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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Life of Abraham Lincoln, by Frank Crosby
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Life of Abraham Lincoln
+ Sixteenth President of the United States
+
+Author: Frank Crosby
+
+Release Date: November 12, 2013 [EBook #44166]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Mark C. Orton, Charlie Howard, and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
+file was produced from images generously made available
+by The Internet Archive)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ “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.”
+
+ _From Mr. Lincoln’s Speech at Independence Hall, Philadelphia,
+ February 21, 1861._
+
+ “I believe this Government cannot endure permanently half slave and
+ half free.”
+
+ _Springfield, Illinois, June, 1858._
+
+ “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.”
+
+ _Trenton, New Jersey, February 21, 1861._
+
+ “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.”
+
+ _Message, July 5, 1861._
+
+ “In giving freedom to the slaves, we assure freedom to the free;
+ honorable alike in what we give and what we preserve.”
+
+ _Message, December 1, 1862._
+
+ “I hope peace will come soon, and come to stay; and so come as to
+ be worth the keeping in all future time.”
+
+ _Springfield Letter, August 26, 1863._
+
+ “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.”
+
+ _Speech at Gettysburg, November 19, 1863._
+
+ “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.”
+
+ _Amnesty Proclamation, December 8, 1863._
+
+ “I claim not to have controlled events, but confess plainly that
+ events have controlled me.”
+
+ _Letter to A. G. Hodges, April 4, 1864._
+
+ “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.”
+
+ _Last Inaugural, March 4, 1865._
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+ LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN,
+
+ SIXTEENTH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
+
+
+ CONTAINING
+
+ HIS EARLY HISTORY AND POLITICAL CAREER; TOGETHER
+ WITH THE SPEECHES, MESSAGES, PROCLAMATIONS AND
+ OTHER OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS ILLUSTRATIVE OF
+ HIS EVENTFUL ADMINISTRATION.
+
+
+ BY FRANK CROSBY,
+ MEMBER OF THE PHILADELPHIA BAR.
+
+
+ “LET ALL THE ENDS THOU AIM’ST AT BE THY COUNTRY’S,
+ THY GOD’S AND TRUTH’S; THEN IF THOU FALL’ST
+ THOU FALL’ST A BLESSED MARTYR.”
+
+
+ NEW YORK
+ INTERNATIONAL BOOK COMPANY
+ 310-318 SIXTH AVENUE
+
+
+
+
+ DEDICATED
+
+ TO THE GOOD AND TRUE
+
+ OF THE NATION
+
+ REDEEMED--REGENERATED--DISENTHRALLED.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+ F. C.
+
+ _Philadelphia, June, 1865._
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+ CHAPTER I.
+
+ BOYHOOD AND EARLY MANHOOD.
+
+ 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 13
+
+
+ CHAPTER II.
+
+ IN CONGRESS AND ON THE STUMP.
+
+ 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 19
+
+
+ CHAPTER III.
+
+ BEFORE THE NATION.
+
+ Speeches in Ohio--Extract from the Cincinnati Speech--Visits
+ the East--Celebrated Speech at the Cooper Institute, New
+ York--Interesting Incident 34
+
+
+ CHAPTER IV.
+
+ NOMINATED AND ELECTED PRESIDENT.
+
+ 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 60
+
+
+ CHAPTER V.
+
+ TO WASHINGTON.
+
+ 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 67
+
+
+ CHAPTER VI.
+
+ THE NEW ADMINISTRATION.
+
+ 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 90
+
+
+ CHAPTER VII.
+
+ PREPARING FOR WAR.
+
+ 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 108
+
+
+ CHAPTER VIII.
+
+ THE FIRST SESSION OF CONGRESS.
+
+ Opening of Congress--President’s First Message--Its Nature--
+ Action of Congress--Resolution Declaring the Object of the
+ War--Bull Run--Its Effect 117
+
+
+ CHAPTER IX.
+
+ CLOSE OF 1861.
+
+ 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 137
+
+
+ CHAPTER X.
+
+ THE CONGRESS OF 1861-62.
+
+ 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 148
+
+
+ CHAPTER XI.
+
+ THE SLAVERY QUESTION.
+
+ 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 171
+
+
+ CHAPTER XII.
+
+ THE PENINSULAR CAMPAIGN.
+
+ 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 181
+
+
+ CHAPTER XIII.
+
+ FREEDOM TO MILLIONS.
+
+ Tribune Editorial--Letter to Mr. Greeley--Announcement of the
+ Emancipation Proclamation--Suspension of the _Habeas Corpus_
+ in certain Cases--Order for Observance of the Sabbath--The
+ Emancipation Proclamation 190
+
+
+ CHAPTER XIV.
+
+ LAST SESSION OF THE THIRTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS.
+
+ Situation of the Country--Opposition to the Administration--
+ President’s Message 199
+
+
+ CHAPTER XV.
+
+ THE TIDE TURNED.
+
+ 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 226
+
+
+ CHAPTER XVI.
+
+ LETTERS AND SPEECHES.
+
+ Speech at Washington--Letter to Gen. Grant--Thanksgiving
+ Proclamation--Letter Concerning the Emancipation Proclamation--
+ Proclamation for Annual Thanksgiving--Dedicatory Speech at
+ Gettysburg 242
+
+
+ CHAPTER XVII.
+
+ THE THIRTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS.
+
+ Organization of the House--Different Opinions as to
+ Reconstruction--Provisions for Pardon of Rebels--President’s
+ Proclamation of Pardon--Annual Message--Explanatory
+ Proclamation 263
+
+
+ CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+ PROGRESS.
+
+ 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 275
+
+
+ CHAPTER XIX.
+
+ RENOMINATED.
+
+ 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 285
+
+
+ CHAPTER XX.
+
+ RECONSTRUCTION.
+
+ 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 298
+
+
+ CHAPTER XXI.
+
+ PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN OF 1864.
+
+ 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 314
+
+
+ CHAPTER XXII.
+
+ RE-ELECTED
+
+ 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 325
+
+
+ CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+ TIGHTENING THE LINES.
+
+ 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 350
+
+
+ CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+ IN RICHMOND.
+
+ 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 362
+
+
+ CHAPTER XXV.
+
+ THE LAST ACT.
+
+ 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 374
+
+
+ CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+ THE MAN.
+
+ 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 382
+
+
+ APPENDIX.
+
+ Mr. Lincoln’s Speeches in Congress and Elsewhere, Proclamations,
+ Letters, etc., not included in the Body of the Work.
+
+ Speech on the Mexican War, (In Congress, Jan. 12, 1848) 391
+
+ Speech on Internal Improvements, (In Congress, June 20, 1848)
+ 403
+
+ Speech on the Presidency and General Politics, (In Congress,
+ July 27, 1848) 417
+
+ Speech in Reply to Mr. Douglas, on Kansas, the Dred Scott
+ Decision, and the Utah Question, (At Springfield, June 26,
+ 1857) 431
+
+ Speech in Reply to Senator Douglas, (At Chicago, July 10, 1858) 442
+
+ Opening Passages of his Speech at Freeport 459
+
+ Letter to Gen. McClellan 464
+
+ Letter to Gen. Schofield Relative to the Removal of Gen. Curtis 466
+
+ Three Hundred Thousand Men Called For 466
+
+ Rev. Dr. McPheeters--President’s Reply to an Appeal for
+ Interference 468
+
+ An Election Ordered in the State of Arkansas 470
+
+ Letter to William Fishback on the Election in Arkansas 471
+
+ Call for Five Hundred Thousand Men 471
+
+ Letter to Mrs. Gurney 473
+
+ The Tennessee Test Oath 474
+
+
+
+
+LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+BOYHOOD AND EARLY MANHOOD.
+
+ 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.
+
+
+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.”
+
+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 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.
+
+Of this class, pre-eminently, was the statesman whose life and public
+services the following pages are to exhibit.
+
+ABRAHAM LINCOLN, 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.
+
+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.
+
+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 among a race of giants. Morally, he
+was proverbially honest, conscientious, and upright.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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:
+
+“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, 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.
+
+“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.”
+
+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.
+
+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, 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.
+
+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:--
+
+“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.
+
+“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.
+
+“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.
+
+“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.”
+
+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; while his acknowledged goodness of heart had knit many to
+him, who, upon purely political grounds, would have held themselves
+aloof.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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, 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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+IN CONGRESS AND ON THE STUMP.
+
+ 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.
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.”
+
+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.
+
+Having declined to be a candidate for re-election, he retired 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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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 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:
+
+ “GENTLEMEN OF THE CONVENTION:--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.
+
+ “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 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “This necessity had not been overlooked, but had been
+ provided for, as well as might be, in the notable argument of
+ ‘_squatter sovereignty_,’ otherwise called ‘_sacred right of
+ self-government_,’ 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.’
+
+ “Then opened the roar of loose declamation in favor of ‘squatter
+ sovereignty,’ and ‘sacred right of self-government.’
+
+ “‘But,’ said opposition members, ‘let us be more specific--let us
+ _amend_ the bill so as to expressly declare that the people of the
+ territory _may_ exclude slavery.’ ‘Not we,’ said the friends of the
+ measure; and down they voted the amendment.
+
+ “While the Nebraska Bill was passing through Congress, a law case,
+ involving the question of a negro’s freedom, by 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.
+
+ “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 _after_ the election.
+ Still, _before_ the election, Senator Trumbull, on the floor of the
+ Senate, requests the leading advocate of the Nebraska Bill to state
+ _his opinion_ 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.’
+
+ “The election came. Mr. Buchanan was elected, and the
+ _indorsement_, such as it was, secured. That was the _second_ 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.
+
+ “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, _whatever it might be_. Then, in a few days
+ came the decision.
+
+ “This was the third point gained.
+
+ “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 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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:
+
+ “First, That no negro slave, imported as such from Africa, and no
+ descendant of such, can ever be a citizen of any State in the
+ sense of that term as used in the Constitution of the United States.
+
+ “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.’
+
+ “Secondly, that ‘subject to the Constitution of the United States,’
+ neither Congress nor a Territorial Legislature can exclude slavery
+ from any United States Territory.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “This shows exactly where we now are, and partially also, whither
+ we are tending.
+
+ “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 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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
+ “_perfectly free_” argument upon which the election was to be
+ carried.
+
+ “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?
+
+ “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, 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.
+
+ “It should not be overlooked that, by the Nebraska bill, the people
+ of a State as well as Territory, were to be left ‘_perfectly
+ free_,’ ‘_subject only to the Constitution_.’ 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?
+
+ “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. _Possibly_, this was a mere
+ _omission_; 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.
+
+ “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 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.’
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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?
+
+ “There are those who denounce us openly to their own friends, and
+ yet whisper softly, that Senator Douglas is the _aptest_ 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 head of the dynasty; and that he has
+ regularly voted with us, on a single point, upon which he and we
+ have never differed.
+
+ “They remind us that _he_ is a very _great man_, and that the
+ largest of us are very small ones. Let this be granted. But ‘a
+ _living dog_ is better than a _dead lion_.’ Judge Douglas, if not
+ a _dead_ lion for this work, is at least a _caged_ and _toothless_
+ 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.
+
+ “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 _really_ think so? But
+ if it is, how can he resist it? For years he has labored to prove
+ it a _sacred right_ 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.
+
+ “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
+ _protection_ to the home production? And as the home _producers_
+ will probably not ask the protection, he will be wholly without a
+ ground of opposition.
+
+ “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?
+
+ “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, _if ever_, he and we can come together on
+ _principle_, so that our great cause may have assistance from his
+ great ability, I hope to have interposed no adventitious obstacle.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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?--_now_--when
+ that same enemy is wavering, dissevered and belligerent?
+
+ “The result is not doubtful. We shall not fail--if we stand firm,
+ we shall not fail. _Wise counsels_ may _accelerate_ or _mistakes
+ delay_ it, but, sooner or later, the victory is _sure_ to come.”
+
+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.
+
+In one of his speeches during this memorable campaign, Mr. Lincoln paid
+the following tribute to the Declaration of Independence:--
+
+ “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.
+
+ “Now, my countrymen, if you have been taught doctrines conflicting
+ with the great landmarks of the Declaration of 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.
+
+ “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 _do claim_ 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. _But do not destroy that immortal emblem of humanity--the
+ Declaration of American Independence._”
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+BEFORE THE NATION.
+
+ Speeches in Ohio--Extract from his Cincinnati Speech--Visits
+ the East--Celebrated Speech at the Cooper Institute, New York--
+ Interesting Incident.
+
+
+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.
+
+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:
+
+ “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 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.
+
+ “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 likely be a drawn battle; but being
+ inferior in numbers, you will make nothing by attempting to master
+ us.
+
+ “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.
+ THE PEOPLE OF THESE UNITED STATES ARE THE RIGHTFUL MASTERS OF BOTH
+ CONGRESSES AND COURTS, not to overthrow the Constitution, but to
+ overthrow the men who pervert that Constitution.”
+
+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.
+
+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:
+
+ “MR. PRESIDENT AND FELLOW CITIZENS OF NEW YORK:--The facts with
+ which I shall deal this evening are mainly old and familiar; nor
+ is there any thing new in the general use I shall make of them. If
+ there shall be any novelty, it will be in the mode of presenting
+ the facts, and the inferences and observations following that
+ presentation.
+
+ “In his speech last autumn, at Columbus, Ohio, as reported in _The
+ New York Times_, Senator Douglas said:
+
+ “‘Our fathers, when they framed the Government under which we live,
+ understood this question just as well, and even better than we do
+ now.’
+
+ “I fully indorse this and I adopt it as a text for this discourse.
+ I so adopt it because it furnishes a precise and 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?’
+
+ “What is the frame of Government under which we live?
+
+ “The answer must be: ‘The Constitution of the United States.’ That
+ Constitution consists of the original, framed in 1787 (and under
+ which the present Government first went into operation), and twelve
+ subsequently framed amendments, the first ten of which were framed
+ in 1789.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “I take these ‘thirty-nine,’ for the present, as being ‘our fathers
+ who framed the Government under which we live.’
+
+ “What is the question which, according to the text, those fathers
+ understood just as well, and even better than we do now?
+
+ “It is this: Does the proper division of local from federal
+ authority, or any thing in the Constitution, forbid our Federal
+ Government control as to slavery in our Federal Territories?
+
+ “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.
+
+ “Let us now inquire whether the ‘thirty-nine,’ or any of them, ever
+ acted upon this question; and if they did, how they acted upon
+ it--how they expressed that better understanding.
+
+ “In 1784--three years before the Constitution--the United States
+ then owning the Northwestern Territory, and no other--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.
+
+ “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, being part of
+ what is now well known as the Ordinance of ’87.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “In 1803, the Federal Government purchased the Louisiana country.
+ Our former territorial acquisitions came from certain of our own
+ States; but this Louisiana country was acquired from a foreign
+ nation. In 1804, Congress gave a territorial organization to that
+ part of it which now constitutes the State of Louisiana. New
+ Orleans, lying within that part, was an old and comparatively
+ large city. There were other considerable towns and settlements,
+ and slavery was extensively and thoroughly intermingled with
+ the people. Congress did not, in the Territorial Act, prohibit
+ slavery; but they did interfere with it--take control of it--in
+ a more marked and extensive way than they did in the case of
+ Mississippi. The substance of the provision therein made, in
+ relation to slaves, was:
+
+ “_First._ That no slave should be imported into the territory from
+ foreign parts.
+
+ “_Second._ That no slave should be carried into it who had been
+ imported into the United States since the first day of May, 1798.
+
+ “_Third._ That no slave should be carried into it, except by the
+ owner, and for his own use as a settler; the penalty in all the
+ cases being a fine upon the violator of the law, and freedom to the
+ slave.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “The cases I have mentioned are the only acts of the ‘thirty-nine,’
+ or of any of them, upon the direct issue, which I have been able to
+ discover.
+
+ “To enumerate the persons who thus acted, as being four in 1784,
+ 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “Two of the twenty-three voted against Congressional prohibition of
+ slavery in the Federal Territories, in the instances in which they
+ acted upon the question. But for what reasons they so voted is not
+ known. They may have done so because they thought a proper division
+ of local from Federal authority, or some provision or principle of
+ the Constitution, stood in the way; or they may, without any such
+ question, have voted against the prohibition, on what appeared to
+ them to be sufficient grounds of expediency. No one who has sworn
+ to support the Constitution, can conscientiously vote for what he
+ understands to be an unconstitutional measure, however expedient
+ he may think it; but one may and ought to vote against a measure
+ which he deems constitutional, if, at the same time, he deems it
+ inexpedient. It, therefore, would be unsafe to set down even the
+ two who voted against the prohibition, as having done so because,
+ in their understanding, any proper division of local from Federal
+ authority, or any thing in the Constitution, forbade the Federal
+ Government to control as to slavery in Federal Territory.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “For the purpose of adhering rigidly to the text, I have purposely
+ omitted whatever understanding may have been manifested, by any
+ person, however distinguished, other than the ‘thirty-nine’ fathers
+ who framed the original Constitution; and, for the same reason, I
+ have also omitted whatever understanding may have been manifested
+ by any of the ‘thirty-nine’ even, on any other phase of the
+ general question of slavery. If we should look into their acts and
+ declarations on those other phases, as the foreign slave-trade,
+ and the morality and policy of slavery generally, it would appear
+ to us that on the direct question of Federal control of slavery
+ in Federal Territories, the sixteen, if they had acted at all,
+ would probably have acted just as the twenty-three did. Among
+ that sixteen were several of the most noted anti-slavery men of
+ those times--as Dr. Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, and Governeur
+ Morris--while there was not one now known to have been otherwise,
+ unless it may be John Rutledge, of South Carolina.
+
+ “The sum of the whole is, that of our ‘thirty-nine’ fathers who
+ framed the original Constitution, twenty-one--a clear majority
+ of the whole--certainly understood that no proper division of
+ local from Federal authority nor any part of the Constitution,
+ forbade the Federal Government to control slavery in the
+ Federal Territories, while all the rest probably had the same
+ understanding. Such, unquestionably, was the understanding of our
+ fathers who framed the original Constitution; and the text affirms
+ that they understood the question better than we.
+
+ “But, so far, I have been considering the understanding of the
+ question manifested by the framers of the original Constitution. In
+ and by the original instrument, a mode was provided for amending
+ it; and, as I have already stated, the present frame of 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.’
+
+ “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 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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 a step further. I defy any one to show that any living man in
+ the whole world ever did, prior to the beginning of the present
+ century (and I might almost say prior to the beginning of the last
+ half of the present century), declare that, in his understanding,
+ any proper division of local from Federal authority, or any part of
+ the Constitution, forbade the Federal government to control as to
+ slavery in the Federal territories. To those who now so declare, I
+ give, not only ‘our fathers who framed the government under which
+ we live,’ but with them all other living men within the century in
+ which it was framed, among whom to search, and they shall not be
+ able to find the evidence of a single man agreeing with them.
+
+ “Now, and here, let me guard a little against being misunderstood.
+ I do not mean to say we are bound to follow implicitly in whatever
+ our fathers did. To do so would be to discard all the lights of
+ current experience--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.
+
+ “If any man, at this day, sincerely believes that a proper division
+ of local from Federal authority, or any part of the Constitution,
+ forbids the Federal government to control as to slavery in the
+ Federal territories, he is right to say so, and to enforce his
+ position by all truthful evidence and fair argument which he can.
+ But he has no right to mislead others, who have less access to
+ history and less leisure to study it, into the false belief that
+ ‘our fathers, who framed the government under which we live,’ were
+ of the same opinion, thus substituting falsehood and deception for
+ truthful evidence and fair argument. If any man, at this day,
+ sincerely believes ‘our fathers, who framed the government under
+ which we live,’ used and applied principles, in other cases, which
+ ought to have led them to understand that a proper division of
+ local from Federal authority, or some part of the Constitution,
+ forbids the Federal government to control as to slavery in the
+ Federal territories, he is right to say so. But he should, at the
+ same time, brave the responsibility of declaring that, in his
+ opinion, he understands their principles better than they did
+ themselves; and especially should he not shirk that responsibility
+ by asserting that they ‘understood the question just as well, and
+ even better than we do now.’
+
+ “But enough. Let all who believe that ‘our fathers, who framed the
+ government under which we live,’ understood this question just as
+ well, and even better than we do now,’ speak as they spoke, and act
+ as they acted upon it. This is all Republicans ask, all Republicans
+ desire, in relation to slavery. As those fathers marked it, so
+ let it be again marked, as an evil not to be extended, but to be
+ tolerated and protected only because of and so far as its actual
+ presence among us makes that toleration and protection a necessity.
+ Let all the guaranties those fathers gave it, be, not grudgingly,
+ but fully and fairly maintained. For this Republicans contend, and
+ with this, so far as I know or believe, they will be content.
+
+ “And now, if they would listen--as I suppose they will not--I would
+ address a few words to the Southern people.
+
+ “I would say to them: You consider yourselves a reasonable and
+ a just people; and I consider that, in the general qualities of
+ reason and justice, you are not inferior to any other people.
+ Still, when you speak of us Republicans, you do so only to
+ denounce us as reptiles, or, at the best, as no better than
+ outlaws. You will grant a hearing to pirates or murderers, but
+ nothing like it to ‘Black Republicans.’ In all your contentions
+ with one another, each of you deems an unconditional condemnation
+ of ‘Black Republicanism’ as the first thing to be attended to.
+ Indeed, such condemnation of us seems to be an indispensable
+ prerequisite--license, so to speak--among you to be admitted or
+ permitted to speak at all.
+
+ “Now can you, or not, be prevailed upon to pause and to consider
+ whether this is quite just to us, or even to yourselves?
+
+ “Bring forward your charges and specifications, and then be patient
+ long enough to hear us deny or justify.
+
+ “You say we are sectional. We deny it. That makes an issue; and
+ the burden of proof is upon you. You produce your proof; and what
+ is it? Why, that our party has no existence in your section--gets
+ no votes in your section. The fact is substantially true; but
+ does it prove the issue? If it does, then, in case we should,
+ without change of principle, begin to get votes in your section,
+ we should thereby cease to be sectional. You cannot escape this
+ conclusion; and yet, are you willing to abide by it? If you are,
+ you will probably soon find that we have ceased to be sectional,
+ for we shall get votes in your section this very year. You will
+ then begin to discover, as the truth plainly is, that your proof
+ does not touch the issue. The fact that we get no votes in your
+ section is a fact of your making, and not of ours. And if there
+ be fault in that fact, that fault is primarily yours, and remains
+ so until you show that we repel you by some wrong principle or
+ practice. If we do repel you by any wrong principle or practice,
+ the fault is ours; but this brings 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 principle which
+ our fathers, who framed the government under which we live, thought
+ so clearly right as to adopt it, and indorse it again and again
+ upon their official oaths, is, in fact, so clearly wrong as to
+ demand your condemnation without a moment’s consideration.
+
+ “Some of you delight to flaunt in our faces the warning against
+ sectional parties given by Washington in his Farewell Address.
+ Less than eight years before Washington gave that warning, he had,
+ as President of the United States, approved and signed an act of
+ Congress enforcing the prohibition of slavery in the Northwestern
+ Territory, which act embodied the policy of the government upon
+ that subject, up to and at the very moment he penned that warning;
+ and about one year after he penned it he wrote Lafayette that he
+ considered that prohibition a wise measure, expressing, in the same
+ connection, his hope that we should some time have a confederacy of
+ free States.
+
+ “Bearing this in mind, and seeing that sectionalism has since
+ arisen upon this same subject, is that warning a weapon in your
+ hands against us, or in our hands against you? Could Washington
+ himself speak, would he cast the blame of that sectionalism upon
+ us, who sustain his policy, or upon you, who repudiate it? We
+ respect that warning of Washington, and we commend it to you,
+ together with his example pointing to the right application of it.
+
+ “But you say you are conservative--eminently conservative--while
+ we are revolutionary, destructive, or something of the sort. What
+ is conservatism? Is it not adherence to the old and tried against
+ the new and untried? We stick to, contend for, the identical
+ old policy on the point in controversy which was adopted by our
+ fathers who framed the government under which we live; while
+ you, with one accord, reject, and scout, and spit upon that old
+ policy, and insist upon substituting something new. True, you
+ disagree among yourselves as to what that substitute shall be.
+ You 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “You charge that we stir up insurrections among your slaves. We
+ deny it. And what is your proof? Harper’s Ferry! John Brown! John
+ Brown was no Republican; and you have failed to implicate a single
+ Republican in his Harper’s Ferry enterprise. If any member of our
+ party is guilty in that matter, you know it, or you do not know
+ it. If you do know it, you are inexcusable 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “In the language of Mr. Jefferson, uttered many years ago, ‘It is
+ still in our power to direct the process of emancipation, and
+ deportation, peaceably, and in such slow degrees, as that the evil
+ will wear off insensibly; and their places be, _pari passu_, filled
+ up by free white laborers. If, on the contrary, it is left to force
+ itself on, human nature must shudder at the prospect held up.’
+
+ “Mr. Jefferson did not mean to say, nor do I, that the power of
+ emancipation is in the Federal Government. He spoke of Virginia;
+ and, as to the power of emancipation, I speak of the slaveholding
+ States only.
+
+ “The Federal Government, however, as we insist, has the power of
+ restraining the extension of the institution--the power to insure
+ that a slave insurrection shall never occur on any American soil
+ which is now free from slavery.
+
+ “John Brown’s effort was peculiar. It was not a slave insurrection.
+ It was an attempt by white men to get up a revolt among slaves, in
+ which the slaves refused to participate. In fact, it was so absurd
+ that the slaves, with all their ignorance, saw plainly enough it
+ could not succeed. That affair, in its philosophy, corresponds
+ with the many attempts, related in history, at the assassination
+ of kings and emperors. An enthusiast broods over the oppression
+ of a people till he fancies himself commissioned by Heaven to
+ liberate them. He ventures the attempt, which ends in little else
+ than 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.
+
+ “And how much would it avail you, if you could, by the use of
+ John Brown, Helper’s book, and the like, break up the Republican
+ organization? Human action can be modified to some extent, but
+ human nature cannot be changed. There is a judgment and a feeling
+ against slavery in this nation, which cast at least a million and a
+ half of votes. You cannot destroy that judgment and feeling--that
+ sentiment--by breaking up the political organization which rallies
+ around it. You can scarcely scatter and disperse an army which has
+ been formed into order in the face of your heaviest fire; but if
+ you could, how much would you gain by forcing the sentiment which
+ created it out of the peaceful channel of the ballot-box, into some
+ other channel? What would that other channel probably be? Would the
+ number of John Browns be lessened or enlarged by the operation?
+
+ “But you will break up the Union rather than submit to a denial of
+ your Constitutional rights.
+
+ “That has a somewhat reckless sound; but it would be palliated,
+ if not fully justified, were we proposing by the mere force of
+ numbers, to deprive you of some right plainly written down in the
+ Constitution. But we are proposing no such thing.
+
+ “When you make these declarations, you have a specific and
+ well-understood allusion to an assumed Constitutional right of
+ yours, to take slaves into the federal territories, and hold them
+ there as property, but no such right is specifically written in
+ the Constitution. That instrument is literally silent about any
+ such right. We, on the contrary, deny that such a right has any
+ existence in the Constitution, even by implication.
+
+ “Your purpose, then, plainly stated, is, that you will destroy
+ the Government, unless you be allowed to construe and enforce the
+ Constitution as you please, on all points in dispute between you
+ and us. You will rule or ruin in all events.
+
+ “This, plainly stated, is your language 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.
+
+ “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.’
+
+ “An inspection of the Constitution will show that the right of
+ property in a slave is not distinctly and expressly affirmed in
+ it. Bear in mind the Judges do not pledge their judicial opinion
+ that such right is impliedly affirmed in the Constitution; but
+ they pledge their veracity that it is distinctly and expressly
+ affirmed there--‘distinctly’ that is, not mingled with anything
+ else--‘expressly’ that is, in words meaning just that, without the
+ aid of any inference, and susceptible of no other meaning.
+
+ “If they had only pledged their judicial opinion that such right
+ is affirmed in the instrument by implication, it would be open
+ to others to show that neither the word ‘slave’ nor ‘slavery’ is
+ to be found in the Constitution, nor the word ‘property’ even,
+ in any connection with language alluding to the things slave, or
+ slavery, and that wherever in that instrument the slave is alluded
+ to, he is called a ‘person;’ and wherever his master’s legal right
+ in relation to him is alluded to, it is spoken of as ‘service or
+ labor 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.
+
+ “To show all this is easy and certain.
+
+ “When this obvious mistake of the Judges shall be brought to their
+ notice, is it not reasonable to expect that they will withdraw the
+ mistaken statement, and reconsider the conclusion based upon it?
+
+ “And then it is to be remembered that ‘our fathers, who framed
+ the Government under which we live’--the men who made the
+ Constitution--decided this same Constitutional question in our
+ favor, long ago--decided it without 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.
+
+ “Under all these circumstances, do you really feel yourselves
+ justified to break up this Government, unless such a court decision
+ as yours is shall be at once submitted to, as a conclusive and
+ final rule of political action.
+
+ “But you will not abide the election of a Republican President. In
+ that supposed event, you say, you will destroy the Union; and then,
+ you say, the great crime of having destroyed it will be upon us!
+
+ “That is cool. A highwayman holds a pistol to my ear, and mutters
+ through his teeth, ‘stand and deliver, or I shall kill you, and
+ then you will be a murderer!’
+
+ “To be sure, what the robber demanded of me--my money--was my own;
+ and I had a clear right to keep it; but it was no more my own than
+ my vote is my own; and 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.
+
+ “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.
+ Judging by all they say and do, and by the subject and nature of
+ their controversy with us, let us determine, if we can, what will
+ satisfy them?
+
+ “Will they be satisfied if the Territories be unconditionally
+ surrendered to them? We know they will not. In all their present
+ complaints against us, the Territories are scarcely mentioned.
+ Invasions and insurrections are the rage now. Will it satisfy
+ them if, in the future, we have nothing to do with invasions and
+ insurrections? We know it will not. We so know because we know we
+ never had any thing to do with invasions and insurrections; and yet
+ this total abstaining does not exempt us from the charge and the
+ denunciation.
+
+ “The question recurs, what will satisfy them? Simply this: We
+ must not only let them alone, but we must, somehow, convince them
+ that we do let them alone. This we know by experience, is no
+ easy task. We have been so trying to convince them from the very
+ beginning of our organization, but with no success. In all our
+ platforms and speeches we have constantly protested our purpose
+ to let them alone; but this has had no tendency to convince them.
+ Alike unavailing to convince them is the fact that they have never
+ detected a man of us in any attempt to disturb them.
+
+ “These natural, and apparently adequate means all failing, what
+ will convince them? This, and this only: cease to call slavery
+ _wrong_, and join them in calling it _right_. And this must be done
+ thoroughly--done in _acts_ as well as in _words_. Silence will not
+ be tolerated--we must place ourselves avowedly with them. Douglas’s
+ new sedition law must be enacted and enforced, suppressing all
+ declarations that slavery is wrong, whether made in politics, in
+ presses, in pulpits, or in private. We must arrest and return
+ their fugitive slaves with greedy pleasure. We must pull down our
+ Free-State Constitutions. The whole atmosphere must be disinfected
+ from all taint of opposition to slavery, before they will cease to
+ believe that all their troubles proceed from us.
+
+ “I am quite aware they do not state their case precisely in this
+ way. Most of them would probably say to us, ‘Let us alone, do
+ nothing to us, and say what you please about slavery.’ But we do
+ let them alone--have never disturbed them--so that, after all,
+ it is what we say which dissatisfies them. They will continue to
+ accuse us of doing, until we cease saying.
+
+ “I am also aware they have not, as yet, in terms, demanded the
+ overthrow of our Free-State Constitutions. 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.
+
+ “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?
+
+ “Wrong as we think slavery is, we can yet afford to let it alone
+ where it is, because that much is due to the necessity arising from
+ its actual presence in the nation; but can we, while our votes will
+ prevent it, allow it to spread into the National Territories, and
+ to overrun us here in these Free States?
+
+ “If our sense of duty forbids this, then let us stand by our
+ duty, fearlessly and effectively. Let us be diverted by none of
+ those sophistical contrivances wherewith we are so industriously
+ plied and belabored--contrivances such as groping for some middle
+ ground between the right and the wrong, vain as the search for a
+ man who should be neither a living man nor a dead man--such as a
+ policy of ‘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.
+
+ “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.”
+
+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:
+
+ “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 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!’”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+NOMINATED AND ELECTED PRESIDENT.
+
+ 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.
+
+
+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
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+The scene which followed--the wild, almost delirious outburst 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.
+
+The nomination having been made unanimous, the ticket was completed by
+the selection of Senator Hannibal Hamlin, of Maine, as Vice-President.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+In response to this address, Mr. Lincoln said:
+
+ “MR. CHAIRMAN AND GENTLEMEN OF THE COMMITTEE: 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 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.”
+
+In reply to the formal letter of the President of the Convention,
+apprising him of the nomination, Mr. Lincoln addressed the following:
+
+ “_Springfield, Illinois_, May 23d, 1860.
+
+ “HON. GEORGE ASHMAN, _President of the Republican National
+ Convention_.
+
+ “SIR: 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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,
+
+ “Your obliged friend and fellow-citizen,
+ “ABRAHAM LINCOLN.”
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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.
+
+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:
+
+“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.”
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+TO WASHINGTON.
+
+ 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.
+
+
+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.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+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:
+
+ “MY FRIENDS:--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.”
+
+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:
+
+ “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.”
+
+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:
+
+ “FELLOW CITIZENS OF THE STATE OF INDIANA:--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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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 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.
+
+ “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.”
+
+Proceeding to Cincinnati, he received a most enthusiastic 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:
+
+ “FELLOW-CITIZENS: 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.
+
+ “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:
+
+ “‘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.’
+
+ “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 not be made good be assured
+ that the fault shall not be mine.”
+
+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:
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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 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.”
+
+On the 14th of February, Mr. Lincoln proceeded to Pittsburgh. At
+Steubenville, on the route, in reply to an address, he said:
+
+ “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.”
+
+The next morning he left for Cleveland, but before his departure he
+made an address to the people of Pittsburgh, in which he said:
+
+ “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 present command, and would perhaps
+ unnecessarily commit me upon matters which have not yet fully
+ developed themselves.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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 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.”
+
+He then referred to the subject of the tariff, and said:
+
+ “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.”
+
+Mr. Lincoln, upon his arrival in Cleveland, adverted to the same
+subject in the following terms:
+
+ “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 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.”
+
+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.
+
+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:
+
+ “MR. MAYOR AND FELLOW CITIZENS:--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 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 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.”
+
+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:
+
+ “GOVERNOR MORGAN:--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. 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.”
+
+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:
+
+ “MR. PRESIDENT AND GENTLEMEN OF THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF
+ NEW YORK:--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 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.”
+
+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:
+
+ “I am grateful for this cordial welcome, and I am gratified
+ that this immense multitude has come together not to meet 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.”
+
+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:
+
+ “MR. MAYOR: 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 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.”
+
+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:
+
+ “MR. PRESIDENT AND GENTLEMEN OF THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF NEW
+ JERSEY:--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. 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 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.”
+
+He then passed into the Chamber of the Assembly, and upon being
+introduced by the Speaker, addressed that body as follows:
+
+ “MR. SPEAKER AND GENTLEMEN:--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. 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.”
+
+On his arrival in Philadelphia, he was received with great enthusiasm,
+and to an address from the Mayor Mr. Lincoln replied:
+
+ “MR. MAYOR AND FELLOW-CITIZENS OF PHILADELPHIA:--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 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.”
+
+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:
+
+ “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 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.
+
+ “My friends, this is wholly an unexpected speech, and I 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.”
+
+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.”
+
+The President-elect then raised the flag to the top of the staff.
+
+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:
+
+ “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 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 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.”
+
+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 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.
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+THE NEW ADMINISTRATION.
+
+ 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.
+
+
+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:
+
+ “Mr. MAYOR: 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 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.”
+
+On the following evening, at the close of a serenade tendered him by
+the Republican Association, he thus addressed the crowd:
+
+ “MY FRIENDS: 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.
+
+ “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 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.”
+
+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.
+
+All necessary precautions, however, having been taken to guard against
+the latter contingencies, Mr. Lincoln appeared 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:
+
+ “FELLOW-CITIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES:--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.
+
+ “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:
+
+ “‘_Resolved_, 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 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.’
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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:
+
+ “‘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.’
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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?
+
+ “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 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?
+
+ “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?’
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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. 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “In doing this there need be no bloodshed or violence, and there
+ shall be none unless it is forced upon the National authority.
+
+ “The power confided to me _will be used to hold, occupy, and
+ possess the property and plants belonging to the Government_, 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “The mails, unless repelled, will continue to be furnished in all
+ parts of the Union.
+
+ “So far as possible, the people everywhere shall have that sense
+ of perfect security which is most favorable to calm thought and
+ reflection.
+
+ “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 National troubles and the
+ restoration of fraternal sympathies and affections.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “My countrymen, one and all, think calmly and well upon this whole
+ subject. Nothing valuable can be lost by taking time.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in mine,
+ is the momentous issue of civil war. The Government will not assail
+ you.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.”
+
+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 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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+He said on that occasion:
+
+ “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. * * *
+
+ “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.”
+
+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 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:
+
+ “GENTLEMEN:--As a committee of the Virginia Convention, now in
+ session, you present me a preamble and resolution, in these words:
+
+ “‘WHEREAS, 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,
+
+ “_Resolved_, 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.’
+
+ “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 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.”
+
+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. 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.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+PREPARING FOR WAR.
+
+ 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.
+
+
+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.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+On the 15th of April, 1861, the President issued his first proclamation:
+
+ “WHEREAS, 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,
+ ABRAHAM LINCOLN, 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the
+ seal of the United States to be affixed.
+
+ “Done at the City of Washington, this fifteenth 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.
+
+ “By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN
+
+ “WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.”
+
+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.
+
+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.”
+
+How was the call for troops received by the rebel conclave at
+Montgomery? They laughed.
+
+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 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.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+The day following this attack, the President sent the following letter
+in reply to a communication broaching this modest proposition:
+
+ “_Washington_, April 20th, 1861.
+
+ “GOVERNOR HICKS AND MAYOR BROWN:
+
+ “GENTLEMEN:--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 _must_ be brought here, but I make no point of
+ bringing them _through_ Baltimore.
+
+ “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 _around_ Baltimore, and not through
+ it.’
+
+ “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.
+
+ “Your obedient servant,
+ “A. LINCOLN.”
+
+To a delegation of rebel sympathizers from the same State, who demanded
+a cessation of hostilities until Congress 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.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+On the 19th of April, every port of the States in rebellion was
+declared blockaded by the following proclamation:
+
+ “WHEREAS, 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:
+
+ “AND WHEREAS, 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:
+
+ “AND WHEREAS, 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:
+
+ “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 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+ “WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.”
+
+On the 27th of April, the following additional proclamation was issued:
+
+ “WHEREAS, 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; AND WHEREAS, 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 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.
+
+ “In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the
+ seal of the United States to be affixed.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+ “WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.”
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+ “WHEREAS, Existing exigencies demand immediate and adequate
+ measures for the protection of the national Constitution 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.
+
+ “In the meantime, I earnestly invoke the coöperation of all
+ good citizens in the measures hereby adopted for the 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.
+
+ “In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the
+ seal of the United States to be affixed.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+ “WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.”
+
+On the 10th of May, 1861, the following proclamation was promulgated:
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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:
+
+ “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
+ _habeas corpus_, and to remove from the vicinity of the United
+ States fortresses all dangerous or suspected persons.
+
+ “In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the
+ seal of the United States to be affixed.
+
+ “Done at the City of Washington, this tenth 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.
+
+ “By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+ “WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.”
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+THE FIRST SESSION OF CONGRESS.
+
+ Opening of Congress--President’s First Message--Its Nature--
+ Action of Congress--Resolution Declaring the Object of the War--
+ Bull Run--Its Effect.
+
+
+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:
+
+ “FELLOW-CITIZENS OF THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF
+ REPRESENTATIVES:--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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “Officers of the Federal Army had resigned in great numbers, and of
+ those resigning a large proportion had taken up arms against the
+ Government.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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 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.
+
+ “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 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.
+
+ “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 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 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “At this point the insurrectionists announced their purpose to
+ enter upon the practice of privateering.
+
+ “Other calls were made for volunteers, to serve three years, unless
+ sooner discharged, and also for large additions to 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.
+
+ “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?
+
+ “But it was not believed that this question was presented. It was
+ not believed that any law was violated. The provision 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.
+
+ “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 to supply omissions or to
+ communicate new facts considered important for you to know.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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 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.
+
+ “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 _free_ and _independent_ States. But 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, 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.
+
+ “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 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 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 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.
+
+ “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 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “It was with the deepest regret that the Executive found 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “July 4, 1861. ABRAHAM LINCOLN.”
+
+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 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.
+
+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:
+
+ “_Resolved, By the House of Representatives of the Congress of the
+ United States_, 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.”
+
+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 loyal heart; all manner of vague fears seized the people;
+Washington would be captured; the cause was lost.
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+CLOSE OF 1861.
+
+ 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.
+
+
+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:
+
+“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, the blessings
+which, with the favor of Providence, they have secured by the aid of
+their own strong hearts and steady arms.”
+
+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.
+
+And the General betook himself to the organizing, disciplining, and
+supplying his army, to which large accessions were continually making
+from week to week.
+
+On the 12th day of August was issued the following proclamation:
+
+ “WHEREAS, 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.’
+
+ “AND WHEREAS, 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.
+
+ “AND WHEREAS, 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 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;
+
+ “_Therefore, 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.
+
+ “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,
+ A. D. 1861, and of the Independence of the United States of America
+ the eighty-sixth.
+
+ “By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+ “WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.”
+
+And four days later the following:
+
+ “WHEREAS, 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 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; AND WHEREAS,
+ such insurrection has since broken out and yet exists within the
+ States of Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas; AND
+ WHEREAS, 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.
+
+ “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 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.
+
+ “In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the
+ seal of the United States to be affixed.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+ “WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.”
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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:
+
+ “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.”
+
+On the 8th of August, Secretary Cameron, in reply to a second letter
+from General Butler upon the same subject, said:
+
+ “GENERAL:--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, 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.
+
+ “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 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.
+
+ “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.”
+
+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.
+
+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:
+
+ “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.”
+
+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:
+
+ “MAJOR GENERAL JOHN C. FREMONT:--
+
+ “SIR,--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
+ August 6, 1861, and that said Act be published at length with this
+ order.
+
+ “Your obedient servant,
+ “A. LINCOLN.”
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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:
+
+ “_Executive Mansion, Washington_, Nov. 1, 1861.
+
+ “On the 1st day of November, A. D., 1861, upon his own application
+ to the President of the United States, Brevet 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “ABRAHAM LINCOLN.”
+
+To General McClellan, now the ranking officer of the army, the duties
+of General-in-chief were assigned by the President.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+THE CONGRESS OF 1861-2.
+
+ 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.
+
+
+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.
+
+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 by the construction
+which those powers saw fit to place upon their duties as neutrals.
+
+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.
+
+As a whole, affairs were by no means a cheering aspect at the opening
+of this Session.
+
+That the President was fully alive to the true state of the case, the
+views announced in the following message clearly show:
+
+ “FELLOW-CITIZENS OF THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:--In
+ the midst of unprecedented political troubles, we have cause of
+ great gratitude to God for unusual good health and most abundant
+ harvests.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “Nations thus tempted to interfere, are not always able to 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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 people. The correspondence itself,
+ with the usual reservations, is herewith submitted.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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 valuable permanent improvement, worth its
+ cost in all the future.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “Besides blockading our extensive coast, squadrons larger than
+ ever before assembled under our flag have been put afloat, and
+ performed deeds which have increased our naval renown.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “Besides this, the country generally has outgrown our present
+ judicial system. If uniformity was at all intended, 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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
+ 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “I ask attention to the report of the Postmaster General, the
+ following being a summary statement of the condition of the
+ department:
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “The present insurrection shows, I think, that the extension 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “The execution of the laws for the suppression of the 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “At your late session a joint resolution was adopted authorizing
+ the President to take measures for facilitating a proper
+ 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.
+
+ “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, _pro tanto_, 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.
+
+ “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 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.
+
+ “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?
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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 that radical and extreme measures, which may
+ reach the loyal as well as the disloyal, are indispensable.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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 _seem_
+ 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 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “These things demonstrate that the cause of the Union is advancing
+ steadily and certainly southward.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “And the same is true in all joint operations wherein those engaged
+ _can_ have none but a common end in view, and _can_ differ only as
+ to the choice of means. In a storm at sea, no one on board _can_
+ 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “In my present position I could scarcely be justified were I to
+ omit raising a warning voice against this approach of returning
+ despotism.
+
+ “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 _capital_ on
+ an equal footing with, if not above _labor_, 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 _hire_ laborers, and thus induce them to work by their
+ own consent, or _buy_ them, 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 these assumptions
+ are false, and all inferences from them are groundless.
+
+ “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 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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 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 _of_ to-day is not altogether _for_
+ 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.
+
+ “ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+ “WASHINGTON, December 3, 1861.”
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+THE SLAVERY QUESTION.
+
+ 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.
+
+
+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 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.
+
+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.
+
+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:
+
+ “FELLOW-CITIZENS OF THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:--I
+ recommend the adoption of a joint resolution by your honorable
+ bodies, which shall be substantially as follows:
+
+ “_Resolved_, 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.
+
+ “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 _all_ 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.
+
+ “In the annual message last December, I thought fit to 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “March 6, 1862. ABRAHAM LINCOLN.”
+
+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:
+
+ “FELLOW-CITIZENS OF THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:--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.
+
+ “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 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.
+
+ “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, _femes-covert_,
+ 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.
+
+ “April 16, 1862. ABRAHAM LINCOLN.”
+
+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:
+
+ “WHEREAS, There appears in the public prints what purports to be
+ a proclamation of Major-General Hunter, in the words and figures
+ following, to wit:
+
+ ‘Head-Quarters, Department of the South,
+
+ ‘_Hilton Head, S. C._, May 9th, 1862.
+
+ ‘GENERAL ORDERS No. 11.
+
+ ‘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, Florida, and South Carolina, heretofore held as slaves,
+ are therefore declared forever free.
+
+ ‘DAVID HUNTER, _Major-General Commanding_.
+
+ ‘Official:
+
+ ‘ED. W. SMITH, _Acting Assistant Adjutant-General_.’
+
+“AND WHEREAS, The same is producing some excitement and
+misunderstanding,
+
+“_Therefore_, 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.
+
+“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.
+
+“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:
+
+“_Resolved_, 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.’
+
+“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.
+
+“In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal
+of the United States to be affixed.
+
+“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.
+
+ “By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+ “WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.”
+
+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 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:
+
+ “GENTLEMEN:--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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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 _punctilio_ 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 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!
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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. 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.
+
+ “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.”
+
+On the twenty-second of July, the following order was issued:
+
+ “WAR DEPARTMENT, _Washington_, July 22d, 1862.
+
+ “_First._ 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.
+
+ “_Second._ That military and naval commanders shall employ 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.
+
+ “_Third._ 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.
+
+ “By order of the President.
+
+ “EDWIN M. STANTON, Secretary of War.”
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+THE PENINSULAR CAMPAIGN.
+
+ 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.
+
+
+Early in 1862 appeared the following:
+
+ “_Executive Mansion, Washington_, January 27th, 1862.
+
+ [President’s General War Order, No. 1.]
+
+ “ORDERED, 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “ABRAHAM LINCOLN.”
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+What at the East?--Roanoke Island.
+
+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 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:
+
+ “_Executive Mansion, Washington_, January 31st, 1862.
+
+ “ORDERED, 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.
+
+ “ABRAHAM LINCOLN.”
+
+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:
+
+ “_Executive Mansion, Washington_, February 3d, 1862.
+
+ “MY DEAR SIR:--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.
+
+ “If you will give satisfactory answers to the following questions,
+ I shall gladly yield my plan to yours:
+
+ “First. Does not your plan involve a greatly larger expenditure of
+ _time_ and _money_ than mine?
+
+ “Second. Wherein is a victory _more certain_ by your plan than mine?
+
+ “Third. Wherein is a victory _more valuable_ by your plan than mine?
+
+ “Fourth. In fact, would it not be _less_ valuable in this that it
+ would break no great line of the enemy’s communications, while mine
+ would?
+
+ “Fifth. In case of disaster, would not a retreat be more difficult
+ by your plan than mine?
+
+ “Yours, truly, A. LINCOLN.
+
+ “MAJOR-GENERAL MCCLELLAN.”
+
+Which plain, practical questions were never directly answered.
+
+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.
+
+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:
+
+ “_Executive Mansion, Washington_, March 8th, 1862.
+
+ “ORDERED. 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.
+
+ “That no more than two Army Corps (about fifty thousand troops) of
+ said Army of the Potomac shall be moved _en route_ 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.
+
+ “That any movement as aforesaid, _en route_ 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 March, instant, and the
+ General-in-chief shall be responsible that it moves as early as
+ that day.
+
+ “ORDERED, 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.
+
+ “ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+ “L. THOMAS, Adjutant-General.”
+
+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, _via_ Yorktown, and succeeded, after
+sanguinary battles, swamp sickness, severe exposures, and terrible
+hardships, in returning (how many of them?) to Alexandria _via_
+Harrison’s Landing, by about the middle of August, 1862.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+No details, nor military criticism therefore here. But that President
+Lincoln may fairly be presented in his relations to this campaign,
+certain observations must be made. And this is the place to make them.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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:
+
+ “FELLOW-CITIZENS:--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.
+
+ “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 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.”
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+Such is the summary in the East for A. D. 1862.
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+FREEDOM TO MILLIONS.
+
+ Tribune Editorial--Letter to Mr. Greeley--Announcement of the
+ Emancipation Proclamation--Suspension of the _Habeas Corpus_
+ in certain cases--Order for Observance of the Sabbath--The
+ Emancipation Proclamation.
+
+
+An editorial article having appeared in the _New York Tribune_, 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:
+
+ “_Executive Mansion_, Washington, Aug. 22, 1862.
+
+ HON. HORACE GREELEY--_Dear Sir_: I have just read yours of the
+ 19th, addressed to myself through the _New York Tribune_. 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.
+
+ “As to the policy I ‘seem to be pursuing,’ as you say, I have not
+ meant to leave any one in doubt.
+
+ “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 _save_ Slavery, I do not agree with them. If there be those
+ who would not save the Union unless they could at the same time
+ _destroy_ Slavery, I do not agree with them. My paramount object
+ in this struggle _is_ to save the Union, and is _not_ either to
+ save or destroy Slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing
+ _any_ slave, I would do it; and if I could do it by freeing _all_
+ 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 _not_ believe it
+ would help to save the Union. I shall do _less_ whenever I shall
+ believe what I am doing hurts the cause, and I shall do _more_
+ 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 _official_ duty, and
+ I intend no modification of my oft-expressed _personal_ wish that
+ all men, every where, could be free.
+
+ “Yours, A. LINCOLN.”
+
+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:
+
+ “I, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, 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 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, SHALL BE THEN, 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; 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.
+
+ “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:
+
+ “‘_Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
+ United States of America, in Congress assembled_, 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.
+
+ “‘_Article --._ All officers or persons of the military or 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.
+
+ “‘_Section 2._ And be it further enacted, That this act shall take
+ effect from and after its passage.’
+
+ “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:
+
+ “‘_Section 9._ 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.
+
+ “_Section 10._ 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 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the
+ seal of the United States to be affixed.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+ “WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.”
+
+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 one might plead
+ignorance of results, if such treasonable practices should be persisted
+in:
+
+ “WHEREAS, 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:
+
+ “Now, therefore, be it ordered:
+
+ “_First._ 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.
+
+ “_Third._ That the writ of _habeas corpus_ 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.
+
+ “In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the
+ seal of the United States to be affixed.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+ “WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.”
+
+It would be paying but a poor compliment to the sagacity which prompted
+this proclamation, if one were not obliged to 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.
+
+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:
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.’
+
+ “ABRAHAM LINCOLN.”
+
+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:
+
+ “WHEREAS, 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:
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the
+ seal of the United States to be affixed.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+ “W. H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+LAST SESSION OF THE THIRTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS.
+
+ Situation of the Country--Opposition to the Administration--
+ President’s Message.
+
+
+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.”
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+Dark days, indeed, when the Thirty-seventh Congress assembled for its
+last session, on the 1st of December, 1862.
+
+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.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+The essential portions of his Annual Message on this occasion are given
+below:
+
+ “FELLOW-CITIZENS OF THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:--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....
+
+ “If the condition of our relations with other nations is less
+ gratifying than it has usually been at former periods, it is
+ certainly 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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 for the
+ authority of the United States, and the rights of their moral and
+ loyal citizens....
+
+ “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....
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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?
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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, 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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 deducted, both from receipts
+ and expenditures, leaving the actual receipts for the year,
+ $487,788,324 97; and the expenditures $474,744,778 16....
+
+ “On the 22d day of September last a proclamation was issued by the
+ Executive, a copy of which is herewith submitted.
+
+ “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.’
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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:
+
+ “‘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. 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 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.
+
+ “‘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, _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 old questions, as to
+ terms of intercourse, are again upon you.
+
+ “‘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, 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.
+
+ “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 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.
+
+ “And this is true, _wherever_ 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. _Which_ 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 _where_ 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “In this view, I recommend the adoption of the following resolution
+ and articles amendatory to the Constitution of the United States:
+
+ “_Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
+ States of America in Congress assembled_, (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.:
+
+ “_Article --._ 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:
+
+ “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.
+
+ “_Article --._ 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.
+
+ “_Article --._ Congress may appropriate money, and otherwise
+ provide for colonizing free colored persons, with their own
+ consent, at any place or places without the United States.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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 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?
+
+ “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
+ measure. Certainly it is not so easy to pay _something_ as it is
+ to pay _nothing_; but it is easier to pay a _large_ sum, than it
+ is to pay a _larger_ one. And it is easier to pay any sum _when_
+ we are able, than it is to pay it _before_ 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 to when this _may_ be, we can judge by the past and the
+ present, as to when it _will_ 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.
+
+ “Taking the nation in the aggregate, and we find its population
+ and ratio of increase, for the several decennial periods, to be as
+ follows:
+
+ 1790 3,929,827
+ 1800 5,305,937 35.02 per cent. ratio of increase
+ 1810 7,239,814 36.45 “ “
+ 1820 9,638,131 33.13 “ “
+ 1830 12,866,020 33.49 “ “
+ 1840 17,069,453 32.67 “ “
+ 1850 23,191,876 35.87 “ “
+ 1860 31,443,790 35.58 “ “
+
+ “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:
+
+ 1870 42,423,341
+ 1880 56,967,216
+ 1890 76,677,872
+ 1900 103,208,415
+ 1910 138,918,526
+ 1920 186,984,335
+ 1930 251,680,914
+
+ “These figures show that our country _may_ 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.
+
+ “And we _will_ 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “This fact would be no excuse for delaying payment of what is
+ justly due; but it shows the great importance of time 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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 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.
+
+ “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. _Heretofore_, colored people, to some extent, have
+ fled North from bondage; and _now_, 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, 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?
+
+ “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?
+
+ “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.
+
+ “The plan consisting of these articles is recommended, not but that
+ a restoration of the National authority would be accepted without
+ its adoption.
+
+ “Nor will the war, nor proceedings under the proclamation of
+ September 22d, 1862, be stayed because of the _recommendation_
+ of this plan. Its timely _adoption_, I doubt not, would bring
+ restoration, and thereby stay both.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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; 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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 _any_ of us _imagine_ better?’ but,
+ ‘Can we _all_ 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 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.
+
+ “Fellow-citizens, _we_ 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 _say_
+ 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 _we here_--hold the power, and bear the
+ responsibility. In _giving_ freedom to the _slave_, we _assure_
+ freedom to the _free_--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.
+
+ Dec. 1, 1862. “ABRAHAM LINCOLN.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+THE TIDE TURNED.
+
+ 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.
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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 _via_ 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.
+
+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.
+
+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 from the workingmen
+of Manchester, England; to which address he made the following reply:
+
+
+ “_Executive Mansion_, Washington, January 19, 1863.
+
+ “TO THE WORKINGMEN OF MANCHESTER:--I have the honor to acknowledge
+ the receipt of the address and resolutions which you sent me on the
+ eve of the new year.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “ABRAHAM LINCOLN.”
+
+On the 30th of March the following proclamation was issued in pursuance
+of a request to that effect from the Senate:
+
+ “WHEREAS, 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;
+
+ “AND WHEREAS, 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;
+
+ “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!
+
+ “It behooves us, then, to humble ourselves before the offended
+ Power, to confess our National sins, and to pray for clemency and
+ forgiveness.
+
+ “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
+ 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the
+ seal of the United States to be affixed.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+ “WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.”
+
+The following letter, which belongs in this place, will explain itself:
+
+ “_Executive Mansion_, Washington, June 13th, 1863.
+
+ “HON. ERASTUS CORNING and others--_Gentlemen_:--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.
+
+ “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 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.
+
+ “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 _especially_ for his protection in times
+ of civil commotion.’
+
+ “And, apparently to demonstrate the proposition, the resolutions
+ proceed: ‘They were secured substantially to the English people
+ _after_ years of protracted civil war, and were adopted into our
+ Constitution at the _close_ 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 _during_ the
+ civil wars and _during_ our Revolution, instead of _after_ the
+ one and at the _close_ of the other? I, too, am devotedly for
+ them _after_ civil war, and _before_ 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 _the_ 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.
+
+ “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 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
+ ‘_habeas corpus_,’ 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
+ ‘_habeas corpus_’ might be suspended; but they also knew they had
+ friends who would make a question as to _who_ 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 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.
+
+ “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 _habeas corpus_ shall not be suspended unless when, in cases
+ of rebellion or invasion, the public safety may require it,’ is
+ _the_ 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. _Habeas corpus_ 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 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 _does_ 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 _habeas corpus_, were the writ allowed to
+ operate. In view of these and similar cases, I think the time not
+ unlikely to come when I shall be blamed for having made too few
+ arrests rather than too many.
+
+ “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
+ _not_ 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
+ _is_ 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 _wherever_ 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 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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 _not_ require them; in other
+ words, that the Constitution is not, 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 _habeas corpus_, 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.
+
+ “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 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 _habeas corpus_, 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.
+
+ “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 _habeas corpus_ 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 _habeas corpus_, 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
+ 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.
+
+ “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 _habeas
+ corpus_, suffered no detriment whatever by that conduct of Gen.
+ Jackson, or its subsequent approval by the American Congress.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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 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.
+
+ “A. LINCOLN.”
+
+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:
+
+ “Washington, June 29, 1863.
+
+ “GENTLEMEN:--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.
+
+ “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.’
+
+ “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 _in its application_ 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.
+
+ “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.’
+
+ “You say: ‘Expunge from the Constitution this limitation upon the
+ power of Congress to suspend the writ of _habeas corpus_, 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 _out_ 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.
+
+ “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 _habeas corpus_ 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 _habeas corpus_. But by the Constitution the benefit
+ of the writ of _habeas corpus_ itself may be suspended, when, in
+ case of rebellion or invasion, the public safety may require it.
+
+ “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 _who_ shall decide, or
+ an affirmation that _nobody_ 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.
+
+ “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 _prevention_, and not for _punishment_--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 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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 _know_ 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 _animus_. 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 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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 escape the draft, to believe it is your
+ purpose to protect them, and to hope that you will become strong
+ enough to do so.
+
+ “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:
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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; and--
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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, 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.
+
+ “I have the honor to be respectfully, yours, etc.,
+
+ “ABRAHAM LINCOLN.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+LETTERS AND SPEECHES.
+
+ Speech at Washington--Letter to General Grant--Thanksgiving
+ Proclamation--Letter concerning the Emancipation Proclamation--
+ Proclamation for Annual Thanksgiving--Dedicatory Speech at
+ Gettysburg.
+
+
+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:
+
+ “FELLOW-CITIZENS:--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. 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.”
+
+The following letter, addressed to General Grant after the capture of
+Vicksburg, gives an insight into the transparent candor and frankness
+of the President.
+
+ “_Executive Mansion_, Washington, July 13th, 1863.
+
+ “MAJOR-GENERAL U. S. GRANT--_My Dear General_: 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.
+
+ “Yours, truly,
+ “A. LINCOLN.”
+
+The following was issued in commemoration of the victories at
+Vicksburg, Port Hudson, and Gettysburg:
+
+ “BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.--A
+ PROCLAMATION.--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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the
+ seal of the United States to be affixed.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+ “WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.”
+
+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:
+
+ “EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, August 26th, 1863.
+
+ “MY DEAR SIR:--Your letter inviting me to attend a mass meeting of
+ unconditional Union men, to be held at the capital 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 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.
+
+ “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
+ 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. 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 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.
+
+ “Yours very truly, ABRAHAM LINCOLN.”
+
+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:
+
+ “BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.--A
+ PROCLAMATION:--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 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the
+ seal of the United States to be affixed.
+
+ “Done at the City of Washington, this, the third 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.
+
+ “By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+ “WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.”
+
+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:
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+THE THIRTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS.
+
+ Organization of the House--Different Opinions as to
+ Reconstruction--Provisions for Pardon of Rebels--President’s
+ Proclamation of Pardon--Annual Message--Explanatory Proclamation.
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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 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.
+
+Congress had provided, by an act approved July 17, 1862:
+
+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.
+
+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:
+
+ “WHEREAS, 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 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,
+
+ “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:
+
+ “‘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.’
+
+ “The persons excepted from the benefits of the foregoing
+ 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.
+
+ “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.’
+
+ “And I do further proclaim, declare, and make known that any
+ provision which may be adopted by such State Government 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “ABRAHAM LINCOLN.”
+
+The Annual Message sent in to Congress on the 9th day of December,
+omitting matters of but temporary interest--is as follows:
+
+ “FELLOW-CITIZENS OF THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF
+ REPRESENTATIVES:--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.
+
+ “We remain in peace and friendship with foreign powers.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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....
+
+ “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 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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 which no citizen of the
+ United States residing abroad may claim the interposition of his
+ Government.
+
+ “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....
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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, 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “The report of the Secretary of War is a document of great
+ interest. It consists of--
+
+ “1. The military operations of the year, detailed in the report of
+ the General-in-Chief.
+
+ “2. The organization of colored persons into the war service.
+
+ “3. The exchange of prisoners, fully set forth in the letter of
+ General Hitchcock.
+
+ “4. The operations under the act for enrolling and calling out the
+ National forces, detailed in the report of the Provost Marshal
+ General.
+
+ “5. The organization of the Invalid Corps; and,
+
+ “6. The operation of the several departments of the Quartermaster
+ General, Commissary General, Paymaster General, Chief of Engineers,
+ Chief of Ordnance, and Surgeon General.
+
+ “It has appeared impossible to make a valuable summary of this
+ report, except such as would be too extended for this place, and
+ hence I content myself by asking your careful attention to the
+ report itself.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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 naval services by a definite provision on this subject,
+ which would at the same time be equitable to the communities more
+ especially interested.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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 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.
+
+ “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 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.
+
+ “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 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “An attempt to guarantee and protect a revived State Government,
+ constructed in whole, or in preponderating part, 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “The movements, by State action, for emancipation in several of
+ the States, not included in the Emancipation Proclamation, 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ Dec. 8, 1863.
+
+ “Abraham Lincoln.”
+
+On the twenty-sixth of March, 1864, the following proclamation,
+explanatory of the one issued on the eighth of December, 1863, was
+published:
+
+ “WHEREAS, 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;
+
+ “AND WHEREAS, The objects of that proclamation were to suppress the
+ insurrection and to restore the authority of the United States;
+
+ “AND WHEREAS, The amnesty therein proposed by the President was
+ offered with reference to these objects alone;
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “The Secretary of State will keep a register thereof, and will, on
+ application, in proper cases, issue certificates of such records in
+ the customary form of official certificates.
+
+ “In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the
+ seal of the United States to be affixed.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+ “W. H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+PROGRESS.
+
+ 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.
+
+
+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:
+
+ “LADIES AND GENTLEMEN:--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.
+
+ “In this extraordinary war, extraordinary developments have
+ manifested themselves, such as have not been seen in former wars;
+ and among these manifestations nothing has 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!”
+
+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:
+
+ “GENTLEMEN OF THE COMMITTEE:--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:
+
+ “‘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 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.
+
+ “‘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 _capital_ on
+ an equal footing with, if not above, _labor_ 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.
+
+ “‘This assumed, it is next considered whether it is best that
+ capital shall _hire_ laborers, and thus induce them to work by
+ their own consent, or _buy them_ 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.
+
+ “‘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 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.
+
+ “‘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.
+
+ “‘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 fix new disabilities and burdens upon them till all
+ of liberty shall be lost.’
+
+ “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.”
+
+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.
+
+Truly some advance had been made during those three years, so pregnant
+with events!
+
+ “LADIES AND GENTLEMEN:--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 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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 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.
+
+ “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.”
+
+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.
+
+ “A. G. HODGES, ESQ., Frankfort, Ky.:
+
+ “MY DEAR SIR:--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:
+
+ “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 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.
+
+ “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?
+
+ “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.
+
+ “When, in March, and May, and July, 1862, I made 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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 therein new cause to attest and revere the justice and
+ goodness of God.
+
+ “Yours truly,
+ “A. LINCOLN.”
+
+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.
+
+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:
+
+ “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.
+
+ “All troops of the enemy known or discovered to give no quarter in
+ general, or to any portion of the army, will receive none.”
+
+The following order of the President, issued by him as
+Commander-in-chief, and communicated to the entire army deals with this
+subject alone:
+
+ “_Executive Mansion_, Washington, July 30, 1863.
+
+ “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 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “ABRAHAM LINCOLN.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+RENOMINATED.
+
+ 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.
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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 to the time when he was summoned to the
+command of all the armies then engaged in its suppression.
+
+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:
+
+ “GENERAL GRANT:--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.
+
+ “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.”
+
+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.
+
+On the 30th of April, the President addressed the following letter to
+the new Commander:
+
+ “LIEUTENANT-GENERAL GRANT:--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 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.
+
+ “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!
+
+ “Yours, very truly, A. LINCOLN.”
+
+To which the General, from Culpepper Court House, Va., on the 1st of
+May, thus replied:
+
+ “TO THE PRESIDENT:--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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “Very truly, your obedient servant,
+
+ “U. S. GRANT, Lieutenant-General.”
+
+Beginning at the right end--profiting by the experience of
+others--wasting no time nor strength in mere display--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.
+
+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.
+
+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:
+
+ “_Executive Mansion_, Washington, June 3d, 1864.
+
+ “GENTLEMEN:--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.
+
+ “Yours truly, A. LINCOLN.”
+
+On the 7th of June, the Republican National Convention met at Baltimore
+for the purpose of nominating candidates for the Presidency and
+Vice-Presidency.
+
+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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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.
+
+On the second day, the convention adopted by acclamation the following
+platform:
+
+ “_Resolved_, 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.
+
+ “_Resolved_, 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.
+
+ “_Resolved_, 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.
+
+ “_Resolved_, 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.
+
+ “_Resolved_, That we approve and applaud the practical wisdom, the
+ unselfish patriotism, and unswerving fidelity to 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.
+
+ “_Resolved_, 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.
+
+ “_Resolved_, 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.
+
+ “_Resolved_, 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.
+
+ “_Resolved_, That we are in favor of the speedy construction of the
+ railroad to the Pacific.
+
+ “_Resolved_, 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 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.
+
+ “_Resolved_, 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.”
+
+Upon the first ballot for a candidate for President, ABRAHAM LINCOLN
+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.”
+
+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.
+
+As the vote proceeded, it was soon apparent that ANDREW JOHNSON 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.
+
+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:
+
+ “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.”
+
+In reply the President said:
+
+ “MR. CHAIRMAN AND GENTLEMEN OF THE COMMITTEE:--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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.”
+
+On the following day, in reply to a congratulatory address from a
+deputation of the National Union League, the President said:
+
+ “GENTLEMEN:--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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.’”
+
+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-_abandon_ can appreciate.
+
+Having been serenaded, on the 9th, by the delegation from Ohio, he
+addressed the assemblage as follows:
+
+ “GENTLEMEN:--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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.”
+
+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.
+
+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:
+
+ “SOLDIERS:--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.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+RECONSTRUCTION.
+
+ 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.
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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:
+
+ “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.
+
+ “It has destroyed property, destroyed life, and ruined homes.
+ It has produced a national debt and a degree of 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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?
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.’]
+
+ “Then I shall call upon you when it is necessary.”
+
+The following correspondence passed between Mr. Lincoln and the
+Committee of the National Convention relative to his nomination:
+
+ “New York, June 14, 1864.
+
+ “HON. ABRAHAM LINCOLN:
+
+ “SIR:--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.
+
+ “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
+ 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “WILLIAM DENNISON, _Ohio_, Chairman.
+
+ “_And signed by the Committee._”
+
+ * * * * *
+
+ “_Executive Mansion_, Washington, June 27th, 1863.
+
+ “Hon. WILLIAM DENNISON and others:
+
+ “_A Committee of the National Union Convention_:
+
+ “GENTLEMEN:--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.
+
+ “While the resolution in regard to the supplanting of Republican
+ Government upon the Western Continent is fully 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “Thanking you for the kind and complimentary terms in which you
+ have communicated the nomination and other proceedings of the
+ Convention, I subscribe myself,
+
+ “Your obedient servant, ABRAHAM LINCOLN.”
+
+On the 5th of July, appeared the following proclamation, ordering
+martial law in Kentucky:
+
+ “WHEREAS, 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,
+
+ “WHEREAS, 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,
+
+ “WHEREAS, 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 _habeas corpus_ in any case throughout
+ the United States, or any part thereof; and,
+
+ “WHEREAS, The said insurrection and rebellion still continues,
+ endangering the existence of the Constitution and Government of the
+ United States; and,
+
+ “WHEREAS, 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,
+
+ “WHEREAS, 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 _habeas corpus_ 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,
+
+ “WHEREAS, 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,
+
+ “WHEREAS, 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;
+
+ “Now, therefore, I, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, 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 _habeas corpus_, 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 _habeas corpus_ 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 military operations or the constituted authorities of the
+ Government of the United States.
+
+ “In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the
+ seal of the United States to be affixed.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+ “WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.”
+
+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:
+
+ “WHEREAS, 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,
+
+ “WHEREAS, The said bill was presented to the President of the
+ United States for his approval, less than one hour before the _sine
+ die_ adjournment of said session, and was not signed by him; and,
+
+ “WHEREAS, The said bill contains, among other things, a plan for
+ restoring the States in rebellion to the proper practical 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:
+
+ “Now, therefore, I, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, 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.
+
+ “In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the
+ seal of the United States to be affixed.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN
+
+ “WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.”
+
+The following is the bill, a copy of which was annexed to the
+proclamation:
+
+ “A BILL to guarantee to certain States whose Governments have been
+ overthrown or usurped, a Republican form of Government.
+
+ “_Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
+ the United States of America, in Congress assembled_, 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.
+
+ “SECTION 2. _And be it further enacted_, 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.
+
+ “SECTION 3. 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.
+
+ “SECTION 4. 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.
+
+ “SECTION 5. 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 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.
+
+ “SECTION 6. 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.
+
+ “SECTION 7. 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:
+
+ “_First._ No person who has held or exercised any office, civil or
+ military, except offices merely ministerial, and military 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.
+
+ “_Second._ Involuntary servitude is forever prohibited, and the
+ freedom of all persons is guaranteed in said State.
+
+ “_Third._ No debt, State or corporate, created by or under the
+ sanction of the usurping power, shall be recognized or paid by the
+ State.
+
+ “SECTION 8. 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.
+
+ “SECTION 9. 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 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.
+
+ “SECTION 10. 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.
+
+ “SECTION 11. 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 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.
+
+ “SECTION 12. 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 _habeas
+ corpus_, discharge them.
+
+ “SECTION 13. 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.
+
+ “SECTION 14. 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.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN OF 1864.
+
+ 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.
+
+
+On the 7th of July the following proclamation for a National Fast
+appeared:
+
+ “WHEREAS, 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:
+
+ “‘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 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.’
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the
+ seal of the United States to be affixed.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN
+
+ “WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.”
+
+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:
+
+ “SOLDIERS: 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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 somewhere; things may be done
+ wrong, which the officers of Government do all they can to prevent
+ mistakes.
+
+ “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.”
+
+And again, on the 22d of August, under similar circumstances:
+
+ “SOLDIERS:--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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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. The nation is worth fighting for, to
+ secure such an unquestionable jewel.”
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+ “TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN.--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.
+
+ “ABRAHAM LINCOLN.”
+
+This ended that attempt to divide the supporters of the Administration.
+
+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 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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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:
+
+ “_Resolved_, 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.”
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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 the officers and men connected with these
+operations, national salutes ordered, and the following proclamation
+issued, dated September 3d, 1864.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “ABRAHAM LINCOLN.”
+
+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:
+
+ “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 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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 other policy
+ calculated to weaken the moral and physical forces of the rebellion.
+
+ “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.”
+
+On the 19th of October, the President having been serenaded by the
+loyal Marylanders of the District of Columbia, said:
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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 _sine die_, but to meet again,
+ if called to do so by a particular individual, as the ultimatum of
+ a purpose that, if the nominee shall be elected, he will at once
+ seize control of the Government.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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!”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+RE-ELECTED.
+
+ 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.
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+General Fremont withdrew his name shortly after the Chicago
+nominations, that he might not distract and divide the friends of the
+Union. In his letter of withdrawal he said:
+
+“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.”
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+No opportunity for talk, even, was afforded when the results of the
+election of November 8th became known. 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.
+
+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.
+
+The President elect by a plurality in 1860, he was reëlected in 1864 by
+a majority decisive and unmistakable.
+
+Having been serenaded early in the morning following his reëlection,
+by Pennsylvanians then in Washington, he thus gave utterance to his
+feelings:
+
+ “FRIENDS AND FELLOW-CITIZENS:--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 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.”
+
+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:
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.”
+
+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 recently wounded, was lying in
+a hospital and bears date November 21st, 1864.
+
+ “DEAR MADAM:--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.
+
+ “Yours very sincerely and respectfully,
+ “ABRAHAM LINCOLN.”
+
+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:
+
+ “FELLOW-CITIZENS OF THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:--Again
+ the blessings of health and abundant harvests claim our profoundest
+ gratitude to Almighty God.
+
+ “The condition of our foreign affairs is reasonably satisfactory.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “Civil war continues in the Spanish port of San Domingo, apparently
+ without prospect of an early close.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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. Our very popular and
+ able representative in Egypt died in April last.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “China seems to be accepting with hearty good-will the conventional
+ laws which regulate commerce and social intercourse among the
+ Western nations.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “There is reason also to believe that these proceedings have
+ increased rather than diminished the friendship of Japan toward the
+ United States.
+
+ “The ports of Norfolk, Fernandino, and Pensacola have been opened
+ by proclamation.
+
+ “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 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “In view of the insecurity of life in the region adjacent to 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “The act passed at the last session for the encouragement of
+ immigration has, as far as was possible, been put into operation.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “For the actual receipts and disbursements for the first quarter,
+ and the estimated receipts and disbursements for the 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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 _bonâ fide_ 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.
+
+ “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 they cannot be much
+ oppressed by a debt which they owe to themselves.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “It will also specify the measures deemed essential for the
+ national defence, and to keep up and supply the requisite military
+ force.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “I cordially concur in the recommendation of the Secretary as to
+ the propriety of creating the new rank of Vice-admiral in our naval
+ service.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “As intimately connected with and promotive of this material
+ growth of the Nation, I ask the attention of Congress to 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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 metals in that
+ region have, during the year reached, if not exceeded, $100,000,000
+ in value.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “During the year ending the thirtieth of June, 1864, $4,504,616 92
+ have been paid to pensioners of all classes.
+
+ “I cheerfully commend to your continued patronage the 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “The movement in the same direction, more extensive, though less
+ definite, in Missouri, Kentucky, and Tennessee, should not be
+ overlooked.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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
+ 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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 evidence accessible, it seems to me that
+ no attempts at negotiation with the insurgent leader could result
+ in any good.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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 known that the excepted classes were
+ still within contemplation of special clemency.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “ABRAHAM LINCOLN.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+TIGHTENING THE LINES.
+
+ 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.
+
+
+As illustrative of the genial, pleasant manner of the President, take
+the following, in response to a serenade, December 6th, 1864:
+
+ “FRIENDS AND FELLOW-CITIZENS:--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.”
+
+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:
+
+ “REVEREND SIR, AND LADIES AND GENTLEMEN:--I accept, with emotions
+ of profoundest gratitude, the beautiful gift you have been pleased
+ to present to me. You will, of course, 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.”
+
+ * * * * *
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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:
+
+ “HON. WILLIAM H. SEWARD, 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.
+
+ “You will make known to them that three things are indispensable,
+ to wit:
+
+ “1. The restoration of national authority throughout all the States.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “3. No cessation of hostilities short of an end of the war and the
+ disbanding of all forces hostile to the Government.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “You will hear all they may choose to say, and report it to me.
+
+ “You will not assume to definitely consummate any thing.
+
+ “Yours truly, A. LINCOLN.”
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+The conference came to an end by mutual acquiescence, without producing
+an agreement of views upon the several matters discussed, or any of
+them.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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:
+
+ “WHEREAS, 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 Executive--
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+ “WILLIAM. H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.”
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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
+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:
+
+ “FELLOW-COUNTRYMEN:--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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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 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.
+
+ “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?
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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 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.”
+
+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:
+
+ “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 _Almighty God_, 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.”
+
+On the 16th of March, in accordance with an Act of Congress, grace was
+extended to deserters by the following proclamation:
+
+ “WHEREAS, 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 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’--
+
+ “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.
+
+ “In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the
+ seal of the United States to be affixed.
+
+ “Done at the city of Washington, this eleventh day of March, in the
+ year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, and of
+ the Independence of the United States the eighty-ninth.
+
+ “By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+ “W. H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+IN RICHMOND.
+
+ 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.
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.”
+
+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
+excited multitude--there held a levee--left the same evening for City
+Point--and soon afterward returned to Washington.
+
+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:
+
+ “GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE, ARMY C. S.:--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.
+
+ “Very respectfully,
+ “U. S. GRANT, Lieutenant-General.”
+
+Johnston was next in order; and toward him Sherman was in motion.
+
+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.
+
+Repeated calls having been made for him, he appeared at the window, on
+the entrance door, calm amid the tumult, and was greeted with cheers
+and waving of hats.
+
+Comparative silence having been secured, he said:
+
+ “MY FRIENDS:--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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.”
+
+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.
+
+The President then retired, amid cheers, the tune of “Hail Columbia,”
+and the firing of cannon.
+
+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.
+
+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 with which he was greeted had subsided,
+spoke as follows in his last public speech:
+
+ “FELLOW-CITIZENS:--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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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 at home, it would be utterly immaterial
+ whether they had ever been abroad.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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?
+
+ “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 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.
+
+ “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.]
+
+ “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-fourths of all the States would be unquestioned and
+ unquestionable.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.”
+
+On the 11th of April, also, appeared the following proclamation:
+
+ “WHEREAS, 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 purposes,’ the
+ President, for the reasons therein set forth, is authorized to
+ close certain ports of entry.
+
+ “Now, therefore, be it known that I, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, 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.
+
+ “In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal
+ of the United States to be affixed.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “Abraham Lincoln.
+
+ “William H. Seward, Secretary of State.”
+
+And on the same day the following:
+
+ “WHEREAS, 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 in--
+
+ “Now, therefore, I, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, 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. _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._
+
+ “In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal
+ of the United States to be affixed.
+
+ “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 the eighty-ninth.
+
+ “By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+ “WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.”
+
+And, on the twelfth April, the following supplementary proclamation:
+
+ “WHEREAS, 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:
+
+ “Now, therefore, be it known that I, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, 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.
+
+ “In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal
+ of the United States to be affixed.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+ “WM. H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.”
+
+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:
+
+ “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:
+
+ “_First._ To stop all drafting and recruiting in the loyal States.
+
+ “_Second._ To curtail purchases for arms, ammunition,
+ quartermaster’s and commissary supplies, and reduce the expenses of
+ the military establishment and its several branches.
+
+ “_Third._ To reduce the number of general and staff officers to the
+ actual necessities of the service.
+
+ “_Fourth._ To remove all military restrictions upon trade and
+ commerce, so far as may be consistent with the public safety.
+
+ “As soon as these measures can be put in operation, it will be made
+ known by public orders.
+
+ “EDWIN M. STANTON, Secretary of War.”
+
+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?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+
+THE LAST ACT.
+
+ 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.
+
+
+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, 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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+“Well,” said the President, “you will hear very soon now and the news
+will be important.”
+
+“Why do you think so?” said the General.
+
+“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:
+
+“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.”
+
+In the afternoon, a long and pleasant conversation was held with
+eminent citizens from Illinois.
+
+In the evening, during a talk with Messrs. Colfax and Ashman--the
+latter of whom presided at the Chicago Convention, 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.
+
+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.”
+
+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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+Recovering himself immediately, he flourished his dagger, shouted “_Sic
+semper tyrannis_” and “_The South is avenged_,” 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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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.
+
+“_Sic semper tyrannis!_” And this the justification for the murder of a
+ruler who had
+
+ “---- borne his faculties so meek, had been
+ So clear in his great office, that his virtues
+ Will plead like angels, trumpet-tongued, against
+ The deep damnation of his taking-off.”
+
+“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.
+
+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!
+
+But sorrow was tempered with mercy. He did not fall 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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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 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.
+
+When he fell, treason throughout the land lay gasping, dying.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+Meanwhile the honored dead lay in state in the country’s capitol.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+Thence the funeral _cortege_ 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 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!”
+
+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.
+
+Flowers beautified the lifeless remains--dirges were sung--the people’s
+great heart broke out into sobs and sighing.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+There all that is mortal of ABRAHAM LINCOLN reposes.
+
+“The immortal?” Hail, and farewell!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+THE MAN.
+
+ 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.
+
+
+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 were it in any other country, be
+evidence of ability of the very highest order.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+Primarily and mainly because the mass of the people had 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.
+
+What shall be said of him as a statesman?
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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.
+
+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 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!
+
+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 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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.”
+
+ Oh, why should the spirit of mortal be proud?
+ Like a swift, fleeting meteor, a fast-flying cloud,
+ A flash of the lightning, a break of the wave,
+ Man passeth from life to his rest in the grave.
+
+ The leaves of the oak and the willow shall fade,
+ Be scattered around and together be laid;
+ And the young and the old, and the low and the high,
+ Shall moulder to dust and together shall lie.
+
+ The infant a mother attended and loved;
+ The mother that infant’s affection who proved;
+ The husband that mother and infant who blessed,
+ Each, all, are away to their dwellings of Rest.
+
+ The maid on whose cheek, on whose brow, in whose eye
+ Shone beauty and pleasure--her triumphs are by;
+ And the memory of those who loved her and praised,
+ Are alike from the minds of the living erased.
+
+ The hand of the king that the sceptre hath borne;
+ The brow of the priest that the mitre hath worn;
+ The eye of the sage and the heart of the brave,
+ Are hidden and lost in the depth of the grave.
+
+ The peasant whose lot was to sow and to reap;
+ The herdsman, who climbed with his goats up the steep;
+ The beggar, who wandered in search of his bread,
+ Have faded away like the grass that we tread.
+
+ The saint who enjoyed the communion of heaven,
+ The sinner who dared to remain unforgiven,
+ The wise and the foolish, the guilty and just,
+ Have quietly mingled their bones in the dust.
+
+ So the multitude goes, like the flowers or the weed
+ That withers away to let others succeed;
+ So the multitude comes, even those we behold,
+ To repeat every tale that has often been told.
+
+ For we are the same our fathers have been;
+ We see the same sights our fathers have seen--
+ We drink the same stream and view the same sun--
+ And run the same course our fathers have run.
+
+ The thoughts we are thinking our fathers would think;
+ From the death we are shrinking our fathers would shrink,
+ To the life we are clinging they also would cling;
+ But it speeds for us all, like a bird on the wing.
+
+ They loved, but the story we cannot unfold;
+ They scorned, but the heart of the haughty is cold;
+ They grieved, but no wail from their slumber will come;
+ They joyed, but the tongue of their gladness is dumb.
+
+ They died, aye! they died; and we things that are now,
+ Who walk on the turf that lies over their brow,
+ Who make in their dwelling a transient abode,
+ Meet the things that they met on their pilgrimage road.
+
+ Yea! hope and despondency, pleasure and pain,
+ We mingle together in sunshine and rain;
+ And the smile and the tear, the song and the dirge,
+ Still follow each other, like surge upon surge.
+
+ ’Tis the wink of an eye, ’tis the draught of a breath;
+ From the blossom of health to the paleness of death,
+ From the gilded saloon to the bier and the shroud--
+ Oh why should the spirit of mortal be proud?
+
+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:
+
+ “Born February 12, 1809, in Hardin county, Kentucky.
+
+ “Education Defective.
+
+ “Profession a lawyer.
+
+ “Have been a captain of volunteers in the Black Hawk war.
+
+ “Postmaster at a very small office.
+
+ “Four times a member of the Illinois Legislature.
+
+ “And was a member of the lower House of Congress.
+
+ “Yours, etc.,
+ A. LINCOLN.”
+
+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 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.
+
+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:
+
+“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.”
+
+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.
+
+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 leave--
+
+ ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX.
+
+ MR. LINCOLN’S SPEECHES IN CONGRESS AND ELSEWHERE, PROCLAMATIONS,
+ LETTERS, ETC., NOT INCLUDED IN THE BODY OF THE WORK.
+
+
+SPEECH ON THE MEXICAN WAR.
+
+(_In Committee of the Whole House, January 12, 1848._)
+
+Mr. Lincoln addressed the Committee as follows:
+
+ “MR. CHAIRMAN:--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 _truth_ 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 _little_, or because of knowing
+ too _much_, 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, 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 _truth_, what he could not prove by telling
+ the _whole truth_, 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 _compelled_ 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 _truth_ 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.
+
+ “The President, in his first message of May, 1846, declares that
+ the soil was _ours_ 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 _very
+ point_ 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.
+
+ “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 _one_ river or the
+ _other_ is necessarily the boundary, and cheats the superficial
+ thinker entirely out of the idea that _possibly_ the boundary is
+ somewhere _between_ the two, and not actually at either. A further
+ deception is, that it will let in _evidence_ which a true issue
+ would exclude. A true issue made by the President would be about as
+ follows: ‘I say the soil _was ours_ on which the first blood was
+ shed; there are those who say it was not.’
+
+ “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:
+
+ “1. That the Rio Grande was the western boundary of Louisiana, as
+ we purchased it of France in 1803.
+
+ “2. That the Republic of Texas always _claimed_ the Rio Grande as
+ her western boundary.
+
+ “3. That, by various acts, she had claimed it _on paper_.
+
+ “4. That Santa Anna, in his treaty with Texas, recognized the Rio
+ Grande as her boundary.
+
+ “5. That Texas _before_, and the United States _after_ annexation,
+ had _exercised_ jurisdiction _beyond_ the Nueces, _between_ the two
+ rivers.
+
+ “6. That our Congress _understood_ the boundary of Texas to extend
+ beyond the Nueces.
+
+ “Now for each of these in its turn:
+
+ “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 _present_ boundary between
+ us and Mexico? How, Mr. Chairman, the line that once divided your
+ land from mine can _still_ be the boundary between us _after_ 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 _thought_ of introducing such a fact to prove such
+ an issue, is equally incomprehensible. The outrage upon common
+ _right_, of seizing as our own what we have once sold, merely
+ because it _was_ ours _before_ we sold it, is only equaled by the
+ outrage on common _sense_ of any attempt to justify it.
+
+ “The President’s next piece of evidence is, that ‘The Republic
+ of Texas always _claimed_ this river (Rio Grande) as her western
+ boundary.’ That is not true, in fact. Texas _has_ claimed it,
+ but she has not _always_ 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
+ _claim_ against _claim_, leaving nothing proved until we get back
+ of the claims, and find which has the better _foundation_.
+
+ “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--_on paper_. 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 _claim_; 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.
+
+ “I next consider the President’s statement that Santa Anna, in
+ his _treaty_ 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--_could_ not bind Mexico
+ by a treaty, which I deem conclusive; besides this, I wish to say
+ something in relation to this treaty so called by the President,
+ with Santa Anna. If any man would like to be amused by a sight at
+ that _little_ thing, which the President calls by that _big_ 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 _called_
+ 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 _himself_ take up
+ arms, nor _influence_ 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 _is_ stipulated therein that the
+ Mexican forces should evacuate the territory of Texas, _passing
+ to the other side of the Rio Grande_; 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 _what_
+ 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 _her own_ boundary.
+
+ “Next comes the evidence that Texas before annexation, and the
+ United States afterward, exercising jurisdiction beyond the
+ Nueces, and _between_ the two rivers. This actual _exercise_ 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 _beyond_ the Nueces, but he does not tell
+ us it went _to_ the Rio Grande. He tells us jurisdiction was
+ exercised _between_ the two rivers, but he does not tell us
+ it was exercised over _all_ 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 _between_ two rivers without covering _all_
+ 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
+ _all_ 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 _persuade_ nor _force_
+ 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.
+
+ “But next, the President tells us, the Congress of the United
+ States _understood_ the State of Texas they admitted into the
+ Union to extend _beyond_ the Nueces. Well, I suppose they did--I
+ certainly so understand it--but how _far_ beyond? That Congress
+ did _not_ 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.
+
+ “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 _there_, and _thereby_,
+ 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 _dared_ not admit, and yet _could_
+ 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.
+
+ “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 _wherever_ Texas was _exercising_ 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 _neither_ river was
+ the boundary, but the uninhabited country between the two was.
+ The extent of our territory in that region depended not on any
+ _treaty-fixed_ boundary (for no treaty had attempted it), but on
+ revolution. Any people anywhere, being inclined and having the
+ power, have the _right_ 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 _can_ may
+ revolutionize, and make their _own_ of so much of their territory
+ as they inhabit. More than this, a _majority_ of any portion
+ of such people may revolutionize, putting down a _minority_,
+ 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
+ _actual_, willing or unwilling submission of the people, so _far_
+ the country was hers, and no further.
+
+ “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 _facts_, 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 _should_
+ not, and the Almighty _will_ not, be evaded, so let him attempt no
+ 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 _can not or will not_ 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 _on_ and _on_, 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 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, _without a purpose or definite
+ object_.’ So, then, the national honor, security of the future, and
+ everything but territorial indemnity, may be considered the _no
+ purposes_ and _indefinite_ 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 _all_ we are fighting for,
+ and _still_ 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
+ _excess_ after those expenses shall have surpassed the value of the
+ _whole_ of the Mexican territory. So, again, he insists that the
+ separate national existence of Mexico shall be maintained; but he
+ does not tell us _how_ this can be done after we shall have taken
+ _all_ 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.
+
+ “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, 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 _better_ half of the country, how
+ long its future prosecution will be in equalling the less valuable
+ half is not a _speculative_ but a _practical_ question, pressing
+ closely upon us; and yet it is a question which the President seems
+ never to have thought of.
+
+ “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, _the continued success of our arms
+ may fail to obtain a satisfactory peace_.’ 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 ‘_this may become the only mode of obtaining such a
+ peace_.’ 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 _out_ 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.
+
+ “Again, it is a singular omission in this message, that it nowhere
+ intimates _when_ 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 _not_ do; after all this,
+ this same President gives us a long message without showing us that
+ _as to the end_, 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.”
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+SPEECH ON INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.
+
+(_In Committee of the Whole House, June 20, 1848._)
+
+Mr. Lincoln said:
+
+ “MR. CHAIRMAN:--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.”
+
+ 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.”
+
+ 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:
+
+ “‘That the Constitution does not confer upon the General Government
+ the power to commence and carry on a general system of internal
+ improvements.’
+
+ “General Cass, in his letter accepting the nomination, holds this
+ language:
+
+ “‘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.’
+
+ “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 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 _general_ 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.
+
+ “Those general positions are: That internal improvements ought not
+ to be made by the General Government:
+
+ “1. Because they would overwhelm the treasury;
+
+ “2. Because, while their _burdens_ would be general, their
+ _benefits_ would be _local_ and _partial_, involving an obnoxious
+ inequality;
+
+ “3. Because they would be unconstitutional;
+
+ “4. Because the States may do enough by the levy and collection of
+ tonnage duties; or, if not,
+
+ “5. That the Constitution may be amended.
+
+ “‘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.
+
+ “The first position is, that a system of internal improvement would
+ overwhelm the treasury.
+
+ “That, in such a system, there is a _tendency_ to undue expansion,
+ is not to be denied. Such tendency is founded in the nature of the
+ subject. A member of Congress will prefer 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 _applied for_, 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 _granted_? 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.’
+
+ “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 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 _did_ keep within reasonable limits; and
+ what _has_ been done it seems to me, _can_ be done again.
+
+ “Now for the second position of the message, namely, that the
+ burdens of improvements would be _general_, while their _benefits_
+ would be _local_ and _partial_, 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 _general_, as not to be of some peculiar _local_
+ advantage; but on the other hand, nothing is so _local_ 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
+ 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 _local_
+ as not to be of some _general_ 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 _dearer_, and the people of Buffalo sweetened their
+ coffee a little _cheaper_ than before; a benefit resulting _from_
+ the canal, not to Illinois, where the canal _is_, but to Louisiana
+ and New York, where the canal is _not_. 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 _benefits_ of an improvement are by no
+ means confined to the particular locality of the improvement itself.
+
+ “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 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
+ _coal_ is clearly worth more than the _abstractions_, and yet what
+ a monstrous inequality in the prices! Does the President, for this
+ reason, propose to abolish the Presidency? He _does_ not, and he
+ _ought_ not. The true rule, in determining to embrace or reject any
+ thing, is not whether it have _any_ evil in it, but whether it have
+ more of evil than of good. There are few things _wholly_ evil or
+ _wholly_ 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, upon this question? Why,
+ as to improvements, magnify the _evil_, and stoutly refuse to see
+ any good in them?
+
+ “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:
+
+ “‘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.’
+
+ “I introduce this, not to controvert, just now, the Constitutional
+ opinion, but to show, that on the question of _expediency_, 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:
+
+ “‘Bears wide and kicks the owner over.’
+
+ “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 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 _for_, and the executive _against_, 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:
+
+ “‘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.’
+
+ “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 _against_ the power; but it is insisted that
+ quite as many, as great, and as good, have been _for_ 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 _vastly_
+ 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 _truth_ 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?
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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 _sufficient_,
+ 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, _upon the tonnage
+ coming into that harbor_. To do otherwise--to collect money in
+ _one_ harbor to be expended in improvements in _another_--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.
+
+ “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 _expedient_ but not Constitutional, it would be
+ natural enough for him to recommend such an amendment; but hear
+ what he says in this very message:
+
+ “‘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.’
+
+ “For what, then, would _he_ have the Constitution amended? With
+ _him_ it is a proposition to remove _one_ impediment, merely to
+ be met by _others_, 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.”
+
+ [Here Mr. Meade, of Virginia, inquired if Mr. L. understood the
+ President to be opposed, on grounds of expediency, to any and every
+ improvement?]
+
+ To which Mr. Lincoln answered: “In the very part of his 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.
+
+ “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 _they_ did?
+
+ “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
+ _not_ 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 _sufficient_, or they
+ are _not_. If sufficient, they are sufficient _out_ of Congress
+ as well as _in_ 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.
+
+ ‘Attempt the end, and never stand to doubt;
+ Nothing so hard, but search will find it out.’
+
+ “Determine that the thing can and shall be done, and then we shall
+ find the way. The tendency to undue expansion is unquestionably
+ the chief difficulty. How to do _something_, and still not to do
+ _too much_, 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 _how
+ much_ money can, for that year, be spared for improvements; then
+ apportion that sum to the most _important_ objects. So far all is
+ easy; but how shall we determine which _are_ the most important?
+ On this question comes the collision of interests. _I_ shall be
+ slow to acknowledge that _your_ harbor or _your_ river is more
+ important than _mine_, and _vice versa_. 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
+ _facts_--a basis in nowise subject to whim, caprice, or local
+ interest. The pre-limited amount of means will save us from doing
+ _too much_, and the statistics will save us from doing what we do
+ in _wrong places_. Adopt and adhere to this course, and, it seems
+ to me, the difficulty is cleared.
+
+ “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 _consumed_ where they are _produced_, need no roads and rivers,
+ no means of transportation, and have no very proper connection with
+ this subject. The _surplus_, that which is produced in _one_ place
+ to be consumed in _another_; the capacity of each locality for
+ producing a _greater_ 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.”
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+SPEECH ON THE PRESIDENCY AND GENERAL POLITICS.
+
+(_Delivered in the House, July 27, 1848._)
+
+GENERAL TAYLOR AND THE VETO POWER.
+
+ “Mr. SPEAKER:--Our Democratic friends seem to be in great distress
+ because they think our candidate for the Presidency don’t suit
+ _us_. Most of them can not find out that General Taylor has any
+ principles at all; some, however, have discovered that he has
+ _one_, 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 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 _doubtful_
+ 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 _he_ has _doubts_ 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:
+
+ “‘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 misled by error, ambition, or interest,
+ that the Constitution has placed a check in the negative of the
+ President.’
+
+ “General Taylor’s opinion, as expressed in his Allison letter, is
+ as I now read:
+
+ “‘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.
+
+ “It is here seen that, in Mr. Jefferson’s opinion, if, on the
+ Constitutionality of any given bill, the President _doubts_, 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.
+
+ “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 _do_
+ 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 knows any thing which I do not, he can show it.
+ But to return: General Taylor, in his Allison letter says:
+
+ “‘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.’
+
+ “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, ‘_Your_ will, gentlemen, not _mine_.’
+ ‘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 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. 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.
+
+ “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 _believe_, Gen. Taylor, if elected, would not veto
+ the proviso; but I do not _know_ 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, _should_
+ 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?
+
+ “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, 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 _general_ objects, those he
+ is _for_, must be _particular_ and _local_. Now, this is taking the
+ subject precisely by the wrong end. _Particularity_--expending the
+ money of the _whole_ people for an object which will benefit only a
+ _portion_ 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.
+
+ “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 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 _as_ 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.
+
+ “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 _American_ 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 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
+ _availability_--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.’
+
+ “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.”
+
+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 in the Black Hawk war, as already
+quoted. He then said:
+
+ “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:
+
+ “‘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.’
+
+ “To this Gen. Cass is reported to have replied as follows, to wit:
+
+ “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.’
+
+ “In the ‘remarks above committed to writing,’ is one numbered 4, as
+ follows, to wit:
+
+ “‘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 exercise its own discretion,
+ entirely uncontrolled by any declaration found in the statute book.’
+
+ “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:
+
+ “‘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.
+
+ “‘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,
+
+ “‘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.’
+
+ “These extracts show that, in 1846, General Cass was for the
+ Proviso _at once_; that, in March, 1847, he was still for it,
+ _but not just then_; and that in December, 1847, he was _against_
+ 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,’ ‘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.’
+
+ “Have no fears, gentlemen, of your candidate; he exactly suits you,
+ and we congratulate you upon it. However much you may be distressed
+ about _our_ 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 _you_ till you first
+ desert _him_.”
+
+After referring at some length to extra “charges” of General Cass upon
+the Treasury, Mr. Lincoln continued:--
+
+ “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 _time_, but
+ that he often did it, at several _places_ many hundred miles apart,
+ _at the same time_. 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 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.
+
+ “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 _you_ may appear a perfectly amiable, peaceful,
+ unprovoking procedure; but it does not appear so to _us_. 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 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.
+
+ “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 _that_
+ 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.
+
+ “But the distinction between the cause of the _President_ in
+ beginning the war, and the cause of the _country_ after it was
+ begun, is a distinction which you can not perceive. To _you_, 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 _possibly_ 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 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.
+
+ “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
+ _our_ account.”
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+SPEECH IN REPLY TO MR. DOUGLAS, ON KANSAS, THE DRED SCOTT DECISION, AND
+THE UTAH QUESTION.
+
+(_Delivered at Springfield, Ill., June 26, 1857._)
+
+ “FELLOW-CITIZENS:--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.
+
+ “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 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.’
+
+ “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.’
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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
+ 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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?
+
+ “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.’
+
+ “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 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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:
+
+ “‘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 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.’
+
+ “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:
+
+ “‘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.’
+
+ “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:
+
+ “‘If the opinion of the Supreme Court covered the whole 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.’
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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 particularity as to leave no doubt of
+ its truth; and as a sort of conclusion on that point, holds the
+ following language:
+
+ “‘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.’
+
+ “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.’
+
+ “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 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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 ALL 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 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “I think the authors of that notable instrument intended to include
+ _all_ men, but they did not intend to declare all men equal _in all
+ respects_. 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 _right_, so that the _enforcement_ of it might follow
+ as fast as circumstances should permit.”
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+SPEECH IN REPLY TO SENATOR DOUGLAS.
+
+(_At Chicago, on the evening of July 10, 1858._)
+
+ “MY FELLOW-CITIZENS: 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.
+
+ “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.]
+
+ “‘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 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.’
+
+ “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!
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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
+ _alliance_. 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 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 _am_ for putting
+ him where he will trouble us no more.’
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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--_Squatter Sovereignty_. 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 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.’
+
+ “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--_put_ 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 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.’]
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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 him; I should like to know who he was. [Same voice,
+ ‘John Calhoun.’]
+
+ “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”?
+
+After referring, in appropriate terms, to the credit claimed by Douglas
+for defeating the Lecompton policy, Mr. Lincoln proceeds:
+
+ “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 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.’
+
+ “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 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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 _believe_--and that is what I meant to allude to there--I
+ _believe_ 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 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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....
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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 _after_ 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 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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
+ _astonisher_ 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? 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?’ * * *
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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
+ 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.
+
+ “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
+ 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.”
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+OPENING PASSAGES OF HIS SPEECH AT FREEPORT.
+
+ “LADIES AND GENTLEMEN:--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 _refused_ 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “Having said thus much, I will take up the judge’s interrogatories
+ as I find them printed in the Chicago _Times_, and answer them
+ _seriatim_. 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:
+
+ 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?’
+
+ Answer. “I do not now, nor ever did, stand in favor of the
+ unconditional repeal of the Fugitive Slave law.
+
+ 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?’
+
+ A. “I do not now, nor ever did, stand pledged against the admission
+ of any more slave States into the Union.
+
+ 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?’
+
+ 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.
+
+ Q. 4. “‘I want to know whether he stands to-day pledged to the
+ abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia?’
+
+ A. “I do not stand to-day pledged to the abolition of slavery in
+ the District of Columbia.
+
+ Q. 5. “‘I desire him to answer whether he stands pledged to the
+ prohibition of the slave-trade between the different States?’
+
+ A. “I do not stand pledged to the prohibition of the slave-trade
+ between the different States.
+
+ 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?’
+
+ A. “I am impliedly, if not expressly, pledged to a belief in the
+ _right_ and _duty_ of Congress to prohibit slavery in all the
+ United States Territories.
+
+ Q. 7. “‘I desire him to answer whether he is opposed to the
+ acquisition of any new territory unless slavery is first prohibited
+ therein?’
+
+ 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.
+
+ “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 _pledged_ 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 _pledged_ 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “In regard to the other question, of whether I am pledged to the
+ admission of any more Slave States into the Union, I 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.
+
+ “The third interrogatory is answered by the answer to the second,
+ it being, as I conceive, the same as the second.
+
+ “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
+ _endeavoring_ to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia,
+ unless it would be upon these conditions: _First_, that the
+ abolition should be gradual; _second_, that it should be on a vote
+ of the majority of qualified voters in the District; and _third_,
+ 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.’
+
+ “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
+ _pledged_ to nothing about it. It is a subject to which I have not
+ given that mature consideration that would make me feel 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.”
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+LETTER TO GENERAL McCLELLAN.
+
+ “WASHINGTON, April 9, 1862.
+
+ “MY DEAR SIR: Your dispatches, complaining that you are not
+ properly sustained, while they do not offend me, do pain me very
+ much.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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,
+ _via_ 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.
+
+ “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 _en route_ to
+ you. You say you will have but eighty-five thousand when all _en
+ route_ to you shall have reached you. How can the discrepancy of
+ twenty-three thousand be accounted for?
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “Yours, very truly,
+ A. LINCOLN.
+
+ “Maj.-Gen. MCCLELLAN.”
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+LETTER TO GEN. SCHOFIELD RELATIVE TO THE REMOVAL OF GEN. CURTIS.
+
+ “_Executive Mansion_, Washington, May 27, 1863.
+
+ “Gen. J. M. SCHOFIELD--_Dear Sir_: 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 _role_, 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.
+
+ “Yours, truly, A. LINCOLN.”
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND MEN CALLED FOR.
+
+ “WHEREAS, The term of service of part of the volunteer forces
+ of the United States will expire during the coming year; and
+ _whereas_, 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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 be conducted in
+ accordance with such instructions as have been or may be issued by
+ that department.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal
+ of the United States to be affixed.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+ “WM. H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.”
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+REV. DR. M’PHEETERS--THE PRESIDENT’S REPLY TO AN APPEAL FOR
+INTERFERENCE.
+
+ “_Executive Mansion_, Washington, December 23, 1863.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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 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?’
+
+ “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
+ _release_! 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.’
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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, that, too,
+ will be declined. I will not have control of any church on any side.”
+
+ “A. LINCOLN.”
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+AN ELECTION ORDERED IN THE STATE OF ARKANSAS.
+
+ “_Executive Mansion_, Washington, January 20, 1864.
+
+ “MAJ. GEN. STEELE: 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 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.
+
+ “You will please order an election to take place on the 28th of
+ March, 1864, and returns to be made in fifteen days thereafter.
+
+ “A. LINCOLN.”
+
+Later, the President wrote the following letter:
+
+ “WILLIAM FISHBACK, ESQ.: 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.
+
+ “A. LINCOLN.”
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+CALL FOR FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND MEN.
+
+ “WHEREAS, 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 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.’
+
+ “AND WHEREAS, 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and 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.
+
+ “By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+ “WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.”
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+LETTER TO MRS. GURNEY.
+
+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.
+
+ “MY ESTEEMED FRIEND: 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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “Your sincere friend,
+ “A. LINCOLN.”
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+THE TENNESSEE TEST OATH.
+
+ “_Executive Mansion_, Washington, D. C.,
+ Saturday, October 22, 1864
+
+ “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.
+
+“GENTLEMEN: 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 ANDREW JOHNSON,
+Military Governor of Tennessee, and also a manuscript paper purporting
+to be extracts from the code of Tennessee, were laid before me.”
+
+[The protest is here recited, and also the proclamation of GOV.
+JOHNSON, 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 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.]
+
+ “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.
+
+ “Up to the present moment, nothing whatever upon the subject has
+ passed between GOV. JOHNSON, or any one else connected with the
+ proclamation and myself.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “My conclusion is, that I can have nothing to do with the matter,
+ either to sustain the plan as the Convention and GOV. JOHNSON 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.
+
+ “The movement set a-foot by the Convention and GOV. JOHNSON does
+ not, as seems to be assumed by you, emanate from the National
+ Executive.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “I do not perceive in the plan any menace, or violence, or coercion
+ toward any one.
+
+ “GOV. JOHNSON, 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.
+
+ “I cannot discern that by his plan he purposes any more--but you
+ object to the plan.
+
+ “Leaving it alone will be your perfect security against it. It is
+ not proposed to force you into it.
+
+ “Do as you please on your own account peaceably and loyally, and
+ GOV. JOHNSON will not molest you, but will protect you against
+ violence so far as in his power.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “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.
+
+ “Except it be to give protection against violence, I decline to
+ interfere in any way with any Presidential election.
+
+ “ABRAHAM LINCOLN.”
+
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber’s Notes:
+
+
+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.
+
+Punctuation and spelling were made consistent when a predominant
+preference was found in this book; otherwise they were not changed.
+
+Simple typographical errors were corrected.
+
+Unbalanced and mismatched single- and double-quotation marks remedied
+only when the correction was unambiguous.
+
+Ambiguous hyphens at the ends of lines were retained. Inconsistent
+hyphenation retained unless there was a predominant preference for one
+form.
+
+Text mostly uses “any thing” but sometimes uses “anything”.
+
+Text uses both “Chancelor” and “Chancellor”.
+
+Page 44: “the tenth commandment” probably should be “amendment”.
+
+Page 56: “rule of political action.” should end with a question mark,
+not with a period.
+
+Page 195 does not have a “Second” order.
+
+Page 244: “acknowledgment” in “as a grateful acknowledgment” was
+misprinted. It was spelled correctly in Lincoln’s original handwritten
+letter and that spelling is used here.
+
+Page 376: “reportively replied” was incompletely printed with empty
+space before “portively”. Transcriber added “re” as it seemed to be the
+best fit.
+
+Page 386: “homely often” was incompletely printed with empty space
+before “omely”. Transcriber added “h” as it seemed to be the best fit.
+
+Page 409: “_wholly_ 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”.
+
+Page 413: “[Here Mr. Meade ... every improvement?]” was missing a
+closing square bracket. Added by Transcriber based on context.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Life of Abraham Lincoln, by Frank Crosby
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN ***
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Life of Abraham Lincoln, by Frank Crosby
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Life of Abraham Lincoln
+ Sixteenth President of the United States
+
+Author: Frank Crosby
+
+Release Date: November 12, 2013 [EBook #44166]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Mark C. Orton, Charlie Howard, and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
+file was produced from images generously made available
+by The Internet Archive)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ "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."
+
+ _From Mr. Lincoln's Speech at Independence Hall, Philadelphia,
+ February 21, 1861._
+
+ "I believe this Government cannot endure permanently half slave and
+ half free."
+
+ _Springfield, Illinois, June, 1858._
+
+ "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."
+
+ _Trenton, New Jersey, February 21, 1861._
+
+ "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."
+
+ _Message, July 5, 1861._
+
+ "In giving freedom to the slaves, we assure freedom to the free;
+ honorable alike in what we give and what we preserve."
+
+ _Message, December 1, 1862._
+
+ "I hope peace will come soon, and come to stay; and so come as to
+ be worth the keeping in all future time."
+
+ _Springfield Letter, August 26, 1863._
+
+ "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."
+
+ _Speech at Gettysburg, November 19, 1863._
+
+ "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."
+
+ _Amnesty Proclamation, December 8, 1863._
+
+ "I claim not to have controlled events, but confess plainly that
+ events have controlled me."
+
+ _Letter to A. G. Hodges, April 4, 1864._
+
+ "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."
+
+ _Last Inaugural, March 4, 1865._
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+ LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN,
+
+ SIXTEENTH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
+
+
+ CONTAINING
+
+ HIS EARLY HISTORY AND POLITICAL CAREER; TOGETHER
+ WITH THE SPEECHES, MESSAGES, PROCLAMATIONS AND
+ OTHER OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS ILLUSTRATIVE OF
+ HIS EVENTFUL ADMINISTRATION.
+
+
+ BY FRANK CROSBY,
+ MEMBER OF THE PHILADELPHIA BAR.
+
+
+ "LET ALL THE ENDS THOU AIM'ST AT BE THY COUNTRY'S,
+ THY GOD'S AND TRUTH'S; THEN IF THOU FALL'ST
+ THOU FALL'ST A BLESSED MARTYR."
+
+
+ NEW YORK
+ INTERNATIONAL BOOK COMPANY
+ 310-318 SIXTH AVENUE
+
+
+
+
+ DEDICATED
+
+ TO THE GOOD AND TRUE
+
+ OF THE NATION
+
+ REDEEMED--REGENERATED--DISENTHRALLED.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+ F. C.
+
+ _Philadelphia, June, 1865._
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+ CHAPTER I.
+
+ BOYHOOD AND EARLY MANHOOD.
+
+ 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 13
+
+
+ CHAPTER II.
+
+ IN CONGRESS AND ON THE STUMP.
+
+ 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 19
+
+
+ CHAPTER III.
+
+ BEFORE THE NATION.
+
+ Speeches in Ohio--Extract from the Cincinnati Speech--Visits
+ the East--Celebrated Speech at the Cooper Institute, New
+ York--Interesting Incident 34
+
+
+ CHAPTER IV.
+
+ NOMINATED AND ELECTED PRESIDENT.
+
+ 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 60
+
+
+ CHAPTER V.
+
+ TO WASHINGTON.
+
+ 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 67
+
+
+ CHAPTER VI.
+
+ THE NEW ADMINISTRATION.
+
+ 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 90
+
+
+ CHAPTER VII.
+
+ PREPARING FOR WAR.
+
+ 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 108
+
+
+ CHAPTER VIII.
+
+ THE FIRST SESSION OF CONGRESS.
+
+ Opening of Congress--President's First Message--Its Nature--
+ Action of Congress--Resolution Declaring the Object of the
+ War--Bull Run--Its Effect 117
+
+
+ CHAPTER IX.
+
+ CLOSE OF 1861.
+
+ 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 137
+
+
+ CHAPTER X.
+
+ THE CONGRESS OF 1861-62.
+
+ 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 148
+
+
+ CHAPTER XI.
+
+ THE SLAVERY QUESTION.
+
+ 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 171
+
+
+ CHAPTER XII.
+
+ THE PENINSULAR CAMPAIGN.
+
+ 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 181
+
+
+ CHAPTER XIII.
+
+ FREEDOM TO MILLIONS.
+
+ Tribune Editorial--Letter to Mr. Greeley--Announcement of the
+ Emancipation Proclamation--Suspension of the _Habeas Corpus_
+ in certain Cases--Order for Observance of the Sabbath--The
+ Emancipation Proclamation 190
+
+
+ CHAPTER XIV.
+
+ LAST SESSION OF THE THIRTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS.
+
+ Situation of the Country--Opposition to the Administration--
+ President's Message 199
+
+
+ CHAPTER XV.
+
+ THE TIDE TURNED.
+
+ 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 226
+
+
+ CHAPTER XVI.
+
+ LETTERS AND SPEECHES.
+
+ Speech at Washington--Letter to Gen. Grant--Thanksgiving
+ Proclamation--Letter Concerning the Emancipation Proclamation--
+ Proclamation for Annual Thanksgiving--Dedicatory Speech at
+ Gettysburg 242
+
+
+ CHAPTER XVII.
+
+ THE THIRTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS.
+
+ Organization of the House--Different Opinions as to
+ Reconstruction--Provisions for Pardon of Rebels--President's
+ Proclamation of Pardon--Annual Message--Explanatory
+ Proclamation 263
+
+
+ CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+ PROGRESS.
+
+ 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 275
+
+
+ CHAPTER XIX.
+
+ RENOMINATED.
+
+ 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 285
+
+
+ CHAPTER XX.
+
+ RECONSTRUCTION.
+
+ 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 298
+
+
+ CHAPTER XXI.
+
+ PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN OF 1864.
+
+ 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 314
+
+
+ CHAPTER XXII.
+
+ RE-ELECTED
+
+ 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 325
+
+
+ CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+ TIGHTENING THE LINES.
+
+ 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 350
+
+
+ CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+ IN RICHMOND.
+
+ 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 362
+
+
+ CHAPTER XXV.
+
+ THE LAST ACT.
+
+ 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 374
+
+
+ CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+ THE MAN.
+
+ 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 382
+
+
+ APPENDIX.
+
+ Mr. Lincoln's Speeches in Congress and Elsewhere, Proclamations,
+ Letters, etc., not included in the Body of the Work.
+
+ Speech on the Mexican War, (In Congress, Jan. 12, 1848) 391
+
+ Speech on Internal Improvements, (In Congress, June 20, 1848)
+ 403
+
+ Speech on the Presidency and General Politics, (In Congress,
+ July 27, 1848) 417
+
+ Speech in Reply to Mr. Douglas, on Kansas, the Dred Scott
+ Decision, and the Utah Question, (At Springfield, June 26,
+ 1857) 431
+
+ Speech in Reply to Senator Douglas, (At Chicago, July 10, 1858) 442
+
+ Opening Passages of his Speech at Freeport 459
+
+ Letter to Gen. McClellan 464
+
+ Letter to Gen. Schofield Relative to the Removal of Gen. Curtis 466
+
+ Three Hundred Thousand Men Called For 466
+
+ Rev. Dr. McPheeters--President's Reply to an Appeal for
+ Interference 468
+
+ An Election Ordered in the State of Arkansas 470
+
+ Letter to William Fishback on the Election in Arkansas 471
+
+ Call for Five Hundred Thousand Men 471
+
+ Letter to Mrs. Gurney 473
+
+ The Tennessee Test Oath 474
+
+
+
+
+LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+BOYHOOD AND EARLY MANHOOD.
+
+ 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.
+
+
+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."
+
+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 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.
+
+Of this class, pre-eminently, was the statesman whose life and public
+services the following pages are to exhibit.
+
+ABRAHAM LINCOLN, 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.
+
+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.
+
+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 among a race of giants. Morally, he
+was proverbially honest, conscientious, and upright.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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:
+
+"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, 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.
+
+"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."
+
+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.
+
+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, 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.
+
+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:--
+
+"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.
+
+"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.
+
+"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.
+
+"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."
+
+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; while his acknowledged goodness of heart had knit many to
+him, who, upon purely political grounds, would have held themselves
+aloof.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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, 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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+IN CONGRESS AND ON THE STUMP.
+
+ 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.
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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."
+
+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.
+
+Having declined to be a candidate for re-election, he retired 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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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 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:
+
+ "GENTLEMEN OF THE CONVENTION:--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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "This necessity had not been overlooked, but had been
+ provided for, as well as might be, in the notable argument of
+ '_squatter sovereignty_,' otherwise called '_sacred right of
+ self-government_,' 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.'
+
+ "Then opened the roar of loose declamation in favor of 'squatter
+ sovereignty,' and 'sacred right of self-government.'
+
+ "'But,' said opposition members, 'let us be more specific--let us
+ _amend_ the bill so as to expressly declare that the people of the
+ territory _may_ exclude slavery.' 'Not we,' said the friends of the
+ measure; and down they voted the amendment.
+
+ "While the Nebraska Bill was passing through Congress, a law case,
+ involving the question of a negro's freedom, by 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.
+
+ "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 _after_ the election.
+ Still, _before_ the election, Senator Trumbull, on the floor of the
+ Senate, requests the leading advocate of the Nebraska Bill to state
+ _his opinion_ 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.'
+
+ "The election came. Mr. Buchanan was elected, and the
+ _indorsement_, such as it was, secured. That was the _second_ 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.
+
+ "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, _whatever it might be_. Then, in a few days
+ came the decision.
+
+ "This was the third point gained.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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:
+
+ "First, That no negro slave, imported as such from Africa, and no
+ descendant of such, can ever be a citizen of any State in the
+ sense of that term as used in the Constitution of the United States.
+
+ "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.'
+
+ "Secondly, that 'subject to the Constitution of the United States,'
+ neither Congress nor a Territorial Legislature can exclude slavery
+ from any United States Territory.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "This shows exactly where we now are, and partially also, whither
+ we are tending.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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
+ "_perfectly free_" argument upon which the election was to be
+ carried.
+
+ "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?
+
+ "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, 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.
+
+ "It should not be overlooked that, by the Nebraska bill, the people
+ of a State as well as Territory, were to be left '_perfectly
+ free_,' '_subject only to the Constitution_.' 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?
+
+ "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. _Possibly_, this was a mere
+ _omission_; 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.
+
+ "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 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.'
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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?
+
+ "There are those who denounce us openly to their own friends, and
+ yet whisper softly, that Senator Douglas is the _aptest_ 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 head of the dynasty; and that he has
+ regularly voted with us, on a single point, upon which he and we
+ have never differed.
+
+ "They remind us that _he_ is a very _great man_, and that the
+ largest of us are very small ones. Let this be granted. But 'a
+ _living dog_ is better than a _dead lion_.' Judge Douglas, if not
+ a _dead_ lion for this work, is at least a _caged_ and _toothless_
+ 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.
+
+ "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 _really_ think so? But
+ if it is, how can he resist it? For years he has labored to prove
+ it a _sacred right_ 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.
+
+ "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
+ _protection_ to the home production? And as the home _producers_
+ will probably not ask the protection, he will be wholly without a
+ ground of opposition.
+
+ "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?
+
+ "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, _if ever_, he and we can come together on
+ _principle_, so that our great cause may have assistance from his
+ great ability, I hope to have interposed no adventitious obstacle.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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?--_now_--when
+ that same enemy is wavering, dissevered and belligerent?
+
+ "The result is not doubtful. We shall not fail--if we stand firm,
+ we shall not fail. _Wise counsels_ may _accelerate_ or _mistakes
+ delay_ it, but, sooner or later, the victory is _sure_ to come."
+
+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.
+
+In one of his speeches during this memorable campaign, Mr. Lincoln paid
+the following tribute to the Declaration of Independence:--
+
+ "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.
+
+ "Now, my countrymen, if you have been taught doctrines conflicting
+ with the great landmarks of the Declaration of 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.
+
+ "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 _do claim_ 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. _But do not destroy that immortal emblem of humanity--the
+ Declaration of American Independence._"
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+BEFORE THE NATION.
+
+ Speeches in Ohio--Extract from his Cincinnati Speech--Visits
+ the East--Celebrated Speech at the Cooper Institute, New York--
+ Interesting Incident.
+
+
+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.
+
+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:
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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 likely be a drawn battle; but being
+ inferior in numbers, you will make nothing by attempting to master
+ us.
+
+ "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.
+ THE PEOPLE OF THESE UNITED STATES ARE THE RIGHTFUL MASTERS OF BOTH
+ CONGRESSES AND COURTS, not to overthrow the Constitution, but to
+ overthrow the men who pervert that Constitution."
+
+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.
+
+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:
+
+ "MR. PRESIDENT AND FELLOW CITIZENS OF NEW YORK:--The facts with
+ which I shall deal this evening are mainly old and familiar; nor
+ is there any thing new in the general use I shall make of them. If
+ there shall be any novelty, it will be in the mode of presenting
+ the facts, and the inferences and observations following that
+ presentation.
+
+ "In his speech last autumn, at Columbus, Ohio, as reported in _The
+ New York Times_, Senator Douglas said:
+
+ "'Our fathers, when they framed the Government under which we live,
+ understood this question just as well, and even better than we do
+ now.'
+
+ "I fully indorse this and I adopt it as a text for this discourse.
+ I so adopt it because it furnishes a precise and 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?'
+
+ "What is the frame of Government under which we live?
+
+ "The answer must be: 'The Constitution of the United States.' That
+ Constitution consists of the original, framed in 1787 (and under
+ which the present Government first went into operation), and twelve
+ subsequently framed amendments, the first ten of which were framed
+ in 1789.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "I take these 'thirty-nine,' for the present, as being 'our fathers
+ who framed the Government under which we live.'
+
+ "What is the question which, according to the text, those fathers
+ understood just as well, and even better than we do now?
+
+ "It is this: Does the proper division of local from federal
+ authority, or any thing in the Constitution, forbid our Federal
+ Government control as to slavery in our Federal Territories?
+
+ "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.
+
+ "Let us now inquire whether the 'thirty-nine,' or any of them, ever
+ acted upon this question; and if they did, how they acted upon
+ it--how they expressed that better understanding.
+
+ "In 1784--three years before the Constitution--the United States
+ then owning the Northwestern Territory, and no other--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.
+
+ "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, being part of
+ what is now well known as the Ordinance of '87.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "In 1803, the Federal Government purchased the Louisiana country.
+ Our former territorial acquisitions came from certain of our own
+ States; but this Louisiana country was acquired from a foreign
+ nation. In 1804, Congress gave a territorial organization to that
+ part of it which now constitutes the State of Louisiana. New
+ Orleans, lying within that part, was an old and comparatively
+ large city. There were other considerable towns and settlements,
+ and slavery was extensively and thoroughly intermingled with
+ the people. Congress did not, in the Territorial Act, prohibit
+ slavery; but they did interfere with it--take control of it--in
+ a more marked and extensive way than they did in the case of
+ Mississippi. The substance of the provision therein made, in
+ relation to slaves, was:
+
+ "_First._ That no slave should be imported into the territory from
+ foreign parts.
+
+ "_Second._ That no slave should be carried into it who had been
+ imported into the United States since the first day of May, 1798.
+
+ "_Third._ That no slave should be carried into it, except by the
+ owner, and for his own use as a settler; the penalty in all the
+ cases being a fine upon the violator of the law, and freedom to the
+ slave.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "The cases I have mentioned are the only acts of the 'thirty-nine,'
+ or of any of them, upon the direct issue, which I have been able to
+ discover.
+
+ "To enumerate the persons who thus acted, as being four in 1784,
+ 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "Two of the twenty-three voted against Congressional prohibition of
+ slavery in the Federal Territories, in the instances in which they
+ acted upon the question. But for what reasons they so voted is not
+ known. They may have done so because they thought a proper division
+ of local from Federal authority, or some provision or principle of
+ the Constitution, stood in the way; or they may, without any such
+ question, have voted against the prohibition, on what appeared to
+ them to be sufficient grounds of expediency. No one who has sworn
+ to support the Constitution, can conscientiously vote for what he
+ understands to be an unconstitutional measure, however expedient
+ he may think it; but one may and ought to vote against a measure
+ which he deems constitutional, if, at the same time, he deems it
+ inexpedient. It, therefore, would be unsafe to set down even the
+ two who voted against the prohibition, as having done so because,
+ in their understanding, any proper division of local from Federal
+ authority, or any thing in the Constitution, forbade the Federal
+ Government to control as to slavery in Federal Territory.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "For the purpose of adhering rigidly to the text, I have purposely
+ omitted whatever understanding may have been manifested, by any
+ person, however distinguished, other than the 'thirty-nine' fathers
+ who framed the original Constitution; and, for the same reason, I
+ have also omitted whatever understanding may have been manifested
+ by any of the 'thirty-nine' even, on any other phase of the
+ general question of slavery. If we should look into their acts and
+ declarations on those other phases, as the foreign slave-trade,
+ and the morality and policy of slavery generally, it would appear
+ to us that on the direct question of Federal control of slavery
+ in Federal Territories, the sixteen, if they had acted at all,
+ would probably have acted just as the twenty-three did. Among
+ that sixteen were several of the most noted anti-slavery men of
+ those times--as Dr. Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, and Governeur
+ Morris--while there was not one now known to have been otherwise,
+ unless it may be John Rutledge, of South Carolina.
+
+ "The sum of the whole is, that of our 'thirty-nine' fathers who
+ framed the original Constitution, twenty-one--a clear majority
+ of the whole--certainly understood that no proper division of
+ local from Federal authority nor any part of the Constitution,
+ forbade the Federal Government to control slavery in the
+ Federal Territories, while all the rest probably had the same
+ understanding. Such, unquestionably, was the understanding of our
+ fathers who framed the original Constitution; and the text affirms
+ that they understood the question better than we.
+
+ "But, so far, I have been considering the understanding of the
+ question manifested by the framers of the original Constitution. In
+ and by the original instrument, a mode was provided for amending
+ it; and, as I have already stated, the present frame of 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.'
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 a step further. I defy any one to show that any living man in
+ the whole world ever did, prior to the beginning of the present
+ century (and I might almost say prior to the beginning of the last
+ half of the present century), declare that, in his understanding,
+ any proper division of local from Federal authority, or any part of
+ the Constitution, forbade the Federal government to control as to
+ slavery in the Federal territories. To those who now so declare, I
+ give, not only 'our fathers who framed the government under which
+ we live,' but with them all other living men within the century in
+ which it was framed, among whom to search, and they shall not be
+ able to find the evidence of a single man agreeing with them.
+
+ "Now, and here, let me guard a little against being misunderstood.
+ I do not mean to say we are bound to follow implicitly in whatever
+ our fathers did. To do so would be to discard all the lights of
+ current experience--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.
+
+ "If any man, at this day, sincerely believes that a proper division
+ of local from Federal authority, or any part of the Constitution,
+ forbids the Federal government to control as to slavery in the
+ Federal territories, he is right to say so, and to enforce his
+ position by all truthful evidence and fair argument which he can.
+ But he has no right to mislead others, who have less access to
+ history and less leisure to study it, into the false belief that
+ 'our fathers, who framed the government under which we live,' were
+ of the same opinion, thus substituting falsehood and deception for
+ truthful evidence and fair argument. If any man, at this day,
+ sincerely believes 'our fathers, who framed the government under
+ which we live,' used and applied principles, in other cases, which
+ ought to have led them to understand that a proper division of
+ local from Federal authority, or some part of the Constitution,
+ forbids the Federal government to control as to slavery in the
+ Federal territories, he is right to say so. But he should, at the
+ same time, brave the responsibility of declaring that, in his
+ opinion, he understands their principles better than they did
+ themselves; and especially should he not shirk that responsibility
+ by asserting that they 'understood the question just as well, and
+ even better than we do now.'
+
+ "But enough. Let all who believe that 'our fathers, who framed the
+ government under which we live,' understood this question just as
+ well, and even better than we do now,' speak as they spoke, and act
+ as they acted upon it. This is all Republicans ask, all Republicans
+ desire, in relation to slavery. As those fathers marked it, so
+ let it be again marked, as an evil not to be extended, but to be
+ tolerated and protected only because of and so far as its actual
+ presence among us makes that toleration and protection a necessity.
+ Let all the guaranties those fathers gave it, be, not grudgingly,
+ but fully and fairly maintained. For this Republicans contend, and
+ with this, so far as I know or believe, they will be content.
+
+ "And now, if they would listen--as I suppose they will not--I would
+ address a few words to the Southern people.
+
+ "I would say to them: You consider yourselves a reasonable and
+ a just people; and I consider that, in the general qualities of
+ reason and justice, you are not inferior to any other people.
+ Still, when you speak of us Republicans, you do so only to
+ denounce us as reptiles, or, at the best, as no better than
+ outlaws. You will grant a hearing to pirates or murderers, but
+ nothing like it to 'Black Republicans.' In all your contentions
+ with one another, each of you deems an unconditional condemnation
+ of 'Black Republicanism' as the first thing to be attended to.
+ Indeed, such condemnation of us seems to be an indispensable
+ prerequisite--license, so to speak--among you to be admitted or
+ permitted to speak at all.
+
+ "Now can you, or not, be prevailed upon to pause and to consider
+ whether this is quite just to us, or even to yourselves?
+
+ "Bring forward your charges and specifications, and then be patient
+ long enough to hear us deny or justify.
+
+ "You say we are sectional. We deny it. That makes an issue; and
+ the burden of proof is upon you. You produce your proof; and what
+ is it? Why, that our party has no existence in your section--gets
+ no votes in your section. The fact is substantially true; but
+ does it prove the issue? If it does, then, in case we should,
+ without change of principle, begin to get votes in your section,
+ we should thereby cease to be sectional. You cannot escape this
+ conclusion; and yet, are you willing to abide by it? If you are,
+ you will probably soon find that we have ceased to be sectional,
+ for we shall get votes in your section this very year. You will
+ then begin to discover, as the truth plainly is, that your proof
+ does not touch the issue. The fact that we get no votes in your
+ section is a fact of your making, and not of ours. And if there
+ be fault in that fact, that fault is primarily yours, and remains
+ so until you show that we repel you by some wrong principle or
+ practice. If we do repel you by any wrong principle or practice,
+ the fault is ours; but this brings 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 principle which
+ our fathers, who framed the government under which we live, thought
+ so clearly right as to adopt it, and indorse it again and again
+ upon their official oaths, is, in fact, so clearly wrong as to
+ demand your condemnation without a moment's consideration.
+
+ "Some of you delight to flaunt in our faces the warning against
+ sectional parties given by Washington in his Farewell Address.
+ Less than eight years before Washington gave that warning, he had,
+ as President of the United States, approved and signed an act of
+ Congress enforcing the prohibition of slavery in the Northwestern
+ Territory, which act embodied the policy of the government upon
+ that subject, up to and at the very moment he penned that warning;
+ and about one year after he penned it he wrote Lafayette that he
+ considered that prohibition a wise measure, expressing, in the same
+ connection, his hope that we should some time have a confederacy of
+ free States.
+
+ "Bearing this in mind, and seeing that sectionalism has since
+ arisen upon this same subject, is that warning a weapon in your
+ hands against us, or in our hands against you? Could Washington
+ himself speak, would he cast the blame of that sectionalism upon
+ us, who sustain his policy, or upon you, who repudiate it? We
+ respect that warning of Washington, and we commend it to you,
+ together with his example pointing to the right application of it.
+
+ "But you say you are conservative--eminently conservative--while
+ we are revolutionary, destructive, or something of the sort. What
+ is conservatism? Is it not adherence to the old and tried against
+ the new and untried? We stick to, contend for, the identical
+ old policy on the point in controversy which was adopted by our
+ fathers who framed the government under which we live; while
+ you, with one accord, reject, and scout, and spit upon that old
+ policy, and insist upon substituting something new. True, you
+ disagree among yourselves as to what that substitute shall be.
+ You 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "You charge that we stir up insurrections among your slaves. We
+ deny it. And what is your proof? Harper's Ferry! John Brown! John
+ Brown was no Republican; and you have failed to implicate a single
+ Republican in his Harper's Ferry enterprise. If any member of our
+ party is guilty in that matter, you know it, or you do not know
+ it. If you do know it, you are inexcusable 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "In the language of Mr. Jefferson, uttered many years ago, 'It is
+ still in our power to direct the process of emancipation, and
+ deportation, peaceably, and in such slow degrees, as that the evil
+ will wear off insensibly; and their places be, _pari passu_, filled
+ up by free white laborers. If, on the contrary, it is left to force
+ itself on, human nature must shudder at the prospect held up.'
+
+ "Mr. Jefferson did not mean to say, nor do I, that the power of
+ emancipation is in the Federal Government. He spoke of Virginia;
+ and, as to the power of emancipation, I speak of the slaveholding
+ States only.
+
+ "The Federal Government, however, as we insist, has the power of
+ restraining the extension of the institution--the power to insure
+ that a slave insurrection shall never occur on any American soil
+ which is now free from slavery.
+
+ "John Brown's effort was peculiar. It was not a slave insurrection.
+ It was an attempt by white men to get up a revolt among slaves, in
+ which the slaves refused to participate. In fact, it was so absurd
+ that the slaves, with all their ignorance, saw plainly enough it
+ could not succeed. That affair, in its philosophy, corresponds
+ with the many attempts, related in history, at the assassination
+ of kings and emperors. An enthusiast broods over the oppression
+ of a people till he fancies himself commissioned by Heaven to
+ liberate them. He ventures the attempt, which ends in little else
+ than 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.
+
+ "And how much would it avail you, if you could, by the use of
+ John Brown, Helper's book, and the like, break up the Republican
+ organization? Human action can be modified to some extent, but
+ human nature cannot be changed. There is a judgment and a feeling
+ against slavery in this nation, which cast at least a million and a
+ half of votes. You cannot destroy that judgment and feeling--that
+ sentiment--by breaking up the political organization which rallies
+ around it. You can scarcely scatter and disperse an army which has
+ been formed into order in the face of your heaviest fire; but if
+ you could, how much would you gain by forcing the sentiment which
+ created it out of the peaceful channel of the ballot-box, into some
+ other channel? What would that other channel probably be? Would the
+ number of John Browns be lessened or enlarged by the operation?
+
+ "But you will break up the Union rather than submit to a denial of
+ your Constitutional rights.
+
+ "That has a somewhat reckless sound; but it would be palliated,
+ if not fully justified, were we proposing by the mere force of
+ numbers, to deprive you of some right plainly written down in the
+ Constitution. But we are proposing no such thing.
+
+ "When you make these declarations, you have a specific and
+ well-understood allusion to an assumed Constitutional right of
+ yours, to take slaves into the federal territories, and hold them
+ there as property, but no such right is specifically written in
+ the Constitution. That instrument is literally silent about any
+ such right. We, on the contrary, deny that such a right has any
+ existence in the Constitution, even by implication.
+
+ "Your purpose, then, plainly stated, is, that you will destroy
+ the Government, unless you be allowed to construe and enforce the
+ Constitution as you please, on all points in dispute between you
+ and us. You will rule or ruin in all events.
+
+ "This, plainly stated, is your language 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.
+
+ "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.'
+
+ "An inspection of the Constitution will show that the right of
+ property in a slave is not distinctly and expressly affirmed in
+ it. Bear in mind the Judges do not pledge their judicial opinion
+ that such right is impliedly affirmed in the Constitution; but
+ they pledge their veracity that it is distinctly and expressly
+ affirmed there--'distinctly' that is, not mingled with anything
+ else--'expressly' that is, in words meaning just that, without the
+ aid of any inference, and susceptible of no other meaning.
+
+ "If they had only pledged their judicial opinion that such right
+ is affirmed in the instrument by implication, it would be open
+ to others to show that neither the word 'slave' nor 'slavery' is
+ to be found in the Constitution, nor the word 'property' even,
+ in any connection with language alluding to the things slave, or
+ slavery, and that wherever in that instrument the slave is alluded
+ to, he is called a 'person;' and wherever his master's legal right
+ in relation to him is alluded to, it is spoken of as 'service or
+ labor 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.
+
+ "To show all this is easy and certain.
+
+ "When this obvious mistake of the Judges shall be brought to their
+ notice, is it not reasonable to expect that they will withdraw the
+ mistaken statement, and reconsider the conclusion based upon it?
+
+ "And then it is to be remembered that 'our fathers, who framed
+ the Government under which we live'--the men who made the
+ Constitution--decided this same Constitutional question in our
+ favor, long ago--decided it without 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.
+
+ "Under all these circumstances, do you really feel yourselves
+ justified to break up this Government, unless such a court decision
+ as yours is shall be at once submitted to, as a conclusive and
+ final rule of political action.
+
+ "But you will not abide the election of a Republican President. In
+ that supposed event, you say, you will destroy the Union; and then,
+ you say, the great crime of having destroyed it will be upon us!
+
+ "That is cool. A highwayman holds a pistol to my ear, and mutters
+ through his teeth, 'stand and deliver, or I shall kill you, and
+ then you will be a murderer!'
+
+ "To be sure, what the robber demanded of me--my money--was my own;
+ and I had a clear right to keep it; but it was no more my own than
+ my vote is my own; and 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.
+
+ "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.
+ Judging by all they say and do, and by the subject and nature of
+ their controversy with us, let us determine, if we can, what will
+ satisfy them?
+
+ "Will they be satisfied if the Territories be unconditionally
+ surrendered to them? We know they will not. In all their present
+ complaints against us, the Territories are scarcely mentioned.
+ Invasions and insurrections are the rage now. Will it satisfy
+ them if, in the future, we have nothing to do with invasions and
+ insurrections? We know it will not. We so know because we know we
+ never had any thing to do with invasions and insurrections; and yet
+ this total abstaining does not exempt us from the charge and the
+ denunciation.
+
+ "The question recurs, what will satisfy them? Simply this: We
+ must not only let them alone, but we must, somehow, convince them
+ that we do let them alone. This we know by experience, is no
+ easy task. We have been so trying to convince them from the very
+ beginning of our organization, but with no success. In all our
+ platforms and speeches we have constantly protested our purpose
+ to let them alone; but this has had no tendency to convince them.
+ Alike unavailing to convince them is the fact that they have never
+ detected a man of us in any attempt to disturb them.
+
+ "These natural, and apparently adequate means all failing, what
+ will convince them? This, and this only: cease to call slavery
+ _wrong_, and join them in calling it _right_. And this must be done
+ thoroughly--done in _acts_ as well as in _words_. Silence will not
+ be tolerated--we must place ourselves avowedly with them. Douglas's
+ new sedition law must be enacted and enforced, suppressing all
+ declarations that slavery is wrong, whether made in politics, in
+ presses, in pulpits, or in private. We must arrest and return
+ their fugitive slaves with greedy pleasure. We must pull down our
+ Free-State Constitutions. The whole atmosphere must be disinfected
+ from all taint of opposition to slavery, before they will cease to
+ believe that all their troubles proceed from us.
+
+ "I am quite aware they do not state their case precisely in this
+ way. Most of them would probably say to us, 'Let us alone, do
+ nothing to us, and say what you please about slavery.' But we do
+ let them alone--have never disturbed them--so that, after all,
+ it is what we say which dissatisfies them. They will continue to
+ accuse us of doing, until we cease saying.
+
+ "I am also aware they have not, as yet, in terms, demanded the
+ overthrow of our Free-State Constitutions. 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.
+
+ "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?
+
+ "Wrong as we think slavery is, we can yet afford to let it alone
+ where it is, because that much is due to the necessity arising from
+ its actual presence in the nation; but can we, while our votes will
+ prevent it, allow it to spread into the National Territories, and
+ to overrun us here in these Free States?
+
+ "If our sense of duty forbids this, then let us stand by our
+ duty, fearlessly and effectively. Let us be diverted by none of
+ those sophistical contrivances wherewith we are so industriously
+ plied and belabored--contrivances such as groping for some middle
+ ground between the right and the wrong, vain as the search for a
+ man who should be neither a living man nor a dead man--such as a
+ policy of '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.
+
+ "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."
+
+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:
+
+ "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 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!'"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+NOMINATED AND ELECTED PRESIDENT.
+
+ 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.
+
+
+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
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+The scene which followed--the wild, almost delirious outburst 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.
+
+The nomination having been made unanimous, the ticket was completed by
+the selection of Senator Hannibal Hamlin, of Maine, as Vice-President.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+In response to this address, Mr. Lincoln said:
+
+ "MR. CHAIRMAN AND GENTLEMEN OF THE COMMITTEE: 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 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."
+
+In reply to the formal letter of the President of the Convention,
+apprising him of the nomination, Mr. Lincoln addressed the following:
+
+ "_Springfield, Illinois_, May 23d, 1860.
+
+ "HON. GEORGE ASHMAN, _President of the Republican National
+ Convention_.
+
+ "SIR: 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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,
+
+ "Your obliged friend and fellow-citizen,
+ "ABRAHAM LINCOLN."
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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.
+
+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:
+
+"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."
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+TO WASHINGTON.
+
+ 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.
+
+
+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.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+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:
+
+ "MY FRIENDS:--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."
+
+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:
+
+ "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."
+
+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:
+
+ "FELLOW CITIZENS OF THE STATE OF INDIANA:--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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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."
+
+Proceeding to Cincinnati, he received a most enthusiastic 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:
+
+ "FELLOW-CITIZENS: 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.
+
+ "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:
+
+ "'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.'
+
+ "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 not be made good be assured
+ that the fault shall not be mine."
+
+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:
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 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."
+
+On the 14th of February, Mr. Lincoln proceeded to Pittsburgh. At
+Steubenville, on the route, in reply to an address, he said:
+
+ "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."
+
+The next morning he left for Cleveland, but before his departure he
+made an address to the people of Pittsburgh, in which he said:
+
+ "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 present command, and would perhaps
+ unnecessarily commit me upon matters which have not yet fully
+ developed themselves.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 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."
+
+He then referred to the subject of the tariff, and said:
+
+ "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."
+
+Mr. Lincoln, upon his arrival in Cleveland, adverted to the same
+subject in the following terms:
+
+ "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 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."
+
+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.
+
+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:
+
+ "MR. MAYOR AND FELLOW CITIZENS:--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 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 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."
+
+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:
+
+ "GOVERNOR MORGAN:--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. 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."
+
+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:
+
+ "MR. PRESIDENT AND GENTLEMEN OF THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF
+ NEW YORK:--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 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."
+
+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:
+
+ "I am grateful for this cordial welcome, and I am gratified
+ that this immense multitude has come together not to meet 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."
+
+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:
+
+ "MR. MAYOR: 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 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."
+
+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:
+
+ "MR. PRESIDENT AND GENTLEMEN OF THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF NEW
+ JERSEY:--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. 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 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."
+
+He then passed into the Chamber of the Assembly, and upon being
+introduced by the Speaker, addressed that body as follows:
+
+ "MR. SPEAKER AND GENTLEMEN:--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. 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."
+
+On his arrival in Philadelphia, he was received with great enthusiasm,
+and to an address from the Mayor Mr. Lincoln replied:
+
+ "MR. MAYOR AND FELLOW-CITIZENS OF PHILADELPHIA:--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 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."
+
+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:
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "My friends, this is wholly an unexpected speech, and I 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."
+
+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."
+
+The President-elect then raised the flag to the top of the staff.
+
+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:
+
+ "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 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
+ coperation 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 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."
+
+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 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.
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+THE NEW ADMINISTRATION.
+
+ 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.
+
+
+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:
+
+ "Mr. MAYOR: 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 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."
+
+On the following evening, at the close of a serenade tendered him by
+the Republican Association, he thus addressed the crowd:
+
+ "MY FRIENDS: 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.
+
+ "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 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."
+
+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.
+
+All necessary precautions, however, having been taken to guard against
+the latter contingencies, Mr. Lincoln appeared 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:
+
+ "FELLOW-CITIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES:--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.
+
+ "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:
+
+ "'_Resolved_, 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 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.'
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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:
+
+ "'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.'
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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?
+
+ "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 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?
+
+ "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?'
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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. 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "In doing this there need be no bloodshed or violence, and there
+ shall be none unless it is forced upon the National authority.
+
+ "The power confided to me _will be used to hold, occupy, and
+ possess the property and plants belonging to the Government_, 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "The mails, unless repelled, will continue to be furnished in all
+ parts of the Union.
+
+ "So far as possible, the people everywhere shall have that sense
+ of perfect security which is most favorable to calm thought and
+ reflection.
+
+ "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 National troubles and the
+ restoration of fraternal sympathies and affections.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "My countrymen, one and all, think calmly and well upon this whole
+ subject. Nothing valuable can be lost by taking time.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in mine,
+ is the momentous issue of civil war. The Government will not assail
+ you.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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."
+
+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 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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+He said on that occasion:
+
+ "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. * * *
+
+ "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."
+
+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 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:
+
+ "GENTLEMEN:--As a committee of the Virginia Convention, now in
+ session, you present me a preamble and resolution, in these words:
+
+ "'WHEREAS, 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,
+
+ "_Resolved_, 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.'
+
+ "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 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."
+
+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. 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.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+PREPARING FOR WAR.
+
+ 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.
+
+
+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.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+On the 15th of April, 1861, the President issued his first proclamation:
+
+ "WHEREAS, 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,
+ ABRAHAM LINCOLN, 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the
+ seal of the United States to be affixed.
+
+ "Done at the City of Washington, this fifteenth 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.
+
+ "By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN
+
+ "WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State."
+
+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.
+
+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."
+
+How was the call for troops received by the rebel conclave at
+Montgomery? They laughed.
+
+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 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.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+The day following this attack, the President sent the following letter
+in reply to a communication broaching this modest proposition:
+
+ "_Washington_, April 20th, 1861.
+
+ "GOVERNOR HICKS AND MAYOR BROWN:
+
+ "GENTLEMEN:--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 _must_ be brought here, but I make no point of
+ bringing them _through_ Baltimore.
+
+ "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 _around_ Baltimore, and not through
+ it.'
+
+ "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.
+
+ "Your obedient servant,
+ "A. LINCOLN."
+
+To a delegation of rebel sympathizers from the same State, who demanded
+a cessation of hostilities until Congress 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.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+On the 19th of April, every port of the States in rebellion was
+declared blockaded by the following proclamation:
+
+ "WHEREAS, 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:
+
+ "AND WHEREAS, 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:
+
+ "AND WHEREAS, 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:
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+ "WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State."
+
+On the 27th of April, the following additional proclamation was issued:
+
+ "WHEREAS, 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; AND WHEREAS, 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 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.
+
+ "In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the
+ seal of the United States to be affixed.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+ "WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State."
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+ "WHEREAS, Existing exigencies demand immediate and adequate
+ measures for the protection of the national Constitution 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.
+
+ "In the meantime, I earnestly invoke the coperation of all
+ good citizens in the measures hereby adopted for the 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.
+
+ "In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the
+ seal of the United States to be affixed.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+ "WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State."
+
+On the 10th of May, 1861, the following proclamation was promulgated:
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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:
+
+ "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
+ _habeas corpus_, and to remove from the vicinity of the United
+ States fortresses all dangerous or suspected persons.
+
+ "In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the
+ seal of the United States to be affixed.
+
+ "Done at the City of Washington, this tenth 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.
+
+ "By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+ "WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State."
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+THE FIRST SESSION OF CONGRESS.
+
+ Opening of Congress--President's First Message--Its Nature--
+ Action of Congress--Resolution Declaring the Object of the War--
+ Bull Run--Its Effect.
+
+
+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:
+
+ "FELLOW-CITIZENS OF THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF
+ REPRESENTATIVES:--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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "Officers of the Federal Army had resigned in great numbers, and of
+ those resigning a large proportion had taken up arms against the
+ Government.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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 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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "At this point the insurrectionists announced their purpose to
+ enter upon the practice of privateering.
+
+ "Other calls were made for volunteers, to serve three years, unless
+ sooner discharged, and also for large additions to 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.
+
+ "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?
+
+ "But it was not believed that this question was presented. It was
+ not believed that any law was violated. The provision 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.
+
+ "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 to supply omissions or to
+ communicate new facts considered important for you to know.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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 _free_ and _independent_ States. But 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, 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.
+
+ "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 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 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 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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "It was with the deepest regret that the Executive found 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "July 4, 1861. ABRAHAM LINCOLN."
+
+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 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.
+
+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:
+
+ "_Resolved, By the House of Representatives of the Congress of the
+ United States_, 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."
+
+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 loyal heart; all manner of vague fears seized the people;
+Washington would be captured; the cause was lost.
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+CLOSE OF 1861.
+
+ 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.
+
+
+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:
+
+"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, the blessings
+which, with the favor of Providence, they have secured by the aid of
+their own strong hearts and steady arms."
+
+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.
+
+And the General betook himself to the organizing, disciplining, and
+supplying his army, to which large accessions were continually making
+from week to week.
+
+On the 12th day of August was issued the following proclamation:
+
+ "WHEREAS, 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.'
+
+ "AND WHEREAS, 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.
+
+ "AND WHEREAS, 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 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;
+
+ "_Therefore, 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.
+
+ "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,
+ A. D. 1861, and of the Independence of the United States of America
+ the eighty-sixth.
+
+ "By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+ "WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State."
+
+And four days later the following:
+
+ "WHEREAS, 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 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; AND WHEREAS,
+ such insurrection has since broken out and yet exists within the
+ States of Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas; AND
+ WHEREAS, 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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the
+ seal of the United States to be affixed.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+ "WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State."
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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:
+
+ "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."
+
+On the 8th of August, Secretary Cameron, in reply to a second letter
+from General Butler upon the same subject, said:
+
+ "GENERAL:--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, 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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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."
+
+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.
+
+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:
+
+ "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."
+
+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:
+
+ "MAJOR GENERAL JOHN C. FREMONT:--
+
+ "SIR,--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
+ August 6, 1861, and that said Act be published at length with this
+ order.
+
+ "Your obedient servant,
+ "A. LINCOLN."
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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:
+
+ "_Executive Mansion, Washington_, Nov. 1, 1861.
+
+ "On the 1st day of November, A. D., 1861, upon his own application
+ to the President of the United States, Brevet 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "ABRAHAM LINCOLN."
+
+To General McClellan, now the ranking officer of the army, the duties
+of General-in-chief were assigned by the President.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+THE CONGRESS OF 1861-2.
+
+ 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.
+
+
+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.
+
+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 by the construction
+which those powers saw fit to place upon their duties as neutrals.
+
+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.
+
+As a whole, affairs were by no means a cheering aspect at the opening
+of this Session.
+
+That the President was fully alive to the true state of the case, the
+views announced in the following message clearly show:
+
+ "FELLOW-CITIZENS OF THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:--In
+ the midst of unprecedented political troubles, we have cause of
+ great gratitude to God for unusual good health and most abundant
+ harvests.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "Nations thus tempted to interfere, are not always able to 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 people. The correspondence itself,
+ with the usual reservations, is herewith submitted.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 coperating, 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 valuable permanent improvement, worth its
+ cost in all the future.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "Besides blockading our extensive coast, squadrons larger than
+ ever before assembled under our flag have been put afloat, and
+ performed deeds which have increased our naval renown.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "Besides this, the country generally has outgrown our present
+ judicial system. If uniformity was at all intended, 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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
+ 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "I ask attention to the report of the Postmaster General, the
+ following being a summary statement of the condition of the
+ department:
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "The present insurrection shows, I think, that the extension 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "The execution of the laws for the suppression of the 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "At your late session a joint resolution was adopted authorizing
+ the President to take measures for facilitating a proper
+ 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.
+
+ "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, _pro tanto_, 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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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?
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 that radical and extreme measures, which may
+ reach the loyal as well as the disloyal, are indispensable.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 _seem_
+ 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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "These things demonstrate that the cause of the Union is advancing
+ steadily and certainly southward.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "And the same is true in all joint operations wherein those engaged
+ _can_ have none but a common end in view, and _can_ differ only as
+ to the choice of means. In a storm at sea, no one on board _can_
+ 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "In my present position I could scarcely be justified were I to
+ omit raising a warning voice against this approach of returning
+ despotism.
+
+ "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 _capital_ on
+ an equal footing with, if not above _labor_, 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 _hire_ laborers, and thus induce them to work by their
+ own consent, or _buy_ them, 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 these assumptions
+ are false, and all inferences from them are groundless.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 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 _of_ to-day is not altogether _for_
+ 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.
+
+ "ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+ "WASHINGTON, December 3, 1861."
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+THE SLAVERY QUESTION.
+
+ 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.
+
+
+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 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.
+
+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.
+
+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:
+
+ "FELLOW-CITIZENS OF THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:--I
+ recommend the adoption of a joint resolution by your honorable
+ bodies, which shall be substantially as follows:
+
+ "_Resolved_, That the United States ought to coperate 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.
+
+ "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 _all_ 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.
+
+ "In the annual message last December, I thought fit to 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "March 6, 1862. ABRAHAM LINCOLN."
+
+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:
+
+ "FELLOW-CITIZENS OF THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:--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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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, _femes-covert_,
+ 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.
+
+ "April 16, 1862. ABRAHAM LINCOLN."
+
+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:
+
+ "WHEREAS, There appears in the public prints what purports to be
+ a proclamation of Major-General Hunter, in the words and figures
+ following, to wit:
+
+ 'Head-Quarters, Department of the South,
+
+ '_Hilton Head, S. C._, May 9th, 1862.
+
+ 'GENERAL ORDERS No. 11.
+
+ '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, Florida, and South Carolina, heretofore held as slaves,
+ are therefore declared forever free.
+
+ 'DAVID HUNTER, _Major-General Commanding_.
+
+ 'Official:
+
+ 'ED. W. SMITH, _Acting Assistant Adjutant-General_.'
+
+"AND WHEREAS, The same is producing some excitement and
+misunderstanding,
+
+"_Therefore_, 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.
+
+"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.
+
+"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:
+
+"_Resolved_, That the United States ought to coperate 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.'
+
+"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.
+
+"In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal
+of the United States to be affixed.
+
+"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.
+
+ "By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+ "WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State."
+
+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 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:
+
+ "GENTLEMEN:--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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 _punctilio_ 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 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!
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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. 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.
+
+ "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."
+
+On the twenty-second of July, the following order was issued:
+
+ "WAR DEPARTMENT, _Washington_, July 22d, 1862.
+
+ "_First._ 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.
+
+ "_Second._ That military and naval commanders shall employ 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.
+
+ "_Third._ 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.
+
+ "By order of the President.
+
+ "EDWIN M. STANTON, Secretary of War."
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+THE PENINSULAR CAMPAIGN.
+
+ 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.
+
+
+Early in 1862 appeared the following:
+
+ "_Executive Mansion, Washington_, January 27th, 1862.
+
+ [President's General War Order, No. 1.]
+
+ "ORDERED, 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "ABRAHAM LINCOLN."
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+What at the East?--Roanoke Island.
+
+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 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:
+
+ "_Executive Mansion, Washington_, January 31st, 1862.
+
+ "ORDERED, 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.
+
+ "ABRAHAM LINCOLN."
+
+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:
+
+ "_Executive Mansion, Washington_, February 3d, 1862.
+
+ "MY DEAR SIR:--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.
+
+ "If you will give satisfactory answers to the following questions,
+ I shall gladly yield my plan to yours:
+
+ "First. Does not your plan involve a greatly larger expenditure of
+ _time_ and _money_ than mine?
+
+ "Second. Wherein is a victory _more certain_ by your plan than mine?
+
+ "Third. Wherein is a victory _more valuable_ by your plan than mine?
+
+ "Fourth. In fact, would it not be _less_ valuable in this that it
+ would break no great line of the enemy's communications, while mine
+ would?
+
+ "Fifth. In case of disaster, would not a retreat be more difficult
+ by your plan than mine?
+
+ "Yours, truly, A. LINCOLN.
+
+ "MAJOR-GENERAL MCCLELLAN."
+
+Which plain, practical questions were never directly answered.
+
+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.
+
+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:
+
+ "_Executive Mansion, Washington_, March 8th, 1862.
+
+ "ORDERED. 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.
+
+ "That no more than two Army Corps (about fifty thousand troops) of
+ said Army of the Potomac shall be moved _en route_ 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.
+
+ "That any movement as aforesaid, _en route_ 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 March, instant, and the
+ General-in-chief shall be responsible that it moves as early as
+ that day.
+
+ "ORDERED, That the Army and Navy coperate in an immediate
+ effort to capture the enemy's batteries upon the Potomac between
+ Washington and the Chesapeake Bay.
+
+ "ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+ "L. THOMAS, Adjutant-General."
+
+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, _via_ Yorktown, and succeeded, after
+sanguinary battles, swamp sickness, severe exposures, and terrible
+hardships, in returning (how many of them?) to Alexandria _via_
+Harrison's Landing, by about the middle of August, 1862.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+No details, nor military criticism therefore here. But that President
+Lincoln may fairly be presented in his relations to this campaign,
+certain observations must be made. And this is the place to make them.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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:
+
+ "FELLOW-CITIZENS:--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.
+
+ "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 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."
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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 coperation; 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.
+
+Such is the summary in the East for A. D. 1862.
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+FREEDOM TO MILLIONS.
+
+ Tribune Editorial--Letter to Mr. Greeley--Announcement of the
+ Emancipation Proclamation--Suspension of the _Habeas Corpus_
+ in certain cases--Order for Observance of the Sabbath--The
+ Emancipation Proclamation.
+
+
+An editorial article having appeared in the _New York Tribune_, 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:
+
+ "_Executive Mansion_, Washington, Aug. 22, 1862.
+
+ HON. HORACE GREELEY--_Dear Sir_: I have just read yours of the
+ 19th, addressed to myself through the _New York Tribune_. 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.
+
+ "As to the policy I 'seem to be pursuing,' as you say, I have not
+ meant to leave any one in doubt.
+
+ "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 _save_ Slavery, I do not agree with them. If there be those
+ who would not save the Union unless they could at the same time
+ _destroy_ Slavery, I do not agree with them. My paramount object
+ in this struggle _is_ to save the Union, and is _not_ either to
+ save or destroy Slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing
+ _any_ slave, I would do it; and if I could do it by freeing _all_
+ 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 _not_ believe it
+ would help to save the Union. I shall do _less_ whenever I shall
+ believe what I am doing hurts the cause, and I shall do _more_
+ 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 _official_ duty, and
+ I intend no modification of my oft-expressed _personal_ wish that
+ all men, every where, could be free.
+
+ "Yours, A. LINCOLN."
+
+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:
+
+ "I, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, 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 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, SHALL BE THEN, 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; 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.
+
+ "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:
+
+ "'_Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
+ United States of America, in Congress assembled_, 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.
+
+ "'_Article --._ All officers or persons of the military or 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.
+
+ "'_Section 2._ And be it further enacted, That this act shall take
+ effect from and after its passage.'
+
+ "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:
+
+ "'_Section 9._ 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.
+
+ "_Section 10._ 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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the
+ seal of the United States to be affixed.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+ "WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State."
+
+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 one might plead
+ignorance of results, if such treasonable practices should be persisted
+in:
+
+ "WHEREAS, 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:
+
+ "Now, therefore, be it ordered:
+
+ "_First._ 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.
+
+ "_Third._ That the writ of _habeas corpus_ 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.
+
+ "In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the
+ seal of the United States to be affixed.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+ "WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State."
+
+It would be paying but a poor compliment to the sagacity which prompted
+this proclamation, if one were not obliged to 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.
+
+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:
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.'
+
+ "ABRAHAM LINCOLN."
+
+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:
+
+ "WHEREAS, 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:
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the
+ seal of the United States to be affixed.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+ "W. H. SEWARD, Secretary of State."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+LAST SESSION OF THE THIRTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS.
+
+ Situation of the Country--Opposition to the Administration--
+ President's Message.
+
+
+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."
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+Dark days, indeed, when the Thirty-seventh Congress assembled for its
+last session, on the 1st of December, 1862.
+
+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.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+The essential portions of his Annual Message on this occasion are given
+below:
+
+ "FELLOW-CITIZENS OF THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:--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....
+
+ "If the condition of our relations with other nations is less
+ gratifying than it has usually been at former periods, it is
+ certainly 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 for the
+ authority of the United States, and the rights of their moral and
+ loyal citizens....
+
+ "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....
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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?
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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, 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.
+
+ "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 rerganize under the act, substituting only the
+ secured uniform national circulation for the local and various
+ circulation, secured and unsecured, now issued by them.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 deducted, both from receipts
+ and expenditures, leaving the actual receipts for the year,
+ $487,788,324 97; and the expenditures $474,744,778 16....
+
+ "On the 22d day of September last a proclamation was issued by the
+ Executive, a copy of which is herewith submitted.
+
+ "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.'
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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:
+
+ "'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. 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 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.
+
+ "'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, _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 old questions, as to
+ terms of intercourse, are again upon you.
+
+ "'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, 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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "And this is true, _wherever_ 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. _Which_ 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 _where_ 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "In this view, I recommend the adoption of the following resolution
+ and articles amendatory to the Constitution of the United States:
+
+ "_Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
+ States of America in Congress assembled_, (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.:
+
+ "_Article --._ 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:
+
+ "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.
+
+ "_Article --._ 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.
+
+ "_Article --._ Congress may appropriate money, and otherwise
+ provide for colonizing free colored persons, with their own
+ consent, at any place or places without the United States.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 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?
+
+ "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
+ measure. Certainly it is not so easy to pay _something_ as it is
+ to pay _nothing_; but it is easier to pay a _large_ sum, than it
+ is to pay a _larger_ one. And it is easier to pay any sum _when_
+ we are able, than it is to pay it _before_ 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 to when this _may_ be, we can judge by the past and the
+ present, as to when it _will_ 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.
+
+ "Taking the nation in the aggregate, and we find its population
+ and ratio of increase, for the several decennial periods, to be as
+ follows:
+
+ 1790 3,929,827
+ 1800 5,305,937 35.02 per cent. ratio of increase
+ 1810 7,239,814 36.45 " "
+ 1820 9,638,131 33.13 " "
+ 1830 12,866,020 33.49 " "
+ 1840 17,069,453 32.67 " "
+ 1850 23,191,876 35.87 " "
+ 1860 31,443,790 35.58 " "
+
+ "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:
+
+ 1870 42,423,341
+ 1880 56,967,216
+ 1890 76,677,872
+ 1900 103,208,415
+ 1910 138,918,526
+ 1920 186,984,335
+ 1930 251,680,914
+
+ "These figures show that our country _may_ 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.
+
+ "And we _will_ 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "This fact would be no excuse for delaying payment of what is
+ justly due; but it shows the great importance of time 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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. _Heretofore_, colored people, to some extent, have
+ fled North from bondage; and _now_, 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, 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?
+
+ "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?
+
+ "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.
+
+ "The plan consisting of these articles is recommended, not but that
+ a restoration of the National authority would be accepted without
+ its adoption.
+
+ "Nor will the war, nor proceedings under the proclamation of
+ September 22d, 1862, be stayed because of the _recommendation_
+ of this plan. Its timely _adoption_, I doubt not, would bring
+ restoration, and thereby stay both.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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; 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 _any_ of us _imagine_ better?' but,
+ 'Can we _all_ 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 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.
+
+ "Fellow-citizens, _we_ 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 _say_
+ 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 _we here_--hold the power, and bear the
+ responsibility. In _giving_ freedom to the _slave_, we _assure_
+ freedom to the _free_--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.
+
+ Dec. 1, 1862. "ABRAHAM LINCOLN."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+THE TIDE TURNED.
+
+ 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.
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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 _via_ 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.
+
+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.
+
+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 from the workingmen
+of Manchester, England; to which address he made the following reply:
+
+
+ "_Executive Mansion_, Washington, January 19, 1863.
+
+ "TO THE WORKINGMEN OF MANCHESTER:--I have the honor to acknowledge
+ the receipt of the address and resolutions which you sent me on the
+ eve of the new year.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "ABRAHAM LINCOLN."
+
+On the 30th of March the following proclamation was issued in pursuance
+of a request to that effect from the Senate:
+
+ "WHEREAS, 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;
+
+ "AND WHEREAS, 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;
+
+ "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!
+
+ "It behooves us, then, to humble ourselves before the offended
+ Power, to confess our National sins, and to pray for clemency and
+ forgiveness.
+
+ "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
+ 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the
+ seal of the United States to be affixed.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+ "WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State."
+
+The following letter, which belongs in this place, will explain itself:
+
+ "_Executive Mansion_, Washington, June 13th, 1863.
+
+ "HON. ERASTUS CORNING and others--_Gentlemen_:--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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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 _especially_ for his protection in times
+ of civil commotion.'
+
+ "And, apparently to demonstrate the proposition, the resolutions
+ proceed: 'They were secured substantially to the English people
+ _after_ years of protracted civil war, and were adopted into our
+ Constitution at the _close_ 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 _during_ the
+ civil wars and _during_ our Revolution, instead of _after_ the
+ one and at the _close_ of the other? I, too, am devotedly for
+ them _after_ civil war, and _before_ 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 _the_ 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.
+
+ "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 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
+ '_habeas corpus_,' 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
+ '_habeas corpus_' might be suspended; but they also knew they had
+ friends who would make a question as to _who_ 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 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.
+
+ "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 _habeas corpus_ shall not be suspended unless when, in cases
+ of rebellion or invasion, the public safety may require it,' is
+ _the_ 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. _Habeas corpus_ 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 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 _does_ 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 _habeas corpus_, were the writ allowed to
+ operate. In view of these and similar cases, I think the time not
+ unlikely to come when I shall be blamed for having made too few
+ arrests rather than too many.
+
+ "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
+ _not_ 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
+ _is_ 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 _wherever_ 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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 _not_ require them; in other
+ words, that the Constitution is not, 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 _habeas corpus_, 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.
+
+ "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 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 _habeas corpus_, 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.
+
+ "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 _habeas corpus_ 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 _habeas corpus_, 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
+ 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.
+
+ "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 _habeas
+ corpus_, suffered no detriment whatever by that conduct of Gen.
+ Jackson, or its subsequent approval by the American Congress.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "A. LINCOLN."
+
+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:
+
+ "Washington, June 29, 1863.
+
+ "GENTLEMEN:--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.
+
+ "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.'
+
+ "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 _in its application_ 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.
+
+ "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.'
+
+ "You say: 'Expunge from the Constitution this limitation upon the
+ power of Congress to suspend the writ of _habeas corpus_, 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 _out_ 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.
+
+ "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 _habeas corpus_ 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 _habeas corpus_. But by the Constitution the benefit
+ of the writ of _habeas corpus_ itself may be suspended, when, in
+ case of rebellion or invasion, the public safety may require it.
+
+ "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 _who_ shall decide, or
+ an affirmation that _nobody_ 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.
+
+ "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 _prevention_, and not for _punishment_--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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 _know_ 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 _animus_. 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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 escape the draft, to believe it is your
+ purpose to protect them, and to hope that you will become strong
+ enough to do so.
+
+ "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:
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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; and--
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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, 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.
+
+ "I have the honor to be respectfully, yours, etc.,
+
+ "ABRAHAM LINCOLN."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+LETTERS AND SPEECHES.
+
+ Speech at Washington--Letter to General Grant--Thanksgiving
+ Proclamation--Letter concerning the Emancipation Proclamation--
+ Proclamation for Annual Thanksgiving--Dedicatory Speech at
+ Gettysburg.
+
+
+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:
+
+ "FELLOW-CITIZENS:--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. 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."
+
+The following letter, addressed to General Grant after the capture of
+Vicksburg, gives an insight into the transparent candor and frankness
+of the President.
+
+ "_Executive Mansion_, Washington, July 13th, 1863.
+
+ "MAJOR-GENERAL U. S. GRANT--_My Dear General_: 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.
+
+ "Yours, truly,
+ "A. LINCOLN."
+
+The following was issued in commemoration of the victories at
+Vicksburg, Port Hudson, and Gettysburg:
+
+ "BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.--A
+ PROCLAMATION.--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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the
+ seal of the United States to be affixed.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+ "WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State."
+
+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:
+
+ "EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, August 26th, 1863.
+
+ "MY DEAR SIR:--Your letter inviting me to attend a mass meeting of
+ unconditional Union men, to be held at the capital 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 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.
+
+ "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
+ 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. 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 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.
+
+ "Yours very truly, ABRAHAM LINCOLN."
+
+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:
+
+ "BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.--A
+ PROCLAMATION:--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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the
+ seal of the United States to be affixed.
+
+ "Done at the City of Washington, this, the third 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.
+
+ "By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+ "WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State."
+
+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:
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+THE THIRTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS.
+
+ Organization of the House--Different Opinions as to
+ Reconstruction--Provisions for Pardon of Rebels--President's
+ Proclamation of Pardon--Annual Message--Explanatory Proclamation.
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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 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.
+
+Congress had provided, by an act approved July 17, 1862:
+
+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.
+
+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:
+
+ "WHEREAS, 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 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,
+
+ "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:
+
+ "'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.'
+
+ "The persons excepted from the benefits of the foregoing
+ 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.
+
+ "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.'
+
+ "And I do further proclaim, declare, and make known that any
+ provision which may be adopted by such State Government 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "ABRAHAM LINCOLN."
+
+The Annual Message sent in to Congress on the 9th day of December,
+omitting matters of but temporary interest--is as follows:
+
+ "FELLOW-CITIZENS OF THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF
+ REPRESENTATIVES:--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.
+
+ "We remain in peace and friendship with foreign powers.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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....
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 which no citizen of the
+ United States residing abroad may claim the interposition of his
+ Government.
+
+ "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....
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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, 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "The report of the Secretary of War is a document of great
+ interest. It consists of--
+
+ "1. The military operations of the year, detailed in the report of
+ the General-in-Chief.
+
+ "2. The organization of colored persons into the war service.
+
+ "3. The exchange of prisoners, fully set forth in the letter of
+ General Hitchcock.
+
+ "4. The operations under the act for enrolling and calling out the
+ National forces, detailed in the report of the Provost Marshal
+ General.
+
+ "5. The organization of the Invalid Corps; and,
+
+ "6. The operation of the several departments of the Quartermaster
+ General, Commissary General, Paymaster General, Chief of Engineers,
+ Chief of Ordnance, and Surgeon General.
+
+ "It has appeared impossible to make a valuable summary of this
+ report, except such as would be too extended for this place, and
+ hence I content myself by asking your careful attention to the
+ report itself.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 naval services by a definite provision on this subject,
+ which would at the same time be equitable to the communities more
+ especially interested.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "An attempt to guarantee and protect a revived State Government,
+ constructed in whole, or in preponderating part, 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "The movements, by State action, for emancipation in several of
+ the States, not included in the Emancipation Proclamation, 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ Dec. 8, 1863.
+
+ "Abraham Lincoln."
+
+On the twenty-sixth of March, 1864, the following proclamation,
+explanatory of the one issued on the eighth of December, 1863, was
+published:
+
+ "WHEREAS, 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;
+
+ "AND WHEREAS, The objects of that proclamation were to suppress the
+ insurrection and to restore the authority of the United States;
+
+ "AND WHEREAS, The amnesty therein proposed by the President was
+ offered with reference to these objects alone;
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "The Secretary of State will keep a register thereof, and will, on
+ application, in proper cases, issue certificates of such records in
+ the customary form of official certificates.
+
+ "In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the
+ seal of the United States to be affixed.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+ "W. H. SEWARD, Secretary of State."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+PROGRESS.
+
+ 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.
+
+
+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:
+
+ "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN:--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.
+
+ "In this extraordinary war, extraordinary developments have
+ manifested themselves, such as have not been seen in former wars;
+ and among these manifestations nothing has 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!"
+
+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:
+
+ "GENTLEMEN OF THE COMMITTEE:--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:
+
+ "'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 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.
+
+ "'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 _capital_ on
+ an equal footing with, if not above, _labor_ 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.
+
+ "'This assumed, it is next considered whether it is best that
+ capital shall _hire_ laborers, and thus induce them to work by
+ their own consent, or _buy them_ 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.
+
+ "'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 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.
+
+ "'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.
+
+ "'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 fix new disabilities and burdens upon them till all
+ of liberty shall be lost.'
+
+ "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."
+
+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.
+
+Truly some advance had been made during those three years, so pregnant
+with events!
+
+ "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN:--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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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."
+
+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.
+
+ "A. G. HODGES, ESQ., Frankfort, Ky.:
+
+ "MY DEAR SIR:--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:
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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?
+
+ "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.
+
+ "When, in March, and May, and July, 1862, I made 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 therein new cause to attest and revere the justice and
+ goodness of God.
+
+ "Yours truly,
+ "A. LINCOLN."
+
+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.
+
+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:
+
+ "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.
+
+ "All troops of the enemy known or discovered to give no quarter in
+ general, or to any portion of the army, will receive none."
+
+The following order of the President, issued by him as
+Commander-in-chief, and communicated to the entire army deals with this
+subject alone:
+
+ "_Executive Mansion_, Washington, July 30, 1863.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "ABRAHAM LINCOLN."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+RENOMINATED.
+
+ 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.
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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 to the time when he was summoned to the
+command of all the armies then engaged in its suppression.
+
+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:
+
+ "GENERAL GRANT:--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.
+
+ "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."
+
+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.
+
+On the 30th of April, the President addressed the following letter to
+the new Commander:
+
+ "LIEUTENANT-GENERAL GRANT:--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 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.
+
+ "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!
+
+ "Yours, very truly, A. LINCOLN."
+
+To which the General, from Culpepper Court House, Va., on the 1st of
+May, thus replied:
+
+ "TO THE PRESIDENT:--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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "Very truly, your obedient servant,
+
+ "U. S. GRANT, Lieutenant-General."
+
+Beginning at the right end--profiting by the experience of
+others--wasting no time nor strength in mere display--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.
+
+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.
+
+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:
+
+ "_Executive Mansion_, Washington, June 3d, 1864.
+
+ "GENTLEMEN:--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.
+
+ "Yours truly, A. LINCOLN."
+
+On the 7th of June, the Republican National Convention met at Baltimore
+for the purpose of nominating candidates for the Presidency and
+Vice-Presidency.
+
+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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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.
+
+On the second day, the convention adopted by acclamation the following
+platform:
+
+ "_Resolved_, 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.
+
+ "_Resolved_, 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.
+
+ "_Resolved_, 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.
+
+ "_Resolved_, 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.
+
+ "_Resolved_, That we approve and applaud the practical wisdom, the
+ unselfish patriotism, and unswerving fidelity to 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.
+
+ "_Resolved_, 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.
+
+ "_Resolved_, 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.
+
+ "_Resolved_, 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.
+
+ "_Resolved_, That we are in favor of the speedy construction of the
+ railroad to the Pacific.
+
+ "_Resolved_, 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 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.
+
+ "_Resolved_, 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."
+
+Upon the first ballot for a candidate for President, ABRAHAM LINCOLN
+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."
+
+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.
+
+As the vote proceeded, it was soon apparent that ANDREW JOHNSON 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.
+
+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:
+
+ "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."
+
+In reply the President said:
+
+ "MR. CHAIRMAN AND GENTLEMEN OF THE COMMITTEE:--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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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."
+
+On the following day, in reply to a congratulatory address from a
+deputation of the National Union League, the President said:
+
+ "GENTLEMEN:--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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.'"
+
+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-_abandon_ can appreciate.
+
+Having been serenaded, on the 9th, by the delegation from Ohio, he
+addressed the assemblage as follows:
+
+ "GENTLEMEN:--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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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."
+
+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.
+
+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:
+
+ "SOLDIERS:--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."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+RECONSTRUCTION.
+
+ 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.
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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:
+
+ "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.
+
+ "It has destroyed property, destroyed life, and ruined homes.
+ It has produced a national debt and a degree of 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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?
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.']
+
+ "Then I shall call upon you when it is necessary."
+
+The following correspondence passed between Mr. Lincoln and the
+Committee of the National Convention relative to his nomination:
+
+ "New York, June 14, 1864.
+
+ "HON. ABRAHAM LINCOLN:
+
+ "SIR:--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.
+
+ "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
+ 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "WILLIAM DENNISON, _Ohio_, Chairman.
+
+ "_And signed by the Committee._"
+
+ * * * * *
+
+ "_Executive Mansion_, Washington, June 27th, 1863.
+
+ "Hon. WILLIAM DENNISON and others:
+
+ "_A Committee of the National Union Convention_:
+
+ "GENTLEMEN:--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.
+
+ "While the resolution in regard to the supplanting of Republican
+ Government upon the Western Continent is fully 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "Thanking you for the kind and complimentary terms in which you
+ have communicated the nomination and other proceedings of the
+ Convention, I subscribe myself,
+
+ "Your obedient servant, ABRAHAM LINCOLN."
+
+On the 5th of July, appeared the following proclamation, ordering
+martial law in Kentucky:
+
+ "WHEREAS, 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,
+
+ "WHEREAS, 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,
+
+ "WHEREAS, 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 _habeas corpus_ in any case throughout
+ the United States, or any part thereof; and,
+
+ "WHEREAS, The said insurrection and rebellion still continues,
+ endangering the existence of the Constitution and Government of the
+ United States; and,
+
+ "WHEREAS, 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,
+
+ "WHEREAS, 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 _habeas corpus_ 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,
+
+ "WHEREAS, 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,
+
+ "WHEREAS, 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;
+
+ "Now, therefore, I, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, 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 _habeas corpus_, 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 _habeas corpus_ 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 military operations or the constituted authorities of the
+ Government of the United States.
+
+ "In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the
+ seal of the United States to be affixed.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+ "WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State."
+
+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:
+
+ "WHEREAS, 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,
+
+ "WHEREAS, The said bill was presented to the President of the
+ United States for his approval, less than one hour before the _sine
+ die_ adjournment of said session, and was not signed by him; and,
+
+ "WHEREAS, The said bill contains, among other things, a plan for
+ restoring the States in rebellion to the proper practical 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:
+
+ "Now, therefore, I, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, 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.
+
+ "In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the
+ seal of the United States to be affixed.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN
+
+ "WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State."
+
+The following is the bill, a copy of which was annexed to the
+proclamation:
+
+ "A BILL to guarantee to certain States whose Governments have been
+ overthrown or usurped, a Republican form of Government.
+
+ "_Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
+ the United States of America, in Congress assembled_, 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.
+
+ "SECTION 2. _And be it further enacted_, 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 restablishment of a State
+ Government subject to, and in conformity with the Constitution of
+ the United States.
+
+ "SECTION 3. 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.
+
+ "SECTION 4. 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.
+
+ "SECTION 5. 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 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.
+
+ "SECTION 6. 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.
+
+ "SECTION 7. 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:
+
+ "_First._ No person who has held or exercised any office, civil or
+ military, except offices merely ministerial, and military 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.
+
+ "_Second._ Involuntary servitude is forever prohibited, and the
+ freedom of all persons is guaranteed in said State.
+
+ "_Third._ No debt, State or corporate, created by or under the
+ sanction of the usurping power, shall be recognized or paid by the
+ State.
+
+ "SECTION 8. That when the Convention shall have adopted these
+ provisions, it shall proceed to restablish 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.
+
+ "SECTION 9. That if the Convention shall refuse to restablish
+ 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 State entitled
+ to vote under this Act, in number not less than a majority of
+ those enrolled, as aforesaid, are willing to restablish 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
+ restablished by it to the President.
+
+ "SECTION 10. 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.
+
+ "SECTION 11. 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 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.
+
+ "SECTION 12. 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 _habeas
+ corpus_, discharge them.
+
+ "SECTION 13. 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.
+
+ "SECTION 14. 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."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN OF 1864.
+
+ 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.
+
+
+On the 7th of July the following proclamation for a National Fast
+appeared:
+
+ "WHEREAS, 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:
+
+ "'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 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.'
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the
+ seal of the United States to be affixed.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN
+
+ "WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State."
+
+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:
+
+ "SOLDIERS: 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 somewhere; things may be done
+ wrong, which the officers of Government do all they can to prevent
+ mistakes.
+
+ "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."
+
+And again, on the 22d of August, under similar circumstances:
+
+ "SOLDIERS:--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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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. The nation is worth fighting for, to
+ secure such an unquestionable jewel."
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+ "TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN.--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.
+
+ "ABRAHAM LINCOLN."
+
+This ended that attempt to divide the supporters of the Administration.
+
+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 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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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:
+
+ "_Resolved_, 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."
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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 the officers and men connected with these
+operations, national salutes ordered, and the following proclamation
+issued, dated September 3d, 1864.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "ABRAHAM LINCOLN."
+
+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:
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 other policy
+ calculated to weaken the moral and physical forces of the rebellion.
+
+ "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."
+
+On the 19th of October, the President having been serenaded by the
+loyal Marylanders of the District of Columbia, said:
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 _sine die_, but to meet again,
+ if called to do so by a particular individual, as the ultimatum of
+ a purpose that, if the nominee shall be elected, he will at once
+ seize control of the Government.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+RE-ELECTED.
+
+ 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.
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+General Fremont withdrew his name shortly after the Chicago
+nominations, that he might not distract and divide the friends of the
+Union. In his letter of withdrawal he said:
+
+"The policy of the Democratic party signifies either separation,
+or restablishment, with slavery. The Chicago platform is
+simply separation. General McClellan's letter of acceptance, is
+restablishment with slavery.... The Republican candidate, on the
+contrary, is pledged to the restablishment of Union without slavery."
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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.
+
+Richmond papers were, for a marvel, quite unanimous in the desire
+that Mr. Lincoln should not be relected. 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 relection, and
+their organs on the Continent and in the provinces did their best to
+abuse him shockingly.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+No opportunity for talk, even, was afforded when the results of the
+election of November 8th became known. 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.
+
+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.
+
+The President elect by a plurality in 1860, he was relected in 1864 by
+a majority decisive and unmistakable.
+
+Having been serenaded early in the morning following his relection,
+by Pennsylvanians then in Washington, he thus gave utterance to his
+feelings:
+
+ "FRIENDS AND FELLOW-CITIZENS:--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 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."
+
+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:
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 relection,
+ 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.
+
+ "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."
+
+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 recently wounded, was lying in
+a hospital and bears date November 21st, 1864.
+
+ "DEAR MADAM:--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.
+
+ "Yours very sincerely and respectfully,
+ "ABRAHAM LINCOLN."
+
+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:
+
+ "FELLOW-CITIZENS OF THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:--Again
+ the blessings of health and abundant harvests claim our profoundest
+ gratitude to Almighty God.
+
+ "The condition of our foreign affairs is reasonably satisfactory.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "Civil war continues in the Spanish port of San Domingo, apparently
+ without prospect of an early close.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "Assurances have been received from most of the South American
+ States of their high appreciation of the enterprise and their
+ readiness to coperate in constructing lines tributary to that
+ world-encircling communication.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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. Our very popular and
+ able representative in Egypt died in April last.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "The rebellion which has so long been flagrant in China, has at
+ last been suppressed with the coperating 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.
+
+ "China seems to be accepting with hearty good-will the conventional
+ laws which regulate commerce and social intercourse among the
+ Western nations.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "There is reason also to believe that these proceedings have
+ increased rather than diminished the friendship of Japan toward the
+ United States.
+
+ "The ports of Norfolk, Fernandino, and Pensacola have been opened
+ by proclamation.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "In view of the insecurity of life in the region adjacent to 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "The act passed at the last session for the encouragement of
+ immigration has, as far as was possible, been put into operation.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "For the actual receipts and disbursements for the first quarter,
+ and the estimated receipts and disbursements for the 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 _bon fide_ 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.
+
+ "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 they cannot be much
+ oppressed by a debt which they owe to themselves.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "It will also specify the measures deemed essential for the
+ national defence, and to keep up and supply the requisite military
+ force.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "I cordially concur in the recommendation of the Secretary as to
+ the propriety of creating the new rank of Vice-admiral in our naval
+ service.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "As intimately connected with and promotive of this material
+ growth of the Nation, I ask the attention of Congress to 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 metals in that
+ region have, during the year reached, if not exceeded, $100,000,000
+ in value.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "During the year ending the thirtieth of June, 1864, $4,504,616 92
+ have been paid to pensioners of all classes.
+
+ "I cheerfully commend to your continued patronage the 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "The movement in the same direction, more extensive, though less
+ definite, in Missouri, Kentucky, and Tennessee, should not be
+ overlooked.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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
+ 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 restablish 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 evidence accessible, it seems to me that
+ no attempts at negotiation with the insurgent leader could result
+ in any good.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 known that the excepted classes were
+ still within contemplation of special clemency.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "ABRAHAM LINCOLN."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+TIGHTENING THE LINES.
+
+ 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.
+
+
+As illustrative of the genial, pleasant manner of the President, take
+the following, in response to a serenade, December 6th, 1864:
+
+ "FRIENDS AND FELLOW-CITIZENS:--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."
+
+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:
+
+ "REVEREND SIR, AND LADIES AND GENTLEMEN:--I accept, with emotions
+ of profoundest gratitude, the beautiful gift you have been pleased
+ to present to me. You will, of course, 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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."
+
+ * * * * *
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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:
+
+ "HON. WILLIAM H. SEWARD, 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.
+
+ "You will make known to them that three things are indispensable,
+ to wit:
+
+ "1. The restoration of national authority throughout all the States.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "3. No cessation of hostilities short of an end of the war and the
+ disbanding of all forces hostile to the Government.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "You will hear all they may choose to say, and report it to me.
+
+ "You will not assume to definitely consummate any thing.
+
+ "Yours truly, A. LINCOLN."
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+The conference came to an end by mutual acquiescence, without producing
+an agreement of views upon the several matters discussed, or any of
+them.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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:
+
+ "WHEREAS, 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 Executive--
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+ "WILLIAM. H. SEWARD, Secretary of State."
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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 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 coperation of the commander of the naval part of
+the expedition, it boots not here to inquire.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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
+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:
+
+ "FELLOW-COUNTRYMEN:--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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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?
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 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."
+
+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:
+
+ "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 _Almighty God_, 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."
+
+On the 16th of March, in accordance with an Act of Congress, grace was
+extended to deserters by the following proclamation:
+
+ "WHEREAS, 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 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'--
+
+ "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.
+
+ "In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the
+ seal of the United States to be affixed.
+
+ "Done at the city of Washington, this eleventh day of March, in the
+ year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, and of
+ the Independence of the United States the eighty-ninth.
+
+ "By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+ "W. H. SEWARD, Secretary of State."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+IN RICHMOND.
+
+ 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.
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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."
+
+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
+excited multitude--there held a levee--left the same evening for City
+Point--and soon afterward returned to Washington.
+
+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:
+
+ "GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE, ARMY C. S.:--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.
+
+ "Very respectfully,
+ "U. S. GRANT, Lieutenant-General."
+
+Johnston was next in order; and toward him Sherman was in motion.
+
+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.
+
+Repeated calls having been made for him, he appeared at the window, on
+the entrance door, calm amid the tumult, and was greeted with cheers
+and waving of hats.
+
+Comparative silence having been secured, he said:
+
+ "MY FRIENDS:--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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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."
+
+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.
+
+The President then retired, amid cheers, the tune of "Hail Columbia,"
+and the firing of cannon.
+
+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.
+
+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 with which he was greeted had subsided,
+spoke as follows in his last public speech:
+
+ "FELLOW-CITIZENS:--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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 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 coperation, would reconstruct
+ substantially on that plan, I wrote him and some of them to try it.
+ They tried it, and the result is known.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 at home, it would be utterly immaterial
+ whether they had ever been abroad.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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?
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.]
+
+ "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-fourths of all the States would be unquestioned and
+ unquestionable.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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."
+
+On the 11th of April, also, appeared the following proclamation:
+
+ "WHEREAS, 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 purposes,' the
+ President, for the reasons therein set forth, is authorized to
+ close certain ports of entry.
+
+ "Now, therefore, be it known that I, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, 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.
+
+ "In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal
+ of the United States to be affixed.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "Abraham Lincoln.
+
+ "William H. Seward, Secretary of State."
+
+And on the same day the following:
+
+ "WHEREAS, 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 in--
+
+ "Now, therefore, I, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, 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. _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._
+
+ "In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal
+ of the United States to be affixed.
+
+ "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 the eighty-ninth.
+
+ "By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+ "WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State."
+
+And, on the twelfth April, the following supplementary proclamation:
+
+ "WHEREAS, 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:
+
+ "Now, therefore, be it known that I, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, 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.
+
+ "In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal
+ of the United States to be affixed.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+ "WM. H. SEWARD, Secretary of State."
+
+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:
+
+ "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:
+
+ "_First._ To stop all drafting and recruiting in the loyal States.
+
+ "_Second._ To curtail purchases for arms, ammunition,
+ quartermaster's and commissary supplies, and reduce the expenses of
+ the military establishment and its several branches.
+
+ "_Third._ To reduce the number of general and staff officers to the
+ actual necessities of the service.
+
+ "_Fourth._ To remove all military restrictions upon trade and
+ commerce, so far as may be consistent with the public safety.
+
+ "As soon as these measures can be put in operation, it will be made
+ known by public orders.
+
+ "EDWIN M. STANTON, Secretary of War."
+
+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?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+
+THE LAST ACT.
+
+ 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.
+
+
+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, 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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"Well," said the President, "you will hear very soon now and the news
+will be important."
+
+"Why do you think so?" said the General.
+
+"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:
+
+"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."
+
+In the afternoon, a long and pleasant conversation was held with
+eminent citizens from Illinois.
+
+In the evening, during a talk with Messrs. Colfax and Ashman--the
+latter of whom presided at the Chicago Convention, 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.
+
+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."
+
+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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+Recovering himself immediately, he flourished his dagger, shouted "_Sic
+semper tyrannis_" and "_The South is avenged_," 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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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.
+
+"_Sic semper tyrannis!_" And this the justification for the murder of a
+ruler who had
+
+ "---- borne his faculties so meek, had been
+ So clear in his great office, that his virtues
+ Will plead like angels, trumpet-tongued, against
+ The deep damnation of his taking-off."
+
+"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.
+
+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!
+
+But sorrow was tempered with mercy. He did not fall 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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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 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.
+
+When he fell, treason throughout the land lay gasping, dying.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+Meanwhile the honored dead lay in state in the country's capitol.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+Thence the funeral _cortege_ 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 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!"
+
+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.
+
+Flowers beautified the lifeless remains--dirges were sung--the people's
+great heart broke out into sobs and sighing.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+There all that is mortal of ABRAHAM LINCOLN reposes.
+
+"The immortal?" Hail, and farewell!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+THE MAN.
+
+ 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.
+
+
+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 were it in any other country, be
+evidence of ability of the very highest order.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+He was relected, the first President since Jackson to whom that honor
+had been accorded. And thirty-two years had passed--eight Presidential
+terms--since Jackson's relection. He was, moreover, relected by a
+largely increased vote.
+
+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
+relected. Why? For the same reason that first brought him before the
+country.
+
+Primarily and mainly because the mass of the people had 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.
+
+What shall be said of him as a statesman?
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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.
+
+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 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!
+
+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 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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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."
+
+ Oh, why should the spirit of mortal be proud?
+ Like a swift, fleeting meteor, a fast-flying cloud,
+ A flash of the lightning, a break of the wave,
+ Man passeth from life to his rest in the grave.
+
+ The leaves of the oak and the willow shall fade,
+ Be scattered around and together be laid;
+ And the young and the old, and the low and the high,
+ Shall moulder to dust and together shall lie.
+
+ The infant a mother attended and loved;
+ The mother that infant's affection who proved;
+ The husband that mother and infant who blessed,
+ Each, all, are away to their dwellings of Rest.
+
+ The maid on whose cheek, on whose brow, in whose eye
+ Shone beauty and pleasure--her triumphs are by;
+ And the memory of those who loved her and praised,
+ Are alike from the minds of the living erased.
+
+ The hand of the king that the sceptre hath borne;
+ The brow of the priest that the mitre hath worn;
+ The eye of the sage and the heart of the brave,
+ Are hidden and lost in the depth of the grave.
+
+ The peasant whose lot was to sow and to reap;
+ The herdsman, who climbed with his goats up the steep;
+ The beggar, who wandered in search of his bread,
+ Have faded away like the grass that we tread.
+
+ The saint who enjoyed the communion of heaven,
+ The sinner who dared to remain unforgiven,
+ The wise and the foolish, the guilty and just,
+ Have quietly mingled their bones in the dust.
+
+ So the multitude goes, like the flowers or the weed
+ That withers away to let others succeed;
+ So the multitude comes, even those we behold,
+ To repeat every tale that has often been told.
+
+ For we are the same our fathers have been;
+ We see the same sights our fathers have seen--
+ We drink the same stream and view the same sun--
+ And run the same course our fathers have run.
+
+ The thoughts we are thinking our fathers would think;
+ From the death we are shrinking our fathers would shrink,
+ To the life we are clinging they also would cling;
+ But it speeds for us all, like a bird on the wing.
+
+ They loved, but the story we cannot unfold;
+ They scorned, but the heart of the haughty is cold;
+ They grieved, but no wail from their slumber will come;
+ They joyed, but the tongue of their gladness is dumb.
+
+ They died, aye! they died; and we things that are now,
+ Who walk on the turf that lies over their brow,
+ Who make in their dwelling a transient abode,
+ Meet the things that they met on their pilgrimage road.
+
+ Yea! hope and despondency, pleasure and pain,
+ We mingle together in sunshine and rain;
+ And the smile and the tear, the song and the dirge,
+ Still follow each other, like surge upon surge.
+
+ 'Tis the wink of an eye, 'tis the draught of a breath;
+ From the blossom of health to the paleness of death,
+ From the gilded saloon to the bier and the shroud--
+ Oh why should the spirit of mortal be proud?
+
+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:
+
+ "Born February 12, 1809, in Hardin county, Kentucky.
+
+ "Education Defective.
+
+ "Profession a lawyer.
+
+ "Have been a captain of volunteers in the Black Hawk war.
+
+ "Postmaster at a very small office.
+
+ "Four times a member of the Illinois Legislature.
+
+ "And was a member of the lower House of Congress.
+
+ "Yours, etc.,
+ A. LINCOLN."
+
+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 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.
+
+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:
+
+"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."
+
+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.
+
+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 leave--
+
+ ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX.
+
+ MR. LINCOLN'S SPEECHES IN CONGRESS AND ELSEWHERE, PROCLAMATIONS,
+ LETTERS, ETC., NOT INCLUDED IN THE BODY OF THE WORK.
+
+
+SPEECH ON THE MEXICAN WAR.
+
+(_In Committee of the Whole House, January 12, 1848._)
+
+Mr. Lincoln addressed the Committee as follows:
+
+ "MR. CHAIRMAN:--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 _truth_ 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 _little_, or because of knowing
+ too _much_, 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, 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 _truth_, what he could not prove by telling
+ the _whole truth_, 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 _compelled_ 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 _truth_ 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.
+
+ "The President, in his first message of May, 1846, declares that
+ the soil was _ours_ 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 _very
+ point_ 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.
+
+ "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 _one_ river or the
+ _other_ is necessarily the boundary, and cheats the superficial
+ thinker entirely out of the idea that _possibly_ the boundary is
+ somewhere _between_ the two, and not actually at either. A further
+ deception is, that it will let in _evidence_ which a true issue
+ would exclude. A true issue made by the President would be about as
+ follows: 'I say the soil _was ours_ on which the first blood was
+ shed; there are those who say it was not.'
+
+ "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:
+
+ "1. That the Rio Grande was the western boundary of Louisiana, as
+ we purchased it of France in 1803.
+
+ "2. That the Republic of Texas always _claimed_ the Rio Grande as
+ her western boundary.
+
+ "3. That, by various acts, she had claimed it _on paper_.
+
+ "4. That Santa Anna, in his treaty with Texas, recognized the Rio
+ Grande as her boundary.
+
+ "5. That Texas _before_, and the United States _after_ annexation,
+ had _exercised_ jurisdiction _beyond_ the Nueces, _between_ the two
+ rivers.
+
+ "6. That our Congress _understood_ the boundary of Texas to extend
+ beyond the Nueces.
+
+ "Now for each of these in its turn:
+
+ "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 _present_ boundary between
+ us and Mexico? How, Mr. Chairman, the line that once divided your
+ land from mine can _still_ be the boundary between us _after_ 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 _thought_ of introducing such a fact to prove such
+ an issue, is equally incomprehensible. The outrage upon common
+ _right_, of seizing as our own what we have once sold, merely
+ because it _was_ ours _before_ we sold it, is only equaled by the
+ outrage on common _sense_ of any attempt to justify it.
+
+ "The President's next piece of evidence is, that 'The Republic
+ of Texas always _claimed_ this river (Rio Grande) as her western
+ boundary.' That is not true, in fact. Texas _has_ claimed it,
+ but she has not _always_ 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
+ _claim_ against _claim_, leaving nothing proved until we get back
+ of the claims, and find which has the better _foundation_.
+
+ "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--_on paper_. 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 _claim_; 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.
+
+ "I next consider the President's statement that Santa Anna, in
+ his _treaty_ 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--_could_ not bind Mexico
+ by a treaty, which I deem conclusive; besides this, I wish to say
+ something in relation to this treaty so called by the President,
+ with Santa Anna. If any man would like to be amused by a sight at
+ that _little_ thing, which the President calls by that _big_ 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 _called_
+ 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 _himself_ take up
+ arms, nor _influence_ 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 _is_ stipulated therein that the
+ Mexican forces should evacuate the territory of Texas, _passing
+ to the other side of the Rio Grande_; 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 _what_
+ 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 _her own_ boundary.
+
+ "Next comes the evidence that Texas before annexation, and the
+ United States afterward, exercising jurisdiction beyond the
+ Nueces, and _between_ the two rivers. This actual _exercise_ 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 _beyond_ the Nueces, but he does not tell
+ us it went _to_ the Rio Grande. He tells us jurisdiction was
+ exercised _between_ the two rivers, but he does not tell us
+ it was exercised over _all_ 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 _between_ two rivers without covering _all_
+ 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
+ _all_ 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 _persuade_ nor _force_
+ 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.
+
+ "But next, the President tells us, the Congress of the United
+ States _understood_ the State of Texas they admitted into the
+ Union to extend _beyond_ the Nueces. Well, I suppose they did--I
+ certainly so understand it--but how _far_ beyond? That Congress
+ did _not_ 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.
+
+ "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 _there_, and _thereby_,
+ 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 _dared_ not admit, and yet _could_
+ 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.
+
+ "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 _wherever_ Texas was _exercising_ 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 _neither_ river was
+ the boundary, but the uninhabited country between the two was.
+ The extent of our territory in that region depended not on any
+ _treaty-fixed_ boundary (for no treaty had attempted it), but on
+ revolution. Any people anywhere, being inclined and having the
+ power, have the _right_ 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 _can_ may
+ revolutionize, and make their _own_ of so much of their territory
+ as they inhabit. More than this, a _majority_ of any portion
+ of such people may revolutionize, putting down a _minority_,
+ 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
+ _actual_, willing or unwilling submission of the people, so _far_
+ the country was hers, and no further.
+
+ "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 _facts_, 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 _should_
+ not, and the Almighty _will_ not, be evaded, so let him attempt no
+ 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 _can not or will not_ 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 _on_ and _on_, 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 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, _without a purpose or definite
+ object_.' So, then, the national honor, security of the future, and
+ everything but territorial indemnity, may be considered the _no
+ purposes_ and _indefinite_ 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 _all_ we are fighting for,
+ and _still_ 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
+ _excess_ after those expenses shall have surpassed the value of the
+ _whole_ of the Mexican territory. So, again, he insists that the
+ separate national existence of Mexico shall be maintained; but he
+ does not tell us _how_ this can be done after we shall have taken
+ _all_ 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.
+
+ "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, 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 _better_ half of the country, how
+ long its future prosecution will be in equalling the less valuable
+ half is not a _speculative_ but a _practical_ question, pressing
+ closely upon us; and yet it is a question which the President seems
+ never to have thought of.
+
+ "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, _the continued success of our arms
+ may fail to obtain a satisfactory peace_.' 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 '_this may become the only mode of obtaining such a
+ peace_.' 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 _out_ 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.
+
+ "Again, it is a singular omission in this message, that it nowhere
+ intimates _when_ 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 _not_ do; after all this,
+ this same President gives us a long message without showing us that
+ _as to the end_, 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."
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+SPEECH ON INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.
+
+(_In Committee of the Whole House, June 20, 1848._)
+
+Mr. Lincoln said:
+
+ "MR. CHAIRMAN:--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."
+
+ 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."
+
+ 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:
+
+ "'That the Constitution does not confer upon the General Government
+ the power to commence and carry on a general system of internal
+ improvements.'
+
+ "General Cass, in his letter accepting the nomination, holds this
+ language:
+
+ "'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.'
+
+ "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 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 _general_ 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.
+
+ "Those general positions are: That internal improvements ought not
+ to be made by the General Government:
+
+ "1. Because they would overwhelm the treasury;
+
+ "2. Because, while their _burdens_ would be general, their
+ _benefits_ would be _local_ and _partial_, involving an obnoxious
+ inequality;
+
+ "3. Because they would be unconstitutional;
+
+ "4. Because the States may do enough by the levy and collection of
+ tonnage duties; or, if not,
+
+ "5. That the Constitution may be amended.
+
+ "'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.
+
+ "The first position is, that a system of internal improvement would
+ overwhelm the treasury.
+
+ "That, in such a system, there is a _tendency_ to undue expansion,
+ is not to be denied. Such tendency is founded in the nature of the
+ subject. A member of Congress will prefer 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 _applied for_, 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 _granted_? 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.'
+
+ "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 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 _did_ keep within reasonable limits; and
+ what _has_ been done it seems to me, _can_ be done again.
+
+ "Now for the second position of the message, namely, that the
+ burdens of improvements would be _general_, while their _benefits_
+ would be _local_ and _partial_, 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 _general_, as not to be of some peculiar _local_
+ advantage; but on the other hand, nothing is so _local_ 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
+ 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 _local_
+ as not to be of some _general_ 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 _dearer_, and the people of Buffalo sweetened their
+ coffee a little _cheaper_ than before; a benefit resulting _from_
+ the canal, not to Illinois, where the canal _is_, but to Louisiana
+ and New York, where the canal is _not_. 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 _benefits_ of an improvement are by no
+ means confined to the particular locality of the improvement itself.
+
+ "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 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
+ _coal_ is clearly worth more than the _abstractions_, and yet what
+ a monstrous inequality in the prices! Does the President, for this
+ reason, propose to abolish the Presidency? He _does_ not, and he
+ _ought_ not. The true rule, in determining to embrace or reject any
+ thing, is not whether it have _any_ evil in it, but whether it have
+ more of evil than of good. There are few things _wholly_ evil or
+ _wholly_ 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, upon this question? Why,
+ as to improvements, magnify the _evil_, and stoutly refuse to see
+ any good in them?
+
+ "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:
+
+ "'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.'
+
+ "I introduce this, not to controvert, just now, the Constitutional
+ opinion, but to show, that on the question of _expediency_, 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:
+
+ "'Bears wide and kicks the owner over.'
+
+ "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 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 _for_, and the executive _against_, 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:
+
+ "'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.'
+
+ "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 _against_ the power; but it is insisted that
+ quite as many, as great, and as good, have been _for_ 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 _vastly_
+ 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 _truth_ 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?
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 _sufficient_,
+ 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, _upon the tonnage
+ coming into that harbor_. To do otherwise--to collect money in
+ _one_ harbor to be expended in improvements in _another_--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.
+
+ "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 _expedient_ but not Constitutional, it would be
+ natural enough for him to recommend such an amendment; but hear
+ what he says in this very message:
+
+ "'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.'
+
+ "For what, then, would _he_ have the Constitution amended? With
+ _him_ it is a proposition to remove _one_ impediment, merely to
+ be met by _others_, 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."
+
+ [Here Mr. Meade, of Virginia, inquired if Mr. L. understood the
+ President to be opposed, on grounds of expediency, to any and every
+ improvement?]
+
+ To which Mr. Lincoln answered: "In the very part of his 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.
+
+ "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 _they_ did?
+
+ "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
+ _not_ 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 _sufficient_, or they
+ are _not_. If sufficient, they are sufficient _out_ of Congress
+ as well as _in_ 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.
+
+ 'Attempt the end, and never stand to doubt;
+ Nothing so hard, but search will find it out.'
+
+ "Determine that the thing can and shall be done, and then we shall
+ find the way. The tendency to undue expansion is unquestionably
+ the chief difficulty. How to do _something_, and still not to do
+ _too much_, 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 _how
+ much_ money can, for that year, be spared for improvements; then
+ apportion that sum to the most _important_ objects. So far all is
+ easy; but how shall we determine which _are_ the most important?
+ On this question comes the collision of interests. _I_ shall be
+ slow to acknowledge that _your_ harbor or _your_ river is more
+ important than _mine_, and _vice versa_. 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
+ _facts_--a basis in nowise subject to whim, caprice, or local
+ interest. The pre-limited amount of means will save us from doing
+ _too much_, and the statistics will save us from doing what we do
+ in _wrong places_. Adopt and adhere to this course, and, it seems
+ to me, the difficulty is cleared.
+
+ "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 _consumed_ where they are _produced_, need no roads and rivers,
+ no means of transportation, and have no very proper connection with
+ this subject. The _surplus_, that which is produced in _one_ place
+ to be consumed in _another_; the capacity of each locality for
+ producing a _greater_ 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."
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+SPEECH ON THE PRESIDENCY AND GENERAL POLITICS.
+
+(_Delivered in the House, July 27, 1848._)
+
+GENERAL TAYLOR AND THE VETO POWER.
+
+ "Mr. SPEAKER:--Our Democratic friends seem to be in great distress
+ because they think our candidate for the Presidency don't suit
+ _us_. Most of them can not find out that General Taylor has any
+ principles at all; some, however, have discovered that he has
+ _one_, 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 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 _doubtful_
+ 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 _he_ has _doubts_ 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:
+
+ "'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 misled by error, ambition, or interest,
+ that the Constitution has placed a check in the negative of the
+ President.'
+
+ "General Taylor's opinion, as expressed in his Allison letter, is
+ as I now read:
+
+ "'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.
+
+ "It is here seen that, in Mr. Jefferson's opinion, if, on the
+ Constitutionality of any given bill, the President _doubts_, 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.
+
+ "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 _do_
+ 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 knows any thing which I do not, he can show it.
+ But to return: General Taylor, in his Allison letter says:
+
+ "'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.'
+
+ "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, '_Your_ will, gentlemen, not _mine_.'
+ '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 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. 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.
+
+ "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 _believe_, Gen. Taylor, if elected, would not veto
+ the proviso; but I do not _know_ 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, _should_
+ 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?
+
+ "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, 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 _general_ objects, those he
+ is _for_, must be _particular_ and _local_. Now, this is taking the
+ subject precisely by the wrong end. _Particularity_--expending the
+ money of the _whole_ people for an object which will benefit only a
+ _portion_ 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.
+
+ "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 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 _as_ 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.
+
+ "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 _American_ 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 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
+ _availability_--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.'
+
+ "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."
+
+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 in the Black Hawk war, as already
+quoted. He then said:
+
+ "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:
+
+ "'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.'
+
+ "To this Gen. Cass is reported to have replied as follows, to wit:
+
+ "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.'
+
+ "In the 'remarks above committed to writing,' is one numbered 4, as
+ follows, to wit:
+
+ "'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 exercise its own discretion,
+ entirely uncontrolled by any declaration found in the statute book.'
+
+ "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:
+
+ "'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.
+
+ "'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,
+
+ "'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.'
+
+ "These extracts show that, in 1846, General Cass was for the
+ Proviso _at once_; that, in March, 1847, he was still for it,
+ _but not just then_; and that in December, 1847, he was _against_
+ 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,' '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.'
+
+ "Have no fears, gentlemen, of your candidate; he exactly suits you,
+ and we congratulate you upon it. However much you may be distressed
+ about _our_ 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 _you_ till you first
+ desert _him_."
+
+After referring at some length to extra "charges" of General Cass upon
+the Treasury, Mr. Lincoln continued:--
+
+ "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 _time_, but
+ that he often did it, at several _places_ many hundred miles apart,
+ _at the same time_. 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 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.
+
+ "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 _you_ may appear a perfectly amiable, peaceful,
+ unprovoking procedure; but it does not appear so to _us_. 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 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.
+
+ "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 _that_
+ 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.
+
+ "But the distinction between the cause of the _President_ in
+ beginning the war, and the cause of the _country_ after it was
+ begun, is a distinction which you can not perceive. To _you_, 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 _possibly_ 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 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.
+
+ "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
+ _our_ account."
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+SPEECH IN REPLY TO MR. DOUGLAS, ON KANSAS, THE DRED SCOTT DECISION, AND
+THE UTAH QUESTION.
+
+(_Delivered at Springfield, Ill., June 26, 1857._)
+
+ "FELLOW-CITIZENS:--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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.'
+
+ "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.'
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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
+ 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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?
+
+ "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.'
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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:
+
+ "'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 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.'
+
+ "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:
+
+ "'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.'
+
+ "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:
+
+ "'If the opinion of the Supreme Court covered the whole 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.'
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 particularity as to leave no doubt of
+ its truth; and as a sort of conclusion on that point, holds the
+ following language:
+
+ "'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.'
+
+ "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.'
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 ALL 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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "I think the authors of that notable instrument intended to include
+ _all_ men, but they did not intend to declare all men equal _in all
+ respects_. 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 _right_, so that the _enforcement_ of it might follow
+ as fast as circumstances should permit."
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+SPEECH IN REPLY TO SENATOR DOUGLAS.
+
+(_At Chicago, on the evening of July 10, 1858._)
+
+ "MY FELLOW-CITIZENS: 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.
+
+ "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.]
+
+ "'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 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.'
+
+ "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!
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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
+ _alliance_. 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 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 _am_ for putting
+ him where he will trouble us no more.'
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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--_Squatter Sovereignty_. 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 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.'
+
+ "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--_put_ 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 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.']
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 him; I should like to know who he was. [Same voice,
+ 'John Calhoun.']
+
+ "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"?
+
+After referring, in appropriate terms, to the credit claimed by Douglas
+for defeating the Lecompton policy, Mr. Lincoln proceeds:
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.'
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 _believe_--and that is what I meant to allude to there--I
+ _believe_ 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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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....
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 _after_ 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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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
+ _astonisher_ 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? 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?' * * *
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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
+ 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.
+
+ "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
+ 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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."
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+OPENING PASSAGES OF HIS SPEECH AT FREEPORT.
+
+ "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN:--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 _refused_ 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "Having said thus much, I will take up the judge's interrogatories
+ as I find them printed in the Chicago _Times_, and answer them
+ _seriatim_. 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:
+
+ 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?'
+
+ Answer. "I do not now, nor ever did, stand in favor of the
+ unconditional repeal of the Fugitive Slave law.
+
+ 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?'
+
+ A. "I do not now, nor ever did, stand pledged against the admission
+ of any more slave States into the Union.
+
+ 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?'
+
+ 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.
+
+ Q. 4. "'I want to know whether he stands to-day pledged to the
+ abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia?'
+
+ A. "I do not stand to-day pledged to the abolition of slavery in
+ the District of Columbia.
+
+ Q. 5. "'I desire him to answer whether he stands pledged to the
+ prohibition of the slave-trade between the different States?'
+
+ A. "I do not stand pledged to the prohibition of the slave-trade
+ between the different States.
+
+ 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?'
+
+ A. "I am impliedly, if not expressly, pledged to a belief in the
+ _right_ and _duty_ of Congress to prohibit slavery in all the
+ United States Territories.
+
+ Q. 7. "'I desire him to answer whether he is opposed to the
+ acquisition of any new territory unless slavery is first prohibited
+ therein?'
+
+ 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.
+
+ "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 _pledged_ 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 _pledged_ 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "In regard to the other question, of whether I am pledged to the
+ admission of any more Slave States into the Union, I 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.
+
+ "The third interrogatory is answered by the answer to the second,
+ it being, as I conceive, the same as the second.
+
+ "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
+ _endeavoring_ to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia,
+ unless it would be upon these conditions: _First_, that the
+ abolition should be gradual; _second_, that it should be on a vote
+ of the majority of qualified voters in the District; and _third_,
+ 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.'
+
+ "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
+ _pledged_ to nothing about it. It is a subject to which I have not
+ given that mature consideration that would make me feel 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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."
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+LETTER TO GENERAL McCLELLAN.
+
+ "WASHINGTON, April 9, 1862.
+
+ "MY DEAR SIR: Your dispatches, complaining that you are not
+ properly sustained, while they do not offend me, do pain me very
+ much.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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,
+ _via_ 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.
+
+ "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 _en route_ to
+ you. You say you will have but eighty-five thousand when all _en
+ route_ to you shall have reached you. How can the discrepancy of
+ twenty-three thousand be accounted for?
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "Yours, very truly,
+ A. LINCOLN.
+
+ "Maj.-Gen. MCCLELLAN."
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+LETTER TO GEN. SCHOFIELD RELATIVE TO THE REMOVAL OF GEN. CURTIS.
+
+ "_Executive Mansion_, Washington, May 27, 1863.
+
+ "Gen. J. M. SCHOFIELD--_Dear Sir_: 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 _role_, 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.
+
+ "Yours, truly, A. LINCOLN."
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND MEN CALLED FOR.
+
+ "WHEREAS, The term of service of part of the volunteer forces
+ of the United States will expire during the coming year; and
+ _whereas_, 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 be conducted in
+ accordance with such instructions as have been or may be issued by
+ that department.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal
+ of the United States to be affixed.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+ "WM. H. SEWARD, Secretary of State."
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+REV. DR. M'PHEETERS--THE PRESIDENT'S REPLY TO AN APPEAL FOR
+INTERFERENCE.
+
+ "_Executive Mansion_, Washington, December 23, 1863.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 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?'
+
+ "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
+ _release_! 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.'
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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, that, too,
+ will be declined. I will not have control of any church on any side."
+
+ "A. LINCOLN."
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+AN ELECTION ORDERED IN THE STATE OF ARKANSAS.
+
+ "_Executive Mansion_, Washington, January 20, 1864.
+
+ "MAJ. GEN. STEELE: 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 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.
+
+ "You will please order an election to take place on the 28th of
+ March, 1864, and returns to be made in fifteen days thereafter.
+
+ "A. LINCOLN."
+
+Later, the President wrote the following letter:
+
+ "WILLIAM FISHBACK, ESQ.: 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.
+
+ "A. LINCOLN."
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+CALL FOR FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND MEN.
+
+ "WHEREAS, 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 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.'
+
+ "AND WHEREAS, 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and 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.
+
+ "By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+ "WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State."
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+LETTER TO MRS. GURNEY.
+
+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.
+
+ "MY ESTEEMED FRIEND: 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "Your sincere friend,
+ "A. LINCOLN."
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+THE TENNESSEE TEST OATH.
+
+ "_Executive Mansion_, Washington, D. C.,
+ Saturday, October 22, 1864
+
+ "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.
+
+"GENTLEMEN: 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 ANDREW JOHNSON,
+Military Governor of Tennessee, and also a manuscript paper purporting
+to be extracts from the code of Tennessee, were laid before me."
+
+[The protest is here recited, and also the proclamation of GOV.
+JOHNSON, 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 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.]
+
+ "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.
+
+ "Up to the present moment, nothing whatever upon the subject has
+ passed between GOV. JOHNSON, or any one else connected with the
+ proclamation and myself.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "My conclusion is, that I can have nothing to do with the matter,
+ either to sustain the plan as the Convention and GOV. JOHNSON 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.
+
+ "The movement set a-foot by the Convention and GOV. JOHNSON does
+ not, as seems to be assumed by you, emanate from the National
+ Executive.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "I do not perceive in the plan any menace, or violence, or coercion
+ toward any one.
+
+ "GOV. JOHNSON, 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.
+
+ "I cannot discern that by his plan he purposes any more--but you
+ object to the plan.
+
+ "Leaving it alone will be your perfect security against it. It is
+ not proposed to force you into it.
+
+ "Do as you please on your own account peaceably and loyally, and
+ GOV. JOHNSON will not molest you, but will protect you against
+ violence so far as in his power.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "Except it be to give protection against violence, I decline to
+ interfere in any way with any Presidential election.
+
+ "ABRAHAM LINCOLN."
+
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Notes:
+
+
+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.
+
+Punctuation and spelling were made consistent when a predominant
+preference was found in this book; otherwise they were not changed.
+
+Simple typographical errors were corrected.
+
+Unbalanced and mismatched single- and double-quotation marks remedied
+only when the correction was unambiguous.
+
+Ambiguous hyphens at the ends of lines were retained. Inconsistent
+hyphenation retained unless there was a predominant preference for one
+form.
+
+Text mostly uses "any thing" but sometimes uses "anything".
+
+Text uses both "Chancelor" and "Chancellor".
+
+Page 44: "the tenth commandment" probably should be "amendment".
+
+Page 56: "rule of political action." should end with a question mark,
+not with a period.
+
+Page 195 does not have a "Second" order.
+
+Page 244: "acknowledgment" in "as a grateful acknowledgment" was
+misprinted. It was spelled correctly in Lincoln's original handwritten
+letter and that spelling is used here.
+
+Page 376: "reportively replied" was incompletely printed with empty
+space before "portively". Transcriber added "re" as it seemed to be the
+best fit.
+
+Page 386: "homely often" was incompletely printed with empty space
+before "omely". Transcriber added "h" as it seemed to be the best fit.
+
+Page 409: "_wholly_ 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".
+
+Page 413: "[Here Mr. Meade ... every improvement?]" was missing a
+closing square bracket. Added by Transcriber based on context.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Life of Abraham Lincoln, by Frank Crosby
+
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+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Life of Abraham Lincoln, by Frank Crosby
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Life of Abraham Lincoln
+ Sixteenth President of the United States
+
+Author: Frank Crosby
+
+Release Date: November 12, 2013 [EBook #44166]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Mark C. Orton, Charlie Howard, and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
+file was produced from images generously made available
+by The Internet Archive)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+<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">&#8220;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.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p class="p0 sigright">
+<i>From Mr. Lincoln&#8217;s Speech at Independence Hall, Philadelphia, February 21, 1861.</i><br />
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2 b0">&#8220;I believe this Government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p class="p0 sigright"><i>Springfield, Illinois, June, 1858.</i><br />
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2 b0">&#8220;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.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p class="p0 sigright"><i>Trenton, New Jersey, February 21, 1861.</i><br />
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2 b0">&#8220;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.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p class="p0 sigright"><i>Message, July 5, 1861.</i><br />
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2 b0">&#8220;In giving freedom to the slaves, we assure freedom to the free; honorable alike in
+what we give and what we preserve.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p class="p0 sigright"><i>Message, December 1, 1862.</i><br />
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2 b0">&#8220;I hope peace will come soon, and come to stay; and so come as to be worth the
+keeping in all future time.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p class="p0 sigright"><i>Springfield Letter, August 26, 1863.</i><br />
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2 b0">&#8220;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.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p class="p0 sigright"><i>Speech at Gettysburg, November 19, 1863.</i><br />
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2 b0">&#8220;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.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p class="p0 sigright"><i>Amnesty Proclamation, December 8, 1863.</i><br />
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2 b0">&#8220;I claim not to have controlled events, but confess plainly that events have controlled
+me.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p class="p0 sigright"><i>Letter to A. G. Hodges, April 4, 1864.</i><br />
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2 b0">&#8220;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.&#8221;</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">
+&#8220;<span class="smcap">Let all the ends thou aim&#8217;st at be thy country&#8217;s,<br />
+Thy God&#8217;s and Truth&#8217;s; then if thou fall&#8217;st<br />
+Thou fall&#8217;st a blessed martyr.</span>&#8221;<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&ndash;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;REGENERATED&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8217;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;its patient, anxious, yet withal hopeful expression&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;the
+sure, elastic step&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;a
+labor of love&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Birth of Abraham Lincoln&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Removal from Kentucky&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;At Work&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Self Education&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Personal
+Characteristics&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Another Removal&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Trip to New Orleans&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Becomes
+Clerk&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Black Hawk War&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Engages in Politics&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Successive Elections to the Legislature&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Anti-Slavery
+Protest&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Commences Practice as a Lawyer&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Traits of Character&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Marriage&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Return
+to Politics&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Internal Improvements&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Slavery in the District of Columbia&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Public
+Lands&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Retires to Private Life&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Kansas-Nebraska Bill&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Withdraws in Favor of Senator
+Trumbull&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Formation of Republican Party&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Nominated for U.&nbsp;S. Senator&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Opening
+Speech of Mr. Lincoln&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Douglas Campaign&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;The Canvass&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Tribute to the Declaration
+of Independence&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Extract from the Cincinnati Speech&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Visits the East&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Celebrated
+Speech at the Cooper Institute, New York&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Democratic Convention&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Constitutional Union Convention&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Ballotings
+at Chicago&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;The Result&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Enthusiastic Reception&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Visit to Springfield&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Address
+and Letter of Acceptance&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;The Campaign&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Result of the Election&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;South
+Carolina&#8217;s Movements&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Buchanan&#8217;s Pusillanimity&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Secession of States&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Confederate
+Constitution&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Peace Convention&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Constitutional Amendments&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Farewell Remarks&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Speech at Toledo&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;At Indianapolis&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;At Cincinnati&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;At
+Columbus&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;At Steubenville&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;At Pittsburgh&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;At Cleveland&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;At Buffalo&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;At Albany&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;At
+Poughkeepsie&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;At New York&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;At Trenton&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;At Philadelphia&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;At &#8220;Independence
+Hall&#8221;&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Flag Raising&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Speech at Harrisburg&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Secret Departure for Washington&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;The Inaugural Address&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Its Effect&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;The Cabinet&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Commissioners
+from Montgomery&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Extracts from A.&nbsp;H. Stephens&#8217; Speech&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Virginia Commissioners&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8217;s Fall&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;President&#8217;s Call for Troops&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Response in the Loyal States&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;In
+the Border States&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Baltimore Riots&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Maryland&#8217;s Position&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;President&#8217;s Letter to
+Maryland Authorities&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Blockade Proclamation&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Additional Proclamation&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Comments
+Abroad&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Second Call for Troops&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Special Order for Florida&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;President&#8217;s First Message&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Its Nature&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Action of Congress&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Resolution
+Declaring the Object of the War&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Bull Run&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Davis&#8217; Boast&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;McClellan appointed Commander of Potomac Army&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Proclamation
+of a National Fast&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Intercourse with Rebels Forbidden&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Fugitive Slaves&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Gen.
+Butler&#8217;s Views&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Gen. McClellan&#8217;s Letter from Secretary Cameron&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Act of August
+6th, 1861&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Gen. Fremont&#8217;s Order&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Letter of the President Modifying the Same&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Instructions
+to Gen. Sherman&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Ball&#8217;s Bluff&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Gen. Scott&#8217;s Retirement&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&ndash;62.</td></tr>
+
+ <tr>
+ <td class="tdl">The Military Situation&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Seizure of Mason and Slidell&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Opposition to the Administration&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;President&#8217;s
+Message&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Financial Legislation&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Committee on the Conduct of the War&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;His Policy&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Gradual Emancipation&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Message&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Abolition of
+Slavery in the District of Columbia&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Repudiation of Gen. Hunter&#8217;s Emancipation Order&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Conference
+with Congressmen from the Border Slave States&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Address to the Same&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Military
+Order&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8217;s War Order&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Reason for the Same&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Results in West and South-west&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Army
+of the Potomac&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Presidential Orders&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Letter to McClellan&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Order for Army Corps&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;The
+Issue of the Campaign&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Unfortunate Circumstances&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;President&#8217;s Speech at Union
+Meeting&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Comments&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Operations in Virginia and Maryland&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Letter to Mr. Greeley&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Announcement of the Emancipation Proclamation&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Suspension
+of the <i>Habeas Corpus</i> in certain Cases&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Order for Observance of the
+Sabbath&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Opposition to the Administration&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;President&#8217;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Favorable Elections&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Emancipation Policy&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Letter to Manchester
+(Eng.) Workingmen&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Proclamation for a National Fast&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Letter to Erastus Corning&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Letter to Gen. Grant&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Thanksgiving Proclamation&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Letter Concerning
+the Emancipation Proclamation&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Proclamation for Annual Thanksgiving&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Different Opinions as to Reconstruction&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Provisions for Pardon
+of Rebels&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;President&#8217;s Proclamation of Pardon&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Annual Message&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8217;s Speech at Washington&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Speech to a New York Committee&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Speech in Baltimore&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Letter
+to a Kentuckian&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Employment of Colored Troops&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Davis&#8217; Threat&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;General
+Order&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;President&#8217;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;His Military Record&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Continued Movements&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Correspondence with the
+President&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Across the Rapidan&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Richmond Invested&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;President&#8217;s Letter to a Grant
+Meeting&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Meeting of Republican National Convention&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;The Platform&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;The Nomination&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Mr.
+Lincoln&#8217;s Reply to the Committee of Notification&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Remarks to Union League
+Committee&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Speech at a Serenade&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8217;s Speech at Philadelphia&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Philadelphia Fair&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Correspondence with Committee
+of National Convention&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Proclamation of Martial Law in Kentucky&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Question of Reconstruction&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;President&#8217;s
+Proclamation on the Subject&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Speech to Soldiers&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Another Speech&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;&#8220;To Whom it may Concern&#8221;&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Chicago
+Convention&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Opposition Embarrassed&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Resolution No. 2&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;McClellan&#8217;s
+Acceptance&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Capture of the Mobile Forts and Atlanta&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Proclamation for Thanksgiving&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Remarks
+on Employment of Negro Soldiers&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Fremont&#8217;s Withdrawal&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Wade and Davis&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Peace and War
+Democrats&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Rebel Sympathizers&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;October Election&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Result of Presidential Election&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Speech
+to Pennsylvanians&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Speech at a Serenade&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Letter to a Soldier&#8217;s Mother&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Opening
+of Congress&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Reply to a Presentation Address&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Peace Rumors&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Rebel Commissioners&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Instructions
+to Secretary Seward&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;The Conference in Hampton Roads&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Result&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Extra
+Session of the Senate&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Military Situation&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Sherman&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Charleston&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Columbia&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Wilmington&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Fort
+Fisher&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Sheridan&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Grant&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Rebel Congress&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Second Inauguration&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Inaugural&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;English
+Comment&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Lee&#8217;s Failure&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Grant&#8217;s Movement&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Abraham Lincoln in
+Richmond&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Lee&#8217;s Surrender&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;President&#8217;s Impromptu Speech&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Speech on Reconstruction&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Proclamation
+Closing Certain Ports&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Proclamation Relative to Maritime Rights&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Supplementary
+Proclamation&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Orders from the War Department&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Cabinet Meeting&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Incident&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Evening Conversation&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Possibility
+of Assassination&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Leaves for the Theatre&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;In the Theatre&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Precautions for the
+Murder&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;The Pistol Shot&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Escape of the Assassin&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Death of the President&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Pledges
+Redeemed&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Situation of the Country&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Effect of the Murder&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Obsequies at Washington&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Borne
+Home&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Grief of the People&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;What was Accomplished&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Leaning on the People&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;State
+Papers&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;His Tenacity of Purpose&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Washington and Lincoln&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;As a Man&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Favorite Poem&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Autobiography&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;His
+Modesty&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;A Christian&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8217;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&nbsp;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;President&#8217;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Birth of Abraham Lincoln&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Removal from Kentucky&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;At Work&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Self
+Education&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Personal Characteristics&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Another Removal&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Trip to New Orleans&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Becomes
+Clerk&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Black Hawk War&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Engages in Politics&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Successive Elections to the
+Legislature&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Anti-Slavery Protest&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Commences Practice as a Lawyer&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Traits of Character&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Marriage&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Return
+to Politics&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;&#8220;the short and simple annals
+of the poor.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Of obscure parentage&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;accustomed to toil from their tender
+years&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;with few facilities for the education of the school&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;amid scenes and associations
+entirely dissimilar to those with which in youth and
+early manhood, they were familiar&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;retained somewhat indicative
+of their origin and training. In speech or in action&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;often
+in both&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;the former a
+Kentuckian, the latter a Virginian&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;on winter evenings, oftentimes,
+by the light of the blazing fire-place. As satisfaction
+for damage accidentally done to a borrowed copy of Weems&#8217;
+Life of Washington&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;the only one known to be in the neighborhood&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;then the El Dorado of the
+Western frontiersman&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;his first promotion.
+The company, however, having disbanded, he again
+enlisted as a private, and during the three months&#8217; 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&#8217;s biographers to exalt their idol
+into a military hero, he thus alluded to this episode in his
+life:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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&#8217;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&#8217;s defeat, but
+I was about as near it as Cass to Hull&#8217;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>&#8220;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.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>This bit of adventure over, Mr. Lincoln&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;who had determined
+to become a lawyer, in common with most energetic,
+enterprising young men of that period and section&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;a backwoodsman in manner, dress, and
+expression&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;tall, lank, and by no means prepossessing&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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:&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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.&#8221;</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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;considering the necessity he was under
+of eking out a support for himself, and the demands made
+upon his time by his political associates&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;combined with his sterling, practical
+sense, going straight to the core of things&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;which ever after he called his
+home&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8217;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&#8217;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;December
+6th, 1847&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Internal Improvements&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Slavery in the District of Columbia&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Public
+Lands&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Retires to Private Life&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Kansas-Nebraska Bill&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Withdraws in favor of
+Senator Trumbull&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Formation of Republican Party&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Nominated for U.&nbsp;S. Senator&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Opening
+Speech of Mr. Lincoln&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Douglas Campaign&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;The Canvass&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Tribute to the
+Declaration of Independence&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8217;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 &#8220;be attended
+into and out of said District, and while there, by the necessary
+servants of themselves and their families.&#8221;</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&#8217;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&#8217;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;his re-election as Senator
+depending upon the result of the State election in 1858&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;the
+Republican Convention of that year with shouts of
+applause, unanimously resolved that Abraham Lincoln was
+&#8220;the first and only choice of the Republicans of Illinois for
+the United States Senate, as the successor of Stephen A.
+Douglas.&#8221; 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>&#8220;<span class="smcap">Gentlemen of the Convention</span>:&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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. &#8216;A house divided against
+itself can not stand.&#8217; I believe this Government can not
+endure, permanently, half slave and half free. I do not expect
+the Union to be dissolved&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;I do not expect the house to
+fall&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;North as well as South.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Have we no tendency to the latter condition? Let any
+one who doubts, carefully contemplate that now almost complete
+legal combination&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;piece of machinery, so to speak&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;This necessity had not been overlooked, but had been
+provided for, as well as might be, in the notable argument of
+&#8216;<i>squatter sovereignty</i>,&#8217; otherwise called &#8216;<i>sacred right of self-government</i>,&#8217;
+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: &#8216;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.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then opened the roar of loose declamation in favor of
+&#8216;squatter sovereignty,&#8217; and &#8216;sacred right of self-government.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;But,&#8217; said opposition members, &#8216;let us be more specific&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;let
+us <i>amend</i> the bill so as to expressly declare that the
+people of the territory <i>may</i> exclude slavery.&#8217; &#8216;Not we,&#8217; said
+the friends of the measure; and down they voted the amendment.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;While the Nebraska Bill was passing through Congress,
+a law case, involving the question of a negro&#8217;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;for a long time in each&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;was
+passing through the U.&nbsp;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&#8217;s name was &#8216;Dred Scott,&#8217; which name now designates
+the decision finally made in the case.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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, &#8216;That is a question for the Supreme
+Court.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;This was the third point gained.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;the principle for which he declares he has
+suffered much, and is ready to suffer to the end.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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, &#8216;squatter sovereignty&#8217; squatted out
+of existence, tumbled down like temporary scaffolding&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;like
+the mould at the foundry, served through one blast, and fell
+back into loose sand&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;the right of a people to make their
+own Constitution&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;upon which he and the Republicans have
+never differed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The several points of the Dred Scott decision, in connection
+with Senator Douglas&#8217;s &#8216;care not&#8217; policy, constitute the
+piece of machinery in its present state of advancement. The
+working points of that machinery are:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;&#8216;The citizens
+of each State shall be entitled to all the privileges and immunities
+of citizens in the several States.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Secondly, that &#8216;subject to the Constitution of the United
+States,&#8217; neither Congress nor a Territorial Legislature can
+exclude slavery from any United States Territory.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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&#8217;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;This shows exactly where we now are, and partially also,
+whither we are tending.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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 &#8220;perfectly free,&#8221; &#8220;subject only to the
+Constitution.&#8221; 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>&#8220;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>&#8220;Why was the court decision held up? Why even a
+Senator&#8217;s individual opinion withheld till after the Presidential
+election? Plainly enough now; the speaking out
+then would have damaged the &#8220;<i>perfectly free</i>&#8221; argument
+upon which the election was to be carried.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why the outgoing President&#8217;s felicitation on the indorsement?
+Why the delay of a re-argument? Why the incoming
+President&#8217;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>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Stephen, Franklin, Roger, and James, for instance&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;not
+omitting even scaffolding&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;It should not be overlooked that, by the Nebraska bill,
+the people of a State as well as Territory, were to be left
+&#8216;<i>perfectly free</i>,&#8217; &#8216;<i>subject only to the Constitution</i>.&#8217; 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>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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, &#8216;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.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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 &#8216;care not whether slavery be voted down or voted up,&#8217;
+shall gain upon the public mind sufficiently to give promise
+that such a decision can be maintained when made.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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 &#8216;a <i>living dog</i> is better than a <i>dead lion</i>.&#8217; 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&#8217;t care anything about it. His avowed
+mission is impressing the &#8216;public heart&#8217; to care nothing
+about it.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;A leading Douglas Democrat newspaper thinks Douglas&#8217;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>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;how can he
+refuse that trade in that &#8216;property&#8217; shall be &#8216;perfectly
+free&#8217;&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;Senator Douglas holds, we know, that a man may
+rightfully be wiser to-day than he was yesterday&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;Now, as ever, I wish not to misrepresent Judge Douglas&#8217;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>&#8220;But clearly, he is not now with us&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;he does not pretend
+to be&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;he does not promise ever to be. Our cause, then,
+must be intrusted to, and conducted by its own undoubted
+friends&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;those whose hands are free, whose hearts are in the
+work&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;who do care for the result.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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?&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;<i>now</i>&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;when
+that same enemy is wavering, dissevered and belligerent?</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The result is not doubtful. We shall not fail&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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.&#8221;</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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;for the wives and daughters of the hardy yeomanry
+were naturally interested&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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:&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;</span></p>
+
+<blockquote>
+
+<p>&#8220;These communities, (the thirteen colonies,) by their
+representatives in old Independence Hall, said to the world
+of men, &#8216;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.&#8217; 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&#8217;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>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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&#8217;s success. It is nothing; I
+am nothing; Judge Douglas is nothing. <i>But do not destroy
+that immortal emblem of humanity&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;the Declaration of American
+Independence.</i>&#8221;</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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Extract from his Cincinnati Speech&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Visits the East&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Celebrated
+Speech at the Cooper Institute, New York&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8217;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>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;the white ones I mean&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;and I have the
+honor to inform you that I once did get a chance in that
+way.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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, &#8216;That is so.&#8217;] &#8216;That
+is so,&#8217; one of them says. I wonder if he is a Kentuckian?
+[A voice, &#8216;He is a Douglas man.&#8217;] 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&#8217;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>&#8220;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.&#8221;</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>&#8220;<span class="smcap">Mr. President and Fellow Citizens of New York</span>:&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;In his speech last autumn, at Columbus, Ohio, as reported
+in <i>The New York Times</i>, Senator Douglas said:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Our fathers, when they framed the Government under
+which we live, understood this question just as well, and
+even better than we do now.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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: &#8216;What was the understanding
+those fathers had of the questions mentioned?&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What is the frame of Government under which we live?</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The answer must be: &#8216;The Constitution of the United
+States.&#8217; 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>&#8220;Who were our fathers that framed the Constitution? I
+suppose the &#8216;thirty-nine&#8217; 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>&#8220;I take these &#8216;thirty-nine,&#8217; for the present, as being &#8216;our
+fathers who framed the Government under which we live.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What is the question which, according to the text, those
+fathers understood just as well, and even better than we do
+now?</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>&#8220;Upon this, Douglas holds the affirmative, and Republicans
+the negative. This affirmative and denial form an issue; and
+this issue&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;this question&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;is precisely what the text declares
+our fathers understood better than we.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Let us now inquire whether the &#8216;thirty-nine,&#8217; or any of
+them, ever acted upon this question; and if they did, how
+they acted upon it&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;how they expressed that better understanding.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;In 1784&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;three years before the Constitution&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;the
+United States then owning the Northwestern Territory, and
+no other&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;the Congress of the Confederation had before them
+the question of prohibiting slavery in that Territory; and
+four of the &#8216;thirty-nine&#8217; 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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;James McHenry&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;voted against the prohibition, showing
+that, for some cause, he thought it improper to vote
+for it.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;the same question of prohibiting slavery in
+the territory again came before the Congress of the Confederation;
+and three more of the &#8216;thirty-nine&#8217; 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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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 &#8217;87.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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 &#8216;thirty-nine&#8217; or any of them, while engaged on that
+instrument, expressed any opinion on that precise question.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;In 1789, by the First congress which sat under the Constitution,
+an act was passed to enforce the Ordinance of &#8217;87
+including the prohibition of slavery in the Northwestern
+Territory. The bill for this act was reported by one of the
+&#8216;thirty-nine,&#8217; 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 &#8216;thirty-nine&#8217; 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>&#8220;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>&#8220;Again, George Washington, another of the &#8216;thirty-nine,&#8217;
+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>
+&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;take control of it&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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 &#8216;thirty-nine&#8217; 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>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;take control of it&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;<i>First.</i> That no slave should be imported into the territory
+from foreign parts.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;<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>&#8220;<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>&#8220;This act also was passed without yeas and nays. In the
+Congress which passed it, there were two of the &#8216;thirty-nine.&#8217;
+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>&#8220;In 1819&ndash;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 &#8216;thirty-nine&#8217;&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Rufus King and Charles Pinckney&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>
+&#8220;The cases I have mentioned are the only acts of the
+&#8216;thirty-nine,&#8217; or of any of them, upon the direct issue, which
+I have been able to discover.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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&ndash;20&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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 &#8216;thirty-nine&#8217; 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>&#8220;Here, then, we have twenty-three out of our &#8216;thirty-nine&#8217;
+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 &#8216;understood just as well, and even better than we do
+now;&#8217; and twenty-one of them&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;a clear majority of the
+&#8216;thirty-nine&#8217;&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;The remaining sixteen of the &#8216;thirty-nine,&#8217; 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>&#8220;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 &#8216;thirty-nine&#8217; 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
+&#8216;thirty-nine&#8217; 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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;as Dr. Franklin, Alexander<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">44</a></span>
+Hamilton, and Governeur Morris&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;while there was not one
+now known to have been otherwise, unless it may be John
+Rutledge, of South Carolina.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The sum of the whole is, that of our &#8216;thirty-nine&#8217; fathers
+who framed the original Constitution, twenty-one&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;a clear
+majority of the whole&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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 &#8216;no person
+shall be deprived of property without due process of law;&#8217;
+while Senator Douglas and his peculiar adherents plant
+themselves upon the tenth commandment, providing that
+&#8216;the powers not granted by the Constitution are reserved to
+the States respectively, and to the people.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Now, it so happens that these amendments were framed
+by the first Congress which sat under the Constitution&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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 &#8217;87; so that during the whole pendency of the act
+to enforce the Ordinance, the Constitutional amendments
+were also pending.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;better than he
+who affirms that they are inconsistent.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is surely safe to assume that the &#8216;thirty-nine&#8217; 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
+&#8216;our fathers who framed the government under which we
+live.&#8217; 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 &#8216;our fathers
+who framed the government under which we live,&#8217; 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>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;we reject
+all progress&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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 &#8216;our fathers, who framed the government
+under which we live,&#8217; were of the same opinion, thus substituting
+falsehood and deception for truthful evidence and
+fair argument. If any man, at this day, sincerely believes
+&#8216;our fathers, who framed the government under which we<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">47</a></span>
+live,&#8217; 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 &#8216;understood the question
+just as well, and even better than we do now.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But enough. Let all who believe that &#8216;our fathers, who
+framed the government under which we live,&#8217; understood this
+question just as well, and even better than we do now,&#8217; 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>&#8220;And now, if they would listen&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;as I suppose they will
+not&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;I would address a few words to the Southern people.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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 &#8216;Black Republicans.&#8217; In all
+your contentions with one another, each of you deems an unconditional
+condemnation of &#8216;Black Republicanism&#8217; 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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;license, so to
+speak&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;among you to be admitted or permitted to speak at
+all.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>&#8220;Bring forward your charges and specifications, and then
+be patient long enough to hear us deny or justify.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8217;s consideration.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;But you say you are conservative&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;eminently conservative&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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 &#8216;gur-reat pur-rinciple&#8217; that, &#8216;if one man would enslave
+another, no third man should object,&#8217; fantastically called
+&#8216;Popular Sovereignty;&#8217; 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>&#8220;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>&#8220;You charge that we stir up insurrections among your
+slaves. We deny it. And what is your proof? Harper&#8217;s
+Ferry! John Brown! John Brown was no Republican;
+and you have failed to implicate a single Republican in his
+Harper&#8217;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>&#8220;Some of you admit that no Republican designedly aided
+or encouraged the Harper&#8217;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>
+&#8220;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&#8217;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;In the language of Mr. Jefferson, uttered many years ago,
+&#8216;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.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>&#8220;The Federal Government, however, as we insist, has the
+power of restraining the extension of the institution&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;the power
+to insure that a slave insurrection shall never occur on any
+American soil which is now free from slavery.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;John Brown&#8217;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&#8217;s attempt on Louis Napoleon, and
+John Brown&#8217;s attempt at Harper&#8217;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>&#8220;And how much would it avail you, if you could, by the
+use of John Brown, Helper&#8217;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;that sentiment&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;But you will break up the Union rather than submit to a
+denial of your Constitutional rights.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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&#8217;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>
+&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;the statement in the opinion that &#8216;the right of
+property in a slave is distinctly and expressly affirmed in the
+Constitution.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;&#8216;distinctly&#8217; that is, not mingled
+with anything else&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;&#8216;expressly&#8217; that is, in words meaning
+just that, without the aid of any inference, and susceptible of
+no other meaning.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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 &#8216;slave&#8217; nor
+&#8216;slavery&#8217; is to be found in the Constitution, nor the word
+&#8216;property&#8217; 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 &#8216;person;&#8217; and
+wherever his master&#8217;s legal right in relation to him is alluded
+to, it is spoken of as &#8216;service or labor due,&#8217; as a &#8216;debt&#8217; 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>&#8220;To show all this is easy and certain.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>&#8220;And then it is to be remembered that &#8216;our fathers, who
+framed the Government under which we live&#8217;&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;the men who
+made the Constitution&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;decided this same Constitutional
+question in our favor, long ago&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;That is cool. A highwayman holds a pistol to my ear,
+and mutters through his teeth, &#8216;stand and deliver, or I shall
+kill you, and then you will be a murderer!&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;To be sure, what the robber demanded of me&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;my money&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;done in <i>acts</i> as well as in <i>words</i>.
+Silence will not be tolerated&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;we must place ourselves
+avowedly with them. Douglas&#8217;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>
+&#8220;I am quite aware they do not state their case precisely
+in this way. Most of them would probably say to us, &#8216;Let
+us alone, do nothing to us, and say what you please about
+slavery.&#8217; But we do let them alone&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;have never disturbed
+them&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;its universality;
+if it is wrong, they cannot justly insist upon its
+extension&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;such as a policy of &#8216;dont care&#8217; on a
+question about which all true men do care&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;such as invocations to Washington,
+imploring men to unsay what Washington said, and undo
+what Washington did.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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.&#8221;</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>&#8220;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 &#8216;Go on!&#8217; &#8216;Oh, do go on!&#8217; 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, &#8216;It is
+Abra&#8217;m Lincoln, from Illinois!&#8217;&#8221;</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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Democratic Convention&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Constitutional Union
+Convention&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Ballotings at Chicago&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;The Result&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Enthusiastic Reception&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Visit to
+Springfield&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Address and Letter of Acceptance&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;The Campaign&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Result of the Election&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;South
+Carolina&#8217;s Movements&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Buchanan&#8217;s pusillanimity&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Secession of states&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Confederate
+Constitution&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Peace Convention&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Constitutional Amendments&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8217;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;one day having been spent in organizing and
+another in the adoption of a platform of principles&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;amid the
+intense excitement of the twelve thousand people inside of
+the &#8220;Wigwam&#8221; (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&#8217;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8217;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>&#8220;<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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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.&#8221;</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">
+
+&#8220;<i>Springfield, Illinois</i>, May 23d, 1860.</p>
+
+<p class="hangleft">&#8220;<span class="smcap">Hon. George Ashman</span>, <i>President of the Republican National
+Convention</i>.<br />
+</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;<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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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">&#8220;Your obliged friend and fellow-citizen,</span><br />
+&#8220;<span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln</span>.&#8221;<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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;whether threats would be reduced to practice&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;not confined to a single State, but
+representatives of nearly, if not quite all&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;not to be counted
+by scores or hundreds even, but by thousands, and soon by
+tens of thousands&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;ready to lay their unhallowed hands upon
+the Union, the ark of our nation&#8217;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;was taking the requisite steps toward secession,
+the then President, James Buchanan, with a pusillanimity&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;to
+use no stronger term&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Government forts and arsenals are seized, and
+placed under the protection of the flag of the State. Georgia&#8217;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,
+&#8220;temporary&#8221; 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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;shortly
+afterward concurred in by the Senate&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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
+&#8220;Confederacy,&#8221; 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>&#8220;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.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>This was at once clinched by a recommendation that &#8220;a
+well-instructed, disciplined army, more numerous than would
+usually be required, on a peace establishment,&#8221; 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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Farewell Remarks&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Speech at Toledo&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;At Indianapolis&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;At Cincinnati&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;At
+Columbus&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;At Steubenville&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;At Pittsburgh&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;At Cleveland&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;At Buffalo&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;At Albany&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;At
+Poughkeepsie&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;At New York&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;At Trenton&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;At Philadelphia&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;At &#8220;Independence
+Hall&#8221;&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Flag-raising&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Speech at Harrisburg&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Secret Departure for Washington&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Comments.</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>Thus matters stood&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;the air filled with mutterings of an
+approaching storm&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;the most filled with a certain undefinable
+anxiety&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;the hearts of many failing them through fear&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;<span class="smcap">My Friends</span>:&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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.&#8221;</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>&#8220;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, &#8216;Behind the
+cloud the sun is shining still.&#8217; I bid you an affectionate farewell.&#8221;</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>&#8220;<span class="smcap">Fellow Citizens of the State of Indiana</span>:&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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,
+&#8216;there is a time to keep silence;&#8217; 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>&#8220;The words &#8216;coercion&#8217; and &#8216;invasion&#8217; 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>&#8220;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 &#8216;free-love&#8217; arrangement, to be
+maintained on passional attraction.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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.&#8221;</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>&#8220;<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>&#8220;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>&#8220;&#8216;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;as
+far as I am authorized to speak for the opposition&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;if we have degenerated&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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.&#8221;</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>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;perhaps
+without a reason why I should have a name&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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.&#8221;</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>&#8220;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 &#8216;What
+are their rights?&#8217; 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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;if
+not, then the minority must control. Would that be
+right? Would it be just or generous? Assuredly not.&#8221; He
+reiterated, the majority should rule. If he adopted a wrong
+policy, then the opportunity to condemn him would occur in
+four years&#8217; time. &#8220;Then I can be turned out and a better
+man with better views put in my place.&#8221;</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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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 &#8216;over the
+river?&#8217; 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.&#8221;</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>He then referred to the subject of the tariff, and said:</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+
+<p>&#8220;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.&#8221;</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>Mr. Lincoln, upon his arrival in Cleveland, adverted to the
+same subject in the following terms:</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+
+<p>&#8220;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 &#8216;argued up,&#8217; as the saying is, and cannot be
+argued down. Let it alone, and it will go down itself.&#8221;</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>&#8220;<span class="smcap">Mr. Mayor and Fellow Citizens</span>:&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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,&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;and others will agree with me&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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.&#8221;</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>&#8220;<span class="smcap">Governor Morgan</span>:&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;not to me but to the institutions of this great
+and glorious country.&#8221;</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>&#8220;<span class="smcap">Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Legislature Of
+The State of New York</span>:&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;in behalf of the President
+and of the future of the nation&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;in behalf of the cause of civil
+liberty in all time to come&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;for the good of the North and of the South&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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.&#8221;</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>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;I do not pretend to
+be sure&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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.&#8221;</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>&#8220;<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.&#8221;</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>&#8220;<span class="smcap">Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Senate of The
+State of New Jersey</span>:&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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, &#8216;Weems&#8217; Life of Washington.&#8217; 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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;the
+contest with the Hessians&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;the great hardships endured
+at that time&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;that
+something even more than National Independence&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;that
+something that held out a great promise to all the people of
+the world to all time to come&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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.&#8221;</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>&#8220;<span class="smcap">Mr. Speaker and Gentlemen</span>:&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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.&#8221;</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>&#8220;<span class="smcap">Mr. Mayor and Fellow-citizens of Philadelphia</span>:&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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.&#8221;</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>On the next morning Mr. Lincoln visited the old &#8220;Independence
+Hall,&#8221; 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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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.&#8221;</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.
+&#8220;The future,&#8221; he added, &#8220;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.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The President-elect then raised the flag to the top of the
+staff.</p>
+
+<p>At half-past 9 o&#8217;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>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;the interesting fact, perhaps we should say&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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 coperation 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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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.&#8221;</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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;The Inaugural Address&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Its Effect&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;The Cabinet&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Commissioners
+from Montgomery&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Extract from A.&nbsp;H. Stephens&#8217;s speech&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Virginia Commissioners&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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.&#8221;</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>&#8220;<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>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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.&#8221;</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&#8217;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;or what served them
+in lieu thereof&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;<span class="smcap">Fellow-citizens of the United States</span>:&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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 &#8216;I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere
+with the institution of slavery in the States where it
+exists.&#8217; 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>&#8220;&#8216;<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.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;&#8216;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.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>&#8220;All members of Congress swear their support to the
+whole Constitution&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;to this provision as well as any other.
+To the proposition, then, that slaves whose cases come within
+the terms of this clause &#8216;shall be delivered up,&#8217; 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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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 &#8216;the citizens of each State
+shall be entitled to all the privileges and immunities of citizens
+in the several States?&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;The mails, unless repelled, will continue to be furnished in
+all parts of the Union.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>
+&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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 &#8216;preserve, protect, and defend&#8217; it.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>&#8220;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.&#8221;</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>One point was established, at least, by this inaugural,
+whatever uncertainties might cluster about it&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;as every one who heard Mr. Lincoln on that eventful
+day must have felt&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8217;s cabinet, likewise&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;one from Alabama and the other from Georgia&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;announced
+themselves, three days later, as &#8220;Confederate
+Commissioners,&#8221; accredited for the purpose of negotiating a
+treaty. The President declined to recognize these &#8220;Commissioners,&#8221;
+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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;as he certainly was
+one of the ablest&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;The new Constitution (that adopted at Montgomery) has
+put at rest forever all the agitating questions relating to our
+peculiar institutions&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;African slavery as it exists among us&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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, &#8216;is become the chief stone of the
+corner&#8217; in our new edifice.&#8221;</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&#8217;s
+response:</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+
+<p>&#8220;<span class="smcap">Gentlemen</span>:&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;As a committee of the Virginia Convention,
+now in session, you present me a preamble and resolution,
+in these words:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;<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>&#8220;<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.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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, &#8216;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.&#8217; By the words
+&#8216;property and places belonging to the Government,&#8217; 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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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.&#8221;</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&#8217;s Fall&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;President&#8217;s Call for Troops&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Response in the Loyal States&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;In
+the Border States&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Baltimore Riot&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Maryland&#8217;s Position&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;President&#8217;s Letter to Maryland
+Authorities&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Blockade Proclamation&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Additional Proclamation&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Comments Abroad&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Second
+Call for Troops&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Special Order for Florida&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;<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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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&#8217;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>&#8220;In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and
+caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>
+&#8220;By the President: <span class="right"><span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln</span></span><br />
+
+&#8220;<span class="smcap">William H. Seward</span>, Secretary of State.&#8221;<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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;whether to stand by
+the Government, or, practically, to furnish aid and comfort to
+the rebels. Magoffin, Governor of Kentucky, was soon heard
+from: &#8220;Kentucky will furnish no troops,&#8221; said he, &#8220;for the
+wicked purpose of subduing her sister Southern States.&#8221;
+Letcher, of Virginia: &#8220;The militia of Virginia will not be
+furnished to the powers at Washington for any such case or
+purpose as they have in view;&#8221; 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 &#8220;Confederacy.&#8221;</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">
+
+&#8220;<i>Washington</i>, April 20th, 1861.</p>
+
+<p class="in0">&#8220;<span class="smcap">Governor Hicks and Mayor Brown</span>:<br />
+</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;<span class="smcap">Gentlemen</span>:&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;Without any military knowledge myself, of course I
+must leave details to General Scott. He hastily said this
+morning in presence of those gentlemen, &#8216;March them <i>around</i>
+Baltimore, and not through it.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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">&#8220;Your obedient servant,</span><br />
+&#8220;<span class="smcap">A. Lincoln</span>.&#8221;<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>&#8220;<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>&#8220;<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>&#8220;<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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>
+&#8220;By the President: <span class="right"><span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln</span>.</span><br />
+
+&#8220;<span class="smcap">William H. Seward</span>, Secretary of State.&#8221;<br />
+</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>On the 27th of April, the following additional proclamation
+was issued:</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+
+<p>&#8220;<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>&#8220;In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and
+caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>
+&#8220;By the President: <span class="right"><span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln</span>.</span><br />
+
+&#8220;<span class="smcap">William H. Seward</span>, Secretary of State.&#8221;<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
+&#8220;to organize and hold in readiness for instant action,
+in view of the exigencies of the country, an army of six
+hundred thousand men.&#8221; 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>&#8220;<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>&#8220;In the meantime, I earnestly invoke the coperation 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>&#8220;In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and
+caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>
+&#8220;By the President: <span class="right"><span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln</span>.</span><br />
+
+&#8220;<span class="smcap">William H. Seward</span>, Secretary of State.&#8221;<br />
+</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>On the 10th of May, 1861, the following proclamation was
+promulgated:</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and
+caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>
+&#8220;By the President: <span class="right"><span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln</span>.</span><br />
+
+&#8220;<span class="smcap">William H. Seward</span>, Secretary of State.&#8221;<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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;President&#8217;s First Message&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Its Nature&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Action of Congress&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Resolution
+Declaring the Object of the War&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Bull Run&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Its Effect.</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>The first session of Congress during Mr. Lincoln&#8217;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>&#8220;<span class="smcap">Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives</span>:&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>
+&#8220;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>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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 &#8216;Confederate States,&#8217; 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>
+&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;On the 5th of March, the present incumbent&#8217;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&#8217;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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, &#8216;You can have no conflict
+without being yourselves the aggressors.&#8217; 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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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, &#8216;Is there in all republics this inherent and fatal weakness?&#8217;
+&#8216;Must a Government of necessity be too strong for
+the liberties of its own people, or too weak to maintain its
+own existence?&#8217; 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>&#8220;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&#8217;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&#8217;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;At this point the insurrectionists announced their purpose
+to enter upon the practice of privateering.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>&#8220;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&#8217;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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&#8217;s Constitution, and
+therefore lawfully and peacefully, withdraw from the Union
+without the consent of the Union or of any other State.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>&#8220;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, &#8216;We, the people.&#8217;
+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, &#8216;all men are created equal.&#8217; 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, &#8216;We, the people,&#8217; and substitute, &#8216;We, the deputies
+of the sovereign and independent States.&#8217; Why? Why
+this deliberate pressing out of view the rights of men and the
+authority of the people? This is essentially a people&#8217;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>&#8220;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&#8217;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;The Constitution provided, and all the States have accepted
+the provision, &#8216;that the United States shall guarantee
+to every State in this Union a Republican form of government,&#8217;
+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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;July 4, 1861. <span class="right"><span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln.</span>&#8221;</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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;as seemed not altogether impossible to many&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;<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.&#8221;</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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;from whose onward movement
+against the rebels in Virginia so much had been expected&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;that Bull Run
+was a necessary discipline&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;a school in which all learned
+somewhat&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Davis&#8217;s boast&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;McClellan appointed Commander of Potomac Army&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Proclamation
+of a National Fast&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Intercourse with rebels forbidden&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Fugitive slaves&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Gen.
+Butler&#8217;s views&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Gen. McClellan&#8217;s letter from Secretary Cameron&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Act of August
+6th, 1861&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Gen. Fremont&#8217;s order&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Letter of the President modifying the same&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Instructions
+to Gen. Sherman&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Ball&#8217;s Bluff&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Gen. Scott&#8217;s retirement&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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.&#8221;</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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;whose laurels
+were yet to be won&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;<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 &#8216;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.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;<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>&#8220;<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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;<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>&#8220;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>
+&#8220;By the President: <span class="right"><span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln</span>.</span><br />
+
+&#8220;<span class="smcap">William H. Seward</span>, Secretary of State.&#8221;<br />
+</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>And four days later the following:</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+
+<p>&#8220;<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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and
+caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>
+&#8220;By the President: <span class="right"><span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln</span>.</span><br />
+
+&#8220;<span class="smcap">William H. Seward</span>, Secretary of State.&#8221;<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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;that they were to be
+regarded as &#8220;contraband of war&#8221;&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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.&#8221;</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>&#8220;<span class="smcap">General</span>:&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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.&#8221;</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>&#8220;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.&#8221;</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.&nbsp;C., Sept. 11,
+1861:</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+
+<p class="in0">
+&#8220;<span class="smcap">Major General John C. Fremont</span>:&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;<br />
+</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;<span class="smcap">Sir</span>,&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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 &#8216;An Act to confiscate
+property used for insurrectionary purposes,&#8217; 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">&#8220;Your obedient servant,</span><br />
+&#8220;<span class="smcap">A. Lincoln</span>.&#8221;<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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;varying and indefinite&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8217;s Bluff&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;the first under the direction of
+the new commander on the Potomac&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;fought October 21st
+was but Bull Run repeated; happily, however, on a somewhat
+smaller scale. A convenient scapegoat upon whom to
+throw the responsibility&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;General Stone&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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">
+
+&#8220;<i>Executive Mansion, Washington</i>, Nov. 1, 1861.<br />
+</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;On the 1st day of November, A.&nbsp;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>&#8220;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&#8217;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">
+&#8220;<span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln.</span>&#8221;<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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;gorgeous and golden&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;men
+thought them made for fighting, if fighting must be;
+but no fighting for the Army of the Potomac&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;an occasional
+skirmish only&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;mainly reviews.</p>
+
+<p>The winter months came&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;the dry season had passed.
+The Grand Army being now thoroughly organized, disciplined,
+and equipped went&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;to fight?&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;no&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;into winter
+quarters.</p>
+
+<p>And the people, patient ever and forgiving, when inclination
+impels, forgot Ball&#8217;s Bluff&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;forgot what they had hoped
+for&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&ndash;2.</span></h2>
+
+<blockquote>
+
+<p class="hang">The Military Situation&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Seizure of Mason and Slidell&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Opposition to the Administration&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;President&#8217;s
+Message&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Financial Legislation&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Committee on the Conduct of the War&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;though this would have been judged no
+little, had the people been less sanguine of great results immediately
+at hand&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;though
+afterwards disposed of by the Government in such a
+way as to secure the acquiescence of the nation&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;taken in
+connection with the position assumed by the British Government&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;in
+every way unpalatable to the mass of the people&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;<span class="smcap">Fellow-citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives</span>:&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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 coperating, 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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;I invite your attention to the correspondence between
+Her Britannic Majesty&#8217;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>&#8220;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>
+&#8220;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>&#8220;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&#8217;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>&#8220;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&#8217;s faith, and zeal for their
+country&#8217;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>
+&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;There are three vacancies on the bench of the Supreme
+Court&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;During the long and brilliant judicial career of Judge
+McLean, his circuit grew into an empire&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;altogether too large
+for any one judge to give the courts therein more than a
+nominal attendance&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;the collection
+of the debts&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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>
+&#8220;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>&#8220;I ask attention to the report of the Postmaster General,
+the following being a summary statement of the condition of
+the department:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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 &#8216;free mail matter,&#8217; 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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>
+&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;Under and by virtue of the act of Congress entitled &#8216;An
+act to confiscate property used for insurrectionary purposes,&#8217;
+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>&#8220;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>&#8220;On this whole proposition, including the appropriation of
+money with the acquisition of territory, does not the expediency
+amount to absolute necessity&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;that without which the
+Government itself cannot be perpetuated?</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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&#8217;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;These things demonstrate that the cause of the Union is
+advancing steadily and certainly southward.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;It continues to develop that the insurrection is largely, if
+not exclusively, a war upon the first principle of popular government&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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>
+&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;wives, sons, and daughters&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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">
+&#8220;<span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln.</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p class="p0">&#8220;<span class="smcap">Washington</span>, December 3, 1861.&#8221;</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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;His Policy&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Gradual Emancipation Message&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Abolition of
+Slavery in the District of Columbia&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Repudiation of General Hunter&#8217;s Emancipation
+Order&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Conference with Congressmen from the Border Slave States&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Address to the
+same&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Military Order&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8217;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;<span class="smcap">Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives</span>:&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;I
+recommend the adoption of a joint resolution
+by your honorable bodies, which shall be substantially as
+follows:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;<i>Resolved</i>, That the United States ought to coperate 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>
+&#8220;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, &#8216;the Union for which we have struggled being
+already gone, we now choose to go with the southern
+section.&#8217; 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 &#8216;initiation,&#8217; 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>&#8220;In the annual message last December, I thought fit to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">174</a></span>
+say, &#8216;the Union must be preserved; and hence all indispensable
+means must be employed.&#8217; 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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;March 6, 1862. <span class="right"><span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln.</span>&#8221;</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>&#8220;<span class="smcap">Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives</span>:&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;The
+act entitled &#8216;An act for the release of
+certain persons held to service or labor in the District of
+Columbia,&#8217; has this day been approved and signed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>&#8220;In the matter of compensation it is provided that claims
+may be presented within ninety days from the passage of the
+act, &#8216;but not thereafter,&#8217; 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>
+&#8220;April 16, 1862. <span class="right"><span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln.</span>&#8221;</span><br />
+</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>The President&#8217;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>&#8220;<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">
+
+&#8216;Head-Quarters, Department of the South,<br />
+
+<span class="l2">&#8216;<i>Hilton Head, S. C.</i>, May 9th, 1862.</span></p>
+
+<p class="in0">&#8216;<span class="smcap">General Orders</span> No. 11.</p>
+
+<p>&#8216;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">
+&#8216;<span class="smcap">David Hunter</span>, <i>Major-General Commanding</i>.<br />
+</p>
+
+<p class="p0 b0">&#8216;Official:</p>
+
+<p class="p0 in1">&#8216;<span class="smcap">Ed. W. Smith</span>, <i>Acting Assistant Adjutant-General</i>.&#8217;<br />
+</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>&#8216;<span class="smcap">And Whereas</span>, The same is producing some excitement
+and misunderstanding,</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;<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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;<i>Resolved</i>, That the United States ought to coperate 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.&#8217;</p>
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">177</a></span></p>
+<p>&#8220;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>&#8220;In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and
+caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>
+&#8220;By the President: <span class="right"><span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln</span>.</span><br />
+
+&#8220;<span class="smcap">William H. Seward</span>, Secretary of State.&#8221;<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>&#8220;<span class="smcap">Gentlemen</span>:&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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, &#8216;Can you, for your States, do better than to
+take the course I urge?&#8217; 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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8217;s throats!</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>&#8220;I am pressed with a difficulty not yet mentioned&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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.&#8221;</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>On the twenty-second of July, the following order was
+issued:</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+
+<p class="sigright">
+&#8220;<span class="smcap">War Department</span>, <i>Washington</i>, July 22d, 1862.<br />
+</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;<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>&#8220;<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>&#8220;<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">&#8220;By order of the President.</p>
+
+<p class="p0 sigright">&#8220;<span class="smcap">Edwin M. Stanton</span>, Secretary of War.&#8221;<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 &#8220;to suppress insurrections, to punish
+treason and rebellion, to seize and confiscate the property of
+rebels, and for other purposes,&#8221; 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&#8217;s War Order&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Reason for the same&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Results in West and South-west&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Army of
+the Potomac&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Presidential Orders&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Letter to McClellan&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Order for Army Corps&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;The
+Issue of the Campaign&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Unfortunate Circumstances&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;President&#8217;s Speech at Union Meeting&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Comments&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Operations
+in Virginia and Maryland&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;In the West and South-west.</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>Early in 1862 appeared the following:</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+
+<p class="sigright">
+
+&#8220;<i>Executive Mansion, Washington</i>, January 27th, 1862.</p>
+
+<p class="p0 in0">[President&#8217;s General War Order, No. 1.]
+</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;<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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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">
+&#8220;<span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln.</span>&#8221;<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?&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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">
+
+&#8220;<i>Executive Mansion, Washington</i>, January 31st, 1862.<br />
+</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;<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">
+&#8220;<span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln.</span>&#8221;<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">
+&#8220;<i>Executive Mansion, Washington</i>, February 3d, 1862.<br />
+</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;<span class="smcap">My Dear Sir</span>:&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;If you will give satisfactory answers to the following
+questions, I shall gladly yield my plan to yours:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;First. Does not your plan involve a greatly larger expenditure
+of <i>time</i> and <i>money</i> than mine?</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Second. Wherein is a victory <i>more certain</i> by your plan
+than mine?</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Third. Wherein is a victory <i>more valuable</i> by your plan
+than mine?</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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&#8217;s communications,
+while mine would?</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Fifth. In case of disaster, would not a retreat be more
+difficult by your plan than mine?</p>
+
+<p class="b0 in4">
+&#8220;Yours, truly, <span class="right"><span class="smcap">A. Lincoln</span>.</span></p>
+
+<p class="p0">&#8220;<span class="smcap">Major-General McClellan.</span>&#8221;<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">
+&#8220;<i>Executive Mansion, Washington</i>, March 8th, 1862.<br />
+</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;<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>&#8220;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&#8217;s batteries, and other obstructions, or
+until the President shall hereafter give express permission.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>&#8220;<span class="smcap">Ordered</span>, That the Army and Navy coperate in an
+immediate effort to capture the enemy&#8217;s batteries upon the
+Potomac between Washington and the Chesapeake Bay.</p>
+
+<p class="sigright b0">
+&#8220;<span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln.</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p class="p0">&#8220;<span class="smcap">L. Thomas</span>, Adjutant-General.&#8221;</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>Finally&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;after delays manifold, correspondence voluminous,
+discussions heated, and patience nearly worn threadbare&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8217;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;even though he,
+personally, were responsible for no single one of them&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;when
+so little was known of him, when he had done so little&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;that people, in their relations
+to their leading men, with their &#8220;Hosannas&#8221; to-day and their
+&#8220;Crucify him&#8217;s&#8221; to-morrow. The sequel of &#8220;going up like a
+rocket&#8221; 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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Patterson, Butler, and McClellan&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8217;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Abraham
+Lincoln&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;<span class="smcap">Fellow-citizens</span>:&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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&#8217;s attitude is such that, in the
+very selfishness of his nature, he cannot but wish to be successful,
+and I hope he will&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8217;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.&#8221;</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&#8217;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&#8217;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, &#8220;headquarters
+in the saddle,&#8221; turned into most melancholy bombast by his
+failure, occasioned either by want of brains or willful lack of
+coperation; 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.&nbsp;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Letter to Mr. Greeley&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Announcement of the Emancipation Proclamation&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Suspension
+of the <i>Habeas Corpus</i> in certain cases&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Order for Observance of the
+Sabbath&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;a letter written in
+ignorance of the fact that a definite policy had already been
+matured, which would be announced at a suitable moment&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Mr.
+Lincoln responded as follows:</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+
+<p class="sigright">
+&#8220;<i>Executive Mansion</i>, Washington, Aug. 22, 1862.<br />
+</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Hon. Horace Greeley</span>&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;<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>&#8220;As to the policy I &#8216;seem to be pursuing,&#8217; as you say, I
+have not meant to leave any one in doubt.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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 &#8216;the
+Union as it was.&#8217; 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">
+&#8220;Yours, <span class="right"><span class="smcap">A. Lincoln</span>.&#8221;</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>&#8220;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>&#8220;That attention is hereby called to an act of Congress,
+entitled, &#8216;An act to make an additional article of war,&#8217; approved
+March 13, 1862, and which act is in the words and
+figures following:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;<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>&#8220;&#8216;<i>Article &#8203;&mdash;&#8203;.</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>&#8220;&#8216;<i>Section 2</i>. And be it further enacted, That this act shall
+take effect from and after its passage.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Also to the ninth and tenth sections of an act entitled,
+&#8216;An act to suppress insurrection, to punish treason and rebellion,
+to seize and confiscate property of rebels, and for
+other purposes,&#8217; approved July 17, 1862, and which sections
+are in the words and figures following:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;<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>&#8220;<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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and
+caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>
+&#8220;By the President: <span class="right"><span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln</span>.</span><br />
+
+&#8220;<span class="smcap">William H. Seward</span>, Secretary of State.&#8221;<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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;not entirely without
+success&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;<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>&#8220;Now, therefore, be it ordered:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;<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>&#8220;<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>&#8220;In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and
+caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>
+&#8220;By the President: <span class="right"><span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln</span>.</span><br />
+
+&#8220;<span class="smcap">William H. Seward</span>, Secretary of State.&#8221;<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&#8217;s official papers, but also in
+the character of the man:</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>&#8220;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. &#8216;At this time
+of public distress,&#8217; adopting the words of Washington in
+1776, &#8216;men may find enough to do in the service of God and
+their country, without abandoning themselves to vice and immorality.&#8217;
+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: &#8216;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.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p class="sigright">
+&#8220;<span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln.</span>&#8221;<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>&#8220;<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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>
+&#8220;In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and
+caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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">
+&#8220;By the President: <span class="right"><span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln</span>.</span></p>
+
+<p class="p0">&#8220;<span class="smcap">W.&nbsp;H. Seward</span>, Secretary of State.&#8221;
+</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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Opposition to the Administration&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;President&#8217;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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 &#8220;Peace&#8221; man as its Governor, on the platform
+of &#8220;a more vigorous prosecution of the war.&#8221;</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 &#8220;a nigger
+war.&#8221; 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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;or a &#8220;conscription,&#8221;
+as it better suited the objects of the disaffected to term it&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;<span class="smcap">Fellow-citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives</span>:&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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&#8217;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>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;some from
+interested motives, others upon patriotic considerations, and
+still others influenced by philanthropic sentiments&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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>
+&#8220;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>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;results which can
+not fail to be auspicious.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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 rerganize 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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;On the 22d day of September last a proclamation was
+issued by the Executive, a copy of which is herewith submitted.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;In accordance with the purpose expressed in the second
+paragraph of that paper, I now respectfully call your attention
+to what may be called &#8216;compensated emancipation.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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. &#8216;One generation passeth away and another
+generation cometh, but the earth abideth forever.&#8217; It is of
+the first importance to duly consider, and estimate, this ever-enduring
+part. That portion of the earth&#8217;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;&#8216;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>&#8220;&#8216;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>&#8220;&#8216;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&#8217; 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>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;Our strife pertains to ourselves&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;to the passing generations
+of men; and it can, without convulsion, be hushed forever
+with the passing of one generation.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>
+&#8220;<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>&#8220;<i>Article &#8203;&mdash;&#8203;.</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>&#8220;The President of the United States shall deliver, to every
+such States, bonds of the United States, bearing interest at
+the rate of &#8203;&mdash;&#8203;&mdash; per cent. per annum, to an amount equal to
+the aggregate sum of &#8203;&mdash;&#8203;&mdash; 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>&#8220;<i>Article &#8203;&mdash;&#8203;.</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>&#8220;<i>Article &#8203;&mdash;&#8203;.</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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;As to the first article, the main points are: first, the
+emancipation; secondly, the length of time for consummating
+it&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;thirty-seven years; and thirdly, the compensation.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;in fact, from the
+necessity of any derangement&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;our broad National homestead&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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">&#8220;</td>
+ <td class="tdc lpad">&#8220;</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">&#8220;</td>
+ <td class="tdc lpad">&#8220;</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">&#8220;</td>
+ <td class="tdc lpad">&#8220;</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">&#8220;</td>
+ <td class="tdc lpad">&#8220;</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">&#8220;</td>
+ <td class="tdc lpad">&#8220;</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">&#8220;</td>
+ <td class="tdc lpad">&#8220;</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>&#8220;These figures show that our country <i>may</i> be as populous
+as Europe now is, at some point between 1920 and 1930&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;say
+about 1925&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;our territory, at seventy-three and a third
+persons to the square mile, being the capacity to contain
+217,186,000.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;very much&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;that it would cost no blood
+at all.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Congress and
+Executive&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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, &#8216;Can <i>any</i> of us <i>imagine</i> better?&#8217; but, &#8216;Can we <i>all</i>
+do better?&#8217; Object whatsoever is possible, still the question
+recurs, &#8216;Can we do better?&#8217; 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>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;even <i>we here</i>&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;a way which, if followed, the world will forever
+applaud, and God must forever bless.</p>
+
+<p>
+Dec. 1, 1862. <span class="right">&#8220;<span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln.</span>&#8221;</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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Favorable Elections&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Emancipation Policy&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Letter to Manchester
+(England) Workingmen&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Proclamation for a National Fast&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Letter to Erastus Corning&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8217;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 &#8220;Democracy&#8221; in
+Ohio, was shelved by some one hundred thousand majority.
+Pennsylvania, likewise, more than redeemed herself. In fact
+every loyal State&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;except New Jersey&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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">
+
+&#8220;<i>Executive Mansion</i>, Washington, January 19, 1863.<br />
+</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;<span class="smcap">To the Workingmen of Manchester</span>:&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;to some of which
+you kindly allude&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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">
+&#8220;<span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln.</span>&#8221;<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>&#8220;<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>&#8220;<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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and
+caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>
+&#8220;By the President: <span class="right"><span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln</span>.</span><br />
+
+&#8220;<span class="smcap">William H. Seward</span>, Secretary of State.&#8221;<br />
+</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>The following letter, which belongs in this place, will explain
+itself:</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+
+<p class="sigright">
+&#8220;<i>Executive Mansion</i>, Washington, June 13th, 1863.<br />
+</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;<span class="smcap">Hon. Erastus Corning</span> and others&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;<i>Gentlemen</i>:&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;The resolutions, as I understand them, are resolvable into
+two propositions&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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,
+&#8216;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.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And, apparently to demonstrate the proposition, the
+resolutions proceed: &#8216;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, &#8216;except when, in cases of rebellion or invasion,
+the public safety may require&#8217; their suspension. The
+resolutions proceed to tell us that these safeguards &#8216;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.&#8217;
+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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;that is, not for <i>the</i>
+treason defined in the Constitution, and upon conviction of
+which the punishment is death&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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, &#8216;criminal prosecutions.&#8217; 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>&#8220;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 &#8216;liberty of
+speech,&#8217; &#8216;liberty of the press,&#8217; and &#8216;<i>habeas corpus</i>,&#8217; 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 &#8216;<i>habeas
+corpus</i>&#8217; 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&#8217;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>&#8220;Ours is a case of rebellion&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;so called by the resolution
+before me&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;in fact, a clear, flagrant, and gigantic case of
+rebellion; and the provision of the Constitution that &#8216;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,&#8217; 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 &#8216;cases of rebellion&#8217;&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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, &#8216;when,
+in cases of rebellion or invasion, the public safety may require
+it.&#8217; This is precisely our present case&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;talks
+for his country with &#8216;buts,&#8217; and &#8216;ifs&#8217; and &#8216;ands.&#8217;
+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>&#8220;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 &#8216;outside of the lines of necessary military occupation
+and the scenes of insurrection.&#8217; 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 &#8216;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.&#8217; 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>&#8220;I understand the meeting whose resolutions I am considering
+to be in favor of suppressing the rebellion by military
+force&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;In giving the resolutions that earnest consideration which
+you request of me, I can not overlook the fact that the meeting
+speak as &#8216;Democrats.&#8217; 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 &#8216;Democrats&#8217;
+rather than &#8216;American Citizens.&#8217; 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&#8217;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>&#8220;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 &#8216;it was a dirty trick.&#8217; 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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;that is, I was pained that there should have
+seemed to be a necessity for arresting him&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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">
+&#8220;<span class="smcap">A. Lincoln.</span>&#8221;<br />
+</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>Mr. Lincoln, having been waited upon by a Committee of
+Ohio &#8220;Democrats,&#8221; who urged him to recall Vallandigham,
+whom they sought to exalt as a &#8220;martyr to popular rights,&#8221;
+addressed the following reply, the quiet sarcasm of which is
+not the least of its many good points:</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+
+<p class="sigright">
+
+&#8220;Washington, June 29, 1863.<br />
+</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;<span class="smcap">Gentlemen</span>:&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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, &#8216;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.&#8217;</p>
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">237</a></span></p>
+<p>&#8220;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>&#8220;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 &#8216;opposed, in discussions before the people,
+the policy of the Mexican War.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You say: &#8216;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.&#8217; 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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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>&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;as injunctions to stay injury, as proceedings
+to keep the peace&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8217;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;</span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;I have the honor to be respectfully, yours, etc.,</p>
+
+<p class="sigright">
+&#8220;<span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln</span>.&#8221;<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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Letter to General Grant&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Thanksgiving Proclamation&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Letter
+concerning the Emancipation Proclamation&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Proclamation for Annual Thanksgiving&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;<span class="smcap">Fellow-citizens</span>:&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;eighty odd
+years&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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, &#8216;that all men are created
+equal?&#8217; 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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;the one having penned it, and the other sustained
+it the most forcibly in debate&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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, &#8216;turned tail&#8217; 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.&#8221;</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">
+&#8220;<i>Executive Mansion</i>, Washington, July 13th, 1863.<br />
+</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;<span class="smcap">Major-General U.&nbsp;S. Grant</span>&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;<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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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">&#8220;Yours, truly,</span><br />
+&#8220;<span class="smcap">A. Lincoln</span>.&#8221;<br />
+</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>The following was issued in commemoration of the victories
+at Vicksburg, Port Hudson, and Gettysburg:</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+
+<p>&#8220;<span class="smcap">By the President of the United States of America.&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;A
+Proclamation.</span>&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>
+&#8220;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&#8217;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>&#8220;In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and
+caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>
+&#8220;By the President: <span class="right"><span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln</span>.</span><br />
+
+&#8220;<span class="smcap">William H. Seward</span>, Secretary of State.&#8221;<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&#8217;s views
+at that time on his Emancipation proclamation:</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+
+<p class="sigright">
+
+&#8220;<span class="smcap">Executive Mansion</span>, Washington, August 26th, 1863.<br />
+</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;<span class="smcap">My Dear Sir</span>:&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8217;s gratitude to those
+other noble men whom no partisan malice or partisan hope
+can make false to the nation&#8217;s life. There are those who are
+dissatisfied with me. To such I would say:&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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:&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8217;s
+army out of Pennsylvania? General Meade&#8217;s army can keep
+Lee&#8217;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&#8217;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>&#8220;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&#8217; 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 &#8216;republican party politics,&#8217; 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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8217;, Gettysburg, and on many fields of
+less note. Nor must Uncle Sam&#8217;s web feet be forgotten.
+At all the waters&#8217; margins they have been present&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;for the principles by which
+it lives and keeps alive&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;for man&#8217;s vast future&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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">
+&#8220;Yours very truly, <span class="right"><span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln</span>.&#8221;</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>&#8220;<span class="smcap">By the President of the United States of America.&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;A
+Proclamation</span>:&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and
+caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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">
+&#8220;By the President: <span class="right"><span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln</span>.</span></p>
+
+<p class="p0">&#8220;<span class="smcap">William H. Seward</span>, Secretary of State.&#8221;<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&#8217; battle at that place:</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;that from these
+honored dead we take increased devotion to the cause for
+which they here gave the last full measure of devotion&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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.&#8221;</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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Different Opinions as to Reconstruction&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Provisions for Pardon
+of Rebels&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;President&#8217;s Proclamation of Pardon&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Annual Message&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Explanatory
+Proclamation.</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>Upon the assembling of the Thirty-eighth Congress, December
+7th, 1863&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;that Congress, in the lower branch of
+which the Opposition had counted upon a majority&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;movements toward an organization
+of the local governments in the States of Tennessee,
+Louisiana, and Arkansas being in progress&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;<span class="smcap">Whereas</span>, In and by the Constitution of the United
+States, it is provided that the President &#8216;shall have power to
+grant reprieves and pardons for offences against the United
+States, except in cases of impeachment;&#8217; 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>&#8220;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>&#8220;&#8216;I, &#8203;&mdash;&#8203;&mdash; &#8203;&mdash;&#8203;&mdash;, 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.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>&#8220;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 &#8216;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.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;Given under my hand at the city of Washington, the eighth
+day of December, A.&nbsp;D. 1863, and of the Independence of the
+United States of America the eighty-eighth.</p>
+
+<p class="sigright">
+&#8220;<span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln.</span>&#8221;<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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;is
+as follows:</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+
+<p>&#8220;<span class="smcap">Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives</span>:&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;We remain in peace and friendship with foreign powers.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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&#8217;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>
+&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;The report of the Secretary of War is a document of
+great interest. It consists <span class="locked">of&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;</span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;1. The military operations of the year, detailed in the
+report of the General-in-Chief.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;2. The organization of colored persons into the war
+service.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;3. The exchange of prisoners, fully set forth in the letter
+of General Hitchcock.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>&#8220;5. The organization of the Invalid Corps; and,</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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">&#8220;Abraham Lincoln.&#8221;</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>&#8220;<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>&#8220;<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>&#8220;<span class="smcap">And whereas</span>, The amnesty therein proposed by the
+President was offered with reference to these objects alone;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and
+caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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">
+&#8220;By the President: <span class="right"><span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln</span>.</span></p>
+
+<p class="p0">&#8220;<span class="smcap">W.&nbsp;H. Seward</span>, Secretary of State.&#8221;<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&#8217;s Speech at Washington&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Speech to a New York Committee&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Speech In Baltimore&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Letter
+to a Kentuckian&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Employment of Colored Troops&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Davis&#8217;s Threat&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;General
+Order&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;President&#8217;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>&#8220;<span class="smcap">Ladies and Gentlemen</span>:&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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, &#8216;All that a man hath will he
+give for his life;&#8217; and, while all contribute of their substance,
+the soldier puts his life at stake, and often yields it up in his
+country&#8217;s cause. The highest merit, then, is due to the
+soldier.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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!&#8221;</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>Three days later, a committee appointed by the Workingmen&#8217;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>&#8220;<span class="smcap">Gentlemen of the Committee</span>:&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;&#8216;It continues to develop that the insurrection is largely,
+if not exclusively, a war upon the first principle of popular
+government&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;&#8216;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>&#8220;&#8216;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>&#8220;&#8216;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>&#8220;&#8216;A large majority belong to neither class&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;wives, sons, and daughters&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;&#8216;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The views then expressed remain unchanged&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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.&#8221;</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>And in Baltimore&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;on the
+18th of April, 1864, the anniversary eve of that murder
+of loyal citizens armed in defence of their imperilled country&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;<span class="smcap">Ladies and Gentlemen</span>:&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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&#8217;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;especially
+if it be a black sheep.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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.&#8221;</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>Mr. Lincoln&#8217;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">
+&#8220;<span class="smcap">A.&nbsp;G. Hodges, Esq.</span>, Frankfort, Ky.:<br />
+</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;<span class="smcap">My Dear Sir</span>:&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;that
+Nation&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;of which that Constitution was the
+organic law. Was it possible to lose the Nation, and yet
+preserve the Constitution?</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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&#8217; struggle, the Nation&#8217;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">&#8220;Yours truly,</span><br />
+&#8220;<span class="smcap">A. Lincoln</span>.&#8221;<br />
+</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>The results of the employment of negro soldiers&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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, &#8220;previously
+approved by the President,&#8221; promulgating general instructions
+for the government of our armies, was issued, containing
+the following:</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>&#8220;All troops of the enemy known or discovered to give no
+quarter in general, or to any portion of the army, will receive
+none.&#8221;</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">
+&#8220;<i>Executive Mansion</i>, Washington, July 30, 1863.<br />
+</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>&#8220;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&#8217;s prisoners in our possession.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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">
+&#8220;<span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln.</span>&#8221;<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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;His Military Record&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Continued Movements&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Correspondence with the
+President&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Across the Rapidan&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Richmond Invested&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;President&#8217;s Letter to a Grant
+Meeting&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Meeting of Republican National Convention&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;The Platform&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;The Nomination&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Mr.
+Lincoln&#8217;s Reply to the Committee of Notification&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Remarks to Union League
+Committee&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Speech at a Serenade&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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 &#8220;plain
+people;&#8221; 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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;criticised
+at the time, but, like many other engagements,
+little understood&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Shiloh, of which he said, at the
+close of the first day&#8217;s fight, when every thing seemed against
+us, &#8220;Tough work to-day, but we&#8217;ll beat them to-morrow;&#8221;
+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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;and it was not given up, and East
+Tennessee was freed from rebels; these had been the prominent
+points of Grant&#8217;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>&#8220;<span class="smcap">General Grant</span>:&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;The expression of the nation&#8217;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>&#8220;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.&#8221;</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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;taciturn,
+cool, and collected, with no set speeches, no flourish
+of reviews&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;proceeded with the difficult task which he had
+taken in hand&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;the annihilation or capture of Lee&#8217;s army, the
+mainstay of the rebels&#8217; 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>&#8220;<span class="smcap">Lieutenant-General Grant</span>:&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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>
+&#8220;Yours, very truly, <span class="right"><span class="smcap">A. Lincoln</span>.&#8221;</span><br />
+</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>To which the General, from Culpepper Court House, Va.,
+on the 1st of May, thus replied:</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+
+<p>&#8220;<span class="smcap">To The President</span>:&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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">&#8220;Very truly, your obedient servant,</p>
+
+<p class="p0 sigright">
+&#8220;<span class="smcap">U.&nbsp;S. Grant</span>, Lieutenant-General.&#8221;<br />
+</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>Beginning at the right end&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;profiting by the experience of
+others&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;wasting no time nor strength in mere display&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;<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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;&#8220;Any other man,&#8221; said Mr. Lincoln, &#8220;would
+have been on this side of the Rapidan after the first three
+days&#8217; fighting&#8221;&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;still fought&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;moved by the left flank&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;fought
+on&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;prepared, after six days very heavy work, as he telegraphed
+the President, &#8220;to fight it out on that line, if it
+took all summer&#8221;&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;outgeneralled Lee at Spottsylvania Court
+House&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;secured his position&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;a favorite summer pastime, in
+those days, for the Confederates&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;proved that he ought to
+have acted entirely otherwise&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;the teeth still set&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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">
+&#8220;<i>Executive Mansion</i>, Washington, June 3d, 1864.<br />
+</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;<span class="smcap">Gentlemen</span>:&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>
+&#8220;Yours truly, <span class="right"><span class="smcap">A. Lincoln</span>.&#8221;</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&#8217;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>&#8220;<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>
+&#8220;<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 &#8216;unconditional surrender&#8217; 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>&#8220;<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>&#8220;<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>&#8220;<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>&#8220;<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>&#8220;<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>&#8220;<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>&#8220;<i>Resolved</i>, That we are in favor of the speedy construction
+of the railroad to the Pacific.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;<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>&#8220;<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.&#8221;</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 &#8220;Hail
+Columbia.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>For Vice-President, the following names were presented:
+Andrew Johnson, of Tennessee; Hannibal Hamlin, of Maine;
+Gen. L.&nbsp;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>&#8220;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.&#8221;</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>In reply the President said:</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+
+<p>&#8220;<span class="smcap">Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Committee</span>:&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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.&#8221;</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>&#8220;<span class="smcap">Gentlemen</span>:&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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 &#8216;it was not best to swop horses
+when crossing streams.&#8217;&#8221;</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>&#8220;<span class="smcap">Gentlemen</span>:&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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.&#8221;</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>&#8220;<span class="smcap">Soldiers</span>:&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;I understand you have just come from Ohio&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;come
+to help us in this the nation&#8217;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.&#8221;</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&#8217;s Speech at Philadelphia&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Philadelphia Fair&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Correspondence with Committee
+of National Convention&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Proclamation of Martial Law in Kentucky&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Question of Reconstruction&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;President&#8217;s
+Proclamation on the subject&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;not France, not England, though
+experienced in war, and generally of admirable promptitude
+in availing themselves of all facilities to its successful prosecution&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;when is this war to end?</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>
+&#8220;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 &#8216;Yes.&#8217;] Will you march on with him?
+[Cries of &#8216;Yes, yes.&#8217;]</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then I shall call upon you when it is necessary.&#8221;</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">
+
+&#8220;New York, June 14, 1864.</p>
+
+<p class="in0">&#8220;<span class="smcap">Hon. Abraham Lincoln</span>:
+</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;<span class="smcap">Sir</span>:&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;they were equally hailed with the heartiness
+of profound conviction.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Believing with you, sir, that this is the people&#8217;s war for
+the maintenance of a government which you have justly described
+as &#8216;of the people, by the people, for the people,&#8217; 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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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">
+&#8220;<span class="smcap">William Dennison</span>, <i>Ohio</i>, Chairman.</p>
+
+<p class="p0">&#8220;<i>And signed by the Committee.</i>&#8221;<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">
+&#8220;<i>Executive Mansion</i>, Washington, June 27th, 1863.<br />
+</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Hon. <span class="smcap">William Dennison</span> and others:</p>
+
+<p class="in0">
+&#8220;<i>A Committee of the National Union Convention</i>:<br />
+</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;<span class="smcap">Gentlemen</span>:&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;called the Platform&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;are heartily approved.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;Your obedient servant, <span class="right"><span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln</span>.&#8221;</span></p></blockquote>
+
+<p>On the 5th of July, appeared the following proclamation,
+ordering martial law in Kentucky:</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+
+<p>&#8220;<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>&#8220;<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>&#8220;<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>&#8220;<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>&#8220;<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>&#8220;<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>&#8220;<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>&#8220;<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>&#8220;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>&#8220;In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and
+caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>
+&#8220;By the President: <span class="right"><span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln</span>.</span><br />
+
+&#8220;<span class="smcap">William H. Seward</span>, Secretary of State.&#8221;<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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;the
+bill under notice requiring the votes of a majority:</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+
+<p>&#8220;<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>&#8220;<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>&#8220;<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>&#8220;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>&#8220;In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand,
+and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>
+&#8220;By the President: <span class="right"><span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln</span></span><br />
+
+&#8220;<span class="smcap">William H. Seward</span>, Secretary of State.&#8221;<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>&#8220;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>&#8220;<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>&#8220;<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 restablishment 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>
+&#8220;<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>&#8220;<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>&#8220;<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>&#8220;<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&#8217; 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>&#8220;<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>&#8220;<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>&#8220;<i>Second.</i> Involuntary servitude is forever prohibited,
+and the freedom of all persons is guaranteed in said State.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;<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>&#8220;<span class="smcap">Section 8.</span> That when the Convention shall have adopted
+these provisions, it shall proceed to restablish 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>&#8220;<span class="smcap">Section 9.</span> That if the Convention shall refuse to restablish
+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 restablish
+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 restablished by it to the
+President.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;<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>&#8220;<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>&#8220;<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>&#8220;<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>&#8220;<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.&#8221;</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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Speech to Soldiers&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Another Speech&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;&#8220;To Whom It may Concern&#8221;&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Chicago
+Convention&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Opposition Embarrassed&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Resolution No. 2&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;McClellan&#8217;s
+Acceptance&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Capture of the Mobile Forts and Atlanta&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Proclamation for Thanksgiving
+Remarks on Employment of Negro Soldiers&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Address to Loyal Marylanders.</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>On the 7th of July the following proclamation for a National
+Fast appeared:</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+
+<p>&#8220;<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>&#8220;&#8216;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.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>
+&#8220;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>
+&#8220;By the President: <span class="right"><span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln</span></span><br />
+
+&#8220;<span class="smcap">William H. Seward</span>, Secretary of State.&#8221;<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>&#8220;<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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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.&#8221;</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>And again, on the 22d of August, under similar circumstances:</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+
+<p>&#8220;<span class="smcap">Soldiers</span>:&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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&#8217;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&#8217;s
+child has.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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.&#8221;</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>&#8220;<span class="smcap">To whom it may concern.</span>&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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">
+&#8220;<span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln.</span>&#8221;<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 &#8220;Mass Peace Convention,&#8221; 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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8217; 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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;<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.&#8221;</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&#8217;s history, the extraordinary spectacle was presented of
+a great people entering with earnestness upon a political
+campaign, one of whose issues&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;indeed, the main one&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8217;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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">
+&#8220;<span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln.</span>&#8221;<br />
+</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>Mr. Lincoln&#8217;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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.&#8221;</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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;to save the country and its liberties&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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!&#8221;</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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Fremont&#8217;s Withdrawal&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Wade and Davis&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Peace and War
+Democrats&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Rebel Sympathizers&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;October Election&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Result of Presidential Election&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Speech
+to Pennsylvanians&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Speech at a Serenade&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Letter to a Soldier&#8217;s Mother&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Opening
+of Congress&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;The policy of the Democratic party signifies either separation,
+or restablishment, with slavery. The Chicago platform
+is simply separation. General McClellan&#8217;s letter of
+acceptance, is restablishment with slavery.... The
+Republican candidate, on the contrary, is pledged to the restablishment
+of Union without slavery.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Senator Wade and Henry Winter Davis, who had joined
+in a manifesto to the people, bitterly denunciatory of the
+President&#8217;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 &#8220;unnatural,
+unholy war.&#8221; 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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;or &#8220;conscription,&#8221; 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&#8217;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&#8217;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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 relected. The
+rebel Vice-President declared that the Chicago movement was
+&#8220;the only ray of light which had come from the North during
+the war.&#8221; European sympathizers with the rebellion, likewise,
+were opposed to Mr. Lincoln&#8217;s relection, 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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;whom an opposition
+journal, with rarest refinement and graceful courtesy, concentrating
+all its malignity into the intensest sentence possible,
+had characterized as &#8220;a rail-splitting buffoon and a
+boorish tailor, both from the backwoods, both growing
+up in uncouth ignorance&#8221;&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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 relected
+in 1864 by a majority decisive and unmistakable.</p>
+
+<p>Having been serenaded early in the morning following his
+relection, by Pennsylvanians then in Washington, he thus
+gave utterance to his feelings:</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+
+<p>&#8220;<span class="smcap">Friends and Fellow-Citizens</span>:&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8217;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&#8217;s resolution
+to stand by free government and the rights of humanity.&#8221;</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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;But the election, along with its incidental and undesirable
+strife, has done good too. It has demonstrated that a
+people&#8217;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&#8217;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>&#8220;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&#8217;s bosom. While I am duly
+sensible to the high compliment of a relection, 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>&#8220;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.&#8221;</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>As indicative of Mr. Lincoln&#8217;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>&#8220;<span class="smcap">Dear Madam</span>:&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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">&#8220;Yours very sincerely and respectfully,</span><br />
+&#8220;<span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln</span>.&#8221;
+</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>&#8220;<span class="smcap">Fellow-citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives</span>:&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Again
+the blessings of health and abundant
+harvests claim our profoundest gratitude to Almighty God.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The condition of our foreign affairs is reasonably satisfactory.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>
+&#8220;Civil war continues in the Spanish port of San Domingo,
+apparently without prospect of an early close.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;Assurances have been received from most of the South
+American States of their high appreciation of the enterprise
+and their readiness to coperate in constructing lines tributary
+to that world-encircling communication.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;The rebellion which has so long been flagrant in China,
+has at last been suppressed with the coperating 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>&#8220;China seems to be accepting with hearty good-will the
+conventional laws which regulate commerce and social intercourse
+among the Western nations.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>&#8220;There is reason also to believe that these proceedings
+have increased rather than diminished the friendship of Japan
+toward the United States.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The ports of Norfolk, Fernandino, and Pensacola have
+been opened by proclamation.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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&#8217;s Bay and Puget Sound Agricultural Companies in
+Oregon, and are now proceeding to the execution of the trust
+assigned to them.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;The act passed at the last session for the encouragement
+of immigration has, as far as was possible, been put into
+operation.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>
+&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>bon 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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;During the year ending the thirtieth of June, 1864,
+$4,504,616 92 have been paid to pensioners of all classes.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>&#8220;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&#8217;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;The most remarkable feature in the military operations
+of the year, is General Sherman&#8217;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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
+&#8216;Union Ticket,&#8217; 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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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 restablish
+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>&#8220;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>&#8220;If we yield, we are beaten; if the Southern people fail
+him, he is beaten&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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">&#8220;<span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln.</span>&#8221;</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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Reply to a Presentation Address&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Peace Rumors&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Rebel Commissioners&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Instructions
+to Secretary Seward&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;The Conference in Hampton Roads&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Result&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Extra
+Session of the Senate&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Military Situation&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Sherman&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Charleston&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Columbia&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Wilmington&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Fort
+Fisher&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Sheridan&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Grant&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Rebel Congress&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Second Inauguration&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Inaugural&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;English
+Comment&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;<span class="smcap">Friends and Fellow-citizens</span>:&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8217;t tell where he will
+come out at. I will now close by proposing three cheers for
+General Sherman and his army.&#8221;</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>&#8220;<span class="smcap">Reverend Sir, and Ladies and Gentlemen</span>:&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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.&#8221;</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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;as often before&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;was
+filled with rumors that the insurgents were anxious to
+negotiate for peace.</p>
+
+<p>Some there were, even among Mr. Lincoln&#8217;s friends and
+supporters, who were apprehensive that his &#8220;To whom it may
+concern&#8221; 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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;as he did during the last
+week of January, from his friend, Francis P. Blair, who had
+visited Richmond, with the President&#8217;s permission&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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.&nbsp;H. Stephens, of Georgia, R.&nbsp;M.&nbsp;T. Hunter, of
+Virginia, and J.&nbsp;A. Campbell, of Alabama, had been sent
+through the enemy&#8217;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>&#8220;<span class="smcap">Hon. William H. Seward</span>, Secretary of State:&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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.&nbsp;P. Blair, Esq., of January
+18, 1865, a copy of which you have.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You will make known to them that three things are
+indispensable, to wit:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;1. The restoration of national authority throughout all
+the States.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>
+&#8220;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>&#8220;You will hear all they may choose to say, and report it to
+me.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You will not assume to definitely consummate any thing.</p>
+
+<p class="in4">
+&#8220;Yours truly, <span class="right"><span class="smcap">A. Lincoln</span>.&#8221;</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>&#8220;<span class="smcap">Whereas</span>, objects of interest to the United States require
+that the Senate should be convened at twelve o&#8217;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;</span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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&#8217;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>&#8220;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>
+&#8220;By the President: <span class="right"><span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln</span>.</span><br />
+
+&#8220;<span class="smcap">William. H. Seward</span>, Secretary of State.&#8221;<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 &#8220;come out&#8221; at Savannah, capturing it and
+presenting it as a Christmas gift to the nation, after an extraordinary
+march from Atlanta&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;which he had deprived of
+all power for harm&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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 &#8220;lions&#8221; 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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;floundered, so as to flank Charleston,
+that nursery and hot-bed of treason, which had so long insulted
+the land&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;whether the
+latter result was brought about with or without the coperation
+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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;that Early the one of whom his troops
+were wont to remark, that his principal business seemed to
+be &#8220;to trade Confederate cannon for Yankee whiskey&#8221;&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8217;s teeth were firmly fastened in his
+victim. Not twistings, nor squirmings, nor strugglings, nor
+counterbites could do more than to defer&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;and that but for a
+short time&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;a day which opened
+unpropitiously, so far as the elements were concerned, but
+which redeemed itself before noontide, becoming bright and
+cheerful&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;at the hour appointed, the oath of office was for the
+second time administered to Mr. Lincoln&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;<span class="smcap">Fellow-countrymen</span>:&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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&#8217;s assistance in wringing his bread from
+the sweat of other men&#8217;s faces. But let us judge not, that
+we be not judged.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The prayer of both should not be answered. That of
+neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has his
+own purposes. &#8216;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.&#8217; 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>&#8220;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&#8217;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>&#8220;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&#8217;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.&#8221;</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>Of this address&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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.&#8221;</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>&#8220;<span class="smcap">Whereas</span>, The twenty-first section of the act of Congress,
+approved on the 3d instant, entitled &#8216;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,&#8217; requires
+that, in addition to the other lawful penalties of the
+crime of desertion from the military or naval service, &#8216;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&#8217;&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>&#8220;In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and
+caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>
+&#8220;By the President: <span class="right"><span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln</span>.</span><br />
+
+&#8220;<span class="smcap">W.&nbsp;H. Seward</span>, Secretary of State.&#8221;<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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Lee&#8217;s Failure&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Grant&#8217;s Movement&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Abraham Lincoln in
+Richmond&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Lee&#8217;s Surrender&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;President&#8217;s Impromptu Speech&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Speech on Reconstruction&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Proclamation
+Closing Certain Ports&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Proclamation Relative to Maritime Rights&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Supplementary
+Proclamation&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Orders from the War Department&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Petersburg fell&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Richmond was abandoned
+in hot haste&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;and Lee&#8217;s routed army &#8220;driven to the wall.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>During the progress of the movement, the President forwarded,
+from time to time, the particulars&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;pressed on to
+the evacuated Capital&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;there held a levee&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;left the same evening
+for City Point&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;<span class="smcap">General Robert E. Lee, Army C. S.</span>:&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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">&#8220;Very respectfully,</span><br />
+&#8220;<span class="smcap">U.&nbsp;S. Grant</span>, Lieutenant-General.&#8221;
+</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>Johnston was next in order; and toward him Sherman was
+in motion.</p>
+
+<p>The night following the President&#8217;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>&#8220;<span class="smcap">My Friends</span>:&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;I am very greatly rejoiced that an occasion
+has occurred so pleasurable that the people can&#8217;t restrain
+themselves. I suppose that arrangements are being made
+for some sort of formal demonstration&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;I see you have a band. I propose now closing up by
+requesting you to play a certain piece of music, or a tune&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;I
+thought &#8216;Dixie&#8217; one of the best tunes I ever heard.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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.&#8221;</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>The band accordingly played &#8220;Dixie,&#8221; with extraordinary
+vigor, when &#8220;three cheers and a tiger&#8221; were given, followed
+by the tune of &#8220;Yankee Doodle.&#8221; The President then proposed
+three rousing cheers for Grant and all under his command&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;and
+next, three cheers for the Navy and all its forces.</p>
+
+<p>The President then retired, amid cheers, the tune of &#8220;Hail
+Columbia,&#8221; and the firing of cannon.</p>
+
+<p>On the night of the eleventh of April, the Executive Departments,
+including the President&#8217;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>&#8220;<span class="smcap">Fellow-Citizens</span>:&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;Nor must those, whose harder part gives us the cause of
+rejoicing, be overlooked&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;as it could not well be otherwise&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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 coperation, 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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;committed
+to the very beings and nearly all the things the
+Nation wants&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;and they ask the Nation&#8217;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, &#8216;You are
+worthless, or worse; we will neither help you nor be helped
+by you.&#8217; To the blacks we say, &#8216;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.&#8217; 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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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.&#8221;</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>On the 11th of April, also, appeared the following proclamation:</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+
+<p>&#8220;<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 &#8216;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,&#8217; the President, for the reasons therein set forth, is
+authorized to close certain ports of entry.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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&#8217;, 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>&#8220;In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and
+caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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">
+&#8220;Abraham Lincoln.</p>
+
+<p class="p0">&#8220;William H. Seward, Secretary of State.&#8221;
+</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>&#8220;<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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;</span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>&#8220;In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and
+caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>
+&#8220;By the President: <span class="right"><span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln</span>.</span><br />
+
+&#8220;<span class="smcap">William H. Seward</span>, Secretary of State.&#8221;<br />
+</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>And, on the twelfth April, the following supplementary
+proclamation:</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+
+<p>&#8220;<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>&#8220;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>&#8220;In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and
+caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>
+&#8220;By the President: <span class="right"><span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln</span>.</span><br />
+
+&#8220;<span class="smcap">Wm. H. Seward</span>, Secretary of State.&#8221;<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>&#8220;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>&#8220;<i>First.</i> To stop all drafting and recruiting in the loyal
+States.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;<i>Second.</i> To curtail purchases for arms, ammunition,
+quartermaster&#8217;s and commissary supplies, and reduce the
+expenses of the military establishment and its several
+branches.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;<i>Third.</i> To reduce the number of general and staff officers
+to the actual necessities of the service.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;<i>Fourth.</i> To remove all military restrictions upon trade
+and commerce, so far as may be consistent with the public
+safety.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;As soon as these measures can be put in operation, it
+will be made known by public orders.</p>
+
+<p class="sigright">
+&#8220;<span class="smcap">Edwin M. Stanton</span>, Secretary of War.&#8221;<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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Cabinet Meeting&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Incident&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Evening Conversation&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Possibility
+of Assassination&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Leaves for the Theatre&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;In the Theatre&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Precautions for the
+Murder&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;The Pistol Shot&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Escape of the Assassin&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Death of the President&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Pledges
+Redeemed&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Situation of the Country&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Effect of the Murder&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Obsequies at Washington&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Borne
+Home&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Grief of the People&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8217;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8217;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>&#8220;Well,&#8221; said the President, &#8220;you will hear very soon now
+and the news will be important.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why do you think so?&#8221; said the General.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Because,&#8221; said Mr. Lincoln, &#8220;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.&#8221;
+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>&#8220;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.&#8221;</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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;the latter of whom presided at the Chicago Convention,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_376" id="Page_376">376</a></span>
+in 1860&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8217;s mind, but it had not occasioned him
+a moment&#8217;s uneasiness. A member of his Cabinet one day
+said to him, &#8220;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?&#8221; The President stepped to a
+desk and drew from a pigeon-hole a package of letters.
+&#8220;There,&#8221; said he, &#8220;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.&#8221;</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, &#8220;You did not understand me,
+Ashman: I did not mean what you inferred, and I will take
+it all back, and apologize for it.&#8221; 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, &#8220;You are going with Mrs.
+Lincoln and me to the theatre, I hope.&#8221; The President and
+General Grant had previously accepted an invitation to be
+present that evening at Ford&#8217;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, &#8220;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.&#8221;
+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, &#8220;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.&#8221;
+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&#8217;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&#8217;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.&nbsp;R. Rathbone on a lounge along
+the further wall.</p>
+
+<p>The play was, &#8220;Our American Cousin.&#8221; While all were
+intent upon its representation, the report of a pistol first announced
+the presence of the assassin, who uttered the word
+&#8220;Freedom!&#8221; 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 &#8220;<i>Sic semper tyrannis</i>&#8221; and &#8220;<i>The South is avenged</i>,&#8221;
+retreated successfully through the labyrinth of the theatre&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;perfectly
+familiar to him&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8217;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8217;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>&#8220;<i>Sic semper tyrannis!</i>&#8221; And this the justification for the
+murder of a ruler who had</p>
+
+<div class="center-container"><div class="poem">
+<span class="i0">&#8220;&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;&mdash; 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.&#8221;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>&#8220;The South avenged!&#8221; And by the cold-blooded murder
+of the best friend that repentant rebels ever had&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;not, indeed, on the battle-field,
+whose sad suggestings he had so often, and so tenderly,
+lovingly heeded&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;but in the midst of his family, while seeking
+relief from the cares of state&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;and by a murderer&#8217;s hand!&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;the
+first President to meet such a fate&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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 &#8220;to hold, occupy, and possess the property
+and places belonging to the Government.&#8221; 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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;a city of desolation, a skeleton of its former self&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;&#8220;the President is Shot&#8221;&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;&#8220;is
+dying&#8221;&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;&#8220;is dead&#8221;&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;men knew scarcely how to credit the
+tale. When the fearful certainty came home to each, strong
+men bowed themselves and wept&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;the flag of our country
+hung pensive at half-mast&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8217;s
+capitol.</p>
+
+<p>On that dreamy, hazy nineteenth of April&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;suggesting, were
+it not for the early green leaves, the fresh springing grass, the
+glad spring caroling of birds, &#8220;that sweet autumnal summer
+which the Indian loved so well&#8221;&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;on that day when sleep
+wooed one even in the early morn, his obsequies were celebrated
+in the country&#8217;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;the
+remains of a darling son, earlier called, accompanying
+those of the father&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8217;s
+hand, gurgling out, as his worthless life ebbed away,
+&#8220;useless! useless!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>As the sad procession wended its way, where hundreds had
+gathered in &#8217;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;dirges were sung&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;the
+people&#8217;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;rare denizens of the prairie&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;look lovingly.</p>
+
+<p>There all that is mortal of <span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln</span> reposes.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The immortal?&#8221; 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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;What was Accomplished&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Leaning on the People&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;State
+Papers&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;His Tenacity of Purpose&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Washington and Lincoln&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;As a Man&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Favorite Poem&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Autobiography&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;His
+Modesty&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;A Christian&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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 relected, the first President since Jackson to
+whom that honor had been accorded. And thirty-two years
+had passed&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;eight Presidential terms&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;since Jackson&#8217;s relection.
+He was, moreover, relected by a largely increased
+vote.</p>
+
+<p>The years covered by his administration were the stormiest
+in American history, &#8220;piled high,&#8221; as he himself said, &#8220;with
+difficulties.&#8221; No President was ever more severely attacked,
+more unsparingly denounced than he. None more belittled
+than he. And yet he was triumphantly relected. 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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;groping
+in the dark&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;to name no others&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;when
+we see the leading strings.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Lincoln&#8217;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 &#8220;the common pulse of man keeps time.&#8221;
+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&#8217;s hand-shaking, he said to friends that night&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;&#8220;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.&#8221; 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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;given
+below for the sufficient reason that it was his favorite&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;attests
+the vein of pensiveness which was in him. &#8220;There
+is one poem,&#8221; he remarked in conversation, &#8220;that is almost
+continually present with me: it comes in my mind whenever
+I have relief from thought and care.&#8221;</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&#8217;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">We drink the same stream and view the same sun&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;<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">&#8217;Tis the wink of an eye, &#8217;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;<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&#8217;s
+Dictionary of Congress:</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+
+<p>&#8220;Born February 12, 1809, in Hardin county, Kentucky.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Education Defective.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Profession a lawyer.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Have been a captain of volunteers in the Black Hawk war.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Postmaster at a very small office.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Four times a member of the Illinois Legislature.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And was a member of the lower House of Congress.</p>
+
+<p class="in4">&#8220;Yours, etc., <span class="right"><span class="smcap">A. Lincoln</span>.&#8221;</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&#8217;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>&#8220;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.&#8221;</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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;imperfectly sketched, and at best but in rude outline&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;</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&#8217;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>&#8220;<span class="smcap">Mr. Chairman</span>:&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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 &#8216;by the act of the
+Republic of Mexico a state of war exists between that Government
+and the United States;&#8217; 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&#8217;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>
+&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;issue and evidence&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;is,
+from beginning to end, the sheerest deception. The
+issue, as he presents it, is in these words: &#8216;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.&#8217; 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: &#8216;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.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I now proceed to examine the President&#8217;s evidence, as
+applicable to such an issue. When that evidence is analyzed
+it is all included in the following propositions:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;1. That the Rio Grande was the western boundary of
+Louisiana, as we purchased it of France in 1803.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;2. That the Republic of Texas always <i>claimed</i> the Rio
+Grande as her western boundary.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;3. That, by various acts, she had claimed it <i>on paper</i>.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;4. That Santa Anna, in his treaty with Texas, recognized
+the Rio Grande as her boundary.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>&#8220;6. That our Congress <i>understood</i> the boundary of Texas
+to extend beyond the Nueces.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Now for each of these in its turn:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>&#8220;The President&#8217;s next piece of evidence is, that &#8216;The Republic
+of Texas always <i>claimed</i> this river (Rio Grande) as
+her western boundary.&#8217; 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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;the
+public&#8217;s most solemn and well-considered act; that which
+may, without impropriety, be called her last will and testament,
+revoking all others&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;<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>&#8220;I next consider the President&#8217;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;a captive&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;<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&#8217; Register, volume 50, page 386. And if any one
+should suppose that Niles&#8217; 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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;of <i>what</i> is not said&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>
+&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;that is, just
+across the street, in that direction&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;I certainly so understand it&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>
+&#8220;I am now through the whole of the President&#8217;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&#8217;s evidence&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8217;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&#8217;s struggles in this case.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8217;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>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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,&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;if, on any
+pretence, or no pretence, he shall refuse or omit it,&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;what
+I will not stop now to give my opinion concerning&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;that attractive rainbow that rises in
+showers of blood&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;that serpent&#8217;s eye that charms to destroy&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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, &#8216;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>.&#8217;
+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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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&#8217;s country; and, after
+apparently talking himself tired on this point, the President
+drops down into a half despairing tone, and tells us, that
+&#8216;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>.&#8217; 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 &#8216;<i>this may become the only mode of obtaining
+such a peace</i>.&#8217; But soon he falls into doubt of this too, and
+then drops back on to the already half abandoned ground of
+&#8216;more vigorous prosecution.&#8217; 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>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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.&#8221;</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>&#8220;<span class="smcap">Mr. Chairman</span>:&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The Chair.&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;&#8220;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.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_404" id="Page_404">404</a></span>
+Mr. Lincoln.&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;&#8220;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>&#8220;&#8216;That the Constitution does not confer upon the General
+Government the power to commence and carry on a general
+system of internal improvements.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;General Cass, in his letter accepting the nomination, holds
+this language:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;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.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;These things, taken together, show that the question of
+internal improvements is now more distinctly made&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8217;s message, and to the &#8220;Democratic platform.&#8221;
+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>&#8220;Those general positions are: That internal improvements
+ought not to be made by the General Government:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;1. Because they would overwhelm the treasury;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>&#8220;3. Because they would be unconstitutional;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;4. Because the States may do enough by the levy and
+collection of tonnage duties; or, if not,</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;5. That the Constitution may be amended.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Do nothing at all, lest you do something wrong,&#8217; is the
+sum of these positions&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;The first position is, that a system of internal improvement
+would overwhelm the treasury.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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 &#8216;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.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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&#8217; administration, nearly, and substantially.
+This fact shows that when the power to make improvements
+was &#8216;fully asserted and exercised,&#8217; 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>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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: &#8216;If you will do nothing for me,
+I will do nothing for you.&#8217; Thus it is seen, that if this
+argument of &#8216;inequality&#8217; 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, &#8216;in spots
+about?&#8217; I make no special allusion to the present President
+when I say, there are few stronger cases in this world of
+&#8216;burden to the many, and benefit to the few&#8217;&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;of &#8216;inequality&#8217;&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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&#8217;s views, I
+read from Mr. Polk&#8217;s veto message:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;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 &#8216;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.&#8217; And he adds: &#8216;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.&#8217; In 1825, he repeated, in his
+published letters, the opinion that no such power had been
+conferred upon Congress.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I introduce this, not to controvert, just now, the Constitutional
+opinion, but to show, that on the question of <i>expediency</i>,
+Mr. Jefferson&#8217;s opinion was against the present President&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;that
+this opinion of Mr. Jefferson, in one branch at
+least, is, in the hands of Mr. Polk, like McFingal&#8217;s gun:</p>
+
+<div class="center-container"><div class="poem">
+<span class="i0">&#8220;&#8216;Bears wide and kicks the owner over.&#8217;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>&#8220;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.&nbsp;Q. Adams&#8217; 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>&#8220;&#8216;Mr. Justice Story, in his Commentaries on the Constitution
+of the United States, vol. 2, page 429&ndash;440, and again,
+page 519&ndash;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.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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: &#8216;I shall never git &#8216;em on,&#8217; says Patrick,
+&#8217;till I wear &#8217;em a day or two, and stretch &#8217;em a little.&#8217;
+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>&#8220;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>&#8220;&#8216;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.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;to enable Congress to do what, in his opinion, they
+ought not to do if they could.&#8221;</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: &#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;no object&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;can be so general, as to dispense its benefits
+with precise equality; and this inequality is chief among the
+&#8216;portentous consequences&#8217; 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>&#8220;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>
+&#8220;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 &#8216;inequality,&#8217;
+&#8216;speculation,&#8217; and &#8216;crushing the Treasury.&#8217; There is but a
+single alternative about them&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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">&#8216;Attempt the end, and never stand to doubt;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Nothing so hard, but search will find it out.&#8217;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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.&#8221;</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>&#8220;Mr. <span class="smcap">Speaker</span>:&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;Our Democratic friends seem to be in
+great distress because they think our candidate for the Presidency
+don&#8217;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&#8217;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&#8217;s opinion was
+for the power; while Randolph&#8217;s and Jefferson&#8217;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>&#8220;&#8216;It must be admitted, however, that unless the President&#8217;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.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;General Taylor&#8217;s opinion, as expressed in his Allison
+letter, is as I now read:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;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>&#8220;It is here seen that, in Mr. Jefferson&#8217;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>&#8220;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&#8217;s course is at least as well defined as is General
+Cass&#8217;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&#8217;s opinion on this
+question? (Some member answered, &#8216;He is against it.&#8217;)
+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>&#8220;&#8216;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.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Now, this is the whole matter&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;in substance, it is this:
+The people say to General Taylor, &#8216;If you are elected shall
+we have a National bank?&#8217; He answers, &#8216;<i>Your</i> will, gentlemen,
+not <i>mine</i>.&#8217; &#8216;What about the tariff?&#8217; &#8216;Say yourselves.&#8217;
+&#8216;Shall our rivers and harbors be improved?&#8217; &#8216;Just as you
+please.&#8217; &#8216;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.&#8217;
+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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;the principle
+of allowing the people to do as they please with their own
+business. My friend from Indiana (Mr. C.&nbsp;B. Smith) has
+aptly asked, &#8216;Are you willing to trust the people?&#8217; Some of
+you answered, substantially, &#8216;We are willing to trust the
+people; but the President is as much the representative of
+the people as Congress.&#8217; 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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;is what General
+Taylor objects to&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8217;t want, and he would allow them to have
+improvements, which their own candidate, if elected, will not.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Mr. Speaker, I have said Gen. Taylor&#8217;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>&#8220;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>&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8217;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>&#8220;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 &#8216;scathing and withering style.&#8217;
+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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8217;s nomination if they could. In violation, in
+utter, glaring contempt of this, you rejected him&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;rejected
+him, as the gentlemen from New York (Mr. Birdsall), the
+other day expressly admitted, for <i>availability</i>&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;that same
+&#8216;general availability&#8217; 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 &#8216;few&#8217; for his present position and movements. I
+can not remember the gentlemen&#8217;s precise language, but I do
+remember he put Van Buren down, down, till he got him
+where he was finally to &#8216;stink&#8217; and &#8216;rot.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;and the foremost. But there is no mistaking
+the origin of the breach; and if the curse of &#8216;stinking&#8217; and
+&#8216;rotting&#8217; 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.&#8221;</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>&#8220;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>&#8220;&#8216;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.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;To this Gen. Cass is reported to have replied as follows,
+to wit:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;In the &#8216;remarks above committed to writing,&#8217; is one numbered
+4, as follows, to wit:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;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.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;In Niles&#8217; Register, vol. 73, page 293, there is a letter of
+General Cass to A.&nbsp;O.&nbsp;P. Nicholson, of Nashville, Tennessee
+dated December 24, 1847, from which the following are correct
+extracts:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;&#8216;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>&#8220;&#8216;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;the establishment
+of territorial governments when needed&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;leaving to
+the inhabitants all the rights compatible with the relations
+they bear to the Confederation.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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, &#8216;back,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_428" id="Page_428">428</a></span>&#8217;
+&#8216;back, sir,&#8217; &#8216;back a little.&#8217; 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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;&#8216;back, sir!&#8217; &#8216;back, I say!&#8217; &#8216;further back!&#8217; and
+back he goes to the position of December, 1847; at which
+the gad is still, and the voice soothingly says&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;&#8216;So!&#8217; &#8216;Stand
+still at that.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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
+&#8216;manner of men;&#8217; and like Van Buren, he will never desert
+<i>you</i> till you first desert <i>him</i>.&#8221;</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>After referring at some length to extra &#8220;charges&#8221; of General
+Cass upon the Treasury, Mr. Lincoln <span class="locked">continued:&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;</span></p>
+
+<blockquote>
+
+<p>&#8220;But I have introduced General Cass&#8217;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&#8217;s worth a day besides, partly on the road between
+the two places. And then there is an important discovery in
+his example&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;if
+if&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;there is any left after he shall have helped
+himself.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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 &#8216;opposing
+the war.&#8217; If to say &#8216;the war was unnecessarily and unconstitutionally
+commenced by the President,&#8217; 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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8217;s hard task was to beat back
+five foes, or die himself, of the five high officers who perished,
+four were Whigs.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;more than
+thank them&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;one and all, for the high, imperishable honor
+they have conferred on our common State.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>&#8220;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.&#8221;</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>&#8220;<span class="smcap">Fellow-Citizens</span>:&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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&#8217;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>&#8220;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: &#8216;If the people of Utah shall peacefully form a
+State Constitution tolerating polygamy, will the Democracy
+admit them into the Union?&#8217; There is nothing in the United
+States Constitution or law against polygamy; and why is it
+not a part of the Judge&#8217;s &#8216;sacred right of self-government&#8217;
+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>&#8220;As to Kansas. The substance of the Judge&#8217;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: &#8216;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.&#8217;</p>
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_433" id="Page_433">433</a></span></p>
+<p>&#8220;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, &#8216;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.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;including
+&#8216;Free State Democrats&#8217; 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 &#8216;the Free State Democrats&#8217; cut
+in the concern. Of course they voted&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;all Democrats do their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_434" id="Page_434">434</a></span>
+duty&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;Allow me to barely whisper my suspicion, that there
+were no such things in Kansas as &#8216;Free State Democrats&#8217;&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;And now, as to the Dred Scott decision. That decision
+declares two propositions&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;Judicial decisions have two uses&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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 &#8216;precedents&#8217; and
+&#8216;authorities.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;&#8216;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;the
+friends and enemies of the supremacy of the laws.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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,
+&#8216;as he understands it.&#8217; But hear the General&#8217;s own
+words. Here they are, taken from his veto message:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;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.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>&#8220;&#8216;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.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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 &#8216;a distinct
+issue between the friends and the enemies of the Constitution,&#8217;
+and in which war he fought in the ranks of the enemies
+of the Constitution.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;&#8216;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 &#8216;the
+people of the United States,&#8217; 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.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Again, Chief Justice Taney says: &#8216;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.&#8217; And again, after quoting
+from the Declaration, he says: &#8216;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.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;New Jersey and
+North Carolina&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;that then gave the free negro the right of
+voting, the right has since been taken away; and in the third&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;New
+York&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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 &#8216;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&#8217;s bondage to the new countries was prohibited; but now,
+Congress decides that it will not continue the prohibition&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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>
+&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;equal with
+&#8216;certain inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty, and
+the pursuit of happiness.&#8217; 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.&#8221;</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>&#8220;<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>&#8220;There was one question to which he asked the attention
+of the crowd, which I deem of somewhat less importance&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;at
+least of propriety for me to dwell upon&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;that is,
+provided I can find it in the paper. [Examines the morning&#8217;s
+paper.]</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;he is the rugged
+Russian Bear!</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But if they will have it&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;for he says that we deny it&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;that
+there is any such alliance as he says there is&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;and I
+don&#8217;t propose hanging very much upon this question of veracity&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;but
+if he will have it that there is such an alliance&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;as I think this branch
+of the argument is lugged in&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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: &#8216;Why, you don&#8217;t want
+to beat Douglas?&#8217; &#8216;Yes,&#8217; said he, &#8216;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&#8217;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.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Now, gentlemen, that is not my argument&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;<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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;when it belonged to the nation&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;such right to govern
+themselves was called &#8216;Squatter Sovereignty.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;<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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;&#8216;It is all gone.&#8217;]</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;if that is any thing new, I
+confess I don&#8217;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, &#8216;Yes.&#8217;] 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,
+&#8216;John Calhoun.&#8217;]</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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 &#8216;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.&#8217; There is the origin of
+the Popular Sovereignty. Who, then, shall come in at this
+day and claim that he invented it&#8221;?</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>&#8220;I defy you to show a printed resolution passed in a Democratic
+meeting&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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&#8217;s speech in which he respectfully
+attended to me.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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
+&#8216;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&#8217;&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;I am quoting from my
+speech&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;&#8216;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.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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&#8217;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>&#8220;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>&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;and that is what I
+meant to allude to there&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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&#8217;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8217;s rights&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>
+&#8220;So much then as to my disposition&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;my wish&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;A little now on the other point&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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, &#8216;resistance to the decision?&#8217; 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>&#8220;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>&#8220;What are the uses of decisions of courts? They have
+two uses. As rules of property they have two uses. First&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;allegation of facts upon which it
+stands are not facts at all in many instances, and no decision
+made on any question&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;the first instance of a decision made
+under so many unfavorable circumstances&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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 &#8216;resistance to
+the Supreme Court?&#8217; * * *</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;We were often&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;more than once, at least&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;in the course
+of Judge Douglas&#8217;s speech last night, reminded that this
+Government was made for white men&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8217;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&#8217;t mix
+there.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_455" id="Page_455">455</a></span>
+&#8220;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>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;men
+descended by blood from our ancestors&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;those among us
+perhaps, half our people, who are not descendants at all of
+these men; they are men who have come from Europe&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;German,
+Irish, French, and Scandinavian&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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 &#8216;we hold these truths
+to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,&#8217; 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>&#8220;Now, sirs, for the purpose of squaring things with this
+idea of &#8216;don&#8217;t care if slavery is voted up or voted down,&#8217; 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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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 &#8216;no, no,&#8217;]; let us stick to it then;
+let us stand firmly by it then.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>
+&#8220;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: &#8216;As your Father in heaven is
+perfect, be ye also perfect.&#8217; The Saviour, I suppose, did not
+expect that any human creature could be perfect as the Father
+in Heaven; but He said: &#8216;As your Father in Heaven is perfect,
+be ye also perfect.&#8217; 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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;not intentionally&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;this race and
+that race and the other race being inferior, and therefore they
+must be placed in an inferior position&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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.&#8221;</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>&#8220;<span class="smcap">Ladies and Gentlemen</span>:&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8217;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;Having said thus much, I will take up the judge&#8217;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. &#8220;&#8216;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?&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>Answer. &#8220;I do not now, nor ever did, stand in favor of
+the unconditional repeal of the Fugitive Slave law.</p>
+
+<p>Q. 2. &#8220;&#8216;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?&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>A. &#8220;I do not now, nor ever did, stand pledged against the
+admission of any more slave States into the Union.</p>
+
+<p>Q. 3. &#8220;&#8216;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?&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>A. &#8220;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. &#8220;&#8216;I want to know whether he stands to-day pledged
+to the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia?&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>A. &#8220;I do not stand to-day pledged to the abolition of
+slavery in the District of Columbia.</p>
+
+<p>Q. 5. &#8220;&#8216;I desire him to answer whether he stands pledged
+to the prohibition of the slave-trade between the different
+States?&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>A. &#8220;I do not stand pledged to the prohibition of the slave-trade
+between the different States.</p>
+
+<p>Q. 6. &#8220;&#8216;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?&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>A. &#8220;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. &#8220;&#8216;I desire him to answer whether he is opposed to
+the acquisition of any new territory unless slavery is first prohibited
+therein?&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>A. &#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;The third interrogatory is answered by the answer to the
+second, it being, as I conceive, the same as the second.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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, &#8216;sweep from our Capital that foul blot upon our
+nation.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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.&#8221;</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">
+
+&#8220;<span class="smcap">Washington</span>, April 9, 1862.<br />
+</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;<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>&#8220;Blenker&#8217;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;certainly not without reluctance.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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&#8217;s old position. General Banks&#8217; 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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;As to General Wool&#8217;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>&#8220;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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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">&#8220;Yours, very truly,</span><br />
+&#8220;<span class="smcap">A. Lincoln</span>.</p>
+
+<p class="p0 in0">&#8220;Maj.-Gen. <span class="smcap">McClellan</span>.&#8221;<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">
+&#8220;<i>Executive Mansion</i>, Washington, May 27, 1863.<br />
+</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Gen. <span class="smcap">J.&nbsp;M. Schofield</span>&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;<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">
+&#8220;Yours, truly, <span class="right"><span class="smcap">A. Lincoln</span>.&#8221;</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>&#8220;<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&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;not,
+however, exceeding three years.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>&#8220;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&#8217;s office, by special letters.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;The quotas of the States and districts will be assigned by
+the War Department, through the Provost-Marshal General&#8217;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and
+caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>
+&#8220;By the President: <span class="right"><span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln</span>.</span><br />
+
+&#8220;<span class="smcap">Wm. H. Seward</span>, Secretary of State.&#8221;<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&#8217;PHEETERS&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;THE PRESIDENT&#8217;S REPLY TO AN
+APPEAL FOR INTERFERENCE.</h3>
+
+<blockquote>
+
+<p class="sigright">
+
+&#8220;<i>Executive Mansion</i>, Washington, December 23, 1863.<br />
+</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>&#8220;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 &#8216;would insure his release.&#8217; Mr.
+Ranney&#8217;s letter says: &#8216;Dr. Samuel McPheeters is enjoying
+all the rights of a civilian, but can not preach the gospel!&#8217;
+Mr. Coalter, in his letter, asks: &#8216;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?&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Now, all this sounds very strangely; and, withal, a little
+as if you gentlemen making the application do not understand
+the case alike&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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&#8217;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: &#8216;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.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>&#8220;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.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p class="sigright">
+&#8220;<span class="smcap">A. Lincoln.</span>&#8221;<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">
+
+&#8220;<i>Executive Mansion</i>, Washington, January 20, 1864.<br />
+</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;<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&#8217;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&#8217;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 &#8203;&mdash;&#8203;th day of &#8203;&mdash;&#8203;&mdash; 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 &#8203;&mdash;&#8203; day of &#8203;&mdash;&#8203;&mdash; 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>&#8220;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">
+&#8220;<span class="smcap">A. Lincoln.</span>&#8221;<br />
+</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>Later, the President wrote the following letter:</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+
+<p>&#8220;<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">
+&#8220;<span class="smcap">A. Lincoln.</span>&#8221;<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>&#8220;<span class="smcap">Whereas</span>, By the Act approved July 4, 1864, entitled &#8216;An
+Act further to regulate and provide for the enrolling and calling
+out the National Forces, and for other purposes,&#8217; 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 &#8216;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.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;<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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>
+&#8220;By the President: <span class="right"><span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln</span>.</span><br />
+
+&#8220;<span class="smcap">William H. Seward</span>, Secretary of State.&#8221;<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>&#8220;<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>&#8220;Your people&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;the Friends&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;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>&#8220;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">&#8220;Your sincere friend,</span><br />
+&#8220;<span class="smcap">A. Lincoln.</span>&#8221;<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">&#8220;<i>Executive Mansion</i>, Washington, D.&nbsp;C.,</span><br />
+Saturday, October 22, 1864<br />
+</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+
+<p class="hang">&#8220;MESSRS. WM.&nbsp;B. CAMPBELL, THOMAS A.&nbsp;R. NELSON, JAMES T.&nbsp;P.
+CARTER, JOHN WILLIAMS, A. BLIZZARD, HENRY COOPER, BAILIE
+PEYTON, JOHN LILLYETT, EMERSON ETHERIDGE, AND JOHN D.
+PERRYMAN.</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>&#8220;<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.&#8221;</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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;I do not perceive in the plan any menace, or violence, or
+coercion toward any one.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;<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>&#8220;I cannot discern that by his plan he purposes any more&#8203;&mdash;&#8203;but
+you object to the plan.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_476" id="Page_476">476</a></span>
+&#8220;Leaving it alone will be your perfect security against it.
+It is not proposed to force you into it.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;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>&#8220;Except it be to give protection against violence, I decline
+to interfere in any way with any Presidential election.</p>
+
+<p class="sigright">&#8220;<span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln.</span>&#8221;</p>
+</blockquote>
+
+<p class="p4 center">THE END.</p>
+
+<div class="transnote">
+<h2><a name="Transcribers_Notes" id="Transcribers_Notes">Transcriber&#8217;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 &#8220;any thing&#8221; but sometimes uses &#8220;anything&#8221;.</p>
+
+<p>Text uses both &#8220;Chancelor&#8221; and &#8220;Chancellor&#8221;.</p>
+
+<p>Page <a href="#Page_44">44</a>: &#8220;the tenth commandment&#8221; probably should be &#8220;amendment&#8221;.</p>
+
+<p>Page <a href="#Page_195">195</a> does not have a &#8220;Second&#8221; order.</p>
+
+<p>Page <a href="#Page_256">256</a>: &#8220;rule of political action.&#8221; should end with a question mark,
+not with a period.</p>
+
+<p>Page <a href="#Page_244">244</a>: &#8220;acknowledgment&#8221; in &#8220;as a grateful acknowledgment&#8221; was
+misprinted. It was spelled correctly in Lincoln&#8217;s original
+handwritten letter and that spelling is used here.</p>
+
+<p>Page <a href="#Page_376">376</a>: &#8220;reportively replied&#8221; was incompletely printed with empty
+space before &#8220;portively&#8221;. Transcriber added &#8220;re&#8221; as it seemed to be
+the best fit.</p>
+
+<p>Page <a href="#Page_386">386</a>: &#8220;homely often&#8221; was incompletely printed with empty space
+before &#8220;omely&#8221;. Transcriber added &#8220;h&#8221; as it seemed to be the best fit.</p>
+
+<p>Page <a href="#Page_409">409</a>: &#8220;<i>wholly</i> good; almost every&#8221; originally had a period
+after &#8220;good&#8221;. Changed here to a semi-colon, but perhaps the following
+word should have been capitalized instead, as &#8220;Almost&#8221;.</p>
+
+<p>Page <a href="#Page_413">413</a>: &#8220;[Here Mr. Meade ... every improvement?]&#8221; was missing a closing
+square bracket. Added by Transcriber based on context.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Life of Abraham Lincoln, by Frank Crosby
+
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+</pre>
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+</body>
+</html>
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Life of Abraham Lincoln, by Frank Crosby
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Life of Abraham Lincoln
+ Sixteenth President of the United States
+
+Author: Frank Crosby
+
+Release Date: November 12, 2013 [EBook #44166]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Mark C. Orton, Charlie Howard, and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
+file was produced from images generously made available
+by The Internet Archive)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ "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."
+
+ _From Mr. Lincoln's Speech at Independence Hall, Philadelphia,
+ February 21, 1861._
+
+ "I believe this Government cannot endure permanently half slave and
+ half free."
+
+ _Springfield, Illinois, June, 1858._
+
+ "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."
+
+ _Trenton, New Jersey, February 21, 1861._
+
+ "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."
+
+ _Message, July 5, 1861._
+
+ "In giving freedom to the slaves, we assure freedom to the free;
+ honorable alike in what we give and what we preserve."
+
+ _Message, December 1, 1862._
+
+ "I hope peace will come soon, and come to stay; and so come as to
+ be worth the keeping in all future time."
+
+ _Springfield Letter, August 26, 1863._
+
+ "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."
+
+ _Speech at Gettysburg, November 19, 1863._
+
+ "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."
+
+ _Amnesty Proclamation, December 8, 1863._
+
+ "I claim not to have controlled events, but confess plainly that
+ events have controlled me."
+
+ _Letter to A. G. Hodges, April 4, 1864._
+
+ "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."
+
+ _Last Inaugural, March 4, 1865._
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+ LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN,
+
+ SIXTEENTH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
+
+
+ CONTAINING
+
+ HIS EARLY HISTORY AND POLITICAL CAREER; TOGETHER
+ WITH THE SPEECHES, MESSAGES, PROCLAMATIONS AND
+ OTHER OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS ILLUSTRATIVE OF
+ HIS EVENTFUL ADMINISTRATION.
+
+
+ BY FRANK CROSBY,
+ MEMBER OF THE PHILADELPHIA BAR.
+
+
+ "LET ALL THE ENDS THOU AIM'ST AT BE THY COUNTRY'S,
+ THY GOD'S AND TRUTH'S; THEN IF THOU FALL'ST
+ THOU FALL'ST A BLESSED MARTYR."
+
+
+ NEW YORK
+ INTERNATIONAL BOOK COMPANY
+ 310-318 SIXTH AVENUE
+
+
+
+
+ DEDICATED
+
+ TO THE GOOD AND TRUE
+
+ OF THE NATION
+
+ REDEEMED--REGENERATED--DISENTHRALLED.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+ F. C.
+
+ _Philadelphia, June, 1865._
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+ CHAPTER I.
+
+ BOYHOOD AND EARLY MANHOOD.
+
+ 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 13
+
+
+ CHAPTER II.
+
+ IN CONGRESS AND ON THE STUMP.
+
+ 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 19
+
+
+ CHAPTER III.
+
+ BEFORE THE NATION.
+
+ Speeches in Ohio--Extract from the Cincinnati Speech--Visits
+ the East--Celebrated Speech at the Cooper Institute, New
+ York--Interesting Incident 34
+
+
+ CHAPTER IV.
+
+ NOMINATED AND ELECTED PRESIDENT.
+
+ 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 60
+
+
+ CHAPTER V.
+
+ TO WASHINGTON.
+
+ 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 67
+
+
+ CHAPTER VI.
+
+ THE NEW ADMINISTRATION.
+
+ 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 90
+
+
+ CHAPTER VII.
+
+ PREPARING FOR WAR.
+
+ 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 108
+
+
+ CHAPTER VIII.
+
+ THE FIRST SESSION OF CONGRESS.
+
+ Opening of Congress--President's First Message--Its Nature--
+ Action of Congress--Resolution Declaring the Object of the
+ War--Bull Run--Its Effect 117
+
+
+ CHAPTER IX.
+
+ CLOSE OF 1861.
+
+ 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 137
+
+
+ CHAPTER X.
+
+ THE CONGRESS OF 1861-62.
+
+ 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 148
+
+
+ CHAPTER XI.
+
+ THE SLAVERY QUESTION.
+
+ 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 171
+
+
+ CHAPTER XII.
+
+ THE PENINSULAR CAMPAIGN.
+
+ 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 181
+
+
+ CHAPTER XIII.
+
+ FREEDOM TO MILLIONS.
+
+ Tribune Editorial--Letter to Mr. Greeley--Announcement of the
+ Emancipation Proclamation--Suspension of the _Habeas Corpus_
+ in certain Cases--Order for Observance of the Sabbath--The
+ Emancipation Proclamation 190
+
+
+ CHAPTER XIV.
+
+ LAST SESSION OF THE THIRTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS.
+
+ Situation of the Country--Opposition to the Administration--
+ President's Message 199
+
+
+ CHAPTER XV.
+
+ THE TIDE TURNED.
+
+ 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 226
+
+
+ CHAPTER XVI.
+
+ LETTERS AND SPEECHES.
+
+ Speech at Washington--Letter to Gen. Grant--Thanksgiving
+ Proclamation--Letter Concerning the Emancipation Proclamation--
+ Proclamation for Annual Thanksgiving--Dedicatory Speech at
+ Gettysburg 242
+
+
+ CHAPTER XVII.
+
+ THE THIRTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS.
+
+ Organization of the House--Different Opinions as to
+ Reconstruction--Provisions for Pardon of Rebels--President's
+ Proclamation of Pardon--Annual Message--Explanatory
+ Proclamation 263
+
+
+ CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+ PROGRESS.
+
+ 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 275
+
+
+ CHAPTER XIX.
+
+ RENOMINATED.
+
+ 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 285
+
+
+ CHAPTER XX.
+
+ RECONSTRUCTION.
+
+ 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 298
+
+
+ CHAPTER XXI.
+
+ PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN OF 1864.
+
+ 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 314
+
+
+ CHAPTER XXII.
+
+ RE-ELECTED
+
+ 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 325
+
+
+ CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+ TIGHTENING THE LINES.
+
+ 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 350
+
+
+ CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+ IN RICHMOND.
+
+ 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 362
+
+
+ CHAPTER XXV.
+
+ THE LAST ACT.
+
+ 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 374
+
+
+ CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+ THE MAN.
+
+ 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 382
+
+
+ APPENDIX.
+
+ Mr. Lincoln's Speeches in Congress and Elsewhere, Proclamations,
+ Letters, etc., not included in the Body of the Work.
+
+ Speech on the Mexican War, (In Congress, Jan. 12, 1848) 391
+
+ Speech on Internal Improvements, (In Congress, June 20, 1848)
+ 403
+
+ Speech on the Presidency and General Politics, (In Congress,
+ July 27, 1848) 417
+
+ Speech in Reply to Mr. Douglas, on Kansas, the Dred Scott
+ Decision, and the Utah Question, (At Springfield, June 26,
+ 1857) 431
+
+ Speech in Reply to Senator Douglas, (At Chicago, July 10, 1858) 442
+
+ Opening Passages of his Speech at Freeport 459
+
+ Letter to Gen. McClellan 464
+
+ Letter to Gen. Schofield Relative to the Removal of Gen. Curtis 466
+
+ Three Hundred Thousand Men Called For 466
+
+ Rev. Dr. McPheeters--President's Reply to an Appeal for
+ Interference 468
+
+ An Election Ordered in the State of Arkansas 470
+
+ Letter to William Fishback on the Election in Arkansas 471
+
+ Call for Five Hundred Thousand Men 471
+
+ Letter to Mrs. Gurney 473
+
+ The Tennessee Test Oath 474
+
+
+
+
+LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+BOYHOOD AND EARLY MANHOOD.
+
+ 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.
+
+
+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."
+
+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 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.
+
+Of this class, pre-eminently, was the statesman whose life and public
+services the following pages are to exhibit.
+
+ABRAHAM LINCOLN, 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.
+
+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.
+
+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 among a race of giants. Morally, he
+was proverbially honest, conscientious, and upright.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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:
+
+"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, 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.
+
+"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."
+
+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.
+
+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, 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.
+
+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:--
+
+"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.
+
+"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.
+
+"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.
+
+"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."
+
+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; while his acknowledged goodness of heart had knit many to
+him, who, upon purely political grounds, would have held themselves
+aloof.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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, 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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+IN CONGRESS AND ON THE STUMP.
+
+ 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.
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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."
+
+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.
+
+Having declined to be a candidate for re-election, he retired 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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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 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:
+
+ "GENTLEMEN OF THE CONVENTION:--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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "This necessity had not been overlooked, but had been
+ provided for, as well as might be, in the notable argument of
+ '_squatter sovereignty_,' otherwise called '_sacred right of
+ self-government_,' 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.'
+
+ "Then opened the roar of loose declamation in favor of 'squatter
+ sovereignty,' and 'sacred right of self-government.'
+
+ "'But,' said opposition members, 'let us be more specific--let us
+ _amend_ the bill so as to expressly declare that the people of the
+ territory _may_ exclude slavery.' 'Not we,' said the friends of the
+ measure; and down they voted the amendment.
+
+ "While the Nebraska Bill was passing through Congress, a law case,
+ involving the question of a negro's freedom, by 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.
+
+ "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 _after_ the election.
+ Still, _before_ the election, Senator Trumbull, on the floor of the
+ Senate, requests the leading advocate of the Nebraska Bill to state
+ _his opinion_ 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.'
+
+ "The election came. Mr. Buchanan was elected, and the
+ _indorsement_, such as it was, secured. That was the _second_ 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.
+
+ "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, _whatever it might be_. Then, in a few days
+ came the decision.
+
+ "This was the third point gained.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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:
+
+ "First, That no negro slave, imported as such from Africa, and no
+ descendant of such, can ever be a citizen of any State in the
+ sense of that term as used in the Constitution of the United States.
+
+ "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.'
+
+ "Secondly, that 'subject to the Constitution of the United States,'
+ neither Congress nor a Territorial Legislature can exclude slavery
+ from any United States Territory.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "This shows exactly where we now are, and partially also, whither
+ we are tending.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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
+ "_perfectly free_" argument upon which the election was to be
+ carried.
+
+ "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?
+
+ "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, 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.
+
+ "It should not be overlooked that, by the Nebraska bill, the people
+ of a State as well as Territory, were to be left '_perfectly
+ free_,' '_subject only to the Constitution_.' 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?
+
+ "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. _Possibly_, this was a mere
+ _omission_; 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.
+
+ "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 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.'
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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?
+
+ "There are those who denounce us openly to their own friends, and
+ yet whisper softly, that Senator Douglas is the _aptest_ 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 head of the dynasty; and that he has
+ regularly voted with us, on a single point, upon which he and we
+ have never differed.
+
+ "They remind us that _he_ is a very _great man_, and that the
+ largest of us are very small ones. Let this be granted. But 'a
+ _living dog_ is better than a _dead lion_.' Judge Douglas, if not
+ a _dead_ lion for this work, is at least a _caged_ and _toothless_
+ 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.
+
+ "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 _really_ think so? But
+ if it is, how can he resist it? For years he has labored to prove
+ it a _sacred right_ 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.
+
+ "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
+ _protection_ to the home production? And as the home _producers_
+ will probably not ask the protection, he will be wholly without a
+ ground of opposition.
+
+ "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?
+
+ "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, _if ever_, he and we can come together on
+ _principle_, so that our great cause may have assistance from his
+ great ability, I hope to have interposed no adventitious obstacle.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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?--_now_--when
+ that same enemy is wavering, dissevered and belligerent?
+
+ "The result is not doubtful. We shall not fail--if we stand firm,
+ we shall not fail. _Wise counsels_ may _accelerate_ or _mistakes
+ delay_ it, but, sooner or later, the victory is _sure_ to come."
+
+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.
+
+In one of his speeches during this memorable campaign, Mr. Lincoln paid
+the following tribute to the Declaration of Independence:--
+
+ "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.
+
+ "Now, my countrymen, if you have been taught doctrines conflicting
+ with the great landmarks of the Declaration of 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.
+
+ "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 _do claim_ 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. _But do not destroy that immortal emblem of humanity--the
+ Declaration of American Independence._"
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+BEFORE THE NATION.
+
+ Speeches in Ohio--Extract from his Cincinnati Speech--Visits
+ the East--Celebrated Speech at the Cooper Institute, New York--
+ Interesting Incident.
+
+
+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.
+
+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:
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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 likely be a drawn battle; but being
+ inferior in numbers, you will make nothing by attempting to master
+ us.
+
+ "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.
+ THE PEOPLE OF THESE UNITED STATES ARE THE RIGHTFUL MASTERS OF BOTH
+ CONGRESSES AND COURTS, not to overthrow the Constitution, but to
+ overthrow the men who pervert that Constitution."
+
+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.
+
+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:
+
+ "MR. PRESIDENT AND FELLOW CITIZENS OF NEW YORK:--The facts with
+ which I shall deal this evening are mainly old and familiar; nor
+ is there any thing new in the general use I shall make of them. If
+ there shall be any novelty, it will be in the mode of presenting
+ the facts, and the inferences and observations following that
+ presentation.
+
+ "In his speech last autumn, at Columbus, Ohio, as reported in _The
+ New York Times_, Senator Douglas said:
+
+ "'Our fathers, when they framed the Government under which we live,
+ understood this question just as well, and even better than we do
+ now.'
+
+ "I fully indorse this and I adopt it as a text for this discourse.
+ I so adopt it because it furnishes a precise and 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?'
+
+ "What is the frame of Government under which we live?
+
+ "The answer must be: 'The Constitution of the United States.' That
+ Constitution consists of the original, framed in 1787 (and under
+ which the present Government first went into operation), and twelve
+ subsequently framed amendments, the first ten of which were framed
+ in 1789.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "I take these 'thirty-nine,' for the present, as being 'our fathers
+ who framed the Government under which we live.'
+
+ "What is the question which, according to the text, those fathers
+ understood just as well, and even better than we do now?
+
+ "It is this: Does the proper division of local from federal
+ authority, or any thing in the Constitution, forbid our Federal
+ Government control as to slavery in our Federal Territories?
+
+ "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.
+
+ "Let us now inquire whether the 'thirty-nine,' or any of them, ever
+ acted upon this question; and if they did, how they acted upon
+ it--how they expressed that better understanding.
+
+ "In 1784--three years before the Constitution--the United States
+ then owning the Northwestern Territory, and no other--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.
+
+ "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, being part of
+ what is now well known as the Ordinance of '87.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "In 1803, the Federal Government purchased the Louisiana country.
+ Our former territorial acquisitions came from certain of our own
+ States; but this Louisiana country was acquired from a foreign
+ nation. In 1804, Congress gave a territorial organization to that
+ part of it which now constitutes the State of Louisiana. New
+ Orleans, lying within that part, was an old and comparatively
+ large city. There were other considerable towns and settlements,
+ and slavery was extensively and thoroughly intermingled with
+ the people. Congress did not, in the Territorial Act, prohibit
+ slavery; but they did interfere with it--take control of it--in
+ a more marked and extensive way than they did in the case of
+ Mississippi. The substance of the provision therein made, in
+ relation to slaves, was:
+
+ "_First._ That no slave should be imported into the territory from
+ foreign parts.
+
+ "_Second._ That no slave should be carried into it who had been
+ imported into the United States since the first day of May, 1798.
+
+ "_Third._ That no slave should be carried into it, except by the
+ owner, and for his own use as a settler; the penalty in all the
+ cases being a fine upon the violator of the law, and freedom to the
+ slave.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "The cases I have mentioned are the only acts of the 'thirty-nine,'
+ or of any of them, upon the direct issue, which I have been able to
+ discover.
+
+ "To enumerate the persons who thus acted, as being four in 1784,
+ 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "Two of the twenty-three voted against Congressional prohibition of
+ slavery in the Federal Territories, in the instances in which they
+ acted upon the question. But for what reasons they so voted is not
+ known. They may have done so because they thought a proper division
+ of local from Federal authority, or some provision or principle of
+ the Constitution, stood in the way; or they may, without any such
+ question, have voted against the prohibition, on what appeared to
+ them to be sufficient grounds of expediency. No one who has sworn
+ to support the Constitution, can conscientiously vote for what he
+ understands to be an unconstitutional measure, however expedient
+ he may think it; but one may and ought to vote against a measure
+ which he deems constitutional, if, at the same time, he deems it
+ inexpedient. It, therefore, would be unsafe to set down even the
+ two who voted against the prohibition, as having done so because,
+ in their understanding, any proper division of local from Federal
+ authority, or any thing in the Constitution, forbade the Federal
+ Government to control as to slavery in Federal Territory.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "For the purpose of adhering rigidly to the text, I have purposely
+ omitted whatever understanding may have been manifested, by any
+ person, however distinguished, other than the 'thirty-nine' fathers
+ who framed the original Constitution; and, for the same reason, I
+ have also omitted whatever understanding may have been manifested
+ by any of the 'thirty-nine' even, on any other phase of the
+ general question of slavery. If we should look into their acts and
+ declarations on those other phases, as the foreign slave-trade,
+ and the morality and policy of slavery generally, it would appear
+ to us that on the direct question of Federal control of slavery
+ in Federal Territories, the sixteen, if they had acted at all,
+ would probably have acted just as the twenty-three did. Among
+ that sixteen were several of the most noted anti-slavery men of
+ those times--as Dr. Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, and Governeur
+ Morris--while there was not one now known to have been otherwise,
+ unless it may be John Rutledge, of South Carolina.
+
+ "The sum of the whole is, that of our 'thirty-nine' fathers who
+ framed the original Constitution, twenty-one--a clear majority
+ of the whole--certainly understood that no proper division of
+ local from Federal authority nor any part of the Constitution,
+ forbade the Federal Government to control slavery in the
+ Federal Territories, while all the rest probably had the same
+ understanding. Such, unquestionably, was the understanding of our
+ fathers who framed the original Constitution; and the text affirms
+ that they understood the question better than we.
+
+ "But, so far, I have been considering the understanding of the
+ question manifested by the framers of the original Constitution. In
+ and by the original instrument, a mode was provided for amending
+ it; and, as I have already stated, the present frame of 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.'
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 a step further. I defy any one to show that any living man in
+ the whole world ever did, prior to the beginning of the present
+ century (and I might almost say prior to the beginning of the last
+ half of the present century), declare that, in his understanding,
+ any proper division of local from Federal authority, or any part of
+ the Constitution, forbade the Federal government to control as to
+ slavery in the Federal territories. To those who now so declare, I
+ give, not only 'our fathers who framed the government under which
+ we live,' but with them all other living men within the century in
+ which it was framed, among whom to search, and they shall not be
+ able to find the evidence of a single man agreeing with them.
+
+ "Now, and here, let me guard a little against being misunderstood.
+ I do not mean to say we are bound to follow implicitly in whatever
+ our fathers did. To do so would be to discard all the lights of
+ current experience--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.
+
+ "If any man, at this day, sincerely believes that a proper division
+ of local from Federal authority, or any part of the Constitution,
+ forbids the Federal government to control as to slavery in the
+ Federal territories, he is right to say so, and to enforce his
+ position by all truthful evidence and fair argument which he can.
+ But he has no right to mislead others, who have less access to
+ history and less leisure to study it, into the false belief that
+ 'our fathers, who framed the government under which we live,' were
+ of the same opinion, thus substituting falsehood and deception for
+ truthful evidence and fair argument. If any man, at this day,
+ sincerely believes 'our fathers, who framed the government under
+ which we live,' used and applied principles, in other cases, which
+ ought to have led them to understand that a proper division of
+ local from Federal authority, or some part of the Constitution,
+ forbids the Federal government to control as to slavery in the
+ Federal territories, he is right to say so. But he should, at the
+ same time, brave the responsibility of declaring that, in his
+ opinion, he understands their principles better than they did
+ themselves; and especially should he not shirk that responsibility
+ by asserting that they 'understood the question just as well, and
+ even better than we do now.'
+
+ "But enough. Let all who believe that 'our fathers, who framed the
+ government under which we live,' understood this question just as
+ well, and even better than we do now,' speak as they spoke, and act
+ as they acted upon it. This is all Republicans ask, all Republicans
+ desire, in relation to slavery. As those fathers marked it, so
+ let it be again marked, as an evil not to be extended, but to be
+ tolerated and protected only because of and so far as its actual
+ presence among us makes that toleration and protection a necessity.
+ Let all the guaranties those fathers gave it, be, not grudgingly,
+ but fully and fairly maintained. For this Republicans contend, and
+ with this, so far as I know or believe, they will be content.
+
+ "And now, if they would listen--as I suppose they will not--I would
+ address a few words to the Southern people.
+
+ "I would say to them: You consider yourselves a reasonable and
+ a just people; and I consider that, in the general qualities of
+ reason and justice, you are not inferior to any other people.
+ Still, when you speak of us Republicans, you do so only to
+ denounce us as reptiles, or, at the best, as no better than
+ outlaws. You will grant a hearing to pirates or murderers, but
+ nothing like it to 'Black Republicans.' In all your contentions
+ with one another, each of you deems an unconditional condemnation
+ of 'Black Republicanism' as the first thing to be attended to.
+ Indeed, such condemnation of us seems to be an indispensable
+ prerequisite--license, so to speak--among you to be admitted or
+ permitted to speak at all.
+
+ "Now can you, or not, be prevailed upon to pause and to consider
+ whether this is quite just to us, or even to yourselves?
+
+ "Bring forward your charges and specifications, and then be patient
+ long enough to hear us deny or justify.
+
+ "You say we are sectional. We deny it. That makes an issue; and
+ the burden of proof is upon you. You produce your proof; and what
+ is it? Why, that our party has no existence in your section--gets
+ no votes in your section. The fact is substantially true; but
+ does it prove the issue? If it does, then, in case we should,
+ without change of principle, begin to get votes in your section,
+ we should thereby cease to be sectional. You cannot escape this
+ conclusion; and yet, are you willing to abide by it? If you are,
+ you will probably soon find that we have ceased to be sectional,
+ for we shall get votes in your section this very year. You will
+ then begin to discover, as the truth plainly is, that your proof
+ does not touch the issue. The fact that we get no votes in your
+ section is a fact of your making, and not of ours. And if there
+ be fault in that fact, that fault is primarily yours, and remains
+ so until you show that we repel you by some wrong principle or
+ practice. If we do repel you by any wrong principle or practice,
+ the fault is ours; but this brings 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 principle which
+ our fathers, who framed the government under which we live, thought
+ so clearly right as to adopt it, and indorse it again and again
+ upon their official oaths, is, in fact, so clearly wrong as to
+ demand your condemnation without a moment's consideration.
+
+ "Some of you delight to flaunt in our faces the warning against
+ sectional parties given by Washington in his Farewell Address.
+ Less than eight years before Washington gave that warning, he had,
+ as President of the United States, approved and signed an act of
+ Congress enforcing the prohibition of slavery in the Northwestern
+ Territory, which act embodied the policy of the government upon
+ that subject, up to and at the very moment he penned that warning;
+ and about one year after he penned it he wrote Lafayette that he
+ considered that prohibition a wise measure, expressing, in the same
+ connection, his hope that we should some time have a confederacy of
+ free States.
+
+ "Bearing this in mind, and seeing that sectionalism has since
+ arisen upon this same subject, is that warning a weapon in your
+ hands against us, or in our hands against you? Could Washington
+ himself speak, would he cast the blame of that sectionalism upon
+ us, who sustain his policy, or upon you, who repudiate it? We
+ respect that warning of Washington, and we commend it to you,
+ together with his example pointing to the right application of it.
+
+ "But you say you are conservative--eminently conservative--while
+ we are revolutionary, destructive, or something of the sort. What
+ is conservatism? Is it not adherence to the old and tried against
+ the new and untried? We stick to, contend for, the identical
+ old policy on the point in controversy which was adopted by our
+ fathers who framed the government under which we live; while
+ you, with one accord, reject, and scout, and spit upon that old
+ policy, and insist upon substituting something new. True, you
+ disagree among yourselves as to what that substitute shall be.
+ You 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "You charge that we stir up insurrections among your slaves. We
+ deny it. And what is your proof? Harper's Ferry! John Brown! John
+ Brown was no Republican; and you have failed to implicate a single
+ Republican in his Harper's Ferry enterprise. If any member of our
+ party is guilty in that matter, you know it, or you do not know
+ it. If you do know it, you are inexcusable 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "In the language of Mr. Jefferson, uttered many years ago, 'It is
+ still in our power to direct the process of emancipation, and
+ deportation, peaceably, and in such slow degrees, as that the evil
+ will wear off insensibly; and their places be, _pari passu_, filled
+ up by free white laborers. If, on the contrary, it is left to force
+ itself on, human nature must shudder at the prospect held up.'
+
+ "Mr. Jefferson did not mean to say, nor do I, that the power of
+ emancipation is in the Federal Government. He spoke of Virginia;
+ and, as to the power of emancipation, I speak of the slaveholding
+ States only.
+
+ "The Federal Government, however, as we insist, has the power of
+ restraining the extension of the institution--the power to insure
+ that a slave insurrection shall never occur on any American soil
+ which is now free from slavery.
+
+ "John Brown's effort was peculiar. It was not a slave insurrection.
+ It was an attempt by white men to get up a revolt among slaves, in
+ which the slaves refused to participate. In fact, it was so absurd
+ that the slaves, with all their ignorance, saw plainly enough it
+ could not succeed. That affair, in its philosophy, corresponds
+ with the many attempts, related in history, at the assassination
+ of kings and emperors. An enthusiast broods over the oppression
+ of a people till he fancies himself commissioned by Heaven to
+ liberate them. He ventures the attempt, which ends in little else
+ than 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.
+
+ "And how much would it avail you, if you could, by the use of
+ John Brown, Helper's book, and the like, break up the Republican
+ organization? Human action can be modified to some extent, but
+ human nature cannot be changed. There is a judgment and a feeling
+ against slavery in this nation, which cast at least a million and a
+ half of votes. You cannot destroy that judgment and feeling--that
+ sentiment--by breaking up the political organization which rallies
+ around it. You can scarcely scatter and disperse an army which has
+ been formed into order in the face of your heaviest fire; but if
+ you could, how much would you gain by forcing the sentiment which
+ created it out of the peaceful channel of the ballot-box, into some
+ other channel? What would that other channel probably be? Would the
+ number of John Browns be lessened or enlarged by the operation?
+
+ "But you will break up the Union rather than submit to a denial of
+ your Constitutional rights.
+
+ "That has a somewhat reckless sound; but it would be palliated,
+ if not fully justified, were we proposing by the mere force of
+ numbers, to deprive you of some right plainly written down in the
+ Constitution. But we are proposing no such thing.
+
+ "When you make these declarations, you have a specific and
+ well-understood allusion to an assumed Constitutional right of
+ yours, to take slaves into the federal territories, and hold them
+ there as property, but no such right is specifically written in
+ the Constitution. That instrument is literally silent about any
+ such right. We, on the contrary, deny that such a right has any
+ existence in the Constitution, even by implication.
+
+ "Your purpose, then, plainly stated, is, that you will destroy
+ the Government, unless you be allowed to construe and enforce the
+ Constitution as you please, on all points in dispute between you
+ and us. You will rule or ruin in all events.
+
+ "This, plainly stated, is your language 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.
+
+ "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.'
+
+ "An inspection of the Constitution will show that the right of
+ property in a slave is not distinctly and expressly affirmed in
+ it. Bear in mind the Judges do not pledge their judicial opinion
+ that such right is impliedly affirmed in the Constitution; but
+ they pledge their veracity that it is distinctly and expressly
+ affirmed there--'distinctly' that is, not mingled with anything
+ else--'expressly' that is, in words meaning just that, without the
+ aid of any inference, and susceptible of no other meaning.
+
+ "If they had only pledged their judicial opinion that such right
+ is affirmed in the instrument by implication, it would be open
+ to others to show that neither the word 'slave' nor 'slavery' is
+ to be found in the Constitution, nor the word 'property' even,
+ in any connection with language alluding to the things slave, or
+ slavery, and that wherever in that instrument the slave is alluded
+ to, he is called a 'person;' and wherever his master's legal right
+ in relation to him is alluded to, it is spoken of as 'service or
+ labor 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.
+
+ "To show all this is easy and certain.
+
+ "When this obvious mistake of the Judges shall be brought to their
+ notice, is it not reasonable to expect that they will withdraw the
+ mistaken statement, and reconsider the conclusion based upon it?
+
+ "And then it is to be remembered that 'our fathers, who framed
+ the Government under which we live'--the men who made the
+ Constitution--decided this same Constitutional question in our
+ favor, long ago--decided it without 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.
+
+ "Under all these circumstances, do you really feel yourselves
+ justified to break up this Government, unless such a court decision
+ as yours is shall be at once submitted to, as a conclusive and
+ final rule of political action.
+
+ "But you will not abide the election of a Republican President. In
+ that supposed event, you say, you will destroy the Union; and then,
+ you say, the great crime of having destroyed it will be upon us!
+
+ "That is cool. A highwayman holds a pistol to my ear, and mutters
+ through his teeth, 'stand and deliver, or I shall kill you, and
+ then you will be a murderer!'
+
+ "To be sure, what the robber demanded of me--my money--was my own;
+ and I had a clear right to keep it; but it was no more my own than
+ my vote is my own; and 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.
+
+ "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.
+ Judging by all they say and do, and by the subject and nature of
+ their controversy with us, let us determine, if we can, what will
+ satisfy them?
+
+ "Will they be satisfied if the Territories be unconditionally
+ surrendered to them? We know they will not. In all their present
+ complaints against us, the Territories are scarcely mentioned.
+ Invasions and insurrections are the rage now. Will it satisfy
+ them if, in the future, we have nothing to do with invasions and
+ insurrections? We know it will not. We so know because we know we
+ never had any thing to do with invasions and insurrections; and yet
+ this total abstaining does not exempt us from the charge and the
+ denunciation.
+
+ "The question recurs, what will satisfy them? Simply this: We
+ must not only let them alone, but we must, somehow, convince them
+ that we do let them alone. This we know by experience, is no
+ easy task. We have been so trying to convince them from the very
+ beginning of our organization, but with no success. In all our
+ platforms and speeches we have constantly protested our purpose
+ to let them alone; but this has had no tendency to convince them.
+ Alike unavailing to convince them is the fact that they have never
+ detected a man of us in any attempt to disturb them.
+
+ "These natural, and apparently adequate means all failing, what
+ will convince them? This, and this only: cease to call slavery
+ _wrong_, and join them in calling it _right_. And this must be done
+ thoroughly--done in _acts_ as well as in _words_. Silence will not
+ be tolerated--we must place ourselves avowedly with them. Douglas's
+ new sedition law must be enacted and enforced, suppressing all
+ declarations that slavery is wrong, whether made in politics, in
+ presses, in pulpits, or in private. We must arrest and return
+ their fugitive slaves with greedy pleasure. We must pull down our
+ Free-State Constitutions. The whole atmosphere must be disinfected
+ from all taint of opposition to slavery, before they will cease to
+ believe that all their troubles proceed from us.
+
+ "I am quite aware they do not state their case precisely in this
+ way. Most of them would probably say to us, 'Let us alone, do
+ nothing to us, and say what you please about slavery.' But we do
+ let them alone--have never disturbed them--so that, after all,
+ it is what we say which dissatisfies them. They will continue to
+ accuse us of doing, until we cease saying.
+
+ "I am also aware they have not, as yet, in terms, demanded the
+ overthrow of our Free-State Constitutions. 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.
+
+ "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?
+
+ "Wrong as we think slavery is, we can yet afford to let it alone
+ where it is, because that much is due to the necessity arising from
+ its actual presence in the nation; but can we, while our votes will
+ prevent it, allow it to spread into the National Territories, and
+ to overrun us here in these Free States?
+
+ "If our sense of duty forbids this, then let us stand by our
+ duty, fearlessly and effectively. Let us be diverted by none of
+ those sophistical contrivances wherewith we are so industriously
+ plied and belabored--contrivances such as groping for some middle
+ ground between the right and the wrong, vain as the search for a
+ man who should be neither a living man nor a dead man--such as a
+ policy of '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.
+
+ "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."
+
+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:
+
+ "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 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!'"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+NOMINATED AND ELECTED PRESIDENT.
+
+ 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.
+
+
+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
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+The scene which followed--the wild, almost delirious outburst 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.
+
+The nomination having been made unanimous, the ticket was completed by
+the selection of Senator Hannibal Hamlin, of Maine, as Vice-President.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+In response to this address, Mr. Lincoln said:
+
+ "MR. CHAIRMAN AND GENTLEMEN OF THE COMMITTEE: 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 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."
+
+In reply to the formal letter of the President of the Convention,
+apprising him of the nomination, Mr. Lincoln addressed the following:
+
+ "_Springfield, Illinois_, May 23d, 1860.
+
+ "HON. GEORGE ASHMAN, _President of the Republican National
+ Convention_.
+
+ "SIR: 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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,
+
+ "Your obliged friend and fellow-citizen,
+ "ABRAHAM LINCOLN."
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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.
+
+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:
+
+"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."
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+TO WASHINGTON.
+
+ 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.
+
+
+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.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+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:
+
+ "MY FRIENDS:--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."
+
+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:
+
+ "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."
+
+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:
+
+ "FELLOW CITIZENS OF THE STATE OF INDIANA:--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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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."
+
+Proceeding to Cincinnati, he received a most enthusiastic 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:
+
+ "FELLOW-CITIZENS: 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.
+
+ "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:
+
+ "'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.'
+
+ "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 not be made good be assured
+ that the fault shall not be mine."
+
+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:
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 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."
+
+On the 14th of February, Mr. Lincoln proceeded to Pittsburgh. At
+Steubenville, on the route, in reply to an address, he said:
+
+ "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."
+
+The next morning he left for Cleveland, but before his departure he
+made an address to the people of Pittsburgh, in which he said:
+
+ "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 present command, and would perhaps
+ unnecessarily commit me upon matters which have not yet fully
+ developed themselves.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 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."
+
+He then referred to the subject of the tariff, and said:
+
+ "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."
+
+Mr. Lincoln, upon his arrival in Cleveland, adverted to the same
+subject in the following terms:
+
+ "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 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."
+
+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.
+
+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:
+
+ "MR. MAYOR AND FELLOW CITIZENS:--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 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 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."
+
+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:
+
+ "GOVERNOR MORGAN:--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. 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."
+
+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:
+
+ "MR. PRESIDENT AND GENTLEMEN OF THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF
+ NEW YORK:--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 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."
+
+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:
+
+ "I am grateful for this cordial welcome, and I am gratified
+ that this immense multitude has come together not to meet 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."
+
+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:
+
+ "MR. MAYOR: 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 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."
+
+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:
+
+ "MR. PRESIDENT AND GENTLEMEN OF THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF NEW
+ JERSEY:--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. 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 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."
+
+He then passed into the Chamber of the Assembly, and upon being
+introduced by the Speaker, addressed that body as follows:
+
+ "MR. SPEAKER AND GENTLEMEN:--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. 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."
+
+On his arrival in Philadelphia, he was received with great enthusiasm,
+and to an address from the Mayor Mr. Lincoln replied:
+
+ "MR. MAYOR AND FELLOW-CITIZENS OF PHILADELPHIA:--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 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."
+
+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:
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "My friends, this is wholly an unexpected speech, and I 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."
+
+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."
+
+The President-elect then raised the flag to the top of the staff.
+
+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:
+
+ "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 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
+ cooeperation 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 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."
+
+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 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.
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+THE NEW ADMINISTRATION.
+
+ 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.
+
+
+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:
+
+ "Mr. MAYOR: 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 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."
+
+On the following evening, at the close of a serenade tendered him by
+the Republican Association, he thus addressed the crowd:
+
+ "MY FRIENDS: 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.
+
+ "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 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."
+
+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.
+
+All necessary precautions, however, having been taken to guard against
+the latter contingencies, Mr. Lincoln appeared 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:
+
+ "FELLOW-CITIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES:--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.
+
+ "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:
+
+ "'_Resolved_, 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 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.'
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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:
+
+ "'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.'
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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?
+
+ "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 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?
+
+ "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?'
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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. 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "In doing this there need be no bloodshed or violence, and there
+ shall be none unless it is forced upon the National authority.
+
+ "The power confided to me _will be used to hold, occupy, and
+ possess the property and plants belonging to the Government_, 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "The mails, unless repelled, will continue to be furnished in all
+ parts of the Union.
+
+ "So far as possible, the people everywhere shall have that sense
+ of perfect security which is most favorable to calm thought and
+ reflection.
+
+ "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 National troubles and the
+ restoration of fraternal sympathies and affections.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "My countrymen, one and all, think calmly and well upon this whole
+ subject. Nothing valuable can be lost by taking time.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in mine,
+ is the momentous issue of civil war. The Government will not assail
+ you.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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."
+
+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 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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+He said on that occasion:
+
+ "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. * * *
+
+ "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."
+
+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 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:
+
+ "GENTLEMEN:--As a committee of the Virginia Convention, now in
+ session, you present me a preamble and resolution, in these words:
+
+ "'WHEREAS, 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,
+
+ "_Resolved_, 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.'
+
+ "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 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."
+
+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. 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.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+PREPARING FOR WAR.
+
+ 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.
+
+
+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.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+On the 15th of April, 1861, the President issued his first proclamation:
+
+ "WHEREAS, 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,
+ ABRAHAM LINCOLN, 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the
+ seal of the United States to be affixed.
+
+ "Done at the City of Washington, this fifteenth 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.
+
+ "By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN
+
+ "WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State."
+
+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.
+
+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."
+
+How was the call for troops received by the rebel conclave at
+Montgomery? They laughed.
+
+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 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.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+The day following this attack, the President sent the following letter
+in reply to a communication broaching this modest proposition:
+
+ "_Washington_, April 20th, 1861.
+
+ "GOVERNOR HICKS AND MAYOR BROWN:
+
+ "GENTLEMEN:--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 _must_ be brought here, but I make no point of
+ bringing them _through_ Baltimore.
+
+ "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 _around_ Baltimore, and not through
+ it.'
+
+ "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.
+
+ "Your obedient servant,
+ "A. LINCOLN."
+
+To a delegation of rebel sympathizers from the same State, who demanded
+a cessation of hostilities until Congress 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.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+On the 19th of April, every port of the States in rebellion was
+declared blockaded by the following proclamation:
+
+ "WHEREAS, 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:
+
+ "AND WHEREAS, 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:
+
+ "AND WHEREAS, 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:
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+ "WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State."
+
+On the 27th of April, the following additional proclamation was issued:
+
+ "WHEREAS, 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; AND WHEREAS, 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 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.
+
+ "In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the
+ seal of the United States to be affixed.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+ "WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State."
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+ "WHEREAS, Existing exigencies demand immediate and adequate
+ measures for the protection of the national Constitution 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.
+
+ "In the meantime, I earnestly invoke the cooeperation of all
+ good citizens in the measures hereby adopted for the 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.
+
+ "In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the
+ seal of the United States to be affixed.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+ "WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State."
+
+On the 10th of May, 1861, the following proclamation was promulgated:
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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:
+
+ "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
+ _habeas corpus_, and to remove from the vicinity of the United
+ States fortresses all dangerous or suspected persons.
+
+ "In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the
+ seal of the United States to be affixed.
+
+ "Done at the City of Washington, this tenth 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.
+
+ "By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+ "WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State."
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+THE FIRST SESSION OF CONGRESS.
+
+ Opening of Congress--President's First Message--Its Nature--
+ Action of Congress--Resolution Declaring the Object of the War--
+ Bull Run--Its Effect.
+
+
+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:
+
+ "FELLOW-CITIZENS OF THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF
+ REPRESENTATIVES:--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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "Officers of the Federal Army had resigned in great numbers, and of
+ those resigning a large proportion had taken up arms against the
+ Government.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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 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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "At this point the insurrectionists announced their purpose to
+ enter upon the practice of privateering.
+
+ "Other calls were made for volunteers, to serve three years, unless
+ sooner discharged, and also for large additions to 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.
+
+ "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?
+
+ "But it was not believed that this question was presented. It was
+ not believed that any law was violated. The provision 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.
+
+ "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 to supply omissions or to
+ communicate new facts considered important for you to know.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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 _free_ and _independent_ States. But 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, 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.
+
+ "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 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 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 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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "It was with the deepest regret that the Executive found 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "July 4, 1861. ABRAHAM LINCOLN."
+
+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 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.
+
+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:
+
+ "_Resolved, By the House of Representatives of the Congress of the
+ United States_, 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."
+
+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 loyal heart; all manner of vague fears seized the people;
+Washington would be captured; the cause was lost.
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+CLOSE OF 1861.
+
+ 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.
+
+
+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:
+
+"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, the blessings
+which, with the favor of Providence, they have secured by the aid of
+their own strong hearts and steady arms."
+
+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.
+
+And the General betook himself to the organizing, disciplining, and
+supplying his army, to which large accessions were continually making
+from week to week.
+
+On the 12th day of August was issued the following proclamation:
+
+ "WHEREAS, 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.'
+
+ "AND WHEREAS, 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.
+
+ "AND WHEREAS, 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 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;
+
+ "_Therefore, 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.
+
+ "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,
+ A. D. 1861, and of the Independence of the United States of America
+ the eighty-sixth.
+
+ "By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+ "WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State."
+
+And four days later the following:
+
+ "WHEREAS, 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 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; AND WHEREAS,
+ such insurrection has since broken out and yet exists within the
+ States of Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas; AND
+ WHEREAS, 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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the
+ seal of the United States to be affixed.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+ "WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State."
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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:
+
+ "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."
+
+On the 8th of August, Secretary Cameron, in reply to a second letter
+from General Butler upon the same subject, said:
+
+ "GENERAL:--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, 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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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."
+
+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.
+
+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:
+
+ "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."
+
+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:
+
+ "MAJOR GENERAL JOHN C. FREMONT:--
+
+ "SIR,--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
+ August 6, 1861, and that said Act be published at length with this
+ order.
+
+ "Your obedient servant,
+ "A. LINCOLN."
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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:
+
+ "_Executive Mansion, Washington_, Nov. 1, 1861.
+
+ "On the 1st day of November, A. D., 1861, upon his own application
+ to the President of the United States, Brevet 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "ABRAHAM LINCOLN."
+
+To General McClellan, now the ranking officer of the army, the duties
+of General-in-chief were assigned by the President.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+THE CONGRESS OF 1861-2.
+
+ 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.
+
+
+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.
+
+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 by the construction
+which those powers saw fit to place upon their duties as neutrals.
+
+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.
+
+As a whole, affairs were by no means a cheering aspect at the opening
+of this Session.
+
+That the President was fully alive to the true state of the case, the
+views announced in the following message clearly show:
+
+ "FELLOW-CITIZENS OF THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:--In
+ the midst of unprecedented political troubles, we have cause of
+ great gratitude to God for unusual good health and most abundant
+ harvests.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "Nations thus tempted to interfere, are not always able to 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 people. The correspondence itself,
+ with the usual reservations, is herewith submitted.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 cooeperating, 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 valuable permanent improvement, worth its
+ cost in all the future.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "Besides blockading our extensive coast, squadrons larger than
+ ever before assembled under our flag have been put afloat, and
+ performed deeds which have increased our naval renown.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "Besides this, the country generally has outgrown our present
+ judicial system. If uniformity was at all intended, 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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
+ 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "I ask attention to the report of the Postmaster General, the
+ following being a summary statement of the condition of the
+ department:
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "The present insurrection shows, I think, that the extension 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "The execution of the laws for the suppression of the 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "At your late session a joint resolution was adopted authorizing
+ the President to take measures for facilitating a proper
+ 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.
+
+ "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, _pro tanto_, 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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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?
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 that radical and extreme measures, which may
+ reach the loyal as well as the disloyal, are indispensable.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 _seem_
+ 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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "These things demonstrate that the cause of the Union is advancing
+ steadily and certainly southward.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "And the same is true in all joint operations wherein those engaged
+ _can_ have none but a common end in view, and _can_ differ only as
+ to the choice of means. In a storm at sea, no one on board _can_
+ 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "In my present position I could scarcely be justified were I to
+ omit raising a warning voice against this approach of returning
+ despotism.
+
+ "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 _capital_ on
+ an equal footing with, if not above _labor_, 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 _hire_ laborers, and thus induce them to work by their
+ own consent, or _buy_ them, 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 these assumptions
+ are false, and all inferences from them are groundless.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 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 _of_ to-day is not altogether _for_
+ 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.
+
+ "ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+ "WASHINGTON, December 3, 1861."
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+THE SLAVERY QUESTION.
+
+ 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.
+
+
+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 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.
+
+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.
+
+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:
+
+ "FELLOW-CITIZENS OF THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:--I
+ recommend the adoption of a joint resolution by your honorable
+ bodies, which shall be substantially as follows:
+
+ "_Resolved_, That the United States ought to cooeperate 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.
+
+ "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 _all_ 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.
+
+ "In the annual message last December, I thought fit to 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "March 6, 1862. ABRAHAM LINCOLN."
+
+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:
+
+ "FELLOW-CITIZENS OF THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:--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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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, _femes-covert_,
+ 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.
+
+ "April 16, 1862. ABRAHAM LINCOLN."
+
+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:
+
+ "WHEREAS, There appears in the public prints what purports to be
+ a proclamation of Major-General Hunter, in the words and figures
+ following, to wit:
+
+ 'Head-Quarters, Department of the South,
+
+ '_Hilton Head, S. C._, May 9th, 1862.
+
+ 'GENERAL ORDERS No. 11.
+
+ '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, Florida, and South Carolina, heretofore held as slaves,
+ are therefore declared forever free.
+
+ 'DAVID HUNTER, _Major-General Commanding_.
+
+ 'Official:
+
+ 'ED. W. SMITH, _Acting Assistant Adjutant-General_.'
+
+"AND WHEREAS, The same is producing some excitement and
+misunderstanding,
+
+"_Therefore_, 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.
+
+"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.
+
+"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:
+
+"_Resolved_, That the United States ought to cooeperate 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.'
+
+"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.
+
+"In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal
+of the United States to be affixed.
+
+"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.
+
+ "By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+ "WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State."
+
+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 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:
+
+ "GENTLEMEN:--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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 _punctilio_ 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 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!
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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. 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.
+
+ "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."
+
+On the twenty-second of July, the following order was issued:
+
+ "WAR DEPARTMENT, _Washington_, July 22d, 1862.
+
+ "_First._ 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.
+
+ "_Second._ That military and naval commanders shall employ 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.
+
+ "_Third._ 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.
+
+ "By order of the President.
+
+ "EDWIN M. STANTON, Secretary of War."
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+THE PENINSULAR CAMPAIGN.
+
+ 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.
+
+
+Early in 1862 appeared the following:
+
+ "_Executive Mansion, Washington_, January 27th, 1862.
+
+ [President's General War Order, No. 1.]
+
+ "ORDERED, 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "ABRAHAM LINCOLN."
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+What at the East?--Roanoke Island.
+
+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 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:
+
+ "_Executive Mansion, Washington_, January 31st, 1862.
+
+ "ORDERED, 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.
+
+ "ABRAHAM LINCOLN."
+
+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:
+
+ "_Executive Mansion, Washington_, February 3d, 1862.
+
+ "MY DEAR SIR:--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.
+
+ "If you will give satisfactory answers to the following questions,
+ I shall gladly yield my plan to yours:
+
+ "First. Does not your plan involve a greatly larger expenditure of
+ _time_ and _money_ than mine?
+
+ "Second. Wherein is a victory _more certain_ by your plan than mine?
+
+ "Third. Wherein is a victory _more valuable_ by your plan than mine?
+
+ "Fourth. In fact, would it not be _less_ valuable in this that it
+ would break no great line of the enemy's communications, while mine
+ would?
+
+ "Fifth. In case of disaster, would not a retreat be more difficult
+ by your plan than mine?
+
+ "Yours, truly, A. LINCOLN.
+
+ "MAJOR-GENERAL MCCLELLAN."
+
+Which plain, practical questions were never directly answered.
+
+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.
+
+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:
+
+ "_Executive Mansion, Washington_, March 8th, 1862.
+
+ "ORDERED. 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.
+
+ "That no more than two Army Corps (about fifty thousand troops) of
+ said Army of the Potomac shall be moved _en route_ 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.
+
+ "That any movement as aforesaid, _en route_ 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 March, instant, and the
+ General-in-chief shall be responsible that it moves as early as
+ that day.
+
+ "ORDERED, That the Army and Navy cooeperate in an immediate
+ effort to capture the enemy's batteries upon the Potomac between
+ Washington and the Chesapeake Bay.
+
+ "ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+ "L. THOMAS, Adjutant-General."
+
+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, _via_ Yorktown, and succeeded, after
+sanguinary battles, swamp sickness, severe exposures, and terrible
+hardships, in returning (how many of them?) to Alexandria _via_
+Harrison's Landing, by about the middle of August, 1862.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+No details, nor military criticism therefore here. But that President
+Lincoln may fairly be presented in his relations to this campaign,
+certain observations must be made. And this is the place to make them.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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:
+
+ "FELLOW-CITIZENS:--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.
+
+ "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 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."
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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 cooeperation; 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.
+
+Such is the summary in the East for A. D. 1862.
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+FREEDOM TO MILLIONS.
+
+ Tribune Editorial--Letter to Mr. Greeley--Announcement of the
+ Emancipation Proclamation--Suspension of the _Habeas Corpus_
+ in certain cases--Order for Observance of the Sabbath--The
+ Emancipation Proclamation.
+
+
+An editorial article having appeared in the _New York Tribune_, 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:
+
+ "_Executive Mansion_, Washington, Aug. 22, 1862.
+
+ HON. HORACE GREELEY--_Dear Sir_: I have just read yours of the
+ 19th, addressed to myself through the _New York Tribune_. 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.
+
+ "As to the policy I 'seem to be pursuing,' as you say, I have not
+ meant to leave any one in doubt.
+
+ "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 _save_ Slavery, I do not agree with them. If there be those
+ who would not save the Union unless they could at the same time
+ _destroy_ Slavery, I do not agree with them. My paramount object
+ in this struggle _is_ to save the Union, and is _not_ either to
+ save or destroy Slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing
+ _any_ slave, I would do it; and if I could do it by freeing _all_
+ 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 _not_ believe it
+ would help to save the Union. I shall do _less_ whenever I shall
+ believe what I am doing hurts the cause, and I shall do _more_
+ 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 _official_ duty, and
+ I intend no modification of my oft-expressed _personal_ wish that
+ all men, every where, could be free.
+
+ "Yours, A. LINCOLN."
+
+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:
+
+ "I, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, 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 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, SHALL BE THEN, 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; 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.
+
+ "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:
+
+ "'_Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
+ United States of America, in Congress assembled_, 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.
+
+ "'_Article --._ All officers or persons of the military or 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.
+
+ "'_Section 2._ And be it further enacted, That this act shall take
+ effect from and after its passage.'
+
+ "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:
+
+ "'_Section 9._ 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.
+
+ "_Section 10._ 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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the
+ seal of the United States to be affixed.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+ "WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State."
+
+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 one might plead
+ignorance of results, if such treasonable practices should be persisted
+in:
+
+ "WHEREAS, 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:
+
+ "Now, therefore, be it ordered:
+
+ "_First._ 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.
+
+ "_Third._ That the writ of _habeas corpus_ 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.
+
+ "In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the
+ seal of the United States to be affixed.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+ "WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State."
+
+It would be paying but a poor compliment to the sagacity which prompted
+this proclamation, if one were not obliged to 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.
+
+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:
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.'
+
+ "ABRAHAM LINCOLN."
+
+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:
+
+ "WHEREAS, 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:
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the
+ seal of the United States to be affixed.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+ "W. H. SEWARD, Secretary of State."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+LAST SESSION OF THE THIRTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS.
+
+ Situation of the Country--Opposition to the Administration--
+ President's Message.
+
+
+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."
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+Dark days, indeed, when the Thirty-seventh Congress assembled for its
+last session, on the 1st of December, 1862.
+
+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.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+The essential portions of his Annual Message on this occasion are given
+below:
+
+ "FELLOW-CITIZENS OF THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:--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....
+
+ "If the condition of our relations with other nations is less
+ gratifying than it has usually been at former periods, it is
+ certainly 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 for the
+ authority of the United States, and the rights of their moral and
+ loyal citizens....
+
+ "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....
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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?
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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, 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.
+
+ "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 reoerganize under the act, substituting only the
+ secured uniform national circulation for the local and various
+ circulation, secured and unsecured, now issued by them.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 deducted, both from receipts
+ and expenditures, leaving the actual receipts for the year,
+ $487,788,324 97; and the expenditures $474,744,778 16....
+
+ "On the 22d day of September last a proclamation was issued by the
+ Executive, a copy of which is herewith submitted.
+
+ "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.'
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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:
+
+ "'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. 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 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.
+
+ "'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, _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 old questions, as to
+ terms of intercourse, are again upon you.
+
+ "'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, 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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "And this is true, _wherever_ 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. _Which_ 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 _where_ 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "In this view, I recommend the adoption of the following resolution
+ and articles amendatory to the Constitution of the United States:
+
+ "_Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
+ States of America in Congress assembled_, (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.:
+
+ "_Article --._ 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:
+
+ "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.
+
+ "_Article --._ 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.
+
+ "_Article --._ Congress may appropriate money, and otherwise
+ provide for colonizing free colored persons, with their own
+ consent, at any place or places without the United States.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 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?
+
+ "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
+ measure. Certainly it is not so easy to pay _something_ as it is
+ to pay _nothing_; but it is easier to pay a _large_ sum, than it
+ is to pay a _larger_ one. And it is easier to pay any sum _when_
+ we are able, than it is to pay it _before_ 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 to when this _may_ be, we can judge by the past and the
+ present, as to when it _will_ 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.
+
+ "Taking the nation in the aggregate, and we find its population
+ and ratio of increase, for the several decennial periods, to be as
+ follows:
+
+ 1790 3,929,827
+ 1800 5,305,937 35.02 per cent. ratio of increase
+ 1810 7,239,814 36.45 " "
+ 1820 9,638,131 33.13 " "
+ 1830 12,866,020 33.49 " "
+ 1840 17,069,453 32.67 " "
+ 1850 23,191,876 35.87 " "
+ 1860 31,443,790 35.58 " "
+
+ "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:
+
+ 1870 42,423,341
+ 1880 56,967,216
+ 1890 76,677,872
+ 1900 103,208,415
+ 1910 138,918,526
+ 1920 186,984,335
+ 1930 251,680,914
+
+ "These figures show that our country _may_ 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.
+
+ "And we _will_ 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "This fact would be no excuse for delaying payment of what is
+ justly due; but it shows the great importance of time 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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. _Heretofore_, colored people, to some extent, have
+ fled North from bondage; and _now_, 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, 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?
+
+ "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?
+
+ "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.
+
+ "The plan consisting of these articles is recommended, not but that
+ a restoration of the National authority would be accepted without
+ its adoption.
+
+ "Nor will the war, nor proceedings under the proclamation of
+ September 22d, 1862, be stayed because of the _recommendation_
+ of this plan. Its timely _adoption_, I doubt not, would bring
+ restoration, and thereby stay both.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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; 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 _any_ of us _imagine_ better?' but,
+ 'Can we _all_ 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 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.
+
+ "Fellow-citizens, _we_ 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 _say_
+ 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 _we here_--hold the power, and bear the
+ responsibility. In _giving_ freedom to the _slave_, we _assure_
+ freedom to the _free_--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.
+
+ Dec. 1, 1862. "ABRAHAM LINCOLN."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+THE TIDE TURNED.
+
+ 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.
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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 _via_ 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.
+
+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.
+
+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 from the workingmen
+of Manchester, England; to which address he made the following reply:
+
+
+ "_Executive Mansion_, Washington, January 19, 1863.
+
+ "TO THE WORKINGMEN OF MANCHESTER:--I have the honor to acknowledge
+ the receipt of the address and resolutions which you sent me on the
+ eve of the new year.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "ABRAHAM LINCOLN."
+
+On the 30th of March the following proclamation was issued in pursuance
+of a request to that effect from the Senate:
+
+ "WHEREAS, 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;
+
+ "AND WHEREAS, 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;
+
+ "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!
+
+ "It behooves us, then, to humble ourselves before the offended
+ Power, to confess our National sins, and to pray for clemency and
+ forgiveness.
+
+ "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
+ 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the
+ seal of the United States to be affixed.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+ "WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State."
+
+The following letter, which belongs in this place, will explain itself:
+
+ "_Executive Mansion_, Washington, June 13th, 1863.
+
+ "HON. ERASTUS CORNING and others--_Gentlemen_:--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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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 _especially_ for his protection in times
+ of civil commotion.'
+
+ "And, apparently to demonstrate the proposition, the resolutions
+ proceed: 'They were secured substantially to the English people
+ _after_ years of protracted civil war, and were adopted into our
+ Constitution at the _close_ 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 _during_ the
+ civil wars and _during_ our Revolution, instead of _after_ the
+ one and at the _close_ of the other? I, too, am devotedly for
+ them _after_ civil war, and _before_ 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 _the_ 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.
+
+ "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 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
+ '_habeas corpus_,' 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
+ '_habeas corpus_' might be suspended; but they also knew they had
+ friends who would make a question as to _who_ 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 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.
+
+ "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 _habeas corpus_ shall not be suspended unless when, in cases
+ of rebellion or invasion, the public safety may require it,' is
+ _the_ 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. _Habeas corpus_ 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 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 _does_ 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 _habeas corpus_, were the writ allowed to
+ operate. In view of these and similar cases, I think the time not
+ unlikely to come when I shall be blamed for having made too few
+ arrests rather than too many.
+
+ "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
+ _not_ 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
+ _is_ 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 _wherever_ 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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 _not_ require them; in other
+ words, that the Constitution is not, 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 _habeas corpus_, 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.
+
+ "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 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 _habeas corpus_, 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.
+
+ "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 _habeas corpus_ 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 _habeas corpus_, 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
+ 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.
+
+ "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 _habeas
+ corpus_, suffered no detriment whatever by that conduct of Gen.
+ Jackson, or its subsequent approval by the American Congress.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "A. LINCOLN."
+
+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:
+
+ "Washington, June 29, 1863.
+
+ "GENTLEMEN:--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.
+
+ "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.'
+
+ "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 _in its application_ 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.
+
+ "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.'
+
+ "You say: 'Expunge from the Constitution this limitation upon the
+ power of Congress to suspend the writ of _habeas corpus_, 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 _out_ 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.
+
+ "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 _habeas corpus_ 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 _habeas corpus_. But by the Constitution the benefit
+ of the writ of _habeas corpus_ itself may be suspended, when, in
+ case of rebellion or invasion, the public safety may require it.
+
+ "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 _who_ shall decide, or
+ an affirmation that _nobody_ 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.
+
+ "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 _prevention_, and not for _punishment_--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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 _know_ 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 _animus_. 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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 escape the draft, to believe it is your
+ purpose to protect them, and to hope that you will become strong
+ enough to do so.
+
+ "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:
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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; and--
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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, 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.
+
+ "I have the honor to be respectfully, yours, etc.,
+
+ "ABRAHAM LINCOLN."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+LETTERS AND SPEECHES.
+
+ Speech at Washington--Letter to General Grant--Thanksgiving
+ Proclamation--Letter concerning the Emancipation Proclamation--
+ Proclamation for Annual Thanksgiving--Dedicatory Speech at
+ Gettysburg.
+
+
+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:
+
+ "FELLOW-CITIZENS:--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. 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."
+
+The following letter, addressed to General Grant after the capture of
+Vicksburg, gives an insight into the transparent candor and frankness
+of the President.
+
+ "_Executive Mansion_, Washington, July 13th, 1863.
+
+ "MAJOR-GENERAL U. S. GRANT--_My Dear General_: 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.
+
+ "Yours, truly,
+ "A. LINCOLN."
+
+The following was issued in commemoration of the victories at
+Vicksburg, Port Hudson, and Gettysburg:
+
+ "BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.--A
+ PROCLAMATION.--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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the
+ seal of the United States to be affixed.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+ "WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State."
+
+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:
+
+ "EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, August 26th, 1863.
+
+ "MY DEAR SIR:--Your letter inviting me to attend a mass meeting of
+ unconditional Union men, to be held at the capital 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 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.
+
+ "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
+ 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. 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 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.
+
+ "Yours very truly, ABRAHAM LINCOLN."
+
+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:
+
+ "BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.--A
+ PROCLAMATION:--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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the
+ seal of the United States to be affixed.
+
+ "Done at the City of Washington, this, the third 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.
+
+ "By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+ "WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State."
+
+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:
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+THE THIRTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS.
+
+ Organization of the House--Different Opinions as to
+ Reconstruction--Provisions for Pardon of Rebels--President's
+ Proclamation of Pardon--Annual Message--Explanatory Proclamation.
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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 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.
+
+Congress had provided, by an act approved July 17, 1862:
+
+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.
+
+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:
+
+ "WHEREAS, 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 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,
+
+ "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:
+
+ "'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.'
+
+ "The persons excepted from the benefits of the foregoing
+ 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.
+
+ "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.'
+
+ "And I do further proclaim, declare, and make known that any
+ provision which may be adopted by such State Government 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "ABRAHAM LINCOLN."
+
+The Annual Message sent in to Congress on the 9th day of December,
+omitting matters of but temporary interest--is as follows:
+
+ "FELLOW-CITIZENS OF THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF
+ REPRESENTATIVES:--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.
+
+ "We remain in peace and friendship with foreign powers.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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....
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 which no citizen of the
+ United States residing abroad may claim the interposition of his
+ Government.
+
+ "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....
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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, 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "The report of the Secretary of War is a document of great
+ interest. It consists of--
+
+ "1. The military operations of the year, detailed in the report of
+ the General-in-Chief.
+
+ "2. The organization of colored persons into the war service.
+
+ "3. The exchange of prisoners, fully set forth in the letter of
+ General Hitchcock.
+
+ "4. The operations under the act for enrolling and calling out the
+ National forces, detailed in the report of the Provost Marshal
+ General.
+
+ "5. The organization of the Invalid Corps; and,
+
+ "6. The operation of the several departments of the Quartermaster
+ General, Commissary General, Paymaster General, Chief of Engineers,
+ Chief of Ordnance, and Surgeon General.
+
+ "It has appeared impossible to make a valuable summary of this
+ report, except such as would be too extended for this place, and
+ hence I content myself by asking your careful attention to the
+ report itself.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 naval services by a definite provision on this subject,
+ which would at the same time be equitable to the communities more
+ especially interested.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "An attempt to guarantee and protect a revived State Government,
+ constructed in whole, or in preponderating part, 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "The movements, by State action, for emancipation in several of
+ the States, not included in the Emancipation Proclamation, 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ Dec. 8, 1863.
+
+ "Abraham Lincoln."
+
+On the twenty-sixth of March, 1864, the following proclamation,
+explanatory of the one issued on the eighth of December, 1863, was
+published:
+
+ "WHEREAS, 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;
+
+ "AND WHEREAS, The objects of that proclamation were to suppress the
+ insurrection and to restore the authority of the United States;
+
+ "AND WHEREAS, The amnesty therein proposed by the President was
+ offered with reference to these objects alone;
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "The Secretary of State will keep a register thereof, and will, on
+ application, in proper cases, issue certificates of such records in
+ the customary form of official certificates.
+
+ "In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the
+ seal of the United States to be affixed.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+ "W. H. SEWARD, Secretary of State."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+PROGRESS.
+
+ 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.
+
+
+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:
+
+ "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN:--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.
+
+ "In this extraordinary war, extraordinary developments have
+ manifested themselves, such as have not been seen in former wars;
+ and among these manifestations nothing has 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!"
+
+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:
+
+ "GENTLEMEN OF THE COMMITTEE:--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:
+
+ "'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 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.
+
+ "'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 _capital_ on
+ an equal footing with, if not above, _labor_ 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.
+
+ "'This assumed, it is next considered whether it is best that
+ capital shall _hire_ laborers, and thus induce them to work by
+ their own consent, or _buy them_ 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.
+
+ "'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 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.
+
+ "'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.
+
+ "'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 fix new disabilities and burdens upon them till all
+ of liberty shall be lost.'
+
+ "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."
+
+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.
+
+Truly some advance had been made during those three years, so pregnant
+with events!
+
+ "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN:--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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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."
+
+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.
+
+ "A. G. HODGES, ESQ., Frankfort, Ky.:
+
+ "MY DEAR SIR:--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:
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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?
+
+ "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.
+
+ "When, in March, and May, and July, 1862, I made 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 therein new cause to attest and revere the justice and
+ goodness of God.
+
+ "Yours truly,
+ "A. LINCOLN."
+
+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.
+
+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:
+
+ "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.
+
+ "All troops of the enemy known or discovered to give no quarter in
+ general, or to any portion of the army, will receive none."
+
+The following order of the President, issued by him as
+Commander-in-chief, and communicated to the entire army deals with this
+subject alone:
+
+ "_Executive Mansion_, Washington, July 30, 1863.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "ABRAHAM LINCOLN."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+RENOMINATED.
+
+ 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.
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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 to the time when he was summoned to the
+command of all the armies then engaged in its suppression.
+
+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:
+
+ "GENERAL GRANT:--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.
+
+ "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."
+
+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.
+
+On the 30th of April, the President addressed the following letter to
+the new Commander:
+
+ "LIEUTENANT-GENERAL GRANT:--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 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.
+
+ "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!
+
+ "Yours, very truly, A. LINCOLN."
+
+To which the General, from Culpepper Court House, Va., on the 1st of
+May, thus replied:
+
+ "TO THE PRESIDENT:--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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "Very truly, your obedient servant,
+
+ "U. S. GRANT, Lieutenant-General."
+
+Beginning at the right end--profiting by the experience of
+others--wasting no time nor strength in mere display--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.
+
+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.
+
+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:
+
+ "_Executive Mansion_, Washington, June 3d, 1864.
+
+ "GENTLEMEN:--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.
+
+ "Yours truly, A. LINCOLN."
+
+On the 7th of June, the Republican National Convention met at Baltimore
+for the purpose of nominating candidates for the Presidency and
+Vice-Presidency.
+
+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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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.
+
+On the second day, the convention adopted by acclamation the following
+platform:
+
+ "_Resolved_, 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.
+
+ "_Resolved_, 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.
+
+ "_Resolved_, 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.
+
+ "_Resolved_, 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.
+
+ "_Resolved_, That we approve and applaud the practical wisdom, the
+ unselfish patriotism, and unswerving fidelity to 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.
+
+ "_Resolved_, 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.
+
+ "_Resolved_, 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.
+
+ "_Resolved_, 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.
+
+ "_Resolved_, That we are in favor of the speedy construction of the
+ railroad to the Pacific.
+
+ "_Resolved_, 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 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.
+
+ "_Resolved_, 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."
+
+Upon the first ballot for a candidate for President, ABRAHAM LINCOLN
+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."
+
+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.
+
+As the vote proceeded, it was soon apparent that ANDREW JOHNSON 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.
+
+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:
+
+ "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."
+
+In reply the President said:
+
+ "MR. CHAIRMAN AND GENTLEMEN OF THE COMMITTEE:--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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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."
+
+On the following day, in reply to a congratulatory address from a
+deputation of the National Union League, the President said:
+
+ "GENTLEMEN:--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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.'"
+
+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-_abandon_ can appreciate.
+
+Having been serenaded, on the 9th, by the delegation from Ohio, he
+addressed the assemblage as follows:
+
+ "GENTLEMEN:--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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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."
+
+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.
+
+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:
+
+ "SOLDIERS:--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."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+RECONSTRUCTION.
+
+ 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.
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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:
+
+ "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.
+
+ "It has destroyed property, destroyed life, and ruined homes.
+ It has produced a national debt and a degree of 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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?
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.']
+
+ "Then I shall call upon you when it is necessary."
+
+The following correspondence passed between Mr. Lincoln and the
+Committee of the National Convention relative to his nomination:
+
+ "New York, June 14, 1864.
+
+ "HON. ABRAHAM LINCOLN:
+
+ "SIR:--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.
+
+ "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
+ 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "WILLIAM DENNISON, _Ohio_, Chairman.
+
+ "_And signed by the Committee._"
+
+ * * * * *
+
+ "_Executive Mansion_, Washington, June 27th, 1863.
+
+ "Hon. WILLIAM DENNISON and others:
+
+ "_A Committee of the National Union Convention_:
+
+ "GENTLEMEN:--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.
+
+ "While the resolution in regard to the supplanting of Republican
+ Government upon the Western Continent is fully 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "Thanking you for the kind and complimentary terms in which you
+ have communicated the nomination and other proceedings of the
+ Convention, I subscribe myself,
+
+ "Your obedient servant, ABRAHAM LINCOLN."
+
+On the 5th of July, appeared the following proclamation, ordering
+martial law in Kentucky:
+
+ "WHEREAS, 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,
+
+ "WHEREAS, 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,
+
+ "WHEREAS, 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 _habeas corpus_ in any case throughout
+ the United States, or any part thereof; and,
+
+ "WHEREAS, The said insurrection and rebellion still continues,
+ endangering the existence of the Constitution and Government of the
+ United States; and,
+
+ "WHEREAS, 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,
+
+ "WHEREAS, 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 _habeas corpus_ 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,
+
+ "WHEREAS, 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,
+
+ "WHEREAS, 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;
+
+ "Now, therefore, I, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, 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 _habeas corpus_, 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 _habeas corpus_ 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 military operations or the constituted authorities of the
+ Government of the United States.
+
+ "In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the
+ seal of the United States to be affixed.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+ "WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State."
+
+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:
+
+ "WHEREAS, 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,
+
+ "WHEREAS, The said bill was presented to the President of the
+ United States for his approval, less than one hour before the _sine
+ die_ adjournment of said session, and was not signed by him; and,
+
+ "WHEREAS, The said bill contains, among other things, a plan for
+ restoring the States in rebellion to the proper practical 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:
+
+ "Now, therefore, I, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, 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.
+
+ "In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the
+ seal of the United States to be affixed.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN
+
+ "WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State."
+
+The following is the bill, a copy of which was annexed to the
+proclamation:
+
+ "A BILL to guarantee to certain States whose Governments have been
+ overthrown or usurped, a Republican form of Government.
+
+ "_Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
+ the United States of America, in Congress assembled_, 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.
+
+ "SECTION 2. _And be it further enacted_, 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 reestablishment of a State
+ Government subject to, and in conformity with the Constitution of
+ the United States.
+
+ "SECTION 3. 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.
+
+ "SECTION 4. 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.
+
+ "SECTION 5. 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 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.
+
+ "SECTION 6. 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.
+
+ "SECTION 7. 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:
+
+ "_First._ No person who has held or exercised any office, civil or
+ military, except offices merely ministerial, and military 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.
+
+ "_Second._ Involuntary servitude is forever prohibited, and the
+ freedom of all persons is guaranteed in said State.
+
+ "_Third._ No debt, State or corporate, created by or under the
+ sanction of the usurping power, shall be recognized or paid by the
+ State.
+
+ "SECTION 8. That when the Convention shall have adopted these
+ provisions, it shall proceed to reestablish 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.
+
+ "SECTION 9. That if the Convention shall refuse to reestablish
+ 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 State entitled
+ to vote under this Act, in number not less than a majority of
+ those enrolled, as aforesaid, are willing to reestablish 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
+ reestablished by it to the President.
+
+ "SECTION 10. 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.
+
+ "SECTION 11. 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 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.
+
+ "SECTION 12. 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 _habeas
+ corpus_, discharge them.
+
+ "SECTION 13. 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.
+
+ "SECTION 14. 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."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN OF 1864.
+
+ 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.
+
+
+On the 7th of July the following proclamation for a National Fast
+appeared:
+
+ "WHEREAS, 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:
+
+ "'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 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.'
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the
+ seal of the United States to be affixed.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN
+
+ "WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State."
+
+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:
+
+ "SOLDIERS: 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 somewhere; things may be done
+ wrong, which the officers of Government do all they can to prevent
+ mistakes.
+
+ "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."
+
+And again, on the 22d of August, under similar circumstances:
+
+ "SOLDIERS:--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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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. The nation is worth fighting for, to
+ secure such an unquestionable jewel."
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+ "TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN.--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.
+
+ "ABRAHAM LINCOLN."
+
+This ended that attempt to divide the supporters of the Administration.
+
+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 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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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:
+
+ "_Resolved_, 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."
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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 the officers and men connected with these
+operations, national salutes ordered, and the following proclamation
+issued, dated September 3d, 1864.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "ABRAHAM LINCOLN."
+
+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:
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 other policy
+ calculated to weaken the moral and physical forces of the rebellion.
+
+ "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."
+
+On the 19th of October, the President having been serenaded by the
+loyal Marylanders of the District of Columbia, said:
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 _sine die_, but to meet again,
+ if called to do so by a particular individual, as the ultimatum of
+ a purpose that, if the nominee shall be elected, he will at once
+ seize control of the Government.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+RE-ELECTED.
+
+ 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.
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+General Fremont withdrew his name shortly after the Chicago
+nominations, that he might not distract and divide the friends of the
+Union. In his letter of withdrawal he said:
+
+"The policy of the Democratic party signifies either separation,
+or reestablishment, with slavery. The Chicago platform is
+simply separation. General McClellan's letter of acceptance, is
+reestablishment with slavery.... The Republican candidate, on the
+contrary, is pledged to the reestablishment of Union without slavery."
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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.
+
+Richmond papers were, for a marvel, quite unanimous in the desire
+that Mr. Lincoln should not be reelected. 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 reelection, and
+their organs on the Continent and in the provinces did their best to
+abuse him shockingly.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+No opportunity for talk, even, was afforded when the results of the
+election of November 8th became known. 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.
+
+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.
+
+The President elect by a plurality in 1860, he was reelected in 1864 by
+a majority decisive and unmistakable.
+
+Having been serenaded early in the morning following his reelection,
+by Pennsylvanians then in Washington, he thus gave utterance to his
+feelings:
+
+ "FRIENDS AND FELLOW-CITIZENS:--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 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."
+
+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:
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 reelection,
+ 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.
+
+ "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."
+
+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 recently wounded, was lying in
+a hospital and bears date November 21st, 1864.
+
+ "DEAR MADAM:--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.
+
+ "Yours very sincerely and respectfully,
+ "ABRAHAM LINCOLN."
+
+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:
+
+ "FELLOW-CITIZENS OF THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:--Again
+ the blessings of health and abundant harvests claim our profoundest
+ gratitude to Almighty God.
+
+ "The condition of our foreign affairs is reasonably satisfactory.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "Civil war continues in the Spanish port of San Domingo, apparently
+ without prospect of an early close.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "Assurances have been received from most of the South American
+ States of their high appreciation of the enterprise and their
+ readiness to cooeperate in constructing lines tributary to that
+ world-encircling communication.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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. Our very popular and
+ able representative in Egypt died in April last.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "The rebellion which has so long been flagrant in China, has at
+ last been suppressed with the cooeperating 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.
+
+ "China seems to be accepting with hearty good-will the conventional
+ laws which regulate commerce and social intercourse among the
+ Western nations.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "There is reason also to believe that these proceedings have
+ increased rather than diminished the friendship of Japan toward the
+ United States.
+
+ "The ports of Norfolk, Fernandino, and Pensacola have been opened
+ by proclamation.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "In view of the insecurity of life in the region adjacent to 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "The act passed at the last session for the encouragement of
+ immigration has, as far as was possible, been put into operation.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "For the actual receipts and disbursements for the first quarter,
+ and the estimated receipts and disbursements for the 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 _bona fide_ 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.
+
+ "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 they cannot be much
+ oppressed by a debt which they owe to themselves.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "It will also specify the measures deemed essential for the
+ national defence, and to keep up and supply the requisite military
+ force.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "I cordially concur in the recommendation of the Secretary as to
+ the propriety of creating the new rank of Vice-admiral in our naval
+ service.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "As intimately connected with and promotive of this material
+ growth of the Nation, I ask the attention of Congress to 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 metals in that
+ region have, during the year reached, if not exceeded, $100,000,000
+ in value.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "During the year ending the thirtieth of June, 1864, $4,504,616 92
+ have been paid to pensioners of all classes.
+
+ "I cheerfully commend to your continued patronage the 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "The movement in the same direction, more extensive, though less
+ definite, in Missouri, Kentucky, and Tennessee, should not be
+ overlooked.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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
+ 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 reestablish 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 evidence accessible, it seems to me that
+ no attempts at negotiation with the insurgent leader could result
+ in any good.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 known that the excepted classes were
+ still within contemplation of special clemency.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "ABRAHAM LINCOLN."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+TIGHTENING THE LINES.
+
+ 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.
+
+
+As illustrative of the genial, pleasant manner of the President, take
+the following, in response to a serenade, December 6th, 1864:
+
+ "FRIENDS AND FELLOW-CITIZENS:--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."
+
+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:
+
+ "REVEREND SIR, AND LADIES AND GENTLEMEN:--I accept, with emotions
+ of profoundest gratitude, the beautiful gift you have been pleased
+ to present to me. You will, of course, 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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."
+
+ * * * * *
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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:
+
+ "HON. WILLIAM H. SEWARD, 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.
+
+ "You will make known to them that three things are indispensable,
+ to wit:
+
+ "1. The restoration of national authority throughout all the States.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "3. No cessation of hostilities short of an end of the war and the
+ disbanding of all forces hostile to the Government.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "You will hear all they may choose to say, and report it to me.
+
+ "You will not assume to definitely consummate any thing.
+
+ "Yours truly, A. LINCOLN."
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+The conference came to an end by mutual acquiescence, without producing
+an agreement of views upon the several matters discussed, or any of
+them.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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:
+
+ "WHEREAS, 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 Executive--
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+ "WILLIAM. H. SEWARD, Secretary of State."
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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 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 cooeperation of the commander of the naval part of
+the expedition, it boots not here to inquire.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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
+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:
+
+ "FELLOW-COUNTRYMEN:--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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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?
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 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."
+
+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:
+
+ "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 _Almighty God_, 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."
+
+On the 16th of March, in accordance with an Act of Congress, grace was
+extended to deserters by the following proclamation:
+
+ "WHEREAS, 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 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'--
+
+ "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.
+
+ "In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the
+ seal of the United States to be affixed.
+
+ "Done at the city of Washington, this eleventh day of March, in the
+ year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, and of
+ the Independence of the United States the eighty-ninth.
+
+ "By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+ "W. H. SEWARD, Secretary of State."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+IN RICHMOND.
+
+ 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.
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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."
+
+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
+excited multitude--there held a levee--left the same evening for City
+Point--and soon afterward returned to Washington.
+
+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:
+
+ "GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE, ARMY C. S.:--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.
+
+ "Very respectfully,
+ "U. S. GRANT, Lieutenant-General."
+
+Johnston was next in order; and toward him Sherman was in motion.
+
+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.
+
+Repeated calls having been made for him, he appeared at the window, on
+the entrance door, calm amid the tumult, and was greeted with cheers
+and waving of hats.
+
+Comparative silence having been secured, he said:
+
+ "MY FRIENDS:--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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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."
+
+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.
+
+The President then retired, amid cheers, the tune of "Hail Columbia,"
+and the firing of cannon.
+
+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.
+
+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 with which he was greeted had subsided,
+spoke as follows in his last public speech:
+
+ "FELLOW-CITIZENS:--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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 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 cooeperation, would reconstruct
+ substantially on that plan, I wrote him and some of them to try it.
+ They tried it, and the result is known.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 at home, it would be utterly immaterial
+ whether they had ever been abroad.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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?
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.]
+
+ "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-fourths of all the States would be unquestioned and
+ unquestionable.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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."
+
+On the 11th of April, also, appeared the following proclamation:
+
+ "WHEREAS, 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 purposes,' the
+ President, for the reasons therein set forth, is authorized to
+ close certain ports of entry.
+
+ "Now, therefore, be it known that I, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, 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.
+
+ "In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal
+ of the United States to be affixed.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "Abraham Lincoln.
+
+ "William H. Seward, Secretary of State."
+
+And on the same day the following:
+
+ "WHEREAS, 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 in--
+
+ "Now, therefore, I, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, 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. _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._
+
+ "In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal
+ of the United States to be affixed.
+
+ "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 the eighty-ninth.
+
+ "By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+ "WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State."
+
+And, on the twelfth April, the following supplementary proclamation:
+
+ "WHEREAS, 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:
+
+ "Now, therefore, be it known that I, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, 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.
+
+ "In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal
+ of the United States to be affixed.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+ "WM. H. SEWARD, Secretary of State."
+
+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:
+
+ "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:
+
+ "_First._ To stop all drafting and recruiting in the loyal States.
+
+ "_Second._ To curtail purchases for arms, ammunition,
+ quartermaster's and commissary supplies, and reduce the expenses of
+ the military establishment and its several branches.
+
+ "_Third._ To reduce the number of general and staff officers to the
+ actual necessities of the service.
+
+ "_Fourth._ To remove all military restrictions upon trade and
+ commerce, so far as may be consistent with the public safety.
+
+ "As soon as these measures can be put in operation, it will be made
+ known by public orders.
+
+ "EDWIN M. STANTON, Secretary of War."
+
+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?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+
+THE LAST ACT.
+
+ 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.
+
+
+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, 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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"Well," said the President, "you will hear very soon now and the news
+will be important."
+
+"Why do you think so?" said the General.
+
+"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:
+
+"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."
+
+In the afternoon, a long and pleasant conversation was held with
+eminent citizens from Illinois.
+
+In the evening, during a talk with Messrs. Colfax and Ashman--the
+latter of whom presided at the Chicago Convention, 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.
+
+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."
+
+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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+Recovering himself immediately, he flourished his dagger, shouted "_Sic
+semper tyrannis_" and "_The South is avenged_," 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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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.
+
+"_Sic semper tyrannis!_" And this the justification for the murder of a
+ruler who had
+
+ "---- borne his faculties so meek, had been
+ So clear in his great office, that his virtues
+ Will plead like angels, trumpet-tongued, against
+ The deep damnation of his taking-off."
+
+"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.
+
+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!
+
+But sorrow was tempered with mercy. He did not fall 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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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 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.
+
+When he fell, treason throughout the land lay gasping, dying.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+Meanwhile the honored dead lay in state in the country's capitol.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+Thence the funeral _cortege_ 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 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!"
+
+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.
+
+Flowers beautified the lifeless remains--dirges were sung--the people's
+great heart broke out into sobs and sighing.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+There all that is mortal of ABRAHAM LINCOLN reposes.
+
+"The immortal?" Hail, and farewell!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+THE MAN.
+
+ 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.
+
+
+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 were it in any other country, be
+evidence of ability of the very highest order.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+He was reelected, the first President since Jackson to whom that honor
+had been accorded. And thirty-two years had passed--eight Presidential
+terms--since Jackson's reelection. He was, moreover, reelected by a
+largely increased vote.
+
+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
+reelected. Why? For the same reason that first brought him before the
+country.
+
+Primarily and mainly because the mass of the people had 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.
+
+What shall be said of him as a statesman?
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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.
+
+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 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!
+
+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 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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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."
+
+ Oh, why should the spirit of mortal be proud?
+ Like a swift, fleeting meteor, a fast-flying cloud,
+ A flash of the lightning, a break of the wave,
+ Man passeth from life to his rest in the grave.
+
+ The leaves of the oak and the willow shall fade,
+ Be scattered around and together be laid;
+ And the young and the old, and the low and the high,
+ Shall moulder to dust and together shall lie.
+
+ The infant a mother attended and loved;
+ The mother that infant's affection who proved;
+ The husband that mother and infant who blessed,
+ Each, all, are away to their dwellings of Rest.
+
+ The maid on whose cheek, on whose brow, in whose eye
+ Shone beauty and pleasure--her triumphs are by;
+ And the memory of those who loved her and praised,
+ Are alike from the minds of the living erased.
+
+ The hand of the king that the sceptre hath borne;
+ The brow of the priest that the mitre hath worn;
+ The eye of the sage and the heart of the brave,
+ Are hidden and lost in the depth of the grave.
+
+ The peasant whose lot was to sow and to reap;
+ The herdsman, who climbed with his goats up the steep;
+ The beggar, who wandered in search of his bread,
+ Have faded away like the grass that we tread.
+
+ The saint who enjoyed the communion of heaven,
+ The sinner who dared to remain unforgiven,
+ The wise and the foolish, the guilty and just,
+ Have quietly mingled their bones in the dust.
+
+ So the multitude goes, like the flowers or the weed
+ That withers away to let others succeed;
+ So the multitude comes, even those we behold,
+ To repeat every tale that has often been told.
+
+ For we are the same our fathers have been;
+ We see the same sights our fathers have seen--
+ We drink the same stream and view the same sun--
+ And run the same course our fathers have run.
+
+ The thoughts we are thinking our fathers would think;
+ From the death we are shrinking our fathers would shrink,
+ To the life we are clinging they also would cling;
+ But it speeds for us all, like a bird on the wing.
+
+ They loved, but the story we cannot unfold;
+ They scorned, but the heart of the haughty is cold;
+ They grieved, but no wail from their slumber will come;
+ They joyed, but the tongue of their gladness is dumb.
+
+ They died, aye! they died; and we things that are now,
+ Who walk on the turf that lies over their brow,
+ Who make in their dwelling a transient abode,
+ Meet the things that they met on their pilgrimage road.
+
+ Yea! hope and despondency, pleasure and pain,
+ We mingle together in sunshine and rain;
+ And the smile and the tear, the song and the dirge,
+ Still follow each other, like surge upon surge.
+
+ 'Tis the wink of an eye, 'tis the draught of a breath;
+ From the blossom of health to the paleness of death,
+ From the gilded saloon to the bier and the shroud--
+ Oh why should the spirit of mortal be proud?
+
+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:
+
+ "Born February 12, 1809, in Hardin county, Kentucky.
+
+ "Education Defective.
+
+ "Profession a lawyer.
+
+ "Have been a captain of volunteers in the Black Hawk war.
+
+ "Postmaster at a very small office.
+
+ "Four times a member of the Illinois Legislature.
+
+ "And was a member of the lower House of Congress.
+
+ "Yours, etc.,
+ A. LINCOLN."
+
+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 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.
+
+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:
+
+"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."
+
+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.
+
+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 leave--
+
+ ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX.
+
+ MR. LINCOLN'S SPEECHES IN CONGRESS AND ELSEWHERE, PROCLAMATIONS,
+ LETTERS, ETC., NOT INCLUDED IN THE BODY OF THE WORK.
+
+
+SPEECH ON THE MEXICAN WAR.
+
+(_In Committee of the Whole House, January 12, 1848._)
+
+Mr. Lincoln addressed the Committee as follows:
+
+ "MR. CHAIRMAN:--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 _truth_ 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 _little_, or because of knowing
+ too _much_, 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, 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 _truth_, what he could not prove by telling
+ the _whole truth_, 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 _compelled_ 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 _truth_ 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.
+
+ "The President, in his first message of May, 1846, declares that
+ the soil was _ours_ 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 _very
+ point_ 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.
+
+ "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 _one_ river or the
+ _other_ is necessarily the boundary, and cheats the superficial
+ thinker entirely out of the idea that _possibly_ the boundary is
+ somewhere _between_ the two, and not actually at either. A further
+ deception is, that it will let in _evidence_ which a true issue
+ would exclude. A true issue made by the President would be about as
+ follows: 'I say the soil _was ours_ on which the first blood was
+ shed; there are those who say it was not.'
+
+ "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:
+
+ "1. That the Rio Grande was the western boundary of Louisiana, as
+ we purchased it of France in 1803.
+
+ "2. That the Republic of Texas always _claimed_ the Rio Grande as
+ her western boundary.
+
+ "3. That, by various acts, she had claimed it _on paper_.
+
+ "4. That Santa Anna, in his treaty with Texas, recognized the Rio
+ Grande as her boundary.
+
+ "5. That Texas _before_, and the United States _after_ annexation,
+ had _exercised_ jurisdiction _beyond_ the Nueces, _between_ the two
+ rivers.
+
+ "6. That our Congress _understood_ the boundary of Texas to extend
+ beyond the Nueces.
+
+ "Now for each of these in its turn:
+
+ "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 _present_ boundary between
+ us and Mexico? How, Mr. Chairman, the line that once divided your
+ land from mine can _still_ be the boundary between us _after_ 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 _thought_ of introducing such a fact to prove such
+ an issue, is equally incomprehensible. The outrage upon common
+ _right_, of seizing as our own what we have once sold, merely
+ because it _was_ ours _before_ we sold it, is only equaled by the
+ outrage on common _sense_ of any attempt to justify it.
+
+ "The President's next piece of evidence is, that 'The Republic
+ of Texas always _claimed_ this river (Rio Grande) as her western
+ boundary.' That is not true, in fact. Texas _has_ claimed it,
+ but she has not _always_ 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
+ _claim_ against _claim_, leaving nothing proved until we get back
+ of the claims, and find which has the better _foundation_.
+
+ "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--_on paper_. 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 _claim_; 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.
+
+ "I next consider the President's statement that Santa Anna, in
+ his _treaty_ 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--_could_ not bind Mexico
+ by a treaty, which I deem conclusive; besides this, I wish to say
+ something in relation to this treaty so called by the President,
+ with Santa Anna. If any man would like to be amused by a sight at
+ that _little_ thing, which the President calls by that _big_ 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 _called_
+ 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 _himself_ take up
+ arms, nor _influence_ 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 _is_ stipulated therein that the
+ Mexican forces should evacuate the territory of Texas, _passing
+ to the other side of the Rio Grande_; 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 _what_
+ 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 _her own_ boundary.
+
+ "Next comes the evidence that Texas before annexation, and the
+ United States afterward, exercising jurisdiction beyond the
+ Nueces, and _between_ the two rivers. This actual _exercise_ 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 _beyond_ the Nueces, but he does not tell
+ us it went _to_ the Rio Grande. He tells us jurisdiction was
+ exercised _between_ the two rivers, but he does not tell us
+ it was exercised over _all_ 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 _between_ two rivers without covering _all_
+ 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
+ _all_ 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 _persuade_ nor _force_
+ 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.
+
+ "But next, the President tells us, the Congress of the United
+ States _understood_ the State of Texas they admitted into the
+ Union to extend _beyond_ the Nueces. Well, I suppose they did--I
+ certainly so understand it--but how _far_ beyond? That Congress
+ did _not_ 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.
+
+ "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 _there_, and _thereby_,
+ 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 _dared_ not admit, and yet _could_
+ 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.
+
+ "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 _wherever_ Texas was _exercising_ 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 _neither_ river was
+ the boundary, but the uninhabited country between the two was.
+ The extent of our territory in that region depended not on any
+ _treaty-fixed_ boundary (for no treaty had attempted it), but on
+ revolution. Any people anywhere, being inclined and having the
+ power, have the _right_ 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 _can_ may
+ revolutionize, and make their _own_ of so much of their territory
+ as they inhabit. More than this, a _majority_ of any portion
+ of such people may revolutionize, putting down a _minority_,
+ 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
+ _actual_, willing or unwilling submission of the people, so _far_
+ the country was hers, and no further.
+
+ "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 _facts_, 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 _should_
+ not, and the Almighty _will_ not, be evaded, so let him attempt no
+ 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 _can not or will not_ 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 _on_ and _on_, 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 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, _without a purpose or definite
+ object_.' So, then, the national honor, security of the future, and
+ everything but territorial indemnity, may be considered the _no
+ purposes_ and _indefinite_ 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 _all_ we are fighting for,
+ and _still_ 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
+ _excess_ after those expenses shall have surpassed the value of the
+ _whole_ of the Mexican territory. So, again, he insists that the
+ separate national existence of Mexico shall be maintained; but he
+ does not tell us _how_ this can be done after we shall have taken
+ _all_ 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.
+
+ "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, 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 _better_ half of the country, how
+ long its future prosecution will be in equalling the less valuable
+ half is not a _speculative_ but a _practical_ question, pressing
+ closely upon us; and yet it is a question which the President seems
+ never to have thought of.
+
+ "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, _the continued success of our arms
+ may fail to obtain a satisfactory peace_.' 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 '_this may become the only mode of obtaining such a
+ peace_.' 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 _out_ 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.
+
+ "Again, it is a singular omission in this message, that it nowhere
+ intimates _when_ 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 _not_ do; after all this,
+ this same President gives us a long message without showing us that
+ _as to the end_, 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."
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+SPEECH ON INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.
+
+(_In Committee of the Whole House, June 20, 1848._)
+
+Mr. Lincoln said:
+
+ "MR. CHAIRMAN:--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."
+
+ 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."
+
+ 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:
+
+ "'That the Constitution does not confer upon the General Government
+ the power to commence and carry on a general system of internal
+ improvements.'
+
+ "General Cass, in his letter accepting the nomination, holds this
+ language:
+
+ "'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.'
+
+ "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 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 _general_ 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.
+
+ "Those general positions are: That internal improvements ought not
+ to be made by the General Government:
+
+ "1. Because they would overwhelm the treasury;
+
+ "2. Because, while their _burdens_ would be general, their
+ _benefits_ would be _local_ and _partial_, involving an obnoxious
+ inequality;
+
+ "3. Because they would be unconstitutional;
+
+ "4. Because the States may do enough by the levy and collection of
+ tonnage duties; or, if not,
+
+ "5. That the Constitution may be amended.
+
+ "'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.
+
+ "The first position is, that a system of internal improvement would
+ overwhelm the treasury.
+
+ "That, in such a system, there is a _tendency_ to undue expansion,
+ is not to be denied. Such tendency is founded in the nature of the
+ subject. A member of Congress will prefer 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 _applied for_, 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 _granted_? 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.'
+
+ "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 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 _did_ keep within reasonable limits; and
+ what _has_ been done it seems to me, _can_ be done again.
+
+ "Now for the second position of the message, namely, that the
+ burdens of improvements would be _general_, while their _benefits_
+ would be _local_ and _partial_, 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 _general_, as not to be of some peculiar _local_
+ advantage; but on the other hand, nothing is so _local_ 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
+ 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 _local_
+ as not to be of some _general_ 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 _dearer_, and the people of Buffalo sweetened their
+ coffee a little _cheaper_ than before; a benefit resulting _from_
+ the canal, not to Illinois, where the canal _is_, but to Louisiana
+ and New York, where the canal is _not_. 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 _benefits_ of an improvement are by no
+ means confined to the particular locality of the improvement itself.
+
+ "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 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
+ _coal_ is clearly worth more than the _abstractions_, and yet what
+ a monstrous inequality in the prices! Does the President, for this
+ reason, propose to abolish the Presidency? He _does_ not, and he
+ _ought_ not. The true rule, in determining to embrace or reject any
+ thing, is not whether it have _any_ evil in it, but whether it have
+ more of evil than of good. There are few things _wholly_ evil or
+ _wholly_ 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, upon this question? Why,
+ as to improvements, magnify the _evil_, and stoutly refuse to see
+ any good in them?
+
+ "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:
+
+ "'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.'
+
+ "I introduce this, not to controvert, just now, the Constitutional
+ opinion, but to show, that on the question of _expediency_, 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:
+
+ "'Bears wide and kicks the owner over.'
+
+ "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 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 _for_, and the executive _against_, 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:
+
+ "'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.'
+
+ "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 _against_ the power; but it is insisted that
+ quite as many, as great, and as good, have been _for_ 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 _vastly_
+ 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 _truth_ 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?
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 _sufficient_,
+ 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, _upon the tonnage
+ coming into that harbor_. To do otherwise--to collect money in
+ _one_ harbor to be expended in improvements in _another_--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.
+
+ "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 _expedient_ but not Constitutional, it would be
+ natural enough for him to recommend such an amendment; but hear
+ what he says in this very message:
+
+ "'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.'
+
+ "For what, then, would _he_ have the Constitution amended? With
+ _him_ it is a proposition to remove _one_ impediment, merely to
+ be met by _others_, 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."
+
+ [Here Mr. Meade, of Virginia, inquired if Mr. L. understood the
+ President to be opposed, on grounds of expediency, to any and every
+ improvement?]
+
+ To which Mr. Lincoln answered: "In the very part of his 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.
+
+ "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 _they_ did?
+
+ "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
+ _not_ 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 _sufficient_, or they
+ are _not_. If sufficient, they are sufficient _out_ of Congress
+ as well as _in_ 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.
+
+ 'Attempt the end, and never stand to doubt;
+ Nothing so hard, but search will find it out.'
+
+ "Determine that the thing can and shall be done, and then we shall
+ find the way. The tendency to undue expansion is unquestionably
+ the chief difficulty. How to do _something_, and still not to do
+ _too much_, 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 _how
+ much_ money can, for that year, be spared for improvements; then
+ apportion that sum to the most _important_ objects. So far all is
+ easy; but how shall we determine which _are_ the most important?
+ On this question comes the collision of interests. _I_ shall be
+ slow to acknowledge that _your_ harbor or _your_ river is more
+ important than _mine_, and _vice versa_. 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
+ _facts_--a basis in nowise subject to whim, caprice, or local
+ interest. The pre-limited amount of means will save us from doing
+ _too much_, and the statistics will save us from doing what we do
+ in _wrong places_. Adopt and adhere to this course, and, it seems
+ to me, the difficulty is cleared.
+
+ "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 _consumed_ where they are _produced_, need no roads and rivers,
+ no means of transportation, and have no very proper connection with
+ this subject. The _surplus_, that which is produced in _one_ place
+ to be consumed in _another_; the capacity of each locality for
+ producing a _greater_ 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."
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+SPEECH ON THE PRESIDENCY AND GENERAL POLITICS.
+
+(_Delivered in the House, July 27, 1848._)
+
+GENERAL TAYLOR AND THE VETO POWER.
+
+ "Mr. SPEAKER:--Our Democratic friends seem to be in great distress
+ because they think our candidate for the Presidency don't suit
+ _us_. Most of them can not find out that General Taylor has any
+ principles at all; some, however, have discovered that he has
+ _one_, 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 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 _doubtful_
+ 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 _he_ has _doubts_ 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:
+
+ "'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 misled by error, ambition, or interest,
+ that the Constitution has placed a check in the negative of the
+ President.'
+
+ "General Taylor's opinion, as expressed in his Allison letter, is
+ as I now read:
+
+ "'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.
+
+ "It is here seen that, in Mr. Jefferson's opinion, if, on the
+ Constitutionality of any given bill, the President _doubts_, 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.
+
+ "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 _do_
+ 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 knows any thing which I do not, he can show it.
+ But to return: General Taylor, in his Allison letter says:
+
+ "'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.'
+
+ "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, '_Your_ will, gentlemen, not _mine_.'
+ '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 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. 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.
+
+ "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 _believe_, Gen. Taylor, if elected, would not veto
+ the proviso; but I do not _know_ 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, _should_
+ 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?
+
+ "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, 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 _general_ objects, those he
+ is _for_, must be _particular_ and _local_. Now, this is taking the
+ subject precisely by the wrong end. _Particularity_--expending the
+ money of the _whole_ people for an object which will benefit only a
+ _portion_ 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.
+
+ "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 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 _as_ 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.
+
+ "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 _American_ 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 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
+ _availability_--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.'
+
+ "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."
+
+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 in the Black Hawk war, as already
+quoted. He then said:
+
+ "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:
+
+ "'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.'
+
+ "To this Gen. Cass is reported to have replied as follows, to wit:
+
+ "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.'
+
+ "In the 'remarks above committed to writing,' is one numbered 4, as
+ follows, to wit:
+
+ "'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 exercise its own discretion,
+ entirely uncontrolled by any declaration found in the statute book.'
+
+ "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:
+
+ "'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.
+
+ "'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,
+
+ "'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.'
+
+ "These extracts show that, in 1846, General Cass was for the
+ Proviso _at once_; that, in March, 1847, he was still for it,
+ _but not just then_; and that in December, 1847, he was _against_
+ 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,' '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.'
+
+ "Have no fears, gentlemen, of your candidate; he exactly suits you,
+ and we congratulate you upon it. However much you may be distressed
+ about _our_ 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 _you_ till you first
+ desert _him_."
+
+After referring at some length to extra "charges" of General Cass upon
+the Treasury, Mr. Lincoln continued:--
+
+ "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 _time_, but
+ that he often did it, at several _places_ many hundred miles apart,
+ _at the same time_. 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 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.
+
+ "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 _you_ may appear a perfectly amiable, peaceful,
+ unprovoking procedure; but it does not appear so to _us_. 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 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.
+
+ "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 _that_
+ 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.
+
+ "But the distinction between the cause of the _President_ in
+ beginning the war, and the cause of the _country_ after it was
+ begun, is a distinction which you can not perceive. To _you_, 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 _possibly_ 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 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.
+
+ "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
+ _our_ account."
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+SPEECH IN REPLY TO MR. DOUGLAS, ON KANSAS, THE DRED SCOTT DECISION, AND
+THE UTAH QUESTION.
+
+(_Delivered at Springfield, Ill., June 26, 1857._)
+
+ "FELLOW-CITIZENS:--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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.'
+
+ "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.'
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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
+ 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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?
+
+ "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.'
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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:
+
+ "'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 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.'
+
+ "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:
+
+ "'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.'
+
+ "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:
+
+ "'If the opinion of the Supreme Court covered the whole 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.'
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 particularity as to leave no doubt of
+ its truth; and as a sort of conclusion on that point, holds the
+ following language:
+
+ "'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.'
+
+ "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.'
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 ALL 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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "I think the authors of that notable instrument intended to include
+ _all_ men, but they did not intend to declare all men equal _in all
+ respects_. 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 _right_, so that the _enforcement_ of it might follow
+ as fast as circumstances should permit."
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+SPEECH IN REPLY TO SENATOR DOUGLAS.
+
+(_At Chicago, on the evening of July 10, 1858._)
+
+ "MY FELLOW-CITIZENS: 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.
+
+ "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.]
+
+ "'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 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.'
+
+ "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!
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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
+ _alliance_. 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 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 _am_ for putting
+ him where he will trouble us no more.'
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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--_Squatter Sovereignty_. 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 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.'
+
+ "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--_put_ 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 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.']
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 him; I should like to know who he was. [Same voice,
+ 'John Calhoun.']
+
+ "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"?
+
+After referring, in appropriate terms, to the credit claimed by Douglas
+for defeating the Lecompton policy, Mr. Lincoln proceeds:
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.'
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 _believe_--and that is what I meant to allude to there--I
+ _believe_ 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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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....
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 _after_ 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 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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
+ _astonisher_ 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? 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?' * * *
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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
+ 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.
+
+ "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
+ 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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."
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+OPENING PASSAGES OF HIS SPEECH AT FREEPORT.
+
+ "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN:--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 _refused_ 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "Having said thus much, I will take up the judge's interrogatories
+ as I find them printed in the Chicago _Times_, and answer them
+ _seriatim_. 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:
+
+ 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?'
+
+ Answer. "I do not now, nor ever did, stand in favor of the
+ unconditional repeal of the Fugitive Slave law.
+
+ 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?'
+
+ A. "I do not now, nor ever did, stand pledged against the admission
+ of any more slave States into the Union.
+
+ 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?'
+
+ 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.
+
+ Q. 4. "'I want to know whether he stands to-day pledged to the
+ abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia?'
+
+ A. "I do not stand to-day pledged to the abolition of slavery in
+ the District of Columbia.
+
+ Q. 5. "'I desire him to answer whether he stands pledged to the
+ prohibition of the slave-trade between the different States?'
+
+ A. "I do not stand pledged to the prohibition of the slave-trade
+ between the different States.
+
+ 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?'
+
+ A. "I am impliedly, if not expressly, pledged to a belief in the
+ _right_ and _duty_ of Congress to prohibit slavery in all the
+ United States Territories.
+
+ Q. 7. "'I desire him to answer whether he is opposed to the
+ acquisition of any new territory unless slavery is first prohibited
+ therein?'
+
+ 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.
+
+ "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 _pledged_ 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 _pledged_ 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "In regard to the other question, of whether I am pledged to the
+ admission of any more Slave States into the Union, I 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.
+
+ "The third interrogatory is answered by the answer to the second,
+ it being, as I conceive, the same as the second.
+
+ "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
+ _endeavoring_ to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia,
+ unless it would be upon these conditions: _First_, that the
+ abolition should be gradual; _second_, that it should be on a vote
+ of the majority of qualified voters in the District; and _third_,
+ 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.'
+
+ "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
+ _pledged_ to nothing about it. It is a subject to which I have not
+ given that mature consideration that would make me feel 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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."
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+LETTER TO GENERAL McCLELLAN.
+
+ "WASHINGTON, April 9, 1862.
+
+ "MY DEAR SIR: Your dispatches, complaining that you are not
+ properly sustained, while they do not offend me, do pain me very
+ much.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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,
+ _via_ 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.
+
+ "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 _en route_ to
+ you. You say you will have but eighty-five thousand when all _en
+ route_ to you shall have reached you. How can the discrepancy of
+ twenty-three thousand be accounted for?
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "Yours, very truly,
+ A. LINCOLN.
+
+ "Maj.-Gen. MCCLELLAN."
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+LETTER TO GEN. SCHOFIELD RELATIVE TO THE REMOVAL OF GEN. CURTIS.
+
+ "_Executive Mansion_, Washington, May 27, 1863.
+
+ "Gen. J. M. SCHOFIELD--_Dear Sir_: 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 _role_, 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.
+
+ "Yours, truly, A. LINCOLN."
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND MEN CALLED FOR.
+
+ "WHEREAS, The term of service of part of the volunteer forces
+ of the United States will expire during the coming year; and
+ _whereas_, 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 be conducted in
+ accordance with such instructions as have been or may be issued by
+ that department.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal
+ of the United States to be affixed.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+ "WM. H. SEWARD, Secretary of State."
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+REV. DR. M'PHEETERS--THE PRESIDENT'S REPLY TO AN APPEAL FOR
+INTERFERENCE.
+
+ "_Executive Mansion_, Washington, December 23, 1863.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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 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?'
+
+ "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
+ _release_! 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.'
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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, that, too,
+ will be declined. I will not have control of any church on any side."
+
+ "A. LINCOLN."
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+AN ELECTION ORDERED IN THE STATE OF ARKANSAS.
+
+ "_Executive Mansion_, Washington, January 20, 1864.
+
+ "MAJ. GEN. STEELE: 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 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.
+
+ "You will please order an election to take place on the 28th of
+ March, 1864, and returns to be made in fifteen days thereafter.
+
+ "A. LINCOLN."
+
+Later, the President wrote the following letter:
+
+ "WILLIAM FISHBACK, ESQ.: 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.
+
+ "A. LINCOLN."
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+CALL FOR FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND MEN.
+
+ "WHEREAS, 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 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.'
+
+ "AND WHEREAS, 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and 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.
+
+ "By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+ "WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State."
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+LETTER TO MRS. GURNEY.
+
+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.
+
+ "MY ESTEEMED FRIEND: 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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "Your sincere friend,
+ "A. LINCOLN."
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+THE TENNESSEE TEST OATH.
+
+ "_Executive Mansion_, Washington, D. C.,
+ Saturday, October 22, 1864
+
+ "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.
+
+"GENTLEMEN: 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 ANDREW JOHNSON,
+Military Governor of Tennessee, and also a manuscript paper purporting
+to be extracts from the code of Tennessee, were laid before me."
+
+[The protest is here recited, and also the proclamation of GOV.
+JOHNSON, 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 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.]
+
+ "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.
+
+ "Up to the present moment, nothing whatever upon the subject has
+ passed between GOV. JOHNSON, or any one else connected with the
+ proclamation and myself.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "My conclusion is, that I can have nothing to do with the matter,
+ either to sustain the plan as the Convention and GOV. JOHNSON 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.
+
+ "The movement set a-foot by the Convention and GOV. JOHNSON does
+ not, as seems to be assumed by you, emanate from the National
+ Executive.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "I do not perceive in the plan any menace, or violence, or coercion
+ toward any one.
+
+ "GOV. JOHNSON, 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.
+
+ "I cannot discern that by his plan he purposes any more--but you
+ object to the plan.
+
+ "Leaving it alone will be your perfect security against it. It is
+ not proposed to force you into it.
+
+ "Do as you please on your own account peaceably and loyally, and
+ GOV. JOHNSON will not molest you, but will protect you against
+ violence so far as in his power.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "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.
+
+ "Except it be to give protection against violence, I decline to
+ interfere in any way with any Presidential election.
+
+ "ABRAHAM LINCOLN."
+
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Notes:
+
+
+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.
+
+Punctuation and spelling were made consistent when a predominant
+preference was found in this book; otherwise they were not changed.
+
+Simple typographical errors were corrected.
+
+Unbalanced and mismatched single- and double-quotation marks remedied
+only when the correction was unambiguous.
+
+Ambiguous hyphens at the ends of lines were retained. Inconsistent
+hyphenation retained unless there was a predominant preference for one
+form.
+
+Text mostly uses "any thing" but sometimes uses "anything".
+
+Text uses both "Chancelor" and "Chancellor".
+
+Page 44: "the tenth commandment" probably should be "amendment".
+
+Page 56: "rule of political action." should end with a question mark,
+not with a period.
+
+Page 195 does not have a "Second" order.
+
+Page 244: "acknowledgment" in "as a grateful acknowledgment" was
+misprinted. It was spelled correctly in Lincoln's original handwritten
+letter and that spelling is used here.
+
+Page 376: "reportively replied" was incompletely printed with empty
+space before "portively". Transcriber added "re" as it seemed to be the
+best fit.
+
+Page 386: "homely often" was incompletely printed with empty space
+before "omely". Transcriber added "h" as it seemed to be the best fit.
+
+Page 409: "_wholly_ 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".
+
+Page 413: "[Here Mr. Meade ... every improvement?]" was missing a
+closing square bracket. Added by Transcriber based on context.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Life of Abraham Lincoln, by Frank Crosby
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