-in- 
 
THE TABLE TALK 
 
 ABRAHAM 
 LINCOLN 
 
 (CENTENARY EDITION) 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 WILLIAM O. STODDARD 
 
 One of his Private Secretaries, and author 
 
 of "Abraham Lincoln, the True Story 
 
 of a Great Life" etc. 
 
 WITH FRONTISPIECE 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY 
 PUBLISHERS 
 
Copyright, 1894* by 
 Frederick A. Stokes Company. 
 
Contenta. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 PREFACE, . . . i 
 
 OF THE UNION, . " 
 
 OF MERCY, . . . .27 
 
 OF HUMOR, ... 33 
 
 OF PERSONAL LIBERTY, . 51 
 
 OF LABOR, ... 71 
 
 OF SLAVERY, . . .79 
 
 OF THE CIVIL WAR, . . 89 
 
 OF ASSASSINATION, . .113 
 
 OF TEMPERANCE, . . 117 
 
 OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE, . 121 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS, . 139 
 
 392258 
 
TABLE TALK 
 
 OF 
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 EOllEU &J 
 
 WILLIAM C. STODDARD, 
 
 One of his Private Secretaries 1861-4. 
 
 history of the world presents 
 us with innumerable instances 
 of men, holding positions of power 
 over current affairs, whose verbal 
 or written utterances were among 
 the apparent forces of the time to 
 which they belonged. With the 
 passing away of the circumstances, 
 the peculiar features of their field 
 of action, a winnowing process 
 becomes at once observable, and 
 much which was at first deemed 
 worthy of preservation is seen to 
 have lost its importance ; it has no 
 
2 Bbrabam OLfncoln. 
 
 enduring relation to history or to 
 any probable action to be taken by 
 other men, in later times and under 
 other circumstances. It is not 
 always well to say that the great 
 ness of these men from whose 
 utterances all life departs in this 
 manner, was altogether attached to 
 the greatness of the occasions in 
 which they acted. It may be more 
 nearly true to say that their per 
 sonalities, however large, were ab 
 sorbed by the greatness of their 
 circumstances, so that nothing was 
 left for human memory of them 
 when their surroundings passed 
 away. 
 
 The list is very short, of men 
 whose words remain in the minds 
 of men for any length of time after 
 the tomb has closed upon their 
 public services, but very prominent 
 in this short list is the name of 
 Abraham Lincoln. He not only 
 
Gable Galft. 3 
 
 did things but said and wrote things 
 which cannot be forgotten. It is 
 entirely probable that, in future 
 crises of the national life which 
 owes so much to him, thoughtful 
 patriots will find themselves going 
 back to the record of his counsels, 
 for wisdom and for strength, as to 
 some well of unselfish patriotism, 
 digged by a patriarch of the Re 
 public in a time of unsurpassed trial 
 i and drouth.") 
 
 In other times, not of trial at all, 
 but of the ordinary life of each 
 successive generation, moreover, 
 there is a certain education, of no 
 small value, to be gained by famil 
 iarity with the process of thought 
 and feeling of the man who was 
 enabled to endure so much and to 
 act so well. All smaller and espe 
 cially all younger patriotisms have 
 much to learn or to acquire from 
 his own, like watches which should 
 
4 Bbrabam ^Lincoln. 
 
 be set to keep the true time if 
 they can. 
 
 One measure or indication of the 
 greatness of his personality, sepa 
 rated from the circumstances in 
 which he lived, is to be found in 
 the fact that at this day all men 
 regard him as belonging, now, to 
 the entire nation.^ During a part of 
 his lifetime, he was nominally the 
 chief of a political party, the fore 
 most figure in a prolonged conflict 
 that was full of the utmost rancor 
 of opposing factions. After that, 
 he became the director of the 
 military and other forces upon one 
 side of a long and sanguinary civil 
 war, and during the years of its 
 continuance and even for a brief 
 period afterwards, the animosities 
 of that terrible struggle seemed to 
 concentrate their bitterness upon 
 him. Nevertheless, few as are the 
 years since the termination of his 
 
Sable ttalfe. 5; 
 
 public services, his name has risen, 
 above all that tumult, like a star- 
 rising above a subsiding sea, and 
 any idea of partisanship, or even of 
 sectionalism, has faded away from 
 the popular perception of his char 
 acter. 
 
 It is more and more clearly mani 
 fest that Lincoln is so readily under 
 stood because of the extreme sim 
 plicity of his nature and of his 
 consequent action. For example, 
 nobody would deny that he was 
 ambitious, in the sense that ambi 
 tion is common to all vigorous, 
 aspiring men, but there is a settled 
 and general belief, or rather per 
 ception, that anything in the nature 
 of personal or selfish ambition was 
 burned away in the furnace through 
 which he passed and that its idea 
 must now detach from his memory. 
 
 Many and important as were the 
 matters and measures he dealt with 
 
6 Bbrabam Lincoln. 
 
 during the stormy years of his 
 official service, his state papers, 
 properly so called, were few. 
 Hardly one of them falls short, 
 however, of being in itself an im 
 portant feature in the record of the 
 time, for all were as forces set in 
 action and producing perceptible 
 results. Their condensed style, 
 their freedom from anything like 
 rhetorical ornament, their close 
 connection with public business and 
 its details, render them, for the 
 greater part unavailable for brief 
 quotation purposes. Nevertheless, 
 the popular mind has here and 
 there discovered, severed and pre 
 served wise utterances which have 
 become almost as household words. 
 Some of Lincoln s speeches, be 
 fore his election as President, pos 
 sess a similar value for they are at 
 once state papers, generally re 
 garded as such, then and afterwards, 
 
Gable ttalfe. 7 
 
 and they are also as historical land 
 marks, measuring periods in the 
 progress of events. 
 
 His correspondence, while yet a 
 private citizen, was free but not 
 copious, and the interest attaching 
 to such specimens of it as have 
 been preserved is mainly personal 
 or biographical. After he became 
 the chief magistrate of the nation, 
 he almost ceased to write personal 
 letters, or even to read them. He 
 seemed to have no longer any in 
 terests, hardly any thoughts, apart 
 from the duties and endurances of 
 his official position. The few let 
 ters that he did write were almost 
 as if they had been addressed to 
 the nation, rather than to individ 
 uals, and some of their words may 
 be treasured as public heirlooms. 
 
 A study of the utterances which 
 are now regarded as peculiarly ex 
 pressing his wisdom, his developed 
 
8 Bora bam xrncoin, 
 
 character, or his convictions con 
 cerning truth, discovers the fact 
 that hardly any of them are of any 
 earlier date than the year 1856. 
 Very nearly all that are of marked 
 importance belong to the last seven 
 years of his life. They seem to 
 attest that, in comparison with this 
 period, the years of his greatest 
 public service and personal trial, 
 all the years preceding it were 
 short. There were certainly more 
 than forty years that were as youth, 
 as schooling, as varied methods of 
 preparation. Afterwards, the mere 
 almanac-measure became of less 
 account and it is by no means a 
 mere figure of speech to say that he 
 had lived long and was older than 
 other men when he died, at fifty- 
 six. 
 
 Wide as was Lincoln s fame as an 
 orator, comparatively few of his po 
 litical speeches were reported. Even 
 
Gable Galfc. 9 
 
 the great speech, by some declared 
 his greatest, in its power and con 
 sequences, delivered before the 
 Bloomington Convention, in 1856, 
 found no record whatever. It was 
 the beginning of his new career, and, 
 after that, whatever he said was 
 considered worth preserving. 
 
 This latter idea soon extended to 
 many sayings which were of a con 
 versational nature, and in dealing 
 with any pointed presentation of 
 them it is necessary to take into 
 consideration the trustworthiness of 
 the hearer who recorded them. By 
 this process, a large mass of mate- 
 ials loosely attributed to Mr. Lincoln 
 has been long since ruled out as, at 
 best, apocryphal. Only such utter 
 ances as are believed to be authen 
 tic and fairly accurate in form of 
 expression are included in this se 
 lection. 
 
 WILLIAM O. STODDARD. 
 
OF THE UNION. 
 
 j\^ANY of the utterances of Lin 
 coln, both public and private, 
 before and after he became Presi 
 dent, and many of his more important 
 public acts, can be better understood 
 after accepting his own repeated as 
 sertions of his singleness of purpose. 
 The very breadth of his perception 
 of the nation s need and the un 
 swerving character of his own de 
 termination, prevented his resulting 
 policy from being either compre 
 hended or approved by a multitude 
 composed of both his friends and 
 his enemies. Eager and enthusias 
 tic men, some of them of great 
 ability, felt sure and freely declared 
 that they, would do differently, that 
 
12 Bbrabam Htncoln. 
 
 is, better, if they were in his place. 
 It is interesting, therefore, at this 
 distance of time, to look back and 
 see how much of his success in 
 contending with manifold obstacles, 
 was due to the fact that he never 
 allowed himself to lose sight, for a 
 moment, of the one paramount duty 
 imposed upon him, the perpetu 
 ation of American nationality in its 
 integrity. To this all other things, 
 including the lives of men, white or 
 black, the accustomed forms of 
 statutory law, and even the appar 
 ently rigid barriers of the written 
 Constitution, must be regarded as 
 secondary. It is now almost evident 
 that if he had thought and acted 
 otherwise, success would have been 
 impossible. For instance, if he had 
 allowed himself to place the aboli 
 tion of slavery first, serving a part 
 instead of the whole, then the 
 whole would have been last, slavery 
 
Galft. 13 
 
 would not have been abolished and 
 the result of the civil war would 
 not have been what it now is, a 
 permanent and forever increasing 
 good to the people of the entire 
 Union, to the South even more 
 than to the North. 
 
 
 SPEECH AT SPRINGFIELD, ILLS., JUNE 
 17, 1858. 
 
 " In my opinion it (the agitation 
 of the slavery question) will not 
 cease until a crisis has been reached 
 and passed. A house divided 
 against itself cannot stand/ I be 
 lieve this Government cannot en 
 dure 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 
 
14 Bbrabam ^Lincoln. 
 
 of it, and place it where the public 
 mind shall rest in the belief that it 
 is in process 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." 
 B 
 
 REPLY TO MAYOR WOOD, NEW YORK, 
 FEB. ao, 1861. 
 
 " There is nothing that could ever 
 bring me to consent willingly to 
 consent to the destruction of this 
 Union, unless it would be that thing 
 for which the Union was made. I 
 understand that the ship is made 
 for the carrying and preservation 
 of the cargo; and so long as the 
 ship is safe, with the cargo, it shall 
 not be abandoned. This Union 
 shall never be abandoned, unless 
 the possibility of its existence shall 
 cease to exist, without the necessity 
 of throwing the passengers and 
 
Gable Galfc. 15 
 
 cargo overboard. So long, then, as 
 it is possible that the prosperity and 
 liberties of this people can be pre 
 served within this Union, it shall be 
 my purpose at all times to preserve 
 it." 
 
 
 
 INAUGURAL ADDRESS, 1861. 
 
 " I hold that, in contemplation 
 of universal law, and of the Consti 
 tution, the Union of these States 
 is perpetual. Perpetuity is im 
 plied, if not expressed, in the funda 
 mental law of all National Govern 
 ments. It is safe to assert that no 
 government proper ever had a pro 
 vision in its organic law for its 
 own termination. Continue to ex 
 ecute all the express provisions of 
 our National Government, and the 
 Union will endure forever it being 
 impossible to destroy it, except by 
 some action not provided for in the 
 instrument itself/ 
 
10 Bbtabam ^Lincoln. 
 
 " Physically speaking, we cannot 
 separate ; cannot remove our re 
 spective 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 
 cannot do this. They must remain 
 face to face, and intercourse, amica 
 ble or hostile, must continue between 
 them." 
 
 
 
 INAUGURAL ADDRESS, MARCH 4, 1861. 
 
 "This country, with its institu 
 tions, belongs to the people who in 
 habit it. Whenever they shall grow 
 weary of the existing government, 
 they can exercise the constitutional 
 right of amending, or their revolu 
 tionary right to dismember or over 
 throw it. I cannot be ignorant of 
 the fact that many worthy and 
 patriotic citizens are desirous of 
 
XTable (Talk* 17 
 
 having the national constitution 
 amended." 
 
 
 
 MESSAGE TO CONGRESS, MARCH, 4, 1861. 
 
 "This relative matter of national 
 power and State rights, as a princi 
 ple, is no other than the principle of 
 generality and locality. Whatever 
 concerns the whole should be con 
 fided to the whole to the general 
 government ; while whatever con 
 cerns only the State should be left 
 exclusively to the State." 
 
 
 SPECIAL MESSAGE TO CONGRESS, 
 MARCH 6, 1862. 
 
 " 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 has 
 tily, but deliberately. War has 
 been made and continues to be an 
 indispensable means to this end." 
 
is Bbrabam Xincoln, 
 
 EXPLANATORY MESSAGE TO CON 
 GRESS, 
 
 May 29th, 1862, concerning the 
 extraordinary powers of the Execu 
 tive, exercised in the interim prior 
 to the assembling of Congress upon 
 July 4th, 1861. " Congress had 
 definitely adjourned. There was no 
 time to convene them. It became 
 necessary for me to choose whether, 
 using only the existing means, 
 agencies and processes, which Con 
 gress had provided, I should let the 
 government fall at once into ruin ; 
 or whether, availing myself of the 
 broader powers conferred by the 
 Constitution in cases of insurrection, 
 I would make an effort to save it, 
 with all its blessings, for the pres 
 ent age and for posterity." 
 
 
 ANNUAL MESSAGE TO CONGRESS, JULY 
 4, 1861. 
 
 "The States have their status in 
 the Union and they have no other 
 
Gable Galft. 19 
 
 legal status. If they break from 
 this they can only do so against law 
 and by revolution. The Union, 
 and not themselves separately, pro 
 cured their independence and their 
 liberty. By conquest or purchase, 
 the Union gave each of them what 
 ever of independence or 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. 
 
 MESSAGE TO CONGRESS, JULY 4, z86z. 
 
 " And this issue embraces more 
 than the fate of these United States. 
 It presents to the whole family of 
 man the question whether a consti- 
 
20 abrabam Xinccln* 
 
 tutional republic or democracy a 
 government of the people by the 
 same people can or cannot main 
 tain its integrity against its domes 
 tic foes. . . It forces us to ask, 
 Is there in all republics this inher 
 ent 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 ? " 
 
 MESSAGE TO CONGRESS, DECEMBER, 
 1862. 
 
 " 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 duration. 
 One generation passeth away, and 
 another generation cometh, but the 
 earth abideth forever/ That por 
 tion of the earth s surface which 
 is owned and inhabited by the 
 people of the United States, is well 
 
ttable Galfe. 21 
 
 adapted to be the home of one 
 national family, and it is not well 
 adapted for two or more. There is 
 no line, straight or crooked, suitable 
 for a national boundary upon which 
 to divide/ 
 
 B 
 
 SECOND ANNUAL MESSAGE, DEC. i, 1862. 
 
 " Fellow Citizens, we cannot es 
 cape history. We of this Congress 
 and this administration will be re 
 membered in spite of ourselves. No 
 personal significance or insignifi 
 cance 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 
 
22 Bbrabam Lincoln* 
 
 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." 
 
 m 
 
 LETTER TO CUTHBERT BULLITT, 
 NEW ORLEANS, JULY 27, 1862. 
 
 " I shall not do more than I can, 
 but I shall do all I can to save the 
 government, which is my sworn duty 
 as well as my personal inclination. 
 I shall do nothing in malice. What 
 I deal with is too vast for malicious 
 dealing." 
 
 H 
 
 IN AN ADDRESS TO SENATORS AND 
 
 REPRESENTATIVES OF THE 
 
 BORDER STATES, AT THE 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 
 JULY, 1862. 
 
 " Our common country is in great 
 peril, demanding the loftiest views 
 and boldest action to bring a speedy 
 relief. Once relieved, its form of 
 
Gable Galfc, 23 
 
 government is saved to the world ; 
 its beloved history and cherished 
 memories are vindicated ! and its 
 happy future fully assured and ren 
 dered inconceivably grand." 
 H 
 
 " 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 are 
 shown to be true views." 
 B 
 
 RELATING TO THE UNION MEN OF 
 WEST VIRGINIA, DEC. 31, 1862. 
 
 " It is said, the devil takes care 
 of his own. Much more should a 
 good spirit the spirit of the Con 
 stitution and the Union take care 
 of its own, I think it cannot do 
 less and live." 
 
24 :aorat>am ^Lincoln* 
 
 LETTER TO REVERDY JOHNSON, 
 JULY 26, 1862. 
 
 " I am a patient man always will 
 ing to forgive on the Christian 
 terms of repentance, and also to give 
 ample time for repentance. Still, I 
 must save this government, if possi 
 ble. What I cannot do, of course I 
 will not do ; but it may as well be 
 understood, once for all, that I shall 
 not surrender this game leaving any 
 available card unplayed." 
 
 REPLY TO THE WORKINGMEN OF 
 LONDON, ENG., FEB. 2, 1863. 
 
 " The resources, advantages and 
 powers of the American people are 
 very great, and they have conse 
 quently succeeded to equally great 
 responsibilities. It seems to have 
 devolved upon them to test whether 
 a government established on the 
 principles of human freedom can be 
 maintained against an effort to build 
 
(Table 3alfe< 25 
 
 one upon the exclusive foundation 
 of human bondage." 
 
 B 
 
 LETTER TO THE WORKINGMEN OF 
 MANCHESTER, ENG., FEB. 9, 1863. 
 
 u When I came, on the 4th of 
 March, 1861, through a free and con 
 stitutional election, to preside in 
 the government of the United 
 States, the country was found on 
 the verge of civil war. Whatever 
 might have been the cause, or who 
 soever at 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 of all the measures of adminis 
 tration which have been and to all 
 which shall hereafter be pursued. 
 Under our form of government, and 
 my official oath, I could not de 
 part from the purpose if I would. 
 
26 Bbrabam Lincoln. 
 
 It is not always in the power of 
 governments to enlarge or restrict 
 the scope of moral results which 
 follow the politics which they may 
 deem it necessary for the public 
 safety from time to time to adopt." 
 
OF MERCY. 
 
 TINCOLN was an embodiment of 
 the general aversion of the 
 American people to the taking away 
 of human life. Blood is to be shed 
 upon the battlefield, but with a con 
 tinual assertion that war is in itself 
 hateful. The death penalty may be 
 inflicted, elsewhere, even in time of 
 peace, but only under pressure of 
 extreme circumstances and with 
 ample justification. Much more 
 than this was also true, however, 
 and a number of Lincoln s most not 
 able successes as a lawyer were won 
 in defending almost hopeless men 
 who were standing under the shadow 
 of the gallows. When afterwards, 
 he became endowed with an oppres- 
 
28 Hbrabam Lincoln. 
 
 sive abundance of pardoning power, 
 it was not merely the exercise of it 
 in many cases that so drew out to 
 him the hearts of all merciful 
 people : it was the sympathetic 
 eagerness with which he sought, 
 from day to day, to rescue every 
 man for whom he could conscien 
 tiously intervene. His personal 
 resistance to the arguments for rigid 
 discipline made by his military com 
 manders ; his personal visits to the 
 camps and tents and cells of the 
 condemned ; the touching scenes, 
 in his office at the White House, 
 between him and those whose peti 
 tions for the pardon of culprits 
 whom they loved he was struggling 
 to grant or dreading to refuse ; all 
 became known to his fellow-citizens 
 as so many photographs of the man. 
 Not all who were condemned could 
 be spared, even by Lincoln, but in 
 every case it must be recorded that 
 
Sable Galfc. 29 
 
 he did what he could. At the same 
 time, he said but little, for the acts 
 of mercy were enough, without 
 explanation. 
 
 
 
 IN A MESSAGE TO CONGRESS, JULY 27, 
 1862. 
 
 " The severest justice may not 
 always be the best policy." 
 H 
 
 To an Illinois friend, asking par 
 don for a soldier condemned to be 
 shot for a purely technical deser 
 tion": 
 
 " Well, I think the boy can do us 
 more good above ground than under 
 ground." 
 
 B 
 
 On pardoning twenty-four deser 
 tions at once, all of whom were 
 sentenced to be shot, he said to a 
 general who objected, " Mercy to 
 the few is cruelty to the many." 
 
 " Mr. General, there are already 
 
30 Bbrabam ^Lincoln. 
 
 too many weeping widows in the 
 United States, For God s sakt 
 don t ask me to add to the number, 
 for I won t do it." 
 
 H 
 To Gen. B. F. Butler, 1863, when 
 
 the general asked for the pardon of 
 a man whom he himself had sen 
 tenced to be shot : 
 
 " You ? Asking me to pardon 
 some poor fellow ? Give me that 
 pen ! " 
 
 HI 
 
 After listening to a plea on behalf 
 of a soldier condemned to death : 
 
 " Well ! I don t believe shooting 
 will do him any good. Give me 
 that pen." 
 
 H 
 
 To a friend, who had obtained 
 from him a pardon for a deserter : 
 
 " Some of our generals complain 
 that I impair discipline and subordi 
 nation in the army by my pardons 
 and respites, but it makes me rested, 
 
Cable alfc, 31 
 
 after a hard day s work, if I can 
 find some good excuse for saving a 
 man s life." 
 
 
 To a man who had applied for a 
 
 pardon for his son, condemned to be 
 shot. A direct pardon could not 
 be given, under the circumstances, 
 but the president had written : 
 
 " Job Smith is not to be shot until 
 further orders from me," and the 
 anxious father had begged for 
 something more definite. Said Mr. 
 Lincoln. 
 
 " Well, my old friend, I see you 
 are not very well acquainted with 
 me. If your son never looks on 
 death till further orders come from 
 me, to shoot him, he will live to be 
 a great deal older than Methusaleh." 
 
 LETTER TO J. G. HODGES, FRANKFORT, 
 
 KY., APRIL 4, 1864, CONCERNING 
 
 EMANCIPATION. 
 
 " Was it possible to lose the 
 
32 Bbtabam Xincoln* 
 
 nation and yet preserve the Con 
 stitution ? 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/ 
 
OF HUMOR. 
 
 vT great deal has been said of 
 Lincoln s keen appreciation of 
 the wit and humor of others and of 
 his own faculty for employing wit 
 and humor, and even broad bur 
 lesque as an orator and in conversa 
 tion. It is very nearly true, however, 
 that he rarely told a joke or even a 
 good story for its own sake, for 
 mere amusement. Their value to 
 him was rather illustrative, or to 
 sharpen the point of an argument, 
 or to expose a weakness in the 
 position taken by an adversary. 
 To this is due the fact that so few 
 of his good hits have been preserved 
 or can be made to present their 
 original quality apart from the 
 
34 Bbrabam Lincoln, 
 
 persons and the circumstances. No 
 special effort has here been made, 
 therefore, to collect the shrewd, or 
 dry, or caustic utterances which 
 made some men laugh and others 
 wince. 
 
 He found yet another important 
 use in his faculty for enjoying the 
 ludicrous and of being amused by 
 the grotesque. It brought him 
 exceedingly helpful relief. 
 
 One morning, in 1862, when the 
 hearts of all men were heavy, an 
 Ohio Congressman, a personal 
 friend, called to see him with 
 reference to important affairs. 
 Before making any other response, 
 the president began to tell a humor 
 ous story that seemed to fit and his 
 friend arose at once exclaiming : 
 
 " Mr. President, I did not come 
 here, this morning, to hear stories ; 
 it is too serious a time ! " 
 
 " Ashley," responded Lincoln, 
 
Sable Galfe* 35 
 
 quickly, " sit down ! I respect you, as 
 an earnest, sincere man. You can 
 not be more anxious than I have 
 been, constantly, since the beginning 
 of the war ; and I say to you, now, 
 that were it not for this occasional 
 vent, I should die ! " 
 
 Strictly in keeping with this is the 
 otherwise incongruous, inexplicable 
 fact that when he called his cabinet 
 together to read to them his draft 
 of the Emancipation Proclamation, 
 he began by reading to them a 
 chapter from " Artemas Ward, His 
 Book/ and laughing heartily at its 
 crude grotesqueries. At the end of 
 that chapter, his overstrained mind 
 had recovered its tone. 
 
 Mr. Lincoln once remarked to 
 Mr. Noah Brooks : 
 
 " I remember a good story when 
 \ I hear it, but I never invented any- 
 
36 Bbtabam ^Lincoln. 
 
 thing original : I am only a retail 
 dealer." 
 
 At the very outset of the war, 
 sundry wise men from New York 
 urged Mr. Lincoln to draw away 
 Confederate armies from Washing 
 ton by naval attacks upon South 
 ern seaports. It reminded him, he 
 said, of a New Salem, Ills, girl, who 
 was troubled with a " singing in her 
 head," for which there seemed to 
 be no remedy, but a neighbor prom 
 ised a cure if they would " make a 
 plaster of psalm tunes and apply to 
 her feet and draw the singing down." 
 
 S3 
 
 At the time when General Burn- 
 side s force was besieged in Knox- 
 ville, Tenn., with an apparent dan 
 ger of being starved into surren 
 der, a telegram came one day, from 
 Cumberland Gap, arnouncing that 
 
{Table ttatfc. 37 
 
 " Firing is heard in the direction 
 of Knoxville." 
 
 " Glad of it ! " exclaimed Mr, 
 Lincoln. 
 
 " Why should you be glad of it ? " 
 asked a friend who was present, in 
 some surprise. 
 
 "Why, you see," he explained^ 
 " it reminds me of Mrs. Sallie Ward, 
 a neighbor of mine. She had a very 
 large family. Occasionally one of 
 her numerous progeny would be 
 heard crying, in some out-of-the- 
 way place and she would exclaim, 
 * There s one of my children that 
 isn t dead yet ! " 
 
 B 
 
 A gentleman from California, a 
 firm supporter of the government, 
 had tried to obtain a pass through 
 the lines to visit a brother in Vir 
 ginia who was also a Union man. 
 Having failed to obtain any devia 
 tion from the army regulations, he 
 
3* Bbtabam ^Lincoln. 
 
 called upon the President with his 
 petition. 
 
 "Have you applied to General 
 Halleck?" asked Mr. Lincoln. 
 
 " Yes, and met with a flat refusal." 
 
 " Then you must see Stanton," 
 
 " I have," said the applicant rue 
 fully, "and the result was the 
 same. 
 
 "Well, then," said Mr. Lincoln, 
 " I can do nothing ; for you must 
 know that I have very little influ 
 ence with this Administration." 
 H 
 
 No doubt Mr. Lincoln sufficiently 
 appreciated the good qualities of 
 ex-President Fillmore, then living, 
 but a mention of him, one evening, 
 brought out a shot at the Vice- 
 Presidential succession. 
 
 " Just after Taylor s death, when 
 Fillmore succeeded him, Fillmore 
 needed to buy a carriage. Some 
 gentleman here was breaking up 
 
Halfc. 39 
 
 housekeeping and had one for sale 
 and Fillmore took Edward (the old 
 doorkeeper of the White House) 
 with him, when he went to look at 
 it. It seemed to be a pretty good 
 turnout, but Fillmore looked it 
 carefully over and then asked Ed 
 ward, i How do you think it will do 
 for the President of the United 
 States to ride in a second-hand 
 carriage ? 
 
 " Sure, your Excellency/ replied 
 Edward, l you re ownly a siccond- 
 hand Prisident, you know. " 
 
 
 At the very last, when the armies 
 of the Confederacy were surrender 
 ing or disbanding, the question was 
 asked Mr. Lincoln : 
 
 "What will you do with Jeff 
 Davis ? " 
 
 " Well," replied Mr. Lincoln, 
 " there was a boy in Springfield 
 .who saved up his money and bought 
 
40 Bbrabam Hfncoln. 
 
 a coon, but, after the novelty wore 
 off, it became a great nuisance. 
 He was one day leading him through 
 the streets and had his hands full 
 to keep clear of the little vixen, 
 who had torn his clothes half off of 
 him. At length he sat down on the 
 curbstone, completely fagged out. 
 A man passing was stopped by the 
 lad s disconsolate appearance, and 
 asked what was the matter. 
 
 " Oh/ said the boy, " this coon s 
 such a trouble to me." 
 
 "Why don t you get rid of him 
 then ? " asked the sympathizer. 
 
 " Hush," said the boy, " don t you 
 see he is gnawing his rope off ? I m 
 going to let him do it, and then I ll 
 go home and tell the folks he got 
 away from me." 
 
 H 
 
 Mr. Alexander H. Stephens re 
 lates that during the famous " peace 
 conference," on a steamer in Hamp- 
 
Gable Galfc, 41 
 
 ton Roads, between President Lin 
 coln and the three Confederate 
 Commissioners, one of them, Mr. 
 Hunter, insisted that the recognition 
 of the power of President Jefferson 
 Davis to make a treaty was the first 
 and indispensable step to peace. 
 He referred to the correspondence 
 between Charles I. and his Parlia 
 ment as a trustworthy precedent of 
 a constitutional ruler dealing with 
 rebels. 
 
 Mr. Lincoln put on an expression 
 of grim, sarcastic humor as he 
 replied : 
 
 " Upon questions of history, I 
 must refer you to Mr. Seward, for 
 he is posted in such things, and I 
 don t pretend to be bright. My 
 only distinct recollection of the 
 matter is that Charles lost his head." 
 
 H 
 
 Not a great while before Mr. Lin 
 coln s second nomination, a friend 
 
42 Bbrabam Lincoln. 
 
 mentioned to him the well-known 
 fact that a member of the Cabinet 
 was also a probable presidential 
 candidate : 
 
 " You were brought up on a farm, 
 were you not ? " he replied. " Then 
 you know what a chin-fly is. 
 My brother and I were once 
 ploughing on an Illinois farm. I 
 was driving the horse and he was 
 holding the plough. The horse 
 was lazy ; but on one occasion he 
 rushed across the field so that I 
 with my long legs could scarcely 
 keep up with him. On reaching the 
 end of the furrow, I found an enor 
 mous chin-fly fastened on him and 
 knocked it off. My brother asked 
 me what I did that for. I told him 
 I didn t want the old horse bitten in 
 that way. * Why/ said my brother, 
 that s all that made him go ! 
 
 Now if Mr. has a presidential 
 
 chin-fly biting him, I m not going 
 
trame xrara. 43 
 
 to knock it off, if it will only make 
 his Department go." 
 
 
 Among the European soldiers 
 who from time to time came over 
 and offered to serve in the Union 
 armies was one young man who, on 
 receiving his commission as lieuten 
 ant, assured the President that he 
 belonged to the oldest nobility of 
 Germany. " Oh ! " replied Mr. Lin 
 coln. " Never mind that. You will 
 not find that to be an obstacle to 
 your advancement." 
 H 
 
 Mr. Lincoln was one day asked : 
 
 " How many men do you suppose 
 the Confederates have now in the 
 field?" 
 
 " Twelve hundred thousand, ac 
 cording to the best authority," was 
 the prompt reply. 
 
 u Good Heavens ! " exclaimed the 
 inquirer. 
 
44 Bbrabam ^Lincoln. 
 
 " Yes, sir, twelve hundred thou 
 sand. No doubt of it. You see, 
 all our generals, when they get 
 whipped, say the enemy outnum 
 bers them from three or five to one, 
 and I must believe them. We have 
 four hundred thousand in the field 
 and three times four makes twelve. 
 Don t you see it ?" 
 
 H 
 
 The result of the great conflict 
 Deemed to be in more doubt than 
 ever, just after the Emancipation 
 Proclamation. Mr. Lincoln ex 
 pressed his own view of the situa 
 tion with : "We are a good deal 
 like whalers who have been long on 
 a chase. At last we have got our 
 harpoon fairly into the monster ; 
 but we must look out how we steer, 
 or with one flop of his tail he will 
 yet send us all into eternity ! " 
 
 
 During one of the long periods 
 
Gable Galfc. 45 
 
 of inaction of the Army of the Poto 
 mac, the President remarked to a 
 corps-commander and another gen 
 tleman with whom he was discuss 
 ing military matters : 
 
 " If something is not done pretty 
 soon, the bottom will fall out of the 
 whole affair, and if General Mc- 
 Clellan doesn t want to use the 
 army, I d like to borrow it of him 
 provided I could see how it could 
 be made to do something/ 
 
 
 
 While General Grant s ability as a 
 commander was yet in doubt, a 
 storm of criticisms assailed him. 
 At one time during the siege of 
 Vicksburg, a delegation of his critics 
 waited upon the President and vig 
 orously demanded the substitution 
 of some other general. 
 
 "Well, well," responded Mr. Lin 
 coln, " but why should Grant be re 
 moved ? * 
 
46 Hbrabam ^Lincoln. 
 
 "Why? Why, he drinks too 
 much whiskey." 
 
 That particular accusation had 
 been withheld until that moment, 
 but now the President s face put on 
 its most caustic expression as he 
 responded: "Ah ! that s it! By 
 the way, gentlemen, can either of 
 you tell me where General Grant 
 gets his whiskey ? I think I d bet 
 ter send a barrel of that whiskey to 
 every general in the field." 
 
 
 Mr. Lincoln had several reasons 
 for not admiring ex-President 
 Tyler and a mention of him on one 
 occasion brought out an anecdote. 
 
 " A year or two after Tyler s ac 
 cession to the Presidency," said Mr. 
 Lincoln, " contemplating an excur 
 sion in some direction, his son 
 went to order a special train of cars. 
 It so happened that the railroad 
 superintendent was a very strong 
 
Gable Galfc. 47 
 
 Whig. On * Bob s making known 
 his errand, that official promptly in 
 formed him that his road did not 
 run special trains for the President. 
 
 " What/ said Bob, * did you not 
 furnish a special train for the 
 funeral of General Harrison ? 
 
 " Yes/ said the superintendent, 
 stroking his whiskers ; and if you 
 will only bring your father here in 
 that shape, you shall have the best 
 train on the road/ " 
 H 
 
 Concerning the probable political 
 strength of one of the presidential 
 candidates, in 1864, Mr. Lincoln 
 gravely read to a friend the account 
 in i Samuel, of David s forces at 
 the Cave of Adulam : 
 
 u And every one that was in dis 
 tress, and every one that was in 
 debt, and every one that was dis 
 contented, gathered themselves 
 unto him, and he became a captain 
 
48 Bbrabam ^Lincoln, 
 
 over them, and there were with him 
 about four hundred men/ " 
 
 a 
 
 SPEECH TO THE NATIONAL UNION 
 LEAGUE, JUNE 9, 1864. 
 
 ." I have not permitted myself, 
 gentlemen, to conclude that I am 
 the best man in the country (for 
 President) ; but I am reminded in 
 this connection of a story of an old 
 Dutch farmer who remarked to a 
 companion once that * it was not 
 best to swap horses while crossing 
 a stream. 
 
 H 
 
 Letter to D. R. Locke, 1863 ; a 
 
 satirical journalist whose hits he had 
 much enjoyed : 
 
 " Why don t you come to Washing 
 ton and see me ? Is there any 
 place you want ? Come on, and I 
 will give you any place you ask for 
 that you are capable of filling 
 and fit to fill." 
 
ftabie Galfc, 49 
 
 CONVERSATION WITH D. R. LOCKE, 1863. 
 
 " It s a good thing for individuals 
 (generals and others in office) that 
 there is a government to shove over 
 their acts upon. No man s shoul 
 ders are broad enough to bear what 
 must be/ 
 
 H 
 
 The chairman of an enthusiastic 
 delegation of emancipationists was 
 a clergyman who plied him heavily 
 with scriptural quotations. 
 
 "Well, gentlemen," replied Mr. 
 Lincoln, " it is not often one is 
 favored with a delegation direct 
 from the Almighty." 
 
 H 
 
 The British Minister, Lord Lyons, 
 was very much liked by Mr. Lincoln. 
 He was a bachelor. When the 
 marriage of the Prince of Wales to 
 Princess Alexandra of Denmark re 
 quired announcement, as an affair 
 of state, the duty was performed 
 
$o Bbrabam Xincoin. 
 
 ceremoniously, with an autograph 
 letter from Queen Victoria to the 
 President of the United States, and 
 with a very neat and cordial inter 
 national address from the minister. 
 The response expected was such as 
 might be sent by a president to a 
 Queen, but Mr. Lincoln listened to 
 the speech, to the end, and then 
 his face lit up with friendly fun as 
 he replied : 
 
 " Lord Lyons, go thou and do 
 likewise/ 
 
OF PERSONAL 
 LIBERTY. 
 
 \TERY soon after the outbreak of 
 the civil war, the entire Ameri 
 can people discovered, with more or 
 less individual astonishment, that 
 their form of government contained 
 powers not ordinarily exercised, 
 the operation of which they had 
 never before experienced. 
 
 There was a prompt and alto 
 gether righteous inquiry into the 
 source and nature of these powers. 
 Following this was a well founded 
 and very general anxiety lest, after 
 their temporary exercise in a war 
 emergency, there might not be a per 
 fect return to their old time quies- 
 
52 Bbrabam ^Lincoln. 
 
 cent state, leaving the liberties of 
 the people permanently unabridged 
 in time of peace. 
 
 There were stormy, acrimonious 
 protests against every unaccustom 
 ed restriction of individual freedom, 
 even for war purposes, and the 
 political opposition to the Lincoln 
 administration assumed a watchful 
 censorship. On the other hand, 
 Lincoln himself asserted his own 
 position and purpose as the constitu 
 tionally appointed guardian of all 
 the rights and liberties affected 
 by the temporary exercise of the 
 special powers in his hands. Not 
 only his official acts but his repeated 
 utterances were a sufficient preven 
 tive of injurious consequences which 
 might otherwise have been produced. 
 He watched against the supposed 
 peril more jealously than did even 
 his critics themselves, and, long be 
 fore the end, the public mind rested, 
 
Gable Galft. 53 
 
 satisfied that their treasure of per 
 sonal liberty was safe in his keeping. 
 B 
 
 LECTURE, AT SPRINGFIELD, ILLS., 
 JAN. 27, 1837. 
 
 " I know the American people- 
 are much attached to their govern 
 ment. I know they would suffer 
 much for its sake. I know they 
 would endure evils, long and pa 
 tiently, before they would ever think 
 of changing it for another. Yet, 
 notwithstanding all this, if the laws 
 be continually despised and dis 
 regarded ; if their rights to be 
 secure in their persons and property 
 are held by no better tenure than 
 the caprice of a mob, the alienation 
 of their affections from the govern 
 ment is the natural consequence, 
 and to that, sooner or later, it must 
 come. There is no grievance that 
 is a fit object of redress by mob- 
 law." 
 
54 Bbrabam ILincoln. 
 
 SPEECH AT ALTON, ILLS., OCT. 15, 1858. 
 
 " It is a general declaration in the 
 act announcing to the world the in 
 dependence of the thirteen Ameri 
 can Colonies, that all men are 
 created equal. Now, as an abstract 
 principle, there is no doubt of the 
 truth of that declaration ; and it is 
 desirable, in the original organiza 
 tion of society, and in organized 
 societies, to keep it in view as a 
 great, fundamental principle. But 
 then, I apprehend that in no society 
 that ever did exist, or ever shall be 
 formed, was or can the equality 
 asserted be practically enforced and 
 carried out." 
 
 SPEECH AT PEORIA, ILLS. OCT. 17, 1858. 
 
 "What I do say is, that no man 
 is good enough to govern another 
 man without that other s consent." 
 
xrawe cam. 55 
 
 SPEECH AT LEWISTON, AUG. 17, 1858. 
 
 " This (the Declaration of Inde 
 pendence) was their lofty and noble 
 and wise understanding of the jus 
 tice of the Creator to his creatures, 
 to all his creatures, to the whole, 
 great family of man. In their en 
 lightened belief, nothing stamped 
 with the Divine image was sent into 
 the world to be trodden on, and 
 degraded, and imbruted, by its fel 
 lows. They grasped not only the 
 whole race of men then living, but 
 they reached forward and seized 
 upon the remotest posterity. . . . 
 So that no man should hereafter 
 dare to limit and circumscribe the 
 great principles upon which the 
 temple of liberty was being built." 
 H 
 
 SPEECH AT PEORIA, ILLS., OCT. 17, 1858. 
 
 " That is the real issue. . . . 
 It is the eternal struggle between 
 these two principles, right and 
 
56 Bbtabam ^Lincoln. 
 
 wrong, throughout the w o r 1 d. 
 They are the two principles that 
 have stood face to face from the be 
 ginning of time ; and will ever con 
 tinue to struggle. The one is the 
 common right of humanity and the 
 other the divine right of kings." 
 H 
 
 SPEECH AT CHICAGO, ILLS., JULY 10, 
 1858. 
 
 " 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 
 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 de- 
 
{Table Galft, 57 
 
 gree 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 crea 
 ture, let us do nothing that will 
 impose slavery upon any other crea 
 ture." 
 
 B 
 
 LETTER TO A FRIEND, 1859, AFTER THE 
 ELECTION. 
 
 "The fight must go on. The 
 cause of civil liberty must not be 
 surrendered at the end of one, or 
 even one hundred defeats." 
 
 LETTER TO HON. O. H. BROWNING, 
 ILLS., SEP. 21, 1862, CONCERNING 
 THE PROCLAMATION OF CON 
 FISCATION ISSUED BY 
 GEN. J. C. FREMONT. 
 
 " It is itself the surrender of the 
 government. Can it be pretended 
 that it is any longer the government 
 of the United States any govern- 
 
58 Bbrabam ILtncoln. 
 
 ment of constitution and laws 
 wherein a general or a President 
 may make permanent rules of prop 
 erty by proclamation ? " 
 H 
 
 SPEECH AT INDEPENDENCE HALL, 
 PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 20, 1861. 
 
 " 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 mat 
 ter of the separation of the colonies 
 from the mother-land, but that sen 
 timent in the Declaration of Inde 
 pendence 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 
 burden should be lifted from the 
 shoulders of all men." 
 
 GB 
 
 INAUGURAL ADDRESS, 1861. 
 
 " Plainly, the central idea of se 
 cession is the essence of anarchy. 
 
Cable Calfe* 59 
 
 A majority held in restraint by con 
 stitutional checks and limitations, 
 and always changing easily with 
 deliberate changes of popular opin 
 ions and sentiments, is the only 
 true sovereign of a free people. 
 Whoever rejects it does, of neces 
 sity, fly to anarchy or despotism. 
 Unanimity is impossible ; the rule 
 of a minority, as a permanent ar 
 rangement, is wholly inadmissible ; 
 so that, rejecting the majority prin 
 ciple, anarchy or despotism in some 
 form, is all that is left." 
 
 LETTER TO HON. REVERDY JOHNSON, 
 THEN AT NEW ORLEANS, JULY 26, 1862. 
 
 " The people of Louisiana all 
 intelligent people, everywhere 
 know full well that I never had a wish 
 to touch the foundations of their 
 society, or any right of theirs." 
 
60 :&urabam xtncom* 
 
 LETTER TO CHARLES DRAKE, AND 
 
 OTHERS, COMMITTEE, ST. LOUIS, MO., 
 
 OCT. 5, 1863. 
 
 " Actual war coming, blood grows 
 hot and blood is spilled. Thought 
 is forced from old channels into 
 confusion. Deception breeds and 
 thrives. Confidence dies and uni 
 versal suspicion reigns. Each man 
 feels an impulse to kill his neighbor, 
 lest he be killed by him. Revenge 
 and retaliation follow. And all this, 
 as before said, may be among hon 
 est men only. But this is not all. 
 Every foul bird comes abroad, and 
 every dirty reptile rises up. These 
 add crime to confusion. Strong 
 measures, deemed indispensable but 
 harsh at best, such men make worse 
 by mal-administration. Murders 
 for all grudges and murders for 
 pelf proceed under any cloak that 
 will best serve for the occasion/ 
 
LETTER TO GENERAL CURTIS, MO., 
 JAN. 2, 1863. 
 
 u 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 dan 
 gerous to the public interest, he 
 must be checked ; but let the 
 churches, as such, take care of them 
 selves. It will not do for the Uni 
 ted States to appoint trustees, su 
 pervisors, or other agents for the 
 churches." 
 
 H 
 
 REPLY TO NEW YORK DEMOCRATS, 
 JUNE 12, 1863. 
 
 " I can no more be persuaded 
 that the government can constitu 
 tionally 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 par- 
 
62 Bbtabam ILfncoln. 
 
 ticular drug is not good for a sick 
 man because it can be shown to be 
 not 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 re 
 bellion, lose the right of public 
 discussion, the liberty of speech and 
 of the press, the laws 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 per 
 sist in feeding on them during the 
 remainder of his healthful life. * 
 
 REPLY TO NEW YORK DEMOCRATS, 
 JUNE 12, 1863. 
 
 " Habeas corpus does not dis- 
 
Sable Galft. 63 
 
 charge men who are proven to be 
 guilty of defined crime ; and its sus 
 pension is allowed by the Consti 
 tution on purpose that men may be 
 arrested and held who cannot be 
 proved guilty of defined crime, 
 * when, in cases of rebellion or in 
 vasion, the public safety may re 
 quire it. " 
 
 REPLY TO LETTER FROM OHIO DEMO 
 CRATS, JULY 29, 1863. 
 
 "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." 
 
64 Bbrabam Xmcoln. 
 
 CONCERNING THE FREEDOM OF THE 
 
 PRESS, WHEN URGED TO SUPPRESS 
 
 THE CHICAGO TIMES. 
 
 " I fear you do not fully compre 
 hend the danger of abridging the 
 liberties of the people. Nothing 
 but the sternest necessity can ever 
 justify it. A government had bet 
 ter go to the extreme of toleration, 
 than do aught that can be construed 
 into an interference with, or to 
 jeopardize in any degree, the com 
 mon rights of its citizens." 
 
 H 
 
 SPEECH AT THE BALTIMORE FAIR, 
 APRIL 18, 1864. 
 
 " 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 him 
 self and his property. With others 
 it means that some men can do as 
 they please with other men and 
 
Gable Galft, 65 
 
 other men s labor. Each of these 
 things is 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 protection of his 
 life ; but the wolf denounces him as 
 despoiling the sheep of his liberty 
 especially if it be a black sheep." 
 
 H 
 
 REPLY TO MEMBERS OF THE GENERAL 
 SYNOD OF THE LUTHERAN CHURCH, 
 AUGUST, 1864. 
 
 " I accept with gratitude their as 
 surances of the sympathy and sup 
 port of that enlightened, influential, 
 and loyal class of my fellow-citizens, 
 in an important crisis which in 
 volves, in my judgment, not only 
 the civil and religious liberties of 
 our own dear land, but in a large 
 degree the civil and religious liber- 
 
66 Bbrabam ^Lincoln. 
 
 ties of mankind in many countries 
 and through many ages." 
 
 H 
 
 SPEECH AT A SERENADE, SEPT., 1864. 
 
 " I wish it might be more gener 
 ally and universally understood 
 what the country is now engaged in. 
 We have, as all will agree, a free 
 country, where every man has a 
 right to be equal with every other 
 man. In this great struggle the 
 form of government and every 
 form of human right 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 privi 
 leges we have enjoyed." 
 
 
 TO AN OHIO REGIMENT, SEPT., 1864. 
 
 " I happen, temporarily to occupy 
 this big White House. I am a 
 
Cable 3alfe. 67 
 
 living witness that any 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 in 
 dustry, enterprise and intelligence; 
 that you may all have equal privi 
 leges 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." 
 
 
 
 GETTYSBURG SPEECH, NOV. 19, 1863. 
 
 " That we here highly resolve 
 that these dead shall not have died 
 in vain ; that this nation, under 
 God, shall have a new birth of free 
 dom ; and that government of the 
 people, by the people, for the people, 
 shall not perish from the earth. " 
 
68 Bbtabam ^Lincoln. 
 
 SPEECH AT AN ELECTION SERENADE, 
 NOV. 10, 1864. 
 
 " It has long been a grave ques 
 tion whether any government, not 
 too strong for the liberties of the 
 people, can be strong enough to 
 maintain its existence in great emer 
 gencies. But the election . . . 
 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." 
 
 B 
 
 SPEECH AT A SERENADE, OCT. 19, 1864. 
 
 "Their (the people s) will, consti 
 tutionally expressed, is the ultimate 
 law for all. If they should deliber 
 ately resolve to have immediate 
 peace, even at the expense of their 
 country and their liberties, I have 
 not the power nor the right to re 
 sist them. It is their own business, 
 
Gable Galfc. 69 
 
 and they must do as they please 
 with their own. I believe, however, 
 they are still resolved to preserve 
 their country and their liberty ; 
 and in this office I am resolved to 
 stand by them." 
 
 ADDRESS TO THE i4gTH OHIO REGI 
 MENT, FALL OF 1864. 
 
 " But this government must be 
 preserved, in spite of the acts of 
 any man or set of men. It is 
 worthy your every effort. No 
 where in the world is presented a 
 government of so much liberty and 
 equality. To the humblest and 
 poorest amongst us are held out the 
 highest privileges and positions. 
 The present moment finds me at the 
 White House, yet there is as good a 
 chance for your children as there 
 was for my father s." 
 
OF LABOR. 
 
 LINCOLN began life as a 
 day laborer, under the hardest 
 conditions, toiling for scanty and 
 often uncertain wages. The bond 
 of fellowship between him and all 
 other workingmen, the world over, 
 was never broken. They were pe 
 culiarly his people, and it was for 
 them and with them that he believed 
 himself to be still working. That 
 they understood him and continu 
 ally regarded him as one of them 
 selves, was a most important ele 
 ment in his political influence, in his 
 power to control and direct national 
 affairs. There was, however, so 
 little of the demagogue in his 
 nature that he simply took their 
 
72 Bbrabam ^Lincoln* 
 
 appreciation for granted and his 
 utterances concerning labor and 
 laboring men were brief and few in 
 number." 
 
 SPEECH AT CINCINNATI, O. t SEPT., 1859. 
 
 " That there is a certain relation 
 between capital and labor, I admit. 
 That it does exist, and rightfully 
 exists, I think is true. That men 
 who are industrious, and sober, and 
 honest, in the pursuit of their own 
 interests, should after awhile accu 
 mulate capital, and after that should 
 be allowed to enjoy it in peace, and 
 also, if they should choose, when 
 they have accumulated it, to use it 
 to save themselves from actual la 
 bor and hire other people to labor 
 for them, is right. In doing so 
 they do not wrong the men they 
 employ, for they find men who have 
 not of their own land to work on or 
 
cadte aalR. 73 
 
 shops to work in, and who are ben 
 efited by working for others, as 
 hired laborers, receiving their cap 
 ital for it. Thus, a few men that 
 own capital hire a few others, and 
 these establish the relations of cap 
 ital and labor rightfully. A relation 
 of which I make no complaint. 
 But I insist that the relation 
 after all does not embrace more 
 than one eighth of the labor of the 
 country." 
 
 m 
 
 ANNUAL MESSAGE TO CONGRESS, 
 DEC., 1861. 
 
 " Labor is prior to and indepen 
 dent of capital. Capital is only the 
 fruit of labor, and could never have 
 existed if labor had not first exis 
 ted. Labor is the superior of cap 
 ital and deserves much the higher 
 consideration." 
 
 
74 Bbrabam Lincoln. 
 
 ANNUAL MESSAGE, DEC.. 1861. 
 
 " 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 po 
 litical 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 he lost." 
 
 
 
 REPLY TO A COMMITTEE OF THE 
 
 WORKINGMEN S ASSOCIATION OF 
 
 NEW YORK, MAR. ax, 1864. 
 
 "The strongest bond of human 
 sympathy, outside of the family re 
 lation, should be one uniting all 
 working people, of all nations, and 
 tongues, and kindreds. Nor should 
 this lead to a war upon property, or 
 
Gable Galfe. 75 
 
 the owners of property. Property 
 is the fruit of labor ; property is de 
 sirable ; is a positive good to the 
 world. That some should be rich 
 shows that others may become rich, 
 and, hence, is just encouragement 
 to energy 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." 
 
 
 
 LAST PUBLIC UTTERANCE OF MR. 
 LINCOLN, APRIL 4, 1865. 
 
 " Mr. Colfax : I want you to 
 take a message from me to the 
 miners whom you visit. I have 
 very large ideas of the mineral 
 wealth of our nation. I believe 
 it is practically inexhaustible. It 
 abounds all over the western coun 
 try, from the Rocky Mountains to 
 
76 Bbrabam ^Lincoln* 
 
 the Pacific, and its development has 
 scarcely commenced. During the 
 war, when we were adding a couple 
 of millions of dollars every day to 
 our national debt, I did not care 
 about encouraging the increase in 
 the volume of our precious metals, 
 we had the country to save first. 
 But now that the rebellion is over 
 thrown, and we know pretty nearly 
 the amount of our national debt, the 
 more gold and silver we mine, we 
 make the payment of that debt so 
 much the easier. Now, I am going 
 to encourage that in every possible 
 way. We shall have hundreds of 
 thousands of disbanded soldiers, and 
 many have feared that their return 
 home in such great numbers might 
 paralyze industry, by furnishing sud 
 denly, a greater supply of labor than 
 there will be a demand for. I am 
 going to try to attract them to the 
 hidden wealth of our mountain 
 
{Table Salfc. 77 
 
 ranges, where there is room enough 
 for all. Immigration, which even 
 the war has not stopped, will land 
 upon our shores hundreds of thou 
 sands more from overcrowded Eu 
 rope. I intend to point them to the 
 gold and silver that wait for them in 
 the West. Tell the miners for me, 
 that I shall promote their interests to 
 the best of my ability, because their 
 prosperity is the prosperity of the 
 nation ; and we shall prove, in a 
 few years, that we are indeed the 
 treasury of the world. " 
 
OF SLAVERY. 
 
 present generation of Ameri 
 cans can hardly obtain a correct 
 idea of the difficulties attending the 
 position of an anti-slavery man dur 
 ing the years immediately preced 
 ing the civil war. 
 
 The most moderate opponents 
 of the existing order of things were 
 sure to be misunderstood and mis 
 represented. The very nature of 
 the institution itself compelled it to 
 be aggressive.- Unless it could 
 continually grow, it must die, like a 
 plant attaining its maturity. The 
 unreasoning bitterness of the po 
 litical conflict which was waged on 
 behalf of it finds its best index in 
 the fact of the civil war itself. Mr. 
 
8o Bbrabam ^Lincoln. 
 
 Lincoln s own aversion to slavery 
 began in his youth and grew with 
 his growth, but he at no time re 
 fused to see and acknowledge ever}; 
 justice belonging, in law or inequity 
 to the people of the southern States. 
 While he was always in advance of 
 the great mass of his fellow-citizens, 
 and even of his own party, he was 
 never a zealot, never incapable of 
 appreciating the inherited views 
 and interests of his adversaries. 
 
 In his perception, justice to all, 
 the best good of all, white men or 
 colored, demanded the preservation 
 of the national integrity, in one 
 government of one country. To 
 this all other considerations were 
 secondary, for it contained the 
 future as well as the present, and 
 for this every imaginable sacrifice 
 of treasure, of suffering and of life 
 itself, was to be freely made. To 
 this central thought and purpose, 
 
Si 
 
 therefore, all his utterances concern 
 ing the colored race, their bondage 
 or their emancipation, can be 
 readily adjusted. 
 
 
 
 SPEECH AT SPRINGFIELD, JUNE, 1857. 
 
 " In those days, our Declaration 
 of Independence was held sacred 
 by all, and thought to include all ; 
 but now, to aid in making the bond 
 age 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 recog 
 nize it. All the powers of the earth 
 seem rapidly combining against him. 
 Mammon is after him ; ambition 
 follows ; philosophy follows ; and 
 the theology of the day is fast join 
 ing the cry. They have him in his 
 prison-house ; they have searched 
 his person and left no prying instru 
 ment with him. One after another, 
 
S2 Bbcabam Ufncotn. 
 
 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 con 
 sent 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 inven 
 tion, in all the dominions of mind 
 and matter, can be produced to 
 make the impossibility of his escape 
 more complete than it is." 
 H 
 
 SPEECH AT QUINCY, ILL., OCT. 13, 1858. 
 
 "We have in this nation this 
 element of domestic slavery. It is 
 an absolute certainty that it is a dis 
 turbing element. It is the opinion 
 of all the great men who have ex 
 pressed an opinion upon it, that it 
 is a dangerous element. We keep 
 up a controversy in regard to it. 
 
83 
 
 That controversy necessarily springs 
 from difference of opinion, and if 
 we can learn exactly can reduce to 
 the lowest elements what that dif 
 ference of opinion is, we shall be 
 better prepared for discussing the 
 different systems of policy that we 
 would propose in regard to that dis 
 turbing element. I suggest that 
 the difference of opinion, reduced 
 to its lowest terms, is no other than 
 the difference between the men who 
 think slavery a wrong and those 
 who do not think it wrong." 
 H 
 
 SPEECH AT PEORIA, ILL., OCT. 16, 1858. 
 
 " The doctrine of self-government 
 is right, absolutely and eternally 
 right, but it has no just application 
 as here attempted. Or perhaps I 
 should rather say that whether it 
 has such just application, depends 
 upon whether a negro is not, or is a 
 man. If he is not a man, in that 
 
84 Bbtabam Xincoln, 
 
 case he who is a man may as a matter 
 of self-government do just what he 
 pleases with him. But if the negro 
 is a man, is it riot to that extent a 
 total destruction of self-government 
 to say that he too shall not govern 
 himself ? When the white man gov 
 erns himself, that is self-govern 
 ment ; but when he governs himself 
 and also governs another man, that 
 is despotism." 
 
 SPEECH AT SPRINGFIELD, 1858. 
 
 " I hold that notwithstanding all 
 this there is no reason in the world 
 why the negro is not entitled to all 
 the natural rights enumerated in the 
 Declaration of Independence, the 
 right to life, liberty and the pursuit 
 of happiness. I hold that he is as 
 much entitled to these as the white 
 man. I agree with Judge Douglas 
 that he is not my equal, in many 
 
Sable Galfc. 85 
 
 respects, certainly not in color, 
 perhaps not in moral or intellectual 
 endowment ; but in the right to eat 
 the bread without the leave of any 
 body else, which his own hand earns, 
 he is my equal, and the equal of 
 Judge Douglas, and the equal of 
 every living man." 
 
 SPEECH, 1858. 
 
 " I do not mean to say that when 
 it (slavery) takes a turn toward ulti 
 mate extinction, it will be in a day, 
 nor in a year, nor in two years. I 
 do not suppose that in the most 
 peaceful way ultimate extinction 
 would occur in less than a hundred 
 years at least ; but that it will occur 
 in the best way for both races, in 
 God s own good time, I have no 
 doubt." 
 
 583 
 
86 Bbrabam ^Lincoln. 
 
 REPLY TO AN ADDRESS OF COLORED 
 
 MEN AT THE EXECUTIVE 
 
 MANSION, AUG. 14, 1862. 
 
 " It is a cheering thought, through 
 out life, that something can be done 
 to ameliorate the condition of those 
 who have been subject to the hard 
 usage of the world. It is difficult 
 to make a man miserable while he 
 feels he is worthy of himself and 
 claims kindred to the Great God who 
 made him. In the American Revo 
 lutionary war, sacrifices were made 
 by men engaged in it, but they were 
 cheered by the future. General 
 Washington himself endured greater 
 physical hardships than if he had 
 remained a British subject, yet he 
 was a happy man, because he was 
 benefiting his race ; in doing some 
 thing for the children of his neigh 
 bors, having none of his own." 
 
87 
 
 LETTER TO GOVERNOR HAHN OF 
 
 LOUISIANA, WITH REFERENCE 
 
 TO RECONSTRUCTION IN 1863. 
 
 " Now, you are about to have a 
 convention, which, among other 
 things, will probably define the elec 
 tive franchise. I barely suggest, for 
 your private consideration, whether 
 some of the colored people may not 
 be let in as, for instance, the very 
 intelligent, and especially those who 
 fought gallantly in our ranks. They 
 would probably help, in some trying 
 time to come, to keep the jewel of 
 liberty within the family of free 
 dom. * 
 
 OF THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMA 
 TIONREMARKS TO THE CHICAGO 
 DEPUTATION, SEPT. 13, 1862. 
 
 " I have not decided against a 
 proclamation of liberty to the slaves, 
 but hold the matter under advise 
 ment. And I can assure you that 
 
:Hbrabam Lincoln. 
 
 the subject is on my mind, by day 
 and night, more than any other. 
 Whatever shall appear to be God s 
 will, I will do ! " 
 
 B 
 
 CONVERSATIONALLY, SEPT., 1864. 
 
 " There s just one thing I want 
 to say. The war is nearly over. 
 Just when it will end, I can t say, 
 but it won t be a great while. Then 
 the government forces must be with 
 drawn from all the Southern States. 
 Sooner or later, we must take them 
 all away. Now, what I want you to 
 do is this : do all you can, in any 
 and every way you can, to get the 
 ballot into the hands of the freed- 
 men ! We must make voters of 
 them before we take away the 
 troops. The ballot will be their 
 only protection after the bayonet is 
 gone, and they will be sure to need 
 all they can get. I can see just how 
 it will be. Will you ?" 
 
OF THE CIVIL WAR. 
 
 JVJR. LINCOLN was, under the 
 Constitution, the Commander- 
 in-Chief of the Army and Navy of 
 the United States, yet neither the 
 one nor the other was in existence 
 on the day when he took the oath 
 of office and assumed the responsi 
 bility of defending the life of the 
 Republic. Almost his first duty 
 was to call, out and arm soldiers 
 and to obtain and equip vessels of 
 war. No other president, excepting 
 Washington, was ever compelled to 
 be actually the general-in-chief, 
 supervising, if need should be, all 
 subordinate generals. His commu 
 nications with commanders in the 
 field were more complete than was 
 
90 Bbrabam Xtncoln. 
 
 at any time possible before the 
 creation of the military telegraph- 
 system. They were, for altogether 
 the greater part, conducted through 
 the War Office, including, with the 
 Secretary of War, the successive 
 ranking generals, from Scott to 
 Grant. There were a few written 
 epistles, mere epistolary dispatches, 
 perpetual inquiry, counsel, encour 
 agement, but now that the occasions 
 for them and the communications 
 themselves have been subjected to 
 careful study and analysis, the 
 positions taken and the advice or 
 directions given by the president 
 are wonderfully vindicated. All 
 that his contemporary critics de 
 scribed as his " interference with 
 military affairs," may be better 
 summed up in the language of 
 General Grant, May i, 1864. " From 
 my first entrance into the volunteer 
 service of the country to the pres- 
 
(Table Galfc. 91 
 
 ent day, I have never had cause of 
 complaint .... I have been aston 
 ished at the readiness with which 
 everything asked for has been 
 yielded, without even an explana 
 tion being asked." Apart from 
 direct communications with military 
 commanders, relating to campaign 
 operations, there were many things 
 said of a more general nature, 
 conversationally and publicly, and 
 many things written, which exhibit 
 the character of the man, and sug 
 gest his methods of dealing with 
 his multiform and trying circum 
 stances. 
 
 H 
 
 SPEECH AT CINCINNATI, O., SEPT., 1859. 
 
 " The good old maxims of the 
 Bible are applicable, and truly ap 
 plicable, to human affairs, and in 
 this, as in other things, we may say 
 here that he who is not for us is 
 against us ; he who gathereth not 
 with us scattereth." 
 
92 Bbrabam OLfncotn. 
 
 REPLY TO ONE OF THE COMMITTEE OF 
 THE PEACE CONGRESS, WASH 
 INGTON, FEB. 24, 1861. 
 
 " In a choice of evils, war may 
 not always be the worst. Still, I 
 would do all in. my power to avert 
 it, except to neglect a Constitu 
 tional duty." 
 
 H 
 
 INAUGURAL ADDRESS, MARCH 4, 1861. 
 
 44 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 ? " 
 x 
 
 CONVERSATIONAL, 1861. 
 
 " This is our own affair. It is a 
 family quarrel with which foreign 
 nations have nothing to do, and 
 they must let it alone." 
 
Hable Halfc. 93 
 
 CONVERSATION, NOV. 15, 1861. 
 
 " My own impression is .... 
 that this Government possesses 
 both the authority and the power 
 to maintain its own integrity. That, 
 however, is not the ugly point of 
 this matter. The ugly point is the 
 necessity of keeping the Govern 
 ment together by force, as ours 
 should be a Government of frater 
 nity." 
 
 
 
 FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE, DEC. 3, 1862. 
 
 " A nation which endures factious 
 domestic divisions, 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 
 councils of seeming expediency and 
 ungenerous ambition, although 
 measures adopted under such in 
 fluences seldom fail to be unfortu- 
 
94 Bbrabam ^Lincoln, 
 
 nate and injurious to those adopting 
 them." 
 
 CONVERSATIONAL. 
 
 "Gold is good, in its place ; but 
 living, brave and patriotic men are 
 better than gold." 
 
 LETTER TO HON. W. H. SEWARD, 
 JUNE 28, 1862. 
 
 " I expect to continue this con 
 test until successful, or till I die, or 
 am conquered, or my term expires, 
 or Congress or the country forsakes 
 me ; and I would publicly appeal to 
 the country for this new force 
 (volunteers for the Army of the 
 Potomac), were it not that I fear a 
 general panic and stampede would 
 follow, so hard is it to have a thing 
 understood as it really is." 
 
Gable aalfcv 95 
 
 CONVERSATION, IN THE MASON* - 
 SLIDELL CASE, DECIDING 
 TO SURRENDER THEM. 
 
 "We fought Great Britain for 
 doing just what Captain Wilkes has 
 done. If Great Britain protests 
 against this act and demands their 
 release, we must adhere to our prin 
 ciples of 1812. We must give up 
 these prisoners. 
 
 " One war at a time ! " 
 H 
 
 LETTER TO CUTHBERT BULLITT, 
 NEW ORLEANS, JULY 28, 1862. 
 
 Concerning men in Louisiana, who 
 refused to take sides for or against 
 the Union, yet demanded the pro 
 tection of the government : 
 
 "They are to touch neither a 
 sail nor a pump-line, merely passen 
 gers, ( dead heads at that), be 
 carried snug and dry through the 
 storm and safely landed, right side 
 up. Nay, more, even a mutineer 
 is to go untouched, lest these sacred 
 
96 Bbtabam Xtncolm 
 
 passengers receive an accidental 
 wound. What would you do, in my 
 position ? Would you drop the 
 war, where it is ? Or would you 
 prosecute it, in future, with elder- 
 stalk squirts, charged with rose- 
 water ? " 
 
 SPEECH AT SERENADE IN HONOR OF 
 THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMA 
 TION, SEPTEMBER 24, 1862. 
 
 " In my position I am environed 
 with difficulties. Yet they are 
 scarcely so great as the difficulties 
 of those who, upon the battle-field, 
 are endeavoring to purchase with 
 their blood and their lives the 
 future happiness and prosperity of 
 the country. 1 
 
 
 
 LETTER TO THOMAS H. CLAY, CINCIN 
 NATI, OHIO, OCT. 8, 1862. 
 
 " I sincerely wish war was an 
 easier and pleasanter business than 
 
Eable aalfc. 97 
 
 it is, but it does not admit of holi 
 days." 
 
 
 
 OF THE SABBATH IN THE ARMY. 
 PROCLAMATION, NOV. 16, 1862. 
 
 " 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 sentiments 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 surfer, 
 nor the cause they defend be imper 
 illed, by profanation of the name 
 or the day of the Most High." 
 
 
 TALK TO CHICAGO DELEGATION, 1862. 
 
 "Why, the rebel soldiers are 
 praying with a great deal more 
 
98 Bbrabam ^Lincoln. 
 
 earnestness, I fear, than our own 
 troops, and expecting God to favor 
 their side ; for one of our soldiers, 
 who had been taken prisoner, told 
 Senator Wilson, a few days since, 
 that he met nothing so discouraging 
 I j as the evident sincerity of those he 
 was among in their prayers." 
 H 
 
 TO AN ENTHUSIASTIC WESTERN 
 
 MINISTER, WHO ANNOUNCED TO HIM 
 
 A "MESSAGE FROM THE LORD" 
 
 CONCERNING EMANCIPATION. 
 
 SEPT., 1862. 
 
 " If it is, as you say, a message 
 from your Divine Master, is it not 
 odd that the only channel He could 
 / send it by was that round-about 
 route by that awfully wicked city 
 of Chicago ? " 
 
 B 
 
 LETTER TO CARL SCHURZ, NOV. 24. 
 1862. 
 
 " I wish to disparage no one, cer- 
 
Cable Qalfc. 99 
 
 tainly not those who sympathize 
 
 with me, but I must say I need 
 
 success more than I need sympathy. 
 
 H 
 
 SECOND ANNUAL MESSAGE, DEC. i, 1862. 
 
 " 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 conse 
 quences resulting to those nations 
 themselves. Nevertheless, com 
 plaint on the part of this govern 
 ment, even if it were just, would 
 certainly be unwise." 
 
 
 SECOND ANNUAL MESSAGE TO CON 
 GRESS, DEC. i, 1862. 
 
 " The dogmas of the quiet past 
 are inadequate to the stormy pres 
 ent. 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 
 
ioo Bbrabam ^Lincoln. 
 
 act anew. We must disenthrall 
 ourselves, and then shall we save 
 our country." 
 
 
 
 TO A WOMAN PREACHER OF 
 THE SOCIETY OF PROGRESSIVE 
 FRIENDS, WHO DELIVERED HER 
 AUTHORITATIVE " TESTIMONY," COM 
 MANDING HIM, IN THE NAME OF 
 THE LORD, TO ABOLISH SLAV 
 ERY AND ADVANCE THE 
 CAUSE OF WOMEN S 
 RIGHTS, 1862. 
 
 " I have neither time nor disposi 
 tion to enter into discussion with 
 the Friend, and end this occasion 
 by suggesting for her consideration 
 the question whether, if it be true 
 that the Lord has appointed me to 
 do the work she has indicated, it is 
 not probable that He would have 
 communicated knowledge of the 
 fact to me as well as to her." 
 
liable Salt*. 
 
 j-ETTER TO GEN. JOSEPH HOOKER, 
 JAN. 26, 1863. 
 
 " And now, beware of rashness, 
 beware of rashness ! but, with 
 energy and sleepless vigilance, go 
 forward and give us victories ! " 
 81 
 
 LETTER TO THE WORKINGMEN OF 
 MANCHESTER, ENG., FEB. 9, 1863. 
 
 " A fair examination of history 
 has seemed to authorize a belief 
 that the past action and influence 
 of the United States were generally 
 regarded as having been beneficial 
 toward mankind. I have therefore 
 reckoned on the forbearance of 
 nations. * 
 
 
 
 OPINION OF THE DRAFT ACT, 1863. 
 
 " The principle of the draft, 
 which simply is involuntary or en 
 forced service, is not new. It has 
 been practised in all ages of the 
 world. It was well known to the 
 
ib2 Bbtabam lincoltu 
 
 framers of our Constitution as one 
 of the modes of raising armies, at 
 the time they placed in that instru 
 ment the provision that the Con 
 gress shall have power to raise, and 
 support armies. It had been used 
 just before, in establishing our in 
 dependence, and it was also used, 
 under the Constitution, in 1812. 
 Wherein is the peculiar hardship 
 now ? Shall we shrink from the 
 necessary means to maintain our 
 free government, which our grand 
 fathers employed to establish it and 
 our fathers have already employed 
 once to maintain it ? Are we de 
 generate ? Has the manhood of 
 our race run out?" 
 
 LETTER TO GENERAL HOOKER, JUNE 
 5, 1863. 
 
 " In one word, I would not take 
 any risk of being entangled upon 
 
Gable Galfc. 103 
 
 the river, like an ox jumped half 
 over a fence and liable to be torn 
 by dogs front and rear, without a 
 fair chance to gore one way or kick 
 the other." 
 
 TELEGRAM TO GENERAL HOOKER, 
 JUNE 14, 1863. 
 
 " If the head of Lee s army is at 
 Martinsburg and the tail of it on 
 the plank road between Fredericks- 
 burg and Chancellorsville, the ani 
 mal must be slim somewhere. 
 Could you not break him ?" 
 
 IN RESPONSE TO A SERENADE, JULY, 
 
 1863. 
 
 " 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 
 
104 Bbrabam Xfncoln, 
 
 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." 
 
 IN CONVERSATION WITH HON. W. D. 
 KELLEY, 1863. 
 
 " I am not so sure that we are 
 not in search of a housekeeper (as 
 general of the army). I tell you, 
 Kelley, the successful management 
 of an army requires a good deal of 
 faithful housekeeping. More can 
 be got out of well fed and well 
 cared for men and animals than 
 can be got out of those who are 
 required to make long marches 
 on empty stomachs, and whose 
 strength and cheerfulness are im 
 paired by the failure to distribute 
 proper rations at proper seasons." 
 
liable ^alft. 105 
 
 REPLY TO FAULT-FINDERS AT 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION. 
 
 " Gentlemen, suppose all the prop 
 erty you were worth was in gold, 
 and you had put it in the hands of 
 Blondin to carry across the Niagara 
 river on a rope, would you shake 
 the cable, or keep shouting out to 
 him : * Blondin, stand up a little 
 straighter Blondin, stoop a little 
 more go a little faster, lean a little 
 more to the north lean a little 
 more to the south ? No, you would 
 hold your breath as well as your 
 tongue, and keep your hands off 
 until he was safe over. The Gov 
 ernment are carrying an immense 
 weight. Untold treasures are in 
 their hands. They are doing the 
 best they can. Don t badger them. 
 Keep silence, and we ll get you safe 
 across." 
 
io6 Hbrabam ^Lincoln. 
 
 LETTER TO JAMES C. CONKLING, 
 SPRINGFIELD, ILL., AUG. 26, 1863. 
 
 " Peace does not appear so 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." 
 
 " SOME KINDS OF POWDER CAN T BE 
 BURNT BUT ONCE." 
 
 " I do the very best I know how, 
 the very best I can ; and I mean to 
 keep doing so until the end. If the 
 end brings me out all right, what is 
 said against me won t amount to 
 anything. If the end brings me out 
 wrong, ten angels swearing I was 
 right would make no difference. " 
 
Gable Galft. 107 
 
 ADDRESS AT THE FAIR HELD AT THE 
 
 PATENT OFFICE, WASHINGTON, 
 
 MARCH 16, 1864. 
 
 " This extraordinary war in which 
 we are engaged falls heavily upon 
 all classes of people, but the most 
 heavily upon the soldiers. For 
 it has been said, all that a man 
 hath will he give for his life ; and 
 while all contribute of their sub 
 stance, 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 sol 
 diers and their families. And the 
 chief agents in these fairs are, the 
 
ros Bbrabam Htncolru 
 
 women of America. I am not 
 accustomed to the language of eu 
 logy ; 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 con 
 duct during the war. I will close by 
 saying, God bless the women of 
 America !" 
 
 FOURTH ANNUAL MESSAGE TO CON 
 GRESS, DEC. 6, 1864. 
 
 " For myself, I have no doubt of 
 the power and duty of the executive, 
 under the law of nations, to exclude 
 enemies of the human race from an 
 asylum in the United States." 
 
Gable Galfc. 109 
 
 LETTER TO F. A. CONKLING AND 
 
 OTHERS, NEW YORK, JUNE 3, 1864, 
 
 REPLYING TO INVITATION TO 
 
 ATTEND A MASS MEETING 
 
 IN HONOR OF GENERAL 
 
 GRANT. 
 
 " While the magnitude and diffi 
 culty of the task before him (Gen. 
 Grant) do not prove less than 1 
 expected, he and his brave soldiers 
 are now in the midst of their great 
 trial, and I trust at your meeting 
 you will so shape your words that 
 they may turn to men and guns 
 moving to his and their support." 
 
 
 SPEECH AT PHILADELPHIA, 
 JUNE 16, 1864, 
 
 " War, at the best, is terrible, and 
 this war of ours, in its magnitude 
 and in its duration, is one of the 
 most terrible. It has deranged 
 business, totally in many localities, 
 and partially in all localities. It 
 has destroyed property and ruined 
 
i io Bbrabam ^Lincoln. 
 
 homes ; it has produced a national 
 debt and taxation unprecedented, 
 at least in this country ; it has 
 carried mourning to almost every 
 home, until it can almost be said that 
 the heavens are hung in black. " 
 
 m 
 
 TO LADIES AT A PRESENTATION OF 
 
 LEAVES FROM THE GETTYSBURG 
 
 BATTLE-FIELD, JAN. 24, 1865. 
 
 " I wish you to read, if you have 
 not already done so, the eloquent 
 and truthful words which he 
 (Edward Everett) then spoke of the 
 women of America. Truly, the 
 services they have rendered to the 
 defenders of our country in this per 
 ilous time, and are yet rendering, 
 can never be estimated as they 
 ought to be." 
 
 m 
 
 INAUGURAL ADDRESS, MARCH 5, i65. 
 
 " With malice toward none; with 
 j J charity for all, with firmness in the 
 
right, as God gives us to see the 
 right, let us strive to finish the work 
 we are in, to bind up the nation s 
 wounds ; to care for him who shall 
 have borne the battle, and for his 
 widow and orphans ; to do all which 
 may achieve and cherish a just and 
 lasting peace among ourselves and 
 with all nations." 
 
OF ASSASSINATION. 
 
 THERE were threats of personal 
 violence openly made very soon 
 after Mr. Lincoln s election. Other 
 and even deadlier menaces came to 
 him secretly, or were privately 
 made known to his personal friends. 
 From the day of his arrival in 
 Washington, his mails teemed with 
 letters of a threatening character, 
 but he invariably refused to see 
 them or be informed of their con 
 tents. He would not permit him 
 self to know or to think that his 
 service to his country was per 
 formed in the constant presence 
 of personal peril. Other people 
 thought of it, however, and tried to 
 guard him, but the idea of assassina- 
 
"4 Bbrabam ^Lincoln. 
 
 tion had probably passed out of the 
 minds of all men but the actual 
 assassins themselves when at last 
 the murderous blow so long with 
 held was given. 
 
 COOPER INSTITUTE SPEECH, FEB, 27, 
 1860. 
 
 " That affair, (John Brown s raid) 
 in its philosophy corresponds with 
 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 ven 
 tures the attempt, which results in 
 little more than his own execution." 
 
 TO HANNAH ARMSTRONG, CONVERSA 
 TION, FEB., 1861. 
 
 " Hannah, if they do kill me, I 
 shall never die another death/ 
 
{Table 
 
 TO HIS STEPMOTHER, FEBRUARY, 1861, 
 
 BEFORE SETTING OUT FOR "WASH 
 
 INGTON. 
 
 No, mamma, they will never do 
 that (assassination). Trust in the 
 Lord and all will be well. We will 
 see each other again." 
 
 m 
 
 CONVERSATIONALLY, TO MAJOR 
 
 CHARLES G. HALPIN, IN 
 
 WASHINGTON. 
 
 " If there were such a plot and 
 they wanted to get at me, no vigi 
 lance could keep them out. We are 
 so mixed up in our affairs that no 
 matter what the system established 
 a conspiracy to assassinate, if 
 such there were, could easily obtain 
 a pass to see me, for one or more of 
 its instruments. . . As to the 
 crazy folks, Major, why, I must 
 only take my chances." 
 03 
 
 CONVERSATION WITH GEN. B. F. BUT 
 LER, 1863. 
 
 " O, assassination of public officers 
 is not an American crime." 
 
OF TEMPERANCE. 
 
 PHE rude backwoodsmen and 
 prairie settlers among whom Mr. 
 Lincoln s boyhood and youth were 
 passed, were generally accustomed 
 to the use of intoxicating liquors. 
 It was a striking exhibition of moral 
 courage and independence of char 
 acter, therefore, that while yet a boy 
 he took vigorous action against the 
 prevailing evil. He taught himself 
 the art of writing and composition, 
 and one of the first uses he made of 
 it was to prepare an argument for 
 temperance which was printed, with 
 hearty approval, by an Indiana news 
 paper. During his entire profes 
 sional career, he maintained an 
 
us Bbrabam ^Lincoln. 
 
 unobtrusive but unyielding oppo 
 sition to the social use of stimulants, 
 and the silent but powerful influence 
 of his example was continued in the 
 Executive Mansion. If he did not 
 do more or say more in this, direc 
 tion, it may have been because" his 
 hands were filled with a work ..es 
 pecially belonging to him, and this 
 could safely" be left to the. hands of 
 Others. .. 
 
 . 
 
 TO THE COMMITTEE APPOINTED BY 
 THE REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CON 
 VENTION, AT CHICAGO, MAY 16, 
 i860, TO FORMALLY ANNOUNCE 
 TO MR. LINCOLN HIS NOMI 
 NATION. ON RECEIVING 
 THEM, AT SPRING 
 FIELD ONLY GLAS 
 SES OF WATER 
 WERE OF 
 FERED. 
 
 "Gentlemen, we must pledge our 
 mutual healths in the most healthy 
 
Gable Galfc. 119 
 
 beverage which God has given to 
 man. It is the only beverage which 
 I have ever used, or allowed in my 
 family, and I cannot conscientiously 
 depart from it on the present occa 
 sion. It is Dure Adam s ale, from 
 the spring." 
 
 TO THE OFFICERS AND GUESTS ON 
 BOARD OF THE MONITOR, INSPECT 
 ING HER AND RECEIVING AC 
 COUNTS OF THE FIGHT WITH 
 THE MERRIMAC A FEW 
 WEEKS AFTER THE BAT 
 TLE. THERE WAS NO 
 LIQUOR OFFERED 
 WITH THE RE 
 FRESHMENTS. 
 
 " Some uncharitable people say 
 that old Bourbon is an indispensa 
 ble element in the fighting qualities 
 of some of our generals in the field, 
 but, Captain, after the account that 
 we have heard to-day, no one will 
 
120 Bbrabam Xtncoln* 
 
 say that any Dutch courage is 
 needed on board the Monitor! 
 H 
 
 CONVERSATION, HON. LAWRENCE 
 WELDON, OF ILLINOIS, 1854. 
 
 " I do not, in theory, but I do, in 
 fact, belong to the temperance so 
 ciety ; in this, to wit, that I do not 
 drink anything, and have r )t done 
 so for a very many years." 
 
OF DIVINE PROVI 
 DENCE. 
 
 S time went on, in the daily en 
 durance of severe trials and the 
 faithful performance of great duties, 
 there came to Mr. Lincoln a dis 
 tinctly declared development of re 
 ligious character. He had been 
 reverent, from the first, and even 
 prayerful, but, as the end drew 
 nearer, through all the terrible 
 days of 1864, and the swift weeks 
 given him in 1865, his public and 
 private utterances of belief and 
 trust in God became more frequent 
 aud more fervent. If in his earlier 
 history, before any of these fiery 
 experiences came, he had been open 
 
i22 Bbrabam Xincoln. 
 
 to the charge of carelessness or 
 semi-skepticism, it was not so now, 
 and no other American statesman 
 has left behind him so full and vig 
 orous a confession of faith. 
 
 m 
 
 FAREWELL SPEECH AT SPRINGFIELD 
 
 ILLS., FEB. ii, 1861, SETTING OUT 
 
 FOR WASHINGTON. 
 
 " Unless the great God, who 
 assisted him, (Washington) shall be 
 with me and aid me, I must fail. 
 If the same omniscient mind and 
 almighty arm that directed and pro 
 tected him shall guide and support 
 me, I shall not fail I shall succeed. 
 Let us all pray that the God of 
 our fathers may not forsake us 
 now." 
 
 SB 
 
 TO NEWTON BATEMAN, CONVERSA 
 TIONALLY, OCT., 1860. 
 
 " I know there is a God and that 
 fie hates injustice and slavery. I 
 
ttable Galfc. 123 
 
 see the storm coming and i know 
 that His hand is in it. If he has a 
 place and work for me and 1 
 think he has I believe I am ready. 
 I am nothing, but truth is every 
 thing. I know I am right because 
 I know that liberty is right, for 
 Christ teaches it, and Christ is 
 God." 
 
 H 
 
 TO THE QUAKERS OF IOWA, JAN. 5, 1862. 
 
 " It is most cheering and encour 
 aging for me to know that in the 
 efforts I have made, and am mak 
 ing, for the restoration of a right 
 eous peace to our country, I am 
 upheld and sustained by the good 
 wishes and prayers of God s people. 
 No one is more deeply than myself 
 aware that without His favor, our 
 highest wisdom is but as foolishness, 
 and that our most strenuous efforts 
 would avail nothing in the shadow 
 of His displeasure. It seems to me 
 
124 Bbrabam ^Lincoln, 
 
 that if there be one subject upon 
 which all good men may unitedly 
 agree, it is in imploring the gra 
 cious favor of the God of Nations 
 upon the struggle our people are 
 making for the preservation of 
 their precious birthright of civil 
 and religious liberty." 
 H 
 
 REPLY TO COMMITTEE OF THE GEN 
 ERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE NEW 
 SCHOOL PRESBYTERIANS, 
 MAY, 1863. 
 
 "It has been my happiness to 
 receive testimonies of a similar 
 nature from, I believe, all denom 
 inations of Christians. . . This to 
 me is most gratifying, because 
 from the beginning I saw that the 
 issues of our great struggle de 
 pended on the Divine interposition 
 and favor. . . As a pilot, I have 
 used my best exertions to keep 
 afloat our Ship of State, and shall 
 be glad to resign my trust at the 
 
Gable ftalfc. 125 
 
 appointed time to another pilot 
 more skilful and successful than I 
 may prove. In every case and at 
 all hazards, the Government must 
 be perpetuated. Relying as I da 
 on the Almighty power, and encour 
 aged as I am by these resolutions 
 which you have just read, with the 
 support I receive from Christian 
 men, I shall not hesitate to use all 
 means at my control to secure the 
 termination of the rebellion, and 
 will hope for success." 
 H 
 
 TO A DEPUTATION FROM ALL THE 
 
 RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS OF 
 
 CHICAGO, SEPT. 13, 1862. 
 
 " I hope it will not be irreverent 
 for me to say that if it is probable 
 that God would reveal His will to 
 others, on a point so connected 
 with my duty, it might be supposed 
 He would reveal it directly to me ; 
 for, unless I am more deceived in 
 
126 Bbrabam Xtncoln. 
 
 myself than I often am, it is my 
 earnest desire to know the will of 
 Providence in this matter, and if I 
 can learn what it is, I will do it." 
 
 LETTER TO REV. ALEXANDER REED, 
 FEB. 22, 1863. 
 
 " Whatever shall be, sincerely 
 and in God s name, devised for the 
 good of the soldiers and seamen in 
 their hard spheres of duty, can 
 scarcely fail to be blessed ; and 
 whatever shall tend to turn our 
 thoughts from the unreasoning and 
 uncharitable passions, prejudices 
 and jealousies incident to a great 
 national trouble such as ours, and 
 to fix them on the vast and long- 
 enduring consequences, for weal 
 or woe, which are to result from 
 the struggle, and especially to 
 strengthen our reliance on the 
 Supreme Being for the final triumph 
 
Sable Salfc. 127 
 
 of the right, can not but be well 
 for us all." 
 
 
 
 TELEGRAPHIC ANNOUNCEMENT OF 
 
 THE VICTORY AT GETTYSBURG, 
 
 JULY 4, 1863. 
 
 " The President announces to the 
 country that news from the Army 
 of the Potomac, up to 10 p. M. of 
 the 3d, is such as to cover that army 
 with the highest honor ; to promise 
 a success to the cause of the Union ; 
 and to claim the condolence of all 
 for the many gallant fallen ; and 
 that for this he especially desires 
 that on this day He whose will, not 
 ours, should ever be done, be every 
 where remembered with the pro- 
 foundest gratitude." 
 
 
 THANKSGIVING PROCLAMATION, OCT. 
 
 3, 1863. 
 
 " No human council hath devised, 
 nor hath any mortal hand worked 
 
128 Bbrabam Xincoitu 
 
 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 has seemed 
 to me fit and proper that they 
 should be solemnly, reverently ac 
 knowledged, as with one heart and 
 voice, by the whole American peo- 
 pie." 
 
 m 
 
 TO A CLERGYMAN WHO SAID : " I HOPE 
 THE LORD IS ON OUR SIDE." 
 
 " I am not at all concerned about 
 that, for I know the Lord is always 
 on the side of the right. But it is 
 my constant anxiety and prayer 
 that I and this nation should be on 
 the Lord s side." 
 
 m 
 
 TO REV. J. T. DURYEA, OF NEW YORK. 
 
 " If it were not for my firm be 
 lief in an over-ruling Providence, it 
 would be difficult for me, in the 
 
Sable Galfc, 129 
 
 midst of such complications of 
 affairs, to keep my reason in its seat. 
 But I am confident that the Al 
 mighty has his plans and will work 
 them out ; and whether we see it 
 or not, they will be the wisest and 
 best for us." 
 
 LETTER TO MR. A. G. HODGES, FRANK 
 FORT, KY., APRIL 4, 1864. 
 
 " In telling this tale, I attempt no 
 compliment to my own sagacity. I 
 claim not to have controlled events, 
 but confess plainly that events con 
 trolled me. Now, at the end of the 
 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 
 wills now the removal of a great 
 wrong, and wills also that we of 
 the North as well as you of the 
 
i3 Bbcabam ^Lincoln. 
 
 Southj shall pay fairly for our com 
 plicity in that wrong, impartial his 
 tory will find therein new causes to 
 attest and revere the justice and 
 goodness of God." 
 
 H 
 
 TO A COMMITTEE OF THE GENERAL 
 
 CONFERENCE OF THE METHODIST 
 
 EPISCOPAL CHURCH, 1864. 
 
 " It may fairly be said that the 
 Methodist Episcopal Church, not 
 less devoted than the rest, is, by 
 its greater numbers, the most im 
 portant of all. It is no fault in 
 others that the Methodist Church 
 sends more soldiers to the field, 
 more nurses to the hospitals, and 
 more prayers to Heaven, than any 
 other. God bless the Methodist 
 Church ! Bless all the churches, 
 and blessed be God, who in this 
 our great trial giveth us the 
 churches." 
 
Cable Galfc. 13* 
 
 TO MR. FESSENDEN, URGING HIM TO 
 ACCEPT THE APPOINTMENT OF 
 SECRETARY OF THE TREAS 
 URY ON THE RESIGNATION 
 OF MR. CHASE, 
 1864. 
 
 " I do not think you have any 
 right to tell me you will not take 
 the place. I believe that the sup 
 pression of the rebellion has been 
 decreed by a higher power than any 
 represented by us, and that the Al 
 mighty is using his own means to 
 that end. You are one of them. It 
 is as much your duty to accept as it 
 is mine to appoint." 
 
 
 REPLY TO MR. CHITTENDEN, CONVER 
 SATIONALLY, 1864. 
 
 " That the Almighty does make 
 use of human agencies and directly 
 intervenes in human affairs, is one 
 of the plainest statements of the 
 Bible. I have had so many eviden 
 ces of His direction, so many in- 
 
i3 2 Bbrabam ^Lincoln, 
 
 stances when I have been controlled 
 by some other power than my own 
 will, that I cannot doubt that this 
 power comes from above. I fre 
 quently see my way clear to a de 
 cision when I am conscious that I 
 have no sufficient facts upon which 
 to found it. But I cannot recall 
 one instance in which I have fol 
 lowed my own judgment, founded 
 upon such a decision, where the re 
 sults have been unsatisfactory ; 
 whereas, in almost every instance 
 where I have yielded to the views 
 of others, I have had occasion to 
 regret it. I am satisfied that when 
 the Almighty wants me to do or not 
 to do a particular thing he finds a 
 way of letting me know it." 
 H 
 
 REPLY TO A LADY FROM TENNESSEE, 
 AUTUMN, 1864. 
 
 " You say your husband is a re 
 ligious man ; tell him, when you 
 
133 
 
 meet him, that I say I am not much 
 of a judge of religion, but that, in 
 my opinion, the religion that sets 
 men to fight and rebel against this 
 government, because, as they think, 
 that government does not suffi 
 ciently help some men to eat their 
 bread on the sweat of other men s 
 faces, is not the sort of religion 
 upon which people can get to 
 Heaven." 
 
 fl 
 
 SPEECH AT A SERENADE, NOV. 9, 1864, 
 ON OCCASION OF HIS SECOND ELEC 
 TION TO THE PRESIDENCY. 
 
 "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 Al 
 mighty for the evidence of the 
 people s resolution to stand by free 
 government and the rights of hu- 
 manitv." 
 
134 Bbrabam 3Lincom. 
 
 TO MEMBERS OF THE GENERAL 
 
 SYNOD OF THE LUTHERAN 
 
 CHURCH, AUGUST, 1864. 
 
 "In taking up the sword thus 
 forced into our hands, this govern 
 ment appealed to the prayers of the 
 pious and the good, and declared 
 that it placed its whole dependence 
 upon the favor of God. I now 
 humbly and reverently, in your 
 presence, reiterate the acknowledg 
 ment of that dependence." 
 
 m 
 
 RESPONSE TO SERENADE AT WASH 
 INGTON, MAY 13, 1864. 
 
 " I will volunteer to say that I am 
 very glad at what has happened, but 
 there is a great deal yet to be done. 
 While we are grateful to all the 
 brave men and officers for the 
 events of the past few days, we 
 should, above all, be very grateful 
 to Almighty God, who gives us vie- 
 tory." 
 
Cable tram* 135 
 
 LETTER TO MRS. ELIZA P. GURNEY, 
 SEPT. 30, 864. 
 
 " The purposes of the Almighty 
 are perfect and must prevail, though 
 we erring mortals may fail to per 
 ceive them in advance. We hoped 
 for a happy termination of this ter 
 rible war, long before this ; but God 
 knows best and has ruled otherwise. 
 We shall yet acknowledge His wis 
 dom and our own errors therein ; 
 meanwhile we must work earnestly, 
 in the best light He gives us, trust 
 ing that so working still conduces to 
 the great end He ordains. Surely 
 He intends some great good to fol 
 low this mighty convulsion which 
 no mortal could make, and no mor 
 tal hand could stay. For those ap 
 pealing 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." 
 
136 Bbrabam OLfncom. 
 
 INAUGURAL ADDRESS, MARCH 5, 1865. 
 
 " Woe unto the world because of 
 offences, for it must needs be that 
 offences come ; but woe to that 
 man by whom the offense cometh ! 
 If we still suppose that American 
 slavery is one of these offences, 
 which in the providence of God 
 must needs come, but which, hav 
 ing continued through His appointed 
 time, He now wills to remove, and 
 that He gives to both North and 
 vSouth this terrible war as the woe 
 due to those by whom the offense 
 came, shall we discern therein any 
 departure from those divine attrib 
 utes which the believers in a liv 
 ing 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 bond 
 man s two hundred and fifty years 
 
Ualfc. 137 
 
 of unrequited toil shall be sunk, 
 and until every drop of blood 
 drawn with the lash shall be paid 
 with another drawn with the sword, 
 as was said three thousand years 
 ago, so still it must be said: The 
 judgments of the Lord are true and 
 righteous altogether/ " 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 
 
 SPEECH AT OTTAWA, ILLS., AUG. ax, 1858. 
 
 " JN this and like communities, pub 
 lic sentiment is everything. 
 With public sentiment, nothing can 
 fail; without it, nothing can succeed. 
 Consequently, he who molds public 
 sentiment goes deeper than he who 
 enacts statutes or pronounces de 
 cisions. He makes statutes or de 
 cisions possible or impossible to be 
 executed." 
 
 
 
 LETTER TO THURLOW WEED, MARCH 
 15, 1865. 
 
 " Men are not flattered by being 
 shown that there has been a differ 
 ence of purpose between the Al 
 mighty and them. To deny it, how- 
 
M Hbrabam ^Lincoln. 
 
 ever, in this case, is to deny that 
 there is a God governing the world. 
 "It is a truth which I thought 
 needed to be told, and, as whatever 
 of humiliation there is in it falls 
 most directly on myself, I thought 
 others might afford for me to tell 
 it." 
 
 SPEECH AT SPRINGFIELD, JULY 17, 1858. 
 
 " It would be amusing, if it were 
 not disgusting to see how quickly 
 these compromise-breakers ad 
 minister upon the effects of their 
 dead adversaries, trumping up 
 claims never before heard of, and 
 dividing the assets among them 
 selves. If I should be found dead 
 to-morrow, nothing but my insignifi 
 cance could prevent a speech being 
 made upon my authority, before the 
 end of next week." 
 
{Table (Talk. 141 
 
 SPEECH, PEORIA, ILLS., AUG., ai, 1858. 
 
 " When a man hears himself some 
 what misrepresented, it provokes 
 him at least, I find it so with my 
 self ; but when misrepresentation 
 becomes very gross and palpable, it 
 is more apt to amuse him." 
 H 
 
 COOPER INSTITUTE, FEB. 27, 1859. 
 
 " I do not mean to say we are 
 bound to follow implicitly in what 
 ever our fathers did. To do so 
 would be to discard all the lights of 
 current experience to reject all 
 progress all improvement. What 
 I do say is, that if we would sup 
 plant 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 under 
 stood the question better than we." 
 
142 Bbrabam Xincoln. 
 
 MESSAGE TO CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1861. 
 
 " Our popular government has 
 often been called an experiment. 
 Two points in it our people have al 
 ready settled the successful estab 
 lishing and the successful admin 
 istering of it. One still remains, 
 its successful maintenance against a 
 formidable attempt to overthrow 
 it." 
 
 H 
 
 LETTER TO GEN. N. P. BANKS, IN 
 LOUISIANA, AUG. 5, 1863. 
 
 " As an anti-slavery man, I have 
 a motive to desire emancipation 
 which pro-slavery men do not have ; 
 but even they have strong reason to 
 thus place themselves again under 
 the shield of the Union, and to 
 thus perpetually hedge against the 
 recurrence of the scenes through 
 which we are now passing. . . . For 
 my own part, I think I shall not, in 
 any event, retract the Emancipa- 
 
Gable Galfc. 143 
 
 tion Proclamation ; nor, as Execu 
 tive, ever return to slavery any 
 person who is freed by the terms of 
 that proclamation, or by any of the 
 acts of Congress. 
 
 H 
 
 TO KANSAS DELEGATION, SEPTEMBER, 
 1863. 
 
 "I am well aware that by many, 
 by some even among this delegation 
 I shall not name them I have 
 been in public speeches and in 
 printed documents charged with 
 tyranny and wilfulness, with a 
 disposition to make my own personal 
 will supreme. I do not intend to be 
 a tyrant. At all events I shall take 
 care that in my own eyes I do not 
 become one. I have no right to act 
 the tyrant to mere political oppo 
 nents. * 
 
H4 Bbrabam Xincoln. 
 
 LETTER TO GOV. ANDREW JOHNSON, 
 OF TENNESSEE, SEPT. n, 1863. 
 
 " I see that you have declared in 
 favor of emancipation in Tennessee, 
 for which may God bless you. Get 
 emancipation into your new State 
 government Constitution and 
 there will be no such word as fail for 
 your case. The raising of colored 
 troops, I think, will greatly help, 
 every way." 
 
 H 
 
 CONVERSATION WITH A FRIEND. 
 
 " I am never easy, now, when 1 
 am handling a thought, until I have 
 bounded it North, and bounded it 
 South, and bounded it East and 
 bounded it West." 
 
 m 
 
 CONVERSATION WITH HON. CASSIU8 
 M. CLAY, 1862. 
 
 " Who ever heard of a reformei 
 reaping the reward of his labors in 
 his lifetime ! " 
 
145 
 
 " Versatility is an injurious pos 
 session, since it never can be great 
 ness. A versatile man, to be safe 
 from execration, should never 
 soar/ 
 
 
 
 LETTER, JUNE 12, 1863, TO CITIZENS OF 
 NEW YORK. 
 
 " Yet, thoroughly imbued with a 
 reverence for the guaranteed rights 
 of individuals, I was slow to adopt 
 the strong measures which by de 
 grees I have been forced to regard 
 as being within the exceptions of 
 the Constitution, and as indispensa 
 ble to the public safety. Nothing is 
 better known to history than that 
 courts of justice are utterly incompe 
 tent in such cases." 
 
 
 LETTER TO DEMOCRATS OF OHIO, 
 JUNE 29, 1863. 
 
 " You ask, in substance, whether 
 I really claim that I may override 
 
146 Bbrabam Xincoln. 
 
 all the guaranteed rights of individ 
 uals 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 prerogrative, is either 
 simply a question who shall decide, 
 or an affirmation that nobody shall 
 decide what the public safety does re 
 quire in cases of rebellion or invasion. 
 The Constitution contemplates the 
 question as likely to occur, 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 
 the Commander-in-chief of their 
 army and navy, is the man who 
 holds the power and bears the re- 
 
{Table alfe. 147 
 
 sponsibility ot 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." 
 
 
 
 LETTER TO HENRY W. HOFFMAN, OF 
 MARYLAND, OCT. 10, 1864. 
 
 " I presume the only feature of the 
 instrument (the new Constitution of 
 Maryland) about which there is seri 
 ous controversy, is that which pro 
 vides for the extinction of slavery. 
 It needs not to be a secret, and I pre 
 sume it is no secret, that I wish suc 
 cess to this provision. I desire it on 
 every consideration. I wish all men 
 to be free. I wish the material pros 
 perity of the already free, which I 
 feel sure the extinction of slavery 
 would bring. I wish to see in proc 
 ess of disappearing that only thing 
 
M& Bbrabam Xincoln. 
 
 which ever could bring this nation 
 to civil war. I attempt no argu 
 ment. Argument upon the question 
 is already exhausted." 
 H 
 
 LETTER TO MRS. BIXBY, OF BOSTON, 
 
 WHOSE FIVE SONS HAD FALLEN IN 
 
 BATTLE : NOV. 21,1864. 
 
 " 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." 
 
 
 COOPER INSTITUTE ADDRESS, 1860. 
 
 " Let us be diverted by none of 
 those sophistical contrivances where 
 with we are so industriously plied 
 and belabored contrivances, such 
 as groping for some middle ground 
 between the right and the wrong ; 
 vain is the search for a man who 
 
{Table Calk. 149 
 
 should be neither a living man nor a 
 dead man such as a policy of 
 1 don t care on a question about 
 which all true men do care such as 
 Union appeals beseeching true 
 Union men to yield to Disunionists, 
 reversing the divine rule and calling, 
 not the sinners but the righteous to 
 repentance." 
 
 
 
 TO HON. HORACE GREELEY, NEW YORK, 
 AUG. 22, 1862. 
 
 " I would save the Union. I would 
 save it in the shortest way under the 
 Constitution. The sooner the na 
 tional 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 un 
 less they could at the same time 
 
150 Bbrabam ^Lincoln. 
 
 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 save it by freeing all 
 the slaves, I would do it ; and if I 
 could save 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 1 
 believe it helps to save the Union, 
 and what I forbear, I forbear be 
 cause I do not believe it would help 
 to save the Union." 
 
 H 
 
 SPEECH AT ALTON, ILLS., OCT. 15, 1858. 
 
 " Is it not a false statesmanship 
 that undertakes to build up a system 
 of policy upon the basis of caring 
 nothing about the very thing that 
 everybody does care the most about ? 
 
Gable Galfc, is 1 
 
 a thing which all experience has 
 
 shown we care a great deal about ? " 
 
 B9 
 
 SPEECH AT COLUMBUS, O., SEPT., 1859. 
 
 " I avoid doing so (fighting a fal 
 lacy) upon this principle that if it 
 were important for me to pass out 
 of this lot in the least period of 
 time possible, and I came to that 
 fence and saw by a calculation of 
 my known strength and agility that 
 I could clear it at a bound, it would 
 be folly for me to stop and consider 
 whether I could or not crawl 
 through a crack." 
 
 SPEECH AT GALESBURG, ILLS., OCT. 7, 
 1858. 
 
 " He could not denounce the doc 
 trine of kings and monarchies in 
 Russia, and it may be true of this 
 country, that in some places we 
 may not be able to proclaim a doc 
 trine as clearly true as the truth of 
 
152 Bbrabam Xtncoln. 
 
 Democracy, because there is a sec 
 tion so directly opposed to it that 
 they will not tolerate us in doing so. 
 Is it the true test of the soundness 
 of a doctrine, that in some places 
 the people will not let you proclaim 
 it ? Is that the way to test the 
 truth of any doctrine ?" 
 
 m 
 
 " Whatever motive a man or set 
 of men may have for making annex 
 ation of property or territory (to the 
 nation) it is very easy to assert, 
 much less easy to disprove, that it 
 is necessary for the wants of the 
 country." 
 
 
 
 CONVERSATION WITH W. H. HERNDON, 
 1850. 
 
 " How hard, oh, how hard it is to 
 die, and leave one s country no bet 
 ter than if one had never lived for 
 it ! The world is dead to hope, 
 deaf to its own death-struggle, made 
 
(Table ftalfc. 153 
 
 known by a universal cry. What is 
 to be done ? Is anything to be 
 done ? Who can do anything ? 
 And how is it to be done ? Did you 
 ever think of these things ? " 
 
 
 SPEECH AT SPRINGFIELD, ILLS., JUNE 
 17, 1859. 
 
 "We did this (organized the 
 party) 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. 
 
 H 
 
 OTTAWA SPEECH, AUG. ax, 1858. 
 
 " My own feelings will not admit 
 of this ; and if mine would, we well 
 know that those of the great mass 
 of white people will not. Whether 
 this feeling accords with justice and 
 
154 Bbraoam ILfncoin. 
 
 sound judgment is not the sole 
 question, if, indeed, it is any part of 
 it. A universal feeling, whether 
 well or ill founded, cannot be safely 
 disregarded." 
 
 H 
 
 SPEECH AT FREEPORT, AUG. 27, 1858. 
 
 " I can conceive it possible for 
 men to conspire to do a good thing, 
 and I really find nothing in Judge 
 Douglas s course or arguments that 
 is contrary to or inconsistent with 
 his belief of a conspiracy to national 
 ize and spread slavery as a good and 
 blessed thing." 
 
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 1939 
 
 26 1946 
 
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