State, and from the date of such recognition, and +not before, Senators, and Representatives, and Electors for +President and Vice-President may be elected in such State, +according to the laws of the State and of the United States.</p> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Section 9.</span> That if the Convention shall refuse to reëstablish +the State Government on the conditions aforesaid, +the Provisional Governor shall declare it dissolved; but it +shall be the duty of the President, whenever he shall have +reason to believe that a sufficient number of the people of the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">312</a></span>State entitled to vote under this Act, in number not less than +a majority of those enrolled, as aforesaid, are willing to reëstablish +a State Government on the conditions aforesaid, to +direct the Provisional Governor to order another election of +delegates to a Convention for the purpose and in the manner +prescribed in this Act, and to proceed in all respects as hereinbefore +provided, either to dissolve the Convention, or to +certify the State Government reëstablished by it to the +President.</p> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Section 10.</span> That, until the United States shall have +recognized a republican form of State Government, the +Provisional Governor in each of said States shall see that +this Act, and the laws of the United States, and other laws +of the State in force when the State Government was overthrown +by the rebellion, are faithfully executed within the +State; but no law or usage whereby any person was heretofore +held in involuntary servitude shall be recognized or +enforced by any Court or officer in such State, and the laws +for the trial and punishment of white persons shall extend to +all persons, and jurors shall have the qualifications of voters +under this law for delegates to the Convention. The President +shall appoint such officers provided for by the laws of +the State when its government was overthrown as he may +find necessary to the civil administration of the State, all +which officers shall be entitled to receive the fees and emoluments +provided by the State laws for such officers.</p> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Section 11.</span> That, until the recognition of a State +Government, as aforesaid, the Provisional Governor shall, +under such regulations as he may prescribe, cause to be +assessed, levied, and collected, for the year eighteen hundred +and sixty-four, and every year thereafter, the taxes provided +by the laws of such State to be levied during the fiscal year +preceding the overthrow of the State Government thereof, in +the manner prescribed by the laws of the State, as nearly as +may be; and the officers appointed, as aforesaid, are vested<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">313</a></span> +with all powers of levying and collecting such taxes, by +distress or sale, as were vested in any officers or tribunal of +the State Government aforesaid for those purposes. The +proceeds of such taxes shall be accounted for to the Provisional +Governor, and be by him applied to the expenses of +the administration of the laws in such State, subject to the +direction of the President, and the surplus shall be deposited +in the Treasury of the United States, to the credit of such +State, to be paid to the State upon an appropriation therefor, +to be made when a republican form of government shall be +recognized therein by the United States.</p> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Section 12.</span> That all persons held to involuntary servitude +or labor in the States aforesaid, are hereby emancipated +and discharged therefrom, and they and their posterity shall +be forever free. And if any such persons or their posterity +shall be restrained of liberty, under pretence of any claim to +such service or labor, the Courts of the United States shall, +on <i>habeas corpus</i>, discharge them.</p> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Section 13.</span> That if any person declared free by this Act, +or any law of the United States, or any proclamation of the +President, be restrained of liberty, with intent to be held in +or reduced to involuntary servitude or labor, the person convicted +before a Court of competent jurisdiction of such Act, +shall be punished by fine of not less than one thousand five +hundred dollars, and be imprisoned for not less than five or +more than twenty years.</p> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Section 14.</span> That every person who shall hereafter hold +or exercise any office, civil or military, except offices merely +ministerial, and military offices below the grade of Colonel, +in the rebel service, State or Corporate, is hereby declared +not to be a citizen of the United States.”</p></blockquote> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">314</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXI" id="CHAPTER_XXI">CHAPTER XXI.</a><br /> + +<span class="subhead">PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN OF 1864.</span></h2> + +<blockquote> + +<p class="hang">Proclamation for a Fast​—​Speech to Soldiers​—​Another Speech​—​“To Whom It may Concern”​—​Chicago +Convention​—​Opposition Embarrassed​—​Resolution No. 2​—​McClellan’s +Acceptance​—​Capture of the Mobile Forts and Atlanta​—​Proclamation for Thanksgiving +Remarks on Employment of Negro Soldiers​—​Address to Loyal Marylanders.</p></blockquote> + +<p>On the 7th of July the following proclamation for a National +Fast appeared:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Whereas</span>, The Senate and House of Representatives, at +their last session, adopted a concurrent resolution which was +approved on the third day of July instant, and which was in +the words following:</p> + +<p>“‘That the President of the United States is requested to +appoint a day of humiliation and prayer by the people of the +United States; that he request his constitutional advisers at +the head of the Executive Departments to unite with him, as +Chief Magistrate of the Nation, at the city of Washington, +and the members of Congress, and all magistrates, all civil, +military and naval officers, all soldiers, sailors, and marines, +with all loyal and law-abiding people, to convene at their +usual places of worship, or wherever they may be, to confess +and to repent of their manifold sins; to implore the compassion +and forgiveness of the Almighty, that, if consistent with +His will, the existing rebellion may be speedily suppressed, +and the supremacy of the Constitution and laws of the United +States may be established throughout all the States; to implore +Him, as the Supreme Ruler of all the world, not to +destroy us as a people, nor suffer us to be destroyed by the +hostility or connivance of other nations, or by obstinate adhesion +to our own counsels, which may be in conflict with His +eternal purposes, and to implore him to enlighten the mind<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">315</a></span> +of the Nation to know and to do his will, humbly believing +that it is not in accord ever with his will that our place should +be maintained as a wicked people among the family of nations; +to implore him to grant to our armed defenders and the +masses of the people that courage, power of resistance, and +endurance necessary to secure that result; to implore him in +his infinite goodness to soften the hearts, enlighten the minds, +and quicken the consciences of those in rebellion, that they +may lay down their arms and speedily return to their allegiance +to the United States, that they may not be utterly destroyed, +that the effusion of blood may be stayed, and that +unity and fraternity may be restored, and peace established +throughout all our borders.’</p> + +<p>“Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the +United States, cordially concurring with the Congress of the +United States in the penitential and pious sentiments expressed +in the aforesaid resolution, and heartily approving of +the devotional design and purpose thereof, do hereby appoint +the first Thursday of August next, to be observed by the +people of the United States as a day of National humiliation +and prayer.</p> + +<p>“I do hereby further invite and request the heads of the +Executive Department of this Government, together with all +legislators, all Judges and magistrates, and all other persons +exercising authority in the land, whether civil, military, or +naval, and all soldiers, seamen and marines in the National +service, and all other loyal and law-abiding people of the +United States, to assemble in their professed places of public +worship on that day, and there to render to the Almighty +and merciful Ruler of the universe such homage and such +confessions, and to offer him such supplications, as the Congress +of the United States have in their aforesaid resolution +so solemnly, so earnestly, and so reverently recommended.</p> + +<p>“In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and +caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">316</a></span> +“Done at the City of Washington, this, the seventh day of +July, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred +and sixty-four, and of the Independence of the United States +the eighty-ninth.</p> + +<p> +“By the President: <span class="right"><span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln</span></span><br /> + +“<span class="smcap">William H. Seward</span>, Secretary of State.”<br /> +</p></blockquote> + +<p>To some Ohio volunteers, about to return home at the expiration +of their term of service, who had called upon the +President to pay him their respects, he spoke, on the 18th of +August, thus:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Soldiers</span>: You are about to return to your homes and +your friends, after having, as I learn, performed in camp a +comparatively short term of duty in this great contest. I am +greatly obliged to you and to all who have come forward at +the call of their country.</p> + +<p>“I wish it might be more generally and universally understood +what the country is now engaged in. We have, as all +will agree, a free Government, where every man has a right +to be equal with every other man. In this great struggle, +this form of government and every form of human rights is +endangered if our enemies succeed. There is more involved +in this contest than is realized by every one. There is involved +in this struggle the question whether your children +and my children shall enjoy the privileges we have enjoyed. +I say this, in order to impress upon you, if you are not +already so impressed, that no small matter should divert us +from our great purpose.</p> + +<p>“There may be some inequalities in the practical working +of our system. It is fair that each man shall pay taxes in +exact proportion for the value of his property; but if we +should wait, before collecting a tax, to adjust the taxes upon +each man in exact proportion to every other man, we should +never collect any tax at all. There may be mistakes made<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">317</a></span> +somewhere; things may be done wrong, which the officers of +Government do all they can to prevent mistakes.</p> + +<p>“But I beg of you, as citizens of this great Republic, not +to let your minds be carried off from the great work we have +before us. This struggle is too large for you to be diverted +from it by any small matter. When you return to your +homes, rise up to the height of a generation of men, worthy +of a free government, and we will carry out the great work +we have commenced. I return you my sincere thanks, soldiers, +for the honor you have done me this afternoon.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>And again, on the 22d of August, under similar circumstances:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Soldiers</span>:​—​I suppose you are going home to see your +families and friends. For the services you have done in this +great struggle in which we are engaged, I present you sincere +thanks for myself and the country.</p> + +<p>“I almost always feel inclined, when I say any thing to soldiers, +to impress upon them, in a few brief remarks, the importance +of success in this contest. It is not merely for to-day, +but for all time to come, that we should perpetuate for our +children’s children that great and free Government which we +have enjoyed all our lives. I beg you to remember this, not +merely for my sake, but for yours. I happen temporarily to +occupy this big White House. I am a living witness that +any one of your children may look to come here as my father’s +child has.</p> + +<p>“It is in order that each one of you may have, through +this free Government which we have enjoyed, an open field +and a fair chance for your industry, enterprise, and intelligence; +that you may all have equal privileges in the race of +life, with all its desirable human aspirations; it is for this that +the struggle should be maintained, that we may not lose our +birthrights​—​not only for one, but for two or three years.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">318</a></span> +The nation is worth fighting for, to secure such an unquestionable +jewel.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>During the excitement accompanying the rebel attempts +upon the National Capitol, during the month of July, heretofore +noticed, representations were made to the President that +certain individuals, professing to represent the rebel leaders, +were in Canada, anxious to enter into negotiations, with a +view to the restoration of peace.</p> + +<p>In response to this suggestion, Mr. Lincoln issued the following +paper, which was very unsatisfactory to those who +affected to believe that peace could be secured upon any +basis short of the recognition of the Southern Confederacy +unless the rebels in arms were thoroughly defeated, dated, +Executive Mansion, Washington, July 18, 1864.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">To whom it may concern.</span>​—​Any proposition which embraces +the restoration of peace, the integrity of the Union, +and the abandonment of slavery, and which comes by and +with authority that can control the armies now at war against +the United States, will be received and considered by the +Executive Government of the United States, and will be met +by liberal terms on other substantial and collateral points, and +the bearers thereof shall have safe conduct both ways.</p> + +<p class="sigright"> +“<span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln.</span>”<br /> +</p></blockquote> + +<p>This ended that attempt to divide the supporters of the +Administration.</p> + +<p>On the 29th of August, 1864, assembled at Chicago the +National Convention of the Democratic party. This had been +preceded by a “Mass Peace Convention,” at Syracuse, on the +18th of August, at which it had been resolved, among other +things, that it was the duty of the Chicago Convention to +give expression to a beneficent sentiment of peace and to +declare as the purpose of the Democratic party, if it should +recover power, to cause the desolating war to cease by the +calling of a National Convention, in which all the States<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">319</a></span> +should be represented in their sovereign capacity; and that, +to that end, an immediate armistice should be declared of sufficient +duration to give the States and the people ample time +and opportunity to deliberate upon and finally conclude a +form of Union.</p> + +<p>There were two factions represented at Chicago: one, unqualifiedly +in favor of peace at any price, upon any terms, +with any concessions; the other, disposed to take every possible +advantage of the mistakes of the Administration, but +not possessed of effrontery sufficient to pronounce boldly for +a cessation of hostilities in any and every event.</p> + +<p>Thus embarrassed, what was left of the still great Democratic +party​—​that party which had swayed the country +for so many years, and whose disruption in 1860 was the immediate +occasion of the war that ensued​—​determined to do what +it never before, in all its history, had ventured upon. It +essayed to ride, at one and the same time, two horses going +in diametrically opposite directions.</p> + +<p>To conciliate whatever feeling in favor of a prosecution of +the war there might be in their ranks, without at the same +time going too far in that direction, and to secure as many +soldiers’ votes as possible, they put in nomination for the +Presidency, Gen. McClellan. To neutralize this apparent +tendency toward war, they associated the General with George +H. Pendleton, of Ohio, as a candidate for the Vice-Presidency​—​a +man, who, during his entire Congressional career as +member of the National House of Representatives, had avowed +himself and voted as a Peace-at-any-price individual, from the +very outset.</p> + +<p>The bane and antidote having thus been blended, as only +political chemists would have attempted, the candidates were +placed upon a platform, the second resolution of which was as +follows:</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">320</a></span></p><blockquote> + +<p>“<i>Resolved</i>, That this Convention does explicitly declare, as +the sense of the American people, that, after four years of +failure to restore the Union by the experiment of war, during +which under the pretence of a military necessity or war +power higher than the Constitution, the Constitution itself +has been disregarded in every part, and public liberty and +private right alike trodden down, and the material prosperity +of the country essentially impaired, justice, humanity, +liberty, and the public welfare demand that immediate efforts +be made for a cessation of hostilities, with a view to an ultimate +Convention of all the States, or other peaceable means, +to the end that at the earliest practicable moment peace +may be restored on the basis of the Federal Union of the +States.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>This accomplished, the Convention adjourned, having provided +for its indefinite existence by empowering its chairman +to reconvene it, whenever, in his judgment, it should be +thought necessary.</p> + +<p>McClellan accepted the nomination, happy to know that +when it was made, the record of his public life was kept in +view. In his letter of acceptance, he talked all around the +peace proposition, ignored the idea of a cessation of hostilities, +and went for the whole Union. The document, though sufficiently +general and indefinite to answer the purpose, failed +to satisfy the ultra-peace men of his party.</p> + +<p>Thus, in the midst of a civil war, unparalleled in the +world’s history, the extraordinary spectacle was presented of +a great people entering with earnestness upon a political +campaign, one of whose issues​—​indeed, the main one​—​was +as to the continuance of that war, with all its hardships and +burdens.</p> + +<p>Just after the adjournment of the Chicago Convention +Sherman’s occupation of Atlanta and the capture of the forts +in the harbor of Mobile, were announced, seeming to intimate +that the war had not been, up to that time, wholly a failure. +The thanks of the Nation were tendered by the President to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">321</a></span> +the officers and men connected with these operations, national +salutes ordered, and the following proclamation issued, dated +September 3d, 1864.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“The signal success that Divine Providence has recently +vouchsafed to the operations of the United States fleet and +army in the harbor of Mobile, and the reduction of Fort +Powell, Fort Gaines, and Fort Morgan, and the glorious +achievements of the army under Major-General Sherman, in +the State of Georgia, resulting in the capture of the city of +Atlanta, call for devout acknowledgment of the Supreme +Being in whose hands are the destinies of nations.</p> + +<p>“It is therefore requested that on next Sunday, in all +places of worship in the United States, thanksgiving be +offered to Him for His mercy in preserving our national +existence against the insurgent rebels who have been waging +a cruel war against the Government of the United States for +its overthrow, and also that prayer be made for Divine protection +to our brave soldiers and their leaders in the field, +who have so often and so gallantly perilled their lives in +battling with the enemy, and for blessing and comfort from +the Father of Mercies to the sick, wounded, and prisoners, +and to the orphans and widows of those who have fallen in +the service of their country, and that He will continue to +uphold the Government of the United States against all the +efforts of public enemies and secret foes.</p> + +<p class="sigright"> +“<span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln.</span>”<br /> +</p></blockquote> + +<p>Mr. Lincoln’s views relative to the employment of negroes +as soldiers were again and fully expressed about this time in +a conversation with leading gentlemen from the West. On +that occasion he said:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“The slightest knowledge of arithmetic will prove to any +man that the rebel armies cannot be destroyed by Democratic +strategy. It would sacrifice all the white men of the North +to do it. There are now in the service of the United States<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">322</a></span> +nearly two hundred thousand able-bodied colored men, most +of them under arms, defending and acquiring Union territory. +The Democratic strategy demands that these forces be disbanded, +and that the masters be conciliated by restoring them +to slavery. The black men, who now assist Union prisoners +to escape, are to be converted into our enemies, in the vain +hope of gaining the good-will of their masters. We shall have +to fight two nations instead of one.</p> + +<p>“You can not conciliate the South, if you guarantee to +them ultimate success; and the experience of the present +war proves their success is inevitable, if you fling the compulsory +labor of millions of black men into their side of the +scale. Will you give our enemies such military advantages +as insure success, and then depend upon coaxing, flattery, +and concession to get them back into the Union? Abandon +all the forts now garrisoned by black men, take two hundred +thousand men from our side and put them in the battle-field +or corn-field against us, and we would be compelled to abandon +the war in three weeks.</p> + +<p>“We have to hold territory in inclement and sickly places; +where are the Democrats to do this? It was a free fight; +and the field was open to the War Democrats to put down +this rebellion by fighting against both master and slave, long +before the present policy was inaugurated.</p> + +<p>“There have been men base enough to propose to me to +return to slavery our black warriors of Port Hudson and +Olustee, and thus win the respect of the masters they fought. +Should I do so, I should deserve to be damned in time and +eternity. Come what will, I will keep my faith with friend +and foe. My enemies pretend I am now carrying on this +war for the sole purpose of abolition. So long as I am +President, it shall be carried on for the sole purpose of restoring +the Union. But no human power can subdue this rebellion +without the use of the Emancipation policy, and every<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">323</a></span> +other policy calculated to weaken the moral and physical +forces of the rebellion.</p> + +<p>“Freedom has given us two hundred thousand men raised +on Southern soil. It will give us more yet. Just so much +it has subtracted from the enemy; and, instead of checking +the South, there are now evidences of a fraternal feeling +growing up between our men and the rank and file of the +rebel soldiers. Let my enemies prove to the country that +the destruction of slavery is not necessary to the restoration +of the Union. I will abide the issue.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>On the 19th of October, the President having been serenaded +by the loyal Marylanders of the District of Columbia, +said:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“I am notified that this is a compliment paid me by the +loyal Marylanders resident in this district. I infer that the +adoption of the new Constitution for the State furnishes the +occasion, and that in your view the extirpation of slavery +constitutes the chief merit of the new Constitution.</p> + +<p>“Most heartily do I congratulate you, and Maryland, and +the Nation, and the world upon the event. I regret that it +did not occur two years sooner, which, I am sure, would have +saved to the nation more money than would have met all the +private loss incident to the measure; but it has come at last, +and I sincerely hope its friends may fully realize all their +anticipations of good from it, and that its opponents may, by +its effects, be agreeably and profitably disappointed.</p> + +<p>“A word upon another subject: Something said by the +Secretary of State in his recent speech at Auburn, has been +construed by some into a threat that, if I shall be beaten at +the election, I will between then and the end of my constitutional +term do what I may be able to ruin the Government. +Others regard the fact that the Chicago Convention adjourned, +not <i>sine die</i>, but to meet again, if called to do so by a particular +individual, as the ultimatum of a purpose that, if the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">324</a></span> +nominee shall be elected, he will at once seize control of the +Government.</p> + +<p>“I hope the good people will permit themselves to suffer +no uneasiness on either point. I am struggling to maintain +the Government, not to overthrow it. I therefore say that, +if I shall live, I shall remain President until the fourth of +March. And whoever shall be constitutionally elected, therefore, +in November, shall be duly installed as President on the +fourth of March; and that, in the interval, I shall do my +utmost that whoever is to hold the helm for the next voyage, +shall start with the best possible chance to save the ship.</p> + +<p>“This is due to our people, both on principle and under +the Constitution. Their will, constitutionally expressed, is +the ultimate law for all. If they should deliberately resolve +to have immediate peace, even at the loss of their country +and their liberties, I know not the power or the right to +resist them. It is their own business, and they must do as +they please with their own.</p> + +<p>“I believe, however, that they are all resolved to preserve +their country and their liberty; and in this, in office or out +of it, I am resolved to stand by them. I may add, that in +this purpose​—​to save the country and its liberties​—​no class +of people seem so nearly unanimous as the soldiers in the field +and the seamen afloat. Do they not have the hardest of it? +Who shall quail, when they do not? God bless the soldiers +and seamen and all their brave commanders!”</p></blockquote> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">325</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXII" id="CHAPTER_XXII">CHAPTER XXII.</a><br /> + +<span class="subhead">RE-ELECTED.</span></h2> + +<blockquote> + +<p class="hang">Presidential Campaign of 1864​—​Fremont’s Withdrawal​—​Wade and Davis​—​Peace and War +Democrats​—​Rebel Sympathizers​—​October Election​—​Result of Presidential Election​—​Speech +to Pennsylvanians​—​Speech at a Serenade​—​Letter to a Soldier’s Mother​—​Opening +of Congress​—​Last Annual Message.</p></blockquote> + +<p>The Presidential campaign of 1864, was, in several of its +aspects, an anomaly. The amount of low blackguard and +slang dealt out against the Administration, was perhaps to +have been expected in a land where personal abuse seems to +have become regarded as so vital an accompaniment of a +National Election, that its absence in any exciting canvass +would give rise to grave fears that positive Constitutional +requirements had been disregarded.</p> + +<p>Though freedom, in such instances, far too often is wrested +into the vilest abuse, it was in truth passing strange that an +Administration should be so violently assailed by its opponents +as despotic and tyrannical, when the very fact that such +strictures and comments were passed upon it, without let or +hindrance, by word of mouth and on the printed page, +afforded a proof that the despotism, if such there were, was +either too mild or too weak to enforce even a decent treatment +of itself and its acts. It is safe to say, that, within the +limits of that section with which we were under any circumstances +to establish harmonious and peaceful relations, +according to the requirements of the opposition, not one +speech in a hundred, not one editorial in a thousand, would +have been permitted under precisely similar circumstances.</p> + +<p>General Fremont withdrew his name shortly after the +Chicago nominations, that he might not distract and divide<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">326</a></span> +the friends of the Union. In his letter of withdrawal he +said:</p> + +<p>“The policy of the Democratic party signifies either separation, +or reëstablishment, with slavery. The Chicago platform +is simply separation. General McClellan’s letter of +acceptance, is reëstablishment with slavery.... The +Republican candidate, on the contrary, is pledged to the reëstablishment +of Union without slavery.”</p> + +<p>Senator Wade and Henry Winter Davis, who had joined +in a manifesto to the people, bitterly denunciatory of the +President’s course in issuing his reconstruction proclamation, +entered manfully into the canvass in behalf of the Baltimore +nominees. The ranks of the supporters of the Government +closed steadily up, and pressed on to a success, of which they +could not, with their faith in manhood and republican principles, +suffer themselves to doubt.</p> + +<p>The Opposition were not entirely in accord. It was a delicate +position in which the full-blooded Peace Democrat found +himself, obliged as he was to endorse a man whose only claim +for the nomination was the reputation which he had made as +a prominent General engaged in prosecuting an “unnatural, +unholy war.” Nor did it afford much alleviation to his distress +to remember that this candidate had been loudly assailed +in the Convention as the first mover in the matter of arbitrary +arrests, against which a sturdy outcry had long been raised +by himself and friends. It was unpleasant, moreover, not to +be able to forget that the same candidate had been the first to +suggest a draft​—​or “conscription,” as your true peace man +would call it: that measure so full of horrors, against which +unconstitutional act such an amount of indignation had been +expended.</p> + +<p>Nor was the situation of the War Democrat, if he were +indeed honestly and sincerely such, much better. He could +not shut his eyes to the fact, that his candidate’s military +record, whatever else it might have established, did not evince<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">327</a></span> +very remarkable vigor and celerity in his movements, as compared +with other Generals then and since prominently before +the public. Even had he blundered energetically, in that +there would have been some consolation. The thought, not +unpleasant to the Pendletonian, of the possibility of the +General’s death during his term of office, stirred up certain +other thoughts which he would rather have avoided.</p> + +<p>However, it must be said, that, taken as a whole, the +Opposition came up to the work more vigorously than might +have been supposed, and carried on their campaign in as +blustering and defiant a style as if victory were sure to perch +upon their banners. There was the usual amount of cheap +enthusiasm, valiant betting, and an unusual amount, many +thought, of cheating​—​at least, the results of investigations at +Baltimore and Washington, conducted by a military tribunal, +to a casual observer appeared to squint in that direction.</p> + +<p>Richmond papers were, for a marvel, quite unanimous in +the desire that Mr. Lincoln should not be reëlected. The +rebel Vice-President declared that the Chicago movement was +“the only ray of light which had come from the North during +the war.” European sympathizers with the rebellion, likewise, +were opposed to Mr. Lincoln’s reëlection, and their +organs on the Continent and in the provinces did their best to +abuse him shockingly.</p> + +<p>The State elections in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Indiana, +occurring in October, created much consternation in the opposition +ranks​—​that in the latter State particularly, which had +been set down positively as upon their side, but insisted, upon +that occasion, in common with the first two in pronouncing +unequivocally in favor of the Administration candidates.</p> + +<p>The result could no longer be doubtful. Yet the most of +the supporters of McClellan kept up their talk, whatever +their thoughts may have been.</p> + +<p>No opportunity for talk, even, was afforded when the +results of the election of November 8th became known.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">328</a></span> +Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson​—​whom an opposition +journal, with rarest refinement and graceful courtesy, concentrating +all its malignity into the intensest sentence possible, +had characterized as “a rail-splitting buffoon and a +boorish tailor, both from the backwoods, both growing +up in uncouth ignorance”​—​these men of the people carried +every loyal State, except Kentucky, New Jersey, and Delaware, +the vote of soldiers in service having been almost +universally given to them.</p> + +<p>Of the four million, thirty-four thousand, seven hundred +and eighty-nine votes cast, Mr. Lincoln received, according +to official returns, two million, two hundred and twenty-three +thousand, and thirty-five; a majority on the aggregate +popular vote, of four hundred and eleven thousand, two +hundred and eighty-one.</p> + +<p>The President elect by a plurality in 1860, he was reëlected +in 1864 by a majority decisive and unmistakable.</p> + +<p>Having been serenaded early in the morning following his +reëlection, by Pennsylvanians then in Washington, he thus +gave utterance to his feelings:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Friends and Fellow-Citizens</span>:​—​Even before I had been +informed by you that this compliment was paid me by +loyal citizens of Pennsylvania friendly to me, I had inferred +that you were of that portion of my countrymen who think +that the best interests of the nation are to be subserved +by the support of the present administration. I do not pretend +to say that you, who think so, embrace all the patriotism +and loyalty of the country; but I do believe, and I trust +without personal interest, that the welfare of the country does +require that such support and indorsement be given. I +earnestly believe that the consequences of this day’s work if +it be as you assume, and as now seems probable, will be +to the lasting advantage if not to the very salvation of the +country. I cannot, at this hour, say what has been the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">329</a></span> +result of the election, but whatever it may be, I have no +desire to modify this opinion: that all who have labored to-day +in behalf of the Union organization, have wrought +for the best interest of their country and the world, not only +for the present, but for all future ages. I am thankful to God +for this approval of the people; but while deeply grateful +for this mark of their confidence in me, if I know my heart, +my gratitude is free from any taint of personal triumph. I +do not impugn the motives of any one opposed to me. It is +no pleasure to me to triumph over any one, but I give thanks +to the Almighty for this evidence of the people’s resolution +to stand by free government and the rights of humanity.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>When the result was definitely known, at a serenade given +in his honor on the night of November 10th, by the various +Lincoln and Johnson Clubs of the District, he said:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“It has long been a grave question whether any Government, +not too strong for the liberties of its people, can +be strong enough to maintain its existence in great emergencies. +On this point the present rebellion brought our +Government to a severe test, and a Presidential election +occurring in a regular course during the rebellion, added not +a little to the strain.</p> + +<p>“If the loyal people united were put to the utmost of their +strength by the rebellion, must they not fail when divided and +partially paralyzed by a political war among themselves? +But the election was a necessity​—​we can not have free +government without elections; and if the rebellion could force +us to forego or postpone a national election, it must fairly +claim to have already conquered and ruined us. The strife +of the election is but human nature practically applied to the +facts of the case. What has occurred in this case must ever +recur in similar cases. Human nature will not change. In +any future great national trial, compared with the men of +this, we shall have as weak and as strong, as silly and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">330</a></span> +as wise, as bad and as good. Let us, therefore, study the +incidents of this, as philosophy to learn wisdom from; +and none of them as wrongs to be revenged.</p> + +<p>“But the election, along with its incidental and undesirable +strife, has done good too. It has demonstrated that a +people’s government can sustain a national election in the +midst of a great civil war. Until now it has not been known +to the world that this was a possibility. It shows also how +sound and how strong we still are. It shows that, even +among the candidates of the same party, he who is most +devoted to the Union, and most opposed to treason, can +receive most of the people’s votes. It shows also, to the +extent yet known, that we have more men now than we had +when the war began. Gold is good in its place; but living, +brave, and patriotic men are better than gold.</p> + +<p>“But the rebellion continues; and now that the election is +over, may not all having a common interest reunite in a common +effort to save our common country? For my own part, +I have striven and shall strive to avoid placing any obstacle +in the way. So long as I have been here I have not willingly +planted a thorn in any man’s bosom. While I am duly +sensible to the high compliment of a reëlection, and duly +grateful, as I trust, to Almighty God for having directed my +countrymen to a right conclusion, as I think, for their good, +it adds nothing to my satisfaction that any other man may +be disappointed by the result.</p> + +<p>“May I ask those who have not differed with me to join +with me in this same spirit toward those who have? And +now let me close by asking three hearty cheers for our brave +soldiers and seamen and their gallant and skilful commanders.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>As indicative of Mr. Lincoln’s warmth and tenderness of +heart the following letter will be read with interest. It was +addressed to a poor widow, in Boston, whose sixth son, then<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">331</a></span> +recently wounded, was lying in a hospital and bears date +November 21st, 1864.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Dear Madam</span>:​—​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 have +died gloriously on the field of battle. I feel how weak and +fruitless must be any word 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 solemn pride that must be +yours, to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of +Freedom.</p> + +<div class="sigright"> +<span class="l2">“Yours very sincerely and respectfully,</span><br /> +“<span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln</span>.” +</div></blockquote> + +<p>The Thirty-eighth Congress commenced its second session +on the 5th of December, 1864. On the following day Mr. +Lincoln transmitted what was to be his last annual message:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Fellow-citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives</span>:​—​Again +the blessings of health and abundant +harvests claim our profoundest gratitude to Almighty God.</p> + +<p>“The condition of our foreign affairs is reasonably satisfactory.</p> + +<p>“Mexico continues to be a theatre of civil war. While our +political relations with that country have undergone no +change, we have at the same time strictly maintained neutrality +between the belligerents.</p> + +<p>“At the request of the States of Costa Rica and Nicaragua, +a competent engineer has been authorized to make a survey +of the river San Juan and the port of San Juan. It is a +source of much satisfaction that the difficulties, which for a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">332</a></span> +moment excited some political apprehension, and caused a +closing of the inter-oceanic transit route, have been amicably +adjusted, and that there is a good prospect that the route will +soon be re-opened with an increase of capacity and adaptation.</p> + +<p>“We could not exaggerate either the commercial or the +political importance of that great improvement. It would be +doing injustice to an important South American State not to +acknowledge the directness, frankness, and cordiality with +which the United States of Columbia has entered into intimate +relation with this Government. A Claim Convention has +been constituted to complete the unfinished work of the one +which closed its session in 1861.</p> + +<p>“The new liberal Constitution of Venezuela having gone +into effect with the universal acquiescence of the people, the +Government under it has been recognised, and diplomatic intercourse +with it has been opened in a cordial and friendly +spirit.</p> + +<p>“The long-deferred Avis Island claim has been satisfactorily +paid and discharged. Mutual payments have been +made of the claims awarded by the late Joint Commission for +the settlement of claims between the United States and Peru. +An earnest and candid friendship continues to exist between +the two countries; and such efforts as were in my power have +been used to prevent misunderstanding, and avert a threatened +war between Peru and Spain.</p> + +<p>“Our relations are of the most friendly nature with Chili, +the Argentine Republic, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Paraguay, San +Salvador, and Hayti. During the past year, no differences +of any kind have arisen with any of these Republics. And, +on the other hand, their sympathies with the United States +are constantly expressed with cordiality and earnestness.</p> + +<p>“The claims arising from the seizure of the cargo of the +brig Macedonian, in 1821, have been paid in full by the Government +of Chili.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">333</a></span> +“Civil war continues in the Spanish port of San Domingo, +apparently without prospect of an early close.</p> + +<p>“Official correspondence has been freely opened with +Liberia, and it gives us a pleasing view of social and political +progress in that Republic. It may be expected to derive new +vigor from American influence, improved by the rapid disappearance +of slavery in the United States.</p> + +<p>“I solicit your authority to promise to the Republic a gunboat, +at a moderate cost, to be reimbursed to the United +States by instalments. Such a vessel is needed for the safety +of that State against the native African races, and in Liberian +hands it would be more effective in arresting the African +slave-trade than a squadron in our own hands.</p> + +<p>“The possession of the least authorized naval force would +stimulate a generous ambition in the Republic, and the confidence +which we should manifest by furnishing it would win +forbearance and favor toward the colony from all civilized +nations. The proposed overland telegraph between America +and Europe by the way of Behring Strait and Asiatic Russia, +which was sanctioned by Congress at the last session, has +been undertaken under very favorable circumstances by an +association of American citizens, with the cordial good will +and support as well of this Government as of those of Great +Britain and Russia.</p> + +<p>“Assurances have been received from most of the South +American States of their high appreciation of the enterprise +and their readiness to coöperate in constructing lines tributary +to that world-encircling communication.</p> + +<p>“I learn with much satisfaction that the noble design of a +telegraphic communication between the eastern coast of +America and Great Britain has been renewed with full expectation +of its early accomplishment.</p> + +<p>“Thus it is hoped that with the return of domestic peace +the country will be able to resume with energy and advantage +her former high career of commerce and civilization.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">334</a></span> +Our very popular and able representative in Egypt died in +April last.</p> + +<p>“An unpleasant altercation which arose between the temporary +incumbent and the Government of the Pacha, resulted +in a suspension of intercourse. The evil was promptly corrected +on the arrival of the successor in the consulate, and +our relations with Egypt as well as our relations with the +Barbary Powers, are entirely satisfactory.</p> + +<p>“The rebellion which has so long been flagrant in China, +has at last been suppressed with the coöperating good offices +of this Government and of the other Western Commercial +States. The judicial consular establishment has become very +difficult and onerous, and it will need legislative requisition +to adapt it to the extension of our commerce, and to the more +intimate intercourse which has been instituted with the Government +and people of that vast empire.</p> + +<p>“China seems to be accepting with hearty good-will the +conventional laws which regulate commerce and social intercourse +among the Western nations.</p> + +<p>“Owing to the peculiar situation of Japan, and the anomalous +form of its Government, the action of that Empire in +performing treaty stipulations is inconsistent and capricious. +Nevertheless good progress has been effected by the Western +Powers, moving with enlightened concert. Our own pecuniary +claims have been allowed, or put in course of settlement, +and the Inland Sea has been reopened to Commerce.</p> + +<p>“There is reason also to believe that these proceedings +have increased rather than diminished the friendship of Japan +toward the United States.</p> + +<p>“The ports of Norfolk, Fernandino, and Pensacola have +been opened by proclamation.</p> + +<p>“It is hoped that foreign merchants will now consider +whether it is not safer and more profitable to themselves as +well as just to the United States, to resort to these and other +open ports, than it is to pursue, through many hazards and at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">335</a></span> +vast cost, a contraband trade with other ports which are +closed, if not by actual military operations, at least by a lawful +and effective blockade.</p> + +<p>“For myself, I have no doubt of the power and duty of +the Executive, under the laws of nations, to exclude enemies +of the human race from an asylum in the United States. If +Congress should think that proceedings in such cases lack the +authority of law, or ought to be further regulated by it, I recommend +that provision be made for effectually preventing +foreign slave-traders from acquiring domicil and facilities for +their criminal occupation in our country.</p> + +<p>“It is possible that if this were a new and open question, +the maritime powers, with the light they now enjoy, would +not concede the privileges of a naval belligerent to the insurgents +of the United States, destitute as they are and always +have been, equally of ships, and of ports and harbors.</p> + +<p>“Disloyal enemies have been neither less assiduous nor +more successful during the last year than they were before +that time, in their efforts, under favor of that privilege, to +embroil our country in foreign wars. The desire and determination +of the maritime States to defeat that design are believed +to be as sincere as, and cannot be more earnest than +our own.</p> + +<p>“Nevertheless, unforseen political difficulties have arisen, +especially in Brazilian and British ports, and on the Northern +boundary of the United States, which have required and are +likely to continue to require the practice of constant vigilance, +and a just and conciliatory spirit on the part of the United +States, as well as of the nations concerned and their Governments. +Commissioners have been appointed under the treaty +with Great Britain, in the adjustment of the claims of the +Hudson’s Bay and Puget Sound Agricultural Companies in +Oregon, and are now proceeding to the execution of the trust +assigned to them.</p> + +<p>“In view of the insecurity of life in the region adjacent to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">336</a></span> +the Canadian border by recent assaults and depredations +committed by inimical and desperate persons who are harbored +there, it has been thought proper to give notice that +after the expiration of six months, the period conditionally +stipulated in the existing arrangements with Great Britain, +the United States must hold themselves at liberty to increase +their naval armament upon the lakes, if they shall find that +proceeding necessary.</p> + +<p>“The condition of the Border will necessarily come into +consideration in connection with the continuing or modifying +the rights of transit from Canada through the United States, +as well as the regulation of imposts, which were temporarily +established by the Reciprocity Treaty of the 5th of June, +1864. I desire, however, to be understood while making +this statement that the Colonial authorities are not deemed +to be intentionally unjust or unfriendly toward the United +States; but, on the contrary, there is every reason to +expect that, with the approval of the Imperial Government, +they will take the necessary measures to prevent new incursions +across the border.</p> + +<p>“The act passed at the last session for the encouragement +of immigration has, as far as was possible, been put into +operation.</p> + +<p>“It seems to need an amendment which will enable the +officers of the Government to prevent the practice of frauds +against the immigrants while on their way and on their arrival +in the ports, so as to secure them here a free choice of avocations +and place of settlement.</p> + +<p>“A liberal disposition toward this great National policy is +manifested by most of the European States, and ought to be +reciprocated on our part by giving the immigrants effective +National protection. I regard our immigrants as one of the +principal replenishing streams which are appointed by Providence +to repair the ravages of internal war, and its wastes of +National strength and health.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">337</a></span> +“All that is necessary is, to secure the flow of that stream +in its present fullness, and to that end, the Government must, +in every way, make it manifest that it neither needs nor designs +to impose involuntary military service upon those who +come from other lands to cast their lot in our country.</p> + +<p>“The financial affairs of the Government have been successfully +administered. During the last year the legislation +of the last session of Congress has beneficially affected the +revenue, although sufficient time has not yet elapsed to experience +the full effect of several of the provisions of the act +of Congress imposing increased taxation. The receipts during +the year, from all sources, upon the basis of warrants signed +by the Secretary of the Treasury, including loans and the +balance in the Treasury on the first day of July, 1863, were +$1,394,796,007 62, and the aggregate disbursements, upon +the same basis, were $1,298,056,101 89, leaving a balance in +the Treasury, as shown by warrants, of $96,739,905 73. +Deduct from these amounts the amount of the principal of the +public debt redeemed, and the amount of issues in substitution +therefor, and the actual cash operations of the Treasury +were: Receipts, $3,075,646 77; disbursements, $865,734,087 76; +which leaves a cash balance in the Treasury of $18,842,558 71. +Of the receipts, there were derived from customs, +$102,316,152 99; from lands, $588,333 29; from direct taxes, +$475,648 96; from internal revenues, $109,741,134 10; from +miscellaneous sources, $47,511,448; and from loans applied +to actual expenditures, including former balance, $623,443,929 13. +There were disbursed for the civil service, $27,505,599 46; +for pensions and Indians, $7,517,930 97; for the +War Department, $60,791,842 97; for the Navy Department, +$85,733,292 79; for interest of the public debts, $53,685,421 69; +making an aggregate of $865,234,081 86, and leaving a +balance in the Treasury of $18,842,558 71, as before stated.</p> + +<p>“For the actual receipts and disbursements for the first +quarter, and the estimated receipts and disbursements for the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">338</a></span> +three remaining quarters of the current fiscal year, and the +general operations of the Treasury in detail, I refer you to +the report of the Secretary of the Treasury.</p> + +<p>“I concur with him in the opinion, that the proportion of +the moneys required to meet the expenses consequent upon +the war derived from taxation, should be still further increased; +and I earnestly invite your attention to this subject, +to the end that there may be such additional legislation +as shall be required to meet the just expectations of the +Secretary.</p> + +<p>“The public debt, on the first day of May last, as appears +by the books of the Treasury, amounted to $1,740,690,489 49. +Probably, should the war continue for another year, that +amount may be increased by not far from five hundred +millions. Held, as it is for the most part, by our own people, +it has become a substantial branch of national, though private +property.</p> + +<p>“For obvious reasons, the more nearly this property can +be distributed among all the people, the better. To forward +general distribution, greater inducements to become owners, +might, perhaps, with good effect and without injury, be presented +to persons of limited means. With this view, I suggest +whether it might not be both expedient and competent +for Congress to provide that a limited amount of some future +issue of public securities might be held, by any <i>bonâ fide</i> +purchaser, exempt from taxation and from seizure for debt, +under such restrictions and limitations as might be necessary +to guard against abuse of so important a privilege. This +would enable prudent persons to set aside a small annuity +against a possible day of want.</p> + +<p>“Privileges like these would render the possession of such +securities, to the amount limited, most desirable to every +person of small means who might be able to save enough for +the purpose. The great advantage of citizens being creditors +as well as debtors, is obvious. Men readily perceive that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">339</a></span> +they cannot be much oppressed by a debt which they owe to +themselves.</p> + +<p>“The public debt on the first day of July last, although +somewhat exceeding the estimate of the Secretary of the +Treasury made to Congress at the commencement of last session, +falls short of the estimate of that office made in the +succeeding December as to its probable amount at the beginning +of this year, by the sum of $3,995,079 33. This fact +exhibits a satisfactory condition and conduct of the operations +of the Treasury.</p> + +<p>“The National banking system is proving to be acceptable +to capitalists and the people. On the 25th day of November, +five hundred and eighty-four National Banks had been +organized, a considerable number of which were conversions +from State banks. Changes from the State system to the +National system are rapidly taking place, and it is hoped that +very soon there will be in the United States no banks of +issue not authorized by Congress, and no bank-note circulation +not secured by the government. That the government +and the people will derive general benefit from this change in +the banking system of the country can hardly be questioned.</p> + +<p>“The National system will create a reliable and permanent +influence in support of the national credit, and protect +the people against losses in the use of paper money. Whether +or not any further legislation is advisable for the suppression +of State bank issues, it will be for Congress to determine. It +seems quite clear that the Treasury cannot be satisfactorily +conducted unless the government can exercise restraining +power over the bank-note circulation of the country.</p> + +<p>“The Report of the Secretary of War, and the accompanying +documents, will detail the campaigns of the armies in the +field since the date of the last annual Message, and also the +operations of the several administrative bureaus of the War +Department during the last year.</p> + +<p>“It will also specify the measures deemed essential for the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">340</a></span> +national defence, and to keep up and supply the requisite +military force.</p> + +<p>“The Report of the Secretary of the Navy presents a +comprehensive and satisfactory exhibit of the affairs of that +department and of the naval service. It is a subject of congratulation +and laudable pride to our countrymen, that a +navy of such vast proportions has been organized in so brief +a period and conducted with so much efficiency and success.</p> + +<p>“The general exhibits of the Navy, including vessels under +construction, on the first of December, 1864, shows a total +of 671 vessels, carrying 4,610 guns, and 510,396 tons​—​being +an actual increase during the year over and above all losses +by shipwreck or in battle, of 83 vessels, 167 guns, and 42,427 +tons. The total number at this time in the naval service, +including officers, is about 51,000. There have been captured +by the Navy during the year, 324 vessels, and the whole number +of naval captures since hostilities commenced is 1,379, +of which 267 are steamers. The gross proceeds arising from +the sale of condemned prize property, thus far reported, +amount to $14,396,250 51.</p> + +<p>“A large amount of such proceeds is still under adjudication +and yet to be reported. The total expenditures of the +Navy Department, of every description, including the cost of +the immense squadrons that have been called into existence, +from the 4th of March, 1861, to the 1st of November, 1864, +are $238,647,262 35. Your favorable consideration is invited +to the various recommendations of the Secretary of the +Navy, especially in regard to a navy yard and suitable establishment +for the construction and repair of iron vessels, and +the machinery and armature for our ships, to which reference +was made in my last annual message.</p> + +<p>“Your attention is also invited to the views expressed in +the report in relation to the legislation of Congress at its last +session in respect to prizes on our inland waters.</p> + +<p>“I cordially concur in the recommendation of the Secretary<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">341</a></span> +as to the propriety of creating the new rank of Vice-admiral +in our naval service.</p> + +<p>“Your attention is invited to the report of the Postmaster-General, +for a detailed account of the operations and financial +condition of the Post-Office Department. The postal revenues +for the year ending June 30, 1864, amounted to $12,438,253 78, +and the expenditures to $12,644,786 20; the excess of expenditures +over receipts being $206,532 42.</p> + +<p>“The views presented by the Postmaster-General on the +subject of special grants by the Government in aid of the establishment +of new lines of ocean mail steamships, and the +policy he recommends for the development of increased commercial +intercourse with adjacent and neighboring countries, +should receive the careful consideration of Congress.</p> + +<p>“It is of noteworthy interest that the steady expansion of +population, improvement and governmental institutions over +the new and unoccupied portions of our country have scarcely +been checked, much less impeded or destroyed by our great +civil war, which, at first glance, would seem to have absorbed +almost the entire energies of the Nation.</p> + +<p>“The organization and admission of the State of Nevada +has been completed in conformity with law, and thus our +excellent system is firmly established in the mountains which +once seemed a barren and uninhabitable waste between the +Atlantic States and those which have grown up on the coast +of the Pacific Ocean.</p> + +<p>“The Territories of the Union are generally in a condition +of prosperity and growth. Idaho and Montana, by reason of +their great distance and the interruption of communication +with them by Indian hostilities, have been only partially +organized; but it is understood that those difficulties are +about to disappear, which will permit their governments, like +those of the others, to go into speedy and full operation.</p> + +<p>“As intimately connected with and promotive of this material +growth of the Nation, I ask the attention of Congress to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">342</a></span> +the valuable information and important recommendation relating +to the public lands, Indian affairs, the Pacific Railroad, +and mineral discoveries contained in the report of the Secretary +of the Interior, which is herewith transmitted, and which +report also embraces the subjects of the patents, pensions, +and other topics of public interest pertaining to his Department.</p> + +<p>“The quantity of public land disposed of during the five +quarters ending on the 30th of September last, was 4,221,342 +acres, of which 1,538,614 acres were entered under the Homestead +law. The remainder was located with military land +warrants, agricultural script certified to States for railroads, +and sold for cash. The cash received from sales and location +fees was $1,019,446. The income from sales during the fiscal +year ending June 30, 1864, was $678,007 21, against +$136,077 95, received during the preceding year. The aggregate +number of acres surveyed during the year has been equal +to the quantity disposed of, and there are open to settlement +about 133,000,000 acres of surveyed land.</p> + +<p>“The great enterprise of connecting the Atlantic with the +Pacific States by railways and telegraph lines has been entered +upon with a vigor that gives assurance of success, notwithstanding +the embarrassments arising from the prevailing high +prices of materials and labor. The route of the main line of +the road has been definitely located for one hundred miles +westward from the initial point at Omaha City, Nebraska, +and a preliminary location of the Pacific Railroad of California +has been made from Sacramento eastward to the great +bend of Mucker river, in Nevada. Numerous discoveries of +gold, silver and cinnabar mines have been added to the many +heretofore known, and the country occupied by the Sierra +Nevada and Rocky Mountains and the subordinate ranges +now teems with enterprising labor which is richly remunerative. +It is believed that the products of the mines of precious<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">343</a></span> +metals in that region have, during the year reached, if not +exceeded, $100,000,000 in value.</p> + +<p>“It was recommended in my last annual message, that our +Indian system be remodeled. Congress, at its last session, +acting upon the recommendation, did provide for reorganizing +the system in California, and it is believed that under the +present organization the management of the Indians there +will be attended with reasonable success. Much yet remains +to be done to provide for the proper government of the Indians +in other parts of the country, to render it secure for the advancing +settler and to provide for the welfare of the Indian. +The Secretary reiterates his recommendations, and to them +the attention of Congress is invited.</p> + +<p>“The liberal provisions made by Congress for paying +pensions to invalid soldiers and sailors of the Republic, and +to the widows, orphans and dependent mothers of those who +have fallen in battle, or died of disease contracted, or of +wounds received in the service of their country, have been +diligently administered.</p> + +<p>“There have been added to the pension rolls during the +year ending the thirtieth day of June last, the names of 16,770 +invalid soldiers, and of 271 disabled seamen, making the +present number of army invalid pensioners 22,767, and of +navy invalid pensioners 712. Of widows, orphans and +mothers, 22,198 have been placed on the army pension rolls, +and 248 on the navy rolls.</p> + +<p>“The present number of Army pensioners of this class is +25,433, and of Navy pensioners 793. At the beginning of +the year, the number of revolutionary pensioners was 1,430. +Only twelve of them were soldiers, of whom seven have since +died. The remainder are those who, under the law, receive +pensions because of relationship to revolutionary soldiers.</p> + +<p>“During the year ending the thirtieth of June, 1864, +$4,504,616 92 have been paid to pensioners of all classes.</p> + +<p>“I cheerfully commend to your continued patronage the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344">344</a></span> +benevolent institutions of the District of Columbia, which +have hitherto been established or fostered by Congress, and +respectfully refer for information concerning them, and in +relation to the Washington Aqueduct, the Capitol, and other +matters of local interest to the report of the Secretary.</p> + +<p>“The Agricultural Department, under the supervision of +its present energetic and faithful head, is rapidly commending +itself to the great and vital interest it was intended to +advance. It is peculiarly the People’s Department, in which +they feel more directly concerned than in any other, I commend +it to the continued attention and fostering care of Congress.</p> + +<p>“The war continues. Since the last annual message, all +the important lines and positions then occupied by our forces +have been maintained, and our armies have steadily advanced, +thus liberating the regions left in the rear, so that Missouri, +Kentucky, Tennessee, and parts of other States have again +produced reasonably fair crops.</p> + +<p>“The most remarkable feature in the military operations +of the year, is General Sherman’s attempted march of three +hundred miles directly through insurgent regions. It tends +to show a great increase of our relative strength, that our +General-in-chief should feel able to confront and hold in check +every active force of the enemy, and yet to detach a well-appointed, +large army to move on such an expedition. The +result not being yet known, conjecture in regard to it is not +here indulged.</p> + +<p>“Important movements have also occurred during the +year to the effect of moulding society for ductility in the +Union. Although short of complete success, it is much in +the right direction that twelve thousand citizens in each of +the States of Arkansas and Louisiana, have organized loyal +State governments with free Constitutions, and are earnestly +struggling to maintain and administer them.</p> + +<p>“The movement in the same direction, more extensive,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345">345</a></span> +though less definite, in Missouri, Kentucky, and Tennessee, +should not be overlooked.</p> + +<p>“But Maryland presents the example of complete success. +Maryland is secure to liberty and union for all the future. +The genius of rebellion will no more claim Maryland. Like +another foul spirit, being driven out, it may seek to tear her +but it will rule her no more.</p> + +<p>“At the last Session of Congress, a proposed amendment +of the Constitution abolishing slavery throughout the United +States, passed the Senate, but failed, for lack of the requisite +two-thirds vote in the House of Representatives. Although +the present is the same Congress, and nearly the same +members, and without question on the patriotism of those +who stood in opposition, I venture to recommend the consideration +and passage of the measure at the present session.</p> + +<p>“Of course the abstract question is not changed, but an +intervening election shows almost certainly that the next +Congress will pass the measure, if this does not. Hence +there is only a question of time as to when the proposed +amendment will go to the States for their action; and as it is +to go at all events, may we not agree that the sooner the +better? It is not claimed that the election has imposed a +duty on members to change their views or their votes any +further than as an additional element to be considered. +Their judgment may be affected by it.</p> + +<p>“It is the voice of the people, now for the first time heard +upon the question. In a great national crisis like ours, +unanimity of action among those seeking a common end is +very desirable, almost indispensable, and yet an approach to +such unanimity is attainable, only as some deference shall be +paid to the will of the majority, simply because it is the will +of the majority.</p> + +<p>“In this case, the common end is the maintenance of the +Union, and among the means to secure that end, such will, +through the election, is most clearly declared in favor of such<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_346" id="Page_346">346</a></span> +Constitutional Amendment. The most reliable indication of +public purpose in this country is derived through our popular +election. Judging by the recent canvass and its result, the +purpose of the people within the loyal States to maintain the +integrity of the Union was never more firm nor more nearly +unanimous than now.</p> + +<p>“The extraordinary calmness and good order with which +the millions of voters met and mingled at the polls, give +strong assurance of this. Not only those who supported the +‘Union Ticket,’ so called, but a great majority of the opposing +party also, may be fairly claimed to entertain and to +be actuated by the same purpose. It is an unanswerable +argument to this effect that no candidate to any office whatever, +high or low, has ventured to seek votes on the avowal +that he was for giving up the Union.</p> + +<p>“There has been much impugning of motives, and heated +controversy as to the proper means and best mode of advancing +the Union cause, but in the distinct issue of Union or no +Union, the politicians have shown their distinctive knowledge +that there is no diversity among the people. In affording +the people a fair opportunity of showing one to another and +to the world this firmness and unanimity of purpose, the +election has been of vast value to the National cause.</p> + +<p>“The election has exhibited another fact not less valuable +to be known in the fact that we do not approach exhaustion +in the most important branch of the national resources, that +of living men. While it is melancholy to reflect that the war +has filled so many graves, and carried mourning to so many +hearts, it is some relief to know that, compared with the surviving, +the fallen have been so few. While corps, and divisions, +and brigades, and regiments have formed, and fought and +dwindled, and gone out of existence, a great majority of the +men who composed them are still living. The same is true +of the naval service. The election returns prove this. So +many votes could not else be found. The States regularly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_347" id="Page_347">347</a></span> +holding elections, both now and four years ago, to wit +California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, +Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, +Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New +York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, +West Virginia, and Wisconsin, cast 3,982,011 votes now +against 3,870,222 then, to which are to be added 33,762 +cast now in the new States of Kansas and Nevada, which +States did not vote in 1860; thus swelling the aggregate to +4,075,773, and the net increase during the three years and a +half of war to 145,751.</p> + +<p>“To this, again, should be added the number of all soldiers +in the field from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Jersey, +Delaware, Indiana, Illinois, and California, who, by the laws +of those States, could not vote away from their homes, and +which number cannot be less than ninety thousand. Nor yet +is this all. The number in organized territories is triple now +what it was four years ago, while thousands, white and black, +join us as the National army forces back the insurgent lines. +So much is shown, affirmatively and negatively, by the +election.</p> + +<p>“It is not natural to inquire how the increase has been +produced, or to show that it would have been greater but for +the war, which is partially true; the important fact remaining +demonstrated, that we have more men now than we had when +the war began; that we are not exhausted, nor in process of +exhaustion; that we are gaining strength, and may, if need +be, maintain the contest indefinitely. This as to men.</p> + +<p>“National resources are now more complete and abundant +than ever; the National resources, then, are unexhausted, and, +as we believe, inexhaustible. The public purpose to reëstablish +and maintain the National authority is unchanged, and, +as we believe, unchangeable. The manner of continuing the +effort remains to choose. On careful consideration of all the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_348" id="Page_348">348</a></span> +evidence accessible, it seems to me that no attempts at negotiation +with the insurgent leader could result in any good.</p> + +<p>“He would accept of nothing short of the severance of the +Union. His declarations to this effect are explicit and oft-repeated. +He does not attempt to deceive us. He affords +us no excuse to deceive ourselves. We cannot voluntarily +yield it. Between him and us the issue is distinct, simple, +and inflexible. It is an issue which can only be tried by war, +and decided by victory.</p> + +<p>“If we yield, we are beaten; if the Southern people fail +him, he is beaten​—​either way, it would be the victory and +defeat following war. What is true, however, of him who +heads the insurgent cause, is not necessarily true of those who +follow. Although he cannot reaccept the Union, they can. +Some of them, we know, already desire peace and reunion. +The number of such may increase.</p> + +<p>“They can at any moment have peace simply by laying +down their arms and submitting to the National authority +under the Constitution. After so much, the Government +could not, if it would, maintain war against them. The loyal +people would not sustain, or allow it. If questions should +remain, we would adjust them by the peaceful means of legislation, +conference, courts, and votes.</p> + +<p>“Operating only in constitutional and lawful channels, some +certain and other possible questions are and would be beyond +the Executive power to adjust; for instance, the admission +of members into Congress, and whatever might require +the appropriation of money.</p> + +<p>“The Executive power itself would be really diminished by +the cessation of actual war. Pardons and remissions of forfeiture, +however, would still be within Executive control. In +what spirit and temper this control would be exercised, can +be fairly judged of by the past. A year ago general pardon +and amnesty upon specified terms were offered to all except +certain designated classes, and it was at this same time made<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_349" id="Page_349">349</a></span> +known that the excepted classes were still within contemplation +of special clemency.</p> + +<p>“During the year many availed themselves of the general +provision, and many more would, only that the sign of bad +faith in some led to such precautionary measures as rendered +the practical power less easy and certain. During the same +time, also, special pardons have been granted to individuals +of excepted classes, and no voluntary individual application +has been denied.</p> + +<p>“Thus, practically, the door has been for a full year open +to all, except such as were not in condition to make free +choice; that is, such as were in custody or under constraint. +It is still so open to all; but the time may come, probably +will come, when public duty shall demand that it be closed, +and that, in lieu, more vigorous measures than heretofore +shall be adopted.</p> + +<p>“In presenting the abandonment of armed resistance to +the National authority, on the part of the insurgents, as the +only indispensable condition to ending the war on the part +of the Government, I retract nothing heretofore said as to +slavery. I repeat the declaration made a year ago, that +while I remain in my present position I shall not attempt to +retract or modify the Emancipation Proclamation, nor shall I +return to slavery any person who is free by the terms of that +proclamation or by any of the acts of Congress.</p> + +<p>“If the people should, by whatever mode, or means, make +it an Executive duty to re-enslave such persons, another, and +not I, must be their instrument to perform it.</p> + +<p>“In stating a single condition of peace, I mean simply to +say that the war will cease on the part of the Government +whenever it shall have ceased on the part of those who +began it.</p> + +<p class="sigright">“<span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln.</span>”</p></blockquote> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_350" id="Page_350">350</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIII" id="CHAPTER_XXIII">CHAPTER XXIII.</a><br /> + +<span class="subhead">TIGHTENING THE LINES.</span></h2> + +<blockquote> + +<p class="hang">Speech at a Serenade​—​Reply to a Presentation Address​—​Peace Rumors​—​Rebel Commissioners​—​Instructions +to Secretary Seward​—​The Conference in Hampton Roads​—​Result​—​Extra +Session of the Senate​—​Military Situation​—​Sherman​—​Charleston​—​Columbia​—​Wilmington​—​Fort +Fisher​—​Sheridan​—​Grant​—​Rebel Congress​—​Second Inauguration​—​Inaugural​—​English +Comment​—​Proclamation to Deserters.</p></blockquote> + +<p>As illustrative of the genial, pleasant manner of the President, +take the following, in response to a serenade, December +6th, 1864:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Friends and Fellow-citizens</span>:​—​I believe I shall never +be old enough to speak without embarrassment when I have +nothing to talk about. I have no good news to tell you, +and yet I have no bad news to tell. We have talked of elections +until there is nothing more to say about them. The +most interesting news we now have is from Sherman. We +all know where he went in at, but I can’t tell where he will +come out at. I will now close by proposing three cheers for +General Sherman and his army.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>On the 24th of January, 1865, having been made the recipient +of a beautiful vase of skeleton leaves, gathered from the +battle-field of Gettysburg, which had been subscribed for at +the great Sanitary Fair, held in Philadelphia during the previous +summer, in reply to the warmly sympathetic and appreciative +address of the Chairman of the Committee entrusted +with the presentation, he said:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Reverend Sir, and Ladies and Gentlemen</span>:​—​I accept, +with emotions of profoundest gratitude, the beautiful gift you +have been pleased to present to me. You will, of course,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_351" id="Page_351">351</a></span> +expect that I acknowledge it. So much has been said about +Gettysburg and so well said, that for me to attempt to say +more may perhaps, only serve to weaken the force of that +which has already been said.</p> + +<p>“A most graceful and eloquent tribute was paid to the +patriotism and self-denying labors of the American ladies, on +the occasion of the consecration of the National Cemetery at +Gettysburg, by our illustrious friend, Edward Everett, now, +alas! departed from earth. His life was a truly great one, +and, I think, the greatest part of it was that which crowned +its closing years.</p> + +<p>“I wish you to read, if you have not already done so, the +glowing, and eloquent, and truthful words which he then +spoke of the women of America. Truly the services they +have rendered to the defenders of our country in this perilous +time, and are yet rendering, can never be estimated as they +ought to be.</p> + +<p>“For your kind wishes to me, personally, I beg leave to +render you, likewise, my sincerest thanks. I assure you they +are reciprocated. And now, gentlemen and ladies, may God +bless you all.”</p></blockquote> + +<div class="tb">*<span class="in2">*</span><span class="in2">*</span><span class="in2">*</span><span class="in2">*</span></div> + +<p>With the opening of the new year, the air​—​as often before​—​was +filled with rumors that the insurgents were anxious to +negotiate for peace.</p> + +<p>Some there were, even among Mr. Lincoln’s friends and +supporters, who were apprehensive that his “To whom it may +concern” announcement of the previous year, was somewhat +too curt and blunt. Without claiming to have as good an +opportunity as the President for judging in the premises, they +could not yet divest themselves of the idea that something +definite and tangible might result from an interview with representatives +from rebeldom; if nothing more, at least a distinct +understanding that no peace could be attained, without +separation, unless it were conquered.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_352" id="Page_352">352</a></span> +Thoroughly familiar with the designs and purposes of the +leading rebels as Mr. Lincoln was, and well aware that any +such attempt must prove futile, he was nevertheless determined +that no valid ground for censure should be afforded by +himself, in case a favorable opening presented itself.</p> + +<p>Accordingly, when he learned​—​as he did during the last +week of January, from his friend, Francis P. Blair, who had +visited Richmond, with the President’s permission​—​that the +managers there were desirous of sending certain persons as +commissioners to learn from the United States Government +upon what terms an adjustment of difficulties could be made, +and that A. H. Stephens, of Georgia, R. M. T. Hunter, of +Virginia, and J. A. Campbell, of Alabama, had been sent +through the enemy’s lines by Davis for the purpose of a conference +upon the subject, Mr. Lincoln, not choosing that the +commissioners should visit Washington, entrusted the matter +to Secretary Seward, furnishing him with the following letter +of instructions, dated Executive Mansion, Washington, January +31st, 1865:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Hon. William H. Seward</span>, Secretary of State:​—​You will +proceed to Fortress Monroe, Virginia, there to meet and +informally confer with Messrs. Stephens, Hunter, and Campbell, +on the basis of my letter to F. P. Blair, Esq., of January +18, 1865, a copy of which you have.</p> + +<p>“You will make known to them that three things are +indispensable, to wit:</p> + +<p>“1. The restoration of national authority throughout all +the States.</p> + +<p>“2. No receding by the Executive of the United States, +on the slavery question, from the position assumed thereon +in the late annual message to Congress, and in preceding +documents.</p> + +<p>“3. No cessation of hostilities short of an end of the war +and the disbanding of all forces hostile to the Government.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_353" id="Page_353">353</a></span> +“You will inform them that all propositions of theirs not +inconsistent with the above, will be considered and passed +upon in a spirit of sincere liberality.</p> + +<p>“You will hear all they may choose to say, and report it to +me.</p> + +<p>“You will not assume to definitely consummate any thing.</p> + +<p class="in4"> +“Yours truly, <span class="right"><span class="smcap">A. Lincoln</span>.”</span><br /> +</p></blockquote> + +<p>On the 2d of February, the President himself left for +the point designated, and on the morning of the 3d, attended +by Mr. Seward, received Messrs. Stephens, Hunter, and +Campbell, on board a United States steamer anchored in +Hampton Roads.</p> + +<p>The conference that ensued was altogether informal. +There was no attendance of Secretaries, clerks, or witnesses. +Nothing was written or read. The conversation, although +earnest and free, was calm and courteous and kind, on both +sides. The Richmond party approached the discussion +rather indirectly, and at no time did they make categorical +demands or tender formal stipulations or absolute refusals; +nevertheless, during the conference, which lasted four hours, +the several points at issue between the Government and +the insurgents were distinctly raised and discussed fully, +intelligently, and in an amicable spirit. What the insurgent +party seemed chiefly to favor was a postponement of the +question of separation, upon which the war was waged, and +a mutual direction of the efforts of the Government as well +as those of the insurgents, to some extraneous policy or +scheme for a season, during which passions might be expected +to subside, and the armies be reduced, and trade and intercourse +between the people of both sections be resumed.</p> + +<p>It was suggested by them that through such postponement +we might have immediate peace, with some, not very certain, +prospect of an ultimate satisfactory adjustment of political +relations between the Government and the States, section or<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_354" id="Page_354">354</a></span> +people engaged in conflict with it. The suggestion, though +deliberately considered, was nevertheless regarded by the +President as one of armistice or truce, and he announced that +we could agree to no cessation or suspension of hostilities +except on the basis of the disbandonment of the insurgent +forces, and the restoration of the national authority throughout +all the States in the Union collaterally, and in subordination +to the proposition which was thus announced.</p> + +<p>The anti-slavery policy of the United States was reviewed +in all its bearings, and the President announced that he must +not be expected to depart from the positions he had heretofore +assumed in his proclamation of emancipation and other documents, +as these positions were reiterated in his annual +message.</p> + +<p>It was further declared by the President that the complete +restoration of the national authority everywhere was an indispensable +condition of any assent on our part to whatever form +of peace might be proposed. The President assured the +other party that while he must adhere to these positions he +would be prepared, so far as power was lodged with the +Executive, to exercise liberality. Its power, however, is +limited by the Constitution, and when peace should be made +Congress must necessarily act in regard to appropriations of +money and to the admission of representatives from the insurrectionary +States.</p> + +<p>The Richmond party were then informed that Congress had, +on the 31st of January, adopted, by a constitutional majority, +a joint resolution submitting to the several States the proposition +to abolish slavery throughout the Union, and that +there was every reason to expect that it would soon be accepted +by three-fourths of the States, so as to become a part +of the national organic law.</p> + +<p>The conference came to an end by mutual acquiescence, +without producing an agreement of views upon the several +matters discussed, or any of them.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_355" id="Page_355">355</a></span> +On the following morning the President and Secretary returned +to Washington, and shortly afterward, in compliance +with a resolution to that effect, Congress was informed in +detail of all that had led to the interview and its issue.</p> + +<p>Thus was spiked the last gun bearing upon the terms on +which the rebels would consent to peace. Whatever might +have been the impression previously it was then well understood +that to the armies in the field then converging toward +Richmond, and not to the Executive of the nation, resort was +to be had for peace upon any basis which loyal men would +indorse.</p> + +<p>On the 17th of February, in accordance with the general +custom at the expiration of a Presidential term, the Senate +was convened in active session by the following proclamation:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Whereas</span>, objects of interest to the United States require +that the Senate should be convened at twelve o’clock on the +fourth of March next, to receive and act upon such communications +as may be made to it on the part of the <span class="locked">Executive​—​</span></p> + +<p>“Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the +United States, have considered it to be my duty to issue this +my proclamation, declaring that an extraordinary occasion +requires the Senate of the United States to convene for the +transaction of business, at the Capitol, in the city of Washington, +on the fourth day of March next, at twelve o’clock at +noon on that day, of which all who shall at that time be +entitled to act as members of that body are hereby required +to take notice.</p> + +<p>“Given under my hand and the seal of the United States, +at Washington, the 17th day of February, in the year of our +Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, and of the +Independence of the United States of America, the eighty-ninth.</p> + +<p> +“By the President: <span class="right"><span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln</span>.</span><br /> + +“<span class="smcap">William. H. Seward</span>, Secretary of State.”<br /> +</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_356" id="Page_356">356</a></span> +At this time, the military situation was very interesting to +every friend of the Union, whatever might have been the +feelings it created among those who had so long been in arms +against the Government.</p> + +<p>Sherman had “come out” at Savannah, capturing it and +presenting it as a Christmas gift to the nation, after an extraordinary +march from Atlanta​—​which he had deprived of +all power for harm​—​directly through the heart of Georgia; +a march as to which the rebel journalists made ludicrous +efforts to be oracular in advance, predicting all manner of +mishaps from the Georgia militia and the various “lions” in +his way.</p> + +<p>Thomas had fallen back leisurely to Nashville, forcing +Hood, his antagonist, who had supplanted Johnston on account +of his fighting qualities, to the loss of almost his entire +army in a sanguinary battle which occurred near that city, +Thomas being the attacking party. With the remnants of +his discomfited force, the fighting general had fallen back, +where was not definitely known, but evidently to some secure +support.</p> + +<p>Sherman having recuperated his army, had left Savannah +and marched into South Carolina, where, according to the +beforenamed veracious chroniclers, he was to flounder in +bogs and quagmires, at the mercy of his valorous foes. He +floundered on, truly​—​floundered, so as to flank Charleston, +that nursery and hot-bed of treason, which had so long insulted +the land​—​and compel its hurried evacuation; floundered, +so as to capture and occupy Columbia, the capital of +the Palmetto State; floundered, so as to threaten Raleigh, +the capital of North Carolina; and at the time of which we +write, had at last floundered to Goldsborough, where he had +effected a connection with another column, which had pierced +to that point after the capture of Wilmington, North Carolina, +the pet port of disinterested blockade-runners​—​a capture +rendered certain by the storming of Fort Fisher, commanding<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_357" id="Page_357">357</a></span> +the entrance to its harbor, in connection with which one +Major-General was made and another unmade​—​whether the +latter result was brought about with or without the coöperation +of the commander of the naval part of the expedition, it +boots not here to inquire.</p> + +<p>Whither Sherman would flounder next became to all +rebeldom a question of the very deepest interest. Davis +having been compelled by his Congress to assign the discarded +Johnston to a command, and Lee to the command of all the +rebel armies, Johnston was dispatched to head Sherman off, +should he be insane enough to attempt to move any nearer +Richmond​—​a species of insanity to which, it must be confessed, +he had shown a marked tendency.</p> + +<p>Sheridan, too, having chased Early up and out of the +Shenandoah Valley​—​that Early the one of whom his troops +were wont to remark, that his principal business seemed to +be “to trade Confederate cannon for Yankee whiskey”​—​had +been raiding around Richmond in whatsoever direction he +listed, severing communications, gobbling up supplies, and +creating a general consternation.</p> + +<p>And still the bull-dog’s teeth were firmly fastened in his +victim. Not twistings, nor squirmings, nor strugglings, nor +counterbites could do more than to defer​—​and that but for a +short time​—​the inevitable.</p> + +<p>The rebel congress, at the very last moment of its last +session, had squeezed through a bill for arming the slaves, +and Davis had grimly wished them a safe and pleasant +journey to their respective homes. It was too late, both for +the slaves and the homes.</p> + +<p>Meantime, on Saturday, March 4th​—​a day which opened +unpropitiously, so far as the elements were concerned, but +which redeemed itself before noontide, becoming bright and +cheerful​—​at the hour appointed, the oath of office was for the +second time administered to Mr. Lincoln​—​not, however, by +the same Chief Justice, for Roger B. Taney slept with his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_358" id="Page_358">358</a></span> +fathers, and in his place stood Salmon P. Chase​—​after +which, on a staging erected at the eastern portico of the +Capitol, he read in a clear, distinct voice, his second inaugural, +occupying not more than ten minutes in the act:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Fellow-countrymen</span>:​—​At this second appearing to take +the oath of the Presidential office, there is less occasion for +an extended address than there was at the first. Then a +statement somewhat in detail of a course to be pursued +seemed very fitting and proper. Now, at the expiration of +four years, during which public declarations have constantly +been called forth on every point and phase of the great contest +which still absorbs the attention and engrosses the +energies of the nation, little that is new could be presented.</p> + +<p>“The progress of our arms, upon which all else chiefly +depends, is as well known to the public as to myself, and it +is, I trust, reasonably satisfactory and encouraging to all. +With high hope for the future, no prediction in regard to it +is ventured. On the occasion corresponding to this four +years ago, all thoughts were anxiously directed to an impending +civil war. All dreaded it, all sought to avoid it. +While the inaugural address was being delivered from this +place, devoted altogether to saving the Union without war, +insurgent agents were in the city seeking to destroy it, without +war; seeking to dissolve the Union and divide the effects +by negotiation.</p> + +<p>“Both parties deprecated war, but one of them would +make war rather than let the nation survive, and the other +would accept war rather than let it perish, and the war came.</p> + +<p>“One-eighth of the whole population were colored slaves, +not distributed generally over the Union, but located in the +southern part of it. These slaves constituted a peculiar and +powerful interest. All knew that this interest was somehow +the cause of the war. To strengthen, perpetuate and extend +this interest was the object for which the insurgents would<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_359" id="Page_359">359</a></span> +rend the Union by war, while the Government claimed no +right to do more than to restrict the territorial enlargement +of it. Neither party expected the magnitude or the duration +which it has already attained. Neither anticipated that the +cause of the conflict might cease, even before the conflict +itself should cease. Each looked for an easier triumph and a +result less fundamental and astounding. Both read the same +Bible and pray to the same God, and each invokes his aid +against the other. It may seem strange that any man should +dare to ask a just God’s assistance in wringing his bread from +the sweat of other men’s faces. But let us judge not, that +we be not judged.</p> + +<p>“The prayer of both should not be answered. That of +neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has his +own purposes. ‘Woe unto the world because of offences, for +it must needs be that offences come, but woe to that man by +whom the offence cometh.’ If we shall suppose that American +slavery is one of these offences which, in the providence +of God, must needs come, but 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 due to those by whom the offence came, shall we +discern therein any departure from those Divine attributes +which the believers in a living God always ascribe to him?</p> + +<p>“Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray that this +mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if +God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the +bondman’s two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil +shall be sunk and until every drop of blood drawn by the +lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was +said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said, that +the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.</p> + +<p>“With malice towards none, with charity for all, with +firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us +strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_360" id="Page_360">360</a></span> +wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and +for his widow and his orphans, to do all which may achieve +and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and +with all nations.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>Of this address​—​which was of course made the subject for +the coarsest comments of those who enjoyed nought so much +as aiding the pack that hounded Mr. Lincoln while living​—​an +English journal, second to none in ability and judgment, +and leader of the better class of thinkers in that country, +thus spoke:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“It is the most remarkable thing of the sort, ever pronounced +by any President of the United States from the first +day until now. Its Alpha and its Omega is <i>Almighty God</i>, +the God of justice and the Father of mercies, who is working +out the purposes of his love. It is invested with a dignity +and pathos, which lift it high above every thing of the kind, +whether in the Old World or the New. The whole thing +puts us in mind of the best men of the English Commonwealth; +there is, in fact, much of the old prophet about it.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>On the 16th of March, in accordance with an Act of Congress, +grace was extended to deserters by the following proclamation:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Whereas</span>, The twenty-first section of the act of Congress, +approved on the 3d instant, entitled ‘an act to amend the +several acts heretofore passed to provide for the enrolling and +calling out of the National forces, and for other purposes,’ requires +that, in addition to the other lawful penalties of the +crime of desertion from the military or naval service, ‘all +persons who have deserted the military or naval service of +the United States, who shall not return to the said service +or report themselves to a provost-marshal within sixty days +after the proclamation hereinafter mentioned, shall be deemed +and taken to have voluntarily relinquished and forfeited their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_361" id="Page_361">361</a></span> +rights to become citizens; and such deserters shall be forever +incapable of holding any office of trust or profit under the +United States, or of exercising any rights of citizens thereof; +and all persons who shall hereafter desert the military or +naval service, and all persons who, being duly enrolled, shall +depart the jurisdiction of the district in which he is enrolled, +or go beyond the limits of the United States, with the intent +to avoid any draft into the military or naval service duly ordered, +shall be liable to the penalties of this section. And +the President is hereby authorized and required forthwith, on +the passage of this act, to issue his proclamation setting forth +the provisions of this section, in which proclamation the +President is requested to notify all deserters returning within +sixty days, as aforesaid, that they shall be pardoned on condition +of returning to their regiments and companies, or to +such other organizations as they may be assigned to, unless +they shall have served for a period of time, equal to their +original term of enlistment’​—​</p> + +<p>“Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the +United States, do issue this my proclamation, as required by +said act, ordering and requiring all deserters to return to +their proper posts, and I do hereby notify them that all +deserters who shall within sixty days from the date of this +proclamation, viz.: on or before the tenth day of May, 1865, +return to service, or report themselves to a provost-marshal, +shall be pardoned, on condition that they return to their regiments +and companies or such other organizations as they may +be assigned to, and serve the remainder of their original terms +of enlistment, and, in addition thereto, a period equal to the +time lost by desertion.</p> + +<p>“In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and +caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.</p> + +<p>“Done at the city of Washington, this eleventh day of +March, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_362" id="Page_362">362</a></span> +and sixty-five, and of the Independence of the United States +the eighty-ninth.</p> + +<p> +“By the President: <span class="right"><span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln</span>.</span><br /> + +“<span class="smcap">W. H. Seward</span>, Secretary of State.”<br /> +</p></blockquote> + +<hr /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIV" id="CHAPTER_XXIV">CHAPTER XXIV.</a><br /> + +<span class="subhead">IN RICHMOND.</span></h2> + +<blockquote> + +<p class="hang">President Visits City Point​—​Lee’s Failure​—​Grant’s Movement​—​Abraham Lincoln in +Richmond​—​Lee’s Surrender​—​President’s Impromptu Speech​—​Speech on Reconstruction​—​Proclamation +Closing Certain Ports​—​Proclamation Relative to Maritime Rights​—​Supplementary +Proclamation​—​Orders from the War Department​—​The Traitor President.</p></blockquote> + +<p>On the afternoon of the 23d of March, 1865, the President, +accompanied by Mrs. Lincoln, his youngest son, and a few invited +guests, left Washington for an excursion to City Point. +The trip was taken under advice of his medical attendant, his +health having become somewhat impaired by his unremitting +attention to the pressing duties of his office.</p> + +<p>A desperate attempt had been made by Lee to break +through the lines surrounding him. Assaulting our right +centre, he had been repulsed with a severe loss.</p> + +<p>Shortly after, Grant determined that the moment had +arrived for his advance. A movement was ordered along +the entire line​—​Petersburg fell​—​Richmond was abandoned +in hot haste​—​and Lee’s routed army “driven to the wall.”</p> + +<p>During the progress of the movement, the President forwarded, +from time to time, the particulars​—​pressed on to +the evacuated Capital​—​entered it, conspicuous amid the +sweeping mass of men, women, and children, black, white, +and yellow, running, shouting, dancing, swinging their caps, +bonnets, and handkerchiefs​—​passed on to the deserted mansion +of the rebel chief, cheer upon cheer going up from the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_363" id="Page_363">363</a></span> +excited multitude​—​there held a levee​—​left the same evening +for City Point​—​and soon afterward returned to Washington.</p> + +<p>Lee, hemmed in on every side, soon after surrendered; the +terms of capitulation, which were dictated by the magnanimous +President, and dated Appomattox Court House, April ninth, +1865, being as follows:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">General Robert E. Lee, Army C. S.</span>:​—​In accordance +with the substance of my letter to you of the 8th inst., I propose +to receive the surrender of the army of Northern Virginia +on the following terms, to wit: Rolls of all the officers +and men to be made in duplicate, one copy to be given to an +officer designated by me, the other to be retained by such +officer or officers as you may designate, the officers to give +their individual paroles not to take up arms against the +Government of the United States until properly exchanged, +and each company or regimental commander to sign a like +parole for the men of their commands. The arms, artillery, +and public property to be parked and stacked, and turned +over to the officers appointed by me to receive them. This +will not embrace the side arms of the officers, nor their private +horses or baggage. This done, each officer and man will be +allowed to return to their homes, not to be disturbed by +United States authority so long as they observe their parole +and the laws in force where they may reside.</p> + +<p class="sigright"> +<span class="l4">“Very respectfully,</span><br /> +“<span class="smcap">U. S. Grant</span>, Lieutenant-General.” +</p></blockquote> + +<p>Johnston was next in order; and toward him Sherman was +in motion.</p> + +<p>The night following the President’s arrival in Washington, +the workmen of the Navy-yard formed in procession, marched +to the White House, in front of which thousands were assembled, +bands playing, and the entire throng alive with excitement.</p> + +<p>Repeated calls having been made for him, he appeared at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_364" id="Page_364">364</a></span> +the window, on the entrance door, calm amid the tumult, and +was greeted with cheers and waving of hats.</p> + +<p>Comparative silence having been secured, he said:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">My Friends</span>:​—​I am very greatly rejoiced that an occasion +has occurred so pleasurable that the people can’t restrain +themselves. I suppose that arrangements are being made +for some sort of formal demonstration​—​perhaps this evening +or to-morrow night. If there should be such a demonstration, +I, of course, will have to respond to it; and I will have +nothing to say if you dribble it out of me.</p> + +<p>“I see you have a band. I propose now closing up by +requesting you to play a certain piece of music, or a tune​—​I +thought ‘Dixie’ one of the best tunes I ever heard.</p> + +<p>“I had heard that our adversaries over the way had attempted +to appropriate it. I insisted yesterday we had +fairly captured it! I presented the question to the Attorney +General, and he gave it as his opinion that it is our lawful +prize. I ask the band to give us a good turn upon it.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>The band accordingly played “Dixie,” with extraordinary +vigor, when “three cheers and a tiger” were given, followed +by the tune of “Yankee Doodle.” The President then proposed +three rousing cheers for Grant and all under his command​—​and +next, three cheers for the Navy and all its forces.</p> + +<p>The President then retired, amid cheers, the tune of “Hail +Columbia,” and the firing of cannon.</p> + +<p>On the night of the eleventh of April, the Executive Departments, +including the President’s House, as also many places +of business and private residences, were illuminated, and +adorned with transparencies and national flags; bon-fires +blazed in various parts of the city; and rockets were fired.</p> + +<p>In response to the unanimous call of the thousands of +both sexes who surrounded the Executive Mansion, Mr. Lincoln +appeared at an upper window, and when the cheering<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_365" id="Page_365">365</a></span> +with which he was greeted had subsided, spoke as follows +in his last public speech:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Fellow-Citizens</span>:​—​We meet this evening, not in sorrow, +but in gladness of heart. The evacuation of Petersburg and +Richmond, and the surrender of the principal insurgent +army, give hope of a righteous and speedy peace, whose joyous +expression cannot be restrained.</p> + +<p>“In the midst of this, however, He, from whom all blessings +flow, must not be forgotten. A call for a National +Thanksgiving is being prepared, and will be duly promulgated.</p> + +<p>“Nor must those, whose harder part gives us the cause of +rejoicing, be overlooked​—​and their honors must not be parcelled +out. With others I myself was near the front, and +had the high pleasure of transmitting much of the good news +to you, but no part of the honor, or praise, or execution, is +mine. To General Grant, his skilful officers and brave men, +all belongs. The gallant Navy stood ready, but was not in +reach to take an active part. By these recent successes the +reinauguration of the national authority, and the reconstruction, +which has had a large share of thought from the first, +is pressed much more closely upon our attention.</p> + +<p>“It is fraught with great difficulty. Unlike the case of a +war between independent nations, there is no authorized +organ for us to treat with. No one man has authority to +give up the rebellion for any other man. We simply must +begin with and mould from disorganized and discordant elements. +Nor is it a small additional embarrassment, that we +the loyal people, differ amongst ourselves as to the mode, +manner, and measure of reconstruction.</p> + +<p>“As a general rule, I abstain from reading the reports of +attacks upon myself, wishing not to be provoked by that to +which I cannot properly offer an answer; for, spite of this +precaution, however, it comes to my knowledge that I am<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_366" id="Page_366">366</a></span> +much censured from some supposed agency in setting up and +seeking to sustain the new State Government of Louisiana. +In this I have done just so much and no more than the public +knows. In the annual Message of December, 1863, and +the accompanying Proclamation, I presented a plan of reconstruction, +as the phrase goes, which I promised, if adopted +by any State, should be acceptable to and sustained by the +Executive Government of the nation.</p> + +<p>“I distinctly stated that this was not the only plan which +might possibly be acceptable; and I also distinctly protested +that the Executive claimed no right to say when or whether +members should be admitted to seats in Congress from such +States. This plan was in advance submitted to the then +Cabinet, and as distinctly approved by every member of it.</p> + +<p>“One of them suggested that I should then, and in that connection, +apply the Emancipation Proclamation to the theretofore +excepted parts of Virginia and Louisiana; that I should +drop the suggestion about apprenticeship for freed people; +and that I should omit the protest against my own power in +regard to the admission of members of Congress; but even he +approved every part and parcel of the plan which has since +been employed or touched by the action of Louisiana. The +new Constitution of Louisiana, declaring emancipation for the +whole State, particularly applies the proclamation to the part +previously excepted. It does not adopt apprenticeship for +freed people, and it is silent​—​as it could not well be otherwise​—​about +the admission of members to Congress; so that, +as it applies to Louisiana, every member of the Cabinet fully +approved the plan.</p> + +<p>“The message went to Congress, and I received many +commendations of the plan, written and verbal, and not a +single objection to it by any professed emancipationist came +to my knowledge until after the news reached Washington +that the people of Louisiana had begun to move in accordance +with it. From about July, 1862, I had corresponded with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_367" id="Page_367">367</a></span> +different persons supposed to be interested in seeking a reconstruction +of a State Government for Louisiana. When the +message of 1863, with the plan before mentioned, reached +New Orleans, and General Banks wrote me that he was confident +the people, with his military coöperation, would reconstruct +substantially on that plan, I wrote him and some of +them to try it. They tried it, and the result is known.</p> + +<p>“Such only has been my agency in getting up the Louisiana +Government. As to sustaining it, my promise is out, as +before stated; but, as bad promises are better broken than +kept, I shall treat this as a bad promise, and break it whenever +I shall be convinced that keeping it is adverse to the +public interest. But I have not yet been so convinced.</p> + +<p>“I have been shown a letter on this subject, supposed to +be an able one, in which the writer expresses regret that my +mind has not seemed to be definitely fixed on the question +whether the seceded States, so called, are in the Union or out +of it. It would, perhaps, add astonishment to his regret +were he to learn that since I have found professed Union men +endeavoring to make that a question, I have purposely forborne +any public expression upon it, as it appears to me that +question has not been, nor yet is, a practically material one, +and that any discussion of it while it thus remains practically +material could have no effect other than the mischievous one +of dividing our friends.</p> + +<p>“As yet, whatever it may become hereafter, that question +is bad, as the basis of a controversy, and good for nothing at +all, a merely pernicious abstraction. We all agree that the +seceded States, so-called, are out of their proper practical +relation with the Union, and that the sole object of the Government, +civil and military, in regard to those States, is to +again get them into that proper practical relation. I believe +it is not only possible, but in fact easier to do this without +deciding or even considering whether these States have ever +been out of the Union, than with it; finding themselves safely<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_368" id="Page_368">368</a></span> +at home, it would be utterly immaterial whether they had +ever been abroad.</p> + +<p>“Let us all join in doing the acts necessary to restoring the +proper practical relations between these States and the Union, +and each forever after, innocently indulge his own opinion +whether in doing the acts he brought the States from without +into the Union, or only gave them proper assistance, they +never having been out of it.</p> + +<p>“The amount of constituency, so to speak, on which the +new Louisiana Government rests, would be more satisfactory +to all if it contained 50,000, 30,000, or even 20,000, instead +of only about 12,000, as it does.</p> + +<p>“It is also unsatisfactory to some that the elective franchise +is not given to the colored men. I would myself prefer that +it were conferred on the very intelligent, and on those who +serve our cause as soldiers. Still the question is not whether +the Louisiana Government, as it stands, is quite all that is +desirable. The question is, will it be wiser to take it as it is, +and help to improve it, or to reject and disperse it? Can +Louisiana be brought into proper practical relation with the +Union sooner by sustaining or by discarding her new State +Government?</p> + +<p>“Some twelve thousand voters in the heretofore slave State +of Louisiana have sworn allegiance to the Union, assumed to +be the rightful political power of the State, held elections, +organized a State government, adopted a free State constitution, +giving the benefit of public schools equally to black and +white, and empowering the Legislature to confer the elective +franchise upon the colored man. Their Legislature has +already voted to ratify the Constitutional amendment recently +passed by Congress, abolishing slavery throughout the +Nation. These twelve thousand persons are thus fully committed +to the Union, and to perpetual freedom in the State​—​committed +to the very beings and nearly all the things the +Nation wants​—​and they ask the Nation’s recognition and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_369" id="Page_369">369</a></span> +its assistance to make good their committal. Now, if we +reject and spurn them, we do our utmost to disorganize and +disperse them. We, in fact, say to the white man, ‘You are +worthless, or worse; we will neither help you nor be helped +by you.’ To the blacks we say, ‘This cup of liberty which +your old masters there hold to your lips we will dash from +you, and leave you to the chances of gathering the spilled +and scattered contents in some vague and undefined way +when, where, and how.’ If this course, by discouraging and +paralyzing both white and black, has any tendency to bring +Louisiana into proper practical relations with the Union, I +have so far been unable to perceive it. If, on the contrary, +we recognize and sustain the new Government of Louisiana, +the converse of all this is made true.</p> + +<p>“We encourage the hearts and nerve the arms of the +twelve thousand to adhere to their work, and argue for it, and +proselyte for it, and fight for it, and feed it, and grow it, and +ripen it, to a complete success. The colored man, too, in +seeing all united for him, is inspired with vigilance, and +energy, and daring to the same end. Grant that he desires +the elective franchise, will he not attain it sooner by saving +the already advanced steps toward it than by running backward +over them? Concede that the new Government of +Louisiana is only what it should be, as the egg is to the fowl, +we shall sooner have the fowl by hatching the egg, than by +smashing it. [Laughter.]</p> + +<p>“Again, if we reject Louisiana, we also reject our vote in +favor of the proposed amendment to the National Constitution. +To meet this proposition, it has been argued that no +more than three-fourths of those States which have not attempted +secession are necessary to validly ratify the amendment. +I do not commit myself against this, further than to +say that such a ratification would be questionable, and sure +to be persistently questioned, while a ratification by three-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_370" id="Page_370">370</a></span>fourths +of all the States would be unquestioned and unquestionable.</p> + +<p>“I repeat the question. Can Louisiana be brought into +proper practical relation with the Union sooner by sustaining +or by discarding her new State Government? What has +been said of Louisiana will apply severally to other States; +yet so great peculiarities pertain to each State, and such important +and sudden changes occur in the same State, and +withal so new and unprecedented is the whole case, that no +exclusive and inflexible plan can safely be prescribed. As to +details and collaterals, such an exclusive and inflexible plan +would surely become a new entanglement. Important principles +may and must be inflexible.</p> + +<p>“In the present situation, as the phrase goes, it may be +my duty to make some new announcement to the people of +the South. I am considering, and shall not fail to act when +satisfied that action will be proper.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>On the 11th of April, also, appeared the following proclamation:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Whereas</span>, By my proclamation of the 19th and 27th days +of April, 1861, the ports of the United States of Virginia, +North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, +Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas were declared to be subject +to blockade, but whereas the said blockade has, in consequence +of actual military occupation by this Government, +since then been conditionally set aside or released in respect +to the ports of Norfolk and Alexandria, in the State of Virginia, +Beaufort, in the State of North Carolina, Port Royal, +in the State of South Carolina, Pensacola and Fernandina, in +the State of Florida, and New Orleans, in the State of Louisiana; +and whereas, by the 4th section of the act of Congress +approved on the 13th of July, 1861, entitled ‘an act further +to provide for the collection of duties on imports, and for other<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_371" id="Page_371">371</a></span> +purposes,’ the President, for the reasons therein set forth, is +authorized to close certain ports of entry.</p> + +<p>“Now, therefore, be it known that I, <span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln</span>, +President of the United States, do hereby proclaim that the +ports of Richmond, Tappahannock, Cherry Stone, Yorktown, +and Petersburg, in Virginia; of Camden, Elizabeth City, +Edenton, Plymouth, Washington, Newbern, Ocracoke, and +Wilmington, in North Carolina; of Charleston, Georgetown, +and Beaufort, in South Carolina; of Savannah, St. Marys, +Brunswick, and Darien, in Georgia; of Mobile, in Alabama; +of Pearl river, Shieldsboro’, Natchez, and Vicksburg, in Mississippi; +of St. Augustine, Key West, St. Marks, Port Leon, +St. Johns, Jacksonville, and Apalachicola, in Florida; of +Teche and Franklin, in Louisiana; of Galveston, La Salle, +Brazos de Santiago, Point Isabel, and Brownsville, in Texas, +are hereby closed, and all rights of importation, warehousing, +and other privileges shall, in respect to the ports aforesaid, +cease until they shall again have been opened by order of the +President; and if, while said ports are so closed, any ship or +vessel from beyond the United States, or having on board +any articles subject to duties, shall attempt to enter any such +port, the same, together with its tackle, apparel, furniture, +and cargo, shall be forfeited to the United States.</p> + +<p>“In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and +caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.</p> + +<p>“Done at the City of Washington this eleventh day of April, +in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and +sixty-five, and of the Independence of the United States of +America the eighty-ninth.</p> + +<p class="sigright b0"> +“Abraham Lincoln.</p> + +<p class="p0">“William H. Seward, Secretary of State.” +</p></blockquote> + +<p>And on the same day the following:</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_372" id="Page_372">372</a></span></p><blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Whereas</span>, for some time past vessels-of-war of the United +States have been refused in certain foreign ports privileges +and immunities to which they were entitled by treaty, public +law, or the comity of nations, at the same time that vessels-of-war +of the country wherein the said privileges and immunities +have been withheld have enjoyed them fully and uninterruptedly +in ports of the United States, which condition of +things has not always been forcibly resisted by the United +States, although, on the other hand, they have not at any +time failed to protest against and declare their dissatisfaction +with the same. In the view of the United States no +condition any longer exists which can be claimed to justify +the denial to them by any one of said nations of customary +naval rights, such as has heretofore been so unnecessarily +persisted <span class="locked">in​—​</span></p> + +<p>“Now, therefore, I, <span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln</span>, President of the +United States, do hereby make known that if after a +reasonable time shall have elapsed for intelligence of this +proclamation to have reached any foreign country in whose +ports the said privileges and immunities shall have been +refused as aforesaid, they shall continue to be so refused, +then and thenceforth the same privileges and immunities +shall be refused to the vessels-of-war of that country in the +ports of the United States; and this refusal shall continue +until war-vessels of the United States shall have been placed +upon an entire equality in the foreign ports aforesaid with +vessels of other countries. <i>The United States, whatever +claim or pretence may have existed heretofore, are now at +least entitled to claim and concede an entire and friendly +equality of rights and hospitalities with all maritime +nations.</i></p> + +<p>“In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and +caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.</p> + +<p>“Done at the city of Washington this eleventh day of +April, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_373" id="Page_373">373</a></span> +and sixty-five, and of the Independence of the United States +the eighty-ninth.</p> + +<p> +“By the President: <span class="right"><span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln</span>.</span><br /> + +“<span class="smcap">William H. Seward</span>, Secretary of State.”<br /> +</p></blockquote> + +<p>And, on the twelfth April, the following supplementary +proclamation:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Whereas</span>, By my proclamation of this date the port of +Key West, in the State of Florida, was inadvertently included +among those which are not open to commerce:</p> + +<p>“Now, therefore, be it known that I, <span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln</span>, +President of the United States, do hereby declare and make +known that the said port of Key West is and shall remain +open to foreign and domestic commerce, upon the same conditions +by which that commerce has hitherto been governed.</p> + +<p>“In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and +caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.</p> + +<p>“Done at the City of Washington this eleventh day of +April, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred +and sixty-five, and of the Independence of the United States +of America, the eighty-ninth.</p> + +<p> +“By the President: <span class="right"><span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln</span>.</span><br /> + +“<span class="smcap">Wm. H. Seward</span>, Secretary of State.”<br /> +</p></blockquote> + +<p>The light in which the administration regarded the position +of affairs can best be judged from the following official +bulletin from the War Department, bearing date April thirteenth, +1865:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“This Department, after mature consideration and consultation +with the Lieutenant-General upon the results of the +recent campaigns, has come to the following determination, +which will be carried into effect by appropriate orders, to be +immediately issued:</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_374" id="Page_374">374</a></span></p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<i>First.</i> To stop all drafting and recruiting in the loyal +States.</p> + +<p>“<i>Second.</i> To curtail purchases for arms, ammunition, +quartermaster’s and commissary supplies, and reduce the +expenses of the military establishment and its several +branches.</p> + +<p>“<i>Third.</i> To reduce the number of general and staff officers +to the actual necessities of the service.</p> + +<p>“<i>Fourth.</i> To remove all military restrictions upon trade +and commerce, so far as may be consistent with the public +safety.</p> + +<p>“As soon as these measures can be put in operation, it +will be made known by public orders.</p> + +<p class="sigright"> +“<span class="smcap">Edwin M. Stanton</span>, Secretary of War.”<br /> +</p></blockquote> + +<p>The Traitor President, who, on the fifth of April, had issued +a proclamation to the effect that he should hold on to Virginia​—​where +was he at this time?</p> + +<hr /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXV" id="CHAPTER_XXV">CHAPTER XXV.</a><br /> + +<span class="subhead">THE LAST ACT.</span></h2> + +<blockquote> + +<p class="hang">Interview with Mr. Colfax​—​Cabinet Meeting​—​Incident​—​Evening Conversation​—​Possibility +of Assassination​—​Leaves for the Theatre​—​In the Theatre​—​Precautions for the +Murder​—​The Pistol Shot​—​Escape of the Assassin​—​Death of the President​—​Pledges +Redeemed​—​Situation of the Country​—​Effect of the Murder​—​Obsequies at Washington​—​Borne +Home​—​Grief of the People​—​At Rest.</p></blockquote> + +<p>On the morning of Friday, April fourteenth, 1865, after an +interesting conversation with his eldest son, Robert, a captain +on General Grant’s staff, relative to the surrender of Lee, +with the details of which the son was familiar, the President, +hearing that Schuyler Colfax, Speaker of the House of Representatives,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_375" id="Page_375">375</a></span> +was in the Executive Mansion, invited the latter +to a chat in the reception-room, and during the following +hour the talk turned upon his future policy toward the rebellion​—​a +matter which he was about to submit to his Cabinet.</p> + +<p>After an interview with John P. Hale, then recently +appointed Minister to Spain, as well as with several Senators +and Representatives, a Cabinet meeting was held, at eleven +o’clock, General Grant being present, which proved to be one +of the most satisfactory and important consultations held +since his first inauguration. The future policy of the Administration +was harmoniously and unanimously agreed upon, +and upon the adjournment of the meeting the Secretary of +War remarked that the Government was then stronger than +at any period since the commencement of the rebellion.</p> + +<p>It was afterwards remembered that at this meeting the +President turned to General Grant and asked him if he had +heard from General Sherman. General Grant replied that he +had not, but was in hourly expectation of receiving dispatches +from him, announcing the surrender of Johnston.</p> + +<p>“Well,” said the President, “you will hear very soon now +and the news will be important.”</p> + +<p>“Why do you think so?” said the General.</p> + +<p>“Because,” said Mr. Lincoln, “I had a dream last night, +and ever since the war began I have invariably had the same +dream before any very important military event has occurred.” +He then instanced Bull Run, Antietam, Gettysburg, etc., and +said that before each of these events he had had the same +dream, and turning to Secretary Welles, said:</p> + +<p>“It is in your line, too, Mr. Welles. The dream is that I +saw a ship sailing very rapidly, and I am sure that it portends +some important national event.”</p> + +<p>In the afternoon, a long and pleasant conversation was held +with eminent citizens from Illinois.</p> + +<p>In the evening, during a talk with Messrs. Colfax and +Ashman​—​the latter of whom presided at the Chicago Convention,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_376" id="Page_376">376</a></span> +in 1860​—​speaking about his trip to Richmond, when +the suggestion was made that there was much uneasiness at +the North while he was at what had been the rebel capital, +for fear that some traitor might shoot him, Mr. Lincoln +reportively replied, that he would have been alarmed himself, +if any other person had been President and gone there, but +that, as for himself, he did not feel in any danger whatever.</p> + +<p>This possibility of an assassination had been presented +before to the President’s mind, but it had not occasioned him +a moment’s uneasiness. A member of his Cabinet one day +said to him, “Mr. Lincoln, you are not sufficiently careful of +yourself. There are bad men in Washington. Did it never +occur to you that there are rebels among us who are bad +enough to attempt your life?” The President stepped to a +desk and drew from a pigeon-hole a package of letters. +“There,” said he, “every one of these contains a threat to +assassinate me. I might be nervous, if I were to dwell upon +the subject, but I have come to this conclusion: there are +opportunities to kill me every day of my life, if there are +persons disposed to do it. It is not possible to avoid +exposure to such a fate, and I shall not trouble myself +about it.”</p> + +<p>Upon the evening alluded to, while conversing upon a +matter of business with Mr. Ashman, he saw that the +latter was surprised at a remark which he had made, when, +prompted by his well-known desire to avoid any thing offensive, +he immediately said, “You did not understand me, +Ashman: I did not mean what you inferred, and I will take +it all back, and apologize for it.” He afterward gave Mr. +A. a card, admitting himself and friend for a further conversation +early in the morning.</p> + +<p>Turning to Mr. Colfax, he said, “You are going with Mrs. +Lincoln and me to the theatre, I hope.” The President and +General Grant had previously accepted an invitation to be +present that evening at Ford’s Theatre, but the General had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_377" id="Page_377">377</a></span> +been obliged to leave for the North. Mr. Lincoln did not +like to entirely disappoint the audience, as the announcement +had been publicly made, and had determined to fulfil his +acceptance.</p> + +<p>Mr. Colfax, however, declining on account of other engagements, +Mr. Lincoln said to him, “Mr. Sumner has the gavel +of the Confederate Congress, which he got at Richmond to +hand to the Secretary of War. But I insisted then that he +must give it to you; and you tell him for me to hand it over.” +Mr. Ashman alluded to the gavel, still in his possession, +which he had used at Chicago; and about half an hour after +the time they had intended to leave for the theatre, the President +and Mrs. Lincoln rose to depart, the former reluctant +and speaking about remaining at home a half hour longer.</p> + +<p>At the door he stopped and said, “Colfax, do not forget +to tell the people in the mining regions, as you pass through +them, what I told you this morning about the development +when peace comes, and I will telegraph you at San Francisco.” +Having shaken hands with both gentlemen and +bidden them a pleasant good-bye, the President with his +party left for the theatre.</p> + +<p>The box occupied by them was on the second tier above +the stage, at the right of the audience, the entrance to it +being by a door from the adjoining gallery. One, who had +planned Mr. Lincoln’s assassination with extraordinary precautions +against any failure, having effected an entrance by +deceiving the guard, found himself in a dark corridor, of +which the wall made an acute angle with the door. The +assassin had previously gouged a channel from the plaster +and placed near by a stout piece of board, which he next +inserted between the wall and the panel of the door.</p> + +<p>Ingress then being rendered impossible, he next turned +toward the entrances to the President’s box, two in number, +as the box by a sliding partition could, at pleasure, be converted +into two. The door at the bottom of the passage was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_378" id="Page_378">378</a></span> +open; that nearer the assassin was closed. Both had spring-locks, +but their screws had been carefully loosened so as to +yield to a slight pressure, if necessary.</p> + +<p>Resort was had to the hither door, in which a small hole +had been bored, for the purpose of securing a view of the +interior of the box, the door first described having first been +fastened, and the discovery made that the occupants had +taken seats as follows: the President in the arm-chair +nearest the audience, Mrs. Lincoln next, then, after a considerable +space, a Miss Clara Harris in the corner nearest +the stage, and a Major H. R. Rathbone on a lounge along +the further wall.</p> + +<p>The play was, “Our American Cousin.” While all were +intent upon its representation, the report of a pistol first announced +the presence of the assassin, who uttered the word +“Freedom!” and advanced toward the front. The Major +having discerned the murderer through the smoke, and grappled +with him, the latter dropped his pistol and aimed with +a knife at the breast of his antagonist, who caught the blow +in the upper part of his left arm, but was unable to detain the +desperado, though he immediately seized him again. The +villain, however, leaped some twelve feet down upon the +open stage, tangling his spur in the draped flag below the +box and stumbling in his fall.</p> + +<p>Recovering himself immediately, he flourished his dagger, +shouted “<i>Sic semper tyrannis</i>” and “<i>The South is avenged</i>,” +retreated successfully through the labyrinth of the theatre​—​perfectly +familiar to him​—​to his horse in waiting below. +Between the deed of blood and the escape there was not the +lapse of a minute. The hour was about half-past ten. There +was but one pursuer, and he from the audience, but he was +outstripped.</p> + +<p>The meaning of the pistol-shot was soon ascertained. +Mr. Lincoln had been shot in the back of the head, behind +the left ear, the ball traversing an oblique line to the right<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_379" id="Page_379">379</a></span> +ear. He was rendered instantly unconscious, and never knew +friends or pain again. Having been conveyed as soon as +possible to a house opposite the theatre, he expired there the +next morning, April fifteenth, 1865, at twenty-two minutes +past seven o’clock, attended by the principal members of his +Cabinet and other friends, from all of whom the heart-rending +spectacle drew copious tears of sorrow. Mrs. Lincoln +and her son Robert were in an adjoining apartment​—​the +former bowed down with anguish, the latter strong +enough to sustain and console her. A disconsolate widow +and two sons now constituted the entire family. Soon after +nine o’clock, the body was removed to the White House +under military escort.</p> + +<p>Thus ended the earthly career of Abraham Lincoln, sixteenth +President of the United States, on the threshold of +his fifty-seventh year and second Presidential term.</p> + +<p>“<i>Sic semper tyrannis!</i>” And this the justification for the +murder of a ruler who had</p> + +<div class="center-container"><div class="poem"> +<span class="i0">“​—​— borne his faculties so meek, had been<br /></span> +<span class="i0">So clear in his great office, that his virtues<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Will plead like angels, trumpet-tongued, against<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The deep damnation of his taking-off.”<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>“The South avenged!” And by the cold-blooded murder +of the best friend that repentant rebels ever had​—​of one who +had long withstood the pressing appeals of his warmest personal +and political friends for less lenity and more rigor in +dealing with traitors.</p> + +<p>It was written in the decrees of the Immutable that he +should fall by the bullet​—​not, indeed, on the battle-field, +whose sad suggestings he had so often, and so tenderly, +lovingly heeded​—​but in the midst of his family, while seeking +relief from the cares of state​—​and by a murderer’s hand!​—​the +first President to meet such a fate​—​thenceforth our +martyr-chief!</p> + +<p>But sorrow was tempered with mercy. He did not fall<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_380" id="Page_380">380</a></span> +until a benignant Providence had permitted him to enjoy a +foretaste, at least, of the blessings which he had been instrumental +in conferring upon the land he loved so well.</p> + +<p>The pledges of his first Inaugural Address had been amply +redeemed​—​those pledges which so many declared impossible +of fulfilment, which not a few mocked as beyond human +power to accomplish. The power confided to him had been +successfully used “to hold, occupy, and possess the property +and places belonging to the Government.” No United States +fort at the time of his fall flaunted treason in the eyes of the +land. The day of his murder the old flag had been flung to +the breeze from Sumter with ceremonies befitting the joyous occasion, +by the very hands that four years before had been compelled +to lower it to arrogant traitors; and friends of freedom +for man, irrespective of color or race, walked the streets of +Charleston​—​a city of desolation, a skeleton of its former self​—​jubilant +that, since God so willed it, in His own good +time, Freedom was National and Slavery but a thing of the +past.</p> + +<p>When he fell, the Nation, brought by the stern necessities +of direful war to the discharge of duties befitting a better manhood, +passing by all projects for an emancipation of slaves, +which should be merely gradual, not content even that such +emancipation had been proclaimed as a measure of military +necessity, had spoken in favor of such an amendment of the +Constitution as should forever prohibit any claim of property +in man. Though the final consummation of that great +measure had not been reached when our President was removed, +it was given him to feel assured that the end was not +distant, was even then close at hand.</p> + +<p>When he fell, that body of traitors which had assumed to +be a Government had fled, one scarcely knew whither, +with whatever of ill-gotten gains their greedy hands could +grasp​—​their main army captive, the residue of their military +force on the point of surrendering. From what had been their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_381" id="Page_381">381</a></span> +capital, in the mansion appropriated to the special use of +the chiefest among the conspirators, he had been permitted to +send words of greeting to the nation.</p> + +<p>When he fell, treason throughout the land lay gasping, +dying.</p> + +<p>It needed not that dismal, dreary, mid-April day to intensify +the sorrow. As on the wings of lightning the news +sped through the land​—​“the President is Shot”​—​“is +dying”​—​“is dead”​—​men knew scarcely how to credit the +tale. When the fearful certainty came home to each, strong +men bowed themselves and wept​—​maid and matron joined in +the plaint. With no extraneous prompting, with no impulse +save that of the heart alone, the common grief took on a common +garb. Houses were draped​—​the flag of our country +hung pensive at half-mast​—​portraitures of the loved dead +were found on all.</p> + +<p>And dreary as was the day when first the tidings swept +through the country, patriot hearts were drearier still. It +was past analysis. It was as if chaos and dread night had +come again.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile the honored dead lay in state in the country’s +capitol.</p> + +<p>On that dreamy, hazy nineteenth of April​—​suggesting, were +it not for the early green leaves, the fresh springing grass, the +glad spring caroling of birds, “that sweet autumnal summer +which the Indian loved so well”​—​on that day when sleep +wooed one even in the early morn, his obsequies were celebrated +in the country’s metropolis.</p> + +<p>And throughout the land, minute guns were fired, bells +tolled, business suspended, and the thoughtful betook themselves +to prayer, if so be that what verily seemed a curse +might pass from us.</p> + +<p>Thence the funeral <i>cortege</i> moved to the final resting-place​—​the +remains of a darling son, earlier called, accompanying +those of the father​—​by the route the President had taken<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_382" id="Page_382">382</a></span> +when first he had been summoned to the chair of State. +Before half of the mournful task was done, came tidings that +the assassin had been sent to his final account by the avenger’s +hand, gurgling out, as his worthless life ebbed away, +“useless! useless!”</p> + +<p>As the sad procession wended its way, where hundreds had +gathered in ’61, impelled by mere curiosity or by partisan +sympathy, thousands gathered, four years later, through +affection, through reverence, through deep, abiding sorrow.</p> + +<p>Flowers beautified the lifeless remains​—​dirges were sung​—​the +people’s great heart broke out into sobs and sighing.</p> + +<p>And so, home to the prairie they bore him whom, when +first he was called, the Nation knew not​—​whom, mid the +storms and ragings of those years of civil war, they had +learned, had loved, to call father and friend.</p> + +<p>In the Oak Ridge Cemetery, in his own Springfield, on the +fourth of May, 1865, they laid him to rest, at the foot of a +knoll, in the most beautiful part of the ground, over which +forest trees​—​rare denizens of the prairie​—​look lovingly.</p> + +<p>There all that is mortal of <span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln</span> reposes.</p> + +<p>“The immortal?” Hail, and farewell!</p> + +<hr /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXVI" id="CHAPTER_XXVI">CHAPTER XXVI.</a><br /> + +<span class="subhead">THE MAN.</span></h2> + +<blockquote> + +<p class="hang">Reasons for His Re-election​—​What was Accomplished​—​Leaning on the People​—​State +Papers​—​His Tenacity of Purpose​—​Washington and Lincoln​—​As a Man​—​Favorite Poem​—​Autobiography​—​His +Modesty​—​A Christian​—​Conclusion.</p></blockquote> + +<p>What shall be said, in summing up, of Abraham Lincoln +as a statesman and a man? That from such humble beginnings, +in circumstances so adverse, he rose to be the Chief +Magistrate of one of the leading countries of the world, would<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_383" id="Page_383">383</a></span> +were it in any other country, be evidence of ability of the +very highest order.</p> + +<p>Here, however, so many from similar surroundings have +achieved similar results that this fact of itself does not necessarily +unfold the man clearly and fully to us. He might have +been put forward for that high station as a skillful and accomplished +politician, from whose elevation hosts of partisans +counted upon their own personal advancement and profit. +Or he might have been a successful general; or one possessing +merely negative qualities, with no salient points, all +objectionable angularities rounded off till that desirable availability, +which has at times been laid hold of for the Presidency +had been reached; or, yet again, one who had for a long time +been in the front ranks of an old and triumphant party, and, +therefore, as such matters have been managed with us, admitted +to have strong claims upon such party; or, lastly, one +who, having for many years schemed and plotted and labored, +in season and out of season, for the nomination, at last +achieved it.</p> + +<p>For such Presidents have been furnished us. But he was +neither. And yet the highest point to which an American +may aspire he reached. Clearly, then, there must have been +something of strength and of worth in the man.</p> + +<p>He was reëlected, the first President since Jackson to +whom that honor had been accorded. And thirty-two years +had passed​—​eight Presidential terms​—​since Jackson’s reëlection. +He was, moreover, reëlected by a largely increased +vote.</p> + +<p>The years covered by his administration were the stormiest +in American history, “piled high,” as he himself said, “with +difficulties.” No President was ever more severely attacked, +more unsparingly denounced than he. None more belittled +than he. And yet he was triumphantly reëlected. Why? +For the same reason that first brought him before the country.</p> + +<p>Primarily and mainly because the mass of the people had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_384" id="Page_384">384</a></span> +unbounded confidence in his honesty and devotion to principle. +Though these qualities, it is pleasant to say, have been +by no means rare in our Presidents, yet Abraham Lincoln +seemed so to speak, so steeped and saturated in them that a +hold was thereby obtained upon the common mind, the like +of which no other President since Washington had secured. +The bitterest opponent of his policy was constrained, if +candid, to admit, if not the existence of these qualities, at +least the prevailing popular belief in their existence.</p> + +<p>What shall be said of him as a statesman?</p> + +<p>That he found the fabric of our National Government rocking +from turret to foundation stone​—​that he left it, after four +years of strife such as, happily, the world rarely witnesses, +firmly fixed, and sure; this should serve in some sort, as +an answer.</p> + +<p>But might not this be owing, or principally so, to the +ability of the counsellors whom he gathered about him? +Beyond a doubt the meed of praise is to be shared. Yet we +should remember that few Presidents have so uniformly +acted of and for themselves in matters of state policy, as did +Mr. Lincoln. Upon many questions the opinions of his +Cabinet were sought​—​a Cabinet representing the various +shades of thought, the various stages of progress, through +which the people, of whom they were the exponents, were +passing from year to year​—​after obtaining which, he would +act. But, in most instances, perhaps, he struck out for himself, +after careful, conscientious reflection, launching his policy +upon unknown seas, quietly assured that truth was with +him and that he could not be mistaken. Nor was he often.</p> + +<p>Having to feel his way along, for the most part​—​groping +in the dark​—​he could not push on so fast and far as to leave +the people out of breath or staring far in his rear. Still, it +must not be understood that he never acted against what was +plainly the popular will. The man was not of that mould. +Unquestionably in his dealings with the two leading European<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_385" id="Page_385">385</a></span> +powers he often acted in direct opposition to the +popular wish. Nothing would have been easier than for him +to have brought a foreign war upon the country; and in such +action, for a time at least, he would have been sustained by +the mass of the people. So, too, as to vindictive measures +towards the rebels. By adopting these he would, oftentimes, +have been in harmony with the general wish for vengeance +and retaliation. In both these instances​—​to name no others​—​he +chose to act counter to the current sentiment. More +politic, with a more piercing outlook than the mass, he saw +the end from the beginning, and in the one case chose to +overlook what was, to his mind, grossly wrong, and in the +other, to stand up for the general interests of humanity +through all time rather than to cater to the desire of the +hour, natural and, perhaps, pardonable though it was.</p> + +<p>What is meant is this​—​that, in the complications in which +the country was involved, he invariably acted, where expediency +simply and not principle was concerned, so as to feel +sure that the body of the people were with him. If failure +were to result, he would have them feel that the responsibility +for it rested as much upon them as upon him. He earnestly +endeavored to point out what he judged the better way and +to bring the people to his conviction; but, if they relucted, he +waited till they should have advanced where, or nearly where, +he was. This was generally felt, and it added largely to the +confidence reposed in him. By means of it, a general acquiescence +was procured in many measures earlier than could +have been gained by any other course. We Americans are a +peculiar people in some respects. We dislike to be led by +any man. Nay, we stoutly deny that we are. We are not​—​when +we see the leading strings.</p> + +<p>Mr. Lincoln’s state papers in their structure and composition +were not always what a critical scholar would have +desired. Some would say they were presented quite too +often in undress. The people are not profound critics. They<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_386" id="Page_386">386</a></span> +could comprehend every word. They felt that they were addressed +as fellow-citizens. The ordinarily formal and stilted +official documents came from his plain pen a talk to them by +the fireside. He said, moreover, exactly what he meant and +as he meant, in his own clear cogent way, void of verbiage, +homely often but always the outgrowth of a profound intelligent +conviction. And, generally, he struck home. His were +the words to which “the common pulse of man keeps time.” +How studded are his papers with lucid illustration; how +transparently honest and candid, like the man, their author!</p> + +<p>His tenacity of purpose was marked. Signing that immortal +proclamation, which made him the Liberator of +America, on the afternoon of January 1st, 1863, after hours +of New Year’s hand-shaking, he said to friends that night​—​“The +signature looks a little tremulous, for my hand was +tired, but my resolution was firm. I told them in September, +if they did not return to their allegiance and cease murdering +our soldiers, I would strike at this pillar of their strength. +And now the promise shall be kept; and not one word of it +will I ever recall.” In all the varying scenes through which +as our leader he passed, avoiding the extremes of sudden +exultation or deep depression, calm and quiet, and resolute +and determined, he kept on his course, with duty as his +guiding star, an unwarped conscience his prompter. Feeling +always that he bore his life in his hands, in the perilous position +in which he was placed, as well as he who went forth to +do duty in the battle-field, he faltered not, swerved not, +compromised not, retracted not, apologized not, but pursued +his way with an inflexibility as rare as it is grand and inspiring. +Others might doubt​—​not he. He saw the end toward +which the nation and himself must strive. That was ever +present to him, and toward that he ever worked. His mission +as President was, as he so often and so pointedly stated, to +save the Union. And he saved it. There may be those who +will contend that such a result might have been reached by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_387" id="Page_387">387</a></span> +other means than those he was impelled to employ. That is +theory. He reduced his to practice. For himself, he could +work only in his own harness; and patiently, persistently, +painfully he worked on till the goal was reached.</p> + +<p>Well has Washington been styled the Father of his Country. +Yet this arose from veneration rather than from love; for +the most felt such an impassable gulf between themselves +and the patriot-hero, that to them he appeared of quite +another order of beings than themselves.</p> + +<p>Abraham Lincoln was both Saviour and Father; for he +preserved whatever was most valuable in the old and created +a new order of things possessing an inherent dignity and +importance which the old never had. And such titles the +people bestow upon him through love.</p> + +<p>The characteristics of the man stood prominently out in +the statesman. He had not one garb as an official and +another as a citizen. No change marked his transit from the +chat of the drawing-room to the consultation of cabinet. +What he was in the one situation he was in the other. His +peculiar humor was not, as those who least knew him judged, +his habitual disposition. More of melancholy and sadness +centred in him than most were aware. His favorite poem​—​given +below for the sufficient reason that it was his favorite​—​attests +the vein of pensiveness which was in him. “There +is one poem,” he remarked in conversation, “that is almost +continually present with me: it comes in my mind whenever +I have relief from thought and care.”</p> + +<div class="center-container"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Oh, why should the spirit of mortal be proud?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Like a swift, fleeting meteor, a fast-flying cloud,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">A flash of the lightning, a break of the wave,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Man passeth from life to his rest in the grave.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">The leaves of the oak and the willow shall fade,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Be scattered around and together be laid;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And the young and the old, and the low and the high,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Shall moulder to dust and together shall lie.<br /></span><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_388" id="Page_388">388</a></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">The infant a mother attended and loved;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The mother that infant’s affection who proved;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The husband that mother and infant who blessed,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Each, all, are away to their dwellings of Rest.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">The maid on whose cheek, on whose brow, in whose eye<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Shone beauty and pleasure​—​her triumphs are by;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And the memory of those who loved her and praised,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Are alike from the minds of the living erased.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">The hand of the king that the sceptre hath borne;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The brow of the priest that the mitre hath worn;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The eye of the sage and the heart of the brave,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Are hidden and lost in the depth of the grave.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">The peasant whose lot was to sow and to reap;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The herdsman, who climbed with his goats up the steep;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The beggar, who wandered in search of his bread,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Have faded away like the grass that we tread.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">The saint who enjoyed the communion of heaven,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The sinner who dared to remain unforgiven,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The wise and the foolish, the guilty and just,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Have quietly mingled their bones in the dust.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">So the multitude goes, like the flowers or the weed<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That withers away to let others succeed;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">So the multitude comes, even those we behold,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To repeat every tale that has often been told.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">For we are the same our fathers have been;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">We see the same sights our fathers have seen​—​<br /></span> +<span class="i0">We drink the same stream and view the same sun​—​<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And run the same course our fathers have run.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">The thoughts we are thinking our fathers would think;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">From the death we are shrinking our fathers would shrink,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To the life we are clinging they also would cling;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But it speeds for us all, like a bird on the wing.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">They loved, but the story we cannot unfold;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">They scorned, but the heart of the haughty is cold;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">They grieved, but no wail from their slumber will come;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">They joyed, but the tongue of their gladness is dumb.<br /></span><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_389" id="Page_389">389</a></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">They died, aye! they died; and we things that are now,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Who walk on the turf that lies over their brow,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Who make in their dwelling a transient abode,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Meet the things that they met on their pilgrimage road.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Yea! hope and despondency, pleasure and pain,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">We mingle together in sunshine and rain;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And the smile and the tear, the song and the dirge,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Still follow each other, like surge upon surge.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">’Tis the wink of an eye, ’tis the draught of a breath;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">From the blossom of health to the paleness of death,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">From the gilded saloon to the bier and the shroud​—​<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Oh why should the spirit of mortal be proud?<br /></span> +</div></div> +</div> + +<p>No one was more modest than he. Look at the record of +his life as furnished by himself, in 1858, for Lanman’s +Dictionary of Congress:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“Born February 12, 1809, in Hardin county, Kentucky.</p> + +<p>“Education Defective.</p> + +<p>“Profession a lawyer.</p> + +<p>“Have been a captain of volunteers in the Black Hawk war.</p> + +<p>“Postmaster at a very small office.</p> + +<p>“Four times a member of the Illinois Legislature.</p> + +<p>“And was a member of the lower House of Congress.</p> + +<p class="in4">“Yours, etc., <span class="right"><span class="smcap">A. Lincoln</span>.”</span><br /> +</p></blockquote> + +<p>With no self-conceit, a pupil in the school of events, he +was never ashamed to confess himself a learner, and as such +he grew and ripened. Equable in his temperament, never +wrathful or passionate, none need have been his enemy, unless +such an one were intended for an enemy of the human +race. Mild and forgiving, he never allowed the unmerited +abuse which was heaped upon him to affect in the least his +intercourse or dealings with its authors. His very failings +leaned to mercy’s side. There is scarcely a hamlet in the +loyal States that does not contain some witness of his clemency +and lenity. One of the most touching incidents connected<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_390" id="Page_390">390</a></span> +with his obsequies at Washington was the placing on +his coffin of a wreath of flowers, sent from Boston by the +sister of a young man whom he had pardoned when sentenced +to death for some military offence.</p> + +<p>Honored as a private citizen, happy in his domestic relations, +successful as a statesman, he was, moreover, an avowed +Christian. He often said that his reliance in the gloomiest +hours was on his God, to whom he appealed in prayer, although +he had never become a professor of religion. To a +clergyman who asked him if he loved his Saviour, he replied:</p> + +<p>“When I was first inaugurated I did not love him; when +God took my son I was greatly impressed, but still I did not +love him; but when I stood upon the battle-field of Gettysburg +I gave my heart to Christ, and I can now say I do love +the Saviour.”</p> + +<p>Attention has already been called to the reverential spirit +which pervades his official papers; and this was the index of +the man. Leaving home, he invoked the prayers of his +townsmen and friends; during the excitements of his Washington +life, he leaned upon a more than human arm; against +his pure moral character not even his bitterest enemy could +truthfully utter a word.</p> + +<p>Such​—​imperfectly sketched, and at best but in rude outline​—​was +Abraham Lincoln. The manner of his death invests +his name with a tragic interest. This will be but +temporary. But the more the man as he was is known, the +more completely an insight is obtained into his true character, +the more his private and public life is studied, the more carefully +his acts are weighed, the higher will he rise in the +estimation of all whose esteem is desirable. Coming years +will detract nought from him. He has passed into history. +There no lover of honesty and integrity, no admirer of +firmness and resolution, no sympathizer with conscientious +conviction, no friend of man need fear to <span class="locked">leave​—​</span></p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln</span>.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_391" id="Page_391">391</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="APPENDIX" id="APPENDIX">APPENDIX.</a></h2> + +<blockquote> + +<p class="center">MR. LINCOLN’S SPEECHES IN CONGRESS AND ELSEWHERE, +PROCLAMATIONS, LETTERS, ETC., NOT INCLUDED IN THE +BODY OF THE WORK.</p></blockquote> + +<h3>SPEECH ON THE MEXICAN WAR.</h3> + +<p class="p1 b1 center">(<i>In Committee of the Whole House, January 12, 1848.</i>)</p> + +<p>Mr. Lincoln addressed the Committee as follows:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Mr. Chairman</span>:​—​Some, if not all, of the gentlemen on +the other side of the House, who have addressed the Committee +within the last two days, have spoken rather complainingly, +if I have rightly understood them, of the vote +given a week or ten days ago, declaring that the war with +Mexico was unnecessarily and unconstitutionally commenced +by the President. I admit that such a vote should not be +given in mere party wantonness, and that the one given is +justly censurable, if it have no other or better foundation. +I am one of those who joined in that vote; and did so under +my best impression of the <i>truth</i> of the case. How I got this +impression, and how it may possibly be removed, I will now +try to show. When the war began, it was my opinion that +all those who, because of knowing too <i>little</i>, or because of +knowing too <i>much</i>, could not conscientiously approve the +conduct of the President (in the beginning of it), should, +nevertheless, as good citizens and patriots, remain silent on +that point, at least till the war should be ended. Some leading +Democrats, including ex-President Van Buren, have taken +this same view, as I understand them; and I adhered to it,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_392" id="Page_392">392</a></span> +and acted upon it, until since I took my seat here; and I +think I should still adhere to it, were it not that the President +and his friends will not allow it to be so. Besides, the +continual effort of the President to argue every silent vote +given for supplies into an indorsement of the justice and +wisdom of his conduct; besides that singularly candid paragraph +in his late message, in which he tells us that Congress, +with great unanimity (only two in the Senate and fourteen in +the House dissenting) had declared that ‘by the act of the +Republic of Mexico a state of war exists between that Government +and the United States;’ when the same journals that +informed him of this, also informed him that, when that +declaration stood disconnected from the question of supplies, +sixty-seven in the House, and not fourteen, merely, voted +against it; besides this open attempt to prove by telling the +<i>truth</i>, what he could not prove by telling the <i>whole truth</i>, +demanding of all who will not submit to be misrepresented, +in justice to themselves, to speak out; besides all this, one +of my colleagues [Mr. Richardson], at a very early day in the +session, brought in a set of resolutions, expressly indorsing +the original justice of the war on the part of the President. +Upon these resolutions, when they shall be put on their passage, +I shall be <i>compelled</i> to vote; so that I can not be silent +if I would. Seeing this, I went about preparing myself to +give the vote understandingly, when it should come. I carefully +examined the President’s messages, to ascertain what he +himself had said and proved upon the point. The result of +this examination was to make the impression, that, taking for +true all the President states as facts, he falls far short of +proving his justification; and that the President would have +gone further with his proof, if it had not been for the small +matter that the <i>truth</i> would not permit him. Under the impression +thus made I gave the vote before mentioned. I +propose now to give, concisely, the process of the examination +I made, and how I reached the conclusion I did.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_393" id="Page_393">393</a></span> +“The President, in his first message of May, 1846, declares +that the soil was <i>ours</i> on which hostilities were commenced +by Mexico; and he repeats that declaration, almost in the +same language, in each successive annual message​—​thus +showing that he esteems that point a highly essential one. +In the importance of that point I entirely agree with the +President. To my judgment, it is the <i>very point</i> upon which +he should be justified or condemned. In his message of +December, 1846, it seems to have occurred to him, as is certainly +true, that title, ownership to soil, or any thing else, is +not a simple fact, but is a conclusion following one or more +simple facts; and that it was incumbent upon him to present +the facts from which he concluded the soil was ours on which +the first blood of the war was shed.</p> + +<p>“Accordingly, a little below the middle of page twelve, in +the message last referred to, he enters upon that task; forming +an issue and introducing testimony, extending the whole +to a little below the middle of page fourteen. Now, I propose +to try to show that the whole of this​—​issue and evidence​—​is, +from beginning to end, the sheerest deception. The +issue, as he presents it, is in these words: ‘But there are +those who, conceding all this to be true, assume the ground +that the true western boundary of Texas is the Nueces, +instead of the Rio Grande; and that, therefore, in marching +our army to the east bank of the latter river, we passed the +Texan line, and invaded the territory of Mexico.’ Now, this +issue is made up of two affirmatives and no negative. The +main deception of it is, that it assumes as true that <i>one</i> river +or the <i>other</i> is necessarily the boundary, and cheats the +superficial thinker entirely out of the idea that <i>possibly</i> the +boundary is somewhere <i>between</i> the two, and not actually at +either. A further deception is, that it will let in <i>evidence</i> +which a true issue would exclude. A true issue made by the +President would be about as follows: ‘I say the soil <i>was ours</i><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_394" id="Page_394">394</a></span> +on which the first blood was shed; there are those who say +it was not.’</p> + +<p>“I now proceed to examine the President’s evidence, as +applicable to such an issue. When that evidence is analyzed +it is all included in the following propositions:</p> + +<p>“1. That the Rio Grande was the western boundary of +Louisiana, as we purchased it of France in 1803.</p> + +<p>“2. That the Republic of Texas always <i>claimed</i> the Rio +Grande as her western boundary.</p> + +<p>“3. That, by various acts, she had claimed it <i>on paper</i>.</p> + +<p>“4. That Santa Anna, in his treaty with Texas, recognized +the Rio Grande as her boundary.</p> + +<p>“5. That Texas <i>before</i>, and the United States <i>after</i> annexation, +had <i>exercised</i> jurisdiction <i>beyond</i> the Nueces, <i>between</i> +the two rivers.</p> + +<p>“6. That our Congress <i>understood</i> the boundary of Texas +to extend beyond the Nueces.</p> + +<p>“Now for each of these in its turn:</p> + +<p>“His first item is, that the Rio Grande was the western +boundary of Louisiana, as we purchased it of France in 1803; +and, seeming to expect this to be disputed, he argues over the +amount of nearly a page to prove it true; at the end of which +he lets us know that, by the treaty of 1819, we sold to Spain +the whole country, from the Rio Grande eastward to the +Sabine. Now, admitting for the present, that the Rio Grande +was the boundary of Louisiana, what, under heaven, had that +to do with the <i>present</i> boundary between us and Mexico? +How, Mr. Chairman, the line that once divided your land +from mine can <i>still</i> be the boundary between us <i>after</i> I have +sold my land to you, is, to me, beyond all comprehension. +And how any man, with an honest purpose only of proving +the truth, could ever have <i>thought</i> of introducing such a fact +to prove such an issue, is equally incomprehensible. The +outrage upon common <i>right</i>, of seizing as our own what we +have once sold, merely because it <i>was</i> ours <i>before</i> we sold it,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_395" id="Page_395">395</a></span> +is only equaled by the outrage on common <i>sense</i> of any attempt +to justify it.</p> + +<p>“The President’s next piece of evidence is, that ‘The Republic +of Texas always <i>claimed</i> this river (Rio Grande) as +her western boundary.’ That is not true, in fact. Texas <i>has</i> +claimed it, but she has not <i>always</i> claimed it. There is, at +least, one distinguished exception. Her State Constitution​—​the +public’s most solemn and well-considered act; that which +may, without impropriety, be called her last will and testament, +revoking all others​—​makes no such claim. But suppose +she had always claimed it. Has not Mexico always +claimed the contrary? So that there is but <i>claim</i> against +<i>claim</i>, leaving nothing proved until we get back of the claims, +and find which has the better <i>foundation</i>.</p> + +<p>“Though not in the order in which the President presents +his evidence, I now consider that class of his statements, +which are, in substance, nothing more than that Texas has +by various acts of her Convention and Congress, claimed the +Rio Grande as her boundary​—​<i>on paper</i>. I mean here what +he says about the fixing of the Rio Grande as her boundary, +in her old Constitution (not her State Constitution), about +forming congressional districts, counties, etc. Now, all this +is but naked <i>claim</i>; and what I have already said about +claims is strictly applicable to this. If I should claim your +land by word of mouth, that certainly would not make it +mine; and if I were to claim it by a deed which I had made +myself, and with which you had nothing to do, the claim +would be quite the same in substance, or rather in utter +nothingness.</p> + +<p>“I next consider the President’s statement that Santa +Anna, in his <i>treaty</i> with Texas, recognized the Rio Grande as +the western boundary of Texas. Besides the position so often +taken that Santa Anna, while a prisoner of war​—​a captive​—​<i>could</i> +not bind Mexico by a treaty, which I deem conclusive; +besides this, I wish to say something in relation to this treaty<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_396" id="Page_396">396</a></span> +so called by the President, with Santa Anna. If any man +would like to be amused by a sight at that <i>little</i> thing, which +the President calls by that <i>big</i> name, he can have it by turning +to Niles’ Register, volume 50, page 386. And if any one +should suppose that Niles’ Register is a curious repository +of so mighty a document as a solemn treaty between nations, +I can only say that I learned, to a tolerable degree of certainty, +by inquiry at the State Department, that the President +himself never saw it anywhere else. By the way, I believe I +should not err if I were to declare, that during the first ten +years of the existence of that document, it was never by anybody +<i>called</i> a treaty; that it was never so called till the +President, in his extremity, attempted, by so calling it, to +wring something from it in justification of himself in connection +with the Mexican war. It has none of the distinguishing +features of a treaty. It does not call itself a treaty. Santa +Anna does not therein assume to bind Mexico; he assumes +only to act as President, Commander-in-chief of the Mexican +army and navy; stipulates that the then present hostilities +should cease, and that he would not <i>himself</i> take up arms, +nor <i>influence</i> the Mexican people to take up arms, against +Texas, during the existence of the war of independence. He +did not recognize the independence of Texas; he did not assume +to put an end to the war, but clearly indicated his expectation +of its continuance; he did not say one word about +boundary, and most probably never thought of it. It <i>is</i> +stipulated therein that the Mexican forces should evacuate the +territory of Texas, <i>passing to the other side of the Rio Grande</i>; +and in another article it is stipulated, that to prevent collisions +between the armies, the Texan army should not approach +nearer than five leagues​—​of <i>what</i> is not said​—​but clearly, +from the object stated, it is of the Rio Grande. Now, if this +is a treaty recognizing the Rio Grande as a boundary of +Texas, it contains the singular feature of stipulating that +Texas shall not go within five leagues of <i>her own</i> boundary.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_397" id="Page_397">397</a></span> +“Next comes the evidence that Texas before annexation, +and the United States afterward, exercising jurisdiction beyond +the Nueces, and <i>between</i> the two rivers. This actual +<i>exercise</i> of jurisdiction is the very class or quality of evidence +we want. It is excellent so far as it goes; but does it go far +enough? He tells us it went <i>beyond</i> the Nueces, but he does +not tell us it went <i>to</i> the Rio Grande. He tells us jurisdiction +was exercised <i>between</i> the two rivers, but he does not tell us +it was exercised over <i>all</i> the territory between them. Some +simple-minded people think it possible to cross one river and +go beyond it, without going all the way to the next; that +jurisdiction may be exercised <i>between</i> two rivers without +covering <i>all</i> the country between them. I know a man, not +very unlike myself, who exercises jurisdiction over a piece of +land between the Wabash and the Mississippi; and yet so +far is this from being <i>all</i> there is between those rivers, that it +is just one hundred and fifty-two feet long by fifty wide, and +no part of it much within a hundred miles of either. He has +a neighbor between him and the Mississippi​—​that is, just +across the street, in that direction​—​whom, I am sure, he +could neither <i>persuade</i> nor <i>force</i> to give up his habitation; +but which, nevertheless he could certainly annex, if it were +to be done, by merely standing on his own side of the street +and claiming it, or even sitting down and writing a deed for it.</p> + +<p>“But next, the President tells us, the Congress of the +United States <i>understood</i> the State of Texas they admitted +into the Union to extend <i>beyond</i> the Nueces. Well, I suppose +they did​—​I certainly so understand it​—​but how <i>far</i> +beyond? That Congress did <i>not</i> understand it to extend +clear to the Rio Grande, is quite certain by the fact of their +joint resolutions for admission expressly leaving all questions +of boundary to future adjustment. And, it may be added, +that Texas herself is proved to have had the same understanding +of it that our Congress had, by the fact of the exact +conformity of her new Constitution to those resolutions.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_398" id="Page_398">398</a></span> +“I am now through the whole of the President’s evidence; +and it is a singular fact, that if any one should declare the +President sent the army into the midst of a settlement of +Mexican people, who had never submitted, by consent or by +force to the authority of Texas or of the United States, and +that <i>there</i>, and <i>thereby</i>, the first blood of the war was shed, +there is not one word in all the President has said which +would either admit or deny the declaration. In this strange +omission chiefly consists the deception of the President’s evidence​—​an +omission which, it does seem to me, could scarcely +have occurred but by design. My way of living leads me to +be about the courts of justice; and there I have sometimes +seen a good lawyer, struggling for his client’s neck, in a +desperate case, employing every artifice to work round, befog, +and cover up with many words some position pressed upon +him by the prosecution, which he <i>dared</i> not admit, and yet +<i>could</i> not deny. Party bias may help to make it appear so; +but, with all the allowance I can make for such bias, it still +does appear to me that just such and from just such necessity, +are the President’s struggles in this case.</p> + +<p>“Some time after my colleague (Mr. Richardson) introduced +the resolutions I have mentioned, I introduced a preamble, +resolution, and interrogatories, intended to draw the +President out, if possible, on this hitherto untrodden ground. +To show their relevancy, I propose to state my understanding +of the true rule for ascertaining the boundary between Texas +and Mexico. It is, that <i>wherever</i> Texas was <i>exercising</i> jurisdiction +was hers; and wherever Mexico was exercising jurisdiction +was hers: and that whatever separated the actual +exercise of jurisdiction of the one from that of the other, was +the true boundary between them. If, as is probably true, +Texas was exercising jurisdiction along the western bank of +the Nueces, and Mexico was exercising it along the eastern +bank of the Rio Grande, then <i>neither</i> river was the boundary, +but the uninhabited country between the two was. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_399" id="Page_399">399</a></span> +extent of our territory in that region depended not on any +<i>treaty-fixed</i> boundary (for no treaty had attempted it), but on +revolution. Any people anywhere, being inclined and having +the power, have the <i>right</i> to rise up and shake off the existing +government, and form a new one that suits them better. +This is a most valuable, a most sacred right​—​a right which, +we hope and believe, is to liberate the world. Nor is this +right confined to cases in which the whole people of an existing +government may choose to exercise it. Any portion of +such people that <i>can</i> may revolutionize, and make their <i>own</i> +of so much of their territory as they inhabit. More than +this, a <i>majority</i> of any portion of such people may revolutionize, +putting down a <i>minority</i>, intermingled with, or near +about them, who may oppose their movements. Such minority +was precisely the case of the Tories of our own Revolution. +It is a quality of revolutions not to go by old lines, or old +laws; but to break up both and make new ones. As to the +country now in question, we bought it of France in 1803, +and sold it to Spain in 1819, according to the President’s +statement. After this, all Mexico, including Texas, revolutionized +against Spain; and still later, Texas revolutionized +against Mexico. In my view, just so far as she carried her +revolution, by obtaining the <i>actual</i>, willing or unwilling submission +of the people, so <i>far</i> the country was hers, and no +further.</p> + +<p>“Now, sir, for the purpose of obtaining the very best evidence +as to whether Texas had actually carried her revolution +to the place where the hostilities of the present war commenced, +let the President answer the interrogatories I proposed, +as before mentioned, or some other similar ones. Let +him answer fully, fairly and candidly. Let him answer with +<i>facts</i>, and not with arguments. Let him remember he sits +where Washington sat; and, so remembering, let him answer +as Washington would answer. As a nation <i>should</i> not, and +the Almighty <i>will</i> not, be evaded, so let him attempt no<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_400" id="Page_400">400</a></span> +evasion, no equivocation. And if, so answering, he can show +that the soil was ours where the first blood of the war was +shed​—​that it was not within an inhabited country, or, if +within such, that the inhabitants had submitted themselves +to the civil authority of Texas, or of the United States, and +that the same is true of the site of Fort Brown​—​then I am +with him for his justification. In that case, I shall be most +happy to reverse the vote I gave the other day. I have a +selfish motive for desiring that the President may do this; I +expect to give some votes, in connection with the war, which, +without his so doing, will be of doubtful propriety, in my +own judgment, but which will be free from the doubt if he +does so. But if he <i>can not or will not</i> do this,​—​if, on any +pretence, or no pretence, he shall refuse or omit it,​—​then I +shall be fully convinced, of what I more than suspect already, +that he is deeply conscious of being in the wrong; that he +feels the blood of this war, like the blood of Abel, is crying +to heaven against him; that he ordered General Taylor into +the midst of a peaceful Mexican settlement, purposely to +bring on a war; that originally having some strong motive​—​what +I will not stop now to give my opinion concerning​—​to +involve the two countries in a war, and trusting to escape +scrutiny by fixing the public gaze upon the exceeding brightness +of military glory​—​that attractive rainbow that rises in +showers of blood​—​that serpent’s eye that charms to destroy​—​he +plunged into it, and has swept <i>on</i> and <i>on</i>, till, disappointed +in his calculation of the ease with which Mexico might be +subdued, he now finds himself he knows not where. How +like the half insane mumbling of a fever dream is the whole +war part of the late message! At one time telling us that +Mexico has nothing whatever that we can get but territory; +at another, showing us how we can support the war by levying +contributions on Mexico. At one time urging the national +honor, the security of the future, the prevention of foreign +interference, and even the good of Mexico herself, as among<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_401" id="Page_401">401</a></span> +the objects of the war; at another, telling us that, ‘to reject +indemnity by refusing to accept a cession of territory, would +be to abandon all our just demands, and to wage the war, +bearing all its expenses, <i>without a purpose or definite object</i>.’ +So, then, the national honor, security of the future, and everything +but territorial indemnity, may be considered the <i>no +purposes</i> and <i>indefinite</i> objects of the war! But having it +now settled that territorial indemnity is the only object, we +are urged to seize, by legislation here, all that he was content +to take a few months ago, and the whole province of Lower +California to boot, and to still carry on the war​—​to take <i>all</i> +we are fighting for, and <i>still</i> fight on. Again, the President is +resolved, under all circumstances, to have full territorial indemnity +for the expenses of the war; but he forgets to tell +us how we are to get the <i>excess</i> after those expenses shall +have surpassed the value of the <i>whole</i> of the Mexican territory. +So, again, he insists that the separate national existence +of Mexico shall be maintained; but he does not tell us <i>how</i> +this can be done after we shall have taken <i>all</i> her territory. +Lest the question I here suggest be considered speculative +merely, let me be indulged a moment in trying to show they +are not.</p> + +<p>“The war has gone on some twenty months; for the expenses +of which, together with an inconsiderable old score, +the President now claims about one-half of the Mexican +territory, and that by far the better half, so far as concerns our +ability to make any thing out of it. It is comparatively uninhabited; +so that we could establish land offices in it, and +raise some money in that way. But the other half is already +inhabited, as I understand it, tolerably densely for the nature +of the country; and all its lands, or all that are valuable, +already appropriated as private property. How, then, are we +to make any thing out of these lands with this incumbrance +on them, or how remove the incumbrance? I suppose no +one will say that we shall kill the people, or drive them out,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_402" id="Page_402">402</a></span> +or make slaves of them, or even confiscate their property? +How, then, can we make much out of this part of the territory? +If the prosecution of the war has, in expenses, already +equalled the <i>better</i> half of the country, how long its future +prosecution will be in equalling the less valuable half is not +a <i>speculative</i> but a <i>practical</i> question, pressing closely upon +us; and yet it is a question which the President seems never +to have thought of.</p> + +<p>“As to the mode of terminating the war and securing +peace, the President is equally wandering and indefinite. +First, it is to be done by a more vigorous prosecution of the +war in the vital parts of the enemy’s country; and, after +apparently talking himself tired on this point, the President +drops down into a half despairing tone, and tells us, that +‘with a people distracted and divided by contending factions, +and a government subject to constant changes, by successive +revolutions, <i>the continued success of our arms may fail to +obtain a satisfactory peace</i>.’ Then he suggests the propriety +of wheedling the Mexican people to desert the counsels of +their own leaders, and, trusting in our protection, to set up a +government from which we can secure a satisfactory peace, +telling us that ‘<i>this may become the only mode of obtaining +such a peace</i>.’ But soon he falls into doubt of this too, and +then drops back on to the already half abandoned ground of +‘more vigorous prosecution.’ All this shows that the President +is in no wise satisfied with his own positions. First, he +takes up one, and, in attempting to argue us into it, he argues +himself <i>out</i> of it; then seizes another, and goes through the +same process; and then, confused at being able to think of +nothing new, he snatches up the old one again, which he has +some time before cast off. His mind, tasked beyond its power, +is running hither and thither, like some tortured creature on +a burning surface, finding no such position on which it can +settle down and be at ease.</p> + +<p>“Again, it is a singular omission in this message, that it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_403" id="Page_403">403</a></span> +nowhere intimates <i>when</i> the President expects the war to +terminate. At its beginning, General Scott was, by this same +President driven into disfavor, if not disgrace, for intimating +that peace could not be conquered in less than three or four +months. But now at the end of about twenty months, during +which time our arms have given us the most splendid successes​—​every +department, and every part, land and water, +officers and privates, regulars and volunteers, doing all that +men could do, and hundreds of things which it had ever +before been thought that men could <i>not</i> do; after all this, +this same President gives us a long message without showing +us that <i>as to the end</i>, he has himself even an imaginary conception. +As I have before said, he knows not where he is. +He is a bewildered, confounded, and miserably-perplexed +man. God grant he may be able to show that there is not +something about his conscience more painful than all his +mental perplexity.”</p></blockquote> + +<div class="tb p2">*<span class="in2">*</span><span class="in2">*</span><span class="in2">*</span><span class="in2">*</span></div> + +<h3>SPEECH ON INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.</h3> + +<p class="center p1 b1">(<i>In Committee of the Whole House, June 20, 1848.</i>)</p> + +<p>Mr. Lincoln said:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Mr. Chairman</span>:​—​I wish at all times in no way to practice +any fraud upon the House or the Committee, and I also +desire to do nothing which may be very disagreeable to any +of the members. I therefore state, in advance, that my object +in taking the floor is to make a speech on the general subject +of internal improvements; and if I am out of order in doing +so I give the Chair an opportunity of so deciding, and I will +take my seat.”</p> + +<p>The Chair.​—​“I will not undertake to anticipate what the +gentleman may say on the subject of internal improvements. +He will, therefore, proceed in his remarks, and if any question +of order shall be made, the Chair will then decide it.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_404" id="Page_404">404</a></span> +Mr. Lincoln.​—​“At an early day of this session the President +sent to us what may properly be termed an internal +improvement veto message. The late Democratic Convention +which sat at Baltimore, and which nominated General +Cass for the Presidency, adopted a set of resolutions, now +called the Democratic platform, among which is one in these +words:</p> + +<p>“‘That the Constitution does not confer upon the General +Government the power to commence and carry on a general +system of internal improvements.’</p> + +<p>“General Cass, in his letter accepting the nomination, holds +this language:</p> + +<p>“‘I have carefully read the resolutions of the Democratic +National Convention, laying down the platform of our political +faith, and I adhere to them as firmly as I approve them +cordially.’</p> + +<p>“These things, taken together, show that the question of +internal improvements is now more distinctly made​—​has +become more intense, than at any former period. It can no +longer be avoided. The veto message and the Baltimore +resolution I understand to be, in substance, the same thing; +the latter being the more general statement, of which the +former is the amplification​—​the bill of particulars. While I +know there are many Democrats, on this floor and elsewhere, +who disapprove that message, I understand that all who shall +vote for General Cass will thereafter be considered as having +approved it, as having indorsed all its doctrines. I suppose +all, or nearly all, the Democrats will vote for him. Many of +them will do so, not because they like his position on this +question, but because they prefer him, being wrong in this, +to another, whom they consider further wrong on other +questions. In this way the internal improvement Democrats +are to be, by a sort of forced consent, carried over, and +arrayed against themselves on this measure of policy. General +Cass, once elected, will not trouble himself to make a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_405" id="Page_405">405</a></span> +Constitutional argument, or, perhaps, any argument at all, +when he shall veto a river or harbor bill. He will consider +it a sufficient answer to all Democratic murmurs, to point to +Mr. Polk’s message, and to the “Democratic platform.” +This being the case, the question of improvements is verging +to a final crisis; and the friends of the policy must now +battle, and battle manfully, or surrender all. In this view, +humble as I am, I wish to review, and contest as well as I +may, the general positions of this veto message. When I +say <i>general</i> positions, I mean to exclude from consideration +so much as relates to the present embarrassed state of the +Treasury, in consequence of the Mexican war.</p> + +<p>“Those general positions are: That internal improvements +ought not to be made by the General Government:</p> + +<p>“1. Because they would overwhelm the treasury;</p> + +<p>“2. Because, while their <i>burdens</i> would be general, their +<i>benefits</i> would be <i>local</i> and <i>partial</i>, involving an obnoxious +inequality;</p> + +<p>“3. Because they would be unconstitutional;</p> + +<p>“4. Because the States may do enough by the levy and +collection of tonnage duties; or, if not,</p> + +<p>“5. That the Constitution may be amended.</p> + +<p>“‘Do nothing at all, lest you do something wrong,’ is the +sum of these positions​—​is the sum of this message; and this, +with the exception of what is said about Constitutionality, +applying as forcibly to making improvements by State authority +as by the national authority. So that we must abandon +the improvements of the country altogether, by any and +every authority, or we must resist and repudiate the doctrines +of this message. Let us attempt the latter.</p> + +<p>“The first position is, that a system of internal improvement +would overwhelm the treasury.</p> + +<p>“That, in such a system, there is a <i>tendency</i> to undue expansion, +is not to be denied. Such tendency is founded in the +nature of the subject. A member of Congress will prefer<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_406" id="Page_406">406</a></span> +voting for a bill which contains an appropriation for his district, +to voting for one which does not; and when a bill shall +be expanded till every district shall be provided for, that it +will be too greatly expanded is obvious. But is this any +more true in Congress than in a State Legislature? If a +member of Congress must have an appropriation for his district, +so a member of a Legislature must have one for his +county; and if one will overwhelm the national treasury, so +the other will overwhelm the State treasury. Go where we +will, the difficulty is the same. Allow it to drive us from the +halls of Congress, and it will just as easily drive us from the +State Legislatures. Let us, then, grapple with it, and test +its strength. Let us, judging of the future by the past, +ascertain whether there may not be, in the discretion of Congress, +a sufficient power to limit and restrain this expansive +tendency within reasonable and proper bounds. The President +himself values the evidence of the past. He tells us +that at a certain point of our history, more than two hundred +millions of dollars had been <i>applied for</i>, to make improvements, +and this he does to prove that the treasury would be +overwhelmed by such a system. Why did he not tell us +how much was <i>granted</i>? Would not that have been better +evidence? Let us turn to it, and see what it proves. In +the message, the President tells us that ‘during the four +succeeding years, embraced by the administration of President +Adams, the power not only to appropriate money, but +to apply it, under the direction and authority of the General +Government, as well to the construction of roads as to the +improvement of harbors and rivers, was fully asserted and +exercised.’</p> + +<p>“This, then, was the period of greatest enormity. These, +if any, must have been the days of the two hundred millions. +And how much do you suppose was really expended for improvements +during those four years? Two hundred millions? +One hundred? Fifty? Ten? Five? No, sir, less than two<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_407" id="Page_407">407</a></span> +millions. As shown by authentic documents, the expenditures +on improvements during 1825, 1826, 1827 and 1828, +amounted to $1,879,627 01. These four years were the +period of Mr. Adams’ administration, nearly, and substantially. +This fact shows that when the power to make improvements +was ‘fully asserted and exercised,’ the Congress +<i>did</i> keep within reasonable limits; and what <i>has</i> been done +it seems to me, <i>can</i> be done again.</p> + +<p>“Now for the second position of the message, namely, that +the burdens of improvements would be <i>general</i>, while their +<i>benefits</i> would be <i>local</i> and <i>partial</i>, involving an obnoxious +inequality. That there is some degree of truth in this position +I shall not deny. No commercial object of Government +patronage can be so exclusively <i>general</i>, as not to be of some +peculiar <i>local</i> advantage; but on the other hand, nothing is +so <i>local</i> as not to be of some general advantage. The navy, +as I understand it, was established, and is maintained, at a +great annual expense, partly to be ready for war, when war +shall come, but partly also, and perhaps chiefly, for the protection +of our commerce on the high seas. This latter object +is, for all I can see, in principle, the same as internal improvements. +The driving a pirate from the track of commerce on +the broad ocean, and the removing a snag from its more +narrow path in the Mississippi river, can not, I think, be distinguished +in principle. Each is done to save life and property, +and for nothing else. The navy, then, is the most +general in its benefits of all this class of objects; and yet even +the navy is of some peculiar advantage to Charleston, Baltimore, +Philadelphia, New York and Boston, beyond what it +is to the interior towns of Illinois. The next most general +object I can think of, would be improvements on the Mississippi +river and its tributaries. They touch thirteen of our +States​—​Pennsylvania, Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, +Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, +Ohio, Wisconsin, and Iowa. Now, I suppose it will not be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_408" id="Page_408">408</a></span> +denied, that these thirteen States are a little more interested +in improvements on that great river than are the remaining +seventeen. These instances of the navy, and the Mississippi +river show clearly that there is something of local advantage +in the most general objects. But the converse is also true. +Nothing is so <i>local</i> as not to be of some <i>general</i> benefit. +Take, for instance, the Illinois and Michigan canal. Considered +apart from its effects, it is perfectly local. Every +inch of it is within the State of Illinois. That canal was first +opened for business last April. In a very few days we were +all gratified to learn, among other things, that sugar had been +carried from New Orleans, through the canal, to Buffalo, in +New York. This sugar took this route, doubtless, because +it was cheaper than the old route. Supposing the benefit in +the reduction of the cost of carriage to be shared between +seller and buyer, the result is, that the New Orleans merchant +sold his sugar a little <i>dearer</i>, and the people of Buffalo +sweetened their coffee a little <i>cheaper</i> than before; a benefit +resulting <i>from</i> the canal, not to Illinois, where the canal <i>is</i>, +but to Louisiana and New York, where the canal is <i>not</i>. In +other transactions Illinois will, of course, have her share, and +perhaps the larger share too, in the benefits of the canal; but +the instance of the sugar clearly shows that the <i>benefits</i> of an +improvement are by no means confined to the particular +locality of the improvement itself.</p> + +<p>“The just conclusion from all this is, that if the nation +refuse to make improvements of the more general kind, +because their benefits may be somewhat local, a State may +for the same reason, refuse to make an improvement of a local +kind, because its benefits may be somewhat general. A State +may well say to the Nation: ‘If you will do nothing for me, +I will do nothing for you.’ Thus it is seen, that if this +argument of ‘inequality’ is sufficient anywhere, it is sufficient +everywhere, and puts an end to improvements altogether. +I hope and believe, that if both the Nation and the States<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_409" id="Page_409">409</a></span> +would, in faith, in their respective spheres, do what they +could in the way of improvements, what of inequality might +be produced in one place might be compensated in another +and that the sum of the whole might not be very unequal. +But suppose, after all, there should be some degree of inequality: +inequality is certainly never to be embraced for its +own sake; but is every good thing to be discarded which may +be inseparably connected with some degree of it? If so, we +must discard all government. This Capitol is built at the +public expense, for the public benefit; but does any one doubt +that it is of some peculiar local advantage to the property +holders and business people of Washington? Shall we remove +it for this reason? And if so, where shall we set it +down, and be free from the difficulty? To make sure of our +object shall we locate it nowhere, and leave Congress hereafter +to hold its sessions as the loafer lodged, ‘in spots +about?’ I make no special allusion to the present President +when I say, there are few stronger cases in this world of +‘burden to the many, and benefit to the few’​—​of ‘inequality’​—​than +the Presidency itself is by some thought to be. An +honest laborer digs coal at about seventy cents a day, while +the President digs abstractions at about seventy dollars a +day. The <i>coal</i> is clearly worth more than the <i>abstractions</i>, +and yet what a monstrous inequality in the prices! Does +the President, for this reason, propose to abolish the Presidency? +He <i>does</i> not, and he <i>ought</i> not. The true rule, in +determining to embrace or reject any thing, is not whether +it have <i>any</i> evil in it, but whether it have more of evil than +of good. There are few things <i>wholly</i> evil or <i>wholly</i> good; +almost every thing, especially of government policy, is an +inseparable compound of the two; so that our best judgment +of the preponderance between them is continually demanded. +On this principle the President, his friends, and the world +generally, act on most subjects. Why not apply it, then,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_410" id="Page_410">410</a></span> +upon this question? Why, as to improvements, magnify the +<i>evil</i>, and stoutly refuse to see any good in them?</p> + +<p>“Mr. Chairman, on the third position of the message (the +Constitutional question) I have not much to say. Being the +man I am, and speaking when I do, I feel that in any attempt +at an original, Constitutional argument, I should not be, and +ought not to be, listened to patiently. The ablest and the +best of men have gone over the whole ground long ago. I +shall attempt but little more than a brief notice of what some +of them have said. In relation to Mr. Jefferson’s views, I +read from Mr. Polk’s veto message:</p> + +<p>“‘President Jefferson, in his message to Congress in 1806, +recommended an amendment of the Constitution, with a view +to apply an anticipated surplus in the treasury ‘to the great +purposes of the public education, roads, rivers, canals, and +such other objects of public improvements as it may be +thought proper to add to the Constitutional enumeration of +the Federal powers.’ And he adds: ‘I suppose an amendment +to the Constitution, by consent of the States, necessary +because the objects now recommended are not among those +enumerated in the Constitution, and to which it permits the +public moneys to be applied.’ In 1825, he repeated, in his +published letters, the opinion that no such power had been +conferred upon Congress.’</p> + +<p>“I introduce this, not to controvert, just now, the Constitutional +opinion, but to show, that on the question of <i>expediency</i>, +Mr. Jefferson’s opinion was against the present President​—​that +this opinion of Mr. Jefferson, in one branch at +least, is, in the hands of Mr. Polk, like McFingal’s gun:</p> + +<div class="center-container"><div class="poem"> +<span class="i0">“‘Bears wide and kicks the owner over.’<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>“But, to the Constitutional question. In 1826, Chancellor +Kent first published his Commentaries on American Law. +He devoted a portion of one of the lectures to the question +of the authority of Congress to appropriate public moneys for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_411" id="Page_411">411</a></span> +internal improvements. He mentions that the question had +never been brought under judicial consideration, and proceeds +to give a brief summary of the discussions it had undergone +between the legislative and executive branches of the Government. +He shows that the legislative branch had usually +been <i>for</i>, and the executive <i>against</i>, the power, till the period +of Mr. J. Q. Adams’ administration; at which point he considers +the executive influence as withdrawn from opposition, +and added to the support of the power. In 1844, the Chancelor +published a new edition of his Commentaries, in which +he adds some notes of what had transpired on the question +since 1826. I have not time to read the original text, or the +notes, but the whole may be found on page 267, and the two +or three following pages of the first volume of the edition of +1844. As what Chancellor Kent seems to consider the sum +of the whole, I read from one of the notes:</p> + +<p>“‘Mr. Justice Story, in his Commentaries on the Constitution +of the United States, vol. 2, page 429–440, and again, +page 519–538, has stated at large the arguments for and +against the proposition that Congress have a Constitutional +authority to lay taxes, and to apply the power to regulate +commerce, as a means directly to encourage and protect +domestic manufactures; and, without giving any opinion of +his own on the contested doctrine, he has left the reader to +draw his own conclusion. I should think, however, from the +arguments as stated, that every mind which has taken no part +in the discussions, and felt no prejudice or territorial bias on +either side of the question, would deem the arguments in +favor of the Congressional power vastly superior.’</p> + +<p>“It will be seen, that in this extract, the power to make +improvements is not directly mentioned; but by examining +the context, both of Kent and of Story, it will appear that +the power mentioned in the extract and the power to make +improvements, are regarded as identical. It is not to be +denied that many great and good men have been <i>against</i> the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_412" id="Page_412">412</a></span> +power; but it is insisted that quite as many, as great, and as +good, have been <i>for</i> it; and it is shown that, on a full survey +of the whole, Chancelor Kent was of opinion that the arguments +of the latter were <i>vastly</i> superior. This is but the +opinion of a man; but who was that man? He was one of +the ablest and most learned lawyers of his age, or of any +other age. It is no disparagement to Mr. Polk, nor, indeed, +to any one who devotes much time to politics, to be placed +far behind Chancelor Kent as a lawyer. His attitude was +most favorable to correct conclusions. He wrote coolly and +in retirement. He was struggling to rear a durable monument +of fame; and he well knew that <i>truth</i> and thoroughly +sound reasoning were the only sure foundations. Can the +party opinion of a party President, on a law question, as this +purely is, be at all compared or set in opposition to that of +such a man, in such an attitude as Chancelor Kent?</p> + +<p>“This Constitutional question will probably never be better +settled than it is, until it shall pass under judicial consideration; +but I do think that no man who is clear on this question +of expediency need feel his conscience much pricked +upon this.</p> + +<p>“Mr. Chairman, the President seems to think that enough +may be done in the way of improvements, by means of tonnage +duties, under State authority, with the consent of the +General Government. Now, I suppose this matter of tonnage +duties is well enough in its own sphere. I suppose it may +be efficient, and perhaps <i>sufficient</i>, to make slight improvements +and repairs in harbors already in use, and not much +out of repair. But if I have any correct general idea of it, +it must be wholly inefficient for any generally beneficent purposes +of improvement. I know very little, or rather nothing +at all, of the practical matter of levying and collecting tonnage +duties; but I suppose one of its principles must be, to +lay a duty, for the improvement of any particular harbor, +<i>upon the tonnage coming into that harbor</i>. To do otherwise​—​to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_413" id="Page_413">413</a></span> +collect money in <i>one</i> harbor to be expended in improvements +in <i>another</i>​—​would be an extremely aggravated form +of that inequality which the President so much deprecates. +If I be right in this, how could we make any entirely new +improvements by means of tonnage duties? How make a +road, a canal, or clear a greatly obstructed river? The idea +that we could, involves the same absurdity of the Irish bull +about the new boots: ‘I shall never git ‘em on,’ says Patrick, +’till I wear ’em a day or two, and stretch ’em a little.’ +We shall never make a canal by tonnage duties, until it shall +already have been made awhile, so the tonnage can get +into it.</p> + +<p>“After all, the President concludes that possibly there +may be some great objects of improvements which can not be +effected by tonnage duties, and which, therefore, may be expedient +for the General Government to take in hand. Accordingly, +he suggests, in case any such be discovered, the +propriety of amending the Constitution. Amend it for what? +If, like Mr. Jefferson, the President thought improvements +<i>expedient</i> but not Constitutional, it would be natural enough +for him to recommend such an amendment; but hear what +he says in this very message:</p> + +<p>“‘In view of these portentous consequences, I can not but +think that this course of legislation should be arrested, even +were there nothing to forbid it in the fundamental laws of +our Union.’</p> + +<p>“For what, then, would <i>he</i> have the Constitution amended? +With <i>him</i> it is a proposition to remove <i>one</i> impediment, +merely to be met by <i>others</i>, which, in his opinion, can not be +removed​—​to enable Congress to do what, in his opinion, they +ought not to do if they could.”</p> + +<p>[Here Mr. Meade, of Virginia, inquired if Mr. L. understood +the President to be opposed, on grounds of expediency, +to any and every improvement?]</p> + +<p>To which Mr. Lincoln answered: “In the very part of his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_414" id="Page_414">414</a></span> +message of which I am now speaking, I understand him as +giving some vague expressions in favor of some possible +objects of improvement; but, in doing so, I understand him +to be directly in the teeth of his own arguments in other parts +of it. Neither the President, nor any one, can possibly +specify an improvement, which shall not be clearly liable to +one or another of the objections he has urged on the score of +expediency; I have shown, and might show again, that no +work​—​no object​—​can be so general, as to dispense its benefits +with precise equality; and this inequality is chief among the +‘portentous consequences’ for which he declares that improvements +should be arrested. No, sir; when the President +intimates that something in the way of improvements may +properly be done by the General Government, he is shrinking +from the conclusions to which his own arguments would +force him. He feels that the improvements of this broad and +goodly land are a mighty interest; and he is unwilling to +confess to the people, or perhaps to himself, that he has built +an argument which, when pressed to its conclusion, entirely +annihilates this interest.</p> + +<p>“I have already said that no one who is satisfied of the +expediency of making improvements need be much uneasy in +his conscience about its Constitutionality. I wish now to +submit a few remarks on the general proposition of amending +the Constitution. As a General rule, I think we would do +much better to let it alone. No slight occasion should tempt +us to touch it. Better not take the first step, which may +lead to a habit of altering it. Better rather habituate ourselves +to think of it as unalterable. It can scarcely be made +better than it is. New provisions would introduce new difficulties, +and thus create and increase appetite for further +change. No, sir; let it stand as it is. New hands have +never touched it. The men who made it have done their +work, and have passed away. Who shall improve on what +<i>they</i> did?</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_415" id="Page_415">415</a></span> +“Mr. Chairman, for the purpose of reviewing this message +in the least possible time, as well as for the sake of distinctness, +I have analyzed its arguments as well as I could, and +reduced them to the propositions I have stated. I have now +examined them in detail. I wish to detain the committee +only a little while longer, with some general remarks on the +subject of improvements. That the subject is a difficult one, +can not be denied. Still, it is no more difficult in Congress +than in the State legislatures, in the counties or in the +smallest municipal districts which everywhere exist. All +can recur to instances of this difficulty in the case of county +roads, bridges, and the like. One man is offended because a +road passes over his land; and another is offended because it +does <i>not</i> pass over his; one is dissatisfied because the bridge, +for which he is taxed, crosses the river on a different road +from that which leads from his house to town; another can +not bear that the county should get in debt for these same +roads and bridges; while not a few struggle hard to have +roads located over their lands, and then stoutly refuse to let +them be opened, until they are first paid the damages. Even +between the different wards and streets of towns and cities, +we find this same wrangling and difficulty. Now, these are +no other than the very difficulties against which, and out of +which, the President constructs his objections of ‘inequality,’ +‘speculation,’ and ‘crushing the Treasury.’ There is but a +single alternative about them​—​they are <i>sufficient</i>, or they +are <i>not</i>. If sufficient, they are sufficient <i>out</i> of Congress as +well as <i>in</i> it, and there is the end. We must reject them +as insufficient, or lie down and do nothing by any authority. +Then, difficulty though there be, let us meet and overcome it.</p> + +<div class="center-container"><div class="poem"> +<span class="i0">‘Attempt the end, and never stand to doubt;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Nothing so hard, but search will find it out.’<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>“Determine that the thing can and shall be done, and +then we shall find the way. The tendency to undue expansion<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_416" id="Page_416">416</a></span> +is unquestionably the chief difficulty. How to do <i>something</i>, +and still not to do <i>too much</i>, is the desideratum. Let +each contribute his mite in the way of suggestion. The late +Silas Wright, in a letter to the Chicago Convention, contributed +his, which was worth something; and I now contribute +mine, which may be worth nothing. At all events, it will +mislead nobody, and therefore will do no harm. I would not +borrow money. I am against an overwhelming, crushing +system. Suppose that at each session, Congress shall first +determine <i>how much</i> money can, for that year, be spared for +improvements; then apportion that sum to the most <i>important</i> +objects. So far all is easy; but how shall we determine +which <i>are</i> the most important? On this question comes the +collision of interests. <i>I</i> shall be slow to acknowledge that +<i>your</i> harbor or <i>your</i> river is more important than <i>mine</i>, and +<i>vice versa</i>. To clear this difficulty, let us have that same +statistical information which the gentleman from Ohio [Mr. +Vinton] suggested at the beginning of this session. In that +information we shall have a stern, unbending basis of <i>facts</i>​—​a +basis in nowise subject to whim, caprice, or local interest. +The pre-limited amount of means will save us from doing <i>too +much</i>, and the statistics will save us from doing what we do +in <i>wrong places</i>. Adopt and adhere to this course, and, it +seems to me, the difficulty is cleared.</p> + +<p>“One of the gentlemen from South Carolina (Mr. Rhett) +very much deprecates these statistics. He particularly objects, +as I understand him, to counting all the pigs and +chickens in the land. I do not perceive much force in the +objection. It is true, that if every thing be enumerated, a +portion of such statistics may not be very useful to this object. +Such products of the country as are to be <i>consumed</i> +where they are <i>produced</i>, need no roads and rivers, no means +of transportation, and have no very proper connection with +this subject. The <i>surplus</i>, that which is produced in <i>one</i> +place to be consumed in <i>another</i>; the capacity of each locality<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_417" id="Page_417">417</a></span> +for producing a <i>greater</i> surplus; the natural means of transportation, +and their susceptibility of improvement; the hindrances, +delays, and losses of life and property during +transportation, and the causes of each, would be among the +most valuable statistics in this connection. From these it +would readily appear where a given amount of expenditure +would do the most good. These statistics might be equally +accessible, as they would be equally useful, to both the Nation +and the States. In this way, and by these means, let the +nation take hold of the larger works, and the States the +smaller ones; and thus, working in a meeting direction, discreetly, +but steadily and firmly, what is made unequal in one +place may be equalized in another, extravagance avoided, and +the whole country put on that career of prosperity, which +shall correspond with its extent of territory, its natural resources, +and the intelligence and enterprise of its people.”</p></blockquote> + +<div class="tb p2">*<span class="in2">*</span><span class="in2">*</span><span class="in2">*</span><span class="in2">*</span></div> + +<h3>SPEECH ON THE PRESIDENCY AND GENERAL POLITICS.</h3> + +<p class="center p1 b1">(<i>Delivered in the House, July 27, 1848.</i>)</p> + +<p class="center p1 b1">GENERAL TAYLOR AND THE VETO POWER.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“Mr. <span class="smcap">Speaker</span>:​—​Our Democratic friends seem to be in +great distress because they think our candidate for the Presidency +don’t suit <i>us</i>. Most of them can not find out that +General Taylor has any principles at all; some, however, +have discovered that he has <i>one</i>, but that that one is entirely +wrong. This one principle is his position on the veto power. +The gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Stanton) who has just +taken his seat, indeed, has said there is very little if any difference +on this question between General Taylor and all the +Presidents; and he seems to think it sufficient detraction from +General Taylor’s position on it, that it has nothing new in it. +But all others whom I have heard speak assail it furiously. +A new member from Kentucky (Mr. Clarke) of very considerable<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_418" id="Page_418">418</a></span> +ability, was in particular concern about it. He thought +it altogether novel and unprecedented for a President, or a +Presidential candidate, to think of approving bills whose +Constitutionality may not be entirely clear to his own mind. +He thinks the ark of our safety is gone, unless Presidents shall +always veto such bills as, in their judgment, may be of <i>doubtful</i> +Constitutionality. However clear Congress may be of +their authority to pass any particular act, the gentleman +from Kentucky thinks the President must veto it if <i>he</i> has +<i>doubts</i> about it. Now I have neither time nor inclination to +argue with the gentleman on the veto power as an original +question; but I wish to show that General Taylor, and not +he, agrees with the earliest statesmen on this question. When +the bill chartering the first Bank of the United States passed +Congress, its Constitutionality was questioned; Mr. Madison, +then in the House of Representatives, as well as others, had +opposed it on that ground. General Washington, as President, +was called on to approve or reject it. He sought and +obtained, on the Constitutional question, the separate written +opinions of Jefferson, Hamilton, and Edmund Randolph, they +then being respectively Secretary of State, Secretary of the +Treasury, and Attorney General. Hamilton’s opinion was +for the power; while Randolph’s and Jefferson’s were both +against it. Mr. Jefferson, in his letter dated February 15th, +1791, after giving his opinion decidedly against the Constitutionality +of that bill, closed with the paragraph which I now +read:</p> + +<p>“‘It must be admitted, however, that unless the President’s +mind, on a view of every thing which is urged for and +against this bill, is tolerably clear that it is unauthorized by +the Constitution; if the pro and the con hang so even as to +balance his judgment, a just respect for the wisdom of the +Legislature would naturally decide the balance in favor of +their opinion; it is chiefly for cases where they are clearly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_419" id="Page_419">419</a></span> +misled by error, ambition, or interest, that the Constitution +has placed a check in the negative of the President.’</p> + +<p>“General Taylor’s opinion, as expressed in his Allison +letter, is as I now read:</p> + +<p>“‘The power given by the veto is a high conservative +power; but, in my opinion, should never be exercised, except +in cases of clear violation of the Constitution, or manifest +haste and want of consideration by Congress.</p> + +<p>“It is here seen that, in Mr. Jefferson’s opinion, if, on the +Constitutionality of any given bill, the President <i>doubts</i>, he is +not to veto it, as the gentleman from Kentucky would have +him to do, but is to defer to Congress and approve it. And +if we compare the opinions of Jefferson and Taylor, as expressed +in these paragraphs, we shall find them more exactly +alike than we can often find any two expressions having any +literal difference. None but interested fault-finders, can discover +any substantial variation.</p> + +<p>“But gentlemen on the other side are unanimously agreed +that Gen. Taylor has no other principle. They are in utter +darkness as to his opinions on any of the questions of policy +which occupy the public attention. But is there any doubt +as to what he will <i>do</i> on the prominent question, if elected? +Not the least. It is not possible to know what he will or +would do in every imaginable case; because many questions +have passed away, and others doubtless will arise which none +of us have yet thought of; but on the prominent questions of +currency, tariff, internal improvements, and Wilmot proviso, +General Taylor’s course is at least as well defined as is General +Cass’s. Why, in their eagerness to get at General Taylor, +several Democratic members here have desired to know +whether, in case of his election, a bankrupt law is to be established. +Can they tell us General Cass’s opinion on this +question? (Some member answered, ‘He is against it.’) +Aye, how do you know he is? There is nothing about it in +the platform, nor elsewhere, that I have seen. If the gentleman<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_420" id="Page_420">420</a></span> +knows any thing which I do not, he can show it. But +to return: General Taylor, in his Allison letter says:</p> + +<p>“‘Upon the subject of the tariff, the currency, the improvement +of our great highways, rivers, lakes, and harbors, +the will of the people, as expressed through their Representatives +in Congress, ought to be respected and carried out +by the Executive.’</p> + +<p>“Now, this is the whole matter​—​in substance, it is this: +The people say to General Taylor, ‘If you are elected shall +we have a National bank?’ He answers, ‘<i>Your</i> will, gentlemen, +not <i>mine</i>.’ ‘What about the tariff?’ ‘Say yourselves.’ +‘Shall our rivers and harbors be improved?’ ‘Just as you +please.’ ‘If you desire a bank, an alteration of the tariff, internal +improvements, any or all, I will not hinder you; if you +do not desire them, I will not attempt to force them on you. +Send up your members of Congress from the various districts, +with opinions according to your own, and if they are +for these measures, or any of them, I shall have nothing to +oppose; if they are not for them, I shall not, by any appliances +whatever, attempt to dragoon them into their adoption.’ +Now, can there be any difficulty in understanding this? To +you, Democrats, it may not seem like principle; but surely +you can not fail to perceive the position plain enough. The +distinction between it and the position of your candidate is +broad and obvious, and I admit you have a clear right to show +it is wrong, if you can; but you have no right to pretend you +can not see it at all. We see it, and to us it appears like +principle, and the best sort of principle at that​—​the principle +of allowing the people to do as they please with their own +business. My friend from Indiana (Mr. C. B. Smith) has +aptly asked, ‘Are you willing to trust the people?’ Some of +you answered, substantially, ‘We are willing to trust the +people; but the President is as much the representative of +the people as Congress.’ In a certain sense, and to a certain +intent, he is the representative of the people. He is elected<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_421" id="Page_421">421</a></span> +by them, as well as Congress is. But can he, in the nature +of things, know the wants of the people as well as three hundred +other men coming from all the various localities of the +Nation? If so, where is the propriety of having a Congress? +That the Constitution gives the President a negative on +legislation, all know; but that this negative should be so +combined with platforms and other appliances as to enable +him, and, in fact, almost compel him, to take the whole of legislation +into his own hands, is what we object to​—​is what General +Taylor objects to​—​and is what constitutes the broad distinction +between you and us. To thus transfer legislation is +clearly to take it from those who understand with minuteness +the interests of the people, and give it to one who does not +and can not so well understand it. I understand your idea, +that if a Presidential candidate avow his opinion upon a +given question, or rather upon all questions, and the people, +with full knowledge of this, elect him, they thereby distinctly +approve all those opinions. This, though plausible, is a most +pernicious deception. By means of it measures are adopted +or rejected, contrary to the wishes of the whole of one party, +and often nearly half of the other. The process is this: +Three, four, or half a dozen questions are prominent at a +given time; the party selects its candidate, and he takes his +position on each of these questions. On all but one his positions +have already been indorsed at former elections, and his +party fully committed to them; but that one is new, and a +large portion of them are against it. But what are they to do? +The whole are strung together, and they must take all or +reject all. They can not take what they like and leave the +rest. What they are already committed to, being the majority, +they shut their eyes and gulp the whole. Next election, +still another is introduced in the same way. If we run +our eyes along the line of the past, we shall see that almost, +if not quite, all the articles of the present Democratic creed +have been at first forced upon the party in this very way.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_422" id="Page_422">422</a></span> +And just now, and just so, opposition to internal improvements +is to be established if Gen. Cass shall be elected. +Almost half the Democrats here are for improvements, but +they will vote for Cass, and if he succeeds, their votes will +have aided in closing the doors against improvements. Now, +this is a process which we think is wrong. We prefer a candidate +who, like Gen. Taylor, will allow the people to have +their own way regardless of his private opinion; and I should +think the internal-improvement Democrats at least, ought to +prefer such a candidate. He would force nothing on them +which they don’t want, and he would allow them to have +improvements, which their own candidate, if elected, will not.</p> + +<p>“Mr. Speaker, I have said Gen. Taylor’s position is as well +defined as is that of Gen. Cass. In saying this, I admit +I do not certainly know what he would do on the Wilmot +proviso. I am a Northern man, or, rather, a Western free +State man, with a constituency I believe to be, and with personal +feelings I know to be, against the extension of slavery. +As such, and with what information I have, I hope, and <i>believe</i>, +Gen. Taylor, if elected, would not veto the proviso; but +I do not <i>know</i> it. Yet, if I knew he would, I still would +vote for him. I should do so, because, in my judgment, his +election alone can defeat Gen. Cass; and because, <i>should</i> +slavery thereby go into the territory we now have, just +so much will certainly happen by the election of Cass; and, +in addition, a course of policy leading to new wars, new +acquisitions of territory, and still further extensions of +slavery. One of the two is to be President; which is preferable?</p> + +<p>“But there is as much doubt of Cass on improvements +as there is of Taylor on the proviso. I have no doubt myself +of Gen. Cass on this question, but I know the Democrats +differ among themselves as to his position. My internal improvement +colleague (Mr. Wentworth) stated on this floor +the other day, that he was satisfied Cass was for improvements,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_423" id="Page_423">423</a></span> +because he had voted for all the bills that he (Mr. +W.) had. So far so good. But Mr. Polk vetoed some of +these very bills; the Baltimore Convention passed a set of +resolutions, among other things, approving these vetoes, and +Cass declares, in his letter accepting the nomination, that +he has carefully read these resolutions, and that he adheres +to them as firmly as he approves them cordially. In other +words, Gen. Cass voted for the bills, and thinks the President +did right to veto them; and his friends here are amiable +enough to consider him as being on one side or the other, +just as one or the other may correspond with their own respective +inclinations. My colleague admits that the platform +declares against the Constitutionality of a general system of +improvement, and that Gen. Cass indorses the platform; but +he still thinks Gen. Cass is in favor of some sort of improvements. +Well, what are they? As he is against <i>general</i> +objects, those he is <i>for</i>, must be <i>particular</i> and <i>local</i>. Now, +this is taking the subject precisely by the wrong end. <i>Particularity</i>​—​expending +the money of the <i>whole</i> people for an +object which will benefit only a <i>portion</i> of them, is the +greatest real objection to improvements, and has been so held +by Gen. Jackson, Mr. Polk, and all others, I believe, till now. +But now, behold, the objects most general, nearest free from +this objection, are to be rejected, while those most liable to it +are to be embraced. To return: I can not help believing +that Gen. Cass, when he wrote his letter of acceptance, well +understood he was to be claimed by the advocates of both +sides of this question, and that he then closed the door +against all further expressions of opinion, purposely to retain +the benefits of that double position. His subsequent equivocation +at Cleveland, to my mind, proves such to have been +the case.</p> + +<p>“One word more, and I shall have done with this branch +of the subject. You Democrats, and your candidate, in the +main are in favor of laying down, in advance, a platform​—​a set<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_424" id="Page_424">424</a></span> +of party positions, as a unit; and then of enforcing the +people, by every sort of appliance, to ratify them, however +unpalatable some of them may be. We, and our candidate, +are in favor of making Presidential elections and the legislation +of the country distinct matters; so that the people can +elect whom they please, and afterward legislate just <i>as</i> they +please, without any hindrance, save only so much as may +guard against infractions of the Constitution, undue haste, +and want of consideration. The difference between us is +clear as noonday. That we are right we can not doubt. +We hold the true Republican position. In leaving the +people’s business in their hands we can not be wrong. We +are willing, and even anxious, to go to the people on this +issue.</p> + +<p>“But I suppose I can not reasonably hope to convince you +that we have any principles. The most I can expect is, to +assure you that we think we have, and are quite contented +with them. The other day, one of the gentlemen from +Georgia (Mr. Iverson), an eloquent man, and a man of +learning, so far as I can judge, not being learned myself, +came down upon us astonishingly. He spoke in what the +Baltimore <i>American</i> calls the ‘scathing and withering style.’ +At the end of his second severe flash I was struck blind, and +found myself feeling with my fingers for an assurance of my +continued physical existence. A little of the bone was left, +and I gradually revived. He eulogized Mr. Clay in high +and beautiful terms, and then declared that we had deserted +all our principles, and had turned Henry Clay out, like an +old horse, to root. This is terribly severe. It can not be +answered by argument; at least, I can not so answer it. I +merely wish to ask the gentleman if the Whigs are the only +party he can think of, who sometimes turn old horses out to +root? Is not a certain Martin Van Buren an old horse +which your own party have turned out to root? and is he not +rooting a little to your discomfort about now? But in not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_425" id="Page_425">425</a></span> +nominating Mr. Clay, we deserted our principles, you say. +Ah! in what? Tell us, ye men of principles what principle +we violated? We say you did violate principle in discarding +Van Buren, and we can tell you how. You violated the +primary, the cardinal, the one great living principle of all +Democratic representative government​—​the principle that +the representative is bound to carry out the known will of his +constituents. A large majority of the Baltimore Convention +of 1844 were, by their constituents, instructed to procure +Van Buren’s nomination if they could. In violation, in +utter, glaring contempt of this, you rejected him​—​rejected +him, as the gentlemen from New York (Mr. Birdsall), the +other day expressly admitted, for <i>availability</i>​—​that same +‘general availability’ which you charge upon us, and daily +chew over here, as something exceedingly odious and unprincipled. +But the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Iverson), +gave us a second speech yesterday, all well considered and +put down in writing, in which Van Buren was scathed and +withered a ‘few’ for his present position and movements. I +can not remember the gentlemen’s precise language, but I do +remember he put Van Buren down, down, till he got him +where he was finally to ‘stink’ and ‘rot.’</p> + +<p>“Mr. Speaker, it is no business or inclination of mine to +defend Martin Van Buren. In the war of extermination now +waging between him and his old admirers, I say, devil take +the hindmost​—​and the foremost. But there is no mistaking +the origin of the breach; and if the curse of ‘stinking’ and +‘rotting’ is to fall on the first and greatest violaters of principle +in the matter, I disinterestedly suggest, that the gentleman +from Georgia and his present co-workers are bound to +take it upon themselves.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>Mr. Lincoln then proceeded to speak of the objections +against Gen. Taylor as a mere military hero; retorting with +effect, by citing the attempt to make out a military record for +Gen. Cass; and referring, in a bantering way, to his own services<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_426" id="Page_426">426</a></span> +in the Black Hawk war, as already quoted. He then +said:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“While I have Gen. Cass in hand, I wish to say a word +about his political principles. As a specimen, I take the record +of his progress on the Wilmot Proviso. In the Washington +Union, of March 2, 1847, there is a report of the speech +of Gen. Cass, made the day before in the Senate, on the +Wilmot Proviso, during the delivery of which, Mr. Miller, of +New Jersey, is reported to have interrupted him as follows, +to wit:</p> + +<p>“‘Mr. Miller expressed his great surprise at the change in +the sentiments of the Senator from Michigan, who had been +regarded as the great champion of freedom in the North-west +of which he was a distinguished ornament. Last year the +Senator from Michigan was understood to be decidedly in +favor of the Wilmot Proviso; and, as no reason had been +stated for the change, he (Mr. Miller) could not refrain from +the expression of his extreme surprise.’</p> + +<p>“To this Gen. Cass is reported to have replied as follows, +to wit:</p> + +<p>“Mr. Cass said, that the course of the Senator from New +Jersey was most extraordinary. Last year he (Mr. Cass) +should have voted for the proposition had it come up. But +circumstances had altogether changed. The honorable Senator +then read several passages from the remarks as given +above, which he had committed to writing, in order to refute +such a charge as that of the Senator from New Jersey.’</p> + +<p>“In the ‘remarks above committed to writing,’ is one numbered +4, as follows, to wit:</p> + +<p>“‘4th. Legislation would now be wholly imperative, because +no territory hereafter to be acquired can be governed +without an act of Congress providing for its government. +And such an act, on its passage, would open the whole subject, +and leave the Congress, called on to pass it, free to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_427" id="Page_427">427</a></span> +exercise its own discretion, entirely uncontrolled by any +declaration found in the statute book.’</p> + +<p>“In Niles’ Register, vol. 73, page 293, there is a letter of +General Cass to A. O. P. Nicholson, of Nashville, Tennessee +dated December 24, 1847, from which the following are correct +extracts:</p> + +<p>“‘The Wilmot Proviso has been before the country some +time. It has been repeatedly discussed in Congress, and by +the public press. I am strongly impressed with the opinion +that a great change has been going on in the public mind +upon this subject​—​in my own as well as others; and that +doubts are resolving themselves into convictions, that the +principle it involves should be kept out of the National Legislature, +and left to the people of the Confederacy in their +respective local Governments.</p> + +<p>“‘Briefly, then, I am opposed to the exercise of any jurisdiction +by Congress over this matter; and I am in favor of +leaving the people of any territory which may be hereafter +acquired, the right to regulate it themselves, under the +general principles of the Constitution. Because,</p> + +<p>“‘1. I do not see in the Constitution any grant of the +requisite power to Congress; and I am not disposed to +extend a doubtful precedent beyond its necessity​—​the establishment +of territorial governments when needed​—​leaving to +the inhabitants all the rights compatible with the relations +they bear to the Confederation.’</p> + +<p>“These extracts show that, in 1846, General Cass was for +the Proviso <i>at once</i>; that, in March, 1847, he was still for it, +<i>but not just then</i>; and that in December, 1847, he was <i>against</i> +it altogether. This is a true index to the whole man. When +the question was raised in 1846, he was in a blustering hurry +to take ground for it. He sought to be in advance, and to +avoid the uninteresting position of a mere follower, but soon +he began to see glimpses of the great Democratic ox-gad waving +in his face, and to hear indistinctly, a voice saying, ‘back,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_428" id="Page_428">428</a></span>’ +‘back, sir,’ ‘back a little.’ He shakes his head and bats his +eyes, and blunders back to his position of March, 1847; but +still the gad waves, and the voice grows more distinct, and +sharper still​—​‘back, sir!’ ‘back, I say!’ ‘further back!’ and +back he goes to the position of December, 1847; at which +the gad is still, and the voice soothingly says​—​‘So!’ ‘Stand +still at that.’</p> + +<p>“Have no fears, gentlemen, of your candidate; he exactly +suits you, and we congratulate you upon it. However much +you may be distressed about <i>our</i> candidate, you have all +cause to be contented and happy with your own. If elected, +he may not maintain all, or even any of his positions previously +taken; but he will be sure to do whatever the party +exigency, for the time being, may require; and that is precisely +what you want. He and Van Buren are the same +‘manner of men;’ and like Van Buren, he will never desert +<i>you</i> till you first desert <i>him</i>.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>After referring at some length to extra “charges” of General +Cass upon the Treasury, Mr. Lincoln <span class="locked">continued:​—​</span></p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“But I have introduced General Cass’s accounts here, +chiefly to show the wonderful physical capacities of the man. +They show that he not only did the labor of several men at +the same <i>time</i>, but that he often did it, at several <i>places</i> many +hundred miles apart, <i>at the same time</i>. And at eating, too, +his capacities are shown to be quite as wonderful. From +October, 1821, to May, 1822, he ate ten rations a day in +Michigan, ten rations a day here, in Washington, and nearly +five dollar’s worth a day besides, partly on the road between +the two places. And then there is an important discovery in +his example​—​the art of being paid for what one eats, instead +of having to pay for it. Hereafter, if any nice young man +shall owe a bill which he can not pay in any other way, he +can just board it out. Mr. Speaker, we have all heard of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_429" id="Page_429">429</a></span> +animal standing in doubt between two stacks of hay, and +starving to death; the like of that would never happen to +General Cass. Place the stacks a thousand miles apart, he +would stand stock-still, midway between them, and eat them +both at once; and the green grass along the line would be +apt to suffer some too, at the same time. By all means +make him President, gentlemen. He will feed you bounteously​—​if +if​—​there is any left after he shall have helped +himself.</p> + +<p>“But as General Taylor, is, par excellence, the hero of the +Mexican war; and, as you Democrats say we Whigs have +always opposed the war, you think it must be very awkward +and embarrassing for us to go for General Taylor. The +declaration that we have always opposed the war, is true or +false accordingly as one may understand the term ‘opposing +the war.’ If to say ‘the war was unnecessarily and unconstitutionally +commenced by the President,’ be opposing the +war, then the Whigs have very generally opposed it. Whenever +they have spoken at all, they have said this; and they +have said it on what has appeared good reason to them: +The marching an army into the midst of a peaceful Mexican +settlement, frightening the inhabitants away, leaving their +growing crops and other property to destruction, to <i>you</i> may +appear a perfectly amiable, peaceful, unprovoking procedure; +but it does not appear so to <i>us</i>. So to call such an act, to +us appears no other than a naked, impudent absurdity, and +we speak of it accordingly. But if, when the war had begun, +and had become the cause of the country, the giving of our +money and our blood, in common with yours, was support of +the war, then it is not true that we have always opposed the +war. With few individual exceptions, you have constantly +had our votes here for all the necessary supplies. And, more +than this, you have had the services, the blood, and the lives +of our political brethren in every trial, and on every field. +The beardless boy and the mature man​—​the humble and the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_430" id="Page_430">430</a></span> +distinguished, you have had them. Through suffering and +death, by disease and in battle, they have endured, and fought, +and fallen with you. Clay and Webster each gave a son, +never to be returned. From the State of my own residence, +besides other worthy but less known Whig names, we sent +Marshall, Morrison, Baker, and Hardin; they all fought, and +one fell, and in the fall of that one, we lost our best Whig +man. Nor were the Whigs few in number, or laggard in the +day of danger. In that fearful, bloody, breathless struggle at +Buena Vista, where each man’s hard task was to beat back +five foes, or die himself, of the five high officers who perished, +four were Whigs.</p> + +<p>“In speaking of this, I mean no odious comparison between +the lion-hearted Whigs and Democrats who fought there. +On other occasions, and among the lower officers and privates +on <i>that</i> occasion, I doubt not the proportion was different. I +wish to do justice to all. I think of all those brave men as +Americans, in whose proud fame, as an American, I too have +a share. Many of them, Whigs and Democrats, are my constituents +and personal friends; and I thank them​—​more than +thank them​—​one and all, for the high, imperishable honor +they have conferred on our common State.</p> + +<p>“But the distinction between the cause of the <i>President</i> in +beginning the war, and the cause of the <i>country</i> after it was +begun, is a distinction which you can not perceive. To <i>you</i>, +the President and the country seem to be all one. You are +interested to see no distinction between them; and I venture +to suggest that <i>possibly</i> your interest blinds you a little. +We see the distinction, as we think, clearly enough; and our +friends, who have fought in the war, have no difficulty in seeing +it also. What those who have fallen would say, were +they alive and here, of course we can never know; but with +those who have returned there is no difficulty. Colonel Haskell +and Major Gaines, members here, both fought in the +war; and one of them underwent extraordinary perils and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_431" id="Page_431">431</a></span> +hardships; still they, like all other Whigs here, vote on the +record that the war was unnecessarily and unconstitutionally +commenced by the President. And even General Taylor himself, +the noblest Roman of them all, has declared that, as a +citizen, and particularly as a soldier, it is sufficient for him to +know that his country is at war with a foreign nation, to do +all in his power to bring it to a speedy and honorable termination, +by the most vigorous and energetic operations, without +inquiring about its justice, or any thing else connected +with it.</p> + +<p>“Mr. Speaker, let our Democratic friends be comforted with +the assurance that we are content with our position, content +with our company, and content with our candidate; and that +although they, in their generous sympathy, think we ought to +be miserable, we really are not, and that they may dismiss the +great anxiety they have on <i>our</i> account.”</p></blockquote> + +<div class="tb p2">*<span class="in2">*</span><span class="in2">*</span><span class="in2">*</span><span class="in2">*</span></div> + +<h3>SPEECH IN REPLY TO MR. DOUGLAS, ON KANSAS, THE DRED +SCOTT DECISION, AND THE UTAH QUESTION.</h3> + +<p class="center p1 b1">(<i>Delivered at Springfield, Ill., June 26, 1857.</i>)</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Fellow-Citizens</span>:​—​I am here, to-night, partly by the +invitation of some of you, and partly by my own inclination. +Two weeks ago Judge Douglas spoke here, on the several +subjects of Kansas, the Dred Scott decision, and Utah. I +listened to the speech at the time, and have read the report +of it since. It was intended to controvert opinions which I +think just, and to assail (politically, not personally) those +men who, in common with me, entertain those opinions. For +this reason I wished then, and still wish to make some answer +to it which I now take the opportunity of doing.</p> + +<p>“I begin with Utah. If it prove to be true, as is probable, +that the people of Utah are in open rebellion against the +United States, then Judge Douglas is in favor of repealing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_432" id="Page_432">432</a></span> +their territorial organization, and attaching them to the adjoining +States for judicial purposes. I say, too, if they are +in rebellion, they ought to be somehow coerced to obedience; +and I am not now prepared to admit or deny, that the +Judge’s mode of coercing them is not as good as any. The +Republicans can fall in with it, without taking back any thing +they have ever said. To be sure, it would be a considerable +backing down by Judge Douglas, from his much vaunted +doctrine of self-government for the territories; but this is only +additional proof of what was very plain from the beginning, +that that doctrine was a mere deceitful pretence for the benefit +of slavery. Those who could not see that much in the +Nebraska act itself, which forced Governors, and Secretaries, +and Judges on the people of the territories, without their +choice or consent, could not be made to see, though one +should rise from the dead.</p> + +<p>“But in all this, it is very plain the Judge evades the only +question the Republicans have ever pressed upon the Democracy +in regard to Utah. That question the Judge well knew +to be this: ‘If the people of Utah shall peacefully form a +State Constitution tolerating polygamy, will the Democracy +admit them into the Union?’ There is nothing in the United +States Constitution or law against polygamy; and why is it +not a part of the Judge’s ‘sacred right of self-government’ +for the people to have it, or rather to keep it, if they choose? +These questions, so far as I know, the Judge never answers. +It might involve the Democracy to answer them either way +and they go unanswered.</p> + +<p>“As to Kansas. The substance of the Judge’s speech on +Kansas, is an effort to put the Free State men in the wrong +for not voting at the election of delegates to the Constitutional +Convention. He says: ‘There is every reason to hope and +believe that the law will be fairly interpreted and impartially +executed, so as to insure to every bona fide inhabitant the +free and quiet exercise of the elective franchise.’</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_433" id="Page_433">433</a></span></p> +<p>“It appears extraordinary that Judge Douglas should +make such a statement. He knows that, by the law, no one +can vote who has not been registered; and he knows that the +Free State men place their refusal to vote on the ground that +but few of them have been registered. It is possible this is +not true, but Judge Douglas knows it is asserted to be true +in letters, newspapers, and public speeches, and borne by +every mail, and blown by every breeze to the eyes and ears +of the world. He knows it is boldly declared, that the people +of many whole counties, and many whole neighborhoods +in others, are left unregistered; yet he does not venture to +contradict the declaration, or to point out how they can vote +without being registered; but he just slips along, not seeming +to know there is any such question of fact, and complacently +declares, ‘There is every reason to hope and believe +that the law will be fairly and impartially executed, so as to +insure to every bona fide inhabitant the free and quiet exercise +of the elective franchise.’</p> + +<p>“I readily agree that if all had a chance to vote, they +ought to have voted. If, on the contrary, as they allege, and +Judge Douglas ventures not particularly to contradict, few +only of the Free State men had a chance to vote, they were +perfectly right in staying from the polls in a body.</p> + +<p>“By the way, since the Judge spoke, the Kansas election +has come off. The Judge expressed his confidence that all +the Democrats in Kansas would do their duty​—​including +‘Free State Democrats’ of course. The returns received +here, as yet, are very incomplete; but, so far as they go, they +indicate that only about one-sixth of the registered voters, +have really voted; and this, too, when not more, perhaps, +than one-half of the rightful voters have been registered, thus +showing the thing to have been altogether the most exquisite +farce ever enacted. I am watching with considerable interest, +to ascertain what figure ‘the Free State Democrats’ cut +in the concern. Of course they voted​—​all Democrats do their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_434" id="Page_434">434</a></span> +duty​—​and of course they did not vote for Slave State candidates. +We soon shall know how many delegates they elected, +how many candidates they have pledged to a free State, and +how many votes were cast for them.</p> + +<p>“Allow me to barely whisper my suspicion, that there +were no such things in Kansas as ‘Free State Democrats’​—​that +they were altogether mythical, good only to figure in +newspapers and speeches in the free States. If there should +prove to be one real, living free State Democrat in Kansas, I +suggest that it might be well to catch him, and stuff and preserve +his skin, as an interesting specimen of that soon to be +extinct variety of the genus Democrat.</p> + +<p>“And now, as to the Dred Scott decision. That decision +declares two propositions​—​first, that a negro cannot sue in +the United States Courts; and secondly, that Congress can +not prohibit slavery in the Territories. It was made by a +divided court​—​dividing differently on the different points. +Judge Douglas does not discuss the merits of the decision, +and in that respect, I shall follow his example, believing I +could no more improve upon McLean and Curtis, than he +could on Taney.</p> + +<p>“He denounces all who question the correctness of that +decision, as offering violent resistance to it. But who resists +it? Who has, in spite of the decision, declared Dred Scott +free, and resisted the authority of his master over him?</p> + +<p>“Judicial decisions have two uses​—​first, to absolutely determine +the case decided; and secondly to indicate to the +public how other similar cases will be decided when they +arise. For the latter use, they are called ‘precedents’ and +‘authorities.’</p> + +<p>“We believe as much as Judge Douglas (perhaps more) +in obedience to, and respect for the judicial department of +Government. We think its decisions on Constitutional questions, +when fully settled, should control, not only the particular +cases decided, but the general policy of the country<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_435" id="Page_435">435</a></span> +subject to be disturbed only by amendments of the Constitution, +as provided in that instrument itself. More than this +would be revolution. But we think the Dred Scott decision +is erroneous. We know the court that made it has often +overruled its own decisions, and we shall do what we can to +have it overrule this. We offer no resistance to it.</p> + +<p>“Judicial decisions are of greater or less authority as precedents, +according to circumstances. That this should be so, +accords both with common sense, and the customary understanding +of the legal profession.</p> + +<p>“If this important decision had been made by the unanimous +concurrence of the judges, and without any apparent +partisan bias, and in accordance with legal public expectation, +and with the steady practice of the departments, throughout +our history, and had been in no part based on assumed historical +facts which are not really true; or, if wanting in some +of these, it had been before the court more than once, and had +there been affirmed and re-affirmed through a course of years, +it then might be, perhaps would be, factious, nay, even revolutionary, +not to acquiesce in it as a precedent.</p> + +<p>“But when, as is true, we find it wanting in all these +claims to the public confidence, it is not resistance, it is not +factious, it is not even disrespectful, to treat it as not having +yet quite established a settled doctrine for the country. But +Judge Douglas considers this view awful. Hear him:</p> + +<p>“‘The courts are the tribunals prescribed by the Constitution +and created by the authority of the people to determine, +expound, and enforce the law. Hence, whoever resists the +final decision of the highest judicial tribunal, aims a deadly +blow to our whole Republican system of government​—​a blow +which, if successful, would place all our rights and liberties at +the mercy of passion, anarchy and violence. I repeat, therefore, +that if resistance to the decisions of the Supreme Court +of the United States, in a matter like the points decided in +the Dred Scott case, clearly within their jurisdiction as defined<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_436" id="Page_436">436</a></span> +by the Constitution, shall be forced upon the country +as a political issue, it will become a distinct and naked issue +between the friends and enemies of the Constitution​—​the +friends and enemies of the supremacy of the laws.’</p> + +<p>“Why, this same Supreme Court once decided a national +bank to be Constitutional; but General Jackson, as President +of the United States, disregarded the decision, and vetoed a +bill for a re-charter, partly on Constitutional ground, declaring +that each public functionary must support the Constitution, +‘as he understands it.’ But hear the General’s own +words. Here they are, taken from his veto message:</p> + +<p>“‘It is maintained by the advocates of the bank, that its +Constitutionality, in all its features, ought to be considered as +settled by precedent, and by the decision of the Supreme +Court. To this conclusion I can not assent. Mere precedent +is a dangerous source of authority, and should not be regarded +as deciding questions of Constitutional power, except where +the acquiescence of the people and the States can be considered +as well settled. So far from this being the case on this +subject, an argument against the bank might be based on +precedent. One Congress, in 1791, decided in favor of a +bank; another, in 1811, decided against it. One Congress, +in 1815, decided against a bank; another, in 1816, decided in +its favor. Prior to the present Congress, therefore, the precedents +drawn from that source were equal. If we resort to +the States, the expression of legislative, judicial, and executive +opinions against the bank have been probably to those +in its favor as four to one. There is nothing in precedent, +therefore, which, if its authority were admitted, ought to +weigh in favor of the act before me.’</p> + +<p>“I drop the quotations merely to remark, that all there ever +was, in the way of precedent up to the Dred Scott decision, +on the points therein decided, had been against that decision. +But hear General Jackson further:</p> + +<p>“‘If the opinion of the Supreme Court covered the whole<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_437" id="Page_437">437</a></span> +ground of this act, it ought not to control the co-ordinate +authorities of this Government. The Congress, the Executive +and the Court, must each for itself be guided by its own +opinion of the Constitution. Each public officer, who takes +an oath to support the Constitution, swears that he will support +it as he understands it, and not as it is understood by +others.’</p> + +<p>“Again and again have I heard Judge Douglas denounce +that bank decision, and applaud General Jackson for disregarding +it. It would be interesting for him to look over his +recent speech, and see how exactly his fierce philippics against +us for resisting Supreme Court decisions, fall upon his own +head. It will call to mind a long and fierce political war in +this country, upon an issue which, in his own language, and, +of course, in his own changeless estimation, was ‘a distinct +issue between the friends and the enemies of the Constitution,’ +and in which war he fought in the ranks of the enemies +of the Constitution.</p> + +<p>“I have said, in substance, that the Dred Scott decision was, +in part, based on assumed historical facts which were not +really true, and I ought not to leave the subject without +giving some reasons for saying this; I, therefore, give an +instance or two, which I think fully sustain me. Chief Justice +Taney, in delivering the opinion of the majority of the +Court, insists at great length, that negroes were no part of +the people who made, or for whom was made, the Declaration +of Independence, or the Constitution of the United +States.</p> + +<p>“On the contrary, Judge Curtis, in his dissenting opinion, +shows that in five of the then thirteen States, to wit: New +Hampshire, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, and +North Carolina, free negroes were voters, and, in proportion +to their numbers, had the same part in making the Constitution +that the white people had. He shows this with so much<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_438" id="Page_438">438</a></span> +particularity as to leave no doubt of its truth; and as a sort +of conclusion on that point, holds the following language:</p> + +<p>“‘The constitution was ordained and established by the +people of the United States, through the action, in each State, +of those persons who were qualified by its laws to act thereon +in behalf of themselves and all other citizens of the State. +In some of the States, as we have seen, colored persons were +among those qualified by law to act on the subject. These +colored persons were not only included in the body of ‘the +people of the United States,’ by whom the Constitution was +ordained and established; but in at least five of the States +they had the power to act, and, doubtless, did act, by their +suffrages, upon the question of its adoption.’</p> + +<p>“Again, Chief Justice Taney says: ‘It is difficult, at this +day to realize the state of public opinion in relation to that +unfortunate race, which prevailed in the civilized and enlightened +portions of the world at the time of the Declaration of +Independence, and when the Constitution of the United +States was framed and adopted.’ And again, after quoting +from the Declaration, he says: ‘The general words above +quoted would seem to include the whole human family, and +if they were used in a similar instrument at this day, would +be so understood.’</p> + +<p>“In these the Chief Justice does not directly assert, but +plainly assumes, as a fact, that the public estimate of the +black man is more favorable now than it was in the days of +the Revolution. This assumption is a mistake. In some +trifling particulars, the condition of that race has been ameliorated; +but as a whole, in this country, the change between +then and now is decidedly the other way; and their ultimate +destiny has never appeared so hopeless as in the last three or +four years. In two of the five States​—​New Jersey and +North Carolina​—​that then gave the free negro the right of +voting, the right has since been taken away; and in the third​—​New +York​—​it has been greatly abridged; while it has not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_439" id="Page_439">439</a></span> +been extended, so far as I know, to a single additional State, +though the number of the States has more than doubled. In +those days, as I understand, masters could, at their own +pleasure, emancipate their slaves; but since then such legal +restraints have been made upon emancipation as to amount +almost to prohibition. In those days ‘Legislatures held the +unquestioned power to abolish slavery in their respective +States; but now it is becoming quite fashionable for State +Constitutions to withhold that power from the Legislatures. +In those days by common consent, the spread of the black +man’s bondage to the new countries was prohibited; but now, +Congress decides that it will not continue the prohibition​—​and +the Supreme Court decides that it could not if it would. +In those days our Declaration of Independence was held +sacred by all, and thought to include all; but now, to aid in +making the bondage of the negro universal and eternal, it is +assailed, sneered at, construed, hawked at, and torn, till, if its +framers could rise from their graves, they could not at all +recognize it. All the powers of earth seem rapidly combining +against him. Mammon is after him; ambition follows, +philosophy follows, and the theology of the day is fast joining +the cry. They have him in his prison-house; they have +searched his person, and left no prying instrument with him. +One after another they have closed the heavy iron doors upon +him; and now they have him, as it were, bolted in with a +lock of a hundred keys, which can never be unlocked without +the concurrence of every key; the keys in the hands of a hundred +different men, and they scattered to a hundred different +and distant places; and they stand musing as to what invention, +in all the dominions of mind and matter, can be produced +to make the impossibility of his escape more complete +than it is.</p> + +<p>“It is grossly incorrect to say or assume, that the public +estimate of the negro is more favorable now than it was at +the origin of the Government.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_440" id="Page_440">440</a></span> +“Three years and a half ago, Judge Douglas brought forward +his famous Nebraska bill. The country was at once in +a blaze. He scorned all opposition, and carried it through +Congress. Since then he has seen himself superseded in a +Presidential nomination, by one indorsing the general doctrine +of his measure, but at the same time standing clear of +the odium of its untimely agitation, and its gross breach of +national faith; and he has seen that successful rival Constitutionally +elected, not by the strength of friends, but by the +division of his adversaries, being in a popular minority of +nearly four hundred thousand votes. He has seen his chief +aids in his own State, Shields and Richardson, politely speaking, +successively tried, convicted, and executed, for an offence +not their own, but his. And now he sees his own case, +standing next on the docket for trial.</p> + +<p>“There is a natural disgust, in the minds of nearly all white +people, to the idea of an indiscriminate amalgamation of the +white and black races; and Judge Douglas evidently is basing +his chief hope upon the chances of his being able to appropriate +the benefit of this disgust to himself. If he can, by +much drumming and repeating, fasten the odium of that idea +upon his adversaries, he thinks he can struggle through the +storm. He, therefore, clings to this hope, as a drowning man +to the last plank. He makes an occasion for lugging it in +from the opposition to the Dred Scott decision. He finds the +Republicans insisting that the Declaration of Independence +includes <span class="smcap smaller">ALL</span> men, black as well as white, and forthwith he +boldly denies that it includes negroes at all, and proceeds to +argue gravely that all who contend it does do so only because +they want to vote, eat and sleep, and marry with negroes. +He will have it that they can not be consistent else. Now, +I protest against the counterfeit logic which concludes that +because I do not want a black woman for a slave I must +necessarily want her for a wife. I need not have her for +either. I can just leave her alone. In some respects she<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_441" id="Page_441">441</a></span> +certainly is not my equal; but in her natural right to eat the +bread she earns with her own hands, without asking leave of +any one else, she is my equal, and the equal of all others.</p> + +<p>“Chief Justice Taney, in his opinion in the Dred Scott case, +admits that the language of the Declaration is broad enough +to include the whole human family; but he and Judge Douglas +argue that the authors of that instrument did not intend +to include negroes, by the fact that they did not at once actually +place them on an equality with the whites. Now, this +grave argument comes to just nothing at all, by the other +fact, that they did not at once, or ever afterward, actually +place all white people on an equality with one another. And +this is the staple argument of both the Chief Justice and the +Senator for doing this obvious violence to the plain, unmistakable +language of the Declaration.</p> + +<p>“I think the authors of that notable instrument intended +to include <i>all</i> men, but they did not intend to declare all men +equal <i>in all respects</i>. They did not mean to say all were +equal in color, size, intellect, moral developments, or social +capacity. They defined with tolerable distinctness in what +respects they did consider all men created equal​—​equal with +‘certain inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty, and +the pursuit of happiness.’ This they said, and this meant. +They did not mean to assert the obvious untruth, that all +were then actually enjoying that equality, nor yet that they +were about to confer it immediately upon them. In fact, +they had no power to confer such a boon. They meant +simply to declare the <i>right</i>, so that the <i>enforcement</i> of it +might follow as fast as circumstances should permit.”</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_442" id="Page_442">442</a></span></p> + +<div class="tb p2">*<span class="in2">*</span><span class="in2">*</span><span class="in2">*</span><span class="in2">*</span></div> + +<h3>SPEECH IN REPLY TO SENATOR DOUGLAS.</h3> + +<p class="center p1 b1">(<i>At Chicago, on the evening of July 10, 1858.</i>)</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">My Fellow-Citizens</span>: On yesterday evening, upon the +occasion of the reception given to Senator Douglas, I was +furnished with a seat very convenient for hearing him, and +was otherwise very courteously treated by him and his +friends, for which I thank him and them. During the course +of his remarks my name was mentioned in such a way as, I +suppose, renders it at least not improper that I should make +some sort of reply to him. I shall not attempt to follow him +in the precise order in which he addressed the assembled +multitude upon that occasion, though I shall perhaps do so in +the main.</p> + +<p>“There was one question to which he asked the attention +of the crowd, which I deem of somewhat less importance​—​at +least of propriety for me to dwell upon​—​than the others, +which he brought in near the close of his speech, and which +I think it would not be entirely proper for me to omit attending +to, and yet if I were not to give some attention to it now, +I should probably forget it altogether. While I am upon +this subject, allow me to say that I do not intend to indulge +in that inconvenient mode sometimes adopted in public +speaking, of reading from documents; but I shall depart from +that rule so far as to read a little scrap from his speech, +which notices this first topic of which I shall speak​—​that is, +provided I can find it in the paper. [Examines the morning’s +paper.]</p> + +<p>“‘I have made up my mind to appeal to the people against +the combination that has been made against me! the Republican +leaders having formed an alliance, an unholy and unnatural +alliance, with a portion of unscrupulous federal office-holders. +I intend to fight that allied army wherever I meet +them. I know they deny the alliance, but yet these men who<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_443" id="Page_443">443</a></span> +are trying to divide the Democratic party for the purpose of +electing a Republican Senator in my place, are just as much +the agents and tools of the supporters of Mr. Lincoln. Hence +I shall deal with this allied army just as the Russians dealt +with the allies at Sebastopol​—​that is, the Russians did not +stop to inquire, when they fired a broadside, whether it hit +an Englishman, a Frenchman, or a Turk. Nor will I stop to +inquire, nor shall I hesitate, whether my blows shall hit these +Republican leaders or their allies, who are holding the federal +offices and yet acting in concert with them.’</p> + +<p>“Well, now, gentlemen, is not that very alarming? Just +to think of it! right at the outset of his canvass, I, a poor, +kind, amiable, intelligent gentleman, I am to be slain in this +way. Why, my friends, the Judge, is not only, as it turns +out, not a dead lion, nor even a living one​—​he is the rugged +Russian Bear!</p> + +<p>“But if they will have it​—​for he says that we deny it​—​that +there is any such alliance as he says there is​—​and I +don’t propose hanging very much upon this question of veracity​—​but +if he will have it that there is such an alliance​—​that +the Administration men and we are allied, and we stand in +the attitude of English, French and Turk, he occupying the +position of the Russian, in that case, I beg that he will indulge +us while we barely suggest to him that these allies took +Sebastopol.</p> + +<p>“Gentlemen, only a few more words as to this alliance. For +my part, I have to say, that whether there be such an alliance, +depends, so far as I know, upon what may be a right definition +of the term <i>alliance</i>. If for the Republican party to +see the other great party to which they are opposed divided +among themselves, and not try to stop the division and rather +be glad of it​—​if that is an alliance, I confess I am in; but if +it is meant to be said that the Republicans had formed an +alliance going beyond that, by which there is contribution of +money or sacrifice of principle on the one side or the other<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_444" id="Page_444">444</a></span> +so far as the Republican party is concerned, if there be any +such thing, I protest that I neither know any thing of it, nor +do I believe it. I will, however, say​—​as I think this branch +of the argument is lugged in​—​I would, before I leave it, +state, for the benefit of those concerned, that one of those +same Buchanan men did once tell me of an argument that he +made for his opposition to Judge Douglas. He said that a +friend of our Senator Douglas had been talking to him, and +had among other things said to him: ‘Why, you don’t want +to beat Douglas?’ ‘Yes,’ said he, ‘I do want to beat him, +and I will tell you why. I believe his original Nebraska Bill +was right in the abstract, but it was wrong in the time that it +was brought forward. It was wrong in the application to a +Territory in regard to which the question had been settled; +it was brought forward in a time when nobody asked him; it +was tendered to the South when the South had not asked for +it, but when they could not well refuse it; and for this same +reason he forced that question upon our party; it has sunk +the best men all over the nation, everywhere; and now when +our President, struggling with the difficulties of this man’s +getting up, has reached the very hardest point to turn in the +case, his deserts him, and I <i>am</i> for putting him where he will +trouble us no more.’</p> + +<p>“Now, gentlemen, that is not my argument​—​that is not +my argument at all. I have only been stating to you the +argument of a Buchanan man. You will judge if there is +any force in it.</p> + +<p>“Popular sovereignty! everlasting popular sovereignty! +Let us for a moment inquire into this vast matter of popular +sovereignty. What is popular sovereignty? We recollect +that in an early period in the history of this struggle, there +was another name for the same thing​—​<i>Squatter Sovereignty</i>. +It was not exactly Popular Sovereignty, but Squatter Sovereignty. +What do those terms mean? What do those terms +mean when used now? And vast credit is taken by our<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_445" id="Page_445">445</a></span> +friend, the Judge, in regard to his support of it, when he +declares the last years of his life have been, and all the future +years of his life shall be, devoted to this matter of popular +sovereignty. What is it? Why it is the sovereignty of the +people! What was Squatter Sovereignty? I suppose if it +had any significance at all it was the right of the people to +govern themselves, to be sovereign in their own affairs while +they were squatted down in a country not their own, while +they had squatted on a Territory that did not belong to them, +in the sense that a State belongs to the people who inhabit +it​—​when it belonged to the nation​—​such right to govern +themselves was called ‘Squatter Sovereignty.’</p> + +<p>“Now I wish you to mark. What has become of that +Squatter Sovereignty? What has become of it? Can you +get any body to tell you now that the people of a Territory +have any authority to govern themselves, in regard to this +mooted question of slavery, before they form a State Constitution? +No such thing at all, although there is a general +running fire, and although there has been a hurrah made in +every speech on that side, assuming that policy had given +the people of a Territory the right to govern themselves upon +this question; yet the point is dodged. To-day it has been +decided​—​no more than a year ago it was decided by the +Supreme Court of the United States, as is insisted upon to-day, +that the people of a Territory have no right to exclude +slavery from a Territory, that if any one man chooses to take +slaves into a Territory, all of the rest of the people have no +right to keep them out. This being so, and this decision +being made one of the points that the Judge approved, and +one in the approval of which he says he means to keep me +down​—​<i>put</i> me down I should not say, for I have never been +up. He says he is in favor of it, and sticks to it, and expects +to win his battle on that decision, which says that there is no +such thing as Squatter Sovereignty; but that any one man +may take slaves into a Territory, and all the other men in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_446" id="Page_446">446</a></span> +Territory may be opposed to it, and yet by reason of the +Constitution they can not prohibit it. When that is so, how +much is left of this vast matter of Squatter Sovereignty I +should like to know? [A voice​—​‘It is all gone.’]</p> + +<p>“When we get back, we get to the point of the right of the +people to make a Constitution. Kansas was settled, for +example, in 1854. It was a Territory yet, without having +formed a Constitution, in a very regular way, for three years. +All this time negro slavery could be taken in by any few +individuals, and by that decision of the Supreme Court, which +the Judge approves, all the rest of the people can not keep it +out; but when they come to make a Constitution they may +say they will not have slavery. But it is there; they are +obliged to tolerate it some way, and all experience shows it +will be so​—​for they will not take negro slaves and absolutely +deprive the owners of them. All experience shows +this to be so. All that space of time that runs from the +beginning of the settlement of the Territory until there is +sufficiency of people to make a State Constitution​—​all that +portion of time popular sovereignty is given up. The seal +is absolutely put down upon it by the Court decision, and +Judge Douglas puts his on the top of that, yet he is appealing +to the people to give him vast credit for his devotion to popular +sovereignty.</p> + +<p>“Again, when we get to the question of the right of the +people to form a State Constitution as they please, to form it +with slavery or without slavery​—​if that is any thing new, I +confess I don’t know it. Has there ever been a time when +any body said that any other than the people of a Territory +itself should form a Constitution? What is now in it that +Judge Douglas should have fought several years of his life, +and pledge himself to fight all the remaining years of his +life for? Can Judge Douglas find any body on earth that +said that any body else should form a Constitution for a +people? [A voice, ‘Yes.’] Well, I should like you to name<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_447" id="Page_447">447</a></span> +him; I should like to know who he was. [Same voice, +‘John Calhoun.’]</p> + +<p>“No, Sir, I never heard of even John Calhoun saying such +a thing. He insisted on the same principle as Judge Douglas; +but his mode of applying it in fact, was wrong. It is enough +for my purpose to ask this crowd, when ever a Republican +said any thing against it? They never said any thing against +it, but they have constantly spoken for it; and whosoever will +undertake to examine the platform, and the speeches of responsible +men of the party, and of irresponsible men, too, if +you please, will be unable to find one word from anybody +in the Republican ranks, opposed to that Popular Sovereignty +which Judge Douglas thinks that he has invented. I suppose +that Judge Douglas will claim in a little while, that he is the +inventor of the idea that the people should govern themselves; +that nobody ever thought of such a thing until he +brought it forward. We do remember, that in that old +Declaration of Independence, it is said that ‘We hold these +truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; +that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable +rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the +pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights, governments +are instituted among men, deriving their just powers +from the consent of the governed.’ There is the origin of +the Popular Sovereignty. Who, then, shall come in at this +day and claim that he invented it”?</p></blockquote> + +<p>After referring, in appropriate terms, to the credit +claimed by Douglas for defeating the Lecompton policy, Mr. +Lincoln proceeds:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“I defy you to show a printed resolution passed in a Democratic +meeting​—​I take it upon myself to defy any man to +show a printed resolution of a Democratic meeting, large or +small, in favor of Judge Trumbull, or any of the five to one +Republican who beat the bill. Every thing must be for the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_448" id="Page_448">448</a></span> +Democrats! They did every thing, and the five to the one +that really did the thing, they snub over, and they do not +seem to remember that they have an existence upon the face +of the earth.</p> + +<p>“Gentlemen, I fear that I shall become tedious. I leave +this branch of the subject to take hold of another. I take up +that part of Judge Douglas’s speech in which he respectfully +attended to me.</p> + +<p>“Judge Douglas made two points upon my recent speech +at Springfield. He says they are to be the issues of this campaign. +The first one of these points he bases upon the language +in a speech which I delivered at Springfield, which I +believe I can quote correctly from memory. I said there that +‘we are now far on in the fifth year since a policy was instituted +for the avowed object, and with the confident promise +of putting an end to slavery agitation; under the operation +of that policy, that agitation had not only not ceased, but +had constantly augmented. I believe it will not cease until a +crisis shall have been reached and passed. A house divided +against itself can not stand. I believe this Government can +not endure permanently half slave and half free. I do not +expect the Union to be dissolved’​—​I am quoting from my +speech​—​‘I do not expect the house to fall, but I do expect it +will cease to be divided. It will come all one thing or the +other. Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the spread +of it, and place it where the public mind shall rest in the +belief that it is in the course of ultimate extinction, or its advocates +will push it forward until it shall have become alike +lawful in all the States, North as well as South.’</p> + +<p>“In this paragraph which I have quoted in your hearing, +and to which I ask the attention of all, Judge Douglas thinks +he discovers great political heresy. I want your attention +particularly to what he has inferred from it. He says I am +in favor of making all the States of this Union uniform in all +their internal regulations; that in all their domestic concerns<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_449" id="Page_449">449</a></span> +I am in favor of making them entirely uniform. He draws +this inference from the language I have quoted to you. He +says that I am in favor of making war by the North upon the +South for the extinction of slavery; that I am also in favor +of inviting, as he expresses it, the South to a war upon the +North, for the purpose of nationalizing slavery. Now, it is +singular enough, if you will carefully read that passage over, +that I did not say that I was in favor of any thing in it. I +only said what I expected would take place. I made a prediction +only​—​it may have been a foolish one perhaps. I did +not even say that I desired that slavery should be put in +course of ultimate extinction. I do say so now, however, so +there need be no longer any difficulty about that. It may be +written down in the next speech.</p> + +<p>“Gentlemen, Judge Douglas informed you that this speech +of mine was probably carefully prepared. I admit that it +was. I am not master of language; I have not a fine education; +I am not capable of entering into a disquisition upon +dialects, as I believe you call it; but I do not believe the language +I employed bears any such construction as Judge +Douglas puts upon it. But I don’t care about a quibble in +regard to words. I know what I meant, and I will not +leave this crowd in doubt, if I can explain it to them, what +I really meant in the use of that paragraph.</p> + +<p>“I am not, in the first place, unaware that this Government +has endured eighty-two years, half slave and half free. +I know that. I am tolerably well acquainted with the history +of the country, and I know that it has endured eighty-two +years, half slave and half free. I <i>believe</i>​—​and that is what I +meant to allude to there​—​I <i>believe</i> it has endured, because +during all that time, until the introduction of the Nebraska +bill, the public mind did rest all the time in the belief that +slavery was in course of ultimate extinction. That was what +gave us the rest that we had through that period of eighty-two +years; at least, so I believe. I have always hated<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_450" id="Page_450">450</a></span> +slavery, I think, as much as any Abolitionist. I have been +an Old Line Whig. I have always hated it, but I have +always been quiet about it until this new era of the introduction +of the Nebraska Bill began. I always believed that +everybody was against it, and that it was in course of ultimate +extinction. [Pointing to Mr. Browning, who stood near by:] +Browning thought so; the great mass of the Nation have +rested in the belief that slavery was in the course of ultimate +extinction. They had reason so to believe.</p> + +<p>“The adoption of the Constitution and its attendant history +led the people to believe so; and that such was the belief of +the framers of the Constitution itself. Why did those old +men, about the time of the adoption of the Constitution, +decree that slavery should not go into the new territory, +where it had not already gone? Why declare that within +twenty years the African slave-trade, by which slaves are +supplied, might be cut off by Congress? Why were all these +acts? I might enumerate more of such acts​—​but enough. +What were they but a clear indication that the framers of the +Constitution intended and expected the ultimate extinction of +that institution? And now, when I say, as I said in this +speech that Judge Douglas has quoted from, when I say that +I think the opponents of slavery will resist the further spread +of it, and place it where the public mind shall rest with the +belief that it is in course of ultimate extinction, I only mean +to say, that they will place it where the founders of this +Government originally placed it.</p> + +<p>“I have said a hundred times, and I have no inclination to +take it back, that I believe there is no right, and ought to be +no inclination in the people of the free States to enter into +the slave States, and to interfere with the question of slavery +at all. I have said that always. Judge Douglas has heard +me say it​—​if not quite a hundred times, at least as good as a +hundred times; and when it is said that I am in favor of +interfering with slavery where it exists, I know that it is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_451" id="Page_451">451</a></span> +unwarranted by any thing I have ever intended, and, as I +believe, by any thing I have ever said. If, by any means, I +have ever used language which could fairly be so construed +(as, however, I believe I never have), I now correct it.</p> + +<p>“So much, then, for the inference that Judge Douglas +draws, that I am in favor of setting the sections at war with +one another. I know that I never meant any such thing, and +I believe that no fair mind can infer any such thing from any +thing I have ever said.</p> + +<p>“Now in relation to his inference that I am in favor of a +general consolidation of all the local institutions of the various +States. I will attend to that for a little while, and try to +inquire, if I can, how on earth it could be that any man could +draw such an inference from any thing I said. I have said, +very many times, in Judge Douglas’s hearing, that no man +believed more than I in the principle of self-government; +that it lies at the bottom of all my ideas of just government, +from beginning to end. I have denied that his use of that +term applies properly. But for the thing itself, I deny that +any man has ever gone ahead of me in his devotion to the +principle, whatever he may have done in efficiency in advocating +it. I think that I have said it in your hearing​—​that I +believe each individual is naturally entitled to do as he pleases +with himself and with the fruit of his labor, so far as it in no +wise interferes with any other man’s rights​—​that each community, +as a State, has a right to do exactly as it pleases +with all the concerns within that State that interfere with the +right of no other State, and that the General Government, +upon principle, has no right to interfere with any thing other +than that general class of things that does concern the whole. +I have said that at all times. I have said as illustrations, +that I do not believe in the right of Illinois to interfere with +the cranberry laws of Indiana, the oyster laws of Virginia, or +the liquor laws of Maine. I have said these things over and +over again, and I repeat them here as my sentiments....</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_452" id="Page_452">452</a></span> +“So much then as to my disposition​—​my wish​—​to have +all the State Legislatures blotted out, and to have one consolidated +government, and a uniformity of domestic regulations +in all the States; by which I suppose it is meant, if we +raise corn here, we must make sugar-cane grow here too, and +we must make those which grow North grow in the South. +All this I suppose he understands I am in favor of doing. +Now, so much for all this nonsense​—​for I must call it so. +The Judge can have no issue with me on a question of established +uniformity in the domestic regulations of the States.</p> + +<p>“A little now on the other point​—​the Dred Scott decision. +Another of the issues he says that is to be made with me, is +upon his devotion to the Dred Scott decision, and my opposition +to it.</p> + +<p>“I have expressed heretofore, and I now repeat my opposition +to the Dred Scott decision, but I should be allowed to +state the nature of that opposition, and I ask your indulgence +while I do so. What is fairly implied by the term Judge +Douglas has used, ‘resistance to the decision?’ I do not +resist it. If I wanted to take Dred Scott from his master, I +would be interfering with property, and that terrible difficulty +that Judge Douglas speaks of, of interfering with property +would arise. But I am doing no such thing as that, but +all that I am doing is refusing to obey it as a political rule. +If I were in Congress, and a vote should come up on a +question whether slavery should be prohibited in a new Territory, +in spite of the Dred Scott decision, I would vote that +it should.</p> + +<p>“That is what I would do. Judge Douglas said last +night, that before the decision he might advance his opinion, +and it might be contrary to the decision when it was made; +but <i>after</i> it was made he would abide by it until it was reversed. +Just so! We let this property abide by the decision, +but we will try to reverse that decision. [Loud applause.] +We will try to put it where Judge Douglas will not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_453" id="Page_453">453</a></span> +object, for he says he will obey it until it is reversed. Some +body has to reverse that decision, since it was made, and we +mean to reverse it, and we mean to do it peaceably.</p> + +<p>“What are the uses of decisions of courts? They have +two uses. As rules of property they have two uses. First​—​they +decide upon the question before the court. They decide +in this case that Dred Scott is a slave. Nobody resists that. +Not only that, but they say to everybody else, that persons +standing just as Dred Scott stands, is as he is. That is, they +say that when a question comes up upon another person, it +will be so decided again unless the court decides in another +way, unless the court overrules its decision. Well, we mean +to do what we can to have the court decide the other way. +That is one thing we mean to try to do.</p> + +<p>“The sacredness that Judge Douglas throws around this +decision, is a degree of sacredness that has never been before +thrown around any other decision. I have never heard of +such a thing. Why, decisions apparently contrary to that +decision, or that good lawyers thought were contrary to that +decision, have been made by that very court before. It is +the first of the kind; it is an <i>astonisher</i> in legal history. It is +a new wonder of the world. It is based upon falsehoods in +the main as to the facts​—​allegation of facts upon which it +stands are not facts at all in many instances, and no decision +made on any question​—​the first instance of a decision made +under so many unfavorable circumstances​—​thus placed, has +ever been held by the profession as law, and it has always +needed confirmation before the lawyers regarded it as settled +law. But Judge Douglas will have it that all hands must +take this extraordinary decision, made under these extraordinary +circumstances, and give their vote in Congress in accordance +with it, yield to it and obey it in every possible +sense. Circumstances alter cases. Do not gentlemen here +remember the case of that same Supreme Court, twenty-five +or thirty years ago, deciding that a National Bank was Constitutional?<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_454" id="Page_454">454</a></span> +I ask, if somebody does not remember that a +National Bank was declared to be Constitutional? Such is +the truth, whether it be remembered or not. The Bank +charter ran out, and a re-charter was granted by Congress. +That re-charter was laid before General Jackson. It was +urged upon him, when he denied the Constitutionality of the +Bank, that the Supreme Court had decided that it was Constitutional; +and that General Jackson then said that the +Supreme Court had no right to lay down a rule to govern a +co-ordinate branch of the Government, the members of which +had sworn to support the Constitution​—​that each member +had sworn to support that Constitution as he understood it. +I will venture here to say, that I have heard Judge Douglas +say that he approved of General Jackson for that act. +What has now become of all his tirade about ‘resistance to +the Supreme Court?’ * * *</p> + +<p>“We were often​—​more than once, at least​—​in the course +of Judge Douglas’s speech last night, reminded that this +Government was made for white men​—​that he believed it +was made for white men. Well, that is putting it into +a shape in which no one wants to deny it; but the Judge +then goes into his passion for drawing inferences that are not +warranted. I protest, now, and forever, against that counterfeit +logic which presumes that because I did not want a negro +woman for a slave, I do necessarily want her for a wife. My +understanding is that I need not have her for either; but, as +God made us separate, we can leave one another alone, and +do one another much good thereby. There are white men +enough to marry all the white women, and enough black men +to marry all the black women, and in God’s name let them +be so married. The Judge regales us with the terrible +enormities that take place by the mixture of races; that is the +inferior race bears the superior down. Why, Judge, if you +do not let them get together in the Territories they won’t mix +there.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_455" id="Page_455">455</a></span> +“Now, it happens that we meet together once every year, +some time about the Fourth of July, for some reason or other. +These Fourth of July gatherings I suppose have their uses. +If you will indulge me, I will state what I suppose to be some +of them.</p> + +<p>“We are now a mighty nation; we are thirty, or about +thirty millions of people, and we own and inhabit about one-fifteenth +part of the dry land of the whole earth. We run +our memory back over the pages of history for about eighty-two +years, and we discover that we were then a very small +people in point of numbers, vastly inferior to what we are +now, with a vastly less extent of country, with vastly less of +every thing we deem desirable among men​—​we look upon +the change as exceedingly advantageous to us and to our +posterity, and we fix upon something that happened away +back, as in some way or other being connected with this rise +of posterity. We find a race of men living in that day whom +we claim as our fathers and grandfathers; they were iron +men; they fought for the principle that they were contending +for; and we understood that by what they then did it has +followed that the degree of prosperity which we now enjoy +has come to us. We hold this annual celebration to remind +ourselves of all the good done in this process of time, of how +it was done and who did it, and how we are historically connected +with it; and we go from these meetings in better +humor with ourselves​—​we feel more attached the one to the +other, and more firmly bound to the country we inhabit. In +every way we are better men in the age, and race, and country +in which we live, for these celebrations. But after we have +done all this, we have not yet reached the whole. There is +something else connected with it. We have, besides these​—​men +descended by blood from our ancestors​—​those among us +perhaps, half our people, who are not descendants at all of +these men; they are men who have come from Europe​—​German, +Irish, French, and Scandinavian​—​men that have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_456" id="Page_456">456</a></span> +come from Europe themselves, or whose ancestors have come +hither and settled here, finding themselves our equals in all +things. If they look back through this history to trace their +connection with those days by blood, they find they have +none; they cannot carry themselves back into that glorious +epoch and make themselves feel that they are part of us; but +when they look through that old Declaration of Independence, +they find that those old men say that ‘we hold these truths +to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,’ and then +they feel that that moral sentiment, taught on that day, evidences +their relation to those men, that it is the father of all +moral principle in them, and that they have a right to claim +it as though they were blood of the blood and flesh of the +flesh of the men who wrote that Declaration, and so they are. +That is the electric cord in that Declaration that links the +hearts of patriotic and liberty-loving men together, that will +link those patriotic hearts as long as the love of freedom +exists in the minds of men throughout the world.</p> + +<p>“Now, sirs, for the purpose of squaring things with this +idea of ‘don’t care if slavery is voted up or voted down,’ for +sustaining the Dred Scott decision, for holding that the Declaration +of Independence did not mean any thing at all, we have +Judge Douglas giving his exposition of what the Declaration +of Independence means, and we have him saying that the +people of America are equal to the people of England. According +to his construction, you Germans are not connected +with it. Now I ask you in all soberness, if all these things, +if indulged in, if ratified, if confirmed and indorsed, if taught +to our children and repeated to them, do not tend to rub out +the sentiment of liberty in the country, and to transform this +Government into a government of some other form. These +arguments that are made, that the inferior race are to be +treated with as much allowance as they are capable of enjoying; +that as much is to be done for them as their condition +will allow​—​what are these arguments? They are the arguments<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_457" id="Page_457">457</a></span> +that Kings have made for enslaving the people in all +ages of the world. You will find that all the arguments in +favor of King-craft were of this class; they always bestrode +the necks of the people, not that they wanted to do it, but +because the people were better off for being ridden. That is +their argument, and this argument of the Judge is the same +old serpent that says: You work, and I eat, you toil and I +will enjoy the fruits of it. Turn it whatever way you will​—​whether +it come from the mouth of a King, an excuse for +enslaving the people of his country, or from the mouth of +men of one race as a reason for enslaving the men of another +race, it is all the same old serpent, and I hold if that course +of argumentation that is made for the purpose of convincing +the public mind that we should not care about this, should be +granted, it does not stop with the negro. I should like to +know if, taking this old Declaration of Independence, which +declares that all men are equal upon principle, you begin +making exceptions to it, where you will stop? If one man +says it does not mean a negro, why not another say it does +not mean some other man? If that declaration is not the +truth, let us get the statute book, in which we find it, and +tear it out! Who is so bold as to do it? If it is not true, +let us tear it out! [cries of ‘no, no,’]; let us stick to it then; +let us stand firmly by it then.</p> + +<p>“It may be argued that there are certain conditions that +make necessities and impose them upon us, and to the extent +that a necessity is imposed upon a man, he must submit to it. +I think that was the condition in which we found ourselves +when we established this Government. We had slaves among +us; we could not get our Constitution unless we permitted +them to remain in slavery; we could not secure the good we +did secure if we grasped for more; and having, by necessity, +submitted to that much, it does not destroy the principle that +is the charter of our liberties. Let that charter stand as our +standard.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_458" id="Page_458">458</a></span> +“My friend has said to me that I am a poor hand to quote +Scripture. I will try it again, however. It is said in one of +the admonitions of our Lord: ‘As your Father in heaven is +perfect, be ye also perfect.’ The Saviour, I suppose, did not +expect that any human creature could be perfect as the Father +in Heaven; but He said: ‘As your Father in Heaven is perfect, +be ye also perfect.’ He set that up as a standard, and +he who did most toward reaching that standard, attained the +highest degree of moral perfection. So I say in relation to +the principle that all men are created equal, let it be as nearly +reached as we can. If we cannot give freedom to every creature, +let us do nothing that will impose slavery upon any +other creature. Let us then turn this Government back into +the channel in which the framers of the Constitution originally +placed it. Let us stand firmly by each other. If we +do not do so we are turning in the contrary direction, that +our friend Judge Douglas proposes​—​not intentionally​—​as +working in the traces tends to make this one universal slave +nation. He is one that runs in that direction, and as such I +resist him.</p> + +<p>“My friends, I have detained you about as long as I desired +to do, and I have only to say, let us discard all this +quibbling about this man and the other man​—​this race and +that race and the other race being inferior, and therefore they +must be placed in an inferior position​—​discarding our standard +that we have left us. Let us discard all these things, +and unite as one people throughout this land, until we shall +once more stand up declaring that all men are created equal.</p> + +<p>“My friends, I could not, without launching off upon some +new topic, which would detain you too long, continue to-night. +I thank you for this most extensive audience that you have +furnished me to-night. I leave you, hoping that the lamp of +liberty will burn in your bosoms until there shall no longer +be a doubt that all men are created free and equal.”</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_459" id="Page_459">459</a></span></p> + +<div class="tb p2">*<span class="in2">*</span><span class="in2">*</span><span class="in2">*</span><span class="in2">*</span></div> + +<h3>OPENING PASSAGES OF HIS SPEECH AT FREEPORT.</h3> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Ladies and Gentlemen</span>:​—​On Saturday last, Judge +Douglas and myself first met in public discussion. He spoke +one hour, I an hour and a half, and he replied for half an +hour. The order is now reversed. I am to speak an hour, +he an hour and a half, and then I am to reply for half an +hour. I propose to devote myself during the first hour to +the scope of what was brought within the range of his half-hour +speech at Ottawa. Of course there was brought within +the scope of that half-hour’s speech something of his own +opening speech. In the course of that opening argument +Judge Douglas proposed to me seven distinct interrogatories. +In my speech of an hour and a half, I attended to some other +parts of his speech, and incidentally, as I thought, answered +one of the interrogatories then. I then distinctly intimated +to him that I would answer the rest of his interrogatories on +condition only that he should agree to answer as many for +me. He made no intimation at the time of the proposition, +nor did he in his reply allude at all to that suggestion of mine. +I do him no injustice in saying that he occupied at least half +of his reply in dealing with me as though I had <i>refused</i> to +answer his interrogatories. I now propose that I will answer +any of the interrogatories, upon condition that he will answer +questions from me not exceeding the same number. I give +him an opportunity to respond. The judge remains silent. +I now say that I will answer his interrogatories, whether he +answers mine or not; and that after I have done so, I shall +propound mine to him.</p> + +<p>“I have supposed myself, since the organization of the +Republican party at Bloomington, in May, 1856, bound as a +party man by the platforms of the party, then and since. If +in any interrogatories which I shall answer, I go beyond the +scope of what is within these platforms, it will be perceived +that no one is responsible but myself.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_460" id="Page_460">460</a></span></p> +<p>“Having said thus much, I will take up the judge’s interrogatories +as I find them printed in the Chicago <i>Times</i>, and +answer them <i>seriatim</i>. In order that there may be no mistake +about it, I have copied the interrogatories in writing, +and also my answers to them. The first one of these interrogatories +is in these words:</p> + +<p>Question 1. “‘I desire to know whether Lincoln to-day +stands, as he did in 1854, in favor of the unconditional repeal +of the Fugitive Slave law?’</p> + +<p>Answer. “I do not now, nor ever did, stand in favor of +the unconditional repeal of the Fugitive Slave law.</p> + +<p>Q. 2. “‘I desire him to answer whether he stands pledged +to-day, as he did in 1854, against the admission of any more +slave States into the Union, even if the people want them?’</p> + +<p>A. “I do not now, nor ever did, stand pledged against the +admission of any more slave States into the Union.</p> + +<p>Q. 3. “‘I want to know whether he stands pledged against +the admission of a new State into the Union with such a Constitution +as the people of that State may see fit to make?’</p> + +<p>A. “I do not stand pledged against the admission of a new +State into the Union, with such a Constitution as the people +of that State may see fit to make.</p> + +<p>Q. 4. “‘I want to know whether he stands to-day pledged +to the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia?’</p> + +<p>A. “I do not stand to-day pledged to the abolition of +slavery in the District of Columbia.</p> + +<p>Q. 5. “‘I desire him to answer whether he stands pledged +to the prohibition of the slave-trade between the different +States?’</p> + +<p>A. “I do not stand pledged to the prohibition of the slave-trade +between the different States.</p> + +<p>Q. 6. “‘I desire to know whether he stands pledged to +prohibit slavery in all the Territories of the United States, +North as well as South of the Missouri Compromise line?’</p> + +<p>A. “I am impliedly, if not expressly, pledged to a belief<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_461" id="Page_461">461</a></span> +in the <i>right</i> and <i>duty</i> of Congress to prohibit slavery in all +the United States Territories.</p> + +<p>Q. 7. “‘I desire him to answer whether he is opposed to +the acquisition of any new territory unless slavery is first prohibited +therein?’</p> + +<p>A. “I am not generally opposed to honest acquisition of +territory; and, in any given case, I would or would not +oppose such acquisition, accordingly as I might think such +acquisition would or would not agitate the slavery question +among ourselves.</p> + +<p>“Now, my friends, it will be perceived upon an examination +of these questions and answers, that so far I have only +answered that I was not <i>pledged</i> to this, that or the other. +The judge has not framed his interrogatories to ask me any +thing more than this, and I have answered in strict accordance +with the interrogatories, and have answered truly that +I am not <i>pledged</i> at all upon any of the points to which I +have answered. But I am not disposed to hang upon the +exact form of his interrogatory. I am rather disposed to take +up at least some of these questions, and state what I really +think upon them.</p> + +<p>“As to the first one, in regard to the Fugitive Slave law, I +have never hesitated to say, and I do not now hesitate to say, +that I think, under the Constitution of the United States, the +people of the Southern States are entitled to a Congressional +Slave law. Having said that, I have had nothing to say in +regard to the existing Fugitive Slave law, further than that I +think it should have been framed so as to be free from some +of the objections that pertain to it, without lessening its +efficiency. And inasmuch as we are not now in an agitation +in regard to an alteration or modification of that law, I would +not be the man to introduce it as a new subject of agitation +upon the general question of slavery.</p> + +<p>“In regard to the other question, of whether I am pledged +to the admission of any more Slave States into the Union, I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_462" id="Page_462">462</a></span> +state to you very frankly that I would be exceedingly sorry +ever to be put in a position of having to pass upon that question. +I should be exceedingly glad to know that there would +never be another slave State admitted into the Union; but +I must add, that if slavery shall be kept out of the Territories +during the Territorial existence of any one given Territory, +and then the people shall, having a fair chance and a clear +field, when they come to adopt the Constitution, do such an +extraordinary thing as to adopt a slave Constitution, uninfluenced +by the actual presence of the institution among them, +I see no alternative if we own the country, but to admit them +into the Union.</p> + +<p>“The third interrogatory is answered by the answer to the +second, it being, as I conceive, the same as the second.</p> + +<p>“The fourth one is in regard to the abolition of slavery in +the District of Columbia. In relation to that, I have my mind +very distinctly made up. I should be exceedingly glad to see +slavery abolished in the District of Columbia. I believe that +Congress possesses the constitutional power to abolish it. +Yet as a member of Congress, I should not with my present +views, be in favor of <i>endeavoring</i> to abolish slavery in the +District of Columbia, unless it would be upon these conditions: +<i>First</i>, that the abolition should be gradual; <i>second</i>, that it +should be on a vote of the majority of qualified voters in the +District; and <i>third</i>, that compensation should be made to +unwilling owners. With these three conditions, I confess I +would be exceedingly glad to see Congress abolish slavery in +the District of Columbia, and, in the language of Henry +Clay, ‘sweep from our Capital that foul blot upon our +nation.’</p> + +<p>“In regard to the fifth interrogatory, I must say here, that +as to the question of the abolition of the slave-trade between +the different States, I can truly answer, as I have, that I am +<i>pledged</i> to nothing about it. It is a subject to which I have +not given that mature consideration that would make me feel<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_463" id="Page_463">463</a></span> +authorized to state a position so as to hold myself entirely +bound by it. In other words, that question has never been +prominently enough before me to induce me to investigate +whether we really have the Constitutional power to do it. I +could investigate it if I had sufficient time to bring myself to +a conclusion upon that subject; but I have not done so, and +I say so frankly to you here, and to Judge Douglas. I must +say, however, that if I should be of opinion that Congress +does possess the Constitutional power to abolish slave-trading +among the different States, I should still not be in favor +of the exercise of that power unless upon some conservative +principle as I conceive it, akin to what I have said in relation +to the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia.</p> + +<p>“My answer as to whether I desire that slavery should be +prohibited in all Territories of the United States, is full and +explicit within itself, and can not be made clearer by any +comments of mine. So I suppose in regard to the question +whether I am opposed to the acquisition of any more territory +unless slavery is first prohibited therein, my answer is such +that I could add nothing by way of illustration, or making +myself better understood, than the answer which I have +placed in writing.</p> + +<p>“Now in all this, the judge has me, and he has me on the +record. I suppose he had flattered himself that I was really +entertaining one set of opinions for one place and another set +for another place​—​that I was afraid to say at one place what +I uttered at another. What I am saying here I suppose I +say to a vast audience as strongly tending to Abolitionism as +any audience in the State of Illinois, and I believe I am +saying that which, if it would be offensive to any persons +and render them enemies to myself, would be offensive to +persons in this audience.”</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_464" id="Page_464">464</a></span></p> + +<div class="tb p2">*<span class="in2">*</span><span class="in2">*</span><span class="in2">*</span><span class="in2">*</span></div> + +<h3>LETTER TO GENERAL McCLELLAN.</h3> + +<blockquote> + +<p class="sigright"> + +“<span class="smcap">Washington</span>, April 9, 1862.<br /> +</p> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">My Dear Sir</span>: Your dispatches, complaining that you are +not properly sustained, while they do not offend me, do pain +me very much.</p> + +<p>“Blenker’s division was withdrawn from you before you left +here, and you know the pressure under which I did it, and, as +I thought, acquiesced in it​—​certainly not without reluctance.</p> + +<p>“After you left, I ascertained that less than twenty thousand +unorganized men, without a single field battery, were +all you designed to be left for the defence of Washington and +Manassas Junction, and part of this even was to go to Gen. +Hooker’s old position. General Banks’ corps, once designated +for Manassas Junction, was diverted and tied up on the line +of Winchester and Strasburgh, and could not leave it without +again exposing the Upper Potomac and the Baltimore and +Ohio Railroad. This presented, or would present, when +McDowell and Sumner should be gone, a great temptation to +the enemy to turn back from the Rappahannock and sack +Washington. My explicit order that Washington should, by +the judgment of all the commanders of army corps, be +left entirely secure, had been neglected. It was precisely +this that drove me to detain McDowell.</p> + +<p>“I do not forget that I was satisfied with your arrangement +to leave Banks at Manassas Junction: but when that arrangement +was broken up, and nothing was substituted for it, of +course I was constrained to substitute something for it myself. +And allow me to ask, do you really think I should permit +the line from Richmond, <i>via</i> Manassas Junction, to this city, +to be entirely open, except what resistance could be presented +by less than twenty thousand unorganized troops? This is +a question which the country will not allow me to evade.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_465" id="Page_465">465</a></span></p> +<p>“There is a curious mystery about the number of troops +now with you. When I telegraphed you on the 6th, saying +you had over a hundred thousand with you, I had just obtained +from the Secretary of War a statement taken, as he said, from +your own returns, making one hundred and eight thousand +then with you and <i>en route</i> to you. You say you will have +but eighty-five thousand when all <i>en route</i> to you shall have +reached you. How can the discrepancy of twenty-three +thousand be accounted for?</p> + +<p>“As to General Wool’s command, I understand it is doing +for you precisely what a like number of your own would have +to do if that command was away.</p> + +<p>“I suppose the whole force which has gone forward for +you is with you by this time. And if so, I think it is the +precise time for you to strike a blow. By delay, the enemy +will relatively gain upon you​—​that is, he will gain faster by +fortifications and reinforcement than you can by reinforcements +alone. And once more let me tell you, it is indispensable +to you that you strike a blow. I am powerless to help +this. You will do me the justice to remember I always insisted +that going down the bay in search of a field, instead of +fighting at or near Manassas, was only shifting, and not surmounting +a difficulty; that we would find the same enemy, +and the same or equal intrenchments, at either place. The +country will not fail to note, is now noting, that the present +hesitation to move upon an intrenched enemy is but the story +of Manassas repeated.</p> + +<p>“I beg to assure you that I have never written you or +spoken to you in greater kindness of feeling than now, nor +with a fuller purpose to sustain you, so far as, in my most +anxious judgment, I consistently can. But you must act.</p> + +<p class="sigright b0"> +<span class="l2">“Yours, very truly,</span><br /> +“<span class="smcap">A. Lincoln</span>.</p> + +<p class="p0 in0">“Maj.-Gen. <span class="smcap">McClellan</span>.”<br /> +</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_466" id="Page_466">466</a></span></p> + +<div class="tb p2">*<span class="in2">*</span><span class="in2">*</span><span class="in2">*</span><span class="in2">*</span></div> + +<h3>LETTER TO GEN. SCHOFIELD RELATIVE TO THE REMOVAL OF +GEN. CURTIS.</h3> + +<blockquote> +<p class="sigright"> +“<i>Executive Mansion</i>, Washington, May 27, 1863.<br /> +</p> + +<p>“Gen. <span class="smcap">J. M. Schofield</span>​—​<i>Dear Sir</i>: Having removed +Gen. Curtis and assigned you to the command of the Department +of the Missouri, I think it may be of some advantage to +me to state to you why I did it. I did not remove Gen. +Curtis because of my full conviction that he had done wrong +by commission or omission. I did it because of a conviction +in my mind that the Union men of Missouri, constituting, +when united, a vast majority of the people, have entered into +a pestilent, factious quarrel among themselves, Gen. Curtis, +perhaps not of choice, being the head of one faction, and +Gov. Gamble that of the other. After months of labor to reconcile +the difficulty, it seemed to grow worse and worse, +until I felt it my duty to break it up somehow, and as I +could not remove Gov. Gamble, I had to remove Gen. Curtis. +Now that you are in the position, I wish you to undo nothing +merely because Gen. Curtis or Gov. Gamble did it, but to +exercise your own judgment, and do right for the public interest. +Let your military measures be strong enough to +repel the invaders and keep the peace, and not so strong as +to unnecessarily harass and persecute the people. It is a +difficult <i>role</i>, and so much more will be the honor if you perform +it well. If both factions, or neither, shall abuse you, +you will probably be about right. Beware of being assailed +by one and praised by the other.</p> + +<p class="in4"> +“Yours, truly, <span class="right"><span class="smcap">A. Lincoln</span>.”</span><br /> +</p></blockquote> + +<div class="tb p2">*<span class="in2">*</span><span class="in2">*</span><span class="in2">*</span><span class="in2">*</span></div> + +<h3>THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND MEN CALLED FOR.</h3> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Whereas</span>, The term of service of part of the volunteer +forces of the United States will expire during the coming<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_467" id="Page_467">467</a></span> +year; and <i>whereas</i>, in addition to the men raised by the +present draft, it is deemed expedient to call out three hundred +thousand volunteers, to serve for three years or the war​—​not, +however, exceeding three years.</p> + +<p>“Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the +United States and Commander-in-Chief of the Army and +Navy thereof, and of the militia of the several States when +called into actual service, do issue this my proclamation, +calling upon the Governors of the different States to raise and +have enlisted into the United States service, for the various +companies and regiments in the field from their respective +States, their quotas of three hundred thousand men.</p> + +<p>“I further proclaim that all the volunteers thus called out +and duly enlisted shall receive advance pay, premium and +bounty, as heretofore communicated to the Governors of +States by the War Department, through the Provost-Marshal +General’s office, by special letters.</p> + +<p>“I further proclaim that all volunteers received under this +call, as well as all others not heretofore credited, shall be duly +credited and deducted from the quotas established for the +next draft.</p> + +<p>“I further proclaim that, if any State shall fail to raise the +quota assigned to it by the War Department under this call; +then a draft for the deficiency in said quota shall be made in +said State, or on the districts of said State, for their due proportion +of said quota, and the said draft shall commence on +the fifth day of January, 1864.</p> + +<p>“And I further proclaim that nothing in this proclamation +shall interfere with existing orders, or with those which may +be issued for the present draft in the States where it is now +in progress or where it has not yet been commenced.</p> + +<p>“The quotas of the States and districts will be assigned by +the War Department, through the Provost-Marshal General’s +office, due regard being had for the men heretofore furnished, +whether by volunteering or drafting, and the recruiting will<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_468" id="Page_468">468</a></span> +be conducted in accordance with such instructions as have +been or may be issued by that department.</p> + +<p>“In issuing this proclamation I address myself not only to +the Governors of the several States, but also to the good and +loyal people thereof, invoking them to lend their cheerful, +willing and effective aid to the measures thus adopted, with a +view to reinforce our victorious armies now in the field and +bring our needful military operations to a prosperous end, +thus closing forever the fountains of sedition and civil war.</p> + +<p>“In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and +caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.</p> + +<p>“Done at the city of Washington, this seventeenth day of +October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred +and sixty-three, and of the independence of the United States +the eighty-eighth.</p> + +<p> +“By the President: <span class="right"><span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln</span>.</span><br /> + +“<span class="smcap">Wm. H. Seward</span>, Secretary of State.”<br /> +</p></blockquote> + +<div class="tb p2">*<span class="in2">*</span><span class="in2">*</span><span class="in2">*</span><span class="in2">*</span></div> + +<h3>REV. DR. M’PHEETERS​—​THE PRESIDENT’S REPLY TO AN +APPEAL FOR INTERFERENCE.</h3> + +<blockquote> + +<p class="sigright"> + +“<i>Executive Mansion</i>, Washington, December 23, 1863.<br /> +</p> + +<p>“I have just looked over a petition signed by some three +dozen citizens of St. Louis, and their accompanying letters, +one by yourself, one by a Mr. Nathan Ranney, and one by a +Mr. John D. Coalter, the whole relating to the Rev. Dr. +McPheeters. The petition prays, in the name of justice and +mercy, that I will restore Dr. McPheeters to all his ecclesiastical +rights.</p> + +<p>“This gives no intimation as to what ecclesiastical rights +are withdrawn. Your letter states that Provost Marshal +Dick, about a year ago, ordered the arrest of Dr. McPheeters, +pastor of the Vine-street Church, prohibited him from officiating, +and placed the management of affairs of the church out<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_469" id="Page_469">469</a></span> +of the control of the chosen trustees; and near the close you +state that a certain course ‘would insure his release.’ Mr. +Ranney’s letter says: ‘Dr. Samuel McPheeters is enjoying +all the rights of a civilian, but can not preach the gospel!’ +Mr. Coalter, in his letter, asks: ‘Is it not a strange illustration +of the condition of things, that the question who shall be +allowed to preach in a church in St. Louis shall be decided by +the President of the United States?’</p> + +<p>“Now, all this sounds very strangely; and, withal, a little +as if you gentlemen making the application do not understand +the case alike​—​one affirming that this doctor is enjoying all +the rights of a civilian, and another pointing out to me what +will secure his <i>release</i>! On the second of January last, I +wrote to Gen. Curtis in relation to Mr. Dick’s order upon Dr. +McPheeters; and, as I suppose the Doctor is enjoying all the +rights of a civilian, I only quote that part of the letter which +relates to the church. It was as follows: ‘But I must add +that the United States Government must not, as by this order, +undertake to run the churches. When an individual, in a +church or out of it, becomes dangerous to the public interest, +he must be checked; but the churches, as such, must take +care of themselves. It will not do for the United States to +appoint trustees, supervisors, or other agents for the churches.’</p> + +<p>“This letter going to Gen. Curtis, then in command, I +supposed, of course, it was obeyed, especially as I heard no +further complaint from Dr. Mc. or his friends for nearly an +entire year. I have never interfered, nor thought of interfering, +as to who shall or shall not preach in any church; nor +have I knowingly or believingly tolerated any one else to +interfere by my authority. If any one is so interfering by +color of my authority, I would like to have it specifically +made known to me.</p> + +<p>“If, after all, what is now sought is to have me put Dr. +Mc. back over the heads of a majority of his own congregation,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_470" id="Page_470">470</a></span> +that, too, will be declined. I will not have control of +any church on any side.”</p> + +<p class="sigright"> +“<span class="smcap">A. Lincoln.</span>”<br /> +</p></blockquote> + +<div class="tb p2">*<span class="in2">*</span><span class="in2">*</span><span class="in2">*</span><span class="in2">*</span></div> + +<h3>AN ELECTION ORDERED IN THE STATE OF ARKANSAS.</h3> + +<blockquote> + +<p class="sigright"> + +“<i>Executive Mansion</i>, Washington, January 20, 1864.<br /> +</p> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Maj. Gen. Steele</span>: Sundry citizens of the State of Arkansas +petition me that an election may be held in that State, +at which to elect a Governor; that it be assumed at that +election, and henceforward, that the Constitution and laws of +the State, as before the rebellion, are in full force, except that +the Constitution is so modified as to declare that there shall +be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except in the +punishment of crimes whereof the party shall have been duly +convicted; that the General assembly may make such provisions +for the freed people as shall recognize and declare their +permanent freedom, and provide for their education, and which +may yet be construed as a temporary arrangement, suitable +to their condition as a laboring, landless, and homeless class; +that said election shall be held on the 28th of March, 1864, at +all the usual places of the State, or all such as voters may +attend for that purpose; that the voters attending at 8 o’clock +in the morning of said day may choose judges and clerks of +election for such purpose; that all persons qualified by said +Constitution and laws, and taking the oath presented in the +President’s proclamation of December 8, 1863, either before +or at the election, and none others, may be voters; that each +set of judges and clerks may make returns directly to you on +or before the ​—​th day of ​—​— next; that in all other respects +said election may be conducted according to said Constitution +and laws; that on receipt of said returns, when five thousand +four hundred and six votes shall have been cast, you can receive +said votes and ascertain all who shall thereby appear to +have been elected; that on the ​—​ day of ​—​— next, all persons<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_471" id="Page_471">471</a></span> +so appearing to have been elected, who shall appear before +you at Little Rock, and take the oath, to be by you severally +administered, to support the Constitution of the United +States, and said modified Constitution of the State of Arkansas, +may be declared by you qualified and empowered to +immediately enter upon the duties of the offices to which they +shall have been respectively elected.</p> + +<p>“You will please order an election to take place on the +28th of March, 1864, and returns to be made in fifteen days +thereafter.</p> + +<p class="sigright"> +“<span class="smcap">A. Lincoln.</span>”<br /> +</p></blockquote> + +<p>Later, the President wrote the following letter:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">William Fishback, Esq.</span>: When I fixed a plan for an +election in Arkansas, I did it in ignorance that your Convention +was at the same work. Since I learned the latter fact, I +have been constantly trying to yield my plan to theirs. I +have sent two letters to Gen. Steele, and three or four dispatches +to you and others, saying that he (Gen. Steele) must +be master, but that it will probably be best for him to keep +the Convention on its own plan. Some single mind must be +master, else there will be no agreement on anything; and +Gen. Steele, commanding the military, and being on the +ground, is the best man to be that master. Even now citizens +are telegraphing me to postpone the election to a later day +than either fixed by the Convention or me. This discord +must be silenced.</p> + +<p class="sigright"> +“<span class="smcap">A. Lincoln.</span>”<br /> +</p></blockquote> + +<div class="tb p2">*<span class="in2">*</span><span class="in2">*</span><span class="in2">*</span><span class="in2">*</span></div> + +<h3>CALL FOR FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND MEN.</h3> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Whereas</span>, By the Act approved July 4, 1864, entitled ‘An +Act further to regulate and provide for the enrolling and calling +out the National Forces, and for other purposes,’ it is provided +that the President of the United States may, at his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_472" id="Page_472">472</a></span> +discretion, at any time hereafter, call for any number of men +as volunteers, for the respective terms of one, two, or three +years, for military service, and ‘that in case the quota, or any +part thereof, of any town, township, ward of a city, precinct, +or election district, or of a county not so subdivided, shall not +be filled within the space of fifty days after such call, then the +President shall immediately order a draft for one year to fill +such quota, or any part thereof, which may be unfilled.’</p> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">And whereas</span>, The new enrollment heretofore ordered is +so far completed as that the aforementioned Act of Congress +may now be put in operation for recruiting and keeping up +the strength of the armies in the field, for garrisons, and such +military operations as may be required for the purpose of +suppressing the rebellion and restoring the authority of the +United States Government in the insurgent States.</p> + +<p>“Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the +United States, do issue this, my call, for five hundred thousand +volunteers for the military service; provided, nevertheless, +that all credits which may be established under Section +Eight of the aforesaid Act, on account of persons who have +entered the naval service during the present Rebellion, and +by credits for men furnished to the military service in excess +of calls heretofore made for volunteers, will be accepted under +this call for one, two, or three years, as they may elect, and +will be entitled to the bounty provided by the law for the +period of service for which they enlist.</p> + +<p>“And I hereby proclaim, order, and direct, that immediately +after the fifth day of September, 1864, being fifty days +from the date of this call, a draft for troops to serve for one +year, shall be held in every town, township, ward of a city, +precinct, election district, or a county not so subdivided, to +fill the quota which shall be assigned to it under this call, or +any part thereof which may be unfilled by volunteers on the +said fifth day of September, 1864.</p> + +<p>“In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_473" id="Page_473">473</a></span> +caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at +the city of Washington, this eighteenth day of July, in the +year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, +and of the independence of the United States the eighty-ninth.</p> + +<p> +“By the President: <span class="right"><span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln</span>.</span><br /> + +“<span class="smcap">William H. Seward</span>, Secretary of State.”<br /> +</p></blockquote> + +<div class="tb p2">*<span class="in2">*</span><span class="in2">*</span><span class="in2">*</span><span class="in2">*</span></div> + +<h3>LETTER TO MRS. GURNEY.</h3> + +<p>This letter was written by the President prior to his re-election +to Mrs. Eliza P. Gurney, an American lady, the +widow of the late well-known Friend and philanthropist, +Joseph John Gurney, one of the wealthiest bankers of +London.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">My Esteemed Friend</span>: I have not forgotten, probably +never shall forget, the very impressive occasion when yourself +and friends visited me on a Sabbath forenoon two years +ago. Nor had your kind letter, written nearly a year later, +ever been forgotten. In all it has been your purpose to +strengthen my reliance in God. I am much indebted to the +good Christian people of the country for their constant prayers +and consolations, and to no one of them more than to yourself. +The purposes of the Almighty are perfect and must +prevail, though we erring mortals may fail to accurately perceive +them in advance. We hoped for a happy termination +of this terrible war, long before this, but God knows best, +and has ruled otherwise. We shall yet acknowledge His +wisdom and our own errors therein; meanwhile we must +work earnestly in the best lights He gives us, trusting that +so working still conduces to the great ends He ordains. +Surely, He intends some great good to follow this mighty +convulsion which no mortal could make, and no mortal +could stay.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_474" id="Page_474">474</a></span></p> +<p>“Your people​—​the Friends​—​have had, and are having +very great trials, on principles and faith opposed to both war +and oppression. They can only practically oppose oppression +by war. In this hard dilemma, some have chosen one horn +and some the other.</p> + +<p>“For those appealing to me on conscientious grounds I have +done and shall do the best I could, and can, in my own conscience +under my oath to the law. That you believe this, I +doubt not, and believing it, I shall still receive for our country +and myself your earnest prayers to our father in Heaven.</p> + +<p class="sigright"> +<span class="l2">“Your sincere friend,</span><br /> +“<span class="smcap">A. Lincoln.</span>”<br /> +</p></blockquote> + +<div class="tb p2">*<span class="in2">*</span><span class="in2">*</span><span class="in2">*</span><span class="in2">*</span></div> + +<h3>THE TENNESSEE TEST OATH.</h3> + +<blockquote> + +<p class="sigright"> + +<span class="l2">“<i>Executive Mansion</i>, Washington, D. C.,</span><br /> +Saturday, October 22, 1864<br /> +</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p class="hang">“MESSRS. WM. B. CAMPBELL, THOMAS A. R. NELSON, JAMES T. P. +CARTER, JOHN WILLIAMS, A. BLIZZARD, HENRY COOPER, BAILIE +PEYTON, JOHN LILLYETT, EMERSON ETHERIDGE, AND JOHN D. +PERRYMAN.</p></blockquote> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Gentlemen</span>: On the fifteenth day of this month, as I +remember, a printed paper manuscript, with a few manuscript +interlineations, called a protest, with your names appended +thereto, and accompanied by another printed paper, purporting +to be a proclamation by <span class="smcap">Andrew Johnson</span>, Military +Governor of Tennessee, and also a manuscript paper purporting +to be extracts from the code of Tennessee, were laid +before me.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>[The protest is here recited, and also the proclamation of +<span class="smcap">Gov. Johnson</span>, dated September 30, to which it refers, together +with a list of the counties in East, Middle, and West +Tennessee; also extracts from the code of Tennessee in relation<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_475" id="Page_475">475</a></span> +to electors of President and Vice President, qualifications +of voters for members of the General Assembly, and places +of holding elections and officers of popular elections.]</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“At the time these papers were presented as before stated, +I had never seen either of them, nor heard of the subject to +which they relate, except in a general way, only one day previously.</p> + +<p>“Up to the present moment, nothing whatever upon the +subject has passed between <span class="smcap">Gov. Johnson</span>, or any one else +connected with the proclamation and myself.</p> + +<p>“Since receiving the papers, as stated, I have given the +subject such brief consideration as I have been able to do, in +the midst of so many pressing duties.</p> + +<p>“My conclusion is, that I can have nothing to do with the +matter, either to sustain the plan as the Convention and <span class="smcap">Gov. +Johnson</span> have initiated it, or to modify it as you demand. +By the Constitution and laws the President is charged with +no duty in the Presidential election in any State. Nor do I, +in this case, perceive any military reason for his interference +in the matter.</p> + +<p>“The movement set a-foot by the Convention and <span class="smcap">Gov. +Johnson</span> does not, as seems to be assumed by you, emanate +from the National Executive.</p> + +<p>“In no proper sense can it be considered other than as an +independent movement of at least a portion of the loyal people +of Tennessee.</p> + +<p>“I do not perceive in the plan any menace, or violence, or +coercion toward any one.</p> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Gov. Johnson</span>, like any other loyal citizen of Tennessee +has the right to form any political plan he chooses, and as +Military Governor it is his duty to keep the peace among +and for the loyal people of the State.</p> + +<p>“I cannot discern that by his plan he purposes any more​—​but +you object to the plan.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_476" id="Page_476">476</a></span> +“Leaving it alone will be your perfect security against it. +It is not proposed to force you into it.</p> + +<p>“Do as you please on your own account peaceably and +loyally, and <span class="smcap">Gov. Johnson</span> will not molest you, but will protect +you against violence so far as in his power.</p> + +<p>“I presume that the conducting of a Presidential election +in Tennessee, in strict accordance with the old code of the +State, is not now a possibility.</p> + +<p>“It is scarcely necessary to add, that if any election shall +be had, and any votes shall be cast in the State of Tennessee +for President and Vice-President of the United States, it will +belong not to the military agents nor yet to the Executive +Department, but exclusively to another department of the +Government, to determine whether they are entitled to be +counted in conformity with the Constitution and laws of the +United States.</p> + +<p>“Except it be to give protection against violence, I decline +to interfere in any way with any Presidential election.</p> + +<p class="sigright">“<span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln.</span>”</p> +</blockquote> + +<p class="p4 center">THE END.</p> + +<div class="transnote"> +<h2><a name="Transcribers_Notes" id="Transcribers_Notes">Transcriber’s Notes</a></h2> + +<p>The original book contained many unprinted characters. +Those omissions are too numerous to enumerate here, and have been +silently corrected unless more than one alternative existed. Those +exceptions are noted below.</p> + +<p>Punctuation and spelling were made consistent when a predominant +preference was found in this book; otherwise they were not changed.</p> + +<p>Simple typographical errors were corrected.</p> + +<p>Unbalanced and mismatched single- and double-quotation marks +remedied only when the correction was unambiguous.</p> + +<p>Ambiguous hyphens at the ends of lines were retained. Inconsistent +hyphenation retained unless there was a predominant preference for one +form.</p> + +<p>Text mostly uses “any thing” but sometimes uses “anything”.</p> + +<p>Text uses both “Chancelor” and “Chancellor”.</p> + +<p>Page <a href="#Page_44">44</a>: “the tenth commandment” probably should be “amendment”.</p> + +<p>Page <a href="#Page_195">195</a> does not have a “Second” order.</p> + +<p>Page <a href="#Page_256">256</a>: “rule of political action.” should end with a question mark, +not with a period.</p> + +<p>Page <a href="#Page_244">244</a>: “acknowledgment” in “as a grateful acknowledgment” was +misprinted. It was spelled correctly in Lincoln’s original +handwritten letter and that spelling is used here.</p> + +<p>Page <a href="#Page_376">376</a>: “reportively replied” was incompletely printed with empty +space before “portively”. Transcriber added “re” as it seemed to be +the best fit.</p> + +<p>Page <a href="#Page_386">386</a>: “homely often” was incompletely printed with empty space +before “omely”. Transcriber added “h” as it seemed to be the best fit.</p> + +<p>Page <a href="#Page_409">409</a>: “<i>wholly</i> good; almost every” originally had a period +after “good”. Changed here to a semi-colon, but perhaps the following +word should have been capitalized instead, as “Almost”.</p> + +<p>Page <a href="#Page_413">413</a>: “[Here Mr. Meade ... every improvement?]” was missing a closing +square bracket. Added by Transcriber based on context.</p> +</div> + +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44166 ***</div> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/44166-h/images/cover.jpg b/44166-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..951a4b7 --- /dev/null +++ b/44166-h/images/cover.jpg diff --git a/44166-h/images/frontis.jpg b/44166-h/images/frontis.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..6fa559a --- /dev/null +++ b/44166-h/images/frontis.jpg |
