THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA G if iiiiuraviu T/JFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. LINCOLN, His Life and Times. BEING THE LIFE AND PUBLIC SEEYICES OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN, SIXTEENTH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED fclTATES. TOGETHER 'WITH HIS STATE PAPERS, INCLUDING HIS SPEECHES, ADDEESSES, MESSAGES, LETTEKS, AND PROCLAMATIONS, 'AND THE CLOSING SCENES CONNECTED WITH HIS LIFE AND DEATH. BY HENEY J. EAYMOND. •» TO WHICH ABE ADDED 4NECB0TES AND PERSONAL REMINISCENCES OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN, By FRANX B, CARPENTER. VOLUME L CHICAGO : THOMPSON & THOMAS, PUBLISHERS, > / h GIFT tVS7 PREFACE. During the Presidential canvass of 1864, the author of this work prepared for its pubhsners a volume upon the Administration of President Lincoln. Its main object was to afford the American people the materials for form- ing an intelligent judgment as to the wisdom of continu- ing Mr. Lincoln, for four years more, in the Presidential office. That canvass resulted in his re-election. But he bad scarcely entered upon the duties and responsibilities of his second term, when his career was closed by assassination. He had lived long enough, however, to finish the great work which had devolved upon him. Before his eyes were closed, they beheld the overthrow of the rebellion, the extirpation of slavery, and the res- toration, over all the land, of the authority of the Constitution of the United States. , Not the people of his own country alone, but aU the world, will study with interest the life and public acts of one whose work was at once so great and so successful. The principles which guided his conduct, and the policy by which he sought to carry them out — the temper and character which were the secret sources of his strength — will be sought and found in the acts and words of his public life. For more truly, perhaps, M808338 6 Preface. than any other man of his own or of any other time, Mr. Lincoln had bnt one character and one mode of action, in public and private affairs. It is the purpose of this work, so far as possible, to facilitate this inquiry. Every public speech, message, letter, or document of any sort from his pen, so far as accessible, will be found included in its pages. These documents, with the narrative by which they are accom J panied, may, it is hoped, aid the public in understanding aright the character and conduct of the most illustrious actor, in the most important era, of American history. CONTENTS CHAPTER L Early Life of Abraham Lincoln. — His Own Record. — His Ancestry. — Changes of Residence. — Death and Funeral of his Mother. — Entrance upon Polit- ical Life. — A Member of the Legislature and of Congress. — The Mexican War Page H CHAPTER IL THE LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATE. Presidential Campaign of 1856. — Douglas at Springfield in 1857. — Lincoln's Reply. — The Great Debate. — Eloquent Defence of the Doctrines of the Republican Party. — Result of the Contest Page 46 CHAPTER IIL MR. LINCOLN AND THE PRESIDENCY. The Campaign of 1859 in Ohio. — Mr. Lincoln's Speeches at Columbus and Cincinnati. — His Visit to the East. — In New York City. — The Great Speech at Cooper Institute. — Mr. Lincoln nominated for the Presidency. —His Election Page 78 \ CHAPTER TV. [/ROM THE ELECTION, NOVEMBER 6, 1860, TO THE INAUGURATION, MARCH 4, 1861. The Presidential Election. — Secession of South Carolina. — Formation of the Rebel Confederacy. — The Objects of Secession. — Secession Movements in "Washington. — Debates in Congress. — The Crittenden Resolutions. — Con- ciliatory Action of Congress. — The Peace Conference. — Action of Con- gress. — The Secession Movement unchecked Page 101 CHAPTER V. PROM SPRINGFIELD TO WASHINGTON. Speech at Indianapolis. — Arrival and Speech at Cincinnati — Speech at Co- lumbus — Speech at Pittsburg. — Arrival and Speech at Cleveland. — Arri- val . at Buffalo. — At Rochester ana Syracuse. — At Albany. -Speech at 10 Contents. Poughkeepsie. — In New York. — Reply to the Mayoi of New York. — la New Jersey. — Arrival at Philadelphia. — Speech in Philadelphia. — At Harrisburg. — Arrival and Reception at Washington Page 131 CHAPTER VI. FROM THE INAUGURATION TO THE MEETING OF CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1861. the Inaugural Address. — Organization of the Government. — The Bombard- ment of Fort Sumter. — Passage of Troops through Baltimore. — Interview with the Mayor of Baltimore.— The Blockade of Rebel Ports.— The Pres- ident and the Virginia Commissioners. — Instruction to our Ministers abroad. — Recognition of the Rebels as Belligorents. — Rights of Neu- trals Page 161 CHAPTER VIL fHE EXTRA SESSION OF CONGRESS, AND THE MILITARY EVENTS OF THE SUMMER OF 1861. First Annual Message. — Action of Congress. — Slavery and Confiscation. — The Defeat at Bull Run. — Treatment of the Slavery Question. — General Fre- mont and the President. — The Trent Affair Page 186 CHAPTER VIIL IBB REGULAR SESSION OF CONGRESS, DECEMBER, 1861.— THE MESSAGE. — DEBATES, ETC. Meeting of Congress. — President's Message. — Disposition of Congress. — Slavery in Territories aud District of Columbia. — Proposed Aid to Eman- cipation by Slave States. — The Debate in Congress. — The President and General Hunter. — The Border State Representatives. — The Border State [ Reply. — The Finances. — Tho Confiscation Bill. — The President's Action I and Opinions. — The President's Message. — Message in Regard to Mr. Cameron. — The President and his Cabinet. — Close of the Session of Con- gress. — The President's Letter to Mr. Greeley. — The President and the Chicago Convention. — Proclamation of Emancipation Page 213 CHAPTER IX. THE MILITARY ADMINISTRATION OF 1862. — THE PRESDDENT aND GENERAL M'CLELLAN. General McClellan succeeds McDowell. — The President's Order for an Ad- vance. — The Movement to the Peninsula. — Rebel Evacuation of Manas- sas. — Arrangements for the Peninsular Movement. — The President's Letter to General McClellan.— The Rebel Strength at Yorktown —The Contents. 11 Battlo of Williamsburg. — McClellan's Fear of being Overwhelmed. — The President to McClellan. — Jaoksoa'B Raid in the Shenandoah Valley. — The President to McClellan. — Seven Pines and Fair Oaks. — McClellan's Com- plaints of McDowell. — His Continued Delays. — Prepares for Defeat. — Calls for more Men. — His Advice to the President. — Preparations to Con- centrate the Army. — General Halleck to McClellan. — Appointment of General Pope. — Imperative Orders to McClellan. — McClellan's Failure 10 aid Pope. — His Excuses for Delay. — Proposes to Leave Pope Unaided. — Excuses for Franklin's Delay. — His Excuses proved Groundless. — His alleged Lack of Supplies. — Advance into Maryland. — The President's Letter to McClellan. — He Protests against Delay. — McClellan Relieved from Command. — Speech by the President Page 263 CHAPTER X. GENERAL CONDUCT OP THE ADMINISTRATION IN 1862. Successes in the Southwest. — Recognized Objects of the War. — Relations of the War to Slavery. — Our Foreign Relations. — Proposed Mediation of the French Emperor. — Reply to the French Proposal. — Secretary Seward's Dispatch. — The President's Letter to Fernando Wood. — Observance of the Sabbath Page 326 CHAPTER XI. THE CONGRESSIONAL SESSION OP 1862-'63. — MESSAGE OP THE PRESIDENT AND GENERAL ACTION OF THE SESSION. The President's Message. — Are the Rebel States Aliens ? — The Provision for a Draft. — Message oa the Finances and Currency. — Admission of West Virginia. — Close of the Session Page 3 > • CHAPTER XII. ARBITRARY ARRESTS. — THE SUSPENSION OP THE WRIT OF HABEAS 0ORPU8L — THE DRAFT. Lrbitrary Arrests. — First Suspension of the Habeas Corpus. — Aid and Com- fort to the Rebels. — Executive Order about Arrests. — Appointment of a Commissioner on Arrests. — Opposition to the Government. — The Case of Vallandigham. — Governor Seymour on Vallandigham. — President Lin- coln on Arrests. — President Lincoln on Military Arrests. — The Presi- dent's Letter to Mr. Coming. — The President to the Ohio Committee. — The President on Vailandigham's Cage. — The Habeas Corpus Suspended. —Proclamation Concerning Aliens. — The Draft -The New York Riots. — Letter to Governor Seymour. — The Draft Resumed and Completed. Paga 373 12 Contents. CHAPTER XIIL MILITARY STENTS OF 1863. — TITB REBEL DEFEAT AT GETTYSBURG. — FALL OF VICKSBURO AND PORT HUDSON. The Battles at Fredericksburg. — Rebel Raid into Pennsylvania. — Results at Gettysburg. — Yicksburg and Port Hudson Captured. — Public Rejoicings. —The President's Speech. — Thanksgiving for Victories. — Battle of Chat- [ tanooga. — Thanksgiving Proclamation Page 40? CHAPTER XIV. POLITICAL MOVEMENTS IN MISSOURI. — THE STATE ELECTIONS OF 1863. General Fremont in Missouri. — The President's Letter to General Hunter. — Emancipation in Missouri. — Appointment of General Schofieid. — The President and the Missouri Radicals. — The President to the Missouri Committee. — The President and General Schofieid. — Tho President and the Churches.— Letter to Illinois.— The Elections of 1863 Page 422 CHAPTER XV. THE CONGRESS OF 1863-'64. — MESSAGE OF THE PRESIDENT. — ACTION OF THE SESSION. -PROGRESS IN RAISING TROOPS. The President's Message. — Tne Proclamation of Amnesty. — Explanatory Proclamation. — Debate on Slavery. — Call for Troops. — General Blair's Resignation. — Diplomatic Correspondence. — Our Relations with England. — France and Mexico. — The President and the Monroe Doctrine. . . Page 44S CHAPTER XVI. MOVEMENTS TOWARDS RECONSTRUCTION. IHate Governments in Louisiana and Arkansas. — Different of Views be- tween the President and Congress. — The Rebellion and Labor. — The Presideit on Benevolent Associations. — Advancing Action concerning the Negro Race.— Free State Constitutions Page 481 CHAPTER XVII. MILITARY EVENTS OF THE SPRING AND SUMMER OF 1864. Battle of the Oiustee.— Kilpatrick's Raid on Richmond.— The Red River Expedition. — The Fort Pillow Massacre. — Rebel Atrocities. — General Grant's Advance upon Richmond. — Battles in May. — Sherman's March to Atlanta. — Rebel Raids in Maryland and Kentucky. — Siege of Petersburg. — Martial Law iu Kentucky. — Draft for Five hundred thousand Men. — Capture oi Mobile and Atlanta Page 513 Contents. 13 CHAPTER XVIII THE POLITICAL CAMPAIGN Of 1864. Tho Presidential Election. — The Cleveland Convention. — The Convention at Baltimore. — Mr. Lincoln's Renomination and Acceptance. — Pupular Feel- ing During the Summer. — The Arguelles Case. — The Forged Proclama- tion. — The Niagara Falls Coafereuce. — The Chicago Convention. — Progress and Result of the Campaign. — Popular Joy at the Result Page 541 CHAPTER XIX. THE MEETING OP CONGRESS AND PROGRESS OF THE WAR, Condition of the Country at the Mooting of Congress. — The Message. — Pro- ceedings in Congress. — Fort Fisher. — Death of Edward Everett. — Peace Conference in Hampton Roads. — Military Affairs Pago 620 CHAPTER XX CLOSE OP THE REBELLION. TLe Inaugural Address. — Proclamation to Deserters. — Speeches by the Pres- ident. — Destruction of Lee's Army. — Tho President's Visit to Richmond. — Return to Washington. — Close of the War Page 669 CHAPTER XXI. THE PRESIDENT'S ASSASSINATION. The Condition of the Country. — Assassination of the President. — Murderous Assault upon Secretary Seward. — The Funeral Procession from Washing- ton to Springfield, Illinois. — Fate of the Assassins. — Estimate of Mr. Lincoln's Character. — Conclusion Pajre 691 ANECDOTES AND REMINISCENCES OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN. rA«a Mr. Lincoln's Sadness 126 His Favorite Poem 728 His Religious Experience 730 His Sympathy 735 His Humor, Shrewdness, and Sentiment 743 The Emancipation Proclamation 759 14 Contents. APPENDIX. LETTERS ON SUNDRY OCCASIONS »A«« To Mr. Hodges, of Kentucky 767 To General Hooker 768 To JohnB. Fry 770 l'o Governor Magoffin 770 i'o Count Gasparin 771 The President and General MoClellan 772 Warnings against Assassination - 779 REPORTS, DISPATCHES, AND PROCLAMATIONS RE1 ATING TO THE ASSASSINATION. Secretary Stanton to General Dix 7S3 The Death-Bed 785 The Assassins 786 Re ward Offered by Secretary Stanton 787 Flight of the Assassins 787 The Conspiracy Organized in Canada 787 Booth Killod.— Harold Captured 788 Reward Offered by President Johnson ... 788 The Funeral , 78S OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS, Acting Secretary Hunter to Minister Adams , . . . 7S9 Acting Secretary Hunter to his Subordinates 78» Orders from Secretary Stanton and General Grant 7a9 Orders from Secretary Welles 790 der from Secretary McCulloch 791 der from Postmaster-General Dennison 791 Proclamation by President Johnson of a Day of Humiliation and Mourning. 791 Secretary Stanton to Minister Adams 792 Important Letter from J. Wilkes Booth 793 Indictment of tub Conspirators 796 The Finding of the Court 799 Trot Mowing memorandum given by Mr. Lincoln to Hicks, the "well- known artist, while he was painting his portrait in Springfield, Illinois, soon after his first nomination for the Presidency, is not without in- terest : — " I was born February 12, 1809, in then Hardin County, Kentucky, at a point within the now County of Larue, a mile or a mile and a half from where Hodgen's mill now is. My parents being dead, and my own memory not serving, I know no means of identifying the precise locality. It was on Nolen Creek. A. Lincolh." Jum 14, lMQi the life,/.. ; ; : . PUBLIC SERVICES AND STATE PAPERS OP ABEAHAM LINCOLN CHAPTER I. Early Life op Abraham Lincoln. — Hie Own Reoobd. — His Ancestry. — Changes op Residence. — Death and Funeral op his Mother. — En- trance upon Political Life. — A Member op the Legislature and op Congress. — The Mexican War. The compiler of the "Dictionary of Congress' * states, that while preparing that work for publication, in 1858, he sent to Mr. Lincoln the usual request for a sketch of his life, and received the following reply : 44 Born, February 12, 1809, in Hardin County, Kentucky. "Education defective. 44 Profession, a Lawyer. 44 Have been a Captain op Volunteers in Blaok Hawk Was. 44 Postmaster at a very small Cffiob. 44 Four times a Member op the Illinois Legislature, and was Ai Member op thb Lower House op Congress. f 44 Yours, &o., j 44 A. Lincoln. " Around the facts stated with such characteristic mod- esty and brevity clusters the history of the early life of our late President. The ancestors of Abraham Lincoln were of English descent ; and although they are believed to have originally emigrated to this country with the followers of William Penn, it is difficult to trace them I 18 The Life, Public Sbbvices, and farther ba&Jv than. tQ.tliei? ^place of residence in Berks County, Pennsylvania,*: A^htiiee a part of the family re- moved.;i^ 17^0^ to Aj\i\t gp<$L0ftvof Virginia now known as RocMnglia^"C6nilty.''fF>iIHA«\\ears later, Abraham Lin- coln, the grandfather of our late President, finding civil- ization crowding him too closely, and possibly enticed by the stories which came hack to the frontier settle- ments from that famous pioneer, Daniel Boone, but undeterred by the dangers which he knew he must in- evitably encounter, determined to make another bold push westward, and settled on Floyd's Creek, in Ken- tucky, in what is now known as Bullitt County. Hardly had he secured a home for his little family, when he was fatally shot by an Indian, who came upon him stealthily while he was at work, some distance from his log cabin. Thus deprived of her protector, his widow at once re- moved, with her three sons and two daughters, to that part of Kentucky now known as Washington County. Thomas, the eldest of the sons, the father of Abraham Lincoln, was but six years old when his mother was so suddenly made a widow. The necessity of assisting to provide for her probably delayed his own settlement in life, for it was not until he was twenty-eight years old, in 1806, that he married Nancy Hanks. His wife was a Virginian by birth ; but no facts regarding either her an- cestry or early life have been preserved, although it is a tradition, possibly originating in the reputation achieved by her son, that she was a woman of rare mental endow- ment Immediately after their marriage the couple r<* moved to Hardin County, Kentucky, and there, on Feb ruarv 12th, 1809, as has already been stated, Abraham Lincoln was born. His early life was spent in poverty and toil ; but his father, feeling keenly his own deficien cies, determined to give his son every possible advantage in the way of gaining an education, and, when but seven years old, he was equipped with an old copy of Dil- worth's Spelling Book, which constituted one-third of the family library, and was sent to school to a Mr. Hazel. It is also said that one Zachariak Ittney, a Roman Catholic, State Papeks oe Abraham Lincoln. 19 having some connection with the Trappists, who had founded an institution on Pottinger's Creek, with Urban Gail let as superior, had the honor of instructing the future President in the rudiments. Whether Mr. Lin- coln favored his other children, one a girl two years older than Abraham, and the other a boy two years his junior, to the same extent, is doubtful, for the routine of school life was not only broken in upon by his frequent demands upon his son's time, but finally it was inter t upted altogether by his determination to abandon Ken- tucky and try his fortunes where his energies were not checked and repressed by the obstacles which slavery constantly thrust in his way. In 1817 Mr. Lincoln car- ried this plan into execution. The old home was sold, their small stock of valuables placed upon a raft, and the little family took their way to a new home in the wilds of Indiana, where free labor would have no competition with slave labor, and the poor white man might hope that in time his children could take an honorable posi- tion, won by industry and careful economy. The place of their destination was Spencer County, Indiana. For the last few miles they were obliged to cut their road as they went on. " With the resolution of veteran pioneers they toiled, sometimes being able to pick their way for a long distance without chopping, and then coming to a standstill in consequence of dense forests. Suffice it to say, that they were obliged to cut a road so much of the way that several days were emplo3 r ed in going eighteen miles. It was a difficult, wearisome, trying journey, and \[r. Lincoln often said, that he never passed through a uarder experience than he did in going from Thompson's Ferry to Spenser County, Indiana. " Thus, before he was eight years old, Abraham Lincoln began the serious business of life. The cabin in which the family lived was built of logs, and even the aid of such a mere child was of account in the wilderness where they now found themselves, after seven days of weary travel. Their neighbors, none of whom lived nearer than two or three miles, welcomed the strangers, and 20 The Life, Public Services, and lent a liand towards building the rude dwelling in which the future President lay down, after fatiguing "but health fill toil, to dream the dreams of childhood, undisturbed by thoughts of the future. But just as Abraham was becoming accustomed to his new residence, his home was made desolate by the death of his mother, which occurred when he was ten years old. She died long before she could have imagined, in her wildest dreams, the eminence and distinction which heT son was to attain ; but she was happy in the knowledge that, chiefly under her own tuition, for she had not in-' trusted his education entirely to the schoolmaster who chanced to settle within reach, her favorite son had learned to read the Bible — the book which, as a Christian woman, she prized above all others. It is impossible to estimata the influence which this faithful mother ex- erted in moulding the character of her child ; but it is easy to believe that the earnestness with which she im- pressed upon his mind and heart the holy precepts, did much to develop those characteristics which in after years caused him to be known as pre-eminently the "Honest" man. There is touching evidence that Abra- ham held the memory of his mother in sacred remem- brance. She had instructed him in the rudiments of writing, and Mr. Lincoln, in spite of the disparaging remarks of his neighbors, who regarded the accomplish- ment as entirely unnecessary, encouraged his son to per- severe, until he was able to put his thoughts upon paper in a style which, although rude, caused him to be regarded as quite a prodigy among the illiterate neighbors. One! of the very first efforts of his faltering pen was writing ai letter to an old friend of his mother's, a travelling preacher, urging him to come and deliver a sermon over her grave. The invitation must have been couched in impressive, if not affecting language ; for, although the letter was not written until nine months after his mother' 9 remains had been deposited in their last resting-place, Parson Elkins, the preacher to whom it was extended, respopded to the request, and three months subsequent- State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 21 ly, just a year after her decease, preached a sermon com- memorative of the virtues of one whom her neighbors still held in affectionate and respectful remembrance. In his discourse it is said that the Parson alluded to the manner in which he had received the invitation, and Abra- ham's pen thereafter found frequent employment, in writing letters for the same neighbors who had before pretended to esteem lightly the accomplishment of which they at last recognized the value. About two years after the death of Mrs. Lincoln, Mr. Lincoln married Mrs. Sally Johnston, a widow with three children. She proved an excellent mother to her step- son and daughter, and a faithful wife. During the twelve years that the family remained in Indiana, Abraham's father encouraged him to improve all the opportunities offered for mental development. How scanty these privi- leges were, may be inferred from the fact that the entire number of days that he was able to attend school hardly exceeded one year. While in Indiana, one of his teachers was a Mr. Dorsey, who, a few months ago, was living in Schuyler County, Illinois, where he was looked up to with much respect by his neighbors, as one of those who had assisted in the early instruction of the then President of the United States. He tells with great satisfaction how his pupil, who was then remarked for the diligence and eager- ness with which he pursued his studies, came to the >g-cabin school-house arrayed in buckskin clothes, a rac- oon-skin cap, and provided with an old arithmetic which had somewhere been found for him to begin his investiga- tions into the " higher branches." In connection with his attendance upon Mr. Crawford's school, an incident is told which is sure to find a place in every biography of our late President. Books were, of course, very hard to find in the sparsely settled district of Indiana where the Lincoln family had their home, and every printed volume upon which Abraham could lay his hands was carefully guarded and eagerly devoured. Among the volumes in Mr. Crawford's scanty library was a copy of Ramsay' b Life pf W&slungton, wUoh Abraham secured penmuiion* 22 The Life, Public Services, and upon -one occasion, to take home with him. During a severe storm he improved his leisure by reading his book. One night he laid it down carefully, as he thought, and the next morning he found it soaked through ! The wind had changed, the storm had beaten inthiough a crack in the logs, and the appearance of the book was ruined How could he face the owner under such circumstances ? He had no money to offer as a return, but he took the book, went directly to Mr. Crawford, showed him the irreparable injury, and frankly and honestly offered to work for him until he should be satisfied. Mr. Crawford accepted the offer, and gave Abraham the book for his own, in return for three days' steady labor in " pulling fodder." This, and Weems's Life of Washington, were among the boy' s favorite books, and the story that we have just told is so nearly parallel to the famous " hatchet" in- cident in the early days of the Father of his Country, that it is easy to believe that the frequent perusal of it im- pressed upon his mind, more effectually than any solemn exhortation could have done, the precept that "honesty is the best policy," and thus assisted to develop that character of which integrity was so prominent a trait in after years. Among the other volumes which Mr. Lincoln was accustomed to refer to, as having been eagerly read in his youthful days, were a Life of Henry Clay, Esop's Fables, and Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. It is quite probable that the quaint phraseology of these last two volumes, and their direct and forcible illustra- tions, may have impressed upon the productions of Mr. Lincoln's pen that style which is one of their most pecu- liar and favorite characteristics. When nineteen years old, Abraham Lincoln, moved, perhaps, equally by the desire to earn an honest liveli- hood in the shape of "ten dollars a month and found," and by curiosity to see more of the world, made a trip down the Mississippi to New Orleans, upon a flat-boat. He went in company with the son of the owner of the boat, who intrusted a valuable cargo to their care. The trip was quite an eventful and exciting one, for on the State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 23 way down the great river they were attacked by seven negroes, who hoped to capture the boat and the cargo. They found, however, that they had undertaken a task to the execution of which they were unequal. After a spirited contest the negroes were driven back, and com- pelled to abandon their attempt, leaving our boatmen the undisputed masters of the field. Upon this trip young Lincoln's literary acquirements were called into useful action, and besides the stipulated ten dollars per month, he gained a substantial reputation as a youth of promising business talent. During the twelve years that the family had been living in Indiana, the advancing tide of civilization had again encroached upon them almost imperceptibly, and in 1830 Thomas Lincoln, impatient of the restrictions which he found the gradually increasing population drawing around him, again determined to seek a new home farther west, and after fifteen days' journey came upon a site near Decatur, Macon County, Illinois, which seemed to him a desirable one. He immediately erected a log cabin, and, with the aid of his son, who was now twenty-one, proceeded to fence in his new farm. Abra- ham had little idea, while engaged in the unromantic occupation of mauling the rails which were to bound his fathers possessions, that he was writing a page in his life which would be read by the whole nation years after- ward. Yet so it proved to be. A writer, describing one of the incidents in the earlier political career of the late President, says: — During the sitting of the Republican State Convention, at Decatur, a banner, attached to two of these rails, and bearing an appropriate inscrip- tion, was brought into the assemblage, and formally presented to that body, amid a scene of unparalleled enthusiasm. After that, they were in demand in every State of the Union in which free labor is honored, where they were borne in processions of the people, and hailed by hun- dreds of thousands of freemen as a symbol of triumph, and as a glorioua vindication of freedom and of the rights and dignity of free labor. These, however, were far from being the first and only rails made by Lincoln He was a practised hand at the business. Mr. Lincoln has now a caiw ftiade from one of the raib spli wn hands in boyhood. 24 The Life, Public Services, and Every one remembers how, during the presidential campaign of 1860, Mr. Lincoln was characterized as a u rail-splitter ;" first, sneeringly, by his opponents ; after- wards by his own supporters, as the best possible proof that he was of and from the people. .Notwithstanding the increasing age of Thomas Lincoln, his disposition was so restless, and his desire for change so ineradicable, that, after a single year's residence in his new home, he determined to abandon it, and in the spring of 1831 started for Coles County, sixty or seventy miles, to the eastward. Abraham determined not to follow has father in his journeyings, and possibly the want of his son' s efficient help compelled him to forego further change, and to settle down for the rest of his days on the upper waters of the Kaskaskia and Embarras, where he died on January 17, 1851, in the seventy -third year of his age. In the spring of 1831, Abraham made his second trip to New Orleans, in the capacity of a fiat-boatman, returning in the summer of the same year. The man who had em- ployed him for this voyage was so well pleased with the energy and business capacity displayed by young Lincoln, that upon establishing a store at New Salem, some twenty miles from Springfield, soon afterward, he engaged him to assist him in the capacity of clerk, and also to superin- tend a flouring-mill in the immediate vicinity. In one of the celebrated debates during the Senatorial campaign Mr. Douglas ventured to refer, in rather disparaging terms, to this year of Mr. Lincoln's life, taunting him with having been a grocery-keeper. To this Mr. Lincoln replied as follows : — i The judge is wofully at fault about his early friend Lincoln being a "grocery-keeper." I don't know as it would be a great sin, if I had been; but he is mistaken. Lincoln never kept a grocery anywhere in the world. It is true that Lincoln did work the latter part of one winter hi a little still-house, up at the head of a hollow. This frank statement drew the sting completely from the taunt of Senator Douglas. Some, at least, of those who were listening to the debate, knew that, at the time State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 25 to which. Mr. Lincoln referred, a winter of unusual severity had caused extreme suffering through that sec- tion of Illinois, and that he was not only anxious, but compelled, to take up with any occupation by which he might turn an honest penny in order to keep his father's family, who were even then partially dependent upon him, from positive want. In 1832 the Black Hawk war broke out, and Mr. Lin- coln, prompt as ever to answer the call of duty, joined a volunteer company and took the field against the Indians. That he had already gained a recognized position in the part of the State where he then lived, is clearly indicated by the fact that he was elected captain of his company. After a few weeks' ineffectual service, the force which had responded to the call of Governor Reynolds was dis- banded. The troubles broke out anew, however, within a short time, and again Mr. Lincoln enlisted, this time also as a private. What rank was conferred upon him, if any, during this campaign is not recorded ; but in spite of the pressure brought to bear upon him by older mem- bers of his company, to induce him to return home, he discharged his duties faithfully through the three months' campaign. Many years after, during his congressional career, Mr. Lincoln referred thus humorously to his military services in this "war:" — By the way, Mr. Speaker, did you know I was a military hero! 1 es, sir, in the days of the Black Hawk war I fought, bled, and came way. Speaking of General Cass's career, reminds me of my own. I was not at Sullivan's defeat, but I was about as near to it as Cass was to Hull's surrender; and, like him, I saw the place soon after. It is quite certain that I did not break my swoi d, for I had none to break ; but I bent my musket pretty badly on one occasion. If Cass broke his sword, the idea is, he broke it in desperation. I bent the musket by accident. If General Cass went in advance of me in picking whortleberries, I guess T surpassed him in charges upon the wild onions. If he saw any live fighting Indians, it was more than I did, but I had a great many bloody struggles with the mosquitoes; and although I never iainted from loss of Dlood, I certainly can say I was often very hungry. Ills military career closed, Mr. Lincolr turned his atten- 26 The Life, Public Services, and tion to politics. He espoused the cause of Henry Clay- in opposition to that of General Jackson, who was very popular in that section of Illinois — and ran as a candidate for the State legislature. Although this contest took place three months before the presidential election, the same elements entered into it, and Mr. Lincoln was de- feated, as he undoubtedly expected to he, although hifc failure must have been amply compensated for by the highly complimentary vote that he received in his own precinct, which gave him two hundred and seventy-seven votes out of two hundred and eighty-four cast ; and this, be it remembered, was the first and last time that he was ever beaten before the people. The contest ended, Mr. Lincoln settled down to business again. He purchased a store and stock of goods on credit, and secured the postmastership of the town; but the venture was un- successful, and he sold out. Meanwhile, he was still employing every opportunity offered him to improve his mind. He had mastered grammar, and occupied his leisure time in general reading, taking care to write out a synopsis of every book he perused, so as to fix the con- tents in his memory. About this time he met John Calhoun, afterwards president of the Lecompton Constitutional Convention. Calhoun proposed to Lincoln to take up surveying, and himself aided in his studies. He had plenty of employment as a surveyor, and won a good reputation in this new line of business ; but the financial crash of 1837 destroyed bis business, and his instruments were finally sold under a sheriff's execution. This reverse again threw him back into political life, and as the best preparation for it he vigorously pursued his legal studies. In 1834, Mr. Lincoln again ran for the legislature, and this time was elected. Then that political fife commenced, which his countrymen' s votes have since shown they fully appreciated. In 1836, Mr. Lincoln was again elect- ed to the legislature as one of the seven representatives from Sangamon County, and during this term he waa assigned a place on the Finance Committee, his mem oer- State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 27 ship of the Committee on Public Accounts and Expendi- tures during his first term 1 laying qualified him for this duty. The following letter, which was written during this canvass, besides "being an interesting reminiscence of Mi . Lincoln's early political life, is valuable as exhibiting, iu a striking manner, his determination to be frank and honest in ail his dealings with the public and with his opponents : — Nkw Salkm, June 21, 1886. Dear Colonel: — I am told that, during ray absence last week, yon passed through this place, and stated publicly that you were in possession of a fact or facts, which, if known to the public, would entirely destroy the prospects of N. W. Edwards and myself at the ensuing election ; but that, through favor to us, you would forbear to divulge them. No one has needed favors more than I, and, generally, few have been loss unwilling to accept them; but in this case favor to me would be in- justice to the public, and, therefore, 1 must beg your pardon for declining it. That I once had the confidence of the people of Sangamon county is sufficiently evident, and if I have since done any thing, either by design or misadventure, which, if known, would subject me to a forfeiture of that confidence, he that knows of that thing and conceals it, is a traitor to his country's interest. I find myself wholly unable to form any conjecture of what fact or facts, real or supposed, you spoke. But my opinion of your veracity will not permit me, for a moment, to doubt that you, at least, believed what you said. I am flattered with the personal regard you manifested for me; but I do hope that, on more mature reflection, you will view the public interest as a paramount consideration, and therefore determine to let the worst come. I here assure you that the candid statement of facts on your part, how- ever low it may sink me, shall never break the ties of personal friendship between us. I wish an answer to this, and you are at liberty to publish both, if yoa cl oose. Very respectfully, A. LlNOOLN. Col. Robert Allen. It was in this year (1836) that Mr. Lincoln first became acquainted with Mr. Douglas, whom he was destined to meet in so many hotly contested campaigns, but whom he did not then anticipate that he should, twenty -four years afterwards, defeat in a presidential election. The Democrats of course held the ascendency in th« Illinois 28 The Life, Public Services, and legislature at this time, and they took advantage of theii strength to pass some extreme pro-slavery resolutions, branding as " abolitionists" those who refused to indorse them. That his position might not be misunderstood, Mr. Lincoln took advantage of his parliamentary privi- lege to enter upon the Journal of the House, in connec- tion with a colleague, his reasons for voting in opposition to the resolutions. This document, which now possesses historical interest, reads as follows : — Makoh 8, 1837. The following protest was presented to the House, which was read and ordered to be spread on the journals, to wit: " Resolutions upon the subject of domestic slavery having passed both branches of the General Assembly at its present session, the undersigned hereby protest against the passage of the same. M They believe that the institution of slavery is founded on both injustice and bad policy; but that the promulgation of abolition doctrines tends rather to increase than abate its evils. " They believe that the Congress of the United States has no power, under the Constitution, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the different States. u Thoy believe that the Congress of the United States has the power, under the Constitution, to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia; but that the power ought not to be exercised, unless at the request of the people of said District. 11 The difference between these opinions and those contained in the said resolutions, is their reason for entering this protest. "(Signed) "Dan Stone, " A. Lincoln, Representatives from the County of Sangamon." In 1838, Mr. Lincoln was for the third time elected to the State legislature ; and among his six colleagues, as rep- resentatives from Sangamon County, was John Calhoun, since notorious for his connection with the Lecompton Constitution. His position as leader of the Whigs in the House was so well recognized, that he received the party vote for the Speakership, and was defeated by only one vote. In 1840, for the fourth successive term, Mr. Lin- coln was returned to the legislature, and again received the vote of his party as the candidate for Speaker. Meanwhile, he had been vigorously engaged in canvas sing the State, in anticipation of the presidential election. State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 29 and had greatly enhanced his reputation by his repeated earnest and eloquent efforts. Polities had interfered so seriously with. Mr. Lincoln's legal studies, which had been energetically prosecuted during the intervals of legislative duty, that at the close of this term he declined a renomination, in order that he might devote his whole time to the practice of his profes- sion. As already stated, he had been admitted to the bar in 1836 ; and on April 15, 1837, he settled permanently in Springfield, the seat of Sangamon County, which was destined to be his future home. His friend and former colleague in the legislature, Hon. John T. Stuart, was his partner. One incident of his law practice partakes deeply of the romantic. It is authentic, however, and is well worth narrating. When Mr. Lincoln first went out into the world, to earn a living for himself, he worked for a Mr. Armstrong, of Petersburg, Menard County, who, with his wife, took a great interest in him, lent him books to read, and, after the season for work was over, encour- aged him to remain with them until he should find some- thing "to turn his hand to." They also hoped much from his influence over their son, an over-indulged and somewhat unruly boy. The sequel, which is thus graph- ically told by the Cleaveland Leader, shows how these good people reaped their reward for their generosity to the young man whom they so generously took under their protection. That journal says : — Some few years since, the eldest son of Mr. Lincoln's old friend, Armstrong, the chief supporter of his widowed mother — the good old man having some time previously passed from earth — was arrested on the charge of murder. A young man had been killed during a riotous melee in the night-time at a camp-meeting, and one of his associates stated that the death-wound was inflicted by young Armstrong. A pre- liminary examination was gone into, at which the accuser testified so positively, that there seemed no doubt of the guilt of the prisoner, and therefore he was held for trial. As is too often the case, the bloody act caused an undue degree of excitement in the public mind. Every improper incident in the life of the prisoner — each act which bore the least semblance to rowdyism < ; < !i -schoolboy quarrel, — was suddenly 30 The Life, Public Services, and remembered and magnified, until they pictured hirn as a fiend of the inosV horrible hue. As these rumors spread abroad they were received as gos- pel truth, and a feverish desire for vengeance seized upon the infatuated populace, whilst only prison bars prevented a horrible death at the hands of a mob. The events were heralded in the county papers, painted in highest colors, accompanied by rejoicing over the certainty of punishment being meted out to the guilty party. The prisoner, overwhelmed by tb» circumstances under which he found himself placed, fell into a melan- choly condition bordering on despair, and the widowed mother, lookin| through her tears, saw no cause for hope from earthly aid. i At this juncture, the widow received a letter from Mr. Lincoln, vol- unteering his services in an effort to save the youth from the impending stroke. Gladly was his aid accepted, although it seemed impossible for even his sagacity to prevail in such a desperate case ; but the heart of Ihe attorney was in his work, and he set about it with a will that knew no such word as fail. Feeling that the poisoned condition of the public mind was such as to preclude the possibility of impanelling an impartial jury in the court having jurisdiction, he procured a change of venue and a postponement of the trial. He then went studiously to work unravelling the history of the case, and satisfied himself that his client was the victim of malice, and that the statements of the accuser were a tissue of fake- hoods. When the trial was called on, the prisoner, pale and emaciated, with hopelessness written on every feature, and accompanied by his half- hoping, half-despairing mother — whose only hope was in a mother's belief of her son's innocence, in the justice of the God she worshipped, and in the noble counsel, who, without hope of fee or reward upon earth, had undertaken the cause — took his seat in the prisoners' box, and with a "stony firmness" listened to the reading of the indictment. Lincoln sat quietly by, while the large auditory looked on him as though wondering what he could say in defence of one whose guilt they regarded as certain. The examination of the witnesses for the State was begun, and a well- arranged mass of evidence, circumstantial and positive, was introduced, syhich seemed to impale the prisoner beyond the possibility of extrication. The counsel for the defence propounded but few questions, and those of a character which excited no uneasiness on the part of the prosecutor — merely, in most cases, requiring the main witnesses to be definite as to the time and place. When the evidence of the prosecution was ended, Lincoln introduced a few witnesses to remove some erroneous impressions in regard to the previous character of his client, who, though somewhat rowdyish, had never been known to commit a vicious act; and to show that a greater degree of ill feeling existed between the accuser and the accused, than the accused and the deceased. The prosecutor felt that the case was a clear one, and nis opening speech was brief and formal. Lincoln arose, while a deathly silence pervaded the vast audience, and in a clear and moderate tone began his State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 31 irgument. Slowly and carefully he reviewed the testimony, pointing onl the hitherto unobserved discrepancies in the statements of the principal witness. That which had seemed plain and plausible he made to appear crooked as a serpent's path. The witness had stated that the affair took place at a certain hour in the evening, and that, by the aid of the brightly shining moon, he saw the prisoner inflict the death-blow with the slung- shot. Mr. Lincoln showed that at the hour referred to the moon had no! yet appeared above the horizon, and consequently the whole tale was a fabrication. An almost instantaneous change seemed to have been wrought in the minds of his auditors, and the verdict of u not guilty" was at the end of every tongue. But the advocate wa3 not content with this intellectual achievement. His whole being had for months been bound up in this work of gratitude and mercy, and as the lava of the over charged crater bursts from its imprisonment, so great thoughts and burning words leaped forth from the soul of the eloquent Lincoln. He drew a picture of the perjurer so horrid and ghastly, that the accuser could sit under it no longer, but reeled and staggered from the court-room, whilst the audience fancied they could see the brand upon his brow. Then in words of thril- ling pathos Lincoln appealed to the jurors as fathers of some who might become fatherless, and as husbands of wives who might be widowed, to yield to no previous impressions, no ill-founded prejudice, but to do his client justice; and as he alluded to the debt of gratitude which he owel the boy's sire, tears were seen to fall from-many eyes unused to weep. I* was near night when he concluded, by saying that if justice was* done — as he believed it would be — before the sun should set, it would shine upon his client a free man. The jury retired, and the court ad- journed for the day. Half an hour had not elapsed, when, as the offices of the court and the volunteer attorney sat at the tea-table of their hotel, a messenger announced that the jury had returned to their seats. AH repaired immediately to the court-house, and whilst the prisoner was being brought from the jail, the court-room was filled to overflowing with citizens from the town. When the prisoner and his mother entered, silence reigned as completely as though the house were empty. The fore- man of the jury, in answer to the usual inquiry from the court, delivered the verdict of "Not Guilty!" The widow dropped into the arms of her eon, who lifted her up and told her to look upon him as before, free and innocent. Then, with the words, "Where is Mr. Lincoln?" he rushed across the room and grasped the hand of his deliverer, whilst his heart was too full for utterance. Lincoln turned his eyes toward the West, where the sun still lingered in view, and then, turning to the youth, said: " It is not yet sundown and you are free." I confess that my cheeks were not wholly unwet by tears, and I turned from the affecting scene. As 1 cast a glance behind, I saw Abraham Lincoln obeying the Divine injuno« tk n by comforting the widowed and fatherless. 32 The Life, Public Services, and A writer in the San Francisco Bulletin, in the course of an article giving reminiscences of Mr. Lincoln, thus sketches still another phase of his legal career : — A number of years ago, the writer of this lived in one of the judicial circuits of Illinois in which Abraham Lincoln had an extensive, though not very lucrative practice. The terms of the court were held quarterly, and usually lasted about two weeks. The oocasions were always season* of great importance and much gayety in the little town that had the honor of being the county seat. Distinguished members of the Bar from sur- rounding and even from distant counties, ex-judges and ex-members of Congress attended, and were personally, and many of them popularly known to almost every adult, male and female, of the limited population. They came in by stages and on horseback. Among them, the one above all whose arrival was looked forward to with the most pleasurable antici- pations, and whose possible absence — although he never was absent — was feared with the liveliest emotions of anxiety, was "Uncle Abe," as he was lovingly called by us all. Sometimes he might happen to be a day or two late, and then, as the Bloomington stage came in at sundown, the Bench and the Bar, jurors and the general citizens, would gather in crowds at the hotel where he always put up, to give him a welcome if he should happily arrive, and to experience the keenest feelings of disappoint- ment if he should not. If he arrived, as he alighted and stretched out both his long arms to shake hands with those nearest to him and with those who approached — his homely face handsome in its broad and sun- shiny smile, nis voice touching in its kindly and cheerful accents — every one in his presence felt lighter in heart and became joyous. He brought light with him. He loved his fellow-men with all the strength of his great nature, and those who came in contact with him could not help reciprocating the love. His tenderness of the feelings of others waa ( f sensitiveness in the extreme. For several years after settling in Springfield, Mr. Lin- coln remained a bachelor, residing in the family of Hon. William Butler, who was, a few years since, elected State Treasurer. On November 4th, 1842, he married Miss Mary Todd, daughter of Hon. Robert S. Todd, of Lex- ington, Kentucky. She now mourns the violent and untimely death of her lamented husband. Mr. Lincoln's love for Henry Clay, which was enkin died by the life of that statesman, which he read when a k°J r 5 grew with his years, and when he reached manhood it had deepened into enthusiastic admiration. In 1844 he 0tmnpe4 Dliaoii for him, and even extended his hbovB to State Papers op Abraham Lincoln. 33 Indiana. None felt more keenly than lie the unexpected defeat of his favorite. In 1846 Mr. Lineoln was induced to accept the nomination for Congress, and in the district which had, two years before, given Mr. Clay, for Presi dent, a majority of nine hundred and fourteen votes, he astonished himself and his friends by rolling up a major- ity of fifteen hundred and eleven. To add to the signifi- cance of his triumph, he was the only Whig representative from Illinois, which had then seven members in that body. This Congress had before it subjects of great importance and interest to the country. The Mexican War was in progress, and Congress had to deal with grave questions arising out of it, besides determining and providing the means by which it was to be carried on. The irrepressible Slavery Question was there also, in many of its Protean forms, — in questions on the right of petition, in questions as to the District of Columbia, in many questions as to the Territories. Mr. Lincoln was charged by his enemies in later years, when political hostility was hunting sharply for material out of which to make capital against him, with lack of patriotism, alleging that he voted against the war. The charge was sharply and clearly made by Judge Douglas, at the first of their joint discussions in the Senatorial contest of 1858. In his speech at Ottawa, he said of Mr. Lincoln, that " while in Congress he distinguished him- self by his opposition to the Mexican war, taking the si le of the common enemy against Ms own country, and when he returned home he found that the indigna- tion of the people followed him everywhere." No better answer can be given to this charge than that which Mr. Lincoln himself made, in his reply to this speech. He says: "1 was an old Whig, and whenever the Democratic party tried to get me to vote that the war had been righteously begun by the President, I would not do it. But whenever they i*sked for any money or land-warrants, or any thing to pay the soldiers there, during all that time I gave the same vote that Judge Douglas did. You can think as you please as to whether 34 The Life, Public Services, ani» that was consistent. Such is the truth, and the Judge has a light to make all he can out of it. But when he, by a general charge, conveys the idea that I withheld supplies from the soldiers who were fighting in the Mex- ican war, or did any thing else to hinder the soldiers, he is, to say the least, grossly and altogether mistaken, as a consultation of the records will prove to him." We need no more thorough refutation of this imputa- tion upon his patriotism than is embodied in this clear and distinct denial. It required no little sagacity, at that time, to draw a clear line of demarcation between sup- porting the country while engaged in war, and sustaining the war itself, which Mr. Lincoln, in common with the great body of the party with which he was connected, regarded as utterly unjust. The Democratic party made vigorous use of the charge everywhere. The whok foundation of it, doubtless, was the fact which Mr. Lin- coln states, that, whenever the Democrats tried to get him u to vote that the war had been righteously begun,' * he would not do it. He showed, in fact, on this point, the same clearness and directness, the same keen eye fo* the important point in a controversy, and the same tena city in holding it fast, and thwarting his opponent's utmost efforts to obscure it and cover it up, to draw attention to other points and raise false issues, which were the marked characteristics of his great controversy with Judge Douglas at a subsequent period of their poli- tical history. It is always popular, because it always seems patriotic, to stand by the country when engaged in .War — and the people are not invariably disposed to judge leniently of efforts to prove their country in the wrong as against any foreign power. In this instance, Mr Lincoln saw that the strength of the position of the Administration before the people, in reference to the beginning of the war ; was in the point, which they lost no opportunity of reiter ating, viz. : that Mexico had shed the blood of our citizens on our own soil. This position he believed to be false, and he accordingly attacked it in a series of resolution* requesting the President to give the House information Stat* Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 35 on that point ; which President Polk would have found as difficult to dodge as Douglas found it to dodge tlit questions which Mr. Lincoln proposed to him. As a part of the history of Mr. Lincoln's Congressional career, we give these resolutions, omitting the preamble, which simply reproduces the language employed by President Polk in his message, to convey the impression that the Mexicans were the aggressors, and that the war was undertaken to repel invasion, and to avenge the shed- ding of the blood of our fellow-citizens on our own soil The quaint phraseology of the resolutions stamps them as the production of Mr. Lincoln's pen. They read as follows : Resolved by the House of Representatives, That the President of the United States be respectfully requested to inform this House — 1st. Whether the spot on which the blood of our citizens was shed, as in his messages declared, was or was not within the territory of Spain, at least after the treaty of 1819, until the Mexican revolution. 2d. Whether that spot is or is not within the territory which was wrested from Spain hy the revolutionary Government of Mexico. 3d. Whether tiiat spot is or is not within a settlement of people, whieh settlement has existed ever since long before the Texas revolution, and until its inhabitants fled before the approach of the United States army. 4th. Whether that settlement is or is not isolated from any and all other settlements by the Gulf and the Rio Grande on the south and west, and by wide uninhabited regions on the north and east. 5th. Whether the people of that settlement, or a majority of them, or any of them, have ever submitted themselves to the government or laws of Texas or of the United States, by consent or by compulsion, either by accepting office, or voting at elections, or paying tax, or serving on juries, W having process served upon them, or in any other way. 6th. Whether the people of that settlement did or did not flee from the approach of the United States army, leaving unprotected their homes anu their growing crops, before the blood was shed, as in the messages stated ; and whether the first blood so shed, was or was not shed within the enclosure of one of the people who had thus fled from it. 7th. Whether our citizens, whose blood was shed, as in his messages declared, were or were not, at that time, armed officers and soldiers, sent into that settlement by the military order of the President, through the Secretary of War. 8th. Whether the military force of the United States was or was not «o sent into that settlement after General Taylor had more than one* 36 The Life, Public Services,, and intimated to the War Department that, in his opinion, no such movement v* a» necessary to the defence or protection oi Texas. These resolutions, which Mr. Polk would have found it very inconvenient to answer, were laid over, under the rule, and were never acted upon, although Mr. Lincoln commented on them in a speech, made January 12, 1843, which, by the way, was his first formal appearance in the House. In this speech he discussed, in his homely but forcible manner, the absurdities and contradictions of Mr. Polk's message, and exposed its weaknesses. In these times, when questions of so much greater mag nitude and importance have overshadowed those which occupied or agitated the public mind twenty years ago, it seems strange that political opponents could even then have compelled Mr. Lincoln to defend his course in Congress, as having been prompted by patriotic motives. The nation which has been plunged into mourning by his sudden and violent death, would now regard as gratuitous and puerile any argument, the purpose of which should be to prove that Mr. Lincoln's action upon this Mexican question was governed by the same inflexible ideas of honor and right which ruled him so unwaveringly throughout his entire public career, and which have 6ince made his memory sacred. A Whig from conviction, Mr. Lincoln acted consistently with his party upon all questions of public concern. On June 20, 1848, after the nomination of General Cass as the Democratic candidate for the Presidency, Mr. Lincolr made an able speech in support of the line of policy th* Whigs had pursued regarding internal improvements. He ridiculed mercilessly the position taken by Genera] Cass upon this important question, and, in concluding his remarks, thus stated his own views, while he dealt a severe blow at the same pseudo chivalric spirit of the South, which he has since been chiefly instrumental in humbling to the dust. He said : How to do something, and still not to do too much, is tLe desideratum I*et each contribute his mite in the way of suggestion. The late Silaa State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 37 "Wright, in a letter to the Chicago convention, contributed his, which wa§ worth something ; and I now contribute mine, which may be worth nothing. At all events, it will mislead nobody, and therefore will do no harm. I would not borrow money. I am against an overwhelming, crushing system. Suppose that, at each session, Congress shall first determine how much money can, for that year, be spared for improve- ments; then apportion that sum to the most important objects. Su tar all is easy; but how shall we determine which are the most im- portant? On this question comes the collision of interests, /shall be slow to acknowledge that your harbor or your river is more important than mine, and vice versa. To clear this difficulty, let us have that same statistical information which the gentleman from Ohio [Mr. Vinton] sug- gested at the beginning of this session. In that information we shall have a stern, unbending basis of facts — a basis in nowise subject to whim, caprice, or local interest. The pre-limited amount of means will save us from doing too much, and the statistics will save us from doing what we do in wrong places. Adopt and adhere to this course, and, it seems to me, the difficulty is cleared. One of the gentlemen from South Carolina [Mr. Ehett] very much de- precates these statistics. He particularly objects, as I understand him, to counting all the pigs and chickens in the land. I do not perceive much force in the objection. It is true, that if every thing be enumerated, a portion of such statistics may not be very useful to this object. Such products of the country as are to be consumed where they are produced, need no roads and rivers, no means of transportation, and have no very proper connection with this subject. The surplus, that which is produced in one place to be consumed in another ; the capacity of each locality for producing a greater surplus ; the natural means of transportation, and their susceptibility of improvement ; the hindrances, delays, and losses of life and property during transportation, and the causes of each, would be among the most valuable statistics in this connection. From these it would readily appear where a given amount of expenditure would do the most good. These statistics might be equally accessible, as they would he equally useful, to both the Nation and the States. In this way, and by these means, let the Nation take hold of the larger works, and the Statei the smaller ones; and thus, working in a meeting direction, discreetly, but steadily and firmly, what is made unequal in one place may be equal- ized in another, extravagance avoided, and the whole country put on that career of prosperity which shall correspond with its extent of territory, its natural resources, and the intelligence and enterprise of its people. The nomination of General Taylor as the Whig candi- date for the Presidency, "by the Convention of that party at Philadelphia, to which Mr. Lincoln was a delegate, foirly opened the campaign, and Congress prolonged its 38 The Life, Public Services, and session until August 14th, as the members, — Senators arid Representatives alike, — insisted, each for himself, upon expressing his views, and defining his position in full, for the benefit of his constituents. The only speech of any length made by Mr. Lincoln, subsequent to that from which we have already quoted, was delivered July 27th, when he defended, with characteristic shrewdness and ability, the position General Taylor had taken regarding the exercise of the veto power. This speech is, perhaps, more strongly marked by Mr. Lincoln's peculiarities than any other of his Congressional utterances. The keen sarcasm with which h^ exposed the inconsistencies of both General Cass and Mr. Yan Buren, is not surpassed in any of his subsequent efforts. Upon the adjournment of Congress, the members en- tered energetically into the popular canvass, Mr. Lincoln first making a visit to New England, where he delivered a number of effective campaign speeches in support of General Taylor. The journals of the day note his pres- ence at the Massachusetts State Convention during his brief visit to New England, and speak in terms of the highest praise of an address which he delivered at New Bedford. He felt conscious, however, that he could labor more effectively among his Western friends, and accord- ingly spent most of his time during the canvass in that section of the country. Although he failed to carry his own State for his favorite candidate, his disappointment was entirely forgotten in General Taylor's election. In December, when the Thirtieth Congress reassembled for its second session, Mr. Lincoln took his seat ; but the exhaustion consequent upon the exciting political cam- paign just closed, reacted upon Congress, and precluded the possibility of any exciting discussions. Important action was taken, however, upon the slavery question in some of its phases. It is needless to state, that du- ring his entire Congressional service Mr. Lincoln steadily and persistently cast his vote upon the side of freedom. llfl repeatedly recorded himself against laying on the table, without consideration, netitions in favor of th* State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 39 Abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia, and against the slave-trade. On the question of abolishing slavery in the District, lie toolc rather a prominent part. A Mr. Gott had in- troduced a resolution directing the proper committee to introduce a bill abolishing the slave-trade in the District. On January 16 (1849), Mr. Lincoln moved the following amendment, instructing the Committee to intro- duce a bill not for the abolition of the slave-trade, but of slavery, within the District : — Resolved, That the Committee on the District of Columbia be instructed 4d report a bill in substance as follows : Seo. 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives ¥ whom so much had been said. Next he discussed the Dred Scott decision, and showed that, in denouncing it, he had not gone so far as Mr. Douglas himself had done in applauding General Jackson for disregarding the decision of the same tribunal upon the constitutionality of the National Bank. Qu jting from the Dred Scott decision some expressions in w T hich Chief-Justice Taney intimated that the public estimate of the black man was more favorable then than it was in the days of the revolution, Mr. Lincoln replied to the impli- cation in the following forcible manner : — This assumption is a mistake. In some trifling particulars the condi- tion of that race has been ameliorated ; but, as a whole, in this country, the change between then and now is decidedly the other way; and their ultimate destiny ha« never appeared so hopeless as in the last three or four yegrs. In two of the five States — New Jersey and North Carolina* — that theiv gave the free negro the right of voting, the right has sincet been taken away; and in the third — New York — it has been greatly abridged, while it has not been extended, so far as I know, to a single additional State, though the number of the States has more than doubled. In those days, as 1 understand, masters could, at their own pleasure, emancipate their «|}iv8s: but, since then, such iegai restraint* have been made upon 48 The Life, Pudlic Services, and emancipation as to amount almost to prohibition. In those days, legis- latures held the unquestioned power to abolish slavery in their respective States ; but now it is becoming quite fashionable for State constitutions to withhold that power from the legislatures. In those days, by com- mon consent, the spread of the black man's bondage to the new countries was prohibited; but now, Congress decides that it will not continue the prohibition, and the Supreme Court decides that it could not, if it would. In those days, our Declaration of Independence was held sacred by all, ?t:d thought to include all; but now, to aid in making the bondage of the negro univerf>Al and eternal, it is assailed, sneered at, construed, hawked at, and torn, till, if its framers could rise from their graves, they could not at all recognize it. All the powers of earth set n rapidly combining against him. Mammon is after him ; ambition follows, philosoplfy fol lows, and the theology of the day is fast joining the cry. They have him in his prison-house ; they have searched his person, and left no prying instrument with him. One after another they have closed the heavy iron doors upon him ; and now they have him, as it were, bolted in with a lock of a hundred keys, which can never be unlocked without the con- currence of every key ; the keys in the hands of a hundred different men, and they scattered to a hundred different and distant places; and tbey stand musing as to what invention, in all the dominions of mind and matter, can be produced to make the impossibility of his escape mor« complete than it is. It is grossly incorrect to say or assume that the public estimate of the negro is more favorable now than it was at the origin of the Govern- ment. No one would have been more surprised than Mr. Lin- coln himself, could the fact have "been revealed to him, when uttering these words, that through him as an hum- ble instrument in the hands of Province, an d i n the brief space of eight years, a vastdiar'.^e r ^uld be brought about in the status of th?t dCo. ** Ijk*s sufferings and wrongs he thus eloqueiuly ""'bp'^'jdd* In this same spee^ia 71 ^. ■V^ocla turned from the course of his argument f^" « # M^Tti, to demolish, in his charac- teristic mamr", cK absurd charge which his opponent had demp<; ^a Vunself by repeating, that, in laboring to secure ,up ji^gio his rights, the Kepublicans desired to 1 je K[ D on a complete political and social equality with t pelves. He said ; — State Papers op Abraham Lincoln, 49 t»ud J'ulgo Dongas evidently is basing liis chief hope upon the chances of his being able to appropriate the benolit ol* tiiia disgust to himself. If ho can, by much drumming and repeating, fasten the odium of that idea upon his adversaries, he thinks he can struggle through the storm. lie therefore clings to this hope, as a drowning man to the last plank. Be makes an occasion for lugging it in from the opposition to the Dred Scott decision. He finds the Kepublicans insisting that the Declaration of Inpependence includes all men, black as well as white, and forthwith he boldly denies that it includes negroes at all, and proceeds 10 argue gravely that all who contend that it does, do so only because they want to vote, eat and sleep, and marry with negroes 1 He will have it that they cannot be consistent else. Now, I protest against the counterfeit logic which concludes that, because I do not want a black woman for a slave, I must, necessarily want her for a wife. I need not have her for either. I can j ust leave her alone. In some respects, she certainly is not my equal ; but in hor natural right to eat the bread she earns with her own hands, without asking leave of any one else, she is my equal, and the equal of dl others. We have tlius presented the leading points in these two speeches, because the discussion was the prelude to the famous Senatorial contest of 1858, which gave Mr. Lincoln a national reputation, not only as an able debater and eloquent orator, but as a sagacious and wise politi- cian — wise enough to stand inflexibly by principles of the soundness of which he was himself satisfied, even against the judgment of earnest friends. On the 4th of March, 1857, Mr. Buchanan had taken his seat in the Presidential chair. The struggle between freedom and slavery for the possession of Kansas was at its height. A few days after his inauguration, the Su- preme Court rendered the Dred Scott decision, which was thought by the friends of slavery to insure their victory, by its holding the Missouri Compromise to be unconstitu- tional, because the Constitution itself carried slavery all over the Territories of the United States. In spite of this decision, the friends of freedom in Kansas maintained their ground. The slaveholders, however, pushed for ward their schemes, and in November, 1857, their Con- stitutional Convention, held at Lecompton, adopted the Lecompton Constitution. The trick by which they sub- mitted to the popular vote only a schedule on the slavery 50 The Life, Public Services, and queciion, instead of the whole Constitution, compelling every voter, however he might vote upon this schedule, to vote for their Constitution, which fixed slavery upon the State just as surely, whether the schedule was adopted or not, will be well remembered, as well as the feeling which so unjust a device excited throughout the North- Judge Douglas had sustained the Bred Scott decision, but he could not sustain this attempt to force upon the people of Kansas a Constitution against their will. He took ground openly and boldly against it- — denouncing it in the Senate and elsewhere as an outrage upon the people of Kansas, and a violation of every just Democratic prin- ciple. He declared that he did not care whether the people voted the Slavery clause " up or down," but he thought they ought to have the chance to vote for or against the Constitution itself. The Administration had made the measure their own, and this opposition of Douglas at once excited against him the active hostility of the slaveholders and theii friends, with whom he had hitherto acted in concert. The bill was finally passed through Congress on April 30th, 1858, under what is known as the English Bill, whereby the Constitution was to be submitted to the votes of the people of Kansas, with the offer of heavy bribes to them, in the way of donations of land, etc., if they would accept it ; and the people, in spite of the bribes, voted it down by an immense majority. Judge Douglas's term was on the eve of expiring, and he came home to Illinois after the adjournment of Con- gress, to attend in person to the political campaign, upon the result of which was to depend his re-election to the Senate. . His course on the Lecompton bill had made an open breach between him and the Administration, and he had rendered such good service to the Eepublicans, in their battle with that monstrous infamy, that there were not wanting many among them who were inclined to think it would be wise not to oppose his re-election. But the Republicans of Illinois thought otherwise State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 61 They knew that he was not in any sense a Republican. They knew that on the cardinal principle of the Repub- lican party, opposition to the spread of Slavery into the Territories, he was not with them ; for he had declared in the most positive way that he "did not care whether Slavery was voted down or up." And they therefore determined, in opposition to the views of some influential Republicans, at home as well as in other States, to fight the battle through against him, with all the energy that * they could bring to the work. And to this end, on the 1 7th of June, 1858, at their State Convention at Spring- field, they nominated Mr. Lincoln as their candidate for the Senate of the United States. The circumstances we have briefly sketched invested the campaign about to open with national importance. The people of the whole Union saw that the struggle then initiated in Illinois must ultimately extend to other States, and they knew that they would soon be compelled them- selves to pass upon the questions there to be decided. None doubted that the principle of * ' Popular Sovereignty' ' would be thoroughly examined, for the reputation of the two combatants as men of extraordinary ability was es- tablished. It was the universal expectation that each aspirant for senatorial honors would display peculiar caution in opening the struggle, in order to prevent thf other from gaining any undue advantage ; but Mr. Lin coin scorned every appearance of subterfuge or evasion. His opinions had become sharply defined and clearl> crystallized during the contests through which he had passed in the years preceding, and in his speech to the Convention which nominated him, signifying his accept- ance of the honor conferred upon him, he expressed him- self so unreservedly and frankly that even Lis supporters were for the moment startled. In a speech delivered at Chicago, July 9,— the first after Mr. Lincoln's nomination, — Senator Douglas aDuded to this address as having been u well prepared and care- fully written." In reply, Mr. Lincoln said, " Gentlemen, Jndge Douglas informed you that this speech oi mm# 62 The Life, Public Services, ani* was probably carefully prepared , I admit that it was. 1 am not a master of language. I have not a fine educa- tion ; I am not capable of entering into a disquisition upon dialectics, as I believe you call it." In the address thus alluded to, Mr. Lincoln struck the key-note of the campaign. Its exposition of his political creed, and his statement of the important points at issue, is so succinct and complete that we reproduce it here. It is as fol- lows : — ■ Mr. President, and Gentlemen of tiie Convention:— If wo could first know where we are, and whither we are tending, we could better judge what to do, and how to do it. We are now far into the fifth year •ince a policy was initiated with the avowed object, and confident prom- ise, of putting an end to slavery agitation. Under the operation of that policy that agitation has not only not ceased, but has constantly augment- ed. In my opinion, it will not cease until a crisis shall have been reached and passed. " A house divided against itself cannot stand." I believe this Government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved, I do not expect the house to fall, but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing, or all the other. Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the furthel spread of it, and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the course of ultimate extinction ; or its advocates will push it forward till it shall become alike lawful in all the States, old as well as new, North as well as South. Have we no tendency to the latter condition? Let any one who doubts carefully contemplate that now almost com plete legal combination— piece of machinery, so to speak — compounded of the Nebraska doctrine and the Dred Scott decision. Let him consider not only what work the machinery is adapted to do, and how well adapt- ed ; but also let him study the history of its construction, and trace, if he can, or rather fail, if he can, to trace, the evidences of design and concert of action among its chief architects from the beginning. The new year of 1854 found slavery excluded fiv ui more than half the States by State Constitutions, and from most of the national territory by Congressional prohibition. Four days later commenced the struggle which ended in repealing that Congressional prohibition. This opened all the national territory to slavery, and was the first point gained. But so far Congress only had acted ; and an indorsement by the people, real or apparent, was indispensable, to save the point already gained and give chance for more. This necessity had not been overlooked, but had been provided for, as well as might be, in the notable argument of "squatter sovereignty, v State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 53 otherwise called " sacred right of self-government ;" which latter phrase, though expressive of the only rightful basis of any government, was no perverted in this attempted use of it as to amount to just this: That if any one man choose to enslave another, no third man shall be allowed to object. That argument was incorporated into the Nebraska bill itself, in the language which follows: "It being the true intent and meaning of this act not to legislate slavery into any Territory or State, nor to exclude it therefrom; but to leave the people thereof perfectly free to form and regulate their domestic institutions in their own way, subject only to the Constitution of the United States." Then opened the roar of loose decla- mation in favor of "squatter sovereignty," and "sacred right of self-gov- arnment." "But," said opposition members, "let us amend the bill so as to expressly declare that the people of the Territory may exclude slavery." "Not we," said the friends of the measure; and down they voted the amendment. While the Nebraska bill was passing through Congress, a law-case, in- volving the question of a negro's freedom, by reason of his owner having voluntarily taken him first into a free State and then into a Territory cov- ered by the Congressional prohibition, and held him as a slave for a long time in each, was passing through the United States Circuit Court for the District of Missouri; and both Nebraska bill and lawsuit were brought to a decision in the same month of May, 1854. The negro's name wab "Dred Scott," which name now designates the decision finally made in the case. Before the then next presidential election, the law-case came to, and was argued in, the Supreme Court of the United States ; but the decision of it was deferred until after the election. Still, before the elec- tion, Senator Trumbull, on the floor of the Senate, requested the leading advocate of the Nebraska bill to state his opinion whether the people of a Territory can constitutionally exclude slavery from their limits; and the latter answers: "That is a question for the Supreme Court." The election came. Mr. Buchanan was elected, and the indorsement, such as it was, secured. That was the second point gained. The in- dorsement, however, fell short of a clear popular majority by nearly four hLndred thousand votes, and so, perhaps, was not overwhelmingly reliable and satisfactory. The outgoing president, in his last anmml message, as impressively as possible echoed back upon the people the weight and authority of the indorsement. The Supreme Court met again ; did not announce their decision, but ordered a re- argument. The presi- dential inauguration came, and still no decision of the court; but the incoming President, in his inaugural address, fervently exhorted the people to abide by the forthcoming decision, wh/.tever it might be. Then, in a few days, came the decision. The reputed author of the Nebraska bill finds an early occasion to mate a speech at this capital, indorsing the Dred Scott decision, and vehemently denouncing all opposition to it. The new president, too, seizes the earl? 54 The Life, Fublio Services, aiw occasion of tlio Sillirnai letter to indorse end strongly construe thai decision, and to express his astonishment that any different view had ever been entertained. At length a squabble springs np between the President and the author of the Nebraska bill, on the mere question of /act, whether the Lecomp- ton Constitution was or was not, in any just sense, made by the people of Kansas; and in that quarrel the latter declares that all he wants is a fair vote for the people, and that he cares not whether slave -y be voted fawn or voted vp. I do not understand his declaration thai he cares not whether slavery be voted down or voted up, to be intended by him other than as an apt definition of the policy he would impress upon the public mind — the principle for which he declares he has suffered so much, and is ready to suffer to the end. And well may he cling to that principle. If he has any parental feeling, well may he cling to it. That principle is the only shred left of his original Nebraska doctrine. Under the Dred Scott decision "squatter sovereignty" squatted out of existence, tumbled down, like temporary scaffolding — like the mould at the foundry served through one blast and fell back into loose sand — helped to carry an election, and then was kicked to the winds. His late joint struggle with the Republi- cans, against the Lecompton Constitution, involves nothing of the origi- nal Nebraska doctrine. That struggle was made on a point — the right of a people to make their own constitution — upon which he and the Repub- licans 1 ave never differed. The several points of the Dred Scott decision, in connection with Sena- tor Douglas's " care not" policy, constitute the piece of machinery, in its present state of advancement. This was the third point gained. The working points of that machinery are : — First. That no negro slave, imported as such from Africa, and no descendant of such slave, can ever be a citizen of any State, in the sense of that term as used in the Constitution of the United States. This point is made in order to deprive the negro, in every possible event, of the benefit of that provision of the United States Constitution, which declares that "The citizens of each State shall be entitled to all privileges and immuni- ties of citizens in the several States." Secondly. That, " subject to the Constitution of the United States," neither Congress nor a Territorial Legislature can exclude slavery from any United States territory. This point is made in order that individual men may fill up the Territories with slaves without danger of losing them as property, and thus to enhance the chances of permanency to the insti tution through all the future. Thirdly. That whether the holding a negro in actual slavery in a free State makes him free, as against the holder, the United States courts will not decide, but will leave to be decided by the courts of any slave State the negro may be forced into by the master. This point is made, not to rw pressed immediately , but, if «cquiesced in for awhile, and apparent y State Papers or Abraham Lincoln. 56 mdorsed by the people at an election, then to sustain tht logical conclu- sion that what Dred Scott's master might lawfully do with Dred Scott, m the free State of Illinois, every other master may lawfully do with any othei one, or one thousand slaves, in Illinois, or in any other free State. Auxiliary to all this, and working hand in hand with it, the Nebraska doctrine, or what is left of it, is to educate and mould publio opinion, at xeast Northern public opinion, not to care whether slavery is voted down or voted up. This shows exactly where we now are ; and partially, also^ whitl er we are tending. It will throw additional light on the latter, to go back, and run the rr.iud over the string of historical facts already stated. Several things will now appear less dark and mysterious than they did when they were transpiring. The people were to be left "perfectly free," "subject only to the Constitution." "What the Constitution had to do with it, outsiders could not then see. Plainly enough now, it was an exactly fitted niche for the Dred Scott decision to afterward come in, and declare the perfect freedom of the people to be just no freedom at all. Why was the amend- ment, expressly declaring the right of the people, voted down? Plainly enough now: the adoption of it would have spoiled the niche for the Dred Scott decision. Why was the court decision held up? Why even a Senator's individual opinion withheld till after the presidential election ? Plainly enough now: the speaking out then would have damaged the perfectly free argument upon which the election was to be earned. Why the outgoing President's felicitation on the indorsement? Why the delay of a re-argument ? Why the incoming President's advance exhortation in favor of the decision ? These things look like the cautious patting and petting of a spirited horse preparatory to mounting him, when it is dreaded that he may give the rider a fall. And why the hasty after- indorsement of the decision by the President and others ? We cannot absolutely know that all these exact adaptations are the result of preconcert. But when we see a lot of framed timbers, different portions of which we know have been gotten out at different times and places, and by different workmen — Stephen, Franklin, Roger, and James, for instance — and when we see these timbers joined together, and see they exactly make the frame of a house or a mill, all the tenons and mortices exactly fitting, and all the lengths and proportions of the differ • ent pieces exactly adapted to their respective places, and not a piece too many or too few —not omiitiug even scaffolding — or, if a single piece be lacking, we see the place in the frame exactly fitted and prepared yet to bring such piece in — in such a case, we find it impossible not to believe that Stephen and Franklin and Roger and James all understood one another from the beginning, and all worked upon a common plan or draft drawn up before the first blow was struck. Tt should not be overlooked that, by the Nebraska bill, the people of a 56 The Life, Public Services, and State, as well as Territory, were to be left " perfectly free," u subject only to the Constitution." Why mention a State ? They were legislating for Territories, and not for or about States. Certainly, the people of a State are and ought to be subject to the Constitution of the United States ; but why is mention of this lugged into this merely territorial law? Why are the people of a Territory and the people of a State therein lumped together, and their relation to the Constitution therein treated as being precisely the same? While the opinion of the court, by Chief Justice Taney, in the Dred Scott case, and the separate opinions of nil the concurring Judges, expressly declare that the Constitution of the United States neither permits Congress nor a territorial legislature U exclude slavery from any United States Territory, they all omit to declare whether or not the same Constitution permits a State, or tin people of a State, to exclude it. Possibly, this is a mere omission ; tut who can be quite sure, if McLean or Curtis had sought to get into tine opinion a declaration of unlimited power in the people of a State to exclude slavery from their limits, just as Chase and Mace sought to get such declara- tion, in behalf of the people of a Territory, into the Nebraska bid; — * ask, who can be quite sure that it would not have been voted down in the one case, as it had been in the other? The nearest approach to the point of declaring the power of a State over slavery, is made by Judge Nelson. He approaches it more than once, using the precise idea, and almost the language, too, of the Nebraska act. On one occasion, his exact language is, ''except in cases where the power is restrained by the Constitution of the United States, the law of the State is supreme over the subject of slavery within its jurisdiction." In what cases the power of the States is so restrained by the United States Constitution, is left an open question, precisely as the same question, as to the restraint on the power of the Territories, was left open in the Nebraska act. Put this and that together, and we have another nice little niche, which we may, ere long, see filled with another Supreme Court decision, declaring that the Constitution of the United States does not permit a State to exclude •lavery from its limits. And this may especially be expected, if the doc- trine of "care not whether slavery be voted down or voted up," shall gain upon the public mind sufficiently to give promise that such a decision can be maintained when made. Such a decision is all that slavery now lacks of being alike lawful in all the States. Welcome or unwelcome, such decision is probably coming, and will soon be upon us, unless the power of the present politi- cal dynasty shall be met and overthrown. We shall lie down pleasantly dreaming that the people of Missouri are on the verge of making their State free, and we shall awake to the reality instead, that' the Supreme Court has made Illinois a slave State. To meet and overthrow the power of that dynasty, is the work now before all those who would prevent thai consummation. That is what we have to do. How can we best do it I State Papers op Abraham Lincoln. 57 There are those who denounce us openly to their own friends, and yet wkisper us softly, that Senator Douglas is the aptest instrument there if with which to effect that object. They wish us to infer ail, from the fact that he now has a little quarrel with the present head of the dynasty ; and that he has regularly voted with us on a single point, upon which he and we have never differed. They remind us that he is a great man, aud that the largest of us are very small ones. Let this be granted. But "a living dog is better than a dead lion." Judge Douglas, if not a dead lion, for this work, is at least a caged and toothless one. How can he opposo the advances of slavery? He don't care any thing about it. His avowed mission is impressing the " public heart" to care nothing about it. A leading Douglas democratic newspaper thinks Douglas's superior talent will be needed to resist the revival of the African slave-trade. Does Douglas believe an effort to revive that trade is approaching? He has not said so. Does he really think so ? But if it is, how can he resist it ? For years he has labored to prove it a sacred right of white men to take negro slaves into the new Territories. Can he possibly show that it. is less a sacred right to buy them where they can be bought cheapest? And unquestionably they can be bought cheaper in Africa than in Vir- ginia. He has done all in his power to reduce the whole question of slavery to one of a mere right of property ; and as such, how can he op- pose the foreign slave-trade — how can he refuse that trade in that " prop- erty" shall be " perfectly free" — unless he does it as a protection to the home production ? And as the home producers will probably not ask the protection, he will be wholly without a ground of opposition. Senator Do*uglas holds, we know, that a man may rightfully be wiser to-day than he was yesterday — that he may rightfully change when he finds himself wrong. But can we, for that reason, run ahead, and infer that he will make any particular change, of which he himself has given no intimation? Can we safely base our action upon any such vague in- ference? Now, as ever, I wish not to misrepresent Judge Douglas's position. question his motives, or do aught that can be personally offen- sive to him. Whenever, if ever, he and we can come together on princi- ple, so that our cause may have assistance from his great abiLry, I hope to have interposed no adventitious obstacle. But, clearly, he is not now with us — he does not pretend to be — he does not promise ever to be. Our cause, then, must be intrusted to, and conducted by, its own Txodoubted friends — those whose hands are free, whose hearts are in the work — who do care for the result. Two years ago, the Republicans of the nation mustered over thirteen hundred thousand strong. We did this under the single impulse of resistance to a commou danger, with every external circumstance against us. Of strange, discordant, and even hostile elements, we gathered from the four winds, and formed and fought the battle through, under the constant hot fire of a disciplined, proud, and pampered enemy. Did we brave all then, to falter now I- - 58 'i'he Life, Public Services, and now, when that same enemy ^s wavering, dissevered, and belligerent! The resnlt is not doubtful. We shall not fail — if we stand firm, we shall not fail. Wise counsels may accelerate, or mistakes delay it; but, sooner or later, the victory is sure to come. The first paragraph of this speech has become famous in our political history, and the whole address, with its bold utterance of truths which many, even of Mr. Lin- coln's supporters, did not at that time care to face, was a fitting prelude to the great contest which was to follow. Although, as its author admitted, it had been carefully prepared, he had not consulted with any of his friends regarding it, and none of them, even those with whom he was the most intimate, knew of the positions which he intended to take, until they heard them enunciated from the platform in Springfield, on that memorable June 17. Three weeks later (July 9), Senator Douglas arrived in Chicago, where his friends welcomed him with the most ostentatious demonstrations. On the same day he made a speech, reviewing Mr. Lincoln's address to the Spring- field Convention. He spoke of Mr. Lincoln as "a kind, amiable, and intelligent gentleman, a good citizen and an honorable opponent," and then proceeded to reply to the speech in question, assuming a tone of superiority almost amounting to superciliousness. He was especially severe upon the introductory passage of Mr. Lincoln's address, in which he asserted his belief that the Govern- ment could not endure half slave anc half free. Mr. Lincoln was himself present during the delivery of Senator Douglas's speech, and on the next evening took occasion to reply to it before an immense assemblage, specially convened for that purpose. After a few intro- ductory remarks, Mr. Lincoln thus alluded to the famous phrase which had become the watch-word of the Demo- cratic party for the campaign : — Popular sovereignty! everlasting popular sovereignty! Let us for a moment inquire into this vast matter of popular sovereignty. What ii popular sovereignty ? We rocollect that at an early period in the history f>f this struggle, there was another name for the same thing — SqvxtUf State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 59 Sovereignty. It was not exactly Popnlar Sovereignty, but Squatter Sovereignty. What do those terms mean ? What do those terms mean when used now? And vast credit is taken by onr friend, the Judge, in regard to his support of it, when he declares the last years of his life have been, and all the future years of his life shall be, devoted to this matter of popular sovereignty. What is it? Why, it is the sovereignty of the people! What was Squatter Sovereignty? I suppose, if it had any sig- nificance at all, it was the right of the people to govern themselves, to bt sovereign in their ow^n affairs, while they were squatted down in a country not their own — while they had squatted on a Territory that did not belong to them, in the sense that a State belongs to the people who inhabit it — when it belonged to the nation — such right to govern them- selves was called u Squatter Sovereignty." Now I wish you to mark. What has become of that Squatter Sover- eignty ? What has become of it ? Can you get anybody to tell you now that the people of a Territory have any anthority to govern themselves, in regard to this mooted question of slavery, before they form a State Constitution? No such thing at all, although there is a general running fire, and although there has been a hurrah made in every speech on that side, assuming that policy had given the people of a Territory the right to govern themselves upon this question ; yet the point is dodged. To- day it has been decided — no more than a year ago it was decided by the Supreme Court of the United States, and is insisted upon to-day, that the people of a Territory have no right to exclude slavery from a Territory, that if any one man chooses to take slaves into a Territory, all the rest of the people have n& right to keep them out. This being so, and this decision being made one of the points that the Judge approved, and one in the approval of which he says he means to keep me down — put me down I should not say, for I have never been up. He says he is in favor of it, and sticks to it, and expects to win his battle on that decision ; which says that there is no such thing as Squatter Sovereignty; but that any one man may take slaves into a Territory, and all the other men in the Territory may be opposed to it, and yet by reason of the Con?titutioc they cannot prohibit it. When that is so, how much is left of this vast matter of Squatter Sovereignty, I should like to know ? The Lecompton Constitution and its fate were next dis- cussed, and then Mr. Lincoln proceeded to reply to the inferences which his opponent had so characteristically but unwarrantably drawn from the introductory para- graph of his Springfield speech. He said : In this paragraph which I have quoted in your hearing, and to which 1 **k *he attention of all, Judge D^eclas thinks he discovers great political 60 The Life, Public Services, and heresy. I want your attention particularly to what he has iuferred from it. He says I am in favor of making all the States of this Union uniform in all their internal regulations ; that in all their domestic concerns I am in favor of making them entirely uniform. He draws this inference from the language I have quoted to you. He says that I am in favor of making war by the North upon the South for the extinction of slavery; that I am also in favor of inviting (as he expresses it) the South to a war upon the Vorth, for the purpose of nationalizing slavery. Now, it is singular enough, i you will carefully read that passage over, that I did not say that I was in favor of any thing in it. I only said what I expected would take place. I made a prediction only — it may have been a foolish one, perhaps. I did not even say that I desired that slavery should be put in course of ulti- mate extinction, I do say so now, however, so there need be no longer any difficulty about that. It may be written down in the great speech. Gentlemen, Judge Douglas informed you that this speech of mine was probably carefully prepared. I admit that it was. I am not master of language ; I have not a fine education ; I am not capable of entering into a disquisition upon dialectics, as I believe you call it; but I do r t believe the language I employed bears any such construction as Juage Douglas puts upon it. But I don't care about a quibble in regard to words. I know what I meant, and I will not leave this crowd in doubt, if I can explain it to them, what I really meant in the use of that paragraph. I am not, in the first place, unaware that this Government has endured eighty-two years half slave and half free. I know that. I am tolerably well acquainted with the history of the country, and I know that it has endured eighty-two years, half slave and half free. I leliete — and that is what I meant to allude to there — I believe it has endured, because during all that time, until the introduction of the Nebraska bill, the public mind did rest all the time in the belief that slavery was in course of ultimate extinction. That was what gave us the rest that we had through that period of eighty-two years ; at least, so I believe. I have always hated slavery, I think, as much as any Abolitionist — I have been an Old Line Whig — I have always hated it, but I have always been quiet about it un- til this new era of the introduction of the Nebraska bill began. I always believed that everybody was against it, and that it was in course of ulti- mate extinction. [Pointing to Mr. Browning, who stood near by.] Browning thought so ; the great mass of the nation have rested in the belief that slavery was in course of ultimate extinction. They had reason so to believe. The adoption of the Constitution and its attendant history led the people to believe so ; and that such was the belief of the framers of the Constitution itself, why did those old men, about the time of the adoption of the Constitution, decree that slavery should not go into the new Terri- tory, where it had not already gone ? Why declare that within twenty fears the African Slave Trade, by which slaves are supplied, might be cut State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 61 off by Congress ? Why were all these acts ? I might enumerate rnor* of these acts — but enough. "What were they but a clear indication that the trainers of the Constitution intended and expected the ultimate ex- tinction of that institution? And now, when I say, as I said in my speech ttiat Judge Douglas has quoted from, when I say that 1 think the oppo- nents of slavery will resist the farther spread of it, and place it where the public mind shall rest with the belief that it is in course of ultimate ex- tinction, I only mean to say, that they will place it where the founders cf this Government originally placed it. I have said a hundred times, and I have now no inclination to take it back, that I believe there is no right, and ought to be no inclination in the people of the free States to enter into the slave States, and interfere with the question of slavery at all. I have &Jd that always; Judge Douglas has heard me say it — if not quite a hundred times, at least as good as a hundred times; and when it is said that I am in favor of interfering with slavery where it exists, I know it is unwarranted by any thing I have ever intended, and, as I believe, by any thing I have ever said. If, by any means, I have ever used language which could fairly be so construed (as, however, I believe I never have), I now correct it. So much, then, for the inference that Judge Douglas draws, that I am in favor of setting the sections at war with one another. I know that I never meant any such thing, and I believe that no fair mind can infer any such thing from any thing I have ever said. 'fheee speeches in Chicago and those that had preceded them made it evident that the struggle was to take the shape of a personal contest between the two men, and in every respect, — physically, mentally, and politically, — they were thoroughly antagonistic to each other. Each, moreover, recognized the other as the embodiment of principles to which he was in deadly hostility. Judge Douglas was the champion of all sympathizers with slavery at the North — of those who openly advocated it, and still more of those who took the more plausible and dangerous part of not caring whether it " was Toted down or up." Mr. Lincoln's soul was on fire with love for freedom and for humanity, and with reverence for the Fathers of the country, and for the principles of freedom for all, under the light of which they marched. He felt that the contest was no mere local one ; that it was com- paratively of little consequence which man succeeded in 62 The Life, Public Services, and the fight, but that it was all-important that the banner of freedom should be borne with no faltering step, but "full high advanced." And thus through the whole campaign he sought with all his power to press home tc the hearts of the people the principles, the example, and the teach- ings of the men of the Re volution. At the time of the delivery of the speeches in Chicago, to which we have already alluded, there was no under* standing regarding joint discussions. One week later,how- ever, both spoke in Springfield on the same day, but be- fore different audiences ; and one week later, Mr. Lincoln addressed a letter to Douglas, challenging him to a series of debates during the campaign. The challenge was accepted, and arrangements were at once made for the meetings. The terms proposed by Mr. Douglas — whether intentionally or unintentionally does not appear — were such as to give him the decided advan- tage of having four opening and closing speeches to Mr, Lincoln' s three ; but Mr. Lincoln, while noticing the in- equality, did not hesitate to accept them. The seven joint debates were held as follows : — at Ot- tawa, on August 21st ; at Freeport, on August 27th ; at Jonesboro, on September 15th ; at Charleston, on Septem- ber 18th ; at Galesburg, on October 7th ; at Quincy, on Oc- tober 13th ; at Alton, on October 15th. These seven tour- naments raised the greatest excitement throughout the State. They were held in all quarters of the State, from Freeport in the north to Jonesboro in the extreme south. Everywhere the different parties turned out to do honor to their champions. Processions and cavalcades, bands of music and cannon-firing, made every day a day of excite- ment. But far greater was the excitement of such orator ical contests between two such skilled debaters, before mixed audiences of friends and foes, to rejoice over every keen thrust at the adversary, to be cast down by each failure to parry the thrust so aimed. It is impossible to present here any thing more than the barest sketch of these great efforts of Mr. Lincoln. They are, and always State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 63 will be, to those who are interested in the history of the slavery contest, most valuable and important documents. In the first of these joint debates, which took place at Ottawa, Mr. Douglas again rung the changes upon the introductory passage of Mr. Lincoln's Springfield speech, " a house divided against itself," etc. Mr. Lincoln reitera- ted his assertion, and defended it in effect, as he did in his speech at Chicago. Then he took up the charge which he had previously made, of the existence of a con spiracy to extend slavery over the Northern States, and pressed it home, citing as proof a speech which Mr. Douglas himself had made on the Lecompton bill, in which he had substantially made the same charge against Buchanan and others. He then showed again, that all that was necessary for the accomplishment of the scheme was a decision of the Supreme Court that no State could exclude slavery, as the court had already de- cided that no Territory could exclude it, and the acquies- cence of the people in such a decision ; and he told his hearers that Douglas was doing all in his power to bring about si>ch acquiescence in advance, by declaring that the true position was, not to care whether slavery " was voted down or up," and by announcing himself in favor of the Deed Scott decision, not because it was right, but because a decision of the court is to him a " Thus saith the Lord," and thus committing himself to the next de- cision just as firmly as to this. He closed his speech with the following eloquent words : — Henry Clay, my beau-ideal of a statesman, the man for whom I fonght all my humble life— Henry Clay once said of a class of men who would repress all tendencies to liberty and ultimate emancipation, that they must, if they would do this, go back to the era of our independence, and muzzle tre cannon which thunders its annual joyous return; they must blow ouf the moral lights around us ; they must penetrate the human soul, and eradicate there the love of liberty ; and then, and not till then, could they perpetuate slavery in this country ! To my thinking, Judge DougiM is, by his example and vast influence, doing that very thing in this o^mmunity, when he says that the negro has nothing in the Declara^ Uon %( Independence. Henry Clay plainly understood the contrary 64 The Life, Public Services, and Judge Douglas is going back to the era of our Revolution, and, to the ex- tent of his ability, muzzling the cannon which thunders its annual joyout return. When be invites any people, willing to have slavery, to establish it, he is blowing out the moral lights around us. When he says, he " cares not whether slavery is voted down or voted up," — that it is a sacred right of self-government, — ho is, in my judgment, penetrating the human soul, aud eradicating the light of reason and the love of liberty in this American people. And now I will only say, that when, by all those means and appliances, Judge Douglas shall succeed in bringing public sen- timent to an exact accordance with his own views — when these vast as- semblages shall echo back all these sentiments— when they shall come to tepeat his views and to avow his principles, and to say all that he says on Vhese mighty questions — then it needs only the formality of the second Dred Scott decision, which he indorses in advance, to make slavery alike lawful in all the States — old as well as new, North as well as South. The debate at Freeport — the second of the series — took place August 27, and was marked by Mr. Lincoln answer- ing a series of seven questions proposed by his opponent. We give the interrogatories and the replies, as follows : Question 1. I desire to know whether Lincoln to-day stands, as he did in 1§54, in favor of the unconditional repeal of the 1 ugitive Slave law ? Answer. I do not now, nor ever did, stand in favor of the uncondi- tional repeal of the Fugitive Slave law. Q. 2. I desire him to answer whether he stands pledged to-day, as he did in 1854, against the admission of any more slave States into the Union, even if the people want them ? A. I do not now, or ever did, stand pledged against the admission of any more slave States into the Union. Q. 3. I want to know whether he stands pledged against the admis- sion of a new State into the Union with such a Constitution as the people of that State may see fit to make ? A. I do not stand pledged against the admission of a new State into the Union, with such a Constitution as the people of that State may see fit to make. Q. 4. I want to know whether he stands to-day pledged to the aboli- tion of slavery in the District of Columbia ? A. I do not stand to-day pledged to the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia. Q. 5. I desire him to answer whether he stands pledged to the pro- hibition of the slave-trade between the different States ? A. I do not stand pledged to the prohibition of the slave-trade be tween the different States. Q, 6. X desire to know whether he stands pledged to prohibit slavery State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 65 in all the Territories of the United States, North a? well as South of th« Missouri Compromise line ? A. I am impliedly, if not expressly, pledged to a belief in the right and duty of Congress to prohibit slavery in all the United States Terri- tories. Q. 7. I desire him to answer whether he is opposed to the acquisition of- any new territory unless slavery is first prohibited therein ? A. I am not generally opposed to honest acquisition of territory; and\ in any given case, I would or would not oppose such acquisition, accoid* ingly as I might think such acquisition would or would not aggravate thi slavery question among ourselves. Before answering these questions, Mr. Lincoln notified Mr. Douglas that he should insist upon the right to pro- pound an equal number to him, if he desired to do so, and before closing submitted these four interrogatories : Question 1. If the people of Kansas shall, by means entirely unob- jectionable in all other respects, adopt a State Constitution, and ask admission into the Union under it, before they have the requisite number of inhabitants according to the English bill — some ninety-three thousand — will you vote to admit them ? Q. 2. Can the people of a United States Territory, in any lawful way, against the wish of any citizen of the United States, exclude slavery from its limits prior to the formation of a State Constitution ? Q. 3. If the Supreme Court of the United States shall decide that States cannot exclude slavery from their limits, are you in favor of ac- quiescing in, adopting, and following such decision as a rule o^ politics! action ? Q. 4. Are yon in favor of acquiring additional territory, in disregard of how such acquisition may affect the nation on the slavery question ? To these questions he received, as he undoubtedly ex- pected, only evasive replies. He also, in the course of the debate, pressed home upon his opponent a charge of quoting resolutions as having been adopted at a Repub- lican State Convention which were never so adopted, and again called Douglas's attention to the conspiracy to nationalize slavery, and showed that his pretended desire to leave the people of a Territory free to establish slavery or exclude it, was really only a desire to allow them to establish it, as was show^n by his voting against Mr, 66 The Life, Public Services, and Chase's amendment to the Nebraska bill, which gave the leave to exclude it. In the third debate, which took place at Jonesboro, Mr, Lincoln showed that Douglas and his friends were living to- change the position of the country on the slavery question from what it was when the Constitution was adopted, and that the disturbance of the country had arisen from this pernicious effort. He then cited from "Democratic speeches and platforms of formtr days to prove that they occupied then the very opposite ground on the question from that which was taken at the time he was speaking. He also brought out in strong relief the evasive character of Douglas's answers to the questions which he had proposed, especially the subterfuge of " un- friendly legislation," which he had set forth as the means by which the people of a Territory could exclude slavery from its limits in spite of the Dred Scott decision. It is a noteworthy fact that when Mr. Lincoln was pre- paring these questions for Douglas, he was urged by some of his friends not to corner him on this last point, because he would surely stand by his doctrine of Squatter Sov- ereignty in defiance of the Dred Scott decision, "and that," said they, "will make him Senator." "That may be," said Mr. Lincoln, with a twinkle in his eye, " but if he takes that shoot he never can be President." Mr. Lincoln's sagacity did not fail him here. This posi- tion which Douglas took of "unfriendly legislation," was a stumbling-block which he was never able to get ^ver ; and if the contest between them had brought out no other good result, the compelling Douglas to take this ground was a most important point gained. In the fourth joint debate at Charleston, Mr. Lincoln brought forward and spoke at length upon the evidence of a charge previously made by Judge Trumbull against Douglas, of being himself reponsible for a clause in the Kansas bill which would have deprived the people of Kansas of the right to vote upon their own Constitution He stated this point as follows : •'■ '■ v..-l -> State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 67 Tfce bill that went into his (Mr. Douglas's) hands had the provision in it for * submission of the Constitution to the people ; and I say its language amounts to an express provision for a submission, and that he took the provision out. He says it was known that the bill was silent in this particular; hut I say. Judge Douyhut, it was not silent when you got it. [t was vocal with the declaration, when you got it, for a submission of the Constitution to the people. And now, my direct question to Judge Douglas is, to answer why, if lie deemed the bill silent on this point, h«j found it necessary to strike out those particular harmless words. If "tm had found the bill silent and without this provision, he might say wl at >e does now. If he supposes it was implied that the Constitution would a submitted to a vote of the people, how could these two lines so en- tumber the statute as to make it necessary to strike them out ? How *ould he infer that a submission was still implied, after its express provi- sion had been stricken from the bill? I find the bill vocal with the pro- vision, -while he silenced it. He took it out, and although he took out the other provision preventing a submission to a vote of the people, I ask, vJiy did you first put it in? I ask him whether he took the original provision out, which Trumbull alleges was in the bill ? If he admits that he did take it out, I ask him what he did it for ? It looks to us as if he had altered the bill. If it looks differently to him — if he has a different reason for his action from the one we assign him — he can tell it. I insist upon Knowing why he made the bill silent upon that point, when it was vocal before he put his hands upon it. Mr. Douglas, it is needless to say, could not parry this home thrust. In Ms efforts to do so (for Mr. Lincoln gave him several opportunities subsequently to explain his position), he invariably lost his temper. In view of the discussions now in progress in many parts of the country, the following passage from Mr. Lin- coln's final rejoinder to Mr. Douglas, in this debate at Charleston, possesses peculiar interest. Jndgo Douglas has said to yon that he has not beon able to get from me an answer to the question whether I am in favor of negro citizenship. So far. as I know, the Judge never asked me the question before. He shall have no occasion to ever ask it again, for I tell him very frankl/ that I am not in favor of negro citizenship. This furnishes me an occa- sion for saying a few words upon the subject. I mentioned in a certain speech of mine w^hich has been printed, that the Supreme Court had decided that a negro could not possibly be made a citizen ; and with- out saying what was my ground of complaint in regard to that, OJ whether I had any ground of complaint, Judge Douglas has from thai 68 The Life, Public Services, and tbing manufactured nearly every thing that he ever says about my dispo- sition to produce an equality between the negroes and the white people If any one will read my speech, he will find I mentioned that as one of the points decided in the course of the Supreme Court opinions, bat 1 did not state what objection I had to it. But Judge Douglas tells the people what my objection was, when I did not tell them myself. Now my opinion is that the different States have the power to make a negro a citizen under the Constitution of the United States, if they choose. The Dred Scott decision decides that they have not that power. If the State of lllinoii had that power I should be opposed to the exercise of it. That is all I have to say about it. Ill the fifth joint debate, that at Galesburg, Mr. Lincoln defended the Republican party from the charge of being sectional, and in the course of his speech he thus pointedly sketched the difference between the supporters of Mr. Douglas and their opponents, as regarded the manner in ■which they respectively looked upon the free and slave States : — The Judge tells, m proceeding, that he is opposed to making any odious distinctions between free and slave States. I am altogether unaware that the Republicans are in favor of making any odious distinctions between the free and slave States. But there still is a difference, I think, between Judge Douglas and the Republicans in this. I suppose that the real dif- ference between Judge Douglas and his friends, and the Republicans on the contrary, is, that the Judge is not in favor of making any difference between slavery and liberty — that he is in favor of eradicating, of pressing out of view, the questions of preference in this country for free or slave institutions ; and consequently every sentiment he utters discards the idea that there is any wrong in slavery. Every thing that emanates from him or his coadjutors in their course of policy, carefully excludes the thought that there is any thing wrong in slavery. All their arguments, if you will consider them, will be seen to exclude the thought that there is any thing whatever wrong in slavery. If you will take the Judge's speech*-, and select the short and pointed sentences expressed by him — as i , declaration that he "don't care whether slavery is voted up or down" you will see at once that this is perfectly logical, if you do not admit that slavery is wrong. If you do admit that it is wrong, Judge Douglas cannot logically say he don't care whether a wrong is voted up or voted down. Judge Douglas declares that if any community want slavery they have * right to have it. He can say that logically, if he says that there is no wrong in slavery ; but if you admit that there is a wrong in it, he cannot logically say that anybody has a right to do wrong. He insists that, upon the score of equality, the owners of slaves and the owners of property State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 69 — of horses and every other sort of property — should be alike, and hold them alike in a new Territory. That is perfectly logical, if the two species of property are alike, and are equally founded in right. But if you admit that one of them is wrong, you cannot institute any equality be- tween right and wrong. And from this difference of sentiment — the belief on the part of one that the institution is wrong, and a policy springing from that belief which looks to the arrest of the enlargement of that wrong ; and this other sentiment, that it is no wrong, and a policy sprung from that sentiment which will tolerate no idea of preventing that wrong from growing larger, and looks to there never being an end of it through all the existence of things — arises the real difference between Judge Doughs and his friends on the one hand, and the Eepublicans on the other. Now, I confess myself as belonging to that class in the country who contemplate slavery as a moral, social, and political evil, having due regard for its actual existence amongst us, and the difficulties of getting rid of it in any satisfactory way, and to all the Constitutional obligations which have been thrown about it ; but, nevertheless, desire a policy that looks to the prevention of it as a wrong, and looks hopefully to the time when, as a wrong, it may come to an end. Mr. Lincoln also, after again calling attention to the fraudulent resolutions, and giving strong proof that Doug- las himself was a party to the imposition, showed that he had failed to answer his question about the acceptance of the new Dred Scott decision, which, he said, was " just as sure to be made as to-morrow is to come, if the Demo- cratic party shall be sustained" in the elections. He then discussed the policy of acquiring more territory, and the importance of deciding upon any such acquisition, by the effect which it would have upon the Slavery question among ourselves. In the next debate, at Quincy, besides making some personal points as to the mode in which Douglas had con - ducted the previous discussions, he stated clearly and briefly what were the principles of the Republican party, what they proposed to do, and what they did not propose to do. This exposition is at once so lucid and succinct that we give the passage at length. Mr. Lincoln alluded to the assertion made by Judge Douglas at Galesburg, that he (Mr. Lincoln) dlesired to avoid the responsibility attach 70 The Life, Public SePwVices, and Ing to the " enormity' ' of the principles he advocated, and said that he would heartily state those principles, as well as it was in his power to do, " in all their eiiorfriity,^ which he did as follows : We have in this nation this element of domestic slavery. It is a matter , of absolute certainty that it is a disturbing element. It is the opinion of ! all the great men who have expressed an opinion npon it, that it is a dan ' gerous element. We keep up a controversy in regard to it. That contro- versy necessarily springs from difference of opinion, and if we can learn exactly — can reduce to the lowest elements — what that difference of opinion is. we perhaps shall be better prepared for discussing the different systems of policy that we would propose in regard to that disturbing 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. The Republican party think it a wrong — we think it is a moral, a social, and a political wrong. We think it is a wrong not confining itself merely to the persons or the states where it exists, but that it is a wrong in its tendency, to say the least, that extends itself to the existence of the whole nation. Because we think it wrong, we propose a course of policy that shall deal with it as a wrong. We deal with it as with any other wrong, in so far as we can prevent its growing any larger, and so deal with it that in the run of time there may be some promise of an end to it. We have a due regard to the actual presence of it amongst us, and the difficulties of getting rid of it in any satisfactory way, and all the Constitutional obligations thrown about it. I suppose that in reference both to its actual existence in the n ition, and to our Constitutional obligations, we have no right at all to disturb it in the States where it exists, and we profess that we have no more inclina- tion to disturb it than we have the right to do it. We go further than that; we don't propose to disturb it where, in one instance, we think the Constitution would permit us. We think the Constitution would permit ss to disturb it in the District of Columbia. Still we do not propose to io that, unless it should be in terms which I don't suppose the nation is very likely soon to agree to — the terms of making the emancipation gradual, and compensating the unwilling owners. Where we suppose we have the Constitutional right, we restrain ourselves in reference to the actual existence of the institution and the difficulties thrown about it. We also oppose it as an evil, so far as it seeks to spread itself. We insist on the policy that shall restrict it to its present limits. We don't suppose that in doing this we violate any thing due to the actual presence of the institution, or an/ thing due to the Constitutional guaranties thrown around it. We oppose the Dred Scott decision in a certain way, npon which I State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 71 ought perhaps to address you a few words. "We do not propose that when Dred Scott has been decided to he a slave by the court, we, a.s a mob, will decide him to be free. We do not propose that, when any other one, or one thousand, shall be decided by that court to be slaves, we will in any violent way disturb the rights of property thus settled ; but we nevertheless do oppose that decision as a political rule, which shall bo binding on the voter to vote for nobody who thinks it wrong, which shall be binding on the members of Congress or the President to favor no measure that does not actually concur with the principles of that decision. We do not propose to be bound by it as a political rule in that way, because we think it lays the foundation not merely of enlarging and spreading out what we consider an evil, but it lays the foundation for spreading that evil into the States themselves. "We propose so resisting it as to have it reversed if we can, and a new judicial rule established upon this subject. I will add this, that if there be any man who does not believe that slavery is wrong in the three aspects which I have mentioned, or in any one of them, that man is misplaced, and ought to leave us. While, on the other hand, if there be any man in the Republican party who is impa- tient over the necessity springing from its actual presence, and is impa- tient of the Constitutional guaranties thrown around it, and would act in lisregard of these, lie too is misplaced, standing with us. He will find his place somewhere else ; for we have a due regard, so far as we are capable of understanding them, for all these things. This, gentlemen, as well aa I can give it, is a plain statement of our principles in all their enormity. Mr. Douglas replied to Mr. Lincoln in a manner which proved that he felt the arguments which his antagonist had advanced to he actually unanswerable, and in open ing his rejoinder Mr. Lincoln used this language : — I wish to return to Judge Douglas my profound thanks for his publio annunciation here to-day, to be put on record, that his system of policy ; n regard to the institution of slavery contemplates that it shall last for- « ever. We are getting a little nearer the true issue of this controversy, and I am profoundly grateful for this one sentence. Judge Douglas asks you, " Why cannot the institution of slavery, or rather, why cannot the nation, part slave and part free, continue as our fathers made it forever?" In the first p T ace, I insist that our fathers did not make this nation half slave and half free, or part slave and part free. I insist that they found the in- stitution of slavery existing here. They did not make it so, but they left it so, because they knew of no way to get rid of it at that time. When Tudge Douglas undertakes to say that, as a matter of choice, the fathers •f the Government made this nation part slave and part free, he assumes what is historically a falsehood. Aiore than that : when the father* 72 The Life, Publ*c Services, and of the Government cut off the source of slavery by the abolition of the slave-trade, and adopted a system of restricting it from the new Territories where it had not existed, I maintain that they placed it where they understood, and all sensible men understood, it was in the course of ultimate extinction ; and when Judge Douglas asks me why it cannot continue as our fathers made it, I ask him why he and his friends could not let it remain as our fathers made it ? It is precisely all I ask of him in relation to the institution of slavery, that it shall be placed upon the basis that our fathers placed it upon. Mr. Brooks, of South Carolina, once said, and truly, said, that when this Gcv-, ernment was established, no one expected the institution of slavery to last until this day ; and that the men who formed this Government were wiser and better than the men of these days ; but the men of these days had experience which the fathers had not, and that experience had taught them the invention of the cotton-gin, and this had made the perpetuation of the institution of slavery a necessity in this country. Judge Douglas could not let it stand upon the basis on which our fathers placed it, but removed it, and put it upon the cotton-gin basis. It is a question, there- fore, for him and his friends to answer — why they could not let it remain where the fathers of the Government originally placed it. The seventh and last joint debate took place at Alton, October 15. According to the schedule previously agreed upon, Mr. Douglas had the opening speech. Mr. Lincoln, in his rejoinder, made a thorough and exhaustive review of the slavery question in its relations to the Democratic party. He showed that the doctrines of that party, with reference to this question, were not those held at the time of the Kevolution ; traced the development of the agita- tion which had resulted from the efforts of the Democracy to put slavery upon a different footing, and sketched the dangers and difficulties in which this attempt had in- volved the country. He thus expressed his opinion of I the way in which this agitation might be terminated : — I have intimated that I thought the agitation would not cease until a crisis should have been reached and passed. I have stated in what way I thought it would be reached and passed. I have said that it might go one way or the other. We might, by arresting the further spread of it, and placing it where the fathers originally placed it, put it where Jie pub- lic mind should rest in the belief that it was in the course of ultimate ex- tinction. Thus the agitation may cease. It may be pushed forward until It shall become alike lawful in all the States, old as well as new, North a* well as South. I have said, and I repeat, my wish is that the furthei State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 73 spread of it may be arrested, and that it may be placed where the publio mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the course of ultimate extinction. I have expressed that as my wish. I entertain the opinion, upon evidence sufficient to my mind, that the fathers of this Government placed that in- stitution where the public mind did rest in the belief that it was in the course of ultimate extinction. Let me ask why they made provision that tne source of slavery — the African slave-trade — should be cut off at the ! end of twenty years ? Why did they make provision that in all the new ■territory we owned at that time, slavery should be forever inhibited? "Why stop its spread in one direction and cut off its source in another, il they did not look to its being placed in the course of ultimate extinction 1 Mr. Lincoln then demonstrated that the whole contro- versy tnrned upon the vital question whether slavery was wrong or not, and proved that the sentiment of the Democratic party, as it then existed, was that it was not wrong, and that Douglas and those who sympathized with him did not desire or ever expect to see the country freed from this gigantic evil. Upon this point he said : The sentiment that contemplates the institution of slavery in this coun- try as a wrong is the sentiment of the Republican party. It is the senti- ment around which all their actions — all their arguments circle — from which all their propositions radiate. They look upon it as being a moral, social, and political wrong ; and while they contemplate it as such, they nevertheless have due regard for its actual existence among us, and the difficulties of getting rid of it in any satisfactory way, and to all the con- stitutional obligations thrown about it. Yet, having a due regard foi these, they desire a policy in regard to it that looks to its not creating tny more danger. They insist that it should, as far as may be, be treated . * a wrong, and one of the metnods of treating it as a wrong is to make provision that it shall grow no larger. They also desire a policy that looks to a peaceful end of slavery at some time, as being wrong. These lire the views they entertain in regard to it, as I understand them ; and all their sentiments — all their arguments and propositions are brought within this range. I have said, and I repeat it here, that if there be a man amongst us who does not think that the institution of slavery is wrong, in any one of the aspects of which I have spoken, he is misplaced, and ought not to be with us. And if there be a man amongst us who is so impatient of it as a wrong as to disregard its actual presence among us, and the difficulty of getting rid of it suddenly in a satisfactory way, and to disregard the con- stitutional obligations thrown about it, that man is misplaced, if he is on our platform. We disclaim sympathy with him in practical action. H«. \B not placed properly with us,. 74 The Life, Public Services, and On this subject of treating it as a wrong, and limiting its spread, let me say a word. Has any thing ever threatened the existence of this Union, save and except this very institution of slavery? What is it that we hold most dear amongst us? Our own liberty and prosperity. What has ever threatened our liberty and prosperity, save and except this institution of slavery? If this is true, how do you propose to improve the condition of things by enlarging slavery — by spreading it out and making it bigger You may have a wen or cancer upon your person and not be able to cu *■ it out lest you bleed to death ; but surely it is no way to cure it, to en v graft it and spread it over your whole body. That is no proper way 01 treating what you regard a wrong. You see this peaceful way of dealing with it as a wrong — restricting the spread of it, and not allowing it to go iato new countries where it has not already existed. That is the peaceful way, the old-fashioned way, the way in which the fathers themselves set us the example. On the other hand, I have said there is a sentiment which treats it as not being wrong. That is the Democratic sentiment of this day. I do not mean to say that every man who stands within that range positively asserts that it is right. That class will include all who positively assert that it is right, and all who, like Judge Douglas, treat it as indifferent, and do not say it is either right or wrong. These two classes of men fall within the general class of those who do not look upon it as a wrong. And if there be among you anybody who supposes that he, as a Demo- crat, can consider himself "as much opposed to slavery as anybody," I would like to reason with him. You never treat it as a wrong. What other thing that you consider as a wrong, do you deal with as you deal with that? Perhaps you say it is wrong, but your leader never does, and you quarrel with anybody who says it is wrong. Although you pretend to say so yourself, you can find no fit place to deal with it as a wrong. You must not say any thing about it in the free States, because it is not here. You must not say any thing about it in the slave States, because it> its there. You must not say any thing about it in the pulpit, because that is religion, and has nothing to do with it. You must not say any thing about it In politics, because that will disturb the security of "my place." There is no place to talk about it as being a wrong, although you say yourself it is a wrong. But, finally, you will screw yourself up to the be- lief that if the people of the slave States should adopt a system of grad- ual emancipation on the slavery question, you would be in favor of it. Ton would be in favor of it. You say that is getting it in the right p?ace, ttiid you would be glad to see it succeed. But you are deceiving yourself. Tou all know that Frank Blair and Gratz Brown, down there in St. Louis, undertook to introduce that system into Missouri. They fought as vali- antly as they could for the system of gradual emancipation which you pretend you would be glad to see succeed. Now I will bring you to the to«t. After a hard fight they were beaten, and when the news came ove? State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 75 here you threw up your hats and hurrahed for Democracy. More than that; tai:e all the arguments made in favor of the system you have pro* posed, and it carefully excludes the idea that there is any thinsr wrong in the institution of slavery. The arguments to sustain that policy carefully excluded it. Even here to-day you heard Judge Douglas quarrel with me because I uttered a wish that it might sometime come to an end. Al- though Henry Olay could say he wished every slave in the United State* was in the country of his ancestors, I am denounced by those pretending to respect Henry Clay for uttering a wish that it might sometime, in some peaceful way, come to an end. The Democratic policy in regard to that institution will not tolerate the merest breath, the slightest hint, of the least degree of wrong about it. Besides the speeches made in the course of these seven joiat debates, Mr. Lincoln delivered at least fifty other addresses to the people, in all parts of the State, during the canvass, everywhere expounding his views and de- claring his sentiments with the same frankness and man- liness. The chief interest of the contest, however, cen- tred in their joint debates, and with every succeed- ing encounter the feeling in the State, and through- out the country, became more intense. As the day for final decision approached, Illinois fairly blazed with the excitement. While Mr. Douglas fully sus- tained his previous reputation, and justified the estimate his friends had placed upon his abilities, he labored un- der the comparative disadvantage of being much better known to the country at large than was his antagonist During his long public career, people had become par tially accustomed to his manner of presenting arguments and enforcing them. The novelty and freshness of Mr. Lincoln's addresses, on the other hand, the homeliness and force of his illustrations, their wonderful pertinence, his exhaustless humor, his confidence in his own re- sources, engendered by his firm belief in the justice of the cause he so ably advocated, never once rising, how- ever, to the point of arrogance or superciliousness, fast- ened upon him the eyes of the people everj^where, friends and opponents alike. It was not strange that more than once, during the course of the unparalleled excitement 76 The Life, Public Services, and which marked this canvass, Mr. Douglas should have been thrown off his guard by the singular self-possession displayed by his antagonist, and by the imperturbable firm- ness with which he maintained and defended a posi- tion once assumed. The unassuming confidence which marked Mr. Lincoln's conduct was early imparted to his upporters, and each succeeding encounter added largely to the number of his friends, until they began to indulge the hope that a triumph might be secured in spite of the adverse circumstances under which the struggle was com- menced. And so it would have been, had party lines been more strictly drawn. But the action of Mr. Doug- las with reference to the Lecompton Constitution when it was before the United States Senate, and the bitter hos- tility of the southern wing of the Democratic party to wards him, had led very many Republicans, and some of uigh consideration and influence in other States, to favor bis return to the Senate. They deemed this due to the seal and efficiency with which he had resisted the attempt Vo force slavery into Kansas against the will of the peo- ple, and as important in encouraging other Democratic leaders to imitate the example of Douglas in throwing off* the yoke of the slaveholding aristocracy. This feeling proved to be of much weight against Mr. Lincoln in the canvass. In the election which took place on November 2d, the popular vote stood as follows : Republican . 126,084 Douglas Democrat 121,940 Lecompton Democrat 5,091 Mr. Lincoln, therefore, had the people been permitted to decide the question directly, would have been returned to the Senate, since he had a plurality of four thousand one hundred and forty- four votes over Mr. Douglas ; but the State legislature was the tribunal that was to pass finally upon it; and there, fortunately for the country, as the future showed, but unfortunately for Mr. Lincoln State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 77 at that time, the Democrats had secured an advantage, by means of an unfair districting of tho State, which it was impossible to overcome. Notwithstanding the immense gains made by the Republicans, their opponents had, in the upper branch of this body, fourteen members to their eleven, while in the lower House these two parties stood forty Democrats to thirty-rive Republicans. This state of affairs secured Mr. Douglas a re-election, although the fact that he was fairly beaten on the popular vote, robben his triumph of much of its lustre. An overruling Prov idence, the workings of which can now be clearly traced, but which were then inscrutable, by securing this result, ultimately gave the nation for its chief magistrate the man best fitted to carry it saMy through the most trying period of its history. 78 The Life, Public Services, and CHAPTER III. MR. LINCOLN AND THE PRESIDENCY. The Campaign of 1859 in Ohio. — Mr. Lincoln's Speeches at Columbia and Cincinnati. — His Visit to the East. — In New Yoke Cfty. — Tni great Speech at Cooper Institute. — Me. Lincoln Nominated fob the Presidency. — His Eleotion. CnEERFULLY resigning himself to the fortunes of politi- cal warfare, Mr. Lincoln, upon the close of this canvass, returned to the practice of his profession. But he was not long allowed to remain in retirement. In the autumn of 1859 the Democrats of Ohio nominated Mr. Pugh as their candidate for governor, and to repay the fidelity with which he had followed his standard, as well as in the hope of securing important advantages for the democ- racy, Mr. Douglas was enlisted in the canvass. The Republicans at once appealed to Mr. Lincoln to come to their assistance. He promptly responded to the invita- tion to meet his eld antagonist, and more than sustained his great reputation by two speeches, one delivered at Columbus and the other at Cincinnati. Not fully satis fied with the position in which the close of the canvass in Illinois had left his favorite doctrine of Popular Sover- eignty, Mr. Douglas had secured the insertion in Harper' s Magazine of an elaborate and carefully prepared artide explaining his views at length. Mr. Lincoln's speech at Columbus was a most masterly review of this paper. After replying briefly to the identically stale charges which Mr. Douglas had so often repeated during the can- vass in Illinois, and which he had reiterated in a speech delivered at Columbus a few days previously, Mr. Lin- coln addressed himself to the task he had in hand, as fol- lows : — The Republican party, as I understand its principles and policy, believe that there is great danger of the institution of slavery being spread out State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 79 and extended, until it is ultimately made alike lawful in ail the States of this Union ; so believing, to prevent that inciden'al and ultimate nonsuta, mation, is the original and chief purpose of the Republican organization. I say " chief purpose" of the Republican organization ; for it is certainly true that if the National House shall fall into the hands of the Republicans, they will have to attend to all the other matters of national house-keep- ing as well as this. The chief and real purpose of the Republican part? is eminently conservative. It proposes nothing save and except to restore this Government to its original tone in regard to this element of slavery, and there to maintain it, looking for no further change in reference to it than that which the original framers of the Government themselves ex- pected and looked forward to. The chief danger to this purpose of the Republican party is not just now the revival of the African slave-trade, or the passage of a Congres- sional slave-code, or the declaring of a second Dred Scott decision, making slavery lawful in all the States. These are not pressing as just now. They are not quite ready yet. The authors of these measures know that we are too strong for them ; but they will be upon us in due time, and we will be grappling with them hand to hand, if they are not now headed ofl. They are not now the chief danger to the purpose of the Republican organization; but the most imminent danger that now threatens that pur* pose is that insidious Douglas Popular Sovereignty. This is the uiinei and sapper. While it does not propose to revive the African slave-trade, nor to pas< a slave- code, nor to make a second Dred Scott decision, it ia preparing us for the onslaught and charge of these ultimate enemies when they shall be ready to come on, and the word of command for them to advance shall be given. I say this Douglas Popular Sovereignty — for there is a broad distinction, as I now understand it, between that article and a genuine Popular Sovereignty. I believe there is a genuine popular sovereignty. I think a definition of genuine popular sovereignty, in the abstract, would be about this:/ That each man shall do precisely as he pleases with himself, Mid with ah* those things which exclusively concern him. Applied to Government,! this principle would be, that a General Government shall do all those things which pertain to it, and all the local Governments shall do pre- cisely as they please in respect to those matters which exclusively concern them. I understand that this Government of the United States, under which we live, is based upon this principle ; and I am misunderstood if it is supposed that I have any war to make upon that principle. Now, what is Judge Douglas's Popular Sovereignty ? It is, as a prin- ciple, nc other than that, if one man chooses to make a s?*ve of another man, neither that other man nor anybody else has a right to object Applied in Government, as he seeks to apply it, it is this : If, in a new Territory into which a few people are beginning to enter for the purpose of making their homes, they choose to either exclude slavery from their 80 The Life, Public Services, and limits or to establish it there, however one or the other may affect the persons to be enslaved, or the infinitely greater number of persons who are afterward to inhabit that Territory, or the other members of the fami- lies of communities, of which they are but an incipieut member, or tho general head of the family of States, as parent of all — however their action may affect one or the other of these, there is no power or right to inter- fere. That is Douglas's Popular Sovereignty applied. ile iias a good deal of trouble with Popular Sovereignty. His explana *nn explanatory of explanations explained are interminable. The most lengthy, and, as I suppose, the most maturely considered of his long serieg of explanations, is his great essay in Harper's Magazine. This exordium was followed by a speech which will rank among the ablest efforts of Mr. Lincoln. In an argument in which great sarcasm and humor were charac- teristically intermingled, he thoroughly exposed the fallacy of the positions taken by Mr. Douglas, and in conclusion, after again warning his hearers against the )osidious dangers of this doctrine of popular sovereignty, r/ud : — Did you ever, five years Ago, hear of anybody in the worl£ «»ying that *'JG negro had no share m the Declaration of National Independence ; that »t did not mean negroes at all ; and when " all men " were spoken of, negroes were not included ? I am satisfied *hat five years ago that proposition was not put upon naper by any living being anywhere. I have been unable at any time to find a man in an audience who would declare that he had ever known of anybody saying so five years ago. But last year there was not a Douglas popular sovereign in Illinois who did not say it. Is there one in Ohio but declares his firm belief that the Declaration of Independence did not mean negroes at all ? I do not know how this is ; I have not been Uere much ; but I presume you are very much alike everywhere. Then I suppose that all now express the belief that the Declaration of Inde- pendence never did mean negroes. I call upon one of them to say that he said it five years ago. If you think that now, and did not think it then, tne next thing that strikes me is to remark that there has been a change wrought in you, and a very significant change it is, being no less than changing the negro, in your estimation, from the rank of a man to that of a brute. They at e taking him down, and placing him, when spoken of, among reptiles and crocodiles, as Judge Douglas himself expresses it. Is not this change wrought in your mmas a very important change t Public opinion in this country is every thing. In a nation like ours, this popular sovereignty and squatter sovereignty have already wrought * State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 81 change in the public mind to the extent I have stated. There is no nan in this crow^ who can contradict it. Now, if you are opposed to slavery honestly, as much as anybody, 1 ask you to note that fact, and the like of which is to follow, to oe plastered on, layer after layer, until very soon you are prepared to deal with the negro everywhere as with the brute. If public sen- timent has not been debauched already to this point, a new turn of the screw in that direction is all that is wanting; and this is con- stantly being done by the teachers of this insidious popular sovereignty. You need but one or two turns further until your minds, now ripeuing tinder these teachings, will be ready for all these things, and you will r ceive and support, or submit to, the slave-trade, revived with all ii? horrors, a slave-code enforced in our Territories, and anew Dred Scott decision to bring slavery up into the very heart of the free North. This, [ must say, is but carrying out those words prophetically spoken by Mr. Clay, many, many years ago — I believe more than thirty years, when he told an audience that if they would repress all tendencies to liberty and ultimate emancipation, th 3y must go back to the era of our independence, and muzzle the cannon which thundered its annual joyous return on the Fourth of July ; they must blow out the moral lights around us ; they must penetrate the human soul and eradicate the love of liberty ; but until they did these things, and others eloquently enumerated by him, they could not repress all tendencies to ultimate emancipation. I ask attention to the fact that in a pre-eminent degree these popular sovereigns are at this work; blowing out the moral lights around us; teaching that the negro is no longer a man, but a brute ; that the Declara- tion has nothing to do with him ; that he ranks with the crocodile and the reptile ; that man, with body and soul, is a matter of dollars and cents. I suggest to this portion of the Ohio Republicans, or Democrats, if there be any present, the serious consideration of this fact, that there is now going on among you a steady process of debauching publio opinion on this subject. With this, my friends, I bid you adieu. Ill his speech at Cincinnati, Mr. Lincoln addressed him- self particularly to the Kentuckians whom he supposed to be among his hearers, and after advising them to nom- inate Mr. Douglas as their candidate for the Presidency at the approaching Charleston Convention, showed them bow "by so doing they would the most surely protect their cherished institution of slavery. In the course of his argument he expressed this shrewd opinion, which may now be classed as a prophecy : — It ia but my opinion; I give it to you without a fee. It is my opinion 82 The Life, Public Services, and that it is for you to take him [Mr. Douglas] or be defeated ; and that ii you do take him, you may he beaten. Von will surety be beaten if you do uottake him. We, the Republicans and others forming the opposition of the country, intend to " stand by our guns," to be patient and firm, and in the long run to heat you, whether you take him or not. We know that before we fairly beat you, we have to beat you both together. We knotr that you are M all of a feather,'- and that we have to beat you altogether, and we expect to do it. We don't intend to be very impatient about it. We mean to be as deliberate and calm about it as it is possible to be, bufr as firm and resolved as it is possible for men to be. When we do as we say, beat you, you perhaps want to know what we will do with you. } I will tell you, so far as I am authorized to speak for the opposition, what we mean to do with you. We mean to treat you, as near as we possibly can, as Washington, Jefferson, and Madison treated you. We mean to leave you alone, and in no way to interfere with your institution ; to abide by all and every compromise of the Constitution, and, in a word, ooming back to the original proposition, to treat you, so far as degener- ated men (if we have degenerated) may, according to the examples ol those noble fathers — Washington, Jefferson, and Madison. We mean to remember that you are as good as we; that there is no difference between us other than the difference of circumstances. We mean to recognize and bear in mind always that you have as good hearts in your bosoms as other people, or as we claim to have, and treat you accordingly. We mean to marry your girls when we have a chance — the white ones, I mean, and I have the honor to inform you that I once did have a chance in that way. I have told you what we mean to do. I want to know, now T , when that thing takes place, what do you mean to do? I often hear it inti- mated that you mean to divide the Union whenever a Republican, or any thing like it, is elected President of the United States. [A voice — " That is so."] " That is so," one of them says ; I wonder if he is a Kentuckian ? [A voice — " He is a Douglas man."] Well, then, I want to know what you are going to do with your half of it? Are you going to split the Ohio down through, and push your half off a piece ? Or are you going to keep it right alongside of as outrageous fellows ? Or are you going to build up a wall some way between your country and ours, by which that movable property of yours can't come over here any more, to the danger of your losing it? Do you think you can better yourselves on that sub- ject, by leaving us here under no obligation whatever to return those specimens of your movable property that come hither? You have divided the Union because we would not do right with you, as you think, upon, that subject; when we cease to be under obligations to do any thing for you, low much better off do you think you will be ? Will you make war upon us and kill us all ? Why, gentlemen, I think you are as gallant and as brave men as live ; that you can fight as bravely in a good cause, mac foi man, as any other people living; that you have shown yourselves State Papers oj? Abraham Lincoln. 88 capablo of this upon various occasions; but, man for man, you are not better than we are, and there are not so many of you as there are of w. You will never make much of a hand at whipping us. If we were fewer in numbers than you, I think that you could whip us; if we were equal, it would likely be a drawn battle ; but, being inferior in numbers, you wU make nothing by attempting to master us. But perhaps I have addressed myself as long, or longer, to the Ken- tuckians than 1 ought to have done, inasmuch as I have said that what- ever coarse you take, we intend in the end to beat you. The rest of this address was mainly occupied with a discussion of the policy which the Republican party should pursue in the Presidential campaign then about to open. The following passage from this part of the speech is among the most notable of Mr. Lincoln's many noble utterances : In order to beat our opponents, I think we want and must have a national policy in regard to the institution of slavery, that acknowledge* and deals with that institution as being wrong. Whoever desires the pre- vention of the spread of slavery, and the nationalization of that institution, yields all when he yields to any policy that either recognizes slavery &f being right, or as being an indifferent thing. Nothing will make you sue cessful but setting up a policy which shall treat the thing as being wrong When I say this, I do not mean to say that this General Government it charged with the duty of redressing or preventing all the wrongs in the world; but do think that it is charged with preventing and redressing all wrongs which are wrongs to itself. This Government is expressly charged with the duty of providing for the general welfare. "We believe that the spreading out and perpetuity of the institution of slavery impairs the general welfare. We believe — nay, we know, that that is the only thing that has ever threatened the perpetuity of the Union itself. The only thing which has ever menaced the destruction of the government under which we live, is this very thing. To repress this thing, we think, is providing for the general welfare. Our friends in Kentucky differ from us. We need not make our argu- ment for them, but we who think it is wrong in all its relations, or in some of them at least, must decide as to our own actions, and our owa course, upon our own judgment. I say that we must not interfere with the institution of slavery in th« States where it exists, because the Constitution forw^o it, and the general welfare does not require us to do so. We must not withhold an efficient Fugitive Slave law, because the Constitution requires us, as I understaud it, not to withhold such a law. But we must prevent the outspreading of the institution, because neither the Constitution nor the general welfare 84 The Life, Public Services, and requires us to extend it. We must prevent the revival of the Africau blave trade, aud the enacting by Congress of a Territorial slave-code. "We must prevent each of these things being done by either Congresses or courts. The people of these United States are the rightful masters of both Con- gresses and courts, not to overthrow the Constitution, but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution. To do these things we must employ instrumentalities. We must hold conventions ; we must adopt platforms, if we conform to ordinary custom ; we must nominate candidates, and we must carry elections. In all these things, I think that we ought to keep in view our real purpose, and in none do any thing that stands adverse to our purpose. If we shall adopt a platform that fails to recognize or express our purpose, or elect a man that declares himself inimical to our purpose, we not only take nothing by our success, but we tacitly admit that we act upon no other principle than a desire to have " the loaves and fishes," by which, in the end, our apparent success is really an injury to us. During the latter part of that year (1859) Mr. Lincoln also visited Kansas, and was greeted with enthusiastic cordial ity "by the people, whose battles he had fought with such masterly ability and skill. In February, 1860, in response to an invitation from the Young Men's Republican Club, he came to New York, to deliver an address upon some topic appropriate to the crisis which it was evident was ap- proaching. Tuesday evening, February 27th, was the hour, and Cooper Institute was the place, selected for the first appearance of the future President before the New York public ; and a curiosity to see the man who had so ably combated the "Little Giant" of the West, as well as an earnest desire to hear an expression of his views upon the questions which were then so rapidly developing in im- portance, and beginning to agitate the public mind so deeply, filled the large hall named to overflowing, with an audience which comprised many ladies. William Cullen Bryant presided, assisted by numerous prominent politicians. He presented Mr. Lincoln to the audience with a few appropriate remarks. Mr. Lincoln was quite warmly received, and delivered an address which at times excited uncontrollable enthusiasm. It was at once accepted as one of the most important contributions to the current political literature of the day, and now stands among the State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 85 enduring monuments to Mr. Lincoln's memory. We ap- pend it in full : Mb. President and Fellow-Citizens of New York: — The facts with which I shall deal this evening are mainly old and familiar; nor is thero wiy thing new in the general use I shall make of them. If there shall be , diiy novelty, it will be in the mode of presenting the facts, and the infer- ences and observations following that presentation. In iiis speech last autumn, at Columbus, Ohio, as reported in the "New York Times, 1 ' Senator Douglas said: " Our fathers, when they framed the Government under which we Zi««, understood this question just as well, and even oetter than we do now" I fully indorse this, and I adopt it as a text for this discourse. I so adopt tt because it furnishes a precise and an agreed starting-point for a discus iion between Republicans and that wing of the Democracy headed bj Senator Douglas. It simply leaves the inquiry: " What was the under standing those fathers had of the question mentioned ?" What is the frame of Government under which we live? The answer must be : " The Constitution of the United States." Thai Constitution consists of the original, framed in 1787 (and under which th< present government first went into operation), and twelve subsequentlj framed amendments, the first ten of which were framed in 1789. Who were our fathers that framed the Constitution ? I suppose the " thirty-nine " who signed the original instrument may be fairly called our fathers who framed that part of the present Government. It is almost exactly true to say they framed it, and it is altogether true to say they fair- ly represented the opinion and sentiment of the whole nation at that time. Their names, being familiar to nearly all. and accessible to quite all, Deed not now be repeated. I take these "thirty-nine," for the present, as being our "fathers who framed the Government under which we live." What is the question which, according to the text, those fathers under stood "just as well, and even better than we do now ?" It is this : Does the proper division of local from federal authority, 01 ai y thing in the Constitution, forbid our Federal Government to control a* to slavery in our Federal Territories ? Upon this Senator Douglas holds the affirmative, and Republican* tb« negative. This affirmation and denial form an issue, and this issue — thi» question — is precisely what the text declares our fathers understood " bet- ter than we." Let us now inquire whether the "thirty-nine," or any of them, acted upon this question ; and if they did, how they acted upon it — how they ei pressed that better understanding? In 1784, three years' before the Constitution —the United States tlwn e v»ing the Northwestern Territory, and no other— the Congress of the Con 86 The Life, Public Services, and federation had before them (ho question of prohibiting slavery in that Ter- ritory ; and fonr of the "thirty nine," who afterward framed the Consti- tution, were in that Congress and voted on that question. Of these, Roger Sherman, Thomas Mifflin, and Hugh "Williamson voted for the pro- hibition, thus showing that, in their understanding, no line dividing local from Federal authority, nor any thing else, properly forbade the Federal Government to control as to slavery in Federal territory. The other of the four— James M'Henry — voted against the prohibition, showing that. for some cause, he thought it improper to vote for it. In 1787, still before the Constitution, but while the Convention was in session framing it, and while the Northwestern Territory still was the only territory owned by the United States, the same question of prohibiting slavery in the territory again came before the Congress of the Confedera- tion ; and two more of the " thirty-nine " who afterward signed the Con- stitution were in that Congress, and voted on the question. They were William Blount and William Few ; and they both voted for the prohibi- tion — thus showing that, in their understanding, no line dividing local from Federal authority, nor any thing else, properly forbade the Federal Government to control as to slavery in Federal territory. This time the prohibition became a law, being part of what is now well known as the Ordinance of '87. The question of Federal control of slavery in the territories, seems not to have been directly before the Convention which framed the original Constitution ; and hence it is not recorded that the " thirty-nine," or any of them, while engaged on that instrument, expressed any opinion on that precise question. In 1789, by the first Congress which sat under the Constitution, an act was passed to enforce the Ordinance of '87, including the prohibition of slavery in the Northwestern Territory. The bill for this act was reported by one of the " thirty -nine," Thomas Fitzsimmons, then a member of the House of Representatives from Pennsylvania. It went through all it? stages without a word of opposition, and finally passed both branches with out yea,** and nays, which is equivalent to a unanimous passage. In this Congress there were sixteen of the thirty -nine fathers who framed the original Constitution. They were John Langdon, Nicholas Gilnian, Wm. 8. Johnson, Roger Sherman, Robert Morris, Thos. Fitzsimmons, William few, Abraham Baldwin, Rufus King, William Paterson, George Clymer, Richard Bassett, George Read, Pierce Butler, Daniel Carroll, James Madi- son. This shows that, in their understanding, no line dividing local from Fed- eral authority, nor any thing in the Constitution, properly forbade Con- gress to prohibit slavery in the Federal territory ; else both their fidelity to correct principles, and their oath to support the Constitution, would have constrained them to oppose the prohibition. Again: George Washington, another of the "thirty-nine," was then State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 87 President of the United States, and, as such, approved and signed the bill ; thus completing its validity as a law, and thus showing that, in his under- standing, no line dividing local from Federal authority, nor any thing in the Constitution, forbade the Federal Government to control as to slavery in Federal territory. No great while after the adoption of the original Constitution, North Carolina ceded to tl e Federal Government the country now constituting the State of Tennessee; and, a few years later, Georgia ceded that which now constitutes the States of Mississippi and Alabama. In both deeds of cession it was made a condition by the ceding States that the Federal ] Government should not prohibit slavery in the ceded country. Besides jthis, slavery was then actually in the ceded country. Under these cir- cumstances, Congress, on taking charge of these countries, did not abso- lutely prohibit slavery within them. But they did interfere with it — ff any of them, upon the direct issue, which I have been able to discover. To enumerate the persons who thus acted, as being four in 1784, two in 1787, seventeen in 1789, three in 1798, two in 1804, and two in 1819- 20 — there would be thirty of them. But this would be counting John Langdon, Roger Sherman, William Few, Rufus King, and George Read, each twice, and Abraham Baldwin, three times. The true number of those of the " thirty-nine " whom I have shown to have acted upon the question which, by the text, they understood better than we, is twenty- three, leaving sixteen not shown to have acted upon it in any way. Here, then, we have twenty- three out of our thirty-nine fathers " who framed the Government under which we live," who have, upon their official responsibility and their corporal oaths, acted upon the very ques- tion which the text affirms they " understood just as well, and even bet- ter than we do now ;" and twenty-one of them — a clear majority of the whole "thirty-nine" — so acting upon it as to make them guilty of grcsa political impropriety and wilful perjury, if, in their understanding, any proper division between local and Federal authority, or any thing in the Constitution they had made themselves, and sworn to support, forbade the Federal Government to control as to slavery in the Federal territories. Thus the twenty-one acted ; and, as actions speak louder than words, so actions, under such responsibility, speak still louder. Two of the twenty-three voted against Congressional prohibition of •lavery in the Federal territories, in the instances in winch they acted upon the question. But for what reasons they so voted is not known. They may have done so because they thought a proper division of local from Federal authority, or some provision or principle of the Constitution, ■tood in the way ; or they may, without any such question, have voted •gainst the prohibition on what appeared to them to be sufficient grounds State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 89 of expediency. No one who has sworn to support the Constitution, can conscientiously vote for what he understands to be an unconstitutional measure, however expedient he may think it; but one may and ought to vote against a measure which he deems constitutional, if, at the same time, he deems it inexpedient. It therefore would be unsafe to set down even the two who voted against the prohibition, as having done so because, in their understanding, any proper division of local from Federal authority, or any thing in the Constitution, forbade the Federal Government to con- trol as to slavery in Federal territory. The remaining sixteen of the " thirty-nine," so far as I have discovered, have left no record of their understanding upon the direct question of Federal control on slavery in the Federal territories. But there is much reason to believe that their understanding upon that question would not have appeared different from that of their twenty-three compeers, had it been manifested at all. For the purpose of adhering rigidly to the text, I have purposely omit- ted whatever understanding may have been manifested by any person, however distinguished, other than the thirty-nine fathers who framed the original Constitution ; and, for the same reason, I have also omitted whet ever understanding may have been manifested by any of the M thirty nine " even, on any other phase of the general question of slavery. If w« should look into their acts and declarations on those other phases, as th« foreign slave-trade, and the morality and policy of slavery generally, it would appear to us that on the direct question of Federal control of sla- very in Federal territories, the sixteen, if they had acted at all, would probably have acted just as the twenty- three did. Among that sixteen were several of the most noted anti-slavery men of those times — as Dr. Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, and Gouverneur Morris — while there was not one now known to have been otherwise, unless it may be John Kut- ledge, of South Carolina. The sum of the whole is, that of our thirty-nine fathers who framod the original Constitution, twenty-one — a clear majority of the whole— certainly understood that no proper division of local from Federal au- thority, nor any part of the Constitution, forbade the Federal Govern- ment to control slavery in the Federal territories ; whilst all the rest prob- ably had the same understanding. Such, unquestionably, was the under- standing of our fathers who framed the original Constitution ; and the text affirms that they understood the question " better than we." But, so far, I have been considering the understanding of the question manifested by the framers of the original Constitution. In and by the original instrument, a mode was provided for amending it ; and, as I have already stated, the present frame of "the Government under which we live " consists of that original, and twelve amendatory articles framed and adopted since. Those who now insist that Federal control of slavery to Federal territories violates the Constitution, point us to the provision! 90 The Life, Public Services, and which they suppose it thus violates ; and, as I understand, they all III opon provisions in these amendatory articles, and not in the original in- strument. The Supreme Court, in the Dred Scott case, plant themselves rpon the fifth amendment, which provides that no person shall be de- prived of "life, liberty, or property without due process of law;" while Senator Douglas and his peculiar adherents plant themselves upon the tenth amendment, providing that "the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution," ; are reserved to the States respect ively, or to the people." Now, it so happens that these amendments were framed by the first Congress whi3h sat under the Constitution — the identical Congress which passed the act already mentioned, enforcing the prohibition of slavery in the Northwestern Territory. Not only was it the same Congress, but tl ey were the identical same individual men who, at the same session, aid at the same time within the session, had under consideration, and in progress toward maturity, these Constitutional amendments, and this act prohibiting slavery in all the territory the nation then owned. The Con- stitutional amendments were introduced before, and passed after the act enforcing the Ordinance of '87 ; so that, during the whole pendency of the act to enforce the Ordinance, the Constitutional amendments were also pending. The seventy-six members of that Congress, including sixteen of the framers of the original Constitution, as before stated, were pre-eminently our fathers who framed that part of " the Government under which we rive," which is now claimed as forbidding the Federal Government to control slavery in the Federal territories. Is it not a little presumptuous in any one at this day to affirm that the two things which that Congress deliberately framed, and carried to ma- turity at the same time, are absolutely inconsistent with each other? And does not such affirmation become impudently absurd when coupled with the other affirmation from the same mouth, that those who did the two things alleged to be inconsistent, understood whether they reali were inconsistent better than we — better than he who affirms that they are inconsistent ? It is surely safe to assume that the thirty-nine framers of the original Constitution, and the seventy-six members of the Congress which framed the amendments thereto, t: ken together, do certainly include those who may be fairly called " our fathers who framed the Government under which we live." And, so assuming, 1 defy any man to show that any one of them ever, in his whole life, declared that, In his understanding, any proper division of local from Federal authority, or auy part of the Con- stitution, forbade the Federal Government to control as to slavery in the Federal territories. I go a step further. I defy any one to show that any living man in the whole world ever did, prior to the beginning of the present century (and I might almost sav prior to the beginning of the State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 91 last half of the present century), declare that, in his understanding, any proper division of local from Federal authority, or any part of the Consti- tution, forbade the Federal Government to control as to slavery in the Federal territories. To those who now so declare, I give not only * our fathers who framed the Government under which we live," but with them all oth# living men witbin the century in which it was framed, among whom to search, and they shall not bo able to find the evidence of a single man agreeing with them. Now, and here, let me guard a little against being misunderstood, do not mean to say we are bound to follow implicitly in whatever oui fathers did. To do so, would be to discard all the lights of current ex- perience^ — to reject all progress — all improvement. "What I do say is, that if we would supplant the opinions and policy of our fathers in any case, we should do so upon evidence so conclusive, and argument so clear, that even their great authority, fairly considered and weighed, cannot stand ; and most surely not in a case whereof we ourselves declare they under- stood the question better than we. If any man at this day sincerely believes that proper division of local from Federal authority, or any part of the Constitution, forbids the Federal Government to control as to slavery in the Federal territories, he is right to say so, and to enforce his position by all truthful evidence and ftur argument which he can. But he has no right to mislead others, who have less access to history, and less leisure to study it, into the false beliet that " our fathers, who framed the Government under which we live," were of the same opinion — thus substituting falsehood and deception for truthful evidence and fair argument. If any man at this day sincerely believes "our fathers, who framed the Government under which we live," used and applied principles, in other cases, which ought to have led them to understand that a proper division of local from Federal authority, or some part of the Constitution, forbids the Federal Government to control as to slavery in the Federal territories, he is right to say so. But he should, at the same time, brave the responsibility of declaring that, in his opinion, he understands their principles better than they did themselves ; and especially should he not shirk that responsibility by asserting that they "understood the question just as well, and even better than we do now." But enough ! Let all who beliece that " our fathers, who framed the Government under which we live, understood this question just as well, and even better titan we do now,'*'' speak as they spoke, and act as they acted upon it. This is all Republicans ask — all Republicans desire — in relation to slavery. As those fathers marked it, so let it be again marked, as an evil not to be extended, but to be tolerated and protected only because of, and tv far as, its actual presence among us makes that toleration and protection a necessity. Let all the guaranties those fathers gave it be not grudgingly, but fully and fairly maintained. For this Republicans contend, and with this, so fa i* as I know or believe, thoy will be content 92 The Life, Public Services, and And now, if they would listen — as I suppose they will not — I would address a few words to the Southern people. I would say to them : — You consider yourselves a reasonable and a just people ; and I consider that in the general qualities of reason and justice you are not inferior to any other people. Still, when you speak of us Republicans, you do so only to denounce us as reptiles, or, at the best, as no better than outlaws. You will grant a hearing to pirates or murderers, but nothing like it to "Black Republicans." In all your contentions with one another, each of you deems an unconditional condemnation of " Black Republicanism " as the first thing to be attended to. Indeed, such con- demnation of us seems to be an indispensable prerequisite — license, so to speak — among you, to be admitted or permitted to speak at all. Now, can you, or not, be prevailed upon to pause, and to consider whether this is quite just to us, or even to yourselves ? Bring forward your charges and specifications, and then be patient long enough to hear us deny or justify. You say we are sectional. We deny it. That makes an issue ; and the burden of proof is upon you. You produce your proof; and what is it? Why, that our party has no existence in your section — gets no votes in your section. The fact is substantially true ; but does it prove the issue ? If it does, then in case we should, without change of principle, begin to get votes in your section, we should thereby cease to be sectional. You cannot escape this conclusion ; and yet, are you willing to abide by it ? If you are, you will probably soon find that we have ceased to be sectional, for we shall get votes in your section this very year. You will then begin to discover, as the truth plainly is, that your proof does not touch the issue. The fact that we get no votes in your section, is a fact of your making, and not of ours. And if there be fault in that fact, that fault is primarily yours, and remains so until you show that we repel you by some wrong principle or practice. If we do repel you by any wrong principle or practice, the fault is ours ; but this brings you to where you ought to have started — to a discussion of the right or wrong of our principle. If our principle, put in practice, would wrong your section for the bene- fit of ours, or for any other object, then our principle, and we with it, are sectional, and are justly opposed and denounced as such. Meet us, then, on the question of whether our principle, put in practice, would wrong your section ; and so meet us as if it were possible that something may be said on our side. Do you accept the challenge ? No I Then you really believe that the principle which " our fathers who framed the Gov- ernment under which we live" thought so clearly right as to adopt it, and indorse it again and again, upon their official oaths, is in fact so clearly wrong as to demand your condemnation witnout a moment's con- sideration. Some of you delight to flaunt in our faces the warning against sectional parties given by Washington in his Farewell Address. Less than eight State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 93 yearn before Washington gave that warning, lie had, as President of tbt United States, approved and signed an act of Congress enforcing the pro- hibition of slavery in the Northwestern Territory, which act embodied the policy of the Government upon that subject up to, and at, the very moment he penned that warning ; and about one year after he penned it, be wrote La Fayette that no considered that prohibition a wise measure, expressing in the same connection his hope that we should at some time Lave a confederacy of free States. Bearing this in mind, and seeing that sectionalism has since arisen upon this same subject, is that warning a weapon in your hands against us, or in our hands against you ? Could Washington himself speak, would he cast the blame of that sectionalism upon us, who sustain his policy, or upon you, who repudiate it? We respect that warning of Washington, and we commend it to you, together with his example pointing to the right application of it. But you say you are conservative — eminently conservative — while we are revolutionary, destructive, or something of the sort. What is con- servatism ? Is it not adherence to the old and tried, against a new and untried? We stick to, contend for, the identical old policy on the point in controversy which was adopted by " our fathers who framed the Gov- ernment under which we live ;" while you with one accord reject, and scout, and spit upon that old policy, and insist upon substituting something new. True, you disagree among yourselves as to what that substitute shall be. You are divided on new propositions and plans, hut you are unanimous in rejecting and denouncing the old policy of the fathers. Some of you are for reviving the foreign slave-trade ; some for a Con- gressional Slave -Code for the Territories; some for Congress forbidding the Territories to prohibit Slavery within their limits; some for maintain- ing Slavery in the Territories through the judiciary ; some for the " gur- reat pur-rineiple " that " if one man would enslave another, no third man should object," fantastically called " Popular Sovereignty ;" but never a man among you in favor of Federal prohibition of slavery in Federal terri- tories, according to the practice of " our fathers who framed the Govern- ment under which we live." Not one of all your various plans can show a precedent or an advocate in the century within which our Government originated. Consider, then, whether your claim of conservatism for your selves, and your charge of destructiveness against us, are based on the most clear and stable foundations. Again : you say we have made the slavery question more prominent than it formerly was. We deny it. We admit that it is more prominent, but we deny that we mado it so. It was not we, but you, who discarded the old policy of the fathers. We resisted, and still resist your innovation; and thence comes !;he greater prominence of the question. Would yon have that question reduced to its former proportions? Go back to that old policy. What has been will be again, under the same conditions. If H The Lifb, Public Services, and roa would have the peace of the old times, readopt the precepts and polio} »f the old times. You charge that we stir up insurrections among your slaves. Wo deny 't; and what is your proof? Harper's Ferry I John Brown 1! John Brown was no Republican ; and you have failed to implicate a single Re- publican in his Harper's Ferry enterprise. If any member of our party is guilty in that matter, you know it or you do not know it. If you do know it, you are inexcusable for not designating the man and proving the fact. If you do not know it, you are inexcusable for asserting it, and especially for persisting in the assertion after you have tried and failed to make the oroof. You need not be told that persisting in a charge which one does not know to be true is simply malicious slander. Some of you admit that no Republican designedly aided or encouraged the Harper's Ferry affair ; but still insist that our doctrines and declara- tions necessarily lead to such results. We do not believe it. We know we hold to no doctrine, and make no declaration, which were not held to and made by " our fathers who framed the Government under which we live." You never dealt fairly by us in relation to this affair. When it occurred, some important State elections were near at hand, and you were in evident glee with the belief that, by charging the blame upon us, you could get an advantage of us in those elections. The elections came, and four expectations were not quite fulfilled. Every Republican man knew fchat, as to himself at least, your charge was a slander, and he was not much inclined by it to cast his vote in your favor. Republican doctrines and declarations are accompanied with a continued protest against any interference whatever with your slaves, or with you about your slaves. Surely, this does not encourage them to revolt. True, we do, in common with "our fathers, who framed the Government under which we live," declare our belief that slavery is wrong ; but the slaves do not hear us declare even this. For any thing we say or do, the slaves would scarcely know there is a Republican party. I believe they would not, in fact, generally know it but for your misrepresentations of us in their hearing. In your political contests among yourselves, each faction charges the other with sympathy with Black Republicanism ; and then, to give point to the charge, defines Black Republicanism to simply be insurrection, blood, and thunder among the slaves. Slave insurrections are no more common now than they were be fore the Republican party was organized. What induced the Southamp ton insurrection, twenty-eight years ago, in which, at least, three times as many lives were lost as at Harper's Ferry? You can scarcely stretch your very elastic fancy to the conclusion that Southampton was "got up by Black Republicanism." In the present state of things in the United States, I do not think a general or even a very extensive slave insurrec- tioi* is possible. The indispensable concert of action cannot be attained. The slaves have no means of rapid communication ; nor can incendiarj State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 95 freemen, black or white, supply it. The explosive materials are every- where in parcels; but there neither are, nor can be supplied, the india- pensable connecting- trains. Much is said by Southern people about the affection of slaves for theif masters and mistresses ; and a part of it, at least, is true. A plot for an uprising could scarcely be devised and communicated to twenty individ- uals before some one of them, to save the life of a favorite muster or mis- tress, would divulge it. This is the rule; and the slave revolution in Hayti was not an exception to it, but a case occurring under peculiar cir- cumstances. The gunpowder plot of British history, though not connect- ed with slaves, was more in point. In that case, only about twenty were admitted to the secret ; and yet one of them, in his anxiety to save a friend, betrayed the plot to that friend, and, by consequence, averted the calamity. Occasional poisonings from the kitchen, and open or stealthy assassinations in the tield, and local revolts, extending to a score or so, will continue to occur as the natural results of slavery ; but no general insurrection of slaves, as I think, can happen in this country for a long time. Whoever much fears or much hopes for such an event will be alika disappointed. in the language of Mr. Jefferson, uttered many years ago, •* It is still in c&r power to direct the process of emancipation and deportation peace a;>iy, and in w that neither the word "slave" nor "slavery" is to be found in the Constitution, nor the word "property" even, in any connection with Ian gi-age alluding to the things slave or slavery, and that wherever in that in»tru.neut the slave is alluded to, he is called a " person;"— and vi lier- ever his master's legal right iu relation to him is alluded to, it is o^ujkv. or as 4i service or labor which may be due,"— as a debt payable in service or labor. Also, it would be open to show, by contemporaneous history, that this mode of alluding to slaves and slavery, instead of speaking of them, was employed on purpose to exclude from the Constitution the idea that there could be property in man. To show all this, is easy and certain. When this obvious mistake of the judges shall be brought to their no- tice, is it not reasonable to expect that they will withdraw the mistaken statement, and reconsider the conclusion based upon it? And then it is to be remembered that " our fathers, who framed th* Government under which we live" — the men who made the Constitution — decided this same Constitutional question in our favor, long ago — decided it without division among themselves, when making the decision ; without division among themselves about the meaning of it after it was made, and, so far as any evidence is left, without basing ii upon any mis- taken statement of facts. Under all these circumstances, do yon really feel yourselves justified to bieak up this Government, unless such a court decision as yours is shall be at once submitted to as a conclusive and final rule of political action ? But you will not abide the election of a Kepublican president I In that supposed event, yon say, yon will destroy the Union ; and then, you oay the great crime of having destroyed it will be \.pon us ! That is cool. J highwayman holds a pistol to my ear, and mutters through his teetr " Stand and deliver, or I shall kill you, and then you will be a murderer ' To be sure, what the robber demanded of me — my money — was r / own ; and I had a clear right to keep it ; but it was no more my o n than my vote is my own ; and the threat of death to me, to extort . t dare to do our duty as WE UNDERSTAND IT. The pre-eminent ability displayed in this address, com- pelled the people of the Middle and Eastern States to acknowledge that Mr. Lincoln was not only one of the foremost men of the West, but of the whole country, and this estimate was continued by the speeches which he subsequently delivered in Connecticut, Rhode Island, and 100 The Life, Public Services, and New Hampshire. Indeed, it is no exaggeration to state that the joint effect of these efforts— more particularly hia speech at Cooper Institute — and of his debates with Mr. Douglas, was to make Mr. Lincoln decidedly the second choice of the great body of the Republicans of New York, as the candidate of the Republican party for the campaign of 1860. Some incidents of this visit to New York, illustrate the simplicity and earnestness of the character of our late President so forcibly, that they are well deserving being placed on record. A prominent member of the Young Men's Republican Association, who was thrown much in Mr. Lincoln's company during his brief stay, writes : During the day, before the delivery of the address, a friend of Mr. Lincoln called at the Astor House, where he was staying, and suggested that the orator should be taken up Broadway and shown the city, of which he knew but little, stating, I think, that he had been here but once before. We accompanied him to several large establishments, with all of which he seemed much amused. At one place he met an Illinois acquaintance of former years, to whom he said, in his dry, good-natured way : " Well, B., how have you fared since you left Illinois ?" To which B. replied, M I have made one hundred thousand dollars and lost it all ; how is it with you, Mr. Lincoln ?" " Oh, very well," said Mr. Lincoln ; "I have the cottage at Springfield and about $3,000 in money. If they make me Vice-President with Seward, as some say they will, I hope I shall be able to increase it to $20,000, and that is as much as any man ought to want." We visited a photographic establishment upon the corner of Broadway and Bleecker street, where he sat for his picture, the first taken in New York. At the gallery he met and was introduced to George Bancroft. and had a brief conversation with that gentleman, who welcomed him to New York. The contrast in the appearance of the men wac most striking — the one courtly and precise in his every word and gesture, with the air of a trans- Atlantic statesman ; the other bluff and awkward, his every utterance an apology for his ignorance of metropolitan manners and cus- toms. " I am on my way to Massachusetts," said he to Mr. Bancroft, " where I have a son at sohool, who, if report be true, aiready knows much more than his father." A teacher at the Five Points House of Industry tells this touching incident, which doubtless transpired during the same visit : State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 101 Our Sunday School in the Five Points was assembled, one Sabbath morning, when I noticed a tall, remarkablo looking man enter the room and take a seat among us. He listeae*} SviiH fix^d attention 'to our exer- cises, and his countenance expressed* •such gerfuiue interest that I ap- proached, him and suggested that he' might be JVttlm-g; ty> JfeajJ feoinething to the children. He accepted the invWatio^ with evident pleasufe; and, coming forward, began a simple address, which at once fascinated every little hearer and hushed the room into silence. His language was stri- kingly beautiful, and his tones musical with intensest feeling. The little faces around him would droop into sad conviction as he uttered sentences of warning, and would brighten into sunshine as he spoke cheerful wordi of promise. Once or twice he attempted to close his remarks but the imperative shout of "Go on!" "Oh, do go on!" would compel him to resume. As I looked upon the gaunt and sinewy frame of the stranger, and marked his powerful head and determined features, now touched into softness by the impressions of the moment, I felt an irrepressible curiosity to learn something more about him, and when he was quietly leaving the room I begged to know his name. He courteously replied, u It is Abraham Lincoln, from Illinois." The following letter, written during this same period, in reply to an invitation to attend a festival in honor of the anniversary of Jefferson's "birthday, given by the Republicans of Boston, is thoroughly characteristic of Mr. Lincoln in the quaint humor of its illustration : Springfield, Illinois, April 6, 1889. Gentlemen : — Your kind note inviting me to attend a festival in Boston on the 13th instant, in honor of the birthday of Thomas Jefferson, wai duly received. My engagements are such that I cannot attend The Democracy of to-day hold the liberty of one man to be absolutely nothing, when in conflict with another man's right of property. Repub- licans, on the contrary, are both for the man and the dollar, but, in case of conflict, the man bejore the dollar. I remember being once much amused at seeing two partially intoxi- cated men engaged in a fight with their great-coats on, which fight, after a !ong and rather harmless contest, ended in each having fought himself out of his own coat, and into that of the other. If the two leading par- ties of this day are really identical with the two in the days of Jefferson and Adams, they have performed the same feat as the two drunken men. But, soberly, it is now no child's play to save the principles of Jeffer- Sun from total overthrow in this nation This is a world of compensations; and he who would le no slave, must consent to have mt slave. Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for thtTTTHri~n ; *nd, under a just God, cannot long retain it, 102 The Life, Public Services, and All honor to Jefferson ; to a man who, in the concrete pressure of • struggle for national independence ]>y a single people, had the coolness, forecast, and: capacity Wi^^vtxUice into a merely revolutionary docn- ment an abstract truth,* appTi cable to all men and all times, and so U embalm j>t ^h*e,''i, ^sf t '.to-jdky ami in all coming days it shall be a rebuke and a stumbling-bio'cii td tW harbingers of reappearing tyranny and oppression. Your obedient servant, A. Lincoln. Messrs. H. L. Pierce, and others, etc. But we turn from this episode to resume the formal record of Mr. Lincoln' s political career. The Republican National Convention of 1860 met on the 16th of May, at Chicago, in an immense building which the people of that city had put up for the purpose, called the Wigwam. There were four hundred and sixty-five delegates. The city was filled with earnest men, who had come there to press the claims of their favorite can- didates, and the halls and corridors of all the hotels swarmed and buzzed with an eager crowd, in and out of which darted or pushed or wormed their way the various leaders of party politics. Mr. Chase, Mr. Bates, and Mr. Cameron were spoken of and pressed somewhat as candi- dates, but from the first it was evident that the contest lay between Mr. Seward and Mr. Lincoln. Judge Wilmot, of Pennsylvania, was chosen temporary Chairman of the Convention, and in the afternoon of the first day a permanent organization was effected, by the choice of George Ashmun, of Massachusetts, as presi- dent, with twenty-seven vice-presidents and twenty -five secretaries. On Thursday, the 17th, the Committee on Resolutions reported the platform, which was enthusiasti- cally adopted. A motion was made to proceed to the nomination at once, &nd if that had been done the result of the Convention m%ht have proved very different, as at that time it was thought that Mr. Seward's chances were the best. But an adjournment was taken till the morning, and during the n%M the combinations were mude which resulted in the nomination of Mr. Lincoln. The excitement of the Convention ai*2 of the audience od State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 103 the morning of Friday was intense. The Illinoisans had turned out in great numbers, zealous for Lincoln ; and though the other States, near and far, had sent many men who were equally zealous for Mr. Seward, it was quite clear that Mr. Lincoln's supporters were in the majority in the audience. The first ballot gave Mr, Seward one hundred and seventy- three and a half votes to one hun- dred and two for Mr. Lincoln, the rest b^ing scattered. On the second ballot the first indication of the result was felt, when the chairman of the Vermont delegation, which had been divided on the previous ballot, announced, when the name of that State was called, that " Vermont casts her ten votes for the young giant of the West, Abraham Lincoln." On the second ballot, Mr. Seward had one hundred and eighty -four and a half to one hun dred and eighty-one for Mr. Lincoln, and on the third bal lot Mr. Lincoln received two hundred and thirty votes, be- ing within one and a half of a majority. The vote was not announced, but so many every where had kept the count that it was known throughout the Convention at once. Mr. Carter, of Ohio, rose and announced a change in the vote of the Ohio delegation of four votes in favor of Mr. Lincoln, and the Convention at once burst into a state of the wildest excitement. The cheers of the audience within were answered by those of a yet larger crowd without, to whom the result was announced. Cannon roared, and bands played, and banners waved, and the excited Republicans of Chicago cheered themselves hoarse, while on the wings of electricity sped all over the country the news of Mr. Lincoln's nomination, to be greeted everywhere with similar demonstrations. It was long before the Convention could calm itself enough to proceed to business. When it did, other States changed their votes in favor of the successful nominee, until it was announced, as the result of the third ballot, that Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois, had received three hun- dred and fifty-four votes, and was nominated by the Re- publican party for the office of President of the United States. The nomination was then, on the motion of Mr, 104 The Life, Public Services, and Evarts, of New York, made unanimous, and the Conven- tion adjourned till the afternoon, when they completed their work by nominating Hannibal Hamlin for Vice- President. Mr. Lincoln was at Springfield at the time. He had been in the telegraph-office during the casting of the first and second ballots, but then left, and went over to the office of the State Journal, where he was sitting convers- ing with friends while the third ballot was being taken. In a few moments came across the wires the announce- ment of the result. The Superintendent of the Telegraph Company, who was present, wrote on a scrap of paper, "Mr. Lincoln: You are nominated on the third ballot," and a boy ran with the message to Mr. Lincoln. He looked at it in silence amid the shouts of those around him; then rising and putting it in his pocket, he said quietly, "There's a little woman down at our house would like to hear this — I'll go down and tell her." Next day there arrived at Springfield the committee appointed by the Convention to inform Mr. Lincoln officially of his nomination. They waited upon him at his residence, and Mr. Ashmun, President of the Conven tion, addressing Mr. Lincoln, said : I have, sir, the honor, in behalf of the gentlemen who are present — a Committee appointed by the Republican Convention recently assembled at Chicago — to discharge a most pleasant duty. We have come, sir, under a vote of instructions to that Committee, to notify you that you have been selected by the Convention of the Republicans at Chicago for President of the United States. They instruct us, sir, to notify you of that selection, and that Committee deem it not only respectful to yourself, but appropriate to the important matter which they have in hand, that they should come in person, and present to you the authentic evidence of the action of that Convention ; and, sir, without any phrase which shall either be considered personally plauditory to yourself, or which shall have any reference to the principles involved in the questions which are con- nected with your nomination, I desire to present to you the letter which has been prepared, and which informs you of your nomination, and with it the platform resolutions and sentiments which the Convention adopted. Sir at your convenience we shall bo glad to receive from you such a re •ponse as it may be your pleasure to give usu State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 105 Mr. Lincoln listened to this address -with a degree of grave dignity that almost wore the appearance of sadness, and after a brief pause, in which he seemed to be ponder- ing the momentous responsibilities of his position, he replied : — Mk. Chairman and Gentlemen op the Committee : — I tender to you, and through you to the Republican National Convention, and all the people represented in it, my profoundest thanks for the high honor done me, which you now formally announce. Deeply, and even painfully sensible of the great responsibility which is inseparable from this high honor — a responsibility which I could almost wish had fallen upon some one of the far more eminent men and experienced statesmen whose distinguished names were before the Convention — I shall, by your leave, consider more fully the resolutions of the Convention, denominated the platform, and, without any unnecessary or unreasonable delay, respond to you, Mr. Chairman, in writing, not doubting that the platform will be found satis- factory, and the nomination gratefully accepted. And now I will not longer defer the pleasure of taking you, and each of you, by the hand. Tall Judge Kelly, of Pennsylvania, who was one of the committee, and who is himself a great many feet high, had meanwhile been eying Mr. Lincoln's lofty form with a mixture of admiration, and possibly jealousy ; this had not escaped Mr. Lincoln, and as he shook hands with the judge he inquired, " What is your height ?" 11 Six feet three. What is yours, Mr. Lincoln V " Six feet four.'' " Then," said the judge, " Pennsylvania bows to Illi nois. My dear man, for years my heart has been aching for a President that I could look up to, and I've found him at last in the land where we thought there were none but Utile giants." Mr. Lincoln's formal reply to the official announcement of his nomination was as follows : — SpRiNariELD, Illinois, May 28, I860. Sib : — I accept the nomination tendered me by the Convention over which you presided, of which I am formally apprised in a letter of your- self and others acting as a Committee of the Convention for that pur- pose. The declaration of principles and sentiments which accompanies your letter meets my approval, and it shall be my care not to violate it, 106 The Life, Public Services, and or disregard it in any part. Imploring the assistance of Divine Provi- dence, and with dne regard to the views and feelings of all who were represented in the Convention, to the rights of all the States and Territories and people of the nation, to the inviolability of the Constitution, and the perpetual union, harmony, and prosperity of all, I am most happy to co- operate for the practical success of tho principles declared by the Con- vention. Your obliged friend and fellow-citizen, A.BEAHAM Lincoln. Hon. Geoegb Ashmun, President of the Republican Convention Mr. Lincoln's nomination proved universally acceptable to the Republican party. Its members recognized in him a man of firm principles, of ardent love for freedom, of strict integrity and truth, and they went into the political contest with a zeal and enthusiasm which was the guaran- tee of victory ; while the doubt and uncertainty, the divided counsels and wavering purposes of their oppo- nents were the sure precursors of defeat. His nomination was the signal to the leaders of the slaveholders' party for pressing upon the Democratic Con- vention their most ultra views, that by the division of the Democratic forces the victory of Mr. Lincoln might be assured, and the pretext afforded them for carrying into execution the plot against the liberties of the country which they had been for so many years maturing. That they would dare to carry their threat of rebellion into exe- cution, was not believed at the North. If it had been, while it might have frightened away some votes from Mr. Lincoln, it would have brought him substantial acces- eions from the ranks of those who, though following the Democratic banner, had not learned to disregard the good old doctrine that the majority must rule, and who would have rushed to its rescue, if they had believed that it was really threatened. The vote which he received on Novem- ber 6, 1860, was that of a solid phalanx of earnest men, who had resolved that freedom should henceforth be national, and that slavery should remain as the framers of the Constitution intended that it should remain State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 107 CHAPTER IV. FROM THE ELECTION, NOV. 6, 1860, TO THE INAUGURATION, MARCH 4, 1861. The Presidential Election. — Secession of South Carolina. — Forma- tion op the Eebel Confederacy. — The Objects of Secession. — Se- cession Movements in Washington. — Debates in Congress. — The Crittenden Resolutions. — Conciliatory Action of Congress. — The Peace Conference. — Action of Congress. — The Secession Move- ment Unchecked. Abraham Lincoln was elected to be President of the United States on the sixth day of November, 1860. The preliminary canvass had not been marked by any very extraordinary features. Party lines were a good deal broken up, and four presidential candidates were in the field ; but this departure from the ordinary course of party contests had occurred more than once in the pre- vious political history of the country. Mr. Lincoln was put in nomination by the Republican party, and repre- sented in his life and opinions the precise aim and object for which that party had been formed. He was a native of a slaveholding State ; and while he had been opposed to slavery, he had regarded it as a local institution, the creature of local laws, with which the National Govern- ment of the United States had nothing whatever to do. But, in common with all observant public men, he had watched with distrust and apprehension the advance of slavery, as an element of political power, towards ascend- ency in the Government of the nation, and had cordially co-operated with those who thought it absolutely neces- sary for the future well-being of the country that this advance should be checked. He had, therefore, op- posed very strenuously the extension of slavery into the Territories, and had asserted the right and the duty of Congress to exclude it by positive legislation there- from. 108 The Life, Public Services, and The Chicago Convention, which nominated Mr. Lin- coln, adopted a platform of which this was the cardinal feature ; but it also took good care to repel the imputa- tion of its political opponents, and to remove the appre- hensions of the South, that the party proposed to interfere with slavery in the States whose laws gave it support and protection. It expressly disavowed all authority and all wish for such interference, and declared its pur- pose to protect the Southern States in the free enjoyment of all their constitutional rights. The Democratic Con- vention, originally assembled at Charleston, was disposed to make Mr. Douglas its candidate in opposition to Mr. Lincoln ; but this purpose was thwarted by leading pol- iticians of the slaveholding States, who procured the nomination of Mr. Breckinridge, with full knowledge of the fact that this would divide the Democratic party, and in all probability secure the election of Mr. Lincoln. Mr. Breckinridge represented the pro-slavery element of the Democratic party, and asserted the duty of the National Government, by a positive exercise of its legislative and executive power, to protect slavery in the Territories against any legislation either of Congress or of the people of the Territories themselves, which should seek to impair in any degree the right, alleged to be recognized in the Constitution, of property in slaves. Mr. Douglas sup- ported the theory that the people of the Territories, acting tnrough their territorial legislature, had the same right to decide this question for themselves as they had to decide any other ; and he represented this principle in opposition to Mr. Lincoln on the one hand, and Mr. Breckinridge on the other, in the presidential canvass. John Bell, of Tennessee, was also made a candidate by the action mainly of men who were dissatisfied with all the existing political parties, and who were alarmed at the probable results of a presidential election which promised to be substantially sectional in its character. They put forth, therefore, no opinions upon the leading points in controversy ; and went into the canvass with f 'the Constitution, the Union, and the enforcement of the State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 109 laws" as their platform, — one upon which they could easily have rallied all the people of all sections of the country, but for the fact, which they seemed to overlook, that the widest possible differences of opinion prevailed among the people as to its meaning. All sections of the country took part in the election. The Southern States were quite as active and quite as zealous as the Northern in carrying on the canvass. Public meetings were held, the newspaper press, South as well as North, discussed the issues involved with energy and vigor, and every thing on the surface indi- cated the usual termination of the contest, the triumph of one party and the peaceful acquiescence of all others. The result, however, showed that this was a mistake. The active and controlling politicians of the Southern States had gone into the canvass with the distinct and well-formed purpose of acquiescing in the result only in the event of its g ving them the victory. The election took place on the 6th of November. Mr. Lincoln re- ceived the electoral votes of all the Free States except New Jersey, which was divided, giving him four votes and Mr. Douglas three Mr. Breckinridge received the electoral votes of all the Slave States except Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia, which voted for Bell, and Mis- souri, which voted for Douglas, as did three electors from New Jersey also. Of the popular vote, Lincoln received 1,857,610; Douglas, 1,365,976 ; Breckinridge, 847,953 ; and Bell, 590,631. In the Electoral College, Lincoln received 180 votes, Douglas 12, Breckinridge 72, and Bell 39. As soon as the result of the election was known, various movements in the Southern States indicated their purpose of resistance ; and it soon became evident that this purpose had been long cherished, and that members of the Government under the presidency of Mr. Buchanan had officially given it their sanction and aid On the 29th of October, General Scott sent to the President and John B. Floyd, his Secretary of War, a letter expressing apprehensions lest the Southern people should seize some ilO The Life, Public Services, and of the Federal forts in the Southern States, and advising that they should be immediately garrisoned by way of precaution. The Secretary of War, according to state- ments subsequently made by one of his eulogists in Virginia, "thwarted, objected, resisted, and forbade'* the adoption of those measures, which, according to the same authority, if carried into execution, would have defeated the conspiracy, and rendered impossible the formation of a Southern Confederacy. An official report from the Ordnance Department, dated January 16, 1861, also shows that during the year 1860, and previous to the presidential election, one hundred and fifteen thou- sand muskets had been removed from Northern armories and sent to Southern arsenals by a single order of the Secretary of War, issued on the 30th of December, 1859. On the 20th of November, the Attorney General, Hon. John S. Black, in reply to inquiries of the President, gave him the official opinion that Congress had no right to carry on war against any State, either to prevent a threatened violation of the Constitution or to enforce an acknowledgment that the Government of the United States is supreme : and it soon became evident that the Presi- dent adopted this theory as the basis and guide of his executive action. South Carolina took the lead in the secession movement. Her legislature assembled on the 4th of November, 1860, and, after casting the electoral vote of the State for John C. Breckinridge to be President of the United States, passed an act the next day calling a State Convention, to meet at Columbia on the 17th of December. On the 10th, b\ W. Pitkens was elected Governor, and, in his inaugu- ral, declared the determination of the State to secede, on the ground that, u in the recent election for President and Vice-President, the North had carried the election upon principles that make it no longer safe for us to rely upon the powers of the Federal Government or the guarantees of the Federal compact. This," he added, " is the great overt act of the people of the Northern States, who pro- pose to inaugurate a chief magistrate not to preside over State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. Ill the common interests or destinies of all States alike, but upon issues of malignant hostility and uncompromising war to be waged upon the rights, the interests, and the peace of. half of the States of this Union." The Conven- tion met on the 17th of December, and adjourned the next day to Charleston, on account of the prevalence of small- pox at Columbia. On the 20th an ordinance was passed unanimously repealing the ordinance adopted May 23, 1788, whereby the Constitution of the United States was ratified, and "dissolving the Union now subsisting be- tween South Carolina and other States under the name of the United States of America ;" and on the 24th the Gov- ernor issued his proclamation, declaring the State of South Carolina to be a " separate, sovereign, free, and independent State." This was the first act of secession passed by any State. The debates in the State "Convention show clearly enough that it was not taken under the impulse of resentment for any sharp and remediless wrong, nor in apprehension that any such wrong would be inflicted ; but in pursuance of a settled and long-cherished purpose. In that debate Mr. Parker said that the movement was "no spasmodic effort — it had been gradually culminating for a long series of years." Mr. Inglis indorsed this remark, and added, " Most of us have had this matter under consideration for the last twenty years." Mr. L. M. Keitt said, "I have been engaged in this movement ever since I entered polit- ical life." And Mr. Rhett, who had been for many years in the public service, declared that "the secession of South Carolina was not the event of a day. It is not," said he, "any thing produced by Mr. Lincoln's election, or by the non-execution of the fugitive slave law. It is a matter which has been gathering head for thirty years. The election of Lincoln and Hamlin was the last straw on the back of the camel. But it was not the only one. The back was nearly broken before." So far as South Caro- lina was concerned, there can be no doubt that her action was decided by men who had been plotting disunion for thirty years, not On account of any wrongs her people had 112 The Life, Public Services) and sustained at the hands of the Federal Government, but from motives of personal and sectional ambition, and for the purpose of establishing a government which should he permanently and completely in the interest of slavery. But the disclosures which have since been made, imper- fect comparatively as they are, prove clearly that the whole secession movement was in the hands of a few conspirators, who had their head-quarters at the national capital, and were themselves closely connected with the Government of the United States. A secret meeting of these men was held at Washington on the night of the 5th of January, 1861, at which the Senators from Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas, Mississippi, and Florida were present. They decided, by resolutions, that each of the Southern States should secede from the Union as soon as possible ; that a convention of seceding States should be held at Montgomery, Alabama, not later than the 15th of February ; and that the Senators and Members of Congress from the Southern States ought to remain in their seats as long as possible, in order to defeat measures that might be proposed at Washington hostile to the seces- sion movement. Davis of Mississippi, Slidell of Louis- iana, and Mallory of Florida, were appointed a com- mittee to carry these decisions into effect ; and, in pursuance of them, Mississippi passed an ordinance of secession January 9th ; Alabama and Florida, January 11th ; Louis- iana, January 26th, and Texas, February 5th. All these acts, as well as all which followed, were simply the execu- tion of the behests of this secret conclave of conspirators who had resolved upon secession. In all the conventions of the seceding States, delegates were appointed to meet at Montgomery. In not one of them was the question of secession submitted to a vote of the people ; although in some of them the legislatures had expressly forbidden them to pass any ordinance of secession without making its validity depend on its ratification by the popular vote. The Convention met at Montgomery on the 4th of Febru- ary, and adopted a provisional constitution, to continue in operation for one year. Under this constitution Jeffer State Papers op Abraham Lincoln. 113 son Davis was elected President of the new Confederacy, and Alex. H. Stephens, of Georgia, Vice-President. Both were inaugurated on the 18th. In an address delivered on his arrival at Montgomery, Mr. Davis declared that "the time for compromise has now passed, and the South is determined to maintain her position, and make all who oppose her smell Southern powder and feel Southern, steel, if coercion is persisted in." He felt sure of the result ; it might be they would " have to encounter incon- veniences at the beginning," but he had no doubts of the final issue. The first part of his anticipation has been fully realized ; the end has hardly proved to be as peace- ful and satisfactory as he predicted. The policy of the new Confederacy towards the United States was soon officially made known. The government decided to maintain the status quo until the expiration of Mr. Buchanan's term, feeling assured that, with his de- clared belief that it would be unconstitutional to coerce a State, they need apprehend from his administration no active hostility to their designs. They had some hope thaft, by the 4th of March, their new Confederacy would be so far advanced that the new Administration might waive its purpose of coercion ; and they deemed it wise not to do any thing which should rashly forfeit the favor and support of "that very large portion of the North whose moral sense was on their side." Nevertheless, they entered upon prompt and active preparations for war. Contracts were made in various parts of the South for the manufacture of powder, shell, cannon-balls, and other munitions of war. Recruiting was set on foot in several of the States. A plan was adopted for the organization of a regular army of the Confederacy, and on the 6th of March Congress passed an act authorizing a military force of one hundred thousand men. Thus was opened a new chapter in the history of Amer- ica. Thus were taken the first steps towards overthrow- ing the Government and Constitution of the United States, and establishing a new nation, with a new Constitution, resting upon new principles, and aiming at new results. Hi The Life, Public Services, and The Constitution of the United States was ordained " in order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, in- sure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our posterity." We have the clear and explicit testimony of A. H. Stephens, the Vice- President of the rebel Confederacy, echoing and reaffirm- ing that of the whole civilized world to the fact, tha these high and noble objects — the noblest and the grandest at which human institutions can aim — have been more nearly attained in the practical working of the Govern- ment of the United States than anywhere else on the face of the earth. " I look upon this country, with our insti- tutions," said Mr. Stephens before the legislature of Georgia, on the 14th of November, 1860, after the result of the presidential election was known, " as the Eden of the world, the paradise of the universe. It may be that out of it we may become greater and more prosperous, but I am candid and sincere in telling you that I fear, if we rashly evince passion, and without sufficient cause shall take that step, that instead of becoming greater, 01 more peaceful, prosperous, and happy — instead of becom ing gods we will become demons, and at no distant day commence cutting each others throats." Mr. Stephens on that occasion went on, in a strain of high patriotism and common sense, to speak of the proposed secession of the State of Georgia, in language which will forever stand as a judicial condemnation of the action of the rebel States. 1 ' The first question that presents itself," said Mr. Stephens, " is, shall the people of the South secede from the Union in consequence of the election of Mr. Lincoln to the Presi- dency of the United States ? My countrymen, I tell you candidly, frankly, and earnestly, that I do not think that fchey ought. In my judgment the election of no man, con- stitutionally chosen to that high office, is sufficient cause for any State to separate from the Union. It ought to stand by and aid still in maintaining the Constitution of the country. To make a point of resistance to the gov- ernment, to withdraw from it because a man has been State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 1!o constitutionally elected, puts us in the wrong. * * We went into the election with this people. The result was . different from what we wished ; but the election has been constitutionally held. Were we to make a point of resist- ance to the Government, and go out of the Union on this account, the record would be made up hereafter against us." After the new confederacy had been organized, and Mr. Stephens had been elected its Vice-President, he made an elaborate speech to the citizens of Savannah, in which he endeavored to vindicate this attempt to establish a new government in place of the government of the United States, and to set forth the new principles upon which ii was to rest, and which were to justify the movement in the eyes of the world and of impartial posterity. That exposition is too important to be omitted here. It is the most authoritative and explicit statement of the character and objects of the new government which has ever beea made. Mr. Stephens said : — " The new constitution has pnt at rest forever all agitating questions relating to our peculiar institutions — African slavery, as it exists among us — the proper status of the negro in our form of civilization. This was the immediate cause of the late rupture and present revolution. Jeffer- son, in his forecast, had anticipated this, as tne ' rock upon which the old Union would split.' He was right. What was conjecture with him, is now a realized fact. But whether he fully comprehended the great truth upon which that rock stood and stands, may be doubted. The prevailing ideas entertained by him, and most of the leading statesmen at the time of the formation of the old Constitution, were, that the enslave- ment of the African was in violation of the laws of nature; that it was wrong in principle, socially, morally, and politically. It was an evil they knew not well how to deal with ; but the general opinion of the men of that day was, that, somehow or other, in the order of Providence, the institution would be evanescent and pass away. This idea, though not incorporated in the Constitution, was the prevailing idea at the time. The Constitution, it is true, secured every essential guarantee to the insti tution while it should last, and hence no argument can be justly used against the constitutional guarantees thus secured, because of the com- mon sentiment of the day. Those ideas, however, were fundamentally wrong. They rested upon the assumption of the equality of races. This was ac error. It was a sandy foundation, and the idea of a government 116 The Life, Public Services, and built upon it was wrong — when the 'storm came and the wind Mew, it fell.' "Our new government is founded upon exactly the opposite ideas; ita foundations are laid, its corner-stone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man ; that slavery, subordination to the superior race, is his natural and normal condition. This, our new govern- ment, is the first in the history of the world, based upon this great physi- cal, philosophical, and moral truth. This truth has been slow in the pro- cess of its development, like all other truths in the various department* of science. It is even so amongst us. Many who hear me, perhaps, can recollect well that this truth was not generally admitted even within their day. The errors of the past generation still clung to many as late as twenty years ago. Those at the North who still cling to these errors with a zeal above knowledge, we justly denominate fanatics. All fanat- icism springs from an aberration of the mind; from a defect in reasoning. It is a species of insanity. One of the most striking characteristics of insanity, in many instances, is forming correct conclusions from fancied or erroneous premises; so with the anti-slavery fanatics ; their conclusions are right if their premises are. They assume that the negro is equal, and hence conclude that he is entitled to equal privileges and rights with the white man. If their premises were correct, their conclusions would be logical and just; but their premises being wrong, their whole argument fails, I recollect once of having heard a gentleman from one of the Northern States, of great power and ability, announce in the House of Representatives, with imposing effect, that we of the South would be com- pelled, ultimately, to yield upon this subject of slavery; that it was as impossible to war successfully against a principle in politics, as it was in physics or mechanics ; that the principle would ultimately prevail ; that we, in maintaining slavery as it exists with us, were warring against a principle — a principle founded in nature, the principle of the equality of man. The reply I made to him was, that upon his own grounds we should succeed, and that he and his associates in their crusade against our institutions would ultimately fail. The truth announced, that it was as impossible to war successfully against a principle in politics as it was in physics or mechanics, I admitted, but told him that it was he and those acting with him who were warring against a principle. They were attempting to make things equal which the Creator had made unequal. "In the conflict thus far, success has been on our side, complete throughout the length and breadth of the Confederate States. It is upon this, as I have stated, our social fabric is firmly planted ; and I canuot permit myself to doubt the ultimate success of a fall recognition of this principle throughout the civilized and enlightened world." We have thus traced the course of events in the South- ern States during the tbr^ \ronths that succeeded the State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. ll 1 * election of President Lincoln. Let us now see what took place in Washington during the same time. Congress met on the 3d of December, and the Message of President Buchanan was at once sent in. That document ascribed the discontent of the Southern States to the alleged fact that the violent agitation in the North against slavery had created disaffection among the slaves, and created appre- hensions of servile insurrection. The President vindicated the hostile action of the South, assuming that it was prompted by these apprehensions ; but went on to show that there was no right on the part of any State to secede from the Union, while at the same time he contended that the General Government had no right to make war on any State for the purpose of preventing it from seceding, and closed this portion of his Message by recommending an amendment of the Constitution which should explicitly recognize the right of property in slaves, and provide for the protection of that right in all the Territories of the United States. The belief that the people of South Caro lina would make an attempt to seize one or more of the forts in the harbor of Charleston, created considerable uneasiness at Wasliington ; and on the 9th of December the representatives from that State wrote to the President expressing their " strong convictions" that no such at- tempt would be made previous to the action of the State Convention, "provided that no re-enforcements should be sent into those forts, and their relative military status shall remain as at present." On the 10th of December Howell Cobb resigned his office as Secretary of the Treas- ury, and on the 14th General Cass resigned as Secretary of State. The latter resigned because the President refused to re -enforce the forts in the harbor of Charleston. On the 20th the State of South Carolina passed the ordi- nance of secession, and on the 26th Major Anderson trans- ferred his garrison from Fort Moultrie to Fort Sumter. On the 29th John B. Floyd resigned his office as Secretary of War, alleging that the action of Major Anderson was in violation of pledges given by the Government that the military status of the forts at Charleston should remain 118 The Life, Public Services, and unchanged, and that the President had declined to allow him to issue an order, for which he had applied on the 27th, to withdraw the garrison from the harbor of Charles- ton. On the 29th of December, Messrs. Barnwell, Adams, and Orr arrived at Washington, as commissioners from the State of South Carolina, and at once opened a corre- spondence with President Buchanan, asking for the deliv ery of the forts and other government property at Charles- ton to the authorities of South Carolina. The President replied on the 30th, reviewing the whole question — stating that in removing from Fort Moultrie, Major Anderson acted solely on his own responsibility, and that his first impulse on hearing of it was to order him to return, but that the occupation of the fort by South Carolina and the seizure of the arsenal at Charleston had rendered this impossible. The commissioners replied on the 1st of January, 1861, insisting that the President had pi edged himself to maintain the status of affairs in Charleston harbor previous to the removal of Major Anderson from Fort Moultrie, and calling on him to redeem this pledge. This communication the President returned. On the 8th of January, the President sent a message to Congress, calling their attention to the condition of public affairs, declaring that while he had no right to make ag- gressive war upon any State, it was his right and his duty to "use military force defensively against those who resist the Federal officers in the execution of their legal functions, and against those who assail the property of the Federal Government f —but throwing the whole re- sponsibility of meeting the extraordinary emergencies of the occasion upon Congress. On the same day, Jacob Thompson, of Mississippi, resigned his office as Secretary of the Interior, because the Star of the West had been sent on the 6th, by order of the Government, with sup- plies for Fort Sumter, in violation, as he alleged, of the decision of the cabinet. On the 10th, P. F. Thomas, of Maryland, who had replaced Howell Cobb as Secretary of the Treasury, resigned, and was succeeded by General John A. I)ix, of New York. State Papers u* Abraham Lincoln. Ill) The debates and the action of Congress throughout tlie session related mainly to the questions at issue between the two sections. The discussion opened on the 3d of December, as soon as the President's Message had been read. The Southern Senators generally treated the elec- tion of the previous November as having been a virtual decision against the equality and rights of the slavehold mg States. The Eepublicah members disavowed this con- struction, and proclaimed their willingness to adopt any just and proper measures which would quiet the appre- hensions of the South, while they insisted that the authority of the Constitution should be maintained, and the constitutional election of a President should be re- spected. At the opening of the session, Mr. Powell, of Kentucky, in the Senate, moved the reference of that portion of the President's Message which related to the sectional difficulties of the country, to a select committee of thirteen. This resolution being adopted, Mr. Critten den immediately afterwards introduced a series of joint resolutions, embodying what came to be known after- wards as the Crittenden Compromise — proposing to sub- mit to the action of the people of the several States the following amendments to the Constitution : — 1. Prohibiting slavery in all the territory of the United States north of #6° 30', and protecting it as property in all territory south of that line j and admitting into the Union, with or without slavery, as its Constitution might provide, any State that might be formed out of such territory, whenever its population should be sufficient to entitle it to a oember ner his full value, and may recover the from the countv in which such rescue occurred 120 The Life, Public Service?, and 6. These provisions were declared to be unchangeable by any future amendment of the Constitution, as were also the existing articles relating feo the representation of slaves and the Bmre*»«*«r ^f ^gitives. Besides these proposed amendments of the Constitution, Mr Crittenden's resolutions embodied certain declara- tions m affirmance of the constitutionality and binding force of the fugitive slave law — recommending the repeal by the States of all bills, the effect of which was to hinder the execution of that law, proposing to amend it by equalizing its fees, and urging the effectual execution of the law for the suppression of the African slave-trade. These resolutions were referred to the Committee of Thirteen, ordered on Mr. Powell's motion, and composed of the following senators : — Messrs. Powell, Hunter, Crittenden, Seward, Toombs, Douglas, Colla- mer, Davis, Wade, Bigler, Rice, Doolittle, and Grimes. On the 31st of December, this committee reported that they " had not been able to agree upon any general plan of adjustment." The whole subject was nevertheless discussed over and over again during the residue of the session ; but no final action was taken until the very day of its close. On the 21st of January, Messrs. Yulee and Mallory, of Florida, resigned their seats in the Senate, because their State had passed an ordinance of secession ; and on the 28th, Mr. Iverson, of Georgia, followed their example. Messrs. Clay and Fitzpatrick, of Alabama, and Mr. Davis, of Mississippi, followed next, and, on the 4th of February, Messrs. Slidell and Benjamin, of Louis- iana, also took their leave. In the House of Representatives the debates took the same general direction as in the Senate. On the first day of the session a resolution was adopted, by a vote of one hundred and forty -five to thirty-eight, to refer so much of the President's Message as related to the perilous con- dition of the country, to a committee of one from each State. This committee was appointed as follows :* - State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 12] Corwin of Ohio. Dunn of Indiana. Millson of Virginia. Taylor of Louisiana. Adams of Massachusetts. Davis of Mississippi. Winslow of North Carolina. Kellogg of Illinois. Humphrey of New York. Houston of Alabama. Boyce of South Carolina. Morse of Maine. Campbell of Pennsylvania. Phelps of Missouri. Love of Georgia. Rust of Arkansas. Ferry of Connecticut. Howard of Michigan. Davis of Maryland. Hawkins of Florida. Robinson of Rhode Island. Hamilton of Texas. Whitely of Delaware. Washburn of Wisconsin. Tappan of New Hampshire. Curtis of Iowa. Stratton of New Jersey. Birch of California. Bristow of Kentucky. Windom of Minnesota. Morrill of Vermont. Stark of Oregon. Nelson of Tennessee. A great variety of resolutions were offered and referred to this committee. In a few days the committee reported the following series of resolutions, and recommended their adoption : — Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States $f America in Congress assembled, That all attempts on the parts of the legislatures of any of the States to obstruct or hinder the recovery and surrender of fugitives from service or labor, are in derogation of the Con- stitution of the United States, inconsistent with the comity and good neighborhood that should prevail among the several States, and danger- ous to the peace of the Union. Resolved, That the several States be respectfully requested to cause their statutes to be revised, with a view to ascertain if any of them are in ccnflict with, or tend to embarrass or hinder the execution of, the laws of the United States, made in pursuance of the second section of the fourth article of the Constitution of the United States, for the delivering up of persons held to labor by the laws of any State and escaping^ therefrom • and the Senate and House of Representatives earnestly request that all enactments having such tendency be forthwith repealed, as required by a just sense of constitutional obligations, and by a due regard for the peace of the Republic ; and the President of the United States is requested to communicate these resolutions to the governors of the several States. with a request that they will lay the same before the legislatures thereof, Tespectively. Resolved, That we recognize slavery as now existing in fifteen of the United States by the usages and laws of those States ; and we recognize no authority, legally or otherwise, outside of a State where it so exists, to 122 The Life, Public Services, and interfere with slaves or slavery in such States, in disregard of the rights of their owners or the peace of society. Resolved, That we recognize the justice and propriety of a faithful execution of the Constitution, and laws made in pursuance thereof, on the subject of fugitive slaves, or fugitives from service or labor, and discoun- tenance all mobs or hindrances to the execution of such laws, and that citizens of each State shall be entitled to all the privileges and immunities. of citizens in the several States. > Resolved, That we recognize no such conflicting elements in its compo- sition, or sufficient cause from any source, for a dissolution of this Gov- ernment; that we were not sent here to destroy, but to sustain and harmonize the institutions of the country, and to see that equal justice is done to all parts of the same ; and, finally, to perpetuate its existence on terms of equality and justice to all the States. Resolved, That a faithful observance, on the part of all the States, of all their constitutional obligations to each other and to the Federal Gov- ernment, is essential to the peace of the country. Resolved, That it is the duty of the Federal Government to enforce the Federal laws, protect the Federal property, and preserve the Union of these States. Resoloed, That each State be requested to revise its statutes, and, if necessary, so to amend the same as to secure, without legislation by Con- gress, to citizens of other States travelling therein, the same protection as citizens of such States enjoy ; and also to protect the citizens of other States travelling or sojourning therein against popular violence or illegal summary punishment, without trial in due form of law for imputed crimes. Resolved, That each State be also respectfully requested to enact such laws as will prevent and punish any attempt whatever in such State to recognize or set on foot the lawless invasion of any other State 0* Terri- tory. Resolved, That the President be requested to transmit copies of the foregoing resolutions to the Governors of the several States, with a request that they be communicated to their respective legislatures. These resolutions were intended and admirably cal- culated to calm the apprehensions of the people of the slaveholding States as to any disposition on the part of the Federal Government to interfere with slavery, or withhold from them any of their constitutional rights ; and in a House controlled by a large Republican majority, they were adopted by a vote of ayes one hundred and thirty-six, noes fifty-three. Not content with this effort to satisfy all just complaints on the part of the Southern State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 123 States, the same committee reported the following resolu- tion, recommending such an amendment of the Constitu- tion as should put it forever out of the power of the government or people of the United States to interfere with slavery in any of the States : — Be it resolved by the Senate and Hov.se of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled (two-thirds of both Houses con- curring), That the following article be proposed to the legislatures cf the several States as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which, when ratified by three-fourths of said legislatures, shall be valid, to all intents and purposes, as a part of the said Constitution, namely : Art. 12. No amendment shall be made to the Constitution which will authorize, or give to Congress the power to abolish or interfere, within any State, with the domestic institutions thereof, including that of per- sons held to labor or service by the laws of said State. This resolution was adopted by a vote of one hundred and thirty-three to sixty-five — more than two-thirds in its favor. This closed the action of the House of Repre- sentatives at this session on this important subject, though it had previously adopted, by a unanimous vote, the following declaratory resolution : — Resolved, That neither the Federal Government nor the people, or the governments of the non-slaveholding States, have the right to legislate upon or interfere with slavery in any of the slaveholding States in the Union. The action of the Senate was somewhat modified by the intervening action of a Peace Conference, which assembled at Washington on the 4th of February, in pursuance of a recommendation of the State of Virginia, embodied in resolutions adopted by the General As- sembly of that State on the 19th of January. It con- sisted of delegates, one hundred and thirty-three in number, from twenty-one States — none of those which had seceded being represented. John Tyler, of Virginia, was appointed president, and a committed, consisting of one from each State, was appointed, with authority to "report what they may deem right, necessary, and proper, to restore harmony and preserve the Union." 124 The Life, Public Services, and On the 15th of February the committee reported a series of resolutions, in seven sections, which were discussed and amended, one by one, until the afternoon of the 26th, when the vote was taken upon them as amended, in succession, with the following results : — Section 1. In all the present territory of the United States, north or the parallel of thirty-six degrees and thirty minutes of north latitude, in voluntary servitude, except in punishment of crime, is prohibited. In al the present territory south of that line, the status of persons held to invol- untary service or labor, as it now exists, shall not be changed ; nor shall any law be passed by Congress or the territorial legislature to hinder or prevent the taking of such persons from any of the States of this Union to said territory, nor to impair the rights arising from said relation ; but the same shall be subject to judicial cognizance in the Federal Courts, accord- ing to the course of the common law. When any territory north or south of said line, within such boundary as Congress may prescribe, shall con- tain a population equal to that required for a member of Congress, it shall, if its form of government be republican, be admitted into the Union on an equal footing with the original States, with or without involuntary servitude, as the constitution of such State may provide. The vote on the adoption of tho section was as follows : — Ayes. — Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylva nia, Rhode Island, Tennessee — 8. Noes. — Connecticut, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Vermont, Virginia — 11. So its adoption was not agreed to. A reconsideration of this vote was called for by the delegates from Illinois, and agreed to, 14 to 5. On the next day the question was again taken on the adoption of the section, vith the following result: — Ayes. — Delaware, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio. Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee — 9. Noes. — Connecticut, Iowa, Maine, Massacb lsetts, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Vermont, Virginia — 8. Thus the section was adopted. It was stated by the members from New York, when the State was called, that one of their number, D. D. Field, was absent, and the del- egation was divided. Thus New York, Indiana, and Kansas were divided. The adoption of the second section was then moved ; it was as fol- ows: — Section 2. No territory shall be acquired by the United States, except by discovery, and for naval and commercial -stations, de"p6ts, and transit State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 125 routes, without a concurrence of the majority of all the Senators from States which allow involuntary servitude, and a majority of all the Sena- tors from States which prohibit that relation ; nor shall territory be ac- quired by treaty, unless the votes of a majority of the Senators from each class of States hereinbefore mentioned be cast as a part of the two-thirds majority necessary to the ratification of such treaty. The vote on this section was as follows : — Ayes.— Delaware, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Virginia — 11. Noes. — Connecticut, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, North Car- olina, New Hampshire, Vermont — 8. New York and Kansas were divided. The adoption of section three of the report, with the amendments, was aext moved. The amended section was as follows : — Section 3. Neither the Constitution nor any amendment thereof shall be construed to give Congress power to regulate, abolish, or control, within any State, the relation established or recognized by the laws thereof touching persons held to labor or involuntary service therein, nor to interfere with or abolish involuntary service in the District of Colum- bia without the consent of Maryland and without the consent of the owners, or making the owners who do not consent just compensation ; nor the power to interfere with or prohibit representatives and others from bringing with them to the District of Columbia, retaining, and taking away, persons so held to labor or service ; nor the power to in- terfere with or abolish involuntary service in places under the exclusive jurisdiction of the United States, within those States and Territories where the same is established or recognized ; nor the power to prohibit the removal or transportation of persons held to labor or involuntary service in any State or Territory of the United States to any other State or Territoiy thereof, where it is established or recognized by law or usage , and the right during transportation, by sea or river, of touching at ports, shores, and landings, and of landing in case distress shall exist; but Dot the right of transit in or through any State or Territory, or of sale oi traffic, against the law thereof. Nor shall Congress have power to authorize any higher rate of taxation on persons held to labor or service than on land. The vote on the adoption of the section was as follows : — Ayes. — Delaware, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Ehode Island, Tennessee, Vir- ginia — 12. Noes. — Connecticut, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hamp- shire, Vermont — 7. So the section was adopted. Kansas and New York were divided. 126 The Life, Public Services, and The adoption of the fourth section of the report, as amended, was the* moved ; it was as follows : — Section 4. The third paragraph of the second section of the fourth article of the Constitution shall not be construed to prevent any of the States, by appropriate legislation, and through the action of their judiciiJ and ministerial officers, from enforcing the delivery of fugitives from labor to the person to whom such service or labor is due. The vote on the adoption of this section was as follows : — Ayes. — Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Missoari, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia — 15. Noes. — Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire — i. Thus the section was adopted. Kansas and New York were divided. The adoption of the fifth section of the report, as amended, was then moved ; it was as follows : — Section 5. The foreign slave-trade is hereby forever prohibited, and it shall be the duty of Congress to pass laws to prevent the importation of •laves, coolies, or persons held to service or labor, into the United State? fi& J the Territories from places beyond the limits thereof. The vote on the adoption of this section resulted as follows : — Ates. — Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Vermont, Kansas — 16. Noes. — Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Virginia — 5. The seotion was thus adopted. A motion was next made to adopt the sixth section, as amended ; it was as follows : — Section 6. The first, third, and fifth sections, together with this section of these amendments, and the third paragraph of the second section of the first article of the Constitution, and the third paragraph of the secord seo- tion of the fourth article thereof, shall not be amended or abolished with- out the consent of all the States. The vote on this section was as follows : — Ayes. — Delaware, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Kansas — 11. Noes. — Connecticut, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, North Caro- lina, New Hampshire, Vermont, Virginia — 9. New York was divided. So this section was adopted. The motion was then made to adopt the seventh and last section, as amended: it was as follows : — Section 7. Congress shall provide by law that the United States shall pay to the owner the full value of his fugitive from labor, in all case* State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 127 where the marshal, or other officer whose duty it was to arrest such fugi- tive, was prevented from doing so by violence or intimidation, from mobs or other riotous assemblages, or when, after arrest, such fugitive was res- cued by like violence or intimidation, and the owner thereby deprived of the same ; and the acceptance of such payment shall preclude the owner from further claim to such fugitive. Congress shall provide by law for securing to the citizens of each State the privileges and immunities of cit teens in the several States. The vote on this section was as follows : — Ayes. — Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Kan- las— 12. Noes. — Connecticut, Iowa, Maine, Missouri, North Carolina, Vermont, Virginia— 7. Thus the last section was adopted. New York was divided. The adoption of the following resolution was then moved by Mr. Frank- lin, of Pennsylvania : — Resolved, As the sense of this Convention, that the highest political duty of every citizen of the United States m his a^giance to the Federal Government created by the Constitution of the United States, and that no State of this Union has any constitutional right to secede therefrom, or to absolve the citizens of such State from their allegiance to the Gov- ernment of the United States. It was moved to lay the resolution on the table. The vote was as follows : — Ayes. — Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia — 9. Noes. — Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Kansas — 12. Some amendments were then offered and laid on the table, when itt Sndefinite postponement was moved and carried by the following vote : — Ayes. — Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Virginia, — 10. Noes. — Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania — 7. New York was divided. The following preamble was then offered by Mr. Guthrie, and agreed to:— To the Congress of the United States : The Convention assembled upon the invitation of the State of Virginia, to adjust the unhappy differences which now disturb the peace of th« Union and threaten its continuance, make known to the Congress of thg 128 The Life, Public Services, and United States that their body convened in the City of Washington on the 4th instant, and continued in session until the 27th. There were in the body, when action was taken upon that which it here submitted, one hundred and thirty-three commissioners, represent- ing the following States : Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachu- setts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas. They have approved what is herewith submitted, and respectftuy re- quest that your honorable body will submit it to conventions in the States as an article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States. In the Senate, on the 2d day of March, a communica- tion was received from the President of the Peace Con- gress, communicating the resolutions thus adopted in that body. They were at once referred to a committee consist- ing of Messrs. Crittenden, Bigler, Thomson, Seward, and Trumbull. The next day they were reported to the Sen- ate for its adoption, Messrs. Seward and Trumbull, the minority of the Committee, dissenting from the majority, and proposing the adoption of a resolution calling on the legislatures of the States to express their will in regard to calling a Convention for amending the Constitution. The question then came up on adopting the resolutions of the Peace Conference. Mr. Hunter, of Virginia, moved to substitute the first of Mr. Crittenden's resolutions for the first of those reported by the committee. Mr. Crit- tenden opposed it, and urged the adoption of the proposi- tions of the Peace Conference in preference to his own. Mr. Mason, of Virginia, opposed the resolutions of the Peace Conference, on the ground that it would not satisfy the South. Mr. Baker, of Oregon, advocated it. Mr. Green, of Missouri, opposed it, as surrendering every Southern principle, in which he was seconded by Mr. Lane, of Oregon. At this stage of the proceedings, Mr. Douglas gave a new turn to the form of the proceedings of the Senate, by moving to take up the resolution adopted by the House to amend the Constitution so as to prohibit forever any Interference with slavery in the States. This motion was State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 129 carried. Mr. Pngh moved to amend by substituting for tliis resolution the resolutions of Mr. Crittenden. This was rejected — ayes 14, noes 25. Mr. Brigham, of Michi- gan, next moved to substitute a resolution against any amendment of the Constitution, and in favor of enforcing the laws. This was rejected — ayes 13, noes 25. Mr. Grimes, of Iowa, then moved to substitute the resolution of Messrs. Seward and Trumbull, as the minority of the Select Committee, calling on the State Legislatures to ex- press their will in regard to calling a Convention to amend the Constitution. This was rejected— ayes 14, noes 25. The propositions of the Peace Conference were then mov^d by Mr. Johnson, of Arkansas, and rejected — ayes 8, noes 34. Mr. Crittenden's resolutions were then taken up, and lost by the following vote : — Ayes. — Messrs. Bayard, Bright, Bigler, Crittenden, Douglas, Gwin. Hunter, Jonnson of Tennessee, Kennedy, Lane, Latham, Mason, Nichol son, Polk, Pugh, Rice, Sebastian, Thomson, and Wigfall — 19. $Toes. — Messrs. Anthony, Bingham, Chandler, Clark, Dixon, Doolittley Durkee, Fessenden, Foote, Foster, Grimes, Harlan, King, Morrill, Sum- ner, Ten Eyck, Trumbull, Wade, Wilkinson, and Wilson — 20. The resolutions were thus lost, in consequence of the withdrawal of Senators from the disaffected States. The question was then taken on the House resolution to amend the Constitution so as to prohibit forever any amendment of the Constitution interfering with slavery in any State, and the resolution was adopted by a two-thirds vote — ayes 24, nays 12. This closed the action of Congress upon this important subject. It was strongly [Republican in both branches, yet it had done every thing consistent with its sense of justice and fidelity to the Constitution to disarm the ap- prehensions of the Southern States, and to remove all provocation for their resistance to the incoming Adminis- tration. It had given the strongest possible pledge that it had no intention of interfering with slavery in any State, by amending the Constitution so as to make such interference forever impossible. It created governments for three new Territories, Nevada, Dakotah, and Colora- i30 The Life, Public Services, and do, and passed no law excluding slavery from any one of them. It had severely censured the legislation of some of the Northern Stales intended to hinder the recovery of fugitives from labor; and in response to its expressed wishes, Rhode Island repealed its laws of that character, and Vermont, Maine, Massachusetts, and Wisconsin had the subject under consideration, and were ready to take similar action. Yet all this had no effect whatever in changing or checking ti*e secession movement in the Southern States. Stats Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 131 CHAPTER V. FROM SPRINGFIELD TO WASHINGTON. V^koh at Indianapolis. — Arriv aland Speech at Cincinnati. — Speeob at Columbus. — Speech at Pittsburg. — Arrival and Speech at Cleve- land. — Arpival at Buffalo. — At Rochester and Syracuse. — At Albany. — Speech at Poughkeepsie. — In New York. — Reply to th» Mayor of New York. — In New Jersey. — Arrival at Philadelphia. — Speech in Philadelphia. — At Harrisburg.— Arrival and Reoeptioh at Washington. From the date of his election, Mr. Lincoln maintained silence on the affairs of the country. The Government was to remain for three months longer in the hands of Mr. Buchanan, and the new President did not deem it becom- ing or proper for him to interfere, in any way, with the regular discharge of its duties and responsibilities. On the 11th of February, 1861, he left his home in Spring- field, Illinois, accompanied to the railroad depot by a large concourse of his friends and neighbors, whom he bade farewell in the following words : — My Friends : — No one not in my position can appreciate the sadness I feel at this parting. To this people I owe all that I am. Here I have lived more than a quarter of a century ; here my children were born, and here ore of them lies buried. I know not how soon I shall see you again. A duty I volves upon me which is, perhaps, greater than that which has devolved ' |)on any other man since the days of Washington. He never woiiU have succeeded except for the aid of Divine Providence, upon which he at all times relied. I fed that I cannot succeed without the same Divine aid which sustained him, a.id on the same Almighty Beinf, I place my re- liance for support ; and I hope you, my friends, will all {.ray that I may receive that Divine assistance, without which I cannot succeed, but with which success is certain. Again I bid you all an affectionate farewell. As the train passed through the country, the President was greeted with hearty cheers and good wishes by the thousands who assembled at the railway stations along 132 The Life, Public Services, and the route. Party spirit seemed to have been forgotten, and the cheers were always given for " Lincoln and the Constitution." At Tolono he appeared upon the platform, and in response to the applause which hailed his appear- ance, he said : — I am leaving you on an errand of national importance, attended, as you are aware, with considerable difficulties. Let us believe, as some poet has expressed it, "Behind the cloud the sun is still shining." I bid you an affectionate farewell. At Indianapolis the party was welcomed "by a salute * thirty-four guns, and the President-elect was received by the Governor of the State in person, and escorted to a carriage in waiting, which proceeded — followed by a pro- cession of the members of both houses of the legislature, the municipal authorities, the military, and firemen — to the Bates House. Appearing on the balcony of this hotel, Mr. Lincoln was greeted by the hearty applause of the large crowd which had assembled in the street, to which he addressed the following remarks : — Governor Morton and Fellow-Citizens of the State of Indiana : — Most heartily do 1 thank you for this magnificent reception, and while I cannot take to myself any share of the compliment thus paid, more than that which pertains to a mere instrument, an accidental instrument, perhaps I should say, of a great cause, I yet must look upon it as a most magnificent reception, and as such most heartily do thank you for it. You have been pleased to address yourself to me chiefly in behalf of this glorious Union in which we live, in all of which you have my hearty sympathy, and, as far as may be within my power, will have, one and inseparably, my hearty consideration. While I do not expect, upon this occasion, or until I get to Washington, to attempt any lengthy speech. will only say to the salvation of the Union there needs but one sin tiling — the hearts of a people like yours. [Applause.] The people, when they rise in mass in behalf of the Union and the liberties of their country, truly may it be said, "The gates of hell cannot prevail against them." [Renewed applause.] In all trying positions in which I shall be placed — and, doubtless, I shall be placed in many such — my reliance will bo placed upon you and the people of the United States; and I wish you to remember, now and forever, that it is your business, and not mine; that if the union of these States, and the liberties of this people shall be lost, it is but little to any one man of fifty -two years of age, but a great deal to the thirty millions of people who inhabit these State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 133 United States, and to their posterity in all coming time. It is your busi- ness to rise np and preserve the Union and liberty for yourselves, and not for me. I desire they should be constitutionally performed. I, as already inti- mated, am but an accidental instrument, temporary, and to serve but for a limited time; and T appeal to you again to constantly bear in mind that with you, and not with politicians, not with Presidents, not with office- seekers, but with you is the question, Shall the Union and shall the liber- ties of this country be preserved to the latest generations? [Cheers.] In the evening the members of the legislature waited upon him in a body at his hotel, where one of their num- ber, on behalf of the whole, and in presence of a very large assemblage of the citizens of the place, made a brief address of welcome and congratulation, which Mr. Lincoln acknowledged in the following terms : — Fellow-Citizens of tots State of Indiana : — I am here to thank you much for this magnificent welcome, and still more for the generous sup port given by your State to that political cause which I think is the true and just cause of the whole country and the whole world. Solomon says there is " a time to keep silence," and when men wrangle by the mouth with no certainty that they mean the same thing, whila using the same word, it perhaps were as well if they would keep silence. The words "coercion" and "iavasion" are much used in these days, and often with some temper and hot blood. Let us make sure, if we can, that we do not misunderstand the meaning of those who use them. Let ns get exact definitions of these words, not from dictionaries, but from the men themselves, who certainly depreciate the things they would represent by the use of words. What, then, is "Coercion?" What is " Invasion ?" Would the marching of an army into South Carolina, with- out the consent of her people, and with hostile intent towards them, be "invasion?" I certainly think it would; and it would be "coercion" also if the South Carolinians were forced to submit. But if the United States should merely hold and retake its own forts and other property, and collect the duties on foreign importations, or even withhold the mails from places where they were habitually violated, would any or all these things be "invasion" or "coercion?" Do our professed lovers of the Union, but who spitefully resolve that they will resist coercion and inva- sion, understand that such things as these on the part of the United States would be coercion or invasion of a State? If so, their idea of means to preserve the object of their affection would seem exceedingly thin and airy. If sick, the little pills of the homceopathists would be much too large for it to swallow. In their view, the Union, as a family 134 The Life, Public Services, and relation, would seem to bo no regular marriage, but a sort of " free-love" arrangement, to be maintained only on " passional attraction." By-the-way, in what consists the special sacredness of a State ? I speak not of the position assigned to a Stato in the Union, by the Constitution; for that, by the bond, we all recognize. That position, however, a State cannot carry out of the Union witli it. I speak of that assumed primary right of a State to rule all which is less than itself, and ruin all which is larger than itself. If a State and a county, in a given case, should be equal in extent of territory, and equal in number of inhabitants, in what as a matter of principle, is the State better than the county ? Would a exchange of names be an exchange of rights upon principle? On what rightful principle may a State, being not more than one-fiftieth part of tho nation, in soil and population, break up the nation and then coerce a proportionally larger subdivision of itself, in the most arbitrary way ? What mysterious right to play tyrant is conferred on a district of country, with its people, by merely calling it a State? Fellow-citizens, I am not asserting any thing ; I am merely asking ques- tions for you to consider. And now allow me to bid you farewell. On the morning of the 12th, Mr. Lincoln took his depart- ure and arrived at Cincinnati at about noon, having been greeted along the route by the hearty applause of the thousands assembled at the successive stations. His reception at Cincinnati was overwhelming. The streets were so densely crowded that it was with the utmost diffi- culty the procession could secure a passage. Mr. Lincoln was escorted to the Burnett House, which had been hand- somely decorated in honor of his visit. He was welcomed by tfce Mayor of the city in a few remarks, in response to which he said : — Me. Ma tor and Fellow- Citizens : — I have spoken but once before this in Cincinnati. That was a year previous to the late Presidential election. On that occasion, in a playful manner, but with sincere words, I addressed much of what I said to the Kentuckians. I gave my opinion that we, as Republicans, would ultimately beat them, as Democrats, but that they could postpone that result longer by nominating Senator Douglas for the Presidency than they could in any other way. They did net, in any true sense of the word, nominate Mr. Douglas, and the result has come certainly as soon as ever I expected. I also told them how I expected they would be treated after they should have been beaten ; and I now wish to call their attention to what I then said upon that subject. I then said, "When we do as we say, beat you, you perhaps want to know what we will do rith you. I will tell you, as far as I am authorized to speak for the oppo- State Papers op Abraham Lincoln. IB 5 sition, what we mean to do with yon. We mean to treat yon, as near as we possibly can, as Washington, Jefferson, and Madison treated you. We mean to leave you alone, and in no way to interfere with your institu- tions ; to abide by all and every compromise of the Constitution; and, in a word, coming back to the original proposition, to treat you so far as degenerate men, if we have degenerated, may, according to the example of thoso noble fathers, Washington, Jefferson, and Madison. We mean to remember that you are as good as we ; that there is no difference be- tween us, other than the difference of circumstances. We mean to recog- nize and bear in mind always that you have as good hearts in your bosom* as other people, or as we claim to have, and treat you accordingly. Fellow-citizens of Kentucky ! friends 1 brethren, may I call you in my new position ? I see no occasion, and feel no inclination to retract a word of this. If it shall not be made good, be assured the fault shall not be mine. In the evening the German Republican associations called upon Mr. Lincoln and presented him an address of con- gratulation, to which he responded, warmly indorsing the wisdom of the Homestead tall, and speaking of the advan- tages offered by the soil and institutions of the United States to foreigners who might wish to make it their home. He left Cincinnati on the morning of the 13th, accompanied by a committee of the Ohio Legislature, which had come from the capital to meet him. The party reached Colum- bus at two o'clock, and the President was escorted to the hall of the Assembly, where he was formally welcomed by Lieutenant-Governor Kirk on behalf of the legislature, which had assembled in joint session, to which he made the following reply : — Mr. President and Mr. Speaker, and Gentlemen of the Genera v Assembly: — It is true, as has been said by the President of the Senate, that very great responsibility rests upon me in the position to which the votes of the American people have called me. I am deeply sensible of that weighty responsibility. I cannot but know what you all know, that without a name, perhaps without a reason why I should have a name, there has fallen upon me a task such as did not rest even upon the Father of his Country ; and so feeling, i cannot but turn and look for the support without which it will be impossible for me to perform that great task. I turn, then, and look to the great American people, and to that God who has never forsaken them. Allusion has been made tv the interest felt in relation to the poHcy of the new Administration. In this I have received from some a degree 01 136 The Liee, Public Services, and credit for having kept silence, and from others some depredation. I still think that I was right. In the varying and repeatedly shifting scenes of the present, and without a precedent which could enable me to judge by the past, it has seemed fitting that before speaking upon the difficulties of the country, I should have gained a view of the whole field so as to be sure after all — at liberty to modify and change the course of policy as future events may make a change necessary. I have not maintained silence from any want of real anxiety. It is a good thing that there is no more than anxiety, for there is nothing going wrong. It is a consoling circumstance that when we look out, there is nothing that really hurts any body. We entertain different views upon political questions, but nobody is suffering any thing. This is a most consoling oircumstance, and froi i it we may conclude that all we want is time, patience, and a reliance on that God who has never forsaken this people. Fellow-citizens, what I have said I have said altogether extemporaneously, and will now come to a close. Both houses then adjourned. In the evening Mr. Lin- coln held a levee, which was very largely attended. On the morning of the 14th, Mr. Lincoln left Columbus. At Steubenville he had a formal though brief reception, being addressed by Judge Floyd, to whose remarks he made the following reply : — I fear that the great confidence placed in my ability is unfounded. In- deed, I am sure it is. Encompassed by vast difficulties as I am, nothing shall be wanting on my part, if sustained by the American people and God. I believe the devotion to the Constitution is equally great on both sides of the river. It is only the different understanding of that instru- ment that causes difficulty. The only dispute on both sides is, " What are their rights ?" If the majority should not rule, who should be the judge ? Where is such a judge to be found? We should all be bound by tlie majority of the American people — if not, then the minority must control Would that be right ? Would it be just or generous ? Assuredly not. ij reiterate, that the majority should rule. If I adopt a wrong policy, th.*> opportunity for condemnation will occur in four years' time. Then I can be turned out, and a better man with better views put in my place. The train reached Pittsburg in the evening, and Mr Lincoln was received with the utmost enthusiasm at the Monongahela House by a large crowd which had assembled to greet him. He acknowledged their reception briefly : — He said he would not give them a speech, as he thought it more rare, if not more wiaa, /or a public my.u to abstain from much speaking. He State PArEns of Abraham Lincoln. 137 expressed his gratitude and surprise at seeing so great a crowt and such boundless enthusiasm manifested in the night-time, and under such un- toward circumstances, to greet so unworthy an individual as himself. This was undoubtedly attributable to the position which more by accident than by worth he had attained. He remarked further, that if all those whole-souled people whom he saw this evening before him, were for the preservation of the Union, he did not see how it could be in much dan- ger, lie had intended to say a few words to the people of Pittsburg — the greatest manufacturing city of the United States — upon such matters rs they were interested in ; but as he had adopted the plan of holding his tongue for the most part during the last canvass, and since his election, no thought he had perhaps better now still continue to hold his tongue. [Cries of " Go on," " go on."] Well, I am reminded that there is an Alle- ghany City as well as an Alleghany County, the former the banner town, and the latter the banner county, perhaps, of the world. I am glad to see both of them, and the good people of both. That I may not disap- point these, I will say a few words to you to-morrow as to the peculiar interests of Alleghany County. On the morning of the 15th, the Mayor and Common Council of the City of Pittsburg waited in a body upon the President-elect. The Mayor made him an address of formal welcome in presence of a very large number of citizens who had assembled to witness the ceremony. After the applause which greeted his appearance had subsided, Mr. Lincoln made the following remarks : — I most cordially thank His Honor Mayor Wilson, and the citizens of Pittsburg generally, for their flattering reception. I am the more grate- ful because I know that it is not given to me alone, but to the cause I present, which clearly proves to me their good-will, and that sincere -ling is at the bottom of it. And here I may remark, that in every •hort address I have made to the people, in every crowd through which I have passed of late, some allusion has been made to the present dis- tracted condition of the country. It is natural to expect that I should say something on this subject; but to touch upon it at all would involve an elaborate discussion of a great many questions and circumstances, requiring more time than I can at present command, and would, perhaps, unnecessarily commit me upon matters which have not yet fully devel- oped themselves. The condition of the country is an extraordinary one, and fills the mind of every patriot with anxiety. It is my intention to give this subject all the consideration I possibly can before specially deciding in regard to it. so that when I do speak it may be as nearly right as possible. Wher \ do speak, I hope I may say nothing in opposi- tion to the spirit of the Constitution, contrary to the integrity of the 138 The Life, Public Services, and Union, or which will prove inimical to the liberties of the people, or to the peace of the whole country. And, furthermore, when the time arrives for me to speak on this great subject, I hope I may say nothing to disappoint the people generally throughout the country, especially if the expectation has been based upon any thing which I may have hereto fore said. Notwithstanding the troubles across the river — (the speaker pointing southwardly across the Monongahela, and smiling) — there is n** crisis but an artificial one. What is there now to warrant the conditio of affairs presented by our friends over the river ? Take even their ow view of the questions involved, and there is nothing to justify the course they are pursuing. I repeat, then, there is no crisis, excepting such a one as may be gotten up at any time by turbulent men, aided by design- ing politicians. My advice to them, under such circumstances, is to keep cool. If the great American people only keep their temper on both sides of the line, the troubles will come to an end, and the question which now distracts the country will be settled, just as surely as all other diffi- culties of a like character which have originated in this Government have been adjusted. Let the people on both sides keep their self-posses- sion, and just as other clouds have cleared away in due time, so will this great nation continue to prosper as heretofore. But, fellow -citizens, I have spoken longer on this subject than I intended at the outset. It is often said that the Tariff is the specialty of Pennsylvania. Assuming that direct taxation is not to be adopted, the Tariff question must be as durable as the Government itself. It is a question of national housekeeping. It is to the Government what replenishing the meal-tub is to the family. Every varying circumstance will require frequent modifications as to the amount needed, and the sources of supply. So far there is little difference of opinion among the people. It is only whether, and how far, the duties on imports shall be adjusted to favor home productions. In th* home market that controversy begins. One party insists that too much protection oppresses one class for the advan tage of another, while the other party argues that with all its incidents, in the long run, all classes are benefited. In the Chicago Platform there is a plank upon this subject, which should be a general law to the incom- ing Administration. We should do neither more nor less than we gave the people reason to believe we would when they gave us their votes. That plank is as I now read. Mr. Lincoln's private secretary then read section twelfth of the Chicago Platform, as follows: — That while providing revenue for the support of the General Govern- ment, by duties upon imports, sound policy requires such an adjustment of these imports as will encourage the development of the industrial interest of the whole country ; and we commend that policy of national exchanges which secures to working-men liberal wages, to agriculture remunerative prices, to mechanics and manufacturers adequ»r.e reward State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 139 for the'r skill, labor, and enterprise, and to the nation commercial pros- perity and independence. Mr. Lincoln resumed : As with all general propositions, doubtless there will be shades of difference in construing this. I have by no means a thoroughly matured judgment upon this subject, especially as to details; some general ideas are about all. I have long thought to produce any necessary article at home which can be made of as good quality and v- itli as little labor at home as abroad, would be better policy, at least by the difference of the carrying from abroad. In such a case, the carrying is demonstrably a dead loss of labor. For instance, labor being the true standard of value, is it not plain that if equal labor gets a bar of railroad iron out of a mine in England, and another out of a mine in Pennsyl- vania, each can be laid down in a track at home cheaper than they could exchange countries, at least by the cost of carriage ? If there bo a pres- ent cause why one can be both made and carried cheaper in money price than the other can be made without carrying, that cause is an unnatural and injurious one, and ought naturally, if not rapidly, to be removed. The condition of the treasury at this time would seem to render an early revision of the Tariff indispensable. The Morrill Tariff Bill, now pending before Congress, may or may not become a law. I am not posted as to its particular provisions, but if they are generally satisfactory, and the bill shall now pass, there will be an end of the mat- ter for the present. If, however, it shall not pass, I suppose the whole subject will be one of the most pressing and important for the next Con- gress. By the Constitution, the Executive may recommend measures which he may think proper, and he may veto those he thinks improper, and it is supposed that he may add to these certain indirect influences to affect the action of Congress. My political ed creation strongly inclines me against a very free use of any of these means by the Executive to control the legislation of the country. As a rule, I think it better that Congress should originate as well as perfect its measures without external bias. I, therefore, would rather recommend to every gentleman who kno^?B i>6 is to be a member of the next Congress to take an enlarged *isTr, and inform himself thoroughly, so as to contribute his part to such an adjustment of the tariff as shall produce a sufficient revenue, and in its other bearings, so far as possible, be just and equal to all sections of the country, and all classes of the people. Mr. Lincoln left Pittsburg immediately after the delivery of this speech, being accompanied to the depot by a long procession of the people of the city. The train reached Cleveland at half-past four in the afternoon, and the Pres- ident-elect was received by a long procession, which inarched, amidst the roar of artillery, through the princi- 140 The Life, Public Services, and pal streets to the Weddell House, where Mr. Lincoln, in reply to an address of welcome from the Mayor, made the following remarks : — Mr. Chairman and Fellow-Citizens of Cleveland : — We have been marching about two miles through snow, rain, and deep mud. The large umbers that have turned out under these circumstances testify that yon ire in earnest about something or other. But do I think so meanly of you as to suppose that that earnestness is about me personally? I would be doing you injustice to suppose it was. You have assembled to testify your respect to the Union, and the Constitution and the laws. And here let me state that it is with you, the people, to advance the great cause of the Union and the Constitution, and not with any one man. It rests with you alone. This fact is strongly impressed on my mind at present. In a eomim.nity like this, whose appearance testifies to their intelligence, I am convinced that the cause of liberty and the Union can never be in danger. Frequent allusion is made to the excitement at present existing in our national politics, and it is as well that I should also allude to it here. I think that there is no occasion for any excitement. The crisis, as it is called, is altogether an artificial crisis. In all parts of the nation there are differences of opinion on politics. There are differences of opinion even here. You did not all vote for the person who now ad- dresses you. What is happening now will not hurt those who are further away from here. Have they not all their rights now as they ever have had ? Do not they have their fugitive slaves returned now aa ever ? Have they not the same Constitution that they have lived under for seventy odd years ? Have they not a position as citizens of this com- mon country, and have we any power to change that position ? [Cries of "No."] What, then, is the matter with them? Why all this excite- ment? Why all these complaints? As I said before, this crisis is all tificiall It has no foundation in fact. It was not " argued up," as the saying is, and canuot therefore be argued down. Let it alone, and it will go down of itself. [Laughter.] Mr. Lincoln said that they must be content with but a few words from him. He was very much fatigued, and had spoken so. much that he was already hoarse. Ho thanked them for the cordial and magnificent reception they had given him. Not less did he thank them, for the votes they gave him last fall ; and quite as much he thanked them for the efficient aid they had given the cause which he represented — a cause which he would say was a good one. He had one more word to say. He was given to understand that thii reception was tendered not only by his own party supporters, but by men of all parties, This is as it should be. If Judge Douglas had been elected, and had been here, on his way to Washington, as I am to-night, the Republicans should have joined his supporters in welcoming him, State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 141 just as liis friends have joined with mine to-night. If all do not joir now to save the good old ship of the Union on this voyage, nobody will have a chance to pilot her on another voyage. He concluded by thauk- ~Ag all present for the devotion they had shown to the cause of the (Tnion. Od the morning of the 16th the Presidential party left Cleveland for Buffalo. At Erie, where they dined, loud calls were made upon Mr. Lincoln for a speech, in response to which he made a few remarks, excusing himself for no< expressing his opinions on the exciting questions of tli lay. He trusted that when the time for speaking should some, he should find it necessary to say nothing not in accordance with the Constitution, as well as with the interests of the people of the whole country. At North- east Station he took occasion to state that during the cam- paign he had received a letter from a young girl of the place, in which he was kindly admonished to do certain things, and among others to let his whiskers grow ; and, as he had acted upon that piece of advice, he would now "be glad to welcome his fair correspondent, if she was among the crowd. In response to the call a lassie made her way through the crowd, was helped on the platform, and was kissed by the President. Arriving at Buffalo, Mr. Lincoln had the utmost diffi- culty to make his way through the dense crowd which had assembled in anticipation of his arrival. On reaching the American Hotel, he was welcomed in a brief speech by Acting-Mayor Bemis, to which he responded as follows :— Mr. Mayou and Fellow-Citizens of Buffalo and the State of Nf » Yoke : — I am here to thank you briefly for this grand reception given i me ; nit personally, but as the representative of our great and beloved country. [Cheers.] Your worthy Mayor has been pleased to mention, in his address to me, the fortunate and agreeable journey which 1 have had from home, only it is a rather circuitous route to the Federal Capital. I am very happy that he was enabled in truth to congratulate myself and company on that fact. It is true we hove had nothing thus far to mar the pleasure of the trip. We have not been met alone by those who assisted in giving the election to me; I say not alone by them, but by the whole population of the country through which we have passed. This m as it should be. Had the election fallen to any other of the distinguished 142 The Life, Public Services, and candidates instead of myself, under the peculiar circumstances, to say the least, it would havft been proper for all citizens to have greeted him as you now greot me. It is an evidence of the devotion of the whole people to the Constitution, the Union, and the perpetuity of the liberties of this country. [Cheers.] I am unwilling on any occasion that I should be so meanly thought of as to have it supposed for a moment that these demon- strations are tendered to me personally. They are tendered to the country, to the institutions of the country, and to the perpetuity of the liberties of the country, for which these institutions were made and created. Your worthy Mayor has thought fit to express the hope that I may be able to relieve the country from the present, or, I should say, the threat- ened difficulties. I am sure I bring a heart true to the work. [Tremen dous applause.] For the ability to perform it, I must trust in that Supreme Being who has never forsaken this favored land, through the instrumen- tality of this great and intelligent people. Without that assistance I shall surely fail ; with it, I cannot fail. When we speak of threatened difficul- ties to the country, it is natural that it should be expected that something should be said by myself with regard to particular measures. Upon more mature reflection, however — and others will agree with me — that, when it is considered that these difficulties are without precedent, and never have been acted upon by any individual situated as I am, it is most proper I should wait and see the developments, and get all the light possible, so that when I do speak authoritatively, I may be as near right as possible. [Cheers.] When I shall speak authoritatively, I hope to say nothing in- consistent with the Constitution, the Union, the rights of all the States, of each State, and of each section of the country, and not to disappoint the reasonable expectations of those who have confided to me their votes. In this connection allow me to say that you, as a portion of the great American people, need only to maintain your composure, stand up to your sober convictions of right, to your obligations to the Constitution, and act in accordance with those sober convictions, and the clouds which now arise in the horizon will be dispelled, and we shall have a bright and glorhus future; and when this generation has passed away, tens of thou- sands will inhabit this country where only thousands inhabit it now. I i not propose to address you at length ; I have no voice for it. Allow me igain to thank you for this magnificent reception, and bid you farewell. Mr. Lincoln remained at Buffalo over Sunday, the 17th, and on the morning of the 18th left for Albany. On reaching Rochester, he was introduced by the Mayor to a crowd of several thousands, to whom he said : — I confess myself, after having seen many large audiences since leaving home, overwhelmed with this vast numb r of faces at tin's hour of the morning. I am not vain enough to believe that you are here from any wish to see me as an individual; b'-t because I am for the time being the State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 143 representative of the American people. I could not, if I would, add real you at any length. I have not the strength, even if T had the rime, for a speech at each of these many interviews that are afforded me on my way to Washington. I appear merely to see you, and to let you see me, and to bid you farewell. I hope it will be understood that it is from no dis- ititrfmation to oblige anybody that I do not address you at greater length. At Syracuse, where preparations had been made to give him a formal reception, he made the following remarks in reply to an address of welcome from the Mayor : — Ladies and Gentlemen: I see you have erected a very fine and hand- some platform here for me, and I presume you expected me to speak from it. • If I should go upon it, you would imagine that I was about to deliver you a much longer speech than I am. I wish you to understand that I mean no discourtesy to you by thus declining. I intend discourtesy to no one. But I wish you to understand that, though I am unwilling to go upon this platform, you are not at liberty to draw any inferences concern- ing any other platform with which my name has been or is connected, [Laughter and applause.] I wish you long life and prosperity individu ally, and pray that with the perpetuity of those institutions under which we have all so long lived and prospered, our happiness may be secured, our future made brilliant, and the glorious destiny of our country estab- lished forever. I bid you a kind farewell. At Utica, where an immense and most enthusiastic assemblage of people from the surrounding country had gathered to see him, Mr. Lincoln contented himself by saying :— Ladies and Gentlemen : — I have no speech to make to yon, and no time to speak in. I appear before you that I may see you, and that you m see me ; and I am willing to admit, that so far as the ladies are concern* I have the best of the bargain, though I wish it to be understood that 1 do not make the same acknowledgment concerning the men. [Laughter and applause.] The train reached Albany at half-past two in the after- noon, where Mr. Lincoln was formally received by the Mayor in a complimentary address, to which he thus replied : — Mr. Hayor: — 1 can hardly appropriate to myself the flattering terms in which you communicate the tender of this reception, as personal to my- self. I most gratefully accept the hospitalities tendered to me, and will not detain you or the audience with any extended remarks at this time 144 The Life, Public Services, and I presume that in the two or three courses through which I shall have tc go, I shall have to repeat somewhat, and I will therefore only repeat to you my thanks for this kind reception. A procession was then formed, which escorted Mr. Lin- coln to the steps of the Capital, where he was welcomed by the Governor, in presence of an immense mass of the oo pie, whom he addressed as follows : — Mr. Governor: — I was pleased to receive an invitation to visit the eapital of the great Empire State of the nation, on my way to the Federal Capital, and I now thank you, Mr. Governor, and the people of this capital, and the people of the State of New York, for this most hearty and mag- nificent welcome. If I am not at fault, the great Empire State at this time contains a greater population than did the United States of America at the time she achieved her national independence. I am proud to be invited to pass through your capital and meet them, as I now have the honor to do. I am notified by your Governor that this reception is given without distinction of party. I accept it the more gladly because it is so. Almost all men in this country, and in any country where freedom of thought is tolerated, attach themselves to political parties. It is but ordinary charity to attribute this to the fact that in so attaching himself to the party which his judgment prefers, the citizen believes he thereby promote! the best interests of the whole country ; and when an election is passed, it is altogether befitting a free people that, until the next election, they should be as one people. The reception you have extended to me to-day is not given to me personally. It should not be so, but as the representa- tive for the time being of the majority of the nation. If the election had resulted in the selection of either of the other candidates, the same cor- diality should have been extended to him as is extended to me this day, m testimony of the devotion of the whole people to the Constitution and the whole Union, and of their desire to perpetuate our institutions, and to hand them down in their perfection to succeeding generations. I have neither the voice nor the strength to address you at any greater length. I beg you will accept my most grateful thanks for this devotion — not, to me, but to this great and glorious free country. Mr. Lincoln was then escorted to the Hall of Assembly, and was formally received on behalf of the members of the legislature, to whom he made the following ad- dress : — Mr. President and Gentlemen op the Legislature of toe State of New York : — It is with feelings of great diffidence, and, I may say, with feelings of awe, perhaos greater than I b nv e recently experienced, that I State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 145 meet yon here in this place. The history of this great State, the renown of those great men who have stood here, and spoke here, and been heard here, all crowd aronnd my fancy, and incline me to shrink from any attempt to address you. Yet I have some confidence given me by the generous manner in which you have invited me, and by the still more generous manner in which you have received me, to speak further. You have invited and received me without distinction of party. I cannot for a moment suppose that this has been done in any considerable degret with reference to my personal services, but that it is done in so far as I am regarded at this time as the representative of the majesty of this great nation. 1 doubt not this is the truth, and the whole truth, of the cas and this is as it should be. It is much mure gratifying to me that thi* reception has been given to me as the representative of a free people, than it could possibly be if tendered as an evidence of devotion to me, cr to any one man personally. And now I think it were more fitting that I should close these hasty remarks. It is true that, while I hold myself, without mock modesty, the humblest of all individuals that have evet been elevated to the Presidency, I have a more difficult task to perforin than any one of them. You have generously tendered me the united support of the great Empire State. For this, in behalf of the nation — in behalf of the present and future of the nation — in behalf of civil and religious liberty for all time to come, most gratefully do I thank you. I I do not propose to enter into an explanation of any particular line of policy, as to our present difficulties, to be adopted by the incoming Ad- ministration. I deem it just to you, to myself, and to all, that I should see every thing, that I should hear every thing, that I should have every light that can be brought within my reach, in order that, when I do so speak, I shall have enjoyed every opportunity to take correct and true grounds ; and for this reason I don't propose to speak, at this time, of the policy of the Government. But when the time comes I shall speak, aa well as I am able, for the good of the present and future of this country — for the good both of the North and the South of this country — for the good of the one and the other, and of all sections of the country. [Koundf of applause.] In the mean time, if we have patience, if we restrain our- selves, if we allow ourselves not to run off in a passion, I still have confi i dence that the Almighty, the Maker of the Universe, will, through the | instrumentality of this great and intelligent people, bring us through this, as he has through all the other difficulties of our country. Belying on this, I again thank you for this generous reception. [Applause and cheers.] On the morning of the 19th Mr. Lincoln went to Tnty, and, in reply to the welcome of the Mayor, said : — Mr. Mayor and Citizens of Troy: — I thank you very kindly for thin great reception. Since I left my home it has not been my fortune to meet JO 146 The Life, Public Services, and an assemblage more numerous and moro orderly than this. I am th« more graittied at this mark of your regard, since you assure me it is ten- dered, not to the individual, but to the high office you have called me to fill. I have neither strength nor time to make any extended remarks, an(* I can only repeat to you my sincere thanks for the kind reception you have thought proper to extend to me. On the route to New York, by the Hudson River Rail road, very large crowds of people had assembled at the various stations to welcome him. At Hudson he spoke as follows : — Fellow-Citizens : — I see that you have provided a platform, but I shall have to decline standing on it. [Laughter and applause.] The superin- tendent tells me I have not time during our brief stay to leave the train. 1 had to decline standing on some very handsome platforms prepared for me yesterday. But I say to you, as I said to them, you must not on this account draw the inference that I have any intention to desert any plat form I have a legitimate right to stand on. I do not appear before you for the purpose of making a speech. I come only to see you, and to give you the opportunity to see me; and I say to you, as I have before said to crowds where there are so many handsome ladies as there are here, I think I have decidedly the best of the bargain. I have only, therefore, to thank you most cordially for this kind reception, and bid you all fare- well. At Poughkeepsie, where great preparations had been made for his reception, he responded thus to an address from the Mayor : — Fellow-Citizens: — It is altogether impossible I should make myself heard by any considerable portion of this vast assemblage ; but, although I appear before you mainly for the purpose of seeing you, and to let you see, rather than hear me, I cannot refrain from saying that I am highly atified — as much here, indeed, under the circumstances, as I have been ywhere on my route — to witness this noble demonstration — made, not in honor of an individual, but of the man who at this time humbly, but earnestly, represents the majesty of the nation. This reception, like all others that have been tendered to me, doubtless emanates from all the political parties, and not from one alone. As such I accept it the more gratefully, since it indicates an earnest desire on the part of the whole people, without regard to political differences, to save — not the country, because the country will save itself— but to save the Institutions of the country — those institutions under which, in the last three-quarters of a century, we have grown to be a great, an intelligent, and a happy people —the greatest, the most intelligent, and the happiest people in the world. State Papjsks of Abraham Lincoln 147 These noble manifestations indicate, with unerring certainty, that the whole people are willing to make common cause tor this object; that if, as it ever must be, some have been successful in the recent election, and some have been beaten — if some are satistied, and some are dissatisfied, the defeated party are not in favor of sinking the ship, but are desirous of running it through the tempest in safety, and willing, if they think th>i people have committed an error in their verdict now, to wait in the hop« of reversing it, and setting it right next time. I do not say that in th« recent election the people did the wisest thing that could have been done; Indeed, I do not think they did ; but I do say, that in accepting the great trust committed to me, which I do with a determination to endeavor to f rove worthy of it, I must rely upon you, upon the people of the whole country, for support; and with their sustaining aid, even I, humble as I am, caunot fail to carry the ship of State safely through the storm. I have now only to thank you warmly for your kind attendance, and bid you all an affectionate farewell. At Peekskill, in reply to a brief address from Judge Nelson, he said : — Ladies and Gentlemen : — I have but a moment to stand before you, to listen to and return your kind greeting. I thank you for this reception, and for the pleasant manner in which it is tendered to me, by our mutua) friend. I will say in a single sentence, in regard to the difficulties thai lie before me and our beloved country, that if I can only be as generously and unanimously sustained as the demonstrations I have witnessed ind.' • cate I shall be, I shall not fail ; but without your sustaining hands I an sure that neither I, nor any other man, can hope to surmount these diffi- culties. I trust that in the course I shall pursue I shall be sustained, nod only by the party that elected me, but by the patriotic people of the wholo country. The President-elect reached New York at three o'clock, and was received by an immense demonstration of popu lar enthusiasm. Places of business were generally clobed, and the streets were rilled with people, eager to catch a glimpse of his person. On reaching the Astor House, he was compelled by the importunity of the assembled crowd to appear on the balcony, from which he said : — Fellow-Citizens: — I have stepped before you merely in compliance with what appears to be your wish, and not with the purpose of making a speech. I do not propose making a speech this afternoon. I could not be heard by any but a small fraction of you, at best ; but, what is stiF worse than that, I have nothing just now to nay that is worthy of your tearing. [Applause.] I beg you to believe that i do not now refuse Us - ,' f Z 148 The Life, Public Services, and address you from any disposition to disoblige you, but to the contrary. Bat, at the same time, I beg of you to excuse me for the present. In the evening, Mr. Lincoln received a large deputation from the various Republican associations which had taken an active part in the election canvass, and in reply to a brief welcome from Mr. E. D. Smith, on their behalf, he thus addressed them : — Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen: — I am rather an old riia to aval, myself of such an excuse as I am now about to do. Yet the truth is so distinct, and presses itself so distinctly upon me, that I cannot well avoid it — and that is, that I did not understand when I was brought into this room that I was brought here to make a speech. It was not intimated to me that I was brought into the room where Daniel Webster and Henry Clay had made speeches, and where, in my position, I might be expected to do something like those men, or do something worthy of myself or my audience. I, therefore, will beg you to make very great allowance for the circumstances in which I have been by surprise brought before you. Now, I have been in the habit of thinking and speaking sometime* upon political questions that have for some years past agitated the conn try ; and, if I were disposed to do so, and we could take up some one of the issues, as the lawyers call them, and I were called upon to make an argument about it to the best of my ability, I could do so without much preparation. But that is not what you desire to be done here to-night. I have been occupying a position since the Presidential election of silence, of avoiding public Freaking, of avoiding public writing. I have been doing so, because I thr-.ght, upon full consideration, that was the proper course for me to take. [Great applause.] I am brought before you now, and required to make a speech, when you all approve more than any thing else of the fact that I have b^en keeping silence. [Great laugh' ter, cries of "Good," and applause.] And now it seems to me that the response you give to that remark ought to justify me in closiig just here., [Great laughter.] I have not kept silence since the Presidential election J from any party wantonness, or from any indifference to the anxiety that] pervades the minds of men about the aspect of the political affairs of this country. I have kept silence for the reason that I supposed it was pecu- liarly proper that I should do so until the time came when, according to the custom of the country, I could speak officially. A voice — The custom of the country ? I heard some gentleman say, " According to the custom of the country." I alluded to tb^ custom of the President-elect, at the time of taking the oath of office. That is what I meant by " the custom of the country." I do suppose that, while the political drama being enacted in this coun- try, ac this time, is rapidly shifting its scenes — forbidding an anticipation* State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 14$ with any degree of certainty, to-day, what we- shall see to-morrow — it was peculiarly fitting that I should see it all, up to the last minute, before I should take ground that I might be disposed (by the shifting of the scenes afterwards) also to shift. [Applause.] I have said, several times, upon this journey, and I now repeat it to you, that when the time doe* some, I shall then take the ground that I think is right — [applause] — the ground that I think is right — [applause, and cries of "Good, good" — right 'for the North, for the South, for the East, for the West, for the whole I'Muitry. [Cries of "Good," "Hurrah for Lincoln," and applause.] And jn doing so, I hope to feel uo necessity pressing upon me to say any thing in conflict with the Constitution; in conflict with the continued union of these States — [applause] — in conflict with the perpetuation of the liberties of this people — [applause] — or any thing in conflict with any thing what- ever that I have ever given you reason to expect from me. [Applause.] And now, my friends, have I said enough? [Loud cries of "No, no," and three cheers for Lincoln.] Now, my friends, there appears to be a difference of opinion between you and me, and I really feel called upon to decide the question myself. [Applause, during which Mr. Lincoln descended from the table.] On the morning of the 20th Mr. Lincoln proceeded to the City Hall, where it had been arranged that he should have an official reception. He was there addressed by Mayor Wood in the following terms : — Mr. Lincoln: — As Mayor of New York, it becomes my duty to extend to you an official welcome in behalf of the Corporation. In doing so, per- mit me to say, that this city has never offered hospitality to a man clothed with more exalted powers, or resting under graver responsibilities, than ( those which circumstances have devolved upon you. Coming into office itli a dismembered Government to reconstruct, and a disconnected aid I untile people to reconcile, it will require a high patriotism, and an eleva ted comprehension of the whole country and its varied interests, opinions, and prejudices, to so conduct public atfairs as to bring it back again to its former harmonious, consolidated, and prosperous condition. If I refer to this topic, sir, it is because New York is deeply interested. The present political divisions have sorely afflicted her people. All her material inter- ests are paralyzed. Her commercial greatness is endangered. She is the child of the American Union. She has grown up under its maternal care, and been fostered by its paternal bounty, and we fear that if the Union dies, the preseut supremacy of New York may perish with it. To yon. therefore. chc«^n under the forms of the Constitution as the head of the Confederacy, we look for a restoration of fraternal relations between the States- -only ~o bz accomplished by peaceful and conciliatory jubsps, aided V the wwdoni of Almighty God. 150 The Life, Public Services, am> To tliis address Mr. Lincoln made the following re* ply :— Mn. Mayor: — It is with feelings of deep gratitude that I make my acknowledgments for the reception that has been given me in the great commercial City of Now York. I cannot but remember that it is done by 'he people, who do not, by a large majority, agree with me in political sentiment. It is the more grateful to me, because in this I see that for the great principles of our Government the people are pretty nearly or quite unanimous. In regard to the difficulties that confront us at this time, and of which you have seen fit to speak so becomingly and so jiutJyJ I can only say that I agree with the sentiments expressed. In my devo- tion to the Union I hope I am behind no man in the nation. As to my uisdom in conducting affairs so as to tend to the preservation of the Union, I fear too great confidence may have been placed in me. I am ft are I bring a heart devoted to the work. There is nothing that could erer bring me to consent — willingly to consent — to the destruction of this Union (in which not only the great City of JSTew York, but the whole country, has acquired its greatness), unless it would be that thing for which the Union itself was made. I understand that the ship is made for the carrying and preservation of the cargo ; and so long as the ship ii 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 passengers ard cargo overboard. So long, then, as it is possible that the prosperity and liberties of this people can be preserved within this Union, it shall be my purpose at all times to preserve it. And now, Mr. Mayor, renewing my thanks for this cordial reception, allow me to come to a close. [Applause.] On the morning of Thursday, the 21st, Mr. Lincoln left New York for Philadelphia, and on reaching Jersey City was met and welcomed, on behalf of the State, by thr» Hon. W. L. Dayton, to whose remarks he made this re ply;— Me. Dayton and Gentlemen of Tins State of New Jersey : — I shall only thank you briefly for this very kind reception given me, not person- ally, but as the temporary representative of the majesty of the nation. [Applause.] To the kindness of your hearts, and of the hearts of your brethren in your State, I should be very proud to respond, but I shall not have strength to address you or other assemblages at length, even if I had the time to do so. I appear before you, therefore, for little else than to greet yoa, and to briefly say farewell. You have done me the very high honor to present your reception courtesies to me through your great man — a man with whom it is an honor to be associated anywhere, ard in owning whom no State can be poor. [Applause.] He has said enough, m State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. IS I and by the saying of it suggested enough, to require a response of an honr well considered, [Applause.] I could not in an hour make a worth j response to it. I therefore, ladies and gentlemen of New Jersey, content myself with saying, most heartily do I indorse all the sentiments he has expressed. [Applause.] Allow me, most gratefully, to bid you farewell. [Applause.] At Newark lie was welcomed "by trie Mayor, to whom lie said : — Mr. Mayoe : — I thank you for this reception at the city of Newark, With regard to the great work of which you speak, I will say that I bring to it a heart filled with love for my country, and an honest desire to do what is right. I am sure, however, that. I have not the ability to do any thing unaided of God, and that without his support, and that of this free, happy, prosperous, and intelligent people, no man can succeed in doing that the importance of which we all comprehend. Again thanking you for the reception you have given me, I will now bid you farewell, and proceed upon my journey. At Trenton he was received by a committee of the legislature, and escorted to both branches, which were In session. The President of the Senate welcomed him in a brief address, to which he made the following reply : — Mb. President and Gentlemen of the Senate op the State of New Jersey : — I am very grateful to you for the honorable reception of which I have been the object. I cannot but remember the place that New Jersey holds in our early history. In the early Eevolutionary strug- gle few of the States among the Old Thirteen had more of the battle-fielda of the country within their limits than old New Jersey. May I be par- doned if, upon this occasion, I mention that away back in my childhood, the earliest days of my being able to read, I got hold of a small book, •rnclj s one as few of the younger members have ever seen, " Weem's Lift of Washington." I remember all the accounts there given of the battie- iields and struggles for the liberties of the country, and none fixed them- selves upon my imagination so deeply as the struggle here at Trenton, New Jersey. The crossing of the river ; the contest with the Hessians ; the great hardships endured at that time, all fixed themselves on my memory more than any single Revolutionary event; and you all know, for you have all been boys, how these early impressions last longer than any others. I recollect thinking then, boy even though I was, that thero must have been something more than common that these men struggled for. I am exceedingly anxious that that thing which they struggled for; that something even more than National Independence; that something that held out a great promise to all the people of the world to all time to lo2 The Life, Public Services, ani> Rome — I am exceedingly anxious that this Union, the Constitution, ami the liberties of the people shall he perpetuated in accordance with the original idea for which that struggle was made, and I shall be most happy indeed if I shall be an humble instrument in the hands of the Almighty, find of this, his most chosen people, as the chosen instrument — also in the hands of the Almighty — for perpetuating the object of that great struggle. Yon give me this reception, as I understand, without distinction of party. I learn that this body is composed of a majority of gentlemen who, in the exercise of their best judgment in the choice of a Chief Magistrate, did oot think I was the man. I understand, nevertheless, that they came forward here to greet me as the constitutional President of the Unite-'" States — as citizens of the United States to meet the man who, for the time being, is the representative man of the nation — united by a purpose to perpetuate the Union and liberties of the people. As such, I accept this reception more gratefully than I could do did I believe it was ten- dered to me as an individual. Mr. Lincoln then passed to the Assembly Chamber, where, in reply to the Speaker, he said : — Mr. Speaker and Gentlemen: — I have just enjoyed the honor of n reception by the other branch of this legislature, and I return to yoa and them my thanks for the reception which the people of New Jersey have given through their chosen representatives to me as the representa- tive, for the time being, of the majesty of the people of the United States. I appropriate to myself very little of the demonstrations of respect with which I have been greeted. I think little should be given to any man, but that it should be a manifestation of adherence to the Union and the Constitution. I understand myself to be received here by the representa- tives of the people of New Jersey, a majority of whom differ in opinion from those with whom I have acted. This manifestation is, therefore, to be regarded by me as expressing their devotion to the Union, the Consti- tution, and the liberties of the people. You, Mr. Speaker, have well .said that this is a time when the bravest and wisest look with doubt and awe upon the aspect presented by our national affairs. Under these circum- stances, you will readily see why I should not speak in detail of the course I shall deem it best to pursue. It is proper that I should avail myself of all the information and all the time at my command, in order that when the time arrives in which I must speak officially, I shall be able to take the ground which I deem the best and safest, and from which I may have no occasior to swerve. I shall endeavor to take the ground I deem most just to W Y^rth, the East, the West, the South, and the whole country, J take it, I hope, in good temper, certainly with no malice towards any eection. I shall do all that may be in my power to promote a peaceful settlement of all our difficulties. The man does not live who is more de- voted to peace than I am. [Cheers.] None who would do more to pre State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 153 nerve it, hut it maybe necessary to pnt the foot down firmly. [Here the ludience broke out into cheers so loud and long, that for some moments t was impossible to hear Mr. Lincoln's voice.] And if I do my duty and lo right, you will sustain me, will you not ? [Loud cheers, and cries of 4 Yes, yes, we will."] Keceived, as I am, by the members of a legislature, ihe majority of whom do not agree with me in political sentiments, I , trust that I may have their assistance in piloting the ship of State ' through this voyage, surrounded by perils as it is ; for if it should suffer ' wreck now, there will be no pilot ever needed for another voyage. Gen- tlemen, I have already spoken longer than I intended, and must beg leave to stop here. The procession then moved to the Trenton House, where the President-elect made the following speech to the crowd outside : — I have been invited by your representatives to the Legislature to visit this, the capital of your honored State, and in acknowledging their kind invitation, compelled to respond to the welcome of the presiding officers of each body, and I suppose they intended I should speak to you through them, as they are the representatives of all of you ; and if I was to speak again here, I should only have to repeat, in a great measure, much that I have said, which would be disgusting to my friends around me who have met here. I have no speech to make, but merely appear to see you and let you look at me ; and as to the latter, I think I have greatly the best of the bargain. [Laughter.] My friends, allow me to bid you farewell. The party arrived at Philadelphia at 4 o'clock, and the President-elect, proceeding immediately to the Continen- tal Hotel, was welcomed in a brief speech from Mayor i Henry, to which he replied as follows : — Me. Mayor and Fellow- Citizens of Philadelphia : — I appear before you to make no lengthy speech, but to thank you for this reception. The reception you have given me to-night is not to me, the man, the individ- ual, but to the man who temporarily represents, or should represent, the majesty of the nation. [Cheers.] It is true, as your worthy Mayor has said, that there is anxiety amongst the citizens of the United States at this time. I deem it a happy circumstance that this dissatisfied position of our fellow-citizens does not point us to any thing in which they are being injured, or about to ne injured; for which reason, I have felt all the while justified in concluding that the crisis, the panic, the anxiety of the coun- try at thia time, is artificial. If there be those who differ with me upon this subject, they have not pointed out the substantial difficulty that exists. I do not mean to say that an artificial panic may not do consid- erable harm ; that it h:ts done such I do not deny. The hope that ha* 154 The Life, Public Services, and been expressed by your Mayor, that I may be able to restore peace, har- mony, and prosperity to the country, is most worthy of him ; and happy, indeed, will I be if I shall be able to verify and fulfil that hope. [Tre- rvendous cheering.] I promise you, in all sincerity, that I bring to the work a sincere heart. Whether I will bring a head equal to that heart will be for future tunes to determine. It were useless for me to speak of details of plans now ; I shall speak officially next Monday week, if ever. If I should not speak then, it were useless for me to do so now. If I do apeak then, it is useless for me to do so now. When I do speak, I shall take such ground as I deem best calculated to restore peace, harmony, and prosperity to the country, and tend to the perpetuity of the nation and the liberty of these States and these people. Your worthy Mayor Las expressed the wish, in which I join with him, that it were convenient for me to remain in your city long enough to consult your merchants and iranufacturers; or, as it were, to listen to those breathings rising within the consecrated walls wherein the Constitution of the United States, and, I will add, the Declaration of Independence, were originally framed and adopted. [Enthusiastic applause.] I assure you and your Mayor that I hid hoped on this occasion, and upon all occasions during my life, that I shall do nothing inconsistent with the teachings of these holy and most sacred walls. I never asked any thing that does not breathe from those walls. All my political warfare has been in favor of the teachings that cime forth from these sacred walls. May my right hand forget its cun- ning, and my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if ever I prove false to those teachings. Fellow-citizens, I have addressed you longer than I expected to do, and now allow me to bid you good-night. On the 21st, Mr. Lincoln visited the old Independence Hall, from which was originally issued the Declaration of Independence. He was received in a cordial speech by Mr. Theodore Cuyler, to which he made the follow uig response : — Mr. Cuyler: — I am filled with deep emotion at finding myself standing here in this place, where were collected together the wisdom, the patriot- ism, the devotion to principle from which sprang the institutions under which we live. You have kindly suggested to me that in my hands is the task of restoring peace to the present distracted condition of the country. I can say in return, sir, that all the political sentiments I entertain have been drawn, so far as I have been able to draw them, from the sentiments which originated in and wore given to the world from thife hall I have never had a feeling, politically, that did not spring from the sentiments embodied in the Declaration of Independence. I have often pondered over the dangers which were incurred by the men who assembled here, and framed and adopted that Declaration of Ind* State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 155 pendence. I have pondered over the toils that were endured by the oflfi- oers and soldiers of the army who achieved that independence. I have often inquired of myself what great principle or idea it was that kept this Confederacy so long together. It was not the mere matter of the sep- aration of the Colonies from the mother-land, but that sentiment in the Declaration of Independence which gave liberty, not alone to the people of this country, but, I hope, to the world, for all future time. [Great ap- plause.] It was that which gave promise that in due time the weight would be lifted from the shoulders of all men. This is the sentiment em bodied in the Declaration of Independence. Now, my friends, can hit country be saved upon that basis? If it can, I will consider myself >ne of the happiest men in the world if I can help to save it. If it cannot fre saved upon that principle, it will be truly awful. But if this coantry can- not be saved without giving up that principle, I was about to say I would rather be assassinated on this spot than surrender it. [Applause.] Now, m ray view of the present aspect of affairs, there need be no bloodshed or war. There is no necessity for it. I am not in favor of such a course ; and I may say in advance that there will be no bloodshed unless it be forced upon the Government, and then it will be compelled to act in self- defence. [Applause.] My friends, this is wholly an unexpected speech, and I did not expect to be called upon to say a word when I came here. I supposed it was merely to do something towards raising the flag — I may, therefore, have said something indiscreet. [Cries of u No, no'."} I have said nothing but what I am willing to live by, and, if it be the pleasure of Almighty God, die by. One object of trie visit to the Hall was, to have Mr. Lincoln assist in raising the national flag over the Hall. Arrangements had been made for the performance of this ceremony, and Mr. Lincoln was escorted to the platform prepared for the purpose, and was invited, in a brief ad dress, to raise the flag. He responded in a patriotic epeeuh, announcing his cheerful compliance with the re- quest He alluded to the original flag of thirteen stars, saying that the number had increased as time rolled on, and we became a happy, powerful people, each star add- ing to its prosperity. The future is in the hands of the people. It was on such an occasion we could reason to- gether, reaffirm our devotion to the country and tire prin ciples of the Declaration of Independence. Let us make ap our minds, said he, that whenever we do put a new star upon our banner, it shall be a fixed one. never to be 156 The Life, Public Services, and dimmed by the horrors of war, hut brightened by the contentment and prosperity of peace. Let us go on to extend the area of our usefulness, and add star upon star, until their light shall shine over five hundred millions of free and happy people. He then performed his part in the ceremony, amidst a thundering discharge of artillery. Id the afternoon he left for the West. On reaching Lancaster he was received with a salute, and replied to an address of welcome in the following words : — Ladies and Gentlemen of Old Lancaster :— I appear not to make a speech. I have not time to make a speech at length, and not strength to make them on every occasion ; and worse than all, I have none to make. There is plenty of matter to speak about in these times, but it is well known that the more a man speaks the less he is understood — the more he says one thing, the more his adversaries contend he meant something else. I shall soon have occasion to speak officially, and then I will en- deavor to put my thoughts just as plain as I can express myself — true to the Constitution and Union of all the States, and to the perpetual liberty of all the people. Until I so speak, there is no need to enter upon details. In conclusion, I greet yon most heartily, and bid you an affectionate farewell. On reaching Harrisburg, on the 22d, Mr. Lincoln was escorted to the legislature, and was welcomed by the presiding oflicers of the two houses, to whom he replied as follows : — I appear before yon only for a very few, brief remarks, in response to what has been said to me. I thank you most sincerely for this reception, and the generous words in which support has been promised me upoa this occasion. I thank your great Commonwealth for the overwhelming ■upport it recently gave, not me personally, but the cause which I think a just one, in the late election. [Loud applause.] Allusion has been made to the fact — the interesting fact, perhaps, we should say — that I for the first time appear at the Capital of the great Commonwealth of Penn- sylvania upon the birthday of the Father of his Country, in connection with that beloved anniversary connected with the history of this country. I have already gone through one exceedingly interesting scene this morn- ing in the ceremonies at Philadelphia. Under the high conduct of gentle- men there, I was for the first time allowed the privilege of standing in old Independence Hall [enthusiastic cheering], to have a few word* addressed to me there, and opening up to me an opportunity of express ing, with much regiet, that I had not more time time to express enine 157 rhip.g of u>y own feelings, excited by the orcrvsion. somewhat to harmonize and give shape to the feelings that had been really the feelings of icy whole life. Besides this, our friend? there had provided a magnificent fl;ig of the country. They had arranged it so that I was given the honor of arising it to the head of fts staff. [Applause.] And when it went up, I was pleased that it went to its place by the strength of my ownfeeble arm, when, according to the arrangement, the cord was pulled, and it floated gloriously to the wind, without an accident, in the light, glowing sunshine of the morning. I could not help hoping that there was, in the entire suc- cess of that beautiful ceremony, at least something of.an omen of what is to come. [Loud applause.] How could I help feeling then as I often have felt f In the whole of that proceeding I was a very humble instrument. I had not provided the flag; I had not made the arrangements for elevating it to its place ; I had applied but a very small portion of my feeble strength in raising it. In the whole transaction I was in the hands of the people who had arranged it, and if I can have the same generous co-operation of the people of the nation, I think the flag of our country may yet be kept flaunting gloriously. [Loud, enthusiastic, and continued cheers.] I recur for a moment but to repeat some words uttered at the hotel, in regard to what has been said about the military support which the General Govern- ment may expect from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in a proper emergency. To guard against any possible mistake do I recur to this. It is not with any pleasure that I contemplate the possibility that a neces- sity may arise in this country for the use of the military arm. [Applause.] While I am exceedingly gratified to see the manifestation upon your streets of your military force here, and exceedingly gratified at your promises here to use that force upon a proper emergency — while I make these acknowledgments I desire to repeat, in order to preclude any pos- sible misconstruction, that I do most sincerely hope that we shall have no use for them. [Applause.] That it will never become their duty to shed blood, and most especially never to shed fraternal blood. I promise that, so far as I may have wisdom to direct, if so painful a result shall !n anj-wise be brought about, it shall be through no fault of mine. [Cheers.] Allusion has also been made by one of your honored speakers to som<* remarks recently made by myself at Pittsburg, in regard to what in *• posed to be the especial interest of this great Commonwealth of IVm. vania. I now wish only to say, in regard to that matter, that the fti remarks which I uttered on that occasion were rather carefully worded. I took pains that they should be so. I have seen no occasion since to add to them, or subtract from them. I leave them precisely as they stand [applause], adding only now, that I am pleased to have an expression from you, gentleman of Pennsylvania, significant that they are satisfactory to you. And now, gentlemen of the General Assembly of the Common- wealth of Pennsylvania, allow me to return yon again my most sincere thanks. 158 The Life, Public Services, and After the delivery of this address, Mr. Lincoln devoted some hours to the reception of visitors, and at six o' clock retired to his room. The next morning the whole coun- try was surprised to learn that he had arrived in Wash- ington — twelve hours sooner than he had originally in- tended. -His sudden departure proved to have been a measure of precaution for which events subsequently disclosed afforded a full justification. For some time pre vious to his departure from home, the rumor had been current that he would never reach the Capital alive. An attempt was made on the Toledo and Western Railroad, on the 11th of February, to throw from the track the train on which he was journeying, and just as he was leaving Cincinnati a hand grenade was found to have been se- creted on board the cars. These and other circumstances led to an organized and thorough investigation, under the direction of a police detective, carried on with great skill and perseverance at Baltimore, and which resulted in dis- closing the fact that a small gang of assassins, under tli-3 leadership of an Italian who assumed the name of Orsim, had arranged to take his life during his passage through Baltimore. General Scott and Mr. Seward had both been apprised of the same fact through another source, and they had sent Mr. F. W. Seward as a special messenger to Philadelphia, to meet the President-elect there, pre- vious to his departure for Harrisburg, and give him notice of these circumstances. Mr. Lincoln did not deviate from the programme he had marked out for him- self, in consequence of these communications; except that, under the advice of friends, he deemed it prudent to anticipate by one train the time he was expected to arrive in Washington He reached there on the morning of Saturday, the 23d. On Wednesday, the 27th, the Mayor and Common Council of the city waited upon Mr. Lincoln, and ten- dered him a welcome He replied to them as follows : — Mr. Mayor : — I thank you, and through you the municipal authorities of this city who accompany you* for this welcome A ud as it is tie first State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 159 time in my life, since the present phase of politics has presented itself in this country, that I have said any thing publicly within a region of country where the institution of slavery exists, I will take this occasion to say, that I think very much of the ill-feeling that lias existed and still exists between the people in the sections from which I came and the people here, is dependent upon a misunderstanding of one another. I tunrefuve avail myself of this opportunity to assure you, Mr. Mayor, and all the gentlemen present, that I have not now, and never have had, mr other than as kindly feelings towards you as the people of my owl tection. I have not now, and never have had, any disposition to treat you in any respect otherwise than as my own neighbors. I have not now any purpose to withhold from you any of the benefits of the Consti- tution, under any circumstances, that I would not feel myself constrained to withhold from ray own neighbors ; and I hope, in a word, that when we shall become better acquainted — and I say it with great confidence — we shall like each other the more, I thank you for the kindness of tbis reception. On the next evening a serenade was given to Mr. Lincoln "by the members of the Republican Association, and he then addressed the crowd which the occasion had brought together as follows : — My Feiends: — I suppose that I may take this as a compliment paid ts me, and as such please accept my thanks for it. I have reached this City of Washington under circumstances considerably differing from those under which any other man has ever reached it. I am here for the pur- pose of taking an official position amongst the people, almost all of whom were politically opposed to me, and are yet opposed to me, as I suppose. I propose no lengthy address to you. I only propose to say, as I did on j esterday, when your worthy Mayor and Board of Aldermen called upon me, that I thought much of the ill feeling that has existed betweei fou and the people of your surroundings and that people from among arhom I c»me, has depended, and now depends, upon a misunder- standing. I hope that, if things shall go along as prosperously as I believe we all desire they may, I may have it in my power to remove something of this misunderstanding ; that I may be enabled to convince you, and the people of your section of the country, that we regard you as in all things oui equals, and in all things entitled to the same respect and the same treat ment that we claim for ourselves ; that we are in no wise disposed, if it were in our power, to oppress yc u, to deprive you of any of you right* under the Constitution of the United States, or even narrow,/ ;o split iiairs with you in regard to these rights, but are determined to g^ve yon, sa far a* lies in our hands, all your rights under the Constitution — no* 160 The Life, Public Services, and grudgingly, but fully and fairly. [Applause.] I hope that, by thus dealing with you, we will become better acquainted, and be better friends. And now, my friends, with these few remarks, and again returning inj shanks for this compliment, and expressing my desire to hear a .itd« jiore of your good music, I bid you good-night. This closed Mr. Lincoln's public speeches down to &* late of his inauguration. State Papers or Abraham Lincoln. 161 CHAPTER VI. FROM THE INAUGURATION TO THE MEETING OF CONGRSS^ JULY 4, 1861. The Inaugural Address. — Organization of the Government.- -Tbi Bombardment of Fort Sumter. — Passage of Troops through Bal- timore. — Interview with the Mayor of Baltimore. — The Block- ade of Rebel Ports. — The President and the Virginia Commis- sioners. — Instruction to our Ministers abroad. — Recognition of the Rebels as Belligerents. — Rights of Neutrals. On the 4tb of March, 1861, Mr. Lincoln took the oath and assumed the duties of the Presidential office. He was quite right in saying, on the eve of his departure from his home in Springfield, that those duties were greater than had devolved upon any other man since the days of Washington. A conspiracy which had been on foot for thirty years had reached its crisis. Yet in spite of all that had been done by the leading spirits in this nove- ment, the people of the slaveholding States were by no means a unit in its support. Seven of those States — South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Texas, Florida, and Louisiana — had passed secession ordinances, and united in the establishment of a hostile Confederacy ; but in nearly all of them a considerable portion of the people were opposed to the movement, while in all the remaining slaveholding States a very active canvass was carried on between the friends and the opponents of secession. In* Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee especially, the Government of the United States was vindicated and its authority sustained by men or pre-eminent ability and of commanding reputation, and there seemed abundant reason for hoping that, by the adoption of prudent meas ures, the slaveholding section might be divided, and the Border Sla^e States retained in the Union. The authori- ties of the rebel Confederacy saw the importance of push- n 1G2 The Life, Public Services, and ing the issue to an instant decision. Under their directions nearly all the forts, arsenals, dock-yards, custom-houses, &c, belonging to the United States, within the limits of the seceded States, had been seized, and were held by representatives of the rebel government. The only forts in the South which remained in possession of the Union were Forts Pickens, Taylor, and Jefferson on the Florida coast, and Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, and prepa- i rations were far advanced for the reduction and capture of these. Officers of the army and navy from the South had resigned their commissions and entered the rebel service. Civil officers representing the United States within the limits of the Southern States could no longer discharge their functions, and all the powers of that Government were practically paralyzed. It was under these circumstances that Mr. Lincoln entered upon the duties of his office, and addressed him- self to the task, first, of withholding the Border States from joining the Confederacy, as an indispensable pre- liminary to the great work of quelling the rebellion and restoring the authority of the Constitution. The ceremony of inauguration took place as usual in front of the Capitol, and in presence of an immense mul- titude of spectators. A large military force was in attendance, under the immediate command of General Scott, but nothing occurred to interrupt the harmony of the occasion. Before taking the oath of office, Mr. Lincoln delivered the following INAUGUKAL ADDRESS. i Fellow- Citizens of the Ufdted States: — In compliance with a custom as old as the Government itself, I appear before you to address you briefly, and to take in your presence the oath prescribed by the Constitution of the United States to be taken by the President "before he enters on the execution of his office." I do not consider it necessary at present for me to discuss thos* »atterrt of administration about whicn there is no special anxiety or •xcitenuent. Apprehension seems to exist, among the people of the Soutnern States, that by the accession of a Republican Administration their prope itj and State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 163 their peace and personal security are to be endangered. There ha* never been any reasonable cause lor such apprehension. Indeed, the mu£t ample evidence to the contrary has all the while existed and been open to their inspection. It is found in nearly all the published speeches of trim who now addresses you. 1 do but quote from one of those speeches when I declare that "I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to inter- fere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so." Those who nominated and elected me did so with full knowledge that I had made this and many similar declarations, and had never recanted them. And core than this, they placed in the platform for my acceptance, and as a law to themselves and to me, the clear and emphatic resolution which I now vead : — Resolved, That the maintenance inviolate of the rights of the States, and especially the right of each State to order and control its own domes- tic institutions according to its own judgment exclusively, is essential to the balance of power on which the perfection and endurance of our polit- ical fabric depend, and we denounce the lawless invasion by armed force of the soil of any State or Territory, no matter under what pretext, aa among the gravest of crimes. I now reiterate these sentiments ; and, in doing so, I only press upon the public attention the most conclusive evidence of which the case is sus- ceptible, that the property, peaoe, and security of no section are to be in anywise endangered by the now incoming Administration. I add, too, that all the protection which, consistently with the Constitution and the laws, can be given, will be cheerfully given to all the States, when law- fully demanded, for whatever cause — as cheerfully to one section as to another. There is much controversy about the delivering up of fugitives from service or labor. The clause I now read is as plainly written in the Con- stitution as any other of its provisions : — No person held to service or labor in one State, under the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation therein, be discharged from such service or labor, but shall be delivered ^ap on claim of the party to whom such service or labor may be due. It is scarcely questioned that this provision was intended by those who made it for the reclaiming of what we call fugitive slaves ; and the inten- tion of the lawgiver is the law. All members of Congress swear their support to the whole Constitution — to this provision as much as any other. To the proposition, then, that slaves, whose cases come within the terms of this clause, "shall be delivered up," their oaths are unanimous. Now, if they would make the effort in good temper, could they not, with nearly equal unanimity, frame and pass a law by means of which to keep good that unanimous oath ? There is some difference of opinion whether this clause should be en- forced by National or by State authority ; but surely that difference if 164 The Life, Public Services, and not a very material one. Tf the slave is to be surrendered, it can be ot but little consequence to hiin, or to others, by wiiioli authority it is done. And ^ould any one, in any case, be content that his oath shall go unkept, on a mere unsubstantial controversy as to how it shall be kept? Again, in any law upon this subject, ought not all the safeguards of lib- erty known in civilized and humane jurisprudence to be introduced, so that a free man be not, in any case, surrendered as a slave ? And might it not be well, at the same time, to provide by law for the enforcement of that clause in the Constitution which guarantees that "the citizens of each State shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of citizens in the several States?" 1 take the official oath to-day with no mental reservation, and with :4c purpose to construe the Constitution or laws by any hypercritical rules. And while I do not choose now to specify particular acts of Congress as proper to be enforced, I do suggest that it will be much safer for all, both in official and private stations, to conform to and abide by all those acts which stand unrepealed, than to violate any of them, trusting to find im- punity in having them held to be unconstitutional. It is seventy-two years since the first inauguration of a President under our National Constitution. During that period, fifteen different and greatly distinguished citizens have, in succession, administered the Executive branch of the Government. They have conducted it through many perils, and generally with great success. Yet, with all this scope for prece- dent, I now enter upon the same task for the brief constitutional term of four years, under great and peculiar difficulty. A disruption of the Fed- eral Union, heretofore only menaced, is now formidably attempted. I hold that, in contemplation of universal law, and of the Constitution, the Union of these States is perpetual. Perpetuity is implied, if not ex- pressed, in the fundamental law of all National Governments. It is safe to assert that no government proper ever had a provision in its organic law for its own termination. Continue to execute all the express provi- sions 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. Again, if the United States be not a Government proper, but an associ- ation of States in the nature of contract merely, can it, as a contract, be peaceably unmade by less than all the parties who made it? One party to a contract may violate it — break it, so to speak ; but does it not require all to lawfully rescind it ? Descending from tnese general principles, we find the proposition that in legal contemplation, the Union is perpetual, confirmed by the history of the Union itself. The Union is much older than the Constitution. It was formed, in fact, by the Articles of Association in 1774. It was ma- tured and continued by the Declaration of Independence in 1776. It wa» farther matured, and the faith of all the then Thirteen States expressly State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 1G6 plighted and engaged that it should be perpetual, by the Articles of Con- federation in 1778. And, finally, in 1787, one of the declared objects for ordaining and establishing the Constitution was " to form a more perfect union." But if destruction of the Union, by one, or by a part only, of the States, be lawfully possible, the Union is less perfect than before, the Con- stitution having lost the vital element of perpetuity. It follows, from these views, that no State, upon its own mere motion, can lawfully get out of the Union ; that resolves and ordinances to that eftect are legally void; and that acts of violence within any State or States, against the authority of the United States, are insurrectionary or revolutionary, according to circumstances. I, therefore, consider that, in view of the Constitution and the laws, the Union is unbroken, and to the extent of my ability I shall take care, as the Constitution itself expressly enjoins upon me, that the laws of the Uniol be faithfully executed in all the States. Doing this I deem to be onlj a simple duty on my part; and I shall perform it, so far as practica- ble, unless my rightful masters, the American people, shall withhold tho requisite means, or, in some authoritative manner, direct the contrary. I trust this will not be regarded as a menace, but only as the declared pur pose of the Union that it will constitutionally defend and maintain itself. In doing this there need be no bloodshed or violence ; and there shall be none, unless it be forced upon the National authority. The power con- fided to me will be used to hold, occupy, and possess the property and places belonging to the Government, and to collect the duties and im- posts ; but beyond what may be but necessary for these objects, there will be no invasion, no using of force against or among the people anywhero. Where hostility to the United States, in any interior locality, shall be so great and universal as to prevent competent resident citizens from hold- ing the Federal offices, there will be no attempt to force obnoxious stran- gers among the people for that object. While the strict legal right may exist in the Government to enforce the exercise of these offices, the attempt to do so would be so irritating, and so nearly impracticable withal, I deem it better to forego, for the time, the uses of such offices. The mails, unless repelled, will continue to be furnished in all parts of the Union. So far as possible, the people everywhere shall have that senso of perfect security which is most favorable to calm thought and reflection. The course here indicated will be followed, unless current events and ex- perience shall show a modification or change to be proper, and in every case and exigency my best discretion will be exercised, according to cir- cumstances actually existing, and with a view and a hope of a peaceful solution of the National troubles, and the restoration of fraternal sympa- thies and affections. That there are persons in one section or another who seek to destroy the Union at all events, and are glad of any pretext to do it, I will neithm 166 The Life, Public Services, and affirm nor deny; but if there be such, T need address no word to thera. To those, however, who real! y love the Union, may T not speak ? Before entering upon so grave a matter as the destruction of our National fabric, with all its benefits, its memories, and its hopes, would it not be wise to ascertain precisely why we do it? Will you hazard so des- perate a step while there is any possibility that any portion of the ills you fly from have no real existence? Will you, while the certain ills you fly to are greater than all the real ones you fly from — will you risk the com mission of so fearful a mistake? All profess to be content in the Union, if all constitutional rights can be maintained. Is it true, then, that any right, plainly written in the Constitution, has been denied? I think not. Happily the human mind is so constituted that no party can reach to the audacity of doing this. Think, if you can, of a single instance in which a plainly written provision of the Constitution has ever been denied. If, by the mere force of num- bers, a majority should deprive a minority of any clearly written consti- tutional right, it might, in a moral point of view, justify revolution — certainly would if such right were a vital one. But such is not our case. All the vital rights of minorities and of individuals are so plainly assured to them by affirmations and negations, guarantees and prohibitions in the Constitution, that controversies never arise concerning them. But no organic law can ever be framed with a provision specifically applicable to every question which may occur in practical administration. No fore- sight can anticipate, nor any document of reasonable length contain, ex- press provisions for all possible questions. Shall fugitives from labor be surrendered by National or by State authority? The Constitution does not expressly say. May Congress prohibit slavery in the Territories? The Constitution does not expressly say. Must Congress protect slavery in the Territories? The Constitution does not expressly say. From questions of this class spring all our constitutional controversies, and we divide upon them into majorities and minorities. If the minority will not acquiesce, the majority must, or the Government must cease. There is no other alternative; for continuing the Government is acquies ■sence on one side or the other. If a minority in such case will secede rather than acquiesce, they make a precedent which, in turn, will divide and ruin them; for a minority of their own will secede from them when ever a majority refuses to be controlled by such minority. For instance, why may not any portion of a new Confederacy, a year or two hence, arbitrarily secede again, precisely as portions of the present Union now claim to secede from it? All who cherish disunion sentiments are now being educated to the exact temper of doing this. Is there such perfect identity of interests among the States to com- pose a new Union, as to produce harmony only, and prevent renewed secession ? Plainly, the central idea of secession is the essence of anarchy. A State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 167 majority held in restraint by constitutional checks and limitations, and ilways changing easily with deliberate changes of popular opinions and sentiments, is the only true sovereign of a free people. Whoever rejecti (t, does, of necessity, fly to anarchy or to despotism. Unanimity is im- possible; the rule of a minority, as a permanent arrangement, is wholly inadmissible; so that, rejecting the majority principle, anarchy or despot- ism, in some form, is all that is left. I do not forget the position assumed by some, that constitutional ques- tions are to be decided by the Supreme Court; nor do I deny that such decisions must be binding, in any case, upon the parties to a suit, as to the object of that suit, while they are also entitled to very high respect and consideration in all parallel cases, by all other departments of the Government. And while it is obviously possible that such decisions n ay be erroneous in any given case, still, the evil effect following it being limited to that particular case, with the chance that it may be overruled, and never become a precedent for other cases, can better be borne tl an could the evils of a different practice. At the same time, the can lid citizen must confess that if the policy of the Government upon vital questions affecting the whole people, is to be irrevocably fixed by de- cisions of the Supreme Court, the instant they are made in ordinary litigation between parties in personal actions, the people will have ceased to be their own rulers, having to that extent practically resigned their Government into the hands of that eminent tribunal. Nor is there in this view any assault upon the Court or the Judges. It is a duty from which they may not shrink to decide cases properly brought before them, and it is no fault of theirs if others seek to turn their decisions to political purposes. One section of our country believes slavery is right, and ought to be extended, while the other believes it is wrong, and ought not to be extended. This is the only substantial dis- pute. The fugitive slave clause of the Constitution, and the law for the suppression of the foreign slave-trade, are each as well enforced, perhaps, as any law can ever be in a community where the moral sense of the people imperfectly supports the law itself. The great body of the people abide by the dry legal obligation in both cases, and a few break over in each. This, I think, cannot be perfectly cured ; and it would be worse., in bott cases, after the separation of the sections than befcre. The foreign slave-trade, now imperfectly suppressed, would be t itimately revived, without restriction, in one section; while fugitive slaves, now only partially surrendered, would not be surrendered at all by the other. Physically speaking, we cannot separate. We 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 coun- try cannot do this. They cannot but remain face to face ; and inter- course, either amicable or hostile, must continue between them. Jt m 168 The Life, Public Services, and impossible, then, to make that intercourse more advantageous or more satisfactory after separation than before. Can aliens make treaties easier *.han friends can make laws? Can treaties be more faithfully enforced between aliens than laws can among friends? Suppose you go to war, you cannot fight always; and when, after much loss on both sides, and nc gain on either, you cease fighting, the identical old questions, as to terras of intercourse, are again upon you. This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit *t. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing Government, they «an exercise their constitutional right of amending it, or their revolu- tionary right to dismember or overthrow it. I cannot be ignorant of the fact that many worthy and patriotic citizens are desirous of having the National Constitution amended. While I make no recommendation of amendments, I fully recognize the rightful authority of the people over the whole subject, to be exercised in either of the modes prescribed in the instrument itself; and I should, under existing circumstances, favor, rather than oppose, a fair opportunity being afforded the people to act upon it. I will venture to add, that to me the convention mode seems preferable, in that it allows amendments to originate with the people themselves, instead of only permitting them to take or reject proposi- tions originated by others, not especially chosen for the purpose, and which might not be precisely such as they would wish to either accept or refuse. I understand a proposed amendment to the Constitution — which amendment, however, I have not seen — has passed Congress, to the effect that the Federal Government shall never interfere with the domestic insti- tutions of the States, including that of persons held to service. To avoid misconstruction of what I have said, I depart from my purpose not to speak of particular amendments, so far as to say that, holding such a pro- vision now to be implied constitutional law, I have no objections to its being made express and irrevocable. The Chief Magistrate derives all his authority from the people, and they have conferred none upon him to fix terms for the separation of the States. The people themselves can do this also if they choose; but the Executive, as such, has nothing to do with it. His duty is to administer the present Government as it came to his hands, and to transmit it, unimpaired by him, to his successor. Why should there not be a patient confidence in the ultimate justice of the people? Is there any better or equal hope in the world? In our present differences, is either party without faith of being in the right f If the Almighty Ruler of Nations, with his eternal truth and justice, be on your side of the North, or on yours of the South, that truth and that justice will surely prevail, by the judgment of this great tribunal of the American people. By the frame of the Government under which we live, the same peopla have wisely given their nub>ic servants but little power for mischief, and States Papeks of Abraham Lincoln. 169 have, with equal wisdom, provided for the return of that little to their own hands at very short intervals. While the people retain their virtue and vigilance, no Administration, by any extreme of wickedness or folly, oan very seriously injure the Government in the short space of four years. My countrymen, one and all, think calmly and well upon this whole subject. Nothing valuable can be lost by taking time. If there be an object to hurry any of you in hot haste to a step which you would never take deliberately, that object will be frustrated by taking time; but nr good object can be frustrated by it. Such of yon as are now dissatis"nV , still have the old Constitution unimpaired, and, on the sensitive poii.t, the laws of your own framing under it ; while the new Administration will have no immediate power, if it would, to change either. If it were admitted that you who are dissatisfied hold the right side in the dispute, there still is no single good reason for precipitate action. Intelligence, patriotism, Christianity, and a firm reliance on Him who has never yet forsaken this favored land, are still competent to adjust, in the best way, all our present difficulty. In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issues of civil war. The Government will not assail you. You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors. You have no oath registered in heaven to destroy the Government; while I shall have the most solemn one to " preserve, protect, and de- fend " it. I am loth to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic cord of memory, stretching from every battle-field and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature. The declarations of the Inaugural, as a general tiling, gave satisfaction to the loyal people of the whole conn- try. It was seen, everywhere, that while President Lin- coln felt constrained, by the most solemn obligations of dnty, to maintain the authority of the Government of the United States over all the territory within its juris- diction, whenever that authority should be disputed by flie actual exercise of armed force, he would nevertheless do nothing whatever to provoke such a demonstration, and would take no step which could look like violence or offensive warfare upon the seceded States. In the Border States its reception was in the main satisfactory. But, as 170 The Life, Public Services, and a matter of course, in those States, as elsewhere through- out the South, the secession leaders gave it the most hostile construction. No effort was spared to inflame the public mind, by representing the Inaugural as embodying the purpose of the President to make war upon the Southern States for their attempt to secure a redress of wrongs. The President's first act was to construct his Cabinet, which was done by the appointment of William H. Sew- ard, of New York, Secretary of State ; Salmon P. Chase, of Ohio, Secretary of the Treasury ; Simon Cameron, of Pennsylvania, Secretary of War ; Gideon Welles, of Con necticut, Secretary of the Navy ; Caleb B. Smith, of In- diana, Secretary of the Interior ; Montgomery Blair, of Maryland, Postmaster- General ; and Edward Bates, qf Missouri, Attorney-General. These nominations were all confirmed by the Senate, and these gentlemen entered upon the discharge of the duties of their several offices. On the 12th of March, Messrs. John Forsyth, of Ala- bama, and Crawford, of Georgia, requested an unofficial interview with the Secretary of State, which the latter declined. On the 13th they sent to him a communication, informing him that they were in Washington as commis- sioners from a government composed of seven States which had withdrawn from the American Union, and that they desired to enter upon negotiations for the adjustment of all questions growing out of this separation. Mr. Sew- ard, by direction of the President, declined to receive them, because it "could not be admitted that the States referred to had, in law or fact, withdrawn from the Fed- eral Union, or that they could do so in any other manner than with the consent and concert of the people of the United States, to be given through a National Convention, to be assembled in conformity with the provisions of the Constitution of the United States." This communication, though written on the 15th of March, was withheld, with the consent of the Commissioners, until the 8th of April, when it was delivered. The fact of its receipt, and its character, were instantly telegraphed to Charleston, and State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 171 it was made the occasion for precipitating the revolution by an act which, it was believed, would unite all the Southern States in support of the Confederacy. On the day of its receipt, the 8th of April, General Beauregard, at Charleston, telegraphed to L. P. Walker, the rebel Secretary of War, at Montgomery, that "an authorized messenger from President Lincoln had just informed Gov- ernor Pickens and himself that provisions would be sent to Fort Sumter peaceably, or, otherwise, by force." Gen- eral Beauregard was instructed to demand the surrender of the fort, which he did on the 11th, and was at once in- formed by Major Anderson, who was in command, that his " sense of honor and his obligations to his Government prevented his compliance." On the night of the same day General Beauregard wrote to Major Anderson, by orders of his Government, that if he "would state the time at which he would evacuate Fort Sumter" (as it was known that it must soon be evacuated for lack of provisions), "and will agree that, in the mean time, you will not use your guns against us unless ours shall be employed against Fort Sumter, we will abstain from opening fire upon you." At half-past two in the morning of the 12th, Major Anderson replied that he would evacuate the fort by noon on the 15th, abiding, meantime, by the terms proposed, unless he should "receive, prior to that, control ling instructions from his Government, or additional sup plies." In reply to this note he was notified, at half-past three, that the rebels would open their batteries upon the fort in one hour from that time. This they did, and, after a bombardment of thirty-three hours, Major Anderson agreed to evacuate the fort, which he carried into effect on Sunday morning, the 14th. The effect of this open act of war was, in some respects, precisely what had been anticipated by the rebel authori- ties : in other respects, it was very different. Upon the Southern States it had the effect of arousing public senti- ment to the highest pitch of enthusiasm, and of strength- ening the rebel cause. At the North, it broke down, for the moment, all party distinctions, and united the 172 The Life, Public Services, and people in a cordial and hearty support, of the Govern- ment. The President regarded it as an armed attack upon the Government of the United States, in support of the com- bination which had been organized into a Confederacy to resist and destroy its authority, and he saw, at once, that it could "be met and defeated only by the force placed in his hands for the maintenance of that authority. He accordingly, on the 15th of April, issued the following PROCLAMATION. By the President of the United States. Whereas, the laws of the United States have been for some time past and now are opposed, and the execution thereof obstructed, in the States of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, by combinations too powerful to be suppressed by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings, or by the powers vested in the marshals by law : now, therefore, I, Abkaham Lincoln, President of the United States, in virtue of the power in me vested by the Constitution and the laws, have thought fit to call forth, and hereby do call forth, the militia of the several States of the Union, to the aggregate number of seventy- five thousand, in order to suppress said combinations, and to cause the laws to be duly executed. The details for this object will be immediately communicated to the State authorities through the War Department. I appeal to all loyal citizens to favor, facilitate, and aid this effort to maintain the honor, the integrity, and existence of our National Union, and the perpetuity of popular government, and to redress wrongs already long enough endured, I deem it proper to say that the first service assigned to the forces hereby called forth will probably be to repossess the forts, places, and property which have been seized from the Union ; and in every event the utmost care will be observed, consistently with the objects aforesaid, to a^oid any devastation, any destruction of, or interference with, property, or an j disturbance of peaceful citizens of any part of the country; and I hereby command the persons composing the combinations aforesaid to disperse and retire peaceably to their respective abodes, within twenty days from this date. Deeming that the present condition of public affairs presents an extra- ordinary occasion, I do hereby, in virtue of the power in me vested by the Constitution, convene both houses of Congress. The Senators and Representatives are, thereforo, summoned to assemble at their respective chambevs, at twelve o'clock, noon, on Thursday, the fourth day of Julj State Papers op Abraham Lincoln. 173 next, then and there to consider and determine such measures as, in their wisdom, the public safety and interest may seem to demand. In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the City of Washington, this fifteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty- one, and of the independence of the United States the eighty-fifth. Abraham Lincoln. By the President. "William H. Sewaed, Secretary of State. The issue of this Proclamation created the most intense enthusiasm throughout the country. Scarcely a voice was raised in any of the Northern States against this measure, which was seen to he one of absolute necessity and of self-defence on the part of the Government. Every Northern State responded promptly to the Presi- dent' s demand, and from private persons, as well as by the legislatures, men, arms, and money were offered, in unstinted profusion and with the most zealous alacrity, in support of the Government. Massachusetts was first in the field ; and on the first day after the issue of the Proclamation, her Sixth Regiment, completely equipped, started from Boston for the National Capital. Two more regiments were also made ready, and took their departure within forty-eight hours. The Sixth Regiment, on its way to Washington, on the 19th, was attacked by a mob in Baltimore, carrying a secession flag, and several of its members were killed or severely wounded. This inflamed to a still higher point the excitement which already per- vaded the country. The whole Northern section of the Union felt outraged that troops should be assailed, and murdered on their way to protect the Capital of the Na- tion. In Maryland, where the Secession party was strong, there was also great excitement, and the Governor of the State and the Mayor of Baltimore united in urging for prudential reasons, that no more troops should be brought through that city. To their representation th* President made the following reply : — 174 The Life, Public Services, and Washington, April 29, 1861. Governor Hioks and Mayor Brown : Gentlemen : — Your letter by Messrs. Bond, Dobbin, and Bruno is re- ceived. I tender you both my sincere thanks for your efforts to keep the peace in the trying situation in which you are placed. For the future, troops must be brought here, but I make no point of bringing them through Baltimore. Without any military knowledge my- self, of course I must leave details to General Scott. He hastily said this morning in the presence of these gentlemen, " March them around Balti- more, and not through it." I sincerely hope the General, on fuller reflec- tion, will consider this practical and proper, and that you will not object to it. By this a collision of the people of Baltimore with the troops will be avoided, unless they go out of their way to seek it. I hope you will exert your influence to prevent this. Now and ever I shall do all in my power for peace consistently with the maintenance of the Government. Your obedient servant, Abraham Lincoln. And in further response to the same request from Gov- ernor Hicks, followed by a suggestion that the contro- versy between the North and South might be referred to Lord Lyons, the British Minister, for arbitration, Presi- dent Lincoln, through the Secretary of State, made the following reply : — Department of Static, April 22, 1861. His Excellency Thomas H. Hioks, Governor of Maryland : Sir : — I have had the honor to receive your communication of this morning, in which you inform me that you have felt it to be your duty to advise the President of the United States to order elsewhere the troops then off Annapolis, and also that no more may be sent through Maryland ; and that you have further suggested that Lord Lyons be requested to act as mediator between the contending parties in our country, to prevent the effusion of blood. The President directs me to acknowledge the receipt of that communi- cation, and to assure you that he has weighed the counsels it contains with the respect which he habitually cherishes for the Chief Magistrates of the several States, and especially for yourself. He regrets, as deeply as any magistrate or citizen of this country can, that demonstrations against, the safety of the United States, with very extensive preparations for the effusion of blood, have made it his duty to call out the forces to which you allude. The force now sought to be brought through Maryland is intended for nothing but the defence of the Capital. The President has necessarily ftonlided th^ choice of the Matioual highway which that force shall take State Papers of Abraham Lincoln 175 In coming to this city to the Lieutenant- General commanding the Annj of the United States, who, like his only predecessor, is not less distin- guished for his humanity than for his loyalty, patriotism, and distin- guished public service. The President instructs me to add, that the National highway thus selected by the Lieutenant-General has been chosen by him upon consul- tation with prominent magistrates and citizens of Maryland as the one which, while a route is absolutely necessary, is farthest removed from the populous cities of the State, and with the expectation that it would there- fore be the least objectionable one. The President cannot but remember that there has been a time in the history of our country wh**i a general of the American Union, with forces designed for the defence of its Capital, was not unwelcome anywhere in the State of Maryland, and certainly not at Annapolis, then, as now, the capital of that patriotic State, and then, also, one of the capitals of the Union. If eighty years could have obliterated all the other noble sentiments of that age in Maryland, the President would be hopeful, nevertheless, that there is one that would forever remain there and everywhere. That sen- timent is, that no domestic contention whatever that may arise among the parties of this Republic ought in any case to be referred to any foreign arbitrament, least of all to the arbitrament of a European monarchy. I have the honor to be, with distinguished consideration, your Excel- lency's obedient servant, William H. Sewabd. At the President's request, the Mayor of Baltimore, and a number of leading; influential citizens of Maryland, waited upon him at Washington, and had an open con- ference upon the condition of affairs in that State. The Mayor subsequently made the following report of the in- terview : — The President, upon his part, recognized the good faith of the city and State authorities, and insisted upon his own. He admitted the excited state of feeling in Baltimore, and his desire and duty to avoid the fata) consequences of a collision with the people. He urged, on the other hand, the absolute, irresistible necessity of having a transit through the State for such troops as might be necessary for the protection of the Federal Capital. The protection of Washington, he asseverated with great earnestness, was the sole object of concentrating troops thtre ; and he protested that none of the troops brought through Maryland were in- tended for any purposes hostile to the State, or aggressive as against the Southern States. Being now unable to bring them up the Potomac io security, the Government must either bring them through Maryland 01 abandon the Capital. 176 The Life, Public Services, and lie called on General Scott for his opinion, which the General gave at length, to the effect that troops might be brought through Maryland, without going through Baltimore, by either carrying them from Perrys- ville to Annapolis, and thence by rail to Washington, or by bringing them to the Relay House on tne Northern Central Railroad, and marching them to the Relay House on the Washington Railroad, and thence by rail to the Capital. If the people would permit them to go by either of those routes uninterruptedly, the necessity of their passing through Baltimore would be avoided. If the people would not permit them a transit thus remote from the city, they must select their own best route, and, if need be, fight their way through Baltimore — a result which the General ear- nestly deprecated. The President expressed his hearty concurrence in the desire to avoid a collision, and said that no more troops should be ordered through Balti- more, if they were permitted to go uninterruptedly by either of the other routes suggested. In thig disposition the Secretary of War expressed his participation. Mayor Brown assured the President that the city authorities would use all lawful means to prevent their citizens from leaving Baltimore to attack the troops in passing at a distance ; but he urged, at the same time, the impossibility of their being able to promise any thing more than their best efforts in that direction. The excitement was great, he told the President ; the people of all classes were fully aroused, and it was impos- sible for any one to answer for the consequences of the presence of North- ern troops anywhere within our borders. He reminded the President, also, that the jurisdiction of the city authorities was confined to their own population, and that he could give no promises for the people elsewhere, because he would be unable to keep them if given. The President frankly acknowledged this difficulty, and said that the Government would only ask the city authorities to use their best efforts with respect to those under their jurisdiction. The interview terminated with the distinct assurance, on the part of the President, that no more troops would be sent through Baltimore un- less obstructed in their transit in other direction?, and with the under- standing that the city authorities should do their best to restrain their own people. In accordance with this understanding, troops were for- warded to Washington "by way of Annapolis, until peace and order were restored in Baltimore, when the regular use of the highway through that city was resumed, and has been continued without interruption to the present time. On the 19th of April the President issued the following proclamation, blockading the ports of the seceded States:— State Papers of Abraham Lincoln 177 A PROCLAMATION, By the President of the Unitted States. Whereas, An insurrection against tlio Government of the United State* has broken out in the States of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Flor- ida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, and the laws of the United States for the collection of the revenue cannot be efficiently executed therein conformable to that provision of the Constitution which required dutie* to be uniform throughout the United States :— And whereas, A combination of persons, engaged in such insurrection, f*ave threatened to grant protended letters ot marque, to authorize the bearers thereof to commit assaults on the lives, vessels, and property of the good citizens of the country, lawfully engaged in commerce on the high seas, and in waters of the United States : — And whereas, An Executive Proclamation has been already issued, re- quiring the persons engaged in these disorderly proceedings to desist therefrom, calling out a militia force for the purpose of repressing the same, and convening Congress in extraordinary session to ^liberate and determine thereon : — Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United otatea, with a view to the same purposes before mentioned, and to the protec- tion of the public peace, and the lives and property of quiet and orderly citizens pursuing their lawful occupations, until Congress shall havo assembled and deliberated on the said unlawful proceedings, or until tho same shall have ceased, have further deemed it advisable to set on foot a blockade of the ports within the States aforesaid, in pursuance of tho laws of the United States and of the laws of nations in such cases pro- vided. For this purpose a competent force will be posted, so as to pre- vent entrance and exit of vessels from the ports aforesaid. If, therefore, with a view to violate such blockade, a vessel shall approach, or shall attempt to leave any of the said ports, she will be duly warned by the commander of one of the blockading vessels, who will indorse on her register the fact and date of such warning; and if the same vessel shall again attempt to enter or leave the blockaded port, she will be captured and sent to the nearest convenient port, for such proceedings againsl hei and her cargo as prize as may be deemed advisable. And T hereby proclaim and declare, that if any person, under the pio- tended authority of such States, or under any other pretence, shall molesT a vessel of the United States, or the persons or cargo on board of her, Eucfc persons will be held amenable to the laws of the United States fof the prevention aud punishment of piracy. By the President Abbajham Lincoln. William FL SfctfARD, Secretary of State. Washington, April I?, laiil. 12 1 78 The Life, Public Services, and These were the initial steps by which the Government eought to repel the attempt of the rebel Confederacy to overthrow its authority by force of arms. Its action was at that time wholly defensive. The declarations of rebel officials, as well as the language of the Southern press, indicated very clearly their intention to push the war begun at Sumter into the North. Jefferson Davis had himself declared, more than a month previous, that when- ever the war should open, the North and not the South should be the field of battle. At a popular demonstration held at Montgomery, Ala., on hearing that fire had been opened upon Sumter, L. P. Walker, the rebel Secretary of War, had said, that while "no man could tell where the war would end, he would prophesy that the flag which now flaunts the breeze here, would float over th* dome of the old Capitol at Washington before the first of May," and that it "might float eventually over Faneul Hall itself." The rebel Government had gone forward with great vigor to prepare the means for making good these predictions. Volunteers were summoned to the field. Besides garrisoning the fortresses in their posses- sion along the Southern coast, a force of nearly twenty thousand men was pushed rapidly forward to Virginia. A loan of eight millions of dollars was raised, and Davis issued a proclamation offering letters of marque to all per- sons who might desire to aid the rebel Government and enrich themselves by depredations upon the rich and ex- tended commerce of the United States. The South thus plunged openly and boldly into a war of aggression ; and the President, in strict conformity with the declaration of his Inaugural, put the Government upon the defensive, and limited the military operations of the moment to the pro- tection of the Capital. The effect of these preliminary movements upon the Border Slave States was very decided. The assault upon Sumter greatly excited the public mind throughout those States. In Virginia it was made to inure to the benefit of the rebels. The State Convention, which had been in session fince the 13th of February, was composed of a hundred State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 179 and fifty -two delegates, a large majority of whom were Union men. The Inaugural of President Lincoln had created a good deal of excitement among the members, and a very animated contest had followed as to its proper meaning. The secessionists insisted that it announced a policy of coercion towards the South, and had seized the occasion to urge the immediate passage of an ordinance of secession. This gave rise to a stormy debate, in which the friends of the Union maintained their ascendency. The news of the attack upon Sumter created a whirlwind of excitement, which checked somewhat the Union move- ment ; and, on the 13th of April, Messrs. Preston, Stuart, and Eandolph, who had been sent to Washington to as- certain the President's intentions towards the South, sent in their report, which was received just after Governor Pickens, of South Carolina, had announced the attack upon Sumter, and had demanded to know what Virginia intended to do in the war they had just commenced, and in which they were determined to triumph or perish. The Commi doners reported that the President had mad* the follow"*^,' reply to their inquiries : — To Hon. Messrs. Pbeston, Stuart and Randolph : Gentlemen : — As a committee of the Virginia Convention, now in ses- sion, you present me a preamble and resolution in these words : — Wliereas, In the opinion of this Convention, the uncertainty which pre- vails in the public mind as to the policy which the Federal Executive in- tends to pursue towards the seceded States, is extremely injurious to the industrial and commercial interests of the country, tends to keep up an excitement which is unfavorable to the adjustment of the pending diffi- culties, and threatens a disturbance of the public peace : — Therefore, Resolved, That a committee of three delegates be appointed to wait on the President of the United States, present to him this preamble, and re- spectfully ask him to communicate to this Convention the policy which the Federal Executive intends to pursue in regard to the Confederate States. In answer I have to say, that having, at the beginning of my official term, expressed my intended policy as plainly as I was able, it is with deep regret and mortification I now learn there is great and injurious un- certainty in the public mind as to what that policy is, and what course I intend to pursue. Not having as yet seen occasion to change, it is now my purpose to pursue the course marked out in the Inaugural Address. a commend a careful consideration of the whole document as the best ex- 180 The Life, Public Services, and pre3sion I can give to my purposes. As I then and therein said, I now repeat, " The power confided in me will be used to hold, occupy, and pos- sess property and places belonging to tho Government, and to collect the duties and imposts; but beyond what is necessary for these objects there will be no invasion, no using of force against or among the people any- where." By the words "property and places belonging to the Govern- ment," I chiefly allude to the military posts and property which were in possession of the Government when it came into my hands. But if, a* now appears to be true, in pursuit of a purpose to drive the United State* authority from these places, an unprovoked assault has been made upon Fort Sumter, I shall hold myself at liberty to repossess it, If I can, like places which had been seized before the Government was devolved upoi me ; and in any event I shall, to the best of my ability, repel force by force. In case it proves true that Fort Sumter has been assaulted, as ia reported, I shall, perhaps, cause the United States mails to be withdrawn from all the States which claim to have seceded, believing that the com- mencement of actual war against the Government justifies and possibly demands it. I scarcely need to say that I consider the military posts and property situated within the States which claim to have seceded, as yet belonging to the Government of the United States as much as they did before the supposed secession. Whatever else I may do for the purpose, I shall not attempt to collect the duties and imposts by any armed inva- sion of any part of the country ; not meaning by this, however, that I may not land a force deemed necessary to relieve a fort upon the border of the country. From the fact that I have quoted a part of the Inaugural Address, it must not be inferred that I repudiate any other part, the whole of which I reaffirm, except so far as what I now say of the mails may be regarded as a modification. Abeaham Lincoln. On the 17th, two days after this report was presented, an 3. immediately after receiving the President's procla- mation calling for troops, the Convention passed an ordi nance of secession "by a vote of eighty-eight to fifty -five ; and Virginia, being thns the most advanced member of the rebel Confederacy, became the battle-field of all the earlier contests which ensued, and on the 21 st of May the capital of the rebel Government w^as transferred to Richmond. Very strenuous efforts were made by the rebel authori ties to secure the adhesion of Maryland, Kentucky, Ten- nessee, and Missouri to the Confederacy ; but the wise forbearance of the President in his earlier measures had checked these endeavors, and held all those States but State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 181 Ton.nc^3eb aloof from active participation in the secession snovemeri The months of May and June were devoted to the most active and vigorous preparations on both sides for the contest which was keen to be inevitable. Over a hundred thousand troops bail been raised and organized in the rebel States, and the p v reat mass of them had been pushed forward towards the Northern border. On the 20th of April, the Government of the United States seized all the dispatches which had a^numlated in the telegraph offices during the preceding y^xr, for the purpose of detecting movements in aid of the rebel conspiracy. On the 27th of April the blockade of rebel ports was extended by proclamation to the ports of Xorth Carolina and Virginia. On the 3d of May the President issued a proclamation calling into the service of the United States forty-tw thousand and thirty -four volunteers for three years, ant ordering an addition of twenty -two thousand one hundred and fourteen officers and mew to the regular army, and eighteen thousand seamen to tue navy. And on the 16th, by another proclamation, he directed the commander of the United States forces in FlGrxda to " permit no person to exercise any office or authority upon the islands of Ke^ West, Tortugas, and Santa Rosa, which may be in- consistent with the laws and Constitution of the United States ; authorizing him, at the same time, if he shall find it necessary, to suspend the writ of habeas corpus, and to remove from the vicinity of the United States fortresses all dangerous and suspected persons." One of the first duties of the new Administration was to define the position to be taken by the Government of the United States towards foreign nations in view of the rebellion. While it is impossible to enter here upon this very wide branch of the general subject at any consid- erable length, this history would be incomplete if it did not state, in official language, the attitude which the Presi- dent decided to assume. That is very distinctly set forth in the letter of instructions prepared by the Secretary of State for Mr. Adams, on the eve of his departure for 182 The Life, Public Services, and the court of St. James, and dated April 1 in the following terms : — Before considering the arguments yon are to use, it is fm i rttnt to in- dicate those which you are not to employ in executing that mission : — Fir »t. The President has notioed, as the whole American people have, with much emotion, the expressions of good-will and friendship towards the United States, and of concern for their present embarrassments, which have been made on apt occasions, by her Majesty and her ministers. You will make due acknowledgment for these manifestations, but at the same time you will not rely on any mere sympathies or national kindness. Yoa will make no admissions of weakness in our Constitution, or of apprehen- sion on the part of the Government. You will rather prove, as you easily can, by comparing the history of our country with that of other States, thai its Constitution and Government are really the strongest and surest which have ever been erected for the safety of any people. You will in no case listen to any suggestions of compromise by this Government, under foreign auspices, with its discontented citizens. If, as the President does not at all apprehend, you shall unhappily find her Majesty's Government tolerating the application of the so-called seceding States, or wavering about it, you will not leave them to suppose for a moment that they can grant that application and remain the friends of the United States. You may even assure them promptly, in that case, that if they determine to rec- ognize, they may at the same time prepare to enter into alliance with the enemies of this Republic. You alone will represent your country at Lon- don, and you will represent the whole of it there. When you are asked to divide that duty with others, diplomatic relations between the Govern- ment of Great Britain and this Government will be suspended, and will remain so until it shall be seen which of the two is most strongly in- trenched in the confidence of their respective nations and of mankind. You will not be allowed, however, even if you were disposed, as the President is sure you will not be, to rest your opposition to the applica- tion of the Confederate States on the ground of any favor this Adminis- tration, or the party which chiefly called it into existence, proposes to show to Great Britain, or claims that Great Britain ought to show them. You will not consent to draw into debate before the British Government any opposing moral principles which may be supposed to lie at the foundation of the controversy between those States and the Federal Union. You will indulge in no expressions of harshness or disrespect, or even impatience, concerning the seceding States, their agents, or their people. But you will, on the contrary, all the while remember that those States are now, as they always heretofore have been, and, notwithstanding their temporary self-delusion, they must always continue to be, equal and honored members of this Federal Union, and that their citizens through- put all political niisunderstandings and alienations still are and alwayi State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 183 mubt be our kindred and countrymen. In short, all your arguments must belong to one of three classes, namely : First. Arguments drawn from the principles of public law and natural justice, which regulate the inter- course of equal States. Secondly. Arguments which concern equally the honor, welfare, and happiness of the discontented States, and the honor, welfare, and happiness of the whole Union. Thirdly. Arguments which are equally conservative of the rights and interests, and even sentiments of the United States, and just in their bearing upon the rights, interests, and sentiments of Great Britain and all other nations. Just previous to the arrival of Mr. Adams at Ms post, the British Government determined, acting in concert with that of France, to recognize the rebels as a bellige- rent power. Against this recognition our Government directed Mr. Adams to make a decided and energetic pro- test. On the fifteenth of June the British and French Ministers at Washington requested an interview with the Secretary of State for the purpose of reading to him cer- tain instructions they had received on this subject from their respective governments. Mr. Seward declined to hear them officially until he knew the nature of the docu- ment, which was accordingly left with him for perusal, and he afterwards declined altogether to hear it read, 01 receive official notice of it. In a letter to Mr. Adams, on the 19th, he thus states its character and contents : — That paper purports to contain a decision at which the British Govern- ment has arrived, to the effect that this country is divided into tws belligerent parties, of which the Government represents one, and that Great Britain assumes the attitude of a neutral between them. This Government could not, consistently with a just regard for the sov- ereignty of the United States, permit itself to debate these novel and extraordinary positions with the Government of her Britannic Majesty ; much less can we consent that that Government shall announce to us a decision derogating from that sovereignty, at which it has arrived with- out previously conferring with us upon the question. The United States are still solely and exclusively sovereign within the territories they have lawfully acquired and long possessed, as they have always been. They are at peace with all the world, as, with unimportant exceptions, they have always been. They are living under the obligations of the law of nations, and of treaties with Great Britain, just the same now as heretofore ; they are, of course, the friend of Great Britain, and they insist that Great Britain ■hall remain their friend now, just as she has hitherto been. Great Britain, by Virtue of these relations, is a stnmger to partiea and sections in * K »j 184 The Life, Public Services, and country, whether they are loyal to the United States or not, and Great Britain can neither rightfully qualify the sovereignty of the United States, nor concede, nor recognize any rights or interests or power of any party» State, or section, in contravention to the unbroken sovereignty of the Fed- eral Union. What is now seen in this country is the occurrence, by no means peculiar, but frequent in all countries — more frequent even in Great Britain than here — of an armed insurrection engaged in attempting to overthrow the regularly constituted and established Government. Theri is, of course, the employment of force by the Government to snprreat the insurrection, as every other government necessarily employs force in such cases. But these incidents by no means constitute a state of war impairing the sovereignty of the Government, creating belligerent sec- tions, and entitling foreign States to intervene, or to act as neutrals between them, or in any other way to cast off their lawful obligations tc the nation thus for the moment disturbed. Any other principle than this would be to resolve government everywhere into a thing of accident and caprice, and ultimately all human society into a state of perpetual war. We do not go into any argument of fact or of law in support of the position? we have thus assumed. They are simply the suggestions of the instinct of self-defence, the primary law of human action — not more the law of individual than of National life. Similar views were presented for the consideration of the French Emperor, and, indeed, of all the foreign g w- ernments with which we held diplomatic intercourse. 1 he action of the seceding States was treated as rebel 1? >n, purely domestic in its character, upon the nature or merits of which it would be unbecoming in us to h >ld any discussion with any foreign Power. The Presidf nt pressed upon all those governments the duty of accepting this view of the question, and of abstaining, consequently from every act which could be construed into any recog- nition of the rebel Confederacy, or which could embar- rass the Government of the United States in its endeav- ors to re-establish its rightful authority. Especial pains were taken, by the most emphatic declarations, to leave no doubt in the mind of any foreign statesman as to the purpose of the people of the United States to accomplish that result, "You cannot be too decided or explicit, " was the uniform language of the Secretary, "in making known to the Government that there is not now, nor haa State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 185 there been, nor will there be, any the least idea existing in this Government of Buffering a dissolution of this Union to take place in any way whatever." Efforts were also made by our Government to define, with the preci- sion which the novel features of the case required, the law of nations in regard to neutral rights, and also to secure a general concurrence of the maritime powers in the principles of the Paris Convention of 1859 : the latter object was, however, thwarted by the demand made by both Fiance and England, that they should not be re- quired to abide by these principles in their application to the internal conflict which was going on in the United States. This demand the President pronounced inadmis- sible. 1S6 The Life, Fublic Services, and CHAPTER VH. ! THE EXTRA SESSION OP CONGRESS, AND TEE MILITARY EVENTS OP THE SUMMER OP 1861. Fiest Annual Message. — Action of Congress.— Slavery and Con- fiscation. — The Defeat at Bull Run. — Treatment of the Slavery Question. — General Fremont and the President. — The Trent Affair. In pursuance of the President's proclamation of the 15th of April, Congress met in extra session on the 4th of July, 1861. The Republicans had control of both houses, counting thirty-one votes out of forty-eight in the Senate, and one hundred and six out of one hundred and seventy-eight in the House ; there being, moreover, five in the Senate and twenty-eight in the House who, without belonging to the Republican party, supported the Administration in its efforts to preserve the Union . Hon. G. A. Grow was elected Speaker of the House ; and, on the oth, the President communicated to Congress his first Annual Message, as follows : — Fellow- Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives: — Having been convened on an extraordinary occasion, as authorized by the Constitution, your attention is not called to any ordinary subject o* legislation. At the beginning of the present Presidential term, four months ago, the functions of the Federal Government were found to be generally suspend- ed within the several States of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Missis- sippi, Louisiana, and Florida, excepting only those of the Post-Office Department. Within these States all the forts, arsenals, dock-yards, custom-houses, and the like, including the movable and stationary property in and about them, had been seized, and were held in open hostility to this Govern- ment, excepting only Forts Pickens, Taylor, and Jefferson, on and neat the Florida coast, and Fort Sumter, in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. The forts thus seized had been put in improved condition, new ones bad State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 187 beeo built, and armed forces had been organized and were organizing, all avowedly with the same hostile purpose. The forts remaining in the possession of the Foderal Government in and near these States were either besieged or menaced by warlike prepa- rations, and especially Fort Sumter was nearly surrounded by well- protected hostile batteries, with guns equal in quality to the best of its own, and outnumbering the latter as perhaps ten to one. A dispropor- tionate share of the Federal muskets and rifles had somehow found their way into these States, and had been seized to be used against the Govern- ment Accumulations of the public revenue, lying within them, had been seized for the same object. The Navy was scattered in distant seas, leaving but a very small part of it within the immediate reach of thfc Government. Officers of the Federal Army and Navy had resigned in gr»at numbers; and of those resigning, a large proportion had taken up arms against the Government. Simultaneously, and in connection with all this, the purpose to sever the Federal Union was openly avowed. In accordance with this purpose, an ordinance had been adopted in each of these States, declaring the States, respectively, to be separated from the National Union. A formula for instituting a combined government of these States had been promulgated ; and this illegal organization, in the character of the Confederate States, was already invoking recognition, aid, and intervention from foreign Powers. Finding this condition of things, and believing it to be an imperative duty upon the incoming Executive to prevent, if possible, the consumma- tion of such attempt to destroy the Federal Union, a choice of means to that end became indispensable. This choice was made, and was de- clared in the Inaugural Address. The policy chosen looked to the exhaus- tion of all peaceful measures before a resort to any stronger ones. It sought only to hold the public places and property not already wrested from the Government, and to collect the revenue, relying for the rest on time, discussion, and the ballot-box. It promised a continuance of tbe mails, at Government expense, to the very people who were resisting the Government; and it gave repeated pledges against any disturbance to any of the people, or any of their rights. Of all that which a President might constitutionally and justifiably do in such a case, every thing was forborne, without which it was believed possible to keep the Government on foot. On the 5th of March (the present incumbent's first full day in office), a letter of Major Anderson, commanding at Fort Sumter, written on the 28th of February, and received at the War Department on the 4th of March, was by that Department placed in his hands. This letter ex- pressed the professional opinion of the writer, that reinforcements could not be thrown into that fort within the time for his relief, rendered ne- cessary by the limited supply of provisions, and with a view of holding possession of the same, with a force of less than twenty thousand good 188 The Life, Public Services, and j;ml well-disciplined men. This opinion was concurred in by all the < fficers of his command, and their memoranda on the subject were made enclosures of Major Anderson's letter. The whole was immediately laid before Lieutenant-General Scott, who at once concurred with Major Anderson in opinion. On reflection, however, he took full time, con- yilting with other officers, both of the army and the navy ; and at the i\A of four days came reluctantly, but decidedly, to the same conclusion as before. He also stated at the same time that no such sufficient fore vas then at the control of the Government, or could be raised an brought to the ground within the time when the provisions in the for would be exhausted. In a purely military point of view, this reduced the duty of the Administration in the case to the mere matter of getting the garrison safely out of the fort. It was believed, however, that to so abandon that position, under the circumstances, would be utterly ruinous ; that the necessity under which it was to be done would not be fully understood ; that by many it would be i onstrued as a part of a voluntary policy ; that at home it would dis- courage the friends of the Union, embolden its adversaries, and go far to insure to the latter a recognition abroad; that, in fact, it would be our National destruction consummated. This could not be allowed. Star- vation was not yet upon the garrison ; and ere it would be reached Fort Pickens might be re-enforced. This would be a clear indication of policy, and would better enable the country to accept the evacuation of Fort Sumter as a military necessity. An order was at once directed to be sent for the landing of the troops from the steamship Brooklyn into Fort Pickens. This order could not go by land, but must take the longer and slower route by sea. The first return news from the order was received just one week before the fall of Fort Sumter. The news itself was, that the officer commanding the Sabine, to which vessel the troops had been transferred from the Brooklyn, acting upon some quasi armistice of the late Administration (and of the existence of which the present Adminis- tration, up to the time the order was dispatched, had only too vague and uncertain rumors to fix attention), had refused to land the troops. To now re-enforce Fort Pickens before a crisis would be reached at Fort Sumter, was impossible — rendered so by the near exhaustion of provisions in the latter-named fort. In precaution against such a conjuncture, the Government had a few days before commenced preparing an expedition, as well adapted as might be, to relieve Fort Sumter, which expedition was intended to be ultimately used or not, according to circumstances. Th9 strongest anticipated case for using it was now presented, and it was resolved to send it forward. As had been intended in this contingency, it was also resolved to notify the Governor of South Carolina that h« might expect an attempt would be made to provision the fort ; and that, if the attempt should not be resisted, there would be no effort to throw in men, arms, or ammunition, without further notice, or in case of an State Papers of Abraham Lincolit. 189 attack upon the fort. This notice was accordingly given ; whereupon the fort was attacked and bombarded to its fall, without even awaiting the arrival of the provisioning expedition. It is thus seen that the assault upon and reduction of Fort Sumter was in no sense a matter of self-defence upon the part of the assailants. They well knew that the garrison in the fort could by no possibility commit aggression upon them. They knew — they were expressly notified — that the giving of bread to the few brave and hungry men of the garrison was all which would on that occasion be attempted, unless themselves, by resisting so much, should provoke more. They knew that this Gov- ernment desired to keep the garrison in the fort, not to assail them, but ti maintain visible possession, and thus to preserve the Union from actual and immediate dissolution — trusting, as hereinbefore stated, to time, discussion, and the ballot-box for final adjustment; and they as- sailed and reduced the fort for precisely the reverse object — to drive out the visible authority of the Federal Union, and thus force it to immediate dissolution. That this was their object the Executive well understood ; and having said to them in the Inaugural Address, " You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors," he took pains not only to keep this declaration good, but also to keep the case so free from the power of ingenious sophistry that the world should not be able to misunderstand it. By the affair at Fort Sumter, with its surrounding circumstances, that point was reached. Then and thereby the assailants of the Government began the conflict of arms, without a gun in sight, or in expectancy to return their fire, save only the few in the fort, sent to that, harbor years before for their own protection, and still ready to give that protection in whatever was lawful. In this act, discarding all else, they have forced upon the country the distinct issue, " immediate dissolution or blood." And this issue embraces more than the fate of these United States. It presents to the whole family of man the question, whether a constitu- tional republic or democracy — a government of the people by the same people — can or cannot maintain its territorial integrity against its own domestic foes. It presents the question, whether discontented individ- uals, too few in numbers to control administration, according to organic law, in any case, can always, upon the pretences made in this case, or on any other pretences, or arbitrarily, without any pretence, break up their Government, and thus practically put an end to free government upon the earth. It forces us to ask, "Is there, in all republics, this inherent and fatal weakness?" "Must a government, of necessity, be too strong for the liberties of its own people, or too weak to maintain its own exist- ence?" So viewing the issue, no choice was left but to call out the war powef of the Government; and so to resist force employed for its destruction by force for its preservation. 190 The Life, Public Services, and The call was made, and the response of the country was most gratify- ing — surpassing in unanimity and spirit the most sanguine expectatioa Yet none of the States commonly called Slave States, except Delaware, gave a regiment through regular State organization. A few regiments have been organized within some others of those States by individual enterprise, and received into the Government service. Of course, the eeceded States, so called (and to which Texas had been joined about the time of the inauguration), gave no troops to the cause of the Union. The Border States, so called, were not uniform in their action, some of them being almost for the Union, while in others — as Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas — the Union sentiment was nearly repressed and silenced. The course taken in Virginia was the most remarkable — per- haps the most important. A convention, elected by the people of that State to consider this very question of disrupting the Federal Union, was iu session at the Capital of Virginia when Fort Sumter fell. To this body the people had chosen a large majority of professed Union men. Almost immediately after the fall of Sumter many members of that majority went over to the original disunion minority, and with them adopted an ordinance for withdrawing the State from the Union. Whether this change was wrought by their great approval of the assault upon Sumter, or their great resentment at the Government's resistance to that assault, is not definitely known. Although they submitted the ordinance for ratification to a vote of the people, to be taken on a day then some what more than a month distant, the Convention and the Legislature (which was also in session at the same time and place), with leading men of the State not members of either, immediately commenced acting as if the State were already out of the Union. They pushed military preparations vigorously forward all over the State. They seized the United States armory at Harper's Ferry, and the navy-yard at Gosport, near Norfolk. They received — perhaps invited — into their State large bodies of troops, with their warlike appointments, from the so-called seceded States. They formally entered into a treaty of temporary alii anco and co-operation with the so-called "Confederate States," and sent members to their Congress at Montgomery; and, finally, they permitted the insurrectionary Government to be transferred to their capital at Rich mond. The people of Virginia have thus allowed this giant insurrection to make its nest within her borders ; and this Government has no choice left but to deal with it where it finds it. And it has the less regret, as the loyal citizens have in due form claimed its protection. Those loyal citizens this Government is bound to recognize and protect as being Virginia. In the Border States, so-called — in fact, the Middle States — there are those who favor a policy which they call M armed neutrality" — that is an arming of those States to prevent the Union forces passing one way, State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 191 or the disunion tbe other, over their soil. This would be disunion com- pleted. Figuratively speaking, it would be the building of an impassable wall along the line of separation — and yet not quite an impassable ore, for, under the guise of neutrality, it would tie the hands of Union men, and freely pass supplies from among them to the insurrectionists, which it could not do as an open enemy. At a stroke it would take all the trouble off the hands of secession, except only what proceeds from the external blockade. It would do for the disunionists that which of all things they most desire — feed them well, and give them disunion without a struggle of their own. It recognizes no fidelity to the Constitution, no obligation to maintain the Union; and while very many who have favored it are doubtless loyal citizens, it is, nevertheless, very injurious in effect. Recurring to the action of the Government, it may be stated that at first a call was made for seventy-five thousand militia; and rapidly fol- lowing this, a proclamation was issued for closing the ports of the insur- rectionary districts by proceedings in the nature of a blockade. So far ail was believed to be strictly legal. At this point the insurrectionists announced their purpose to enter upon the practice of privateering. Other calls were made for volunteers to serve for three years, unless sooner discharged, and also for large additions to the regular army and navy. These measures, whether strictly legal or not, were ventured upon under what appeared to be a popular demand and a public necessity; trusting then, as now, that Congress would readily ratify them. It is believed that nothing has been done beyond the constitutional compe- tency of Congress. Soon after the first call for militia, it was considered a duty to authorize the Commanding-General, in proper cases, according to his discretion, to suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus, or, in other words, to arrest and detain, without resort to the ordinary processes and forms of law, such individuals as he might deem dangerous to the public safety. This authority has purposely been exercised but very sparingly. Never- theless, the legality and propriety of what has been done under it are questioned, and the attention of the country has been called to the proposition, that one who has sworn to "take care that the laws be faithfully executed," should not himself violate them. Of course, some consideration was given to the question of power and propriety before this matter was acted upon. The whole of the laws which were required to be faithfully executed were being resisted, and failing of execution in nearly one-third of the States. Must they be allowed to finally fail of execution, even had it been perfectly clear that by the use of the means necessary to their execution some single law, made in such extreme tenderness of the citizen's liberty that practically it relieves more of the guilty than of the innocent, should to a very limited extent be violated ! To state the question more directly : Are all the laws but one to go unex- 192 The Life, Public Services, and ecuted, and the Government itself go to pieces, lest that one be violated ! Even in snch a case, would not the official oath be broken if the Gov- ernment should be overthrown, when it was believed that disregarding the single law would tend to preserve it? But it was not believed that this question was presented. It was not believed that any law wai violated. The provision of the Constitution that " the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended unless when, in cases of rebellion or invasion, the public safety may require it," is equivalent to a provision — is a provision — that such privilege may be suspended when, in ca.se of rebellion or invasion, the public safety does require it. It was decided that we have a case of rebellion, and that the public safety does require the qualified suspension of the privilege of the writ which was authorized to be made. Now, it is insisted that Congress, and not tho Executive, is vested with this power. But the Constitution itself is silent as to which or who is to exercise the power ; and as the provision was plainly made for a dangerous emergency, it cannot be believed the framers of the instrument intended that in every case the danger should mn its course uutil Congress could be called together, the very assembling of which might be prevented, as was intended in this case, by the re- bellion. # No more extended argument is now offered, as an opinion, at some length, will probably be presented by the Attorney-General. Whether there shall be any legislation on the subject, and, if any, what, is sub- mitted entirely to the better judgment of Congress. The forbearance of this Government had been so extraordinary, and so long continued, as to lead some foreign nations to shape their action as if they supposed the early destruction of our National Union was probable. While this, on discovery, gave the Executive some concern, he is now happy to say that the sovereignty and rights of the United States are now everywhere practically respected by foreign powers ; and a general sympathy with the country is manifested throughout th« world. The reports of the Secretaries of the Treasury, War, and the Navy, will give the information in detail deemed nec^sary and convenient for your deliberation and action; while the Executive and all the Depart- ments will stand ready to supply omissions, or to communicate new facts considered important for you to know. It is now recommended that you giv6 the legal means for making this contest a short and decisive one ; that you p'ac^ at tho control of the Government, for the work, at least f:>ur hundred thousand men and $400,000,000. That number of men is about one-tenth of those of proper ages within the regions where, apparently, all are willing to engage ; and the sum is less than a twenty-third part of the money value owned by the men who seem ready to devote the whole. A debt of $600,000,000 now, is a less sura per head than was the debt of our Revolution when State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 193 we camo out of that struggle; and the money value in the country now bears even a greater proportion to what it was then, than does the popu- lation. Surely each man has as strong a motive now to preserve our liberties, as each had then to establish them. • A right result, at this time, will be worth more to the world than ten times the men and ten times the money. The evidence reaching us from the country leaves no doubt that the material for the work is abundant, and that it needs only the hand of legislation to give it legal sanction, and the hand of the Executive to give it practical shape and efficiency One of the greatest perplexities of the Government is to avoid receiving troops faster than it can provide for them. In a word, the people wit save their Government, if the Government itself will do its part only indifferently well. It might seem, at first thought, to be of little difference whether thb present movement at the South be called "secession" or " rebellion. "' The movers, however, will understand the difference. At the beginning, they knew they could never raise their, treason to any respectable magnitude by any name which implies violation of law. They knew their people possessed as much of moral sense, as much of devotion to law and order, and as much pride in, and reverence for the history and Government of their common country, as any other civilized and patri- otic people. They knew they could make no advancement directly in the fc-s-eth of these strong and noble sentiments. Accordingly, they com- menced by an insidious debauching of the public mind. They invented an ingenious sophism, which, if conceded, was followed by perfectly logical steps, through all the incidents, to the complete destruction of the Union. The sophism itself is, that any State of the Union may, consistently with the National Constitution, and therefore lawfully and peacefully, withdraw from the Union without the consent of the Union, or of any other State. The little disguise that the supposed right is to be exercised only for just cause, themselves to be the sole judges of ita justice, is too thin to merit any notice. With rebellion thus sugar-coated they have been drugging the public mind of their section for more than thirty years, and until at length they have brought many good men to a willingness to take up arms against the Government the day after some assemblage of men have enacted the farcical pretence of taking their State out of the Union, who could have been brought to no such thing the day before. This sophism derives much, perhaps the whole, of itj currency from the assumption that there is some omnipotent and sacred supremacy pertaining to a State — to each State of our Federal Union. Our States have neither more nor less power than that reserved to them in the Union by the Constitution — no one of them ever having been a State out tf the Union. The original ones passed into the Union even before they sa*t off their British colonial dependence ; and the new ones each cain« 13 194 The Life, Public Services, and Into the Union directly from a condition of dependence, excepting Texae And even Texas, in its temporary independence, was never designated a State. The new ones only took the designation of States on coming intc the Union, while that name was first adopted by the old ones in and by tne Declaration of Independence. Therein the "United Colonies" were declared to be "free and independent States;" but, even then, the ob- ject plainly was not to declare their independence of one another, or of the Union, but directly the contrary; as their mutual pledge and their mutual action before, at the time, and afterwards, abundantly show. The express plighting of faith by each and all of the original thirteen iiu th* (Articles of Confederation, two years later, that the Union shall be per- petual, is most conclusive. Having never been States, either in substance or in name, outside of the Union, whence this magical omnipotence of "State Rights," asserting a claim of power to lawfully destroy the Union itself? Much is said about the "sovereignty" of the States; but the word even is not in the National Constitution ; nor, as is believed, in any of the State constitutions. What is "sovereignty" in the political sense of the term ? "Would it be far wrong to define it " a political community without a political superior?" Tested by this, no one of our States, ex- cept Texas, ever was a sovereignty. And even Texas gave up the char- acter on coining into the Union ; by which act she acknowledged the Constitution of the United States, and the laws and treaties of the United 8tat<* made in pursuance of the Constitution, to be for her the supreme law of the land. The States have their status in the Union, and they have no other legal status. If they break from this, they can only do so against law and by revolution. The Union, and not themselves sepa- rately, pra i ^d their independence and their liberty. By conquest 01 purchase tl;v Union gave each of them whatever 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. Of course, it is not for- gotten that all the new States framed their constitutions before they en- tered the Union ; nevertheless dependent upon, and preparatory to, com- ing into the Union. Un questionably the States have the powers and rights reserved to them in and by the National Constitution ; but among these, surely, are not included all conceivable powers, however mischievous or destructive; but, at most, such only as were known in the world, at f he time, as gov- ernmental powers; and, certainly, a power to destroy t>e Government itself had never been known as a governmental — as a merely administra- tive power. This relative matter of National power and fetate liighta, as a principle, is nr> other than the principle of generality a»u locality Whatever oouoerns tne wnole should he confided to tne wnoia -to the State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 195 General Government; while whatever concerns only the State should ho left exclusively to the State. This is all there is of original principle about it. Whether the National Constitution, in defining boundaries be- tween the two has applied the principle with exact accuracy, is not to hi questioned. We are all bound by that defining, without question. What is now combated, is the position that secession is consistent with the Constitution — is lawful and peaceful. It is not contended that thor« is any express law for it; and nothing should ever be implied gf law which leads to unjust or absurd consequences. The Nation purchased with money the countries out of which several of these States were formed; is it just tat they shall go off without leave and without refunding? The Nation ] aid very large sums (in the aggregate, I believe, nearly a hundred mil- lions) to relieve Florida of the aboriginal tribes; is it just that she shall now be off without conseut, or without making any return? The Nation is now in debt for money applied to the benefit of these so-called seceding States in common with the rest; is it just either that creditors shall go unpaid, or the remaining States pay the whole? A part of the present National debt was contracted to pay the old debts of Texas; is it just that she shall leave and pay no part of this herself? Again, if one State may secede, so may another ; and when all shall have seceded, none is left to pay the debts. Is this quite just to creditors! Did we notify them of this sage view of ours when we borrowed their money? If we now recognize this doctrine by allowing the seceders to go in peace, it is difficult to see what we can do if others choose to go, or to extort terms upon which they will promise to remain. The seceders insist that our Constitution admits of secession. They have assumed to make a national constitution of their own, in which, of neces- sity, they have either discarded or retained the right of secession, as they insist it exists in ours. If they have discarded it, they thereby admit that, on principle, it ought not to be in ours. If they have retained it, by their own construction of ours, they show that to be consistent they must secede from one another whenever they shall find it the easiest way of settling their debts, or effecting any other selfish or unjust object. Tho principle itself is one of disintegration, and upon which no Government ,» an possibly endure. ' Lf all the States save one should assert the power to drive that one out of the Union, it is presumed the whole class of seceder politicians would at once deny the power, and denounce the act as the greatest outrage upon State rights. But suppose that precisely the same act, instead of being called M driving the one out," should be called " the seceding of the others from that one," it would be exactly what the seceders claim to do ; unless, indeed, they make the point that the one, because it is a minority, may rightfully do what the others, because they are a majority, may not rightfully do. These politicians are subtile and profound on the rights of minorities. They are not partial to that power which made the Constitu tion, and speaks from the preamble, calling itself " We, the People." 19 C The Life, Public Services, and It may well be questioned whether there is to-day a majority of the legally qualified voters of any State, except, perhaps, South Carolina, in favor of disunion. There is much reason to believe that the Union men are the majority in many, if not in every other one, of the so-called sece- ded States. The contrary has not been demonstrated in any one of them. It is ventured to affirm this even of Virginia and Tennessee ; for the result of an election held in military camps, where the bayonets are all on on* side of the question voted upon, can scarcely be considered as demonstra- ting popular sentiment. At such an election, all that large class who ar« at once for the Union and against coercion would be coerced to vote against the Union. Jt may be affirmed, without extravagance, that the free institutions w* enjoy have developed the powers and improved the condition of our whole people beyond any example in the world. Of this we now have a stri- king and an impressive illustration. So large an army as the Government has now on foot was never before known without a soldier in it but who had taken his place there of his own free choice. But more than this : there are many single regiments whose members, one and another, possess full practical knowledge of all the arts, sciences, professions, and what- ever else, whether useful or elegant, is known in the world ; and there is scarcely one from which there could not be selected a President, a Cabi- net, a Congress, and perhaps a court, abundantly competent to administer the Government itself. Nor do I say this is not true also in the army of our late friends, now adversaries in this contest; but if it is, so much better the reason why the Government which has conferred such benefits on both them and us should not be broken up. Whoever, in any section, proposes to abandon such a Government, would do well to consider in deference to what principle it is that he does it ; what better he is likely to get in its stead ; whether the substitute will give, or be intended to give so much of good to the people ? There are some for eshado wings on thig subject. Our adversaries have adopted some declarations of independence^ in which, unlike the good old one, penned by Jefferson, they omit the words, "all men are created equal." Why? They have adopted a tem- porary national constitution, in the preamble of which, unlike our goo' old one, signed by Washington, they omit " We, the People," and an * atitute, "We, the deputies of the sovereign and independent States. Why? Why this deliberate pressing out of view the rights of men anc the authority of the people? This is essentially a people's contest. On the side of the Union it is & struggle for maintaining in the world that form and substance of Govern- ment whose leading object is to elevate the condition of men; to lift arti- ficial weights from all shoulders ; to clear the paths of laudable pursuit* for all ; to afford all an unfettered start and a fair chance in the race of life. Yielding to partial and temporary departures, from necessity, this is the leading object of the Government for whose existence we contend. State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 197 lam most happy to believe that the plain people understand and appre- ciate this. It is worthy of note, that while in this the Government's hour of trial, large numbers of those in the army and navy who have been favored with the offices have resigned and proved false to the hand which had pampered them, not one common soldier or common sailor is knowu to have deserted his flag. Great honor is due to those officers who remained true, despite the ex- ample of their treacherous associates ; but the greatest honor, and most important fact of all, is the unanimous firmness of the common soldiers and common sailors. To the last man, so far as known, they have suc- cessfully resisted the traitorous efforts of those whose commands but an hour before they obeyed as absolute law. This is the patriotic instinct of plain people. They understand, without an argument, that the destroy- ing the Government which was made by Washington means no good to them. Our popular Government has often been called an experiment. Two points in it our people have already settled — the successful establishing and the successful administering of it. One still remains — its successful maintenance against a formidable internal attempt to overthrow it. It is now for them to demonstrate to the world that those who can fairly carry an election can also suppress a rebellion; that ballots are the rightful aud peaceful successors of bullets; and that when ballots have fairly and con- stitutionally decided, there can be no successful appeal back to bullets • that there can be no successful appeal, except to ballots themselves, at succeeding elections. Such will be a great lesson of peace ; teaching men that what they cannot take by an election, neither can they take by a war ; teaching all the folly of being the beginners of a war. Lest there be some uneasiness in the minds of candid men as to what is to be the course of the Government towards the Southern States after the rebellion shall have been suppressed, the Executive deems it propor to say, it will be his purpose then, as ever, to be guided by the Cons'ftu- tion and the laws ; and that he probably will have no different under' standing of the powers and duties of the Federal Government relatively to the rights of the States and the people under the Constitution than that expressed in the Inaugural Address. He desires to preserve the Government, that it may be administered foi all, as it was administered by the men who made it. Loyal citizens every- where have the right to claim this of their Government,, and the Govern- ment has no right to withhold or neglect it. It is not perceived that in giving it there is any coercion, any conquest, or any subjugation, in any just sense of those terms. The Constitution provides, and all the States have accepted the provi- sion, that " the United Stat-es shall guarantee to every State in this Uniou a republican form of Government." But if a State may lawfully go out pf the Ubpb, having done so. it niay also discard the republican foraj of 198 The Life, Public Services, and. Government ; so that to prevent its going out is an indispensable meant to the end of maintaining the guarantee mentioned ; and when an end is lawful and obligatory, the indispensable means to it are also lawful and obligatory. It was with the deepest regret that the Executive found the duty of em- ploying the war power in defence of the Government forced upon him He could but perform this duty or surrender the existence of the Govern ment. No compromise by public servants could in this case ^e a cim- j not that compromises are not often proper, but that no popuiar Govern ! ment can long survive a marked precedent that those who carry an elec- tion can only save the Government from immediate destruction by giving up the main point upon which the people gave the election. The people themselves, and not their servants, can safely reverse their own deliberate decisions. As a private citizen the Executive could not have consented that these institutions shall perish; much less could he, in betrayal of so vast and no sacred a trust as these free people have confided to him. He felt that he had no moral right to shrink, or even to count the chances of his own life, in what might follow. In full view of his great responsibility he has so far done what he has deemed his duty. You will now, according to your own judgment, perform yours. He sincerely hopes that your views and your action may so accord with his as to assure all faithful oitizens who have been disturbed in their rights of a certain and speedy restoration to them, under the Constitution and the laws. And having thus chosen our course, without guile and with pure pur- pose, let us renew our trust in God, and go forward without fear and with manly hearts. Abraham Lincoln. July 4, 1861. Congress imitated the President in confining its attention exclusively to the rebellion and the means for its suppres- ! si on. Th(*#ealous and enthusiastic loyalty of the people met a prompt response from their representatives. The Judiciary Committee in the House was instructed on the 8th to prepare a "bill to confiscate the property of rebels against the Government ; and on the 9th, a resolution was adopted (ayes ninety-eight, noes fifty-five), declaring it to be " no part of the duty of the soldiers of the United States to capture and return fugitive slaves." A bill was promptly introduced to declare valid all the acts of the President for the suppression of the rebellion previous to the meeting of Congress, and it brought on a general discussion of the principles involved and the interests State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 199 concerned in the contest. There were a few in both Houses, with John C. Breckinridge, of Kentucky, at their head, who still insisted that any resort by the Govern- ment to the use of the war power against the rebels was unconstitutional, and could only end in the destruction of the Union ; but the general sentiment of both Houses fully sustained the President in the steps he had taken. The subject of slavery was introduced into the discussion commenced by Senator Powell, of Kentucky, who pro- posed on the 18th to amend the Army Bill by adding a section that no part of the army should be employed " in subjecting or holding as a conquered province any sov- ereign State now or lately one of the United States, or in abolishing or interfering with African slavery in any of the States." The debate which ensued elicited the senti ments of members on this subject. Mr. Sherman, of Ohio, concurred in the sentiment that the war was " not to be waged for the purpose of subjugating any State or freeing any slave, or to interfere with the social or domestic insti- tutions of any State or any people; it was to preserve this Union, to maintain the Constitution as it is in all its clauses, in all its guarantees, without change or limita- tion." Mr. Dixon, of Connecticut, assented to this, but also declared that if the South should protract the war, and "it should turn out that either this Government or slavery must be destroyed, then the people of the North — the Conservative people of the North — would say, rather than let the Government perish, let slavery perish." Mr. Lane, of Kansas, did not believe that slavery could urvive in any State the march of the Union armies. These seemed to be the sentiments of both branches of Congress. The amendment was rejected, and bills were passed ratifying the acts of the President, authorizing him to accept the services of half a million of volunteers, and placing live hundred millions of dollars at the dispo- sal of the Government for the prosecution of the war. On the 15th of July, Mr. McClernand, a democrat from Illinois, offered a resolution pledging the House to vote any amount of money and any number of men necessary 200 The Life, Public Services, and to suppress the rebellion, and restore the authority of the Government, which was adopted, with but five opposing votes ; and on the 22d of July, Mr. Crittenden, of Ken- tucky, offered the following resolution, defining the objects of the war : — Resolved by the House of Representatives of the Congress of the United States, That the present deplorable civil war has been forced upon the country by the disunionists of the Southern States, now in arms against the Constitutional Government, and in arms around the Capital; that in this national emergency, Congress, banishing all feelings of mere passioi? or resentment, will recollect only its duty to the whole country ; that this war is not waged on their part in any spirit of oppression, or for any pur- pose of conquest or subjugation, or purpose of overthrowing or interfering with the rights or established institutions of those States, but to defend and maintain the supremacy of the Constitution, and to preserve the Union with all the dignity, equality, and rights of the several States un- impaired; and that as soon as these objects are accomplished the war ought to cease. This resolution was adopted, with but two dissenting votes. It was accepted by the whole country as defining the objects and limiting the continuance of the war, and was regarded with special favor by the loyal citizens of the Border States, whose sensitiveness on the subject of slavery had been skilfully and zealously played upon by the agents and allies of the rebel confederacy. The war was universally represented by these men as waged for the destruction of slavery, and as aiming, not at the pres- ervation of the Union, but the emancipation of the slaves ; and there was great danger that these appeals to the pride, the interest, and the prejudices of the Border Slave States i might bring them to join their fortunes to those of tht\ rebellion. The passage of this resolution, with so great a degree of unanimity, had a very soothing effect upon the apprehensions of these States, and contributed largely to strengthen the Government in its contest with the rebellion. The sentiments of Congress on this matter, as well as on the general subject of the war, were still further developed In the debates which followed the introduction to the House of a bill passed by the Senate to " confiscate property used for insurrectionary purposes/ * It was referred to State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 201 the Judiciary Committee, and reported "back with an amend- ment, providing that whenever any slave should be required or permitted by his master to take up arms, or be employed in any fort, dock-yard, or in any military service in aid of the rebeHion, he should become entitled to his freedom. Mr. Wickliffe and Mr. Burnett, of Ken- tucky, at once contested the passage of the bill, on the ground that the Government had no right to interfere in any way with the relation existing between a master and nis slave ; and they were answered by the Northern mem- bers with the argument that the Government certainly had a right to confiscate property of any kind employed in the rebellion, and that there was no more reason for protecting slavery against the consequences of exercising this right, than for shielding any other interest that might be thus involved. The advocates of the bill denied that it was the intention of the law to emancipate the slaves, or that it would bear any such construction in the courts of justice. They repudiated the idea that men in arms against the Union and Constitution could claim the pro tection of the Constitution, and thus derive from that instrument increased ability to secure its destruction ; but they based their proposed confiscation of slave property solely on the ground that it was a necessary means to the prosecution of the war, and rot in any sense the object for which the war was waged After a protracted debate, • at section of the bill which related to this subject was passed— ayes sixty, noes forty-eight — in the following form • — Tha'j whenever, hereafter, during the present insurrection against th« Government of the United States, any person claimed to be held to labor or service under the laws of any State, shall be required or permitted by the person to whom such labor or service is claimed to be due, or by the lawful agent of such person, to take up arms against the United States* or shall be required or permitted by the person to whom such service 01 labor is claimed to be due, or his lawful agent, to work or to be employed in or upon any fort, navy-yard, dock, armory, ship, or intrenchment, or iu any military or naval service whatever, against the Government and lawful authority of the United States, then, and in every such case, th# person to whom such service is claimed to be due, shall forfeit his claim 202 The Life, Public Services, and to such labor, any law of the State, or of the United States, to the con* trary notwithstanding; and whenever thereafter the person claiming such (abor or service shall seek to enforce his claim, it shall be a full and suffi- cient answer to such claim that the person whose service or labor is claimed, had been employed in hostile service against the Government of the United States contrary to the provisions of this act. Congress closed its extra session on the 6th of Augns; It had taken the most vigorous and effective measures i'o the suppression of the rebellion, having clothed the Pres ident with even greater power than he had asked for in the prosecution of the war, and avoided with just fidelty all points which could divide and weaken the loyal sen- timent of the country. The people responded with hearty applause to the patriotic action of their representatives. The universal temper of the country was one of buoyancy and hope. Throughout the early part of the summer the rebels had been steadily pushing troops through Virginia to the borders of the Potomac, menacing the National Cap- ital with capture, until in the latter part of June they had an army of not far from thirty-five thousand men, holding a strong position along the Bull Run Creek — its left posted at Winchester, and its right resting at Manassas. It was determined to attack this force and drive it from the vicin- ity of Washington, and the general belief of the country was that this would substantially end the war. The National army, numbering about thirty thousand men, moved from the Potomac, on the 16th of July, under General McDowell, and the main attack was made on the 21st. It resulted in the defeat, with a loss of four hundred and eighty killed and one thousand wounded, of our forces, and their falling back, in the utmost disorder and confusion, upon Washington. Our army was completely routed, and if the rebel forces had known the extent of their success, and had been in condition to avail them selves of it with vigor and energy, the Capital would easily have fallen into their hands. The result of this battle took the whole country by sur- prise. The most sanguine expectations of a prompt and decisive victory had been universally entertained ; and State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 203 die actual issue first revealed to the people the prospect of a long and bloody war. But the public heart was not in the least discouraged. On the contrary, the effect was to rouse still higher the courage and determination of the people. ISTo one dreamed for an instant of submission. The most vigorous efforts were made to reorganize the army, to increase its numbers by volunteering, and to establish a footing for National troops at various points along the rebel coast. On the 28th of August Fort Hat- teras was surrendered to the National forces, and on the 81st of October Port Royal, on the coast of South Caro- lina, fell into possession of the United States. On the 3d of December Ship Island, lying between Mobile and New Orleans, was occupied. Preparations were also made for an expedition against New Orleans, and by a series of combined movements the rebel" forces were driven out of Western Virginia, Kentucky, and Missouri — States in which the population had from the beginning of the con- test been divided in sentiment and action. On the 31st of October General Scott, finding himself unable, in consequence of illness and advancing age, to take the field or discharge the duties imposed by the enlarging contest, resigned his position as commander of the army, in the following letter to the Secretary of War : — Head-Quarters of the Army, I Washington, October 81, !86L f The Hon. S. Oameeon, Secretary of War : — Sir: — For more than three years I have been nnable, from a hurt, v-i mount a horse, or to walk more than a few paces at a time, and that with mach pain. Other and new infirmities — dropsy and vertigo — admonish me tLat repose of mind and body, with the appliances of surgery and medicine, are necessary to add a little more to a life already protracted mnch beyond the usual span of man. It is under such circumstances — made doubly painful by the unnatural and unjust rebellion now raging in the Southern States of our (so late) proa porous and happy Union — that I am compelled to request that my name may be placed on the list of array officers retired from active service. As this request is founded on an absolute right, granted by a recent act of Congress, I am entirely at liberty to say it is with deep regret that I withdraw myself, in these momentous times, from the orders of a Presi- dent who has treated me with distinguished kindness and courtesy, whom 201 The Life, Public Services, and [ know, upon much personal intercourse, to be patriotic, without sectional oartialities or prejudices ; to be highly conscientious in the performance of every duty, and of unrivalled activity and perseverance. And to you, Mr. Secretary, whom I now officially address for the last time, I beg to acknowledge my many obligations, for the uniform high consideration I have received at your hands; and have the honor to •emain, sir, with high respect, your obedient servant, WlNFIELD SOOTT. President Lincoln waited npon General Scott at his residence, accompanied by his Cabinet, and made personal expression to him of the deep regret which he, in common with the whole country, felt in parting with a public ser- vant so venerable in years and so illustrious for the services he had rendered. He also issued the following order : — On the first day of November, 1861, upon his own application to the President of the United States, Brevet Lieutenant-General Winfield Scott is ordered to be placed, and hereby is placed, upon the list of retired officers of the army of the United States, without reduction of his current pay, subsistence, or allowances. The American people will hear with sadness and deep emotion that General Scott has withdrawn from the active control of the array, while the President and unanimous Cabinet express their own and the Nation'* sympathy in his personal affliction, and their profound sense of the im- portant public services rendered by him to his country during his lony and brilliant career, among which will ever be gratefully distinguished hid faithful devotion to the Constitution, the Union, and the Flag, when assailed by parricidal rebellion. Abkaham Lincoln. The command of the army then devolved by appoint i.ent upon Major- General McClellan, who had been re called from Western Virginia after the battle of Bull Hun, and had devoted himself to the task of recruiting the army in front of Washington, and preparing it for the defence of the Capital, and for a fresh advance upon the forces of the rebellion. It cannot have escaped attention that thus far, in its policy concerning the war, the Government had been very greatly influenced by a desire to prevent the Border Slave States from joining the rebel confederacy. Their accession would have added immensely to the forces of the rebel- lion, and would have increased very greatly the labor and State Papers of Auk ah am Llncoln. 205 difficulty of its suppression. The Administration and Congress had, therefore, avoided, so far as possible, any measures in regard to slavery which could needlessly ex cite the hostile prejudices of the people of the Border States. The Confiscation Act affected only those slaves who should be " required or permitted" by their masters to render service to the rebel cause. It did not in any respect change the condition of any others. The Presi- dent, in the Executive Department, acted upon the sam principle. The question first arose in Virginia, simult, neously at Fortress Monroe, and in the western part oi the State. On the 26th of May, General McClellan issued an address to the people of the district under his com - mand, in which he said to them, " Understand one thing clearly: not only will we abstain from all interference with your slaves, but we will, on the contrary, with an iron hand crush any attempt at insurrection on their part." On the 27th of May, General Butler, in command at Fortress Monroe, wrote to the Secretary of War that he was greatly embarrassed by the number of slaves that were coming in from the surrounding country and seeking protection within the lines of his camp. lie had deter- mined to regard them as contraband of war, and to em- ploy their labor at a fair compensation, against which should be charged the expense of their support — tht> relative value to be adjusted afterwards. The Secretary of W ar, in a letter dated May 30th, expressed the approval by the Government of the course adopted by Genera] Butler, and directed him, on the one hand, to "permit nc interference by the persons under his command with the relations of persons held to service under the laws ol any State," and on the other, to "refrain from surren- dering to alleged masters any such persons who might come within his lines." On the 8th of August, after the passage of the Confisca- tion Act by Congress, the Secretary of War again wrote to General Butler, setting forth somewhat more fully the views of the President and the Administration upon this subject, as follows : — 206 The Life, Public Services, and It is the desire of the President that all existing rights in aU the State* he fully respected and maintained. The war now prosecuted on the part of the Federal Government is a war for the Union, and fur thy preserva- tion of all constitutional rig) its of States and the citizens of the States in the Union. Hence no question can arise as to fugitives from service within the States and Territories in which the authority of the Union is fully acknowledged. The ordinary forms of judicial proceeding, which must be respected by military and civil authorities alike, will suffice for the enforcement of all legal claims. But in States wholly or partially under insurrectionary control, where the laws of the United States are so far opposed and resisted that they cannot be effectually enforced, it is obvi- ous that rights dependent ou the execution of those laws must temporarily fail ; and it is equally obvious that rights dependent on the laws of the States within which military operations are conducted must be necessarily subordinated to the military exigencies created by the insurrection, if not wholly forfeited by the treasonable conduct of parties claiming them. To this general rule rights to services can form no exception. The act of Congress approved August 6th, 1861, declares that if per- sons held to service shall be employed in hostility to the United States, the right to their services shall be forfeited, and such persons shall be discharged therefrom. It follows of necessity that no claim can be recog- nized by the military authorities of the Union to the services of such per sons when fugitives. A more difficult question is presented in respect to persons escaping from the service of loyal masters. It is quite apparent that the laws of the State, under which only the services of such fugitives can be claimed, must needs be wholly, or almost wholly suspended, as to remedies, by the insurrection and the military measures necessitated by it ; and it is equally apparent that the substitution of military for judicial measures, for the enforcement of such claims, must be attended by great inconveniences, embarrassments, and injuries. Under these circumstances, it seems quite clear that the substantia! rights of loyal masters will be best protected by receiving such fugitives, is well as fugitives from disloyal masters, into the services of the United ';ites, and employing them under such organizations and in such occupa- ■ =ns as circumstances may suggest or require. Of course a record should be kept, showing the name and description of the fugitives, the name and the character, as loyal or disloyal, of the master, and such facts as may be necessary to a correct understanding of the circumstances of each case, after tranquillity shall have been restored Upon the return of peace, Congress will doubtless properly provide for all the persons thus received into the service of the Union, and for just compensation to loyal masters. In this way only, it would seem, can the duty and safety of the Govern inent, and the just rights of all, be fully reconciled and harmonized. You will therefore consider yourself as instructed to govern your future •action, in respect to fugitive-* ice. by the principles herein stated* '' \4 State Papers jf Abraham Lincoln, 207 ancV .vili »eport from time to time, and at least twice in each month, jour action in the premises to this Department. Yon will, however, neither authorize nor permit any interference, by the troops under your command, with the servants of peaceful citizens, in house or field, nor will you, in any way, encourage such servants to leave the lawful service of the?r masters ; nor will you, except in cases where the public safety may seem to require it, prevent the voluntary return of any fugitive to the service from which he may have escaped. The same policy was adopted in every part of the coun- ty, All interference with the internal institutions of any State was expressly forbidden ; but the Government would avail itself of the services of a portion of the slaves, taking care fully to provide for compensation to loyal masters. On the 16th of August, Hon. C. B. Smith, Secretary of the Interior, in a speech made at Providence, Rhode Island, took occasion to declare the policy of the Administration upon this subject. Its theory, said he, is, that "the States are sovereign within their spheres; the Government of the United States has no more right to interfere with the institution of slavery in South Carolina than it has to interfere with the peculiar institution of Rhode Island, whose benefits I have enjoyed." On the 31st of August, General Fremont, commandiDg the Western Department, which embraced Missouri and a part of Kentucky, issued an order "extending and de- claring established martial law throughout the State of Missouri," and declaring that "the property, real am; personal, of all persons in the State of Missouri, wha shall take up arms against the United States, or who shall be directly proven to have taken an active part with their enemies in the field, is declared to be confiscated to the public use, and their slaves, if any they have, are hereby declared free men." The President regarded this order as transcending the authority vested in him by the Act of Congress, and wrote to General Fremont, calling his at* tv-ntion to this point, and requesting him to modify hin proclamation so as to make it conform to the law. Gen- eral Fremont, desiring to throw off from himself the responsibility of changing his action, cjesired an ex 208 The Life, Public Services, and plicit order — whereupon the President thus addressed him : — Washington, D. C, September 11, 1861, Major-General John 0. Fremont : — Sir: — Yours of the 8th, in answer to mine of the 2d instant, was just received. Assured that you upon the ground could better judge of tho necessities of your position than I could at this distance, on seeing your proclamation of August 30, I perceived no general objection to it ; tho p articular clause, however, in relation to the confiscation of property and the liberation of slaves, appeared to me to be objectionable in its non- conformity to the Act of Congress, passed the Cth of last August, upon the same subjects, and hence I wrote you expressing my wish that that clause should be modified accordingly. Your answer, just received, ex- presses the preference on your part that I should make an open order for the modification, which I very cheerfully do. It is therefore ordered that the said clause of said proclamation be so modified, held, and construed, as to conform with, and not to transcend, the provisions on the same sub- ject contained in the act of Congress entitled "An Act to confiscate prop- erty used for insurrectionary purposes," approved August 6, 1861, and the said act be published at length with this order. Your obedient servant, A. Lincoln. These views of the Government were still farther en- forced in a letter from the Secretary of War to General T. W. Sherman, who commanded the expedition to Port Royal, and in orders issued by General Dix in Virginia, on the 17th of November, and by General Halleck, who succeeded General Fremont in the Western Department, prohibiting fugitive slaves from being received within ihe lines of the army. During all this time strenuous efforts were made in various quarters to induce the Presi- dent to depart from this policy, and not only to proclaim a general emancipation of all the slaves, but to put anna in their hands, and employ them in the field against the rebels. But they were ineffectual. The President ad- hered firmly and steadily to the policy which the then existing circumstances of the country, in his judgment, rendered wise and necessary ; and he was sustained in this action by the public sentiment of the loyal States, and by the great body of the people in the Slave States along the border. The course which he pursued at that time contributed largely, beyond doubt, to strengthen State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 209 the cause of the Union in those Border States, and espe- cially to withdraw Tennessee from her hastily formed connection with the rebel Confederacy. In the early part of November an incident occurred which threatened for a time to involve the country in open war with England. On the 7th of that month the British mail steamer Trent left Havana for St. Thomas, having on board Messrs. J. M. Mason and John SLidelL, on their way as commissioners from the Confederate States to England and Prance. On the 8th the Trent wu hailed from the United States frigate San Jacinto, Captain Wilkes, and brought- to by a shot across her bows. Two officers and about twenty armed men from the latter then went on board the Trent, searched her, and took from her by force, and against the protest of the British offi- cers, the two rebel commissioners, with Messrs. Eustis and McFarland, their Secretaries, who were brought to the United States and lodged in Fort Warren, the Trent being released and proceeding on her way. The most intense excitement pervaded the country when news of this affair was received. The feeling was one of admira- tion at the boldness of Captain Wilkes, and of exultation at the capture of the rebel emissaries. In England the most intense and passionate resentment took possession of the public mind. The demand for instant redress was universal, and, in obedience to it, the Government at once ordered troops to Canada and the outfit of vessels of war. Our Government met the matter with prompt and self- possessed decision. On the 30th of November Mr. Sew ard wrote to Mr. Adams a general statement of the facts of the case, accompanied by the assurance that "in the capture of Messrs. Mason and Slidell Captain Wilkes had acted without any instructions from the Government," and that our Government was prepared to discuss the matter in a perfectly fair and friendly spirit as soon as the ground taken by the British Government should be made known. Earl Russell, under the same date, wrote to J ord Lyons, rehearsing the facts of the case, and say U 210 The Life, Public Services, and ing that the British Government was " willing to believe that the naval officer who committed the aggression was not acting in compliance with any authority from his Government," because the Government of the United States "must be fully aware that the British Government could not allow such an affront to the national honor to pass without frll reparation." Earl Russell trusted, therefore, that v hen the matter should be brought under its notice the Vnited States Government would, " of it a own accord, offer to the British Government such redress as alone could satisfy the British nation, namely, the lib- eration of the four gentlemen and their delivery to the British minister, that they may again be placed under British protection, and a suitable apology for the aggres- sion which has been committed." In a subsequent note Lord Lyons was instructed to wait seven days after it3 delivery for a reply to this demand, and in case no an- swer, or any other answer than a compliance with its terms, should be given by the expiration of that time, ho was to leave Washington with the archives of the lega- tion, and repair immediately to London. On the 26th of December the Secretary of State, by di^ rection of the President, sent a reply to this dispatch, in which the whole question was discussed at length, and with conspicuous ability. The Government decided that the detention of the vessel, and the removal from her of the emissaries of the rebel confederacy, was justifiable by the laws of war and the practice and precedents of the British Government ; but that in assuming to decide upon e liability of these persons to capture for himself, in- . uad of sending them before a legal tribunal where a regular trial could be had, Captain Wilkes had departed from the rule of international law uniformly asserted by the American Government, and forming part of its most cherished policy. The Government decided, therefore, that the four persons in question would be "cheerfully liberated." This decision, sustained by the reasoning advanced in its support, commanded the immediate and universal acquiescence of the American people ; while in State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 211 England it was received with hearty applause by the friends of this country, especially as it silenced the clam- ors and disappointed the hostile hopes of its enemies. The French Government had joined that of England in its representations upon this subject, and the decision of our Government was received there with equal satisfac- tion. The effect of the incident, under the just and judi- cious course adopted by the Administration, was emi- nently favorable to the United States — increasing the general respect for its adherence to sound principles of public law, and silencing effectually the slander that its Government was too weak to disappoint or thwart a pop- ular clamor. One of the immediate fruits of the discus- sion was the prompt rejection of all demands for recog- nizing the independence of the Confederate Btates. 212 The Life, Public Services, and CHAPTER VIII. TfTB REGULAR SESSION OP CONGRESS, DECEMBER, 1861.— TH1 MESSAGE.— DEBATES, ETC. Meeting of Congress. — President's Message.— Disposition of Co>.- GREss. — Slavery in Territories and District of Colombia.— -Pro 4 posed Aid to Emancipation by Slave States. — The Debate in Congress. — The President and General Hunter. — The Border State Representatives. — TnE Border State Reply. — Tns Finances. — The Confiscation Bill. — The President's Action and Opinions. — The President's Message. — Message in Regard to Mr. Cameron. — The President and ms Cabinet. — Close of the Session of Con- gress. — The President's Letter to Mr. Greeley. — The President *nd the Chicago Convention. — Proclamation of Emancipation. Congress met in regular session (the second of the Thirty- seventh Congress) on the 2d of December, 1861. On the next day the President sent in his Annual Message, as follows : — Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives : In the midst of unprecedented political troubles, we have cause of great gratitude to God for unusual good health and most abundant harvests. You will not be surprised to learn that, in the peculiar exigencies of the times, our intercourse with foreign nations has been attended with profound solicitude, chiefly turning upon our own domestic affairs. A disloyal portion of the American people have, during the whole year, been engaged in an attempt to divide and destroy the Union. A nation whi:l endures factious domestic division is exposed to disrespect abroad and one party, if not both, is sure, sooner or later, to invoke foreign inter- vention. Nations thus tempted to interfere are not always able to resist the counsels of seeming expediency and ungenerous ambition, although measures adopted under such influences seldon fail to be unfortunate and injurious to those adopting them. The disloyal citizens of the United States who have offered the ruin of our country, in return for the aid and comfort which they have invoked abroad, have received less patronage and encouragement than they prob- ably expected. If it were just to suppose, as the insurgents have seemed State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 213 to assume, that foreign nations, in this case, discarding all moral, social, and treaty obligations, would act solely and selfishly for the most speedy restoration of commerce, including especially the acquisition of cotton, those nations appear, as yet, not to have seen their way to their object more directly, or clearly, through the destruction, than through the pres- ervation, of the Union. If we could dare to believe that foreign nations ire actuated by no higher principle than this, I am quite sure a sound ar- uneut could be made to show them that they can reach their aim more lily and easily by aiding to crush this rebellion, than by giving en touragement to it. The principal lever relied on by the insurgents for exciting foreign nations to hostility against us, as already intimated, is the embarrassment of commerce. Those nations, however, not improbably, saw from the first, that it was the Union which made, as well our foreign as our do- mestic commerce. They can scarcely have failed to perceive that the effort for disunion produced the existing difficulty ; and that one strong nation promises mote durable peace, and a more extensive, valuable, and reliable commerce, than can the same nation broken into hostile fragments. It is not my purpose to review our discussions with foreign states; because whatever might bo their wishes or dispositions, the integrity of our country and the stability of our Government mainly depend, not upon them, but on the loyalty, virtue, patriotism, and intelligence of the Amer- ican people. The correspondence itself, with the usual reservations, is herewith submitted. I venture to hope it will appear that we have practised prudence and liberality towards foreign powers, averting causes of irritation ; and with firmness maintaining our own rights and honor. Since, however, it is apparent that here, as in every other state, foreign dangers necessarily attend domestic difficulties, I recommend that adequate and ample measures be adopted for maintaining the public defences on . try side. "While, under this general recommendation, provision for defend- ig our sea-coast line readily occurs to the mind, I also, in the same con- nection, ask the attention of Congress to our great lakes and rivers. It is Velieved that some fortifications and depots of arms and munitions, with harbor and navigation improvements, all at well-selected points upon these, would be of great importance to the national defence and preserva- tion. I ask attention to the views of the Secretary of War, expressed in his report, upon the same general subject. I deem it of importance that the loyal regions of East Tennessee and Western North Carolina should be connected with Kentucky and other faithful parts of the Union by railroad. I therefore recommend, as a military measure, that Congress provide for the construction of such road as speedily as possible. Kentucky will no doubt co-operate, and through her Legislature make $# rm&t pidmom selection of $ lin©, Th» BPrtfc§rs termlnm mm 214 The Life, Public Services, and connect with some existing railroad, and whether the route shall be from Lexington or Nicholasville to the Cumberland Gap, or from Lebanon to the Tennesee line, In the direction of Knoxville, or on some still different line, can easily be determined. Kentucky and the General Government co-operating, the work can be completed in a very short time, and when done It will be not only of vast present usefulness, but also a valuable permanent improvement worth its cost in all the future. Some treaties, designed chiefly for the interests of commerce, and having no grave political importance, have been negotiated, and will be submitted to the Senate for their consideration. Although we have foiled to induce some of the commercial Powers to adopt a desirable melioration of the rigor of maritime war, we have removed all obstructions from the way of this} humane reform, except such as are merely of temporary and accidental occurrence. I invite your attention to the correspondence between her Britannic Majesty's Minister, accredited to this Government, and the Secretary of State, relative to the detention of the British ship Perthshire in June last by the United States steamer Massachusetts, for a supposed breach of the blockade. As this detention was occasioned by an obvious misapprehen- sion of the facts, and as justice requires that we should commit no belliger- ent act not founded in strict right as sanctioned by public law, I recom- mend that an appropriation be made to satisfy the reasonable demand of the owners of the vessel for her detention. I repeat the recommendation of my predecessor in his annual message to Congress in December last in regard to the disposition of the surplus which will probably remain after satisfying the claims of American citizens against China, pursuant to the awards of the commissioners under the act of the 3d of March, 1859. If, however, it should not be deemed advisable to carry that recom- mendation into effect, I would suggest that authority be given for invest- ing the principal over the proceeds of the surplus referred to in good se- curities, with a view to the satisfaction of such other just claim of onr citizens against China as are not unlikely to arise hereafter in the course of our extensive trade with that empire. By the act of the 5th of August last, Congress authorized the President to instruct the commanders of suitable vessels to defend themselves against and to capture pirates. This authority has been exercised in a single in- stance only. For the more effectual protection of our extensive and valuable com- merce in the Eastern seas especially, it seems to me that it would also bti advisable to authorize the commanders of sailing-vessels to recapture any prizes which pirates may make of the United States vessels and their car- goes, and the Consular Courts established by lav/ in Eastern countries to adjudicate the cases in the event that this should not be objected to by the local authorities. State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 215 If any good reason exists why we should persevere longer in wilh * aiding our recognition of the independence and sovereignty of Hayii a ad Liberia, I am unable to discern it. Unwilling, however, to inaugurate » novel policy in regard to them without the approbation of Congress, 1 sibinit to. your consideration the expediency of an appropriation for naii.taining a Charge d" 1 Affaires near each of those new states. It do«a not admit of doubt that important commercial advantages might be secured by favorable treaties with them. The operations of the Treasury during the period which has elapsed *ince your adjournment have been conducted with signal success. The itriotism of the people has placed at the disposal of the Government the urge means demanded by the public exigencies. Much of the national k>an has been taken by citizens of the industrial classes, whose confidence in their country's faith, and zeal for their country's deliverance froit its present peril, have induced them to contribute to the support of the Government the whole of their limited acquisitions. This fact imposes peculiar obligations to economy in disbursement and energy in action. The revenue from all sources, including loans for the fiuancial year ending on the 30th of June, 1861, was $86,835,900 27; and the expenditures for the same period, including payments on account of the public debt, were $84,578,034 47; leaving a balance in the treasury, on the 1st of July, of $2,257,065 80 for the first quarter of the financial year ending on Sep- tember 30, 1861. The receipts from all sources, including the balance of July 1, were $102,532,509 27, and the expenses $98,239,733 09; leaving * balance, on the 1st of October, 1861- of $4,292,776 18. Estimates for tho remaining three-quarters of the year and for the financial year of 1863, together with his views of the ways and means for meeting the demands contemplated by them, will be submitted to Congress by the Secretary of the Treasury. It is gratifying to know that the expenses made necessary by the rebellion are not beyond the resources of the loyal people, and to believe that the same patriotism which has thus far sustained the Government will continue to sustain it till peace and union shall again bless the land. I respectfully refer to the report of the 'ecretary of War for information respecting the numerical strength of the ay, and for recommendations having in view an increase of its efficiency, ai the well-being of the various brauches of the service intrusted ta his care. It is gratifying to know that the patriotism of the people has proved equal to the occasion, and that the number of troops tendered greatly exceed the force which Congress authorized me to call into the field. I refer with pleasure to those portions of his report which make allusion to the creditable degree of discipline already attained by our troops, and to the excellent sanitary condition of the entire army. The recornmendation of the Secretary for an organization of the militia upon a uniform basis is a subject of vital importance to the future safety of the country, and in commended to the serious attention of Congress. The large addition to 2IG The Life, Public Services, and tne regular army, in connection with the defection that has so considera biy diminished the number of its officers, give* peculiar importance to his recommendation for increasing the corps of cadets to the greatest capacity of the Military Academy. By mere omission, I presume, Congress has failed to provide chaplain* for the hospitals occupied by the volunteers. This subject was brought to my notice, and I was induced to draw up the form of a letter, one ^opy of which, properly addressed, has been delivered to each of the person, and at the dates respectively named and stated in a schedule, containing, also, the form of the letter marked A, and herewith transmitted. Those gentlemen, I understand, entered upon the duties designated at the times respectively stated in the schedule, and have labored faithfully therein ever since. I therefore recommend that they be compensated at the same rate as chaplains in the army. I further suggest that general provision be made for chaplains to serve at hospitals, as well as with regiments. The report of the Secretary of the Navy presents, in detail, the opera tions of that branch of the service, the activity and energy which have characterized its administration, and the results of measures to increase its efficiency and power. Such have been the additions, by construction and purchase, that it may almost be said a navy has been created and brought into service since our difficulties commenced. Besides blockading our extensive coast, squadrons larger than ever before assembled under our flag have been put afloat, and performed deeds which have increased our naval renown. I would invite special attention to the recommendation of the Secretary for a more perfect organization of the navy, by introducing additional grades in the service. The present organization is defective and unsatisfactory, and the sug- gestions submitted by the department will, it is believed, if adopted, ob- nate the difficulties alluded to, promote harmony, and increase the effi- ciency of the navy. There are three vacancies on the bench of the Supreme Court — two by the decease of Justices Daniel and McLean, and one by the resignation of Justice Campbell. I have so far forborne making nominations to fill these vacancies for reasons which I will now state. Two of the outgoing judges resided within the States now overrun by revolt ; so that if successors were appointed in the same localities, they could not now serve upon their circuits; and many of the most competent men there probably would not take the personal hazard of accepting to serve, even here, upon the su- preme bench. I have been unwilling to throw all the appointments northward, thus disabling myself from doing justice to the South on the return of peace ; although I may remark, that to transfer to the North one which has heretofore been in the South, would not, with reference to territory and population, be unjust. During the long and brilliant judicial career of Judge McLean, hit cir- State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 217 cnit grew into an empire — altogether too large for any one judge to give the courts therein more than a nominal attendance — rising in population from one million four hundred and seventy thousand and eighteen, in 1830, to six million one hundred and fifty-one thousand four hundred and five, in 1860. Besides this, the country generally has outgrown our present judicial •ystena. If uniformity was at all intended, the system requires that all the States shall be accommodated with Circuit Courts, attended by su- preme judges, while, in fact, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Kansas, Florida, Texas, California, and Oregon, have never had any such courts. Nor can this well be remedied without a change of the system ; because the add- ing of judges to the Supreme Court, enough for the accommodation of all parts of the country with Circuit Courts, would create a court altogether too numerous for a judicial body of any sort. And the evil, if it be one, will increase as new States come into the Union. Circuit Courts are use- ful, or they are not useful. If useful, no State should be denied them ; if not useful, no State should have them. Let them be provided for all, or abolished as to all. Three modifications occur to me, either of which, I think, would be an improvement upon our present system. Let the Supreme Court be of convenient number in every event. Then, first, let the whole country be divided into circuits of convenient size, the supreme judges to serve in a number of them corresponding to thev own number, and independent circuit judges be provided for all the rest. Or, secondly, let the supreme judges be relieved from circuit duties, and circuit judges provided f r all the circuits. Or, thirdly, dispense wUh circuit courts altogether, leaving the judicial functions wholly to the c?atrict courts and an independent Supreme Court. I respectfully recommend to the consideration of Congress the present condition of the statute laws, with the hope that Congress will be able to find an easy remedy for many of the inconveniences and evils which constantly embarrass those engaged in the practical administration of their.. Since the organization of the Government, Congress has enacted Borne fire thousand acts and joint resolutions, which fill more than six thousand closely -printed pages, and are scattered through many volumes. Many of these acts have beer, drawn in haste and without sufficient cau- tion, so that their provisions are often obscure in themselves, or in con- flict with each other, or at least so doubtful as to render it very difficult for even the best-informed persons to ascertain precisely what the statute law really is. It seems to me very important that the statute laws should be made as plain and intelligible as possible, and bo reduced to as small a compass as may consist with the fulness and precision of the will of the legislature and the perspicuity of its language. This, well done, would, I think, greatly facilitate the labors of those whose duty it is to assist in the ad« 218 The Life, Public Services, and ministration of the laws, and would be a lasting benefit to the people, by placing before them, in a more accessible and intelligible form, the laws which so deeply concern their interests and their duties. I am informed by some whose opinions I respect, that all the acts of Congress now in force, and of a permanent and general nature, might be revised and rewritten, so as to be embraced in one volume (or, at most, two volumes) of ordinary and convenient size. And I respectfully recom . mend to Congress to consider of the subject, and, if my suggestion be ft I proved, to devise such plan as to their wisdom shall seem most proper ft *' the attainment of the end proposed. One of the unavoidable consequences of the present insurrection is the eatire suppression, in many places, of all the ordinary means of admin- i/tering civil justice by the officers, and in the forms of existing law. This i* the case, in whole or in part, in all the insurgent States ; and as our /.rinies advance upon and take possession of parts of those States, the [ractical evil becomes more apparent. There are no courts nor officers to rhom the citizens of other States may apply for the enforcement of their lawful claims against citizens of the insurgent States ; and there is a vast amount of debt constituting such claims. Some have estimated it as high as two hundred million dollars, due, in large part, from insurgents in open rebellion to loyal citizens who are, even now, making great sacrifices in the discharge of their patriotic duty to support the Government. Under these circumstances, I have been urgently solicited to establish, Dy military power, courts to administer summary justice in such cases. I have thus far declined to do it, not because I had any doubt that the end proposed — the collection of the debts — was just and right in itself, but because I have been unwilling to go beyond the pressure of necessity in the unusual exercise of power. But the powers of Congress, I suppose, are equal to the anomalous occasion, and therefore I refer the whole mat- ter to Congress, with the hope that a plan may be devised for the admin- istration of justice in all such parts of the insurgent States and Territories 'as dli/ Ve nnder the control of this Government, whether by a voluntas return \o allegiance and order, or by the power of our arms; this, how ever, net to be a permanent institution, but a temporary substitute, and to ced*e as soon as the ordinary courts can be re-established in peace. It is important that some more convenient means should be provided, if possible, for the adjustment of claims against the Government, espe- cially in view of their increased number by reason of the war. It is as much the duty of Government to render prompt justice against itself, in favor of citizens, as it is to administer the same between private indi- viduals. The investigation and adjudication of claims, in their nature, belong to the judicial department ; besides, it is apparent that the atten- tion of Congress will be more than usually engaged, for some time to come, with great national questions. It was intended, by the organiza- tion of the Court of Claims, mainly to remove this branch of business State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 219 from the halls of Congress; but while the court has proved to te an ef- fective and valuable means of investigation, it in great degree fails to effect the object of its creation, for want of power to make its judgments final. Fully aware of the delicacy, not to say the danger, of the subject, I com- mend to your careful consideration whether this power of making judg- ments final may not properly be given to the court, reserving the right of appeal on questions of law to the Supreme Court, with such other provisions as experience may have shown to be necessary. I ask attention to the report of the Postmaster-General, tue followiu being a summary statement of the condition of the department : The revenue from all sources during the fiscal year ending June SO, 1861, including the annual permanent appropriation of seven hundred thousand dollars for the transportation of u free mail matter," was nine million forty-nine thousand two hundred and ninety-six dollars and forty cents, being about two per cent, less than the revenue for 1860. The expenditures were thirteen million six hundred and six thousand seven hundred and fifty-nine dollars and eleven cents, showing a decrease of more than eight per cent, as compared with those of the previous year, and leaving an excess of expenditure over the revenue for the last fiscal year of four million five hundred and fifty-seven thousand four hundred and sixty-two dollars and seventy-one cents. The gross revenue for the year ending June 30, 1863, is estimated at an increase of four per cent, on that of 1861, making eight million six hun- dred and eighty-three thousand dollars, to which should be added the earnings of the department in carrying free matter, viz., seven hundred thousand dollars, making nine million three hundred and eighty-three thousand dollars. The total expenditures for 1863 are estimated at twelve million five hundred and twenty-eight thousand dollars, leaving an estimated defi- ciency of three million one hundred and forty-five thousand dollars to be supplied from the Treasury, in addition to the permanent appropriation. The present insurrection shows, I think, that the extension of this dis- trict across the Potomac River, at the time of establishing the Capital here, was eminently wise, and consequently that the relinquishment of that portion of it which lies within the State of Virginia was unwise and dangerous. I submit for your consideration the expediency of regaining tfcat part of the district, and the restoration of the original boundaries thereof, through negotiations with the State of Virginia. The report of the Secretary of the Interior, with the accompanying documents, exhibits the condition of the several branches of the public business pertaining to that department. The depressing inthiences pf the insurrection have been especially felt in the operations of the Patent and General Land Offices. The cash receipts from the sales of public land* during the past year have exceeded the expenses of our land system only about two hundred thousand dollars. Tbe sales have been entirely bu»- 220 The Life, Public Services, and pended in the Southern States, while the interruptions to the business of the country, and the diversion of large numbers of men from labor ta military service, have obstructed settlements in the new States and Terri- tories of the Northwest. The receipts of the Patent Office have declined in nine months about one hundred thousand dollars, rendering a large reduction of the force employed necessary to make it self-sustaining. The demands upon the Pension Office will be largely increased by the insurrection. Numerous applications for pensions, based upon the casual- ties of the existing war, have already been made. There is reason to believe that many who are now upon the pension rolls, and in. receipt of the bounty of the Government, are in the ranks of the insurgent army, or giving them aid and comfort. The Secretary of the Interior has directed a suspension of the payment of the pensions of such persons upon proof of their disloyalty. I recommend that Congress authorize that officer to cause i)»i» names of such persons to be stricken from the pension rolls. The relations of the Government with the Indian tribes have been greatly disturbed by the insurrection, especially in the southern suporin- tendency and in that of New Mexico. The Indian country south of Kansas is in the possession of insurgents from Texas and Arkansas. The agents of the United States appointed since the 4th of March for this superin tendency have been unable to reach their posts, while the most of thos* who were in office before that time have espoused the insurrectionary cause, and assume to exercise the powers of agents by virtue of commis- sions from the insurrectionists. It has been stated in the public press that a portion of those Indians have been organized as a military force, and are attached to the army of the insurgents. Although the Government has no official information upon this subject, letters have been written to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs by several prominent chiefs, giving assurance of their loyalty to the United States, and expressing a wish for the presence of Federal troops to protect them. It is believed that upon the repossession of the country by the Federal forces, the Indians will readily cease all hostile demonstrations, and resume their former relations to the Government. Agriculture, confessedly the largest interest of the nation, has not a department, nor a bureau, but a clerkship only, assigned to it in the Gov- ernment. While it is fortunate that this great interest is so independent in its nature as to not have demanded and extorted more from the Gov- ernment, I respectfully ask Congress to consider whether something more cannot be given voluntarily with general advantage. Annual reports exhibiting the condition of our agriculture, commerce, and manufactures, would present a fund of information of great practical value to the country. While I make no suggestion as to details, I ven- ture the opinion that an agricultural and statistical bureau might profit ably be organized. State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 221 Tbe execution of the laws for the suppression of the African slave-trade has been confided to the Department of the Interior. It is a subject of grat- nlation that the efforts which have been made for the suppression of this inhuman traffic have been recently attended with uuusual success. Five reesels being fitted out for the slave-trade have been seized and con- demned. Two mates of vessels engaged in the trade, and one person in equipping a vessel as a slaver, have been convicted and subjected to the penalty of fine and imprisonment, and one captain, taken with a cargo of Africans on board his vessel, has been convicted of the highest grade of offence under our laws, the punishment of which is death. The Territories of Colorado, Dakotah, and Nevada, created by the la*< Congress, have been organized, and civil administration has been inau- gurated therein under auspices especially gratifying, when it is considered that the leaven of treason was found existing in some of these new coun tries when the Federal officers arrived there. The abundant natural resources of these Territories, with the security and protection afforded by organized government, will doubtless invite to them a large immigration when peace shall restore the business of the country to its accustomed channels. I submit the resolutions of the Legis- lature of Colorado, which evidence the patriotic spirit of the people of the Territory. So far the authority of the United States has been upheld in ail the Territories, as it is hoped it will be in the future. I commend their interests and defence to the enlightened and generous care of Congress. I recommend to the favorable consideration of Congress the interests of the District of Columbia. The insurrection has been the cause of much suffering and sacrifice to its inhabitants, and as they have no rep- resentative in Congress, that body should not overlook their just claims apon the Government. At your late session a joint resolution was adopted authorizing the President to take measures for facilitating a proper representation of the industrial interests of the United States at the exhibition of the industry of all nations to be holden at London in the year 18G2. I regret to say I have been unable to give personal attention to this subject — a subject at once so interesting in itself, and so extensively and intimately coniitc'H with the material prosperity of the world. Through the Secretaru ~ «•* £tate and of the Interior a plan or system has been devised and parti} matured, and which will be laid before you. Under and by virtue of the act of Congress entitled "An act to con- fiscate property used for insurrectionary purposes," approved August 6, 1861, the legal cla ms of certain persons to the labor and service of cer- tain other persons have become forfeited; and numbers of the latter, thus liberated, are already dependenc on the United States, and must be pro- vided for in some way. Besides this, it is not impossible that some of the States will pass similar enactments for their own benefit respectively, And by operation of which persons of the same class will be thrown upon 222 The Life, Public Services, and them for disposal. In such case, I recommend that Congress provide foi accepting such persons from such States, according to some mode of val- uation, in lieu, pro tanto, of direct taxes, or upon some other plan to b* agreed on with such States respectively : that such persons, on such ac- ceptance by the General Government, be at once deemed free; and that, in any event, steps be taken for colonizing both classes (or the one first mentioned, if the other shall not be brought into existence) at some place or places in a climate congenial to them. It might be well to consider, too, whether the free colored people already in the United States could not, so far as individuals may desire, be included in such colonization. To carry out the plan of colonization may involve the acquiring of ter- fory, and also the appropriation of money beyond that to be expended in the territorial acquisition. Having practised the acquisition of ter- ritory for nearly sixty years, the question of constitutional power to do so is no longer an open one with us. The power was questioned at first by Mr. Jefferson, who, however, in the purchase of Louisiana, yielded his scruples on the plea of great expediency. If it be said that the only legitimate object of acquiring territory is to furnish homes for white men, this measure effects that object; for the emigration of colored men leaves additional room for white men remaining or coming here. Mr. Jefferson, however, placed the importance of procuring Louisiana more on political and commercial grounds than on providing room for population. , On this whole proposition, including the appropriation of money with the acquisition of territory, does not the expediency amount to absolute necessity — that, without which the Government itself cannot be perpet nated ? The war continues. In considering the policy to bo adopted for sup- pressing the insurrection, I have been anxious and careful that the inev- itable conflict for this purpose shall not degenerate into a violent and -einorseless revolutionary struggle. In the exercise of my best discretion, I have adhered to the blockade of the ports held by the insurgents, instead of putting in force by proclama Uon the law of Congress enacted at the late session for closing those ports. So, also, obeying the dictates of prudence, as well as the obligatknii of iaw, instead of transcending I have adhered to the act of Congress to confiscate property used for insurrectionary purposes. If a new ' law upon the same subject shall be proposed, its propriety will be duly con- iidered. The Union must be preserved; and hence all indispensable means must be employed. Wo should not be in haste to determine that radical and extreme measures, which may reach the loyal as well as the disloyal, are indispensable. The inaugural address at the beginning of the Administration, and the message to Congress at the late special session, were both mainly devoted to the domestic controversy out of which the insurrection and consequent war have sprung Nothing now occurs to add or subtract State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 223 *o jr from the principles or general purposes stated and expresned in those documents. The »ast ray of hope for preserving the Union peaceably expired si the asiault ^»on Fort Sumter; and a general review of what has oe- •mrrel since may not be unprofitable. What was painfully uncertaia *,her. is much better dunned and more distinct now; and the progress of events is plain ,y in the right direction. The insurgents confident] t claimed a strong support from north of Mason and Dixon's line; and 1 friends of the Union were not free from apprehension on the poin This, however, was soon settled definitely, and on the right side. South >f the line, noble little Delaware led oif right from the first. Maryland yas aiHe to seem against the Union. Our soldiers were assaulted bridge* were burned, and railroads torn up within her limits; and ws ivere -nany days, at one time, without the ability to bring a single regi- ment !»ver her soil to the Capital. Now her bridges and railroads are rep>ved and open to the Government; she already gives seven regiment » to 'ne cause of the Union, and none to the enemy; and her people, at a regular election, have sustained the Union by a larger majority and i la.rger aggregate vote than they ever before gave to any candidate 01 a ly question. Kentucky, too, for some time in doubt, is now decidedly, a id, I think, unchangeably ranged on the side of the Union. Missouri if* comparatively quiet, and, I believe, cannot again be overrun by the insurrectionists. These three States of Maryland, Kentucky, and Mis- twuri, neither of which would promise a single soldier at first, have now an aggregate of not less than forty thousand in the field for the Union ; while of their citizens, certainly not more than a third of that number, and they of doubtful whereabouts and doubtful existence, are in arms against it. After a somewhat bloody struggle of months, winter closed on the Union people of Western Virginia, leaving them masters of their own country. An insurgent force of about fifteen hundred, for months dominating the narrow peninsular region constituting the counties of Accomac an:, Northampton, and kn »wn as Eastern Shore of Virginia, together with soine contiguous parts of Maryland, have laid down their arms; and the people there have renewed their allegiance to, and accepted the protec- tion of, the old flag. This leaves no armed insurrectionist north of the Potomac, or east of the Chesapeake. Also we have obtained a footing at each of the isolated points on th* southern coast of Hatteras, Port Royal, Tybee Island, near Savannah, and Ship Islaud; and we likewise have some general accounts of popular movements in behalf of the Union in North Carolina and Tennessee. These things demonstrate that the cause of the Union is advancing steadily and certainly southward. Since your last adjournment Lieuten ant-General Scott has retired frous the head of the army. During his long life the nation has lint been us 224 The Life, Public Services, and mindful of his merit ; yet. on calling to mind how faithfully, ably, ainS brilliftutlj he has served the country, from a time far back in our history f when lew of the now living had been born, and thenceforward contin- ually, I cannot but think we are still his debtors. I submit, therefore, for ▼our consideration what further mark of recognition is due to him, &nd to ourselves as a grateful people. With the retirement of General Scott came the executive duty of ap- pointing in his stead a general-in-chief of the army. It is a fortunat 'Mrcnm stance that neither in council nor country was there, so far as know, any difference of opinion as to the proper person to be selected The retiring chief repeatedly expressed his judgment in favor of General MeGlellan for the position; and in this the nation seemed to give a ananimous concurrence. The designation of General McOlellan is, there- fore, in considerable degree, the selection of the country as well as of the Executive; and hence there is better reason to hope there will be given him the confidence and cordial support thus, by fair implication, promised, and without which he cannot, with so full efficiency, serve the country. It has been said that one bad general is better than two good ones ; and the saying is true, if taken to mean no more than that an army is oetter directed by a single mind, though inferior, than by two superior ones at variance and cross-purposes with each other. And the same is true in all joint operations wherein those engaged can have none but a common end in view, and can differ only as to the choice of means. In a storm at sea, no one on board can wish the ship to sink ; and yet not unfrequently all go down together, because too many will direct, and no single mind can be allowed to control. It continues to develop that the insurrection is largely, if not exclu- sively, a war upon the first principle of popular government — the rights of the people. Conclusive evidence of this is found in the most grave and maturely-considered, public documents, as well as in the genera tone 01 he insurgents. In those documents we find the abridgment of tie exist tig right of suffrage, and the denial to the people of all right to partioi *ate in the selection of public officers, except the legislative, boldly advocated, with labored arguments to prove that large control of the people in government is the source of all political evtl. Monarchy itself is sometimes hinted at as a possible refuge from the power of the people. In my present position, I could scarely be justified were I to omit rais- ing a warning voice against this approach of returning despotism. It is not needed, nor fitting here, that a general argument should be made in favor of popular institutions; but there is one point, with its fonnection8, not so hackneyed as most others, to which I ask a brief at- tention. It is the effort to place capital on an equal footing with, if not above, labor, in the atructuro of government. It is assumed that labor if |V3J)jiWe 9&J in OQim^lon with capital ; tfcat nobody tebon nnlm mm* State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 225 oody else, owning capital, scaneliow by the use of it induces him to labor. This assumed, it is next considered whether it it» best that capital shal. hire laborers, and thus induce them to work by their own consent, or buy them, and drive them to it without their consent. Having proceeded bo far, it is naturally concluded that all laborers are either hired laborers, or what we call slaves. And further, it is assumed that whoever is once a hired laborer is fixed in that condition for life. Now, there is no such relation between capital and labor as assumed; nor is there any such thing as a free man being fixed for life in the con- dition of a hired laborer. Both these assumptions are false, and all in t ferences from them are groundless. I Labor is prior to and independent of capital. Capital is only the fh.il of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher considera- tion. Capital has its rights, which are as worthy of protection as any other rights. Nor is it denied that there is, and probably always will be, a relation between labor and capital, producing mutual benefits. The error is in assuming that the whole labor of community exists within that relation. A few men own capital, and those few avoid labor themselves, and, with their capital, hire or buy another few to labor for them. A large raajonty belong to neither class — neither work for others, nor have others working for them. In most of the Southern States, a majority of the whole people of all colors are neither slaves nor masters ; while in the Northern, a large majority are neither hirers nor hired. Men, with their families — wivew, sons, and daughters — work for themselves on their farms, in their houses, and in their shops, taking the whole product to themselves, and asking no favors of capital on the one hand, nor of hired laborers or slaves on the other. It is not forgotten that a considerable number of persons mingle their own labor with capital — that is, they labor with their own hands, and also buy or hire others to labor for them; but this is only a mixed, and not a distinct class. No principle stated is disturbed by the existence of this mixed class. Again: as has already been said, there is not of necessity any such thing as the free hired laborer being fixed to that condition for life. Man ■ independent men everywhere in these States, a few years back in th. lives, were hired laborers. The prudent, penniless beginner in the work labors for wages a while, saves a surplus with which to buy tools or "land for himself, then labors on his own account another while, and at length hires another new beginner to help him. This is the just, and generous, and prosperous system, which opens the way to all, gives hope to all, and consequent energy, and progress, and improvement of condition to ah. "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 honesUy earned. Let them beware of surrendering a political power which they already possess, and which, if surrendered, will surely be nsed 1» --5 The Life, Public Services, and ro close tne door of advancement against such as they, and to fix .ew (lis Abilities and burdens upon them, till all of liberty shall be lost. From the tirst taking of our national census to the last are seventy years ; and we find our population, at tho end of the period, eight times is great as it was at the beginning. The increase of those other things which men deem desirable has been even greater. We thus have, at one view, what the popular principle, applied to Government through the machinery of the States and the Union, has produced in a given time; and also what, if firmly maintained, it promises for the future. There are already among us those who, if the Union bo preserved, will live to see it contain two hundred and fifty millions. The struggle of to-day is uot altogether for to-day ; it is for a vast future also. With a reliance on Providence, all the more firm and earnest, let us proceed in the great task which events have devolved upon us. Abraham Lincoln. The actual condition of the country and the progress of the war, at the opening of the session, are very clearly stated in this document ; and the principles upon which the President had based his conduct of public affairs are set forth with great distinctness and precision. On the subject of interfering with slavery, the President had adhered strictly to the letter and spirit of the act passed by Congress at its extra session ; but he very distinctly foresaw that it might become necessary, as a means of quelling the rebellion and preserving the Union, to resort to a much more vigorous policy than was contemplated by that act. While he threw out a timely caution against andue haste in the adoption of extreme measures, he promised full and careful consideration of any new law which Congress might consider it wise and expedient to pass ] It very soon became evident that Congress was dis- \ >sed to make very considerable advances upon the legislation of the extra session. The resistance of the rebels had been more vigorous and effective than was anticipated, and the defeat at Bull Hun had exasperated as well as aroused the public mind. The forbearance of the Government in regard to slavery had not only failed to soften the hostility of the rebels, but had been rep- resented to Europe by the rejbel authorities as proving * determination on the part of the United States to protect State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 227 and perpetuate slavery by restoring the authority of the Constitution which guaranteed its safety ; and the acts of the extra session, especially the Crittenden resolution, defining and limiting the objects of the war, were quoted in rebel dispatches to England for that purpose. It was known, also, that within the lines of the rebel army slaves were freely employed in the construction of fortifications, and that they contributed in this and other ways vary largely to the strength of the insurrection. The whole country, under the influence of these facts, began to re- gard slavery as not only the cause of the rebellion, but as the main strength of its armies and the bond of union for the rebel forces ; — and Congress, representing and sharing this feeling, entered promptly and zealously upon such measures as it would naturally suggest. Resolu- tions at the very outset of the session were offered, call ing on the President to emancipate slaves whenever and wherever such action would tend to weaken the rebel- lion ; and the general policy of the Government upon thi3 subject became the theme of protracted and animated debate. The orders issued by the generals of the army, especially McClellan, Halleck, and Dix, by which fugi- tive slaves were prohibited from coming within the army lines, were severely censured. All the resolutions upon these topics were, however, referred to appropriate com- mittees, generally without specific instructions as to the character of their action upon them. Early in the session a strong disposition was evinced in ^some quarters to censure the Government for its arbitrary arrests of persons in the loyal States, suspected of aiding the rebels, its suppression of disloyal presses, and other acts which it had deemed essential to the safety of the country ; and a sharp debate took place in the Senate upon a resolution of inquiry and implied censure offered by Mr. Trumbull, of Illinois. The general feeling, how- ever, was so decidedly in favor of sustaining the Presi- dent, that the resolution was referred to the Judiciary Committee, by a vote of twenty-five to seventeen. On the 19th of December, in the Senate, a debate on 228 The Life, Public Services, axd the relation of slavery to the rebellion arose upon a reso- lution offered by Mr. Willey, of West Virginia,, who con- tested the opinion that slavery was the cause of the war, and insisted that the rebellion had its origin in the hostility of the Southern political leaders to the demo- cratic principle of government ; he believed that when the great body of the Southern people came to see the real purpose and aim of the rebellion, they would with* draw their surjport, and 'restore the Union. No action was taken on the resolution, which merely gave occasion for debate. A resolution was adopted in the House, forbidding the employment of the army to return fugitive slaves to their owners ; and a bill was passed in both Houses, declaring that hereafter there shall be " neither slavery norinvoluntary servitude in any of the Territories of the United States, now existing, or which may at any time be formed or acquired by the United States, other- wise than in the punishment of crimes whereof the party shall have been duly convicted." In the Senate, on the 18th of March, a bill was taken up to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia ; and an amendment was offered, directing that those thus set free should be colonized out of the United States. The policy of colonization was fully discussed in connection with the general subject, the senators from the Border States opposing the bill itself, mainly on grounds of expediency, as calculated to do harm under the existing circumstances of the country. The bill was passed, with an amendment appropriating money to be used by the President in colonizing such of the emancipated slaves as might wish to leave the country. It received in the Senate twenty-nine votes in its favor and fourteen against it. In the House it passed by a vote of nine- two to thirty-eight. President Lincoln sent in the following message, an- nouncing his approval of the bill : — Fellow-Citizens of the Senate axd House o^ Representatives. The act entitled ''An act for the release of certain persons held to State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 229 service or labor in the District of Columbia," has this day beea approved and signed. I have never doubted the constitutional authority of Congress to abol- ish slavery in this District ; and I have ever desired to see the national capital freed from the institution in some satisfactory way. Hence there has never been in my mind any question upon the subject except the one of expediency, arising in view of all the circumstances. If there be mat- ters withm and about this act which might have taken a course or shape more satisfactory to my judgment, I do not attempt to specify them. 1 am gratified that the two principles of compensation and colonization are both recognized and practically applied in the act. In the matter of compensation, it is provided that claims may be pre- sented within ninety days from the passage of the act, " but not there- after ; " and there is no saving for minors, fernmes covert, insane, or absent persons. I presume this is an omission by mere oversight, and I recom- mend that it be supplied by an amendatory or supplemental act. Abbaham Lincoln. April 16, 1862. On the 6tli of March, the President sent to Congress the following message on the subject of aiding such slaveholding States as might take measures to emancipate their slaves : Washington, Afar oh 6, 1862. Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives : I recommend the adoption of a joint resolution by your honorable body, which shall be, substantially, as follows : Resolved, That the United States, in order to co-operate with any State which may adopt gradual abolition of slavery, give to such State pecu- niary aid, to be used by such State, in its discretion, to compensate it for the inconvenience, public and private, produced by such change of sys- tem. If the proposition contained in the resolution does not meet the ap- proval of Congress and the country, there is an end of it. But if it does command such approval, I deem it of importance that the States and people immediately interested should be at once distinctly notified of the fact, so that they may begin to consider whether to accept or reject it. The Federal Government would find its highest interest in such a meas- ure as one of the most important means of self-preservation. The lead- ers of the existing rebellion entertain the hope that this Government will ultimately be forced to acknowledge the independence of some part of the disaffected region, and that all the slave States north of such p.vt will then say, "The Union for which we have struggled being alr-;i enough to be company and encouragement for one another, the freei people will not be so reluctant to go. 1 am pressed with a difficulty not yet mentioned — one which threatens division among those who, united, are none too strong. An instance of it is known to you. General Hunter is an honest man. He was, «*nd J ho]3 e still is, my friend. I valued him none the less for his agreeing wvJ? me in the general wish that all men everywhere could be free. He pro- canned all men free within certain States, and I repudiated the procla- mation. He expected more good and less harm from the measure than I could believe would follow. Yet, in repudiating it, I gave dissatisfaction, if not offence, to many whose support the country cannot afford to lose. And this is not the end of it. The pressure in this direction is still upon me, and is increasing. By conceding what I now ask you can relieve me, and, much more, can relieve the country in this important point. Upon these considerations, I have again begged your attention to the Message of March last. Before leaving- the Capital, consider and discuss it among yourselves. You are patriots and statesmen, and as such I pray you consider this proposition; and, at the least, commend it to the con- sideration of your States and people. As you would perpetuate popular government for the best people in the world, I beseech you that you do in nowise omit this. Our common country is in great peril, demanding the loftiest views and boldest action to bring a speedy relief. Once relieved, its form of government is saved to the world; its beloved his- tory and cherished memories are vindicated, and its happy future fully assured and rendered inconceivably grand. To you, more than to any others, the privilege is given to assure that happiness and swell that grandeur, and to link your own names therewith forever. The members to whom the President thus appealed were divided in opinion as to the merits of the proposi- tion which he had laid before them. A majority of their, submitted an elaborate reply, in which they dissented from the President's opinion that the adoption of this policy' would terminate the war or serve the Union cause. They held it to be his duty to avoid all interference, direct or indirect, with slavery in the Southern States, and attributed much of the stubborn hostility which the South had shown in prosecuting the war, to the fact that Congress had departed in various instances from thp Bpirit and objects for which the war ought to be prose- cuted by the Government. A minority of those mem- bers, not being able to concur in this reply, submitted one of their own, in which they thus set forth their view State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 237 of the motives of the President in the course he had adopted, and expressed their substantial concurrence in its justice and wisdom : — \Ve believe that the whole power o' the Government, upheld and sus- tained by all the influences and means of all loyal men in all sections and of all parties, is essentially necessary to put down the rebellion and preserve the Union and the Constitution. We understand your appeal to us to have been made for the purpose of securing this result. A very large portion of the people in the Northern States believe that slavery is Ik* "lever power of the rebellion." It matters not whether this opinio 1 j is well founded or not. The belief does exist, and we have to deal with things as they are, and not as we would have them be. In consequence of the existence of this belief, we understand that an immense pressure is brought to bear for the purpose of striking down this institution through the exercise of military authority. The Government cannot maintain this great struggle if the support and influence of the men who entertain these opinions be withdrawn. Neither can the Government hope for early success if the support of that element called u conservative " bt h ithdrawn. Such being the condition of things, the President appeals to the Bordei Stato men to step forward and prove their patriotism by making the first sacrifice. No doubt, like appeals have been made to extreme men in the North, to meet us half way, in order that the whole moral, political, pecuniary, and physical force of the nation may be firmly and earnestly united in one grand effort to save the Union and the Constitution. Believing that such were the motives that prompted your address, and such the results to which it looked, we cannot reconcile it to our sense of duty, in this trying hour, to respond in a spirit of fault-finding or queru- lousness over the things that are past. We are not disposed to seek for the cause of present misfortunes in the errors and wrongs of others who propose to unite with us in a common purpose. But, on the other hand, we meet your address in the spirit in which it was made, and, as loyal Americans, declare to you and to the world, that there is no sacrifice that we are not ready to make to save the Government and institutions of our fathers. That we, few of us though there may be, will permit no men, f~om the North or from the South, to £0 further than we in the accom- plishment of the great work before us. That, in order to carry out these views, we will, so far as may be in our power, ask the people of the Bor- der States calmly, deliberately, and fairly, to consider your recommenda- tions. We are the more emboldened to assume this position from the fact, now become history, that the leaders of the Southern rebellion have offered to abolish slavery amongst them as a condition to foreign inter- vention in favor of their independence as a nation. If they can give ui> nl^very *o destroy the Union, re can surolj 238 The Life, Public Services, and ask our people to consider the question of emancipation to save the Union. Hon. Horace Maynard, of Tennessee, on the 16th of J illy submitted to the President his views of the ques- tion, in which he thus set forth his appreciation of the motives which had induced him to make the proposition ic question to the Southern States : — Your whole administration gives the highest assurance that you are moved, not so much from a desire to see all men everywhere made free, as from a desire to preserve free institutions for the benefit of men already free ; not to make slaves free men, but to prevent free men from being made slaves; not to destroy an institution which a portion of us only consider bad, but to save an institution which we all alike consider good. I am satisfied that you would not ask from any of your fellow- citizens a sacrifice not in your judgment imperatively required by the safety of the country. This is the spirit of your appeal, and I respond to it in the same spirit. Determined to leave undone nothing which it was in his power to do to effect the object he had so much at heart, the President, on the 12th of July, sent in to Con- gress a Message transmitting the draft of a bill upon the subject, as follows :— Fellow- Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives : — Herewith is the draft of the bill to compensate any State which may abolish slavery within its limits, the passage of which, substantially a» presented, I respectfully and earnestly recommend. Abkaham Lincoln. be it enacted by the Senate and Home of Representatives of the Umtea States of Avierica in Congress assembled: — That whenever the President of the United States shall be satisfied that any State shall have lawfully abolished slavery within and throughout such State, either immediately i»T gradually, it shall be the duty of the President, assisted by the Secre- tary of the Treasury, to prepare and deliver to each State an amount of fcix per cent, interest-bearing bonds of the United States, equal to the ag- gregate value at dollars per head of all the slaves within such State as reported by the census of 1860; the whole amount for any one State to be delivered at once, if the abolishment be immediate, or in equal anuual instalments, if it be gradual, interest to begin running on each bond at the time of delivery, and not before. And be it farther enacted, That if any State, having so received anv such bonds, shall at any time afterwards by law reintroduce or tolerate slavery within its limits, contrary to the act of abolishment upon which tuch bonds shall have been received, said bonds so received by said State State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 239 shall at once "be mill and void, in whosesoever hands they may be, and such State shall refund to the United States all interest which may have been paid on suc/i bonds. The bill was referred to a committee, "but no action wag taken upon it in Congress, nor did any of the Border States respond to the President's invitation. The propo- sition, however, served a most excellent purpose in test klg the sentiment of "both sections of the country, and in preparing the way for the more vigorous treatment of the subject of slavery which the blind and stubborn preju- dices of the slaveholding communities were rapidly ren- dering inevitable. Two other subjects of importance engaged the atten- tion and received the action of Congress during this ses- sion : the provision of a currency, and the amendment of the law to confiscate the property of rebels. A bill au- thorizing the issue of Treasury notes to the amount of $150,000,000, and making them a legal tender in all busi- ness transactions, was reported in the House by the Fi- nance Committee, of which Hon. E. G. Spaulding, of New York, was Chairman, and taken up for discussion on the 17th of June. It was advocated mainly on the score of necessity, and was opposed on the ground of its alleged unconstitutionality. The division of sentiment on the subject was not a party one, some of the warmest friends and supporters of the Administration doubting whether Congress had the power to make any thing but silver and gold a legal tender in the payment of debts. The same bill provided for a direct tax, involving stamp duties, taxes upon incomes, etc., sufficient with the duties upon imports to raise $150,000,000 per annum, and also for the establishment of a system of h'eo banking, by which bank- notes to be circulated as currency might be issued upon the basis of stocks of the United States deposited as secu- rity. The bill was discussed at length, and was finally adopted by a vote of ninety-three to fifty-nine. In the Senate it encountered a similar opposition, but passed by a vote of thirty to seven, a motion to strike out the legal. tender clause having been previously rejected — seven- 240 The Life, Public Services; and teen voting in favor of striking it out, and twenty '/wo against it. Tlie subject of confiscating tlie property of rebels ex- cited still deeper interest. A bill for that purpose was taken up in the Senate, on tlie 25th of February, for dis- cussion. By one of its sections all the slaves of any per- son, anywhere in the United States, aiding the rebellion, were declared to be forever free, and subsequent sections provided for colonizing slaves thus enfranchised. The bill was advocated on the ground that in no other way could the property of rebels, in those States where the judicial authority of the United States had been over- borne, be reached ; while it was opposed on the ground that it was unconstitutional, and that it would tend to render the Southern people still more united and despe- rate in their rebellion. By the confiscation act of the pre- vious session, a slave who had been employed in aiding the rebellion was declared to be free, but the fact that he had been thus employed must be shown by due judicial process , by this bill all the slaves of any person who had been thus engaged were set free without the inter- vention of any judicial process whatever. This feature of the bill was warmly opposed by some of the ablest and most reliable of the supporters of the Administration, as a departure from all recognized rules of proceeding, and as a direct interference with slavery in the States, in violation of the most solemn pledge of the Govern- ment, the Republican party, and individual supporters of the Administration. Senator Collamer, of "Vermont, urged this view of the case with great cogency, citing Mr. Sumner's opinion expressed on the 25th of February, 1861, when, on presenting a memorial to the Senate in favor of abolishing slavery, he had added: "In offering it, I take this occasion to declare most explicitly that I do not think that Congress has any right to interfere with slavery in a State ;" and quoting also Senator Fessenden's declaration in the debate on abolishing slavery in the District of Columbia, when he said: " I have held, and T hold to-day, and I say to-day what I have said in my State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 241 place before, that the Congress of the United States, ot thtf people of the United States through the Congress, linear the Constitution as it now exists, have no right whatever to touch by legislation the institution of slavery in the Slates where it exists by law." Mr. Sherman's opinkn, expressed in the same debate, that "we ought religiously to adhere to the promises we made to the peo- ple of This country when Mr. Lincoln was elected Presi- dent — we ought to abstain religiously from all interfer ence with the domestic institutions of the slave or the Free States," was also quoted, and Mr. Collamer said he did not see how it was possible to pass the bill in its present form without giving the world to understand that they had violated those pledges, and had interfered with slavery in the States. Mr. Collamer accordingly offered an amendment to the bill, obviating the objections he had urged against it ; and this, with other amendments offered by other Senators, was referred to a Select Committee, which subsequently reported a bill designed, as the Chairman, Mr. Clark, of New Hampshire, explained, to harmonize the various shades of opinion upon the sub- ject, and secure the passage of some measure which should meet the expectations of the country and the emergency of the case. The first section of this bill pro- vided, that every person who should hereafter commit the crime of treason against the United States, and be adjudged guilty thereof, should suffer death, and all his slaves, if any, be declared and made free ; or he should be imprisoned not less than five years, and fined not less than $10,000, and all his slaves, if any, be declared and made free. The distinctive feature of this section, as distinguished from the corresponding section of the original bill, con- sisted in the fact that a trial and conviction were required before any person guilty of treason could be punished, either by death, imprisonment, or the forfeiture of his property. It was opposed, on the one hand, by Mr. Trum- bull, of Illinois, on the ground that it "made treason easy" — and on the other, by Mr. Davis, of Kentucky 16 242 The Life, Public Services, and because it set slaves hen. Mr. Sumner offered a substi- tute to the whole bill, which in Ms judgment did not go far enough in giving the country the advantage of the "op- portunity which God, in His beneficence, had afforded" it for securing universal emancipation. Mr. Powell, of Kentucky, moved to strike out the eleventh section, which authorized the President to " employ as many per eons of African descent as he might deem necessary and proper for the suppression of the rebellion, and to organ- ize and use them in such manner as he might judge best for the public welfare" — but his motion was rejected by a vote of eleven to twenty -five. While the bill was thus denounced by one class of Senators as too violent in its method of dealing with the rebels, it was resisted with still greater vehemence by another class as entirely de- fective in that respect. Mr. Sumner was especially severe in his censure of Senators who proposed, he said, "when the life of our Republic is struck at, to proceed as if by an indictment in a criminal court." His remarks gave rise to considerable personal discussion — which was interrupted by the receipt of a similar bill which had been passed by the House of Representatives, and which was decidedly more in harmony with the extreme views of Mr. Sumner and his friends, than the Senate bill. It assumed that the rebels were to be treated like a foreign enemy, without regard to the limitations and require- ments of the Constitution, and that Congress, instead of the President, had the supreme and exclusive control of the operations of the war. This bill on coming before the Senate was set aside, and the bill which had been reported Dy the Senate Committee substituted in its place, by a rote of twenty-one to seventeen, and the latter was finally passed ; ayes twenty -eight, noes thirteen. The House did not concur in this amendment to its own bill ; but on receiving the report of a Committee of Conference which made some amendments to the Senate bill, it was passed, as amended, by both Houses, and sent to the President for his signature. The provisions of this bill were as follows :— - State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 243 Ejection 1 enacted that every person who should after its passage com- mit the crime of treason against the United States, and bo adjudged guilty thereof, should suffer death, and all his slaves, if any, should be declared and made free ; or he should be imprisoned for not less than five years, and fined not less than $10,000, and all his slaves made free. Section 2 declared that if any person shall hereafter incite, assist, or engage in any rebellion against the authority of the United States or the laws thereof, or give aid or comfort thereto, or to any existing rebellion, and be convicted thereof, he shall be imprisoned for ten years or less, fined not more than $10,000, and all his slaves shall be set free, j Section 3. Every person guilty of these offences shall be forever di»- ]ualitied to hold any office under the United States. Section 4. This act was not to affect the prosecution, conviction, or punishment of any person guilty of treason before the passage of the act, unless convicted under it. Section 5 made it the duty of the President to seize and apply to the use of the army of the United States all the property of persons who had served as officers of the rebel army, or had held certain civil offices under the rebel Government, or in the rebel States, provided they had taken an oath of allegiance to the rebel authorities, and also of persons who, having property in any of the loyal States, shall hereafter give aid to the rebellion. Section 6 prescribed that if any other persons being engaged in the rebellion should not, within sixty days after public proclamation duly made by the President, cease to aid the rebellion, all their property should be confiscated in the same manner. Section 7 directed that proceedings in rem should be instituted m the name of the United States in the court of the district within which sucb property might be found, and if said property, whether real or personal, should be found to belong to any person engaged in rebellion, it should be condemned as enemies' property, and become the property of the United States. Section 8 gave the several District Courts of the United States author- ity and power to make such orders as these proceedings might require. Section 9 enacted that all slaves of persons who shall hereafter be en- • gaged in rebellion against the Government of the United States, or who shall in any way give aid or comfort thereto, escaping from such persons, and taking refuge within the lines of the army, and all slaves captured from such persons or deserted by them and coming under the control of the Government of the United States, and all slaves of such persons found, or being within any place occupied by rebel forces, and afterwards occu- pied by the forces of the United States, shall be deemed captives of war, and shall be forever free of their servitude, and not again held as slaves. Section 1 enacted that no slave escaping into another State should be delivered up, unless the claimant should make oath that the owner or 244 The Life, Public Services, and oiasaer of such slave had never borne arms against the United States, or given any aid and comfort to the rebellion ; and every person in the mili- tary service of the United States was prohibited from deciding on the validity of any claim to the services of any escaped slave, on pain of dis- missal. Section 11 authorized the President to employ as many persons of Af- rican descent as he might deem necessary and proper for the suppression of the rebellion, and to organize and use them as he might deem best fo« the public welfare. Section 12 authorized the President to make provision for the coloni- zation, with their own consent, of persons freed under this act, to some country beyond the limits of the United States, having first obtained the consent of the Government of said country to their protection and settle- ment, with all the privileges of free men. Section 13 authorized the President at any time hereafter, by procla- mation, to extend to persons who may have participated in this rebellion, pardon and amnesty, with such exceptions, and at such time, and on such conditions as he might deem expedient for the public welfare. Section 14 gave the courts of the United States authority to institute such proceedings, and issue such orders as might be necessary to carry this act into effect. It soon came to be understood that the President had o ections to certain portions of the bill which would probably prevent him from signing it. A joint resolu- tion was at once passed in the House, providing that the bill should be so construed "as not to apply to any acts done prior to its passage ; nor to include any member of a State legislature, or judge of any State court who has not, in accepting or entering upon his office, taken an oath to support the constitution of the so-called Confed- erate States of America." When this reached the Senate, Mr. Clark, of New Hampshire, offered the following, to be added to the resolution : — Nor shall any punishment or proceedings under said act be so con- strued as to work a forfeiture of the real estate of the offender beyond his natura. life. This provision encountered a sharp opposition: Mr. Trumbull, of Illinois, insisting that the forfeiture of real estate for life only would amount to nothing, and other Senators objecting to being influenced in their action by State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. the supposed opinions of the President. Mr. Clark also proposed another amendment, authorizing the President, in granting an amnesty, to restore to the offender any property which might have been seized and condemned under this act. The resolutions and amendments were passed by the Senate, and received the concurrence of the House. On the 17th of July President Lincoln sent in the following message, announcing that he had signed the bill, and specifying his objections to the act in its original shape : — Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives : Considering the bill for " An Act to suppress insurrection, to punish treason and rebellion, to seize and confiscate the property of rebels, and for other purposes," and the joint resolution explanatory of said act as being substantially one, I have approved ai>.d signed both. Before I was informed of the resolution, I had prepared the draft of a message, stating objections to the bill becoming a law, a copy of which draft is herewith submitted. Abraham Lincoln. « July 12, 1862. [Copy.] Fellow-Citizens of the House of Repreesentatives : I herewith return to the honorable body in which it originated, the bill for an act entitled u An Act to suppress treason and rebellion, to seize and confiscate the property of rebels, and for other purposes," to- gether with my objections to its becoming a law. There is much in the bill to which I perceive no objection. It is wholly prospective ; and it touches neither person nor property of any 'oyal citizen, in which particular it is just and proper. Tho first and second sections provide for the conviction and punish- ment of persons who shall be guilty of treason, and persons who shall "incite, set on foot, assist, or engage in any rebellion or insurrection against the authority of the United States, or the laws thereof, or shall give aid or comfort thereto, or shall engage in or give aid and comfort to any such existing rebellion or insurrection." By fair construction, per- sons within those sections are not punished without regular trials in duly constituted courts, under the forms and all the substantial provisions of law and the Constitution applicable to their several cases. To this I per- ceive no objection ; especially as such persons would be within the gen- oral pardoning power, and also the special provision for pardon and am ncety contained in this act. It is also provided that the slaves of persons convicted under these see- 246 The Life, Public Services, and tions shall be free. I think there is an unfortunate form of expression, rather than a substantial objection, in this. It is startling to say that Congress can free a slave within a State, and yet if it were said the ownership of a slave had first been transferred to the nation, and Con- gress had then liberated him, the difficulty would at once vanish. And this is the real case. The traitor against the General Government for- feits his slave at least as justly as ho does any other property ; and he forfeits both to the Government against which he offends. The Govern ruent, s' far as there can be ownership, thus owns the forfeited slaves, and the question for Congress in regard to them is, " Shall they be made free or sold to new masters ?" I perceive no objection to Congress de- ciding in advance that they shall be free. To the high honor of Ken- tucky, as I am informed, she is the owner of some slaves by escheat, and has sold none, but liberated all. I hope the same is true of some other States. Indeed,. I do not believe it will be physically possible for the General Government to return persons so circumstanced to actual slavery. I believe there would be physical resistance to it, which could neither be turned aside by argument nor driven away by force. In this view I have no objection to this feature of the bill. Another matter involved in these two sections, &W. running through other parts of the act, will be noticed hereafter. I perceive no objections to the third or fourth sections. So far as I wish to notice the fifth and sixth sections, they may be con- sidered together. That the enforcement of these sections would do no injustice to the persons embraced within them, is clear. That those who make a causeless war should be compelled to pay the cost of it, is too ob- viously just to be called in question. To give governmental protection to the property of persons who have abandoned it, and gone on a crusade to overthrow the same Government, is absurd, if considered in the mere light of justice. The severest justice may not always be the best policy. The principle of seizing and appropriating the property of the person em braced within these sections is certainly not very objectionable, but a justly discriminating application of it would be very difficult, and, to a great extent, impossible. And would it not be wise to place a power of remission somewhere, so that these persons may know they have some- thing to lose by persisting, and something to gain by desisting ? I am not sure whether such power of remission is or is not in section thirteen. Without any special act of Congress, I think our military commanders, when, in military phrase, "they are within the enemy's country," should, in an orderly manner, seize and use whatever of real or personal prop- erty may be necessary or convenient for their commands ; at the same time preserving, in some way, the evidence of what they do. What I have said in regard to slaves, while commenting on the first and second sections, is applicable to the ninth, with the difference tliat no provision is made in the whole act for detenu iping whether a parpjeuiar Statu. Papers of Abraham Lincoln. individual slave does or does not fall within the classes defined in that section. He is to be free upon certain conditions ; but whether those conditions do or do not pertain to him, no mode of ascertaining is pro- vided. This could be easily supplied. To the tenth section I make no objection. The oath therein required seems to be proper, and the remainder of the section is substantially iden- tical with a law already existing. The eleventh section simply assumes to confer discretionary pcwex upon the Executive. Without the law, I have no hesitation tu go as far in the direction indicated as I may at any time deem expedient. And I am ready to say now, I think it is proper for our military commanders to employ, as laborers, as many persons of African descent as can be used to advantage. The twelfth and thirteenth sections are something better than unobjec- tionable ; and the fourteenth is entirely proper, if all other parts of the act shall stand. That to which I chiefly object pervades most part of the act, but more distinctly appears in the first, second, seventh, and eighth sections. It. is the sum of those provisions which results in the divesting of title forever. For the causes of treason and ingredients of treason, not amounting to the full crime, it declares forfeiture extending beyond the lives of the guilty parties ; whereas the Constitution of the United States declares that u no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood or forfeiture except during the life of the person attainted." True, there is to be no formal attainder in this case ; still, I think the greater punishment can- not be constitutionally inflicted, in a different form, for the same offence. With great respect I am constrained to say I think this feature of the act is unconstitutional. It would not be difficult to modify it. I may remark that the provision of the Constitution, put in language borrowed from Great Britain, applies only in this country, as I under- stand, to real or landed estate. Again, this act, in rem, forfeits property for the ingredients of treason without a conviction of the supposed criminal, or a personal hearing ijiven him in any proceeding. That we may not touch property lying J within our reach, because we cannot give personal notice to an owiier who is absent endeavoring to destroy the Government, is certainly satis- factory. Still, the owner may not be thus engaged ; and I think a rea- sonable time should be provided for such parties to appear and have per- sonal hearings. Similar provisions are not uncommon in connection wita proceedings in rem. For the reasons stated, I return the bill to the House in which it origi- nated. The passage of this bill constituted a very important step in the prosecution of the war for the suppression of 248 The Life, Public Services, and tlie rebellion. It prescribed definite penalties for the crime of treason, and thus supplied a defect in the laws as they then existed. It gave the rebels distinctly to un- derstand that one of these penalties, if they persisted in their resistance to the authority of the United States, would be the emancipation of their slaves. And it also authorized the employment by the President of persons of African descent, to aid in the suppression of the Rebel lion in any way which he might deem most conducive to the public welfare. Yet throughout the bill, it was clearly made evident that the object and purpose of these measures was not the abolition of slavery, but the pi ner- vation of the Union and the restoration of the authority of the Constitution. On the 14th of January Simon Cameron resigned his position as Secretary of War. On the 30th of April the House of Representatives passed, by a vote of seventy- five to forty-five, a resolution, censuring certain official acts performed by him while acting as Secretary of War ; whereupon, on the 27th of May, President Lincoln trans- mitted to the House the following message :— To the Senate and House of Representatives : The insurrection which is yet existing in the United States, and aims at the overthrow of the Federal Constitution and the Union, was clan- destinely prepared during the winter of 1860 and 1861, and assumed an open organization in the form of a treasonable provisional government at Montgomery, Alabama, or. the eighteenth day of February, 1861. On the twelfth day of April, 186K, the insurgents committed the flagrant act of civil war by the bombardment and capture of Fort Sumter, which cut ofl the hope of immediate conciliation. Immediately afterwards all the roads and avenues to this city were obstructed, and the Capital was put into the condition of a siege. The mails in every direction were stopped and the lines of telegraph cut off by the insurgents, and military and naval forces which had been called out by the Government for the de- fence of Washington were prevented from reaching the city by organized and combined treasonable resistance in the State of Maryland. Thero was no adequate and effective organization for the public defence. Con- gress had indefinitely 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 Congress had provided, I should let the Government fall into ruin, or whether, availing myself of the broader State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 249 powers conferred by the Constitution in cases of insurrection, I would make an effort to save it, with ail its blessings, for the present age and for posterity. I thereupon summoned my constitutional advisers, the heads of all the departments, to meet on Sunday, the twentieth day of April, 1861, at the office of the Navy Department, and then and there, with their unanimous concurrence, I directed that an armed revenue cutter should proceed to sea to afford protection to the commercial marine, especially to the California treasure-ships, then on their way to this coast. I also directed the Commandant of the Navy Yard at Boston to purchase or charter, and arm, as quickly as possible, five* steamships for purposes of public defence. I directed the Commandant of the Navy Yard at Phila- delphia tc purchase or charter, and arm, an equal number for the same purpose. I directed the Commandant at New York to purchase or char ter, and arm, an equal number. I directed Commander Gillis to purchase or charter, and arm and put to sea, two other vessels. Similar directions were given to Commodore Du Pont, with a view to the opening of pas- sages by water to and from the Capital. I directed the several officer? to take the advice and obtain the aid and efficient services in the matter of his Excellency Ed win D. Morgan, the Governor of New York ; or, in his absence, George I). Morgan, Win. M. Evarts, R. M. Blatchford, and Moses H. Grinnell, who were, by my directions, especially empowered by the Secretary of the Navy to act for his department in that crisis, in matters pertaining to the forwarding of troops and supplies for the public defence. On the same occasion I directed that Governor Morgan and Alexander Cummings, of the City of New York, should be authorized by the Sec- retary of War, Simon Cameron, to make all necessary arrangements for the transportation of troops and munitions of war in aid and assist- ance of the officers of the army of the United States, until communica- tion by mails and telegraph should be completely re-established between the cities of Washington and New York. No security was required to be given by them, and either of them was authorized to act in case of inability to consult with the other. On the same occasion I authorized and directed the Secretary of the Treasury to advance, without requir- ing security, two millions of dollars of public money to John A. Dix, George Opdyke, and Richard M. Blatchford, of New York, to he used by them in meeting such requisitions as should be directly consequent upon the military and naval measures for the defence and support of the Government, requiring them only to act without compensation, and to report their transactions when duly called upon. The several de- partments of the Government at that time contained so large a number of disloyal persons that it would have been impossible to provide safely through official agents only, for the performance of the duties thus con- fided to citizens favorably known for their ability, loyalty, and patriot- ism. The several orders issued upon these occurrences were trans- mitted by private messengers, who pursued a circuitous way to the 250 The Life, Public Services, and •eaboard cities, inland across the States of Pennsylvania and Ohio, and the northern lakes. I believe that by these and other similar measures taken in that crisis, some of which were without any authority of law, the Government was saved from overthrow. I am not aware that a dollar of the public funds thus confided, without authority of law, to un- official persons, was either lost or wasted, although apprehensions of such misdirections occurred to me as objections to these extraordinary pro ceedings, and were necessarily overruled. I recall these transactions now, j because my attention has been directed to a resolution which was passed by the House of Representatives on the thirtieth of last month, which is in these words : — ResoUed, That Simon Cameron, late Secretary of War, by intrusting Alexander Oummings with the control of large sums of the public money, and authority to purchase military supplies without restriction, without requiring from him any guarantee for the faithful performance of his duties, while the services of competent public officers were available, and by involving the Government in a vast number of contracts with persona not legitimately engaged in the business pertaining to the subject-matter of such contracts, especially in the purchase of arms for future deliv- ery, has adopted a policy highly injurious to the public service, and deserves the censure of the House. Congress will see that I should be wanting in candor and in justice if I should leave the censure expressed in this resolution to rest exclusively or chiefly upon Mr. Cameron. The same sentiment is unanimously enter- tained by the heads of the departments, who participated in the proceed- ings which the House of Representatives has censured. It is due to Mr. Cameron to say, that although he fully approved the proceedings, they were not moved nor suggested by himself, and that not only the Presi- dent, but all the other heads of departments, were at least equally respon- sible with him for whatever error, wrong, or fault was committed in the piwinises. Abbaham Lincoln. This lettei was in strict conformity with the position nnifornily held "by the President in regard to the respon- sibility of members of his Cabinet for acts of the Admin- istration. He always maintained that the proper duty of each Secretary was, to direct the details of every tiling done within his own department, and to tender such sug gestions, information, and advice to the President as he might solicit at his hands. But the duty and responsi- bility of deciding what line of policy should be pursued, or what steps should be taken in any specific case, in his judgment, belonged exclusively to the President; and he tras always willing and ready to assume it. This posi State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 251 cion lias been widely and sharply assailed in various quarters, as contrary to the precedents of our early his- tory ; hut we believe it to be substantially in accordance with the theory of the Constitution upon this subject. The progress of our armies in certain portions of the Southern States had warranted the suspension, at several ports, of the restrictions placed upon commerce by the blockade. On the 12th of May the President accordingly issued a proclamation declaring that the blockade of the ports of Beaufort, Port Eoyal, and New Orleans should so far cease from the 1st of June, that commercial inter- course from those ports, except as to contraband of war, might be resumed, subject to the laws of the United States and the regulations of the Treasury Department. On the 1st of July he issued another proclamation, in pursuance of the law of June 7th, designating the States and parts of States that were then in insurrection, so that the laws of the United States concerning the collection of taxes could not be enforced within their limits, and de- claring that "the taxes legally chargeable upon real estate, under the act referred to, lying within the States or parts of States thus designated, together with a penalty of fifty per cent, of said taxes, should be a lien upon the tracts or lots of the same, severally charged, till paid," On the 20th of October, rinding it absolutely necessary to provide judicial proceedings for the State of Louisiana, a part of which was in our military possession, the Presi dent issued an order establishing a Provisional Court in the City of New Orleans, of which Charles A. Peabody was made Judge, with authority to try all causes, civil and criminal, in law, equity, revenue, and admiralty, and particularly to exercise all such power and jurisdiction as belongs to the Circuit and District Courts of the United States. His proceedings were to be conformed, as far as possible, to the course of proceedings and practice usual In the Courts of the United States of Louisiana, and his judgment was to be final and conclusive. Congress adjourned on the 17th of July, having adopted many measures of marked though minor importance, be 252 The Life, Public Services, and sides those to which we have referred, to aid in the pros- ecution of the war. Several Senators were expelled for adherence, direct or indirect, to the rebel cause ; meas- ures were taken to remove from the several departments of the Government employes more or less openly in sym- pathy with secession ; Hayti and Liberia were recognized as independent republics ; a treaty was negotiated am ratified with Great Britain which conceded the right within certain limits, of searching suspected slavers car rying the American flag, and the most liberal grants in men and money were made to the Government for the prosecution of the war. The President had appointed military governors for several of the Border States, where public sentiment was divided, enjoining them to protect the loyal citizens, and to regard them as alone entitled to a voice in the direction of civil affairs. Public sentiment throughout the loyal States sustained the action of Congress and the President, as adapted to the emergency, and well calculated to aid in the suppres- sion of the rebellion. At the same time it was very evi- dent that the conviction was rapidly gaining ground that slavery was the cause of the rebellion ; that the para- mount object of the conspirators against the Union was to obtain new guarantees for the institution ; and that it was this interest alone which gave unity and vigor to the rebel cause. A very active and influential party at the North had insisted from the outset that the most direct way of crushing the rebellion was by crushing slavery, and they had urged upon the President the adoption of a policy of immediate and unconditional emancipation, as the only thing necessary to bring into the ranks of the Union armies hundreds of thousands of enfranchised slaves, as well as the great mass of the people of the Northern States who needed this stimulus of an appeal to their moral sentiment. After the adjournment of Con- gress these demands became still more clamorous and importunate. The President was summoned to avail himself of the opportunity offered by the passage of the Confiscation Bill, and to decree the instant liberation of State Papers op Abraham Lincoln. 253 every slave belonging to a rebel master. These demands soon assumed, with the more impatient and intemperate portion of the friends of the Administration, a tone of complaint and condemnation, and the President was charged with gross and culpable remissness in the dis- charge of duties imposed upon him by the act of Con- gress. They were embodied with force and effect in a letter addressed to the President by Hon. Horace Greeley, and published in the New York Tribune of the 19th of August, to which President Lincoln made the following reply :— Executive Mansion, Washington, August 22, 1862. Hon. Horace Greeley : Dear Sir — I have just read yours of the 19th instant, addressed to ray- self through the New York Tribune. If there be in it any statements or assumptions of fact which I may know to be erroneous, I do not now and here controvert them. If there be any inferences which I may believe to be falsely drawn, I do not now and here argue against them. If there be perceptible in it an impatient and dictatorial tone, I waive it in deference to an old friend whose heart I have always supposed to be right. As to the policy I " seem to be pursuing," as you say, I have not meant to leave any one in doubt. J would save the Union. I would save it in the shortest way under the Constitution. The sooner the national authority can be restored, the nearer the Union will be — the Union as it was. If there be those who would not save the Union unless they coulA at the same time save slavery, I do not agree with them. If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could at U: S same time destroy slavery, I do not agree with them. My paramount object is to save the Union, and not either to save or t* destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it — if I co aid save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it — and if I could do it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would also do that. What I do about slavery and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save this Union ; and what I forbear, I forbear because I io not Ve)ieve it would help to save the Union. I shall do less whenever I shall believe what I am doing hurts the cause, and I shall do more whenever I believe doing more v~ help the cause. I shall try to correct errors when shown to be errors, and I eh ail adopt tew views so fast as they shall appear to be true views. 254 The Life, Public Services, anb I nave here stated my purpose according to my views of official duty and I intend no modification of my oft-expressed personal wish that i£ men everywhere could be tree. Yours, A. Lincoln. It was impossible to mistake the President's meaning after this letter, or to have any doubt as to the policy by which he expected to re-establish the authority of the Constitution over the whole territory of the United States His " paramount object," in every thing he did and ir» every thing he abstained from doing, was to u save tha Union." He regarded all the power conferred on him by Congress in regard to slavery, as having been conferred to aid him in the accomplishment of that object — and he was resolved to wield those powers so as best, according to his own judgment, to aid in its attainment. He for bore, therefore, for a long time, the issue of such a proc- lamation as he was authorized to make by the sixth sec tion of the Confiscation Act of Congress — awaiting the developments of public sentiment on the subject, and being especially anxious that when it was issued it should receive the moral support of the great body of the people of the whole country, without regard to party distinctions. He sought, therefore, with assiduous care, every opportunity of informing himself as to the drift of puWic sentiment on this subject. He received and conversed freely with ail who came to see him and to urge upon him the adoption of their peculiar views ; and on the 13th of September gave formal audience to a depu- tation from all the religious denominations of the City of Chicago, which had been appointed on the 7th, to wait upon him. The committee presented a memorial request- ing him at once to issue a proclamation of universal eman- cipation, and the chairman followed it by some remarks in support of this request. The President listened attentively to the memorial, and then made to those who had presented it the following reply :— The subject presented in the memorial is one upon which I have tho^ht much for wfceks past, and 7 *xiay even say for months. I am approached State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 255 with the most opposite opinions and advice, and that by religions men, who are equally certain that they represent the Divine will. I am sure that either the one or the other class is mistaken in that belief, and per- haps in some respects both. I hope it will not be irreverent for me to Bay 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 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 ! These are not, however, the days of miracles, and I suppose it will be granted that I am not to expect a direct revelation. I must study the plain physical facts of the case, ascertain what is possible, and learn what appears to be wise and right. The subject is difficult, and good men do not agree. For instance, the other day, four gentlemen of standing and intelligence from New York called as a delegation on business connected with the war; but before leaving two of them earnestly besought me to proclaim general emanci- pation, upon which the other two at once attacked them. You know also that the last session of Congress had a decided majority of anti- slavery men, yet they could not unite on this policy. And the same ia true of the religious people. Why, the rebel soldiers are praying with a great deal more earnestness, I fear, than our own troops, and expect- ing 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 as the evident sincerity of those he was among in their prayers. But we will talk over the merits of the case. What good would a proclamation of emancipation from me do, espe- cially as we are now situated? I do not want to issue a document that the whole world will see must necessarily be inoperative, like the Pope's bull against the comet ! Would my word free the slaves, when I cannot even enforce the Constitution in the rebel States? Is there a single court, or magistrate, or individual that would be influenced by it there? And what reason is there to think it would have any greater offeot upon the slaves than the late law of Congress, which I approved, and which offers protection and freedom to the slaves of rebel masters who come within our lines ? Yet I cannot learn that that law has caused a single slave to come over to us. And suppose they could be induced by a proc- lation of freedom from me to throw themselves upon us, what should we do with them? How can we feed and care for such a multitude? General Butler wrote me a few days since that he was issuing more rations to the slaves who have rushed to him than to all the white troops under his command. They eat, and that is all ; though it is true General Butler is feeding the whites also by the thousand ; for it nearly amounts to a famine there. If, now, the pressure of the war should call off our forces from New Orleans to defend some other point, what is to prevent the masters from reducing the blacks to slavery again ? for I 256 The Life, Public Services, and am told that whenever the rebels take any black prisoners, free or slave, they immediately auction them off! They did so with those they took from a boat that was aground in the Tennessee River a few days ago. And then I am very ungenerously attacked for it! For instanoe, when, after the late battles at and near Bull Run, an expedition went out from Washington under a flag of truce to bury the dead and bring in the wounded, and the rebels seized the blacks wlio ^ent along to help, ani* sent them into slavery, Horace Greeley said in his paper that the Govern- ment would probably do nothing about it. What could I do? Now, then, tell me, if you please, what possible result of good would follow the issuing of such a proclamation as you desire ? Understand, I raise no objections against it on legal or constitutional grounds, for, as commander-in-chief of the army and navy, in time of war I suppose 1 have a right to take any measure which may best subdue the enemy ; nor do I urge objections of a moral nature, in view of possible conse- queDces of insurrection and massacre at the South. I view this matter as a practical war measure, to be decided on according to the advantages or disadvantages it may offer to the suppression of the rebellion. The Committee replied to these remarks, insisting that a proclamation of emancipation would secure at once the sympathy of Europe and the civilized world ; and that as slavery was clearly the cause and origin of the rebel- lion, it was simply just, and in accordance with the word of God, that it should be abolished. To these remarks the President responded as follows : — I admit that slavery is at the root of the rebellion, or at least its ains gud non. The ambition of politicians may have instigated them to act, b:it they would have been impotent without slavery as their instrument. I will also concede that emancipation would help us in Europe, and con- vinoe them that we are incited by something more than ambition. I grant, further, that it would help somewhat at the North, though not so much, I fear, as you and those you represent imagine. Still, some addi- tional strength would be added in that way to the war, and then, un- questionably, it would weaken the rebels by drawing off their laborers, which is of great importance ; but I am not so sure we could do much with the blacks, if we were to arm them, I fear that in a few weeks the arms would be in the hands of the rebels ; and, indeed, thus far, we have not had arms enough to equip our white troops. I will mention another thing, though it meet only your scorn and contempt. There are fifty thousand bayonets in the Union army irom the Border Slave States It would be a serious matter if, in consequence of a proclamation such 10 yon desire, they should go over to the rebels, I do not think they ali State Paeees of Abraham Lincoln. 257 wcrald —not so many, indeed, as a year ago, or as six months ag not sc many to- day as yesterday. Every day increases their Union Ueling, They are also getting their pride enlisted, and want to beat the rebels. Let me say one thing more : I think you should admit that we already have an important principle to rally and unite the people, in the fact that constitutional government is at stake. This is a fundamental idea goinfc down about as deep as any thing. The Committee replied to this in some "brief remarks, te winch the President made the following response : — Do not misunderstand me because I have mentioned these objection*. They indicate the difficulties that have thus far prevented my action ia some such way as you desire. I hove not decided against a proclamation of liberty to the slaves, but hold the matter under advisement. And 1 can assure you that the subject is on my mind, by day and night, mora than any other. Whatever shall Appear to be God's will I will do. I trust that in the freedom with which I have canvassed yonr views I have not in any respect injured your fefiings. After free deliberation, and being satisfied that the public welfare would be promoted by such a step, and that public sentiment would sustain it, on the 22d of Sep- tember the President issued the following preliminary ?P£OLAMATION OF EMANCIPATION. I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States of America, and Oommander-in Chief of the army and navy thereof, do hereby proclaim and declare that hereafter, as heretofore, the war will be prosecuted for the object of practically restoring the constitutional relation between the United States and each of the States, and the people thereof, in which States that relation is or may be suspended or disturbed. That it is my purpose, upon the next meeting of Congress, to again recommend the adoption of a practical measure tendering pecuniary aid to the free acceptance or rejection of all slave States, so called, the people whereof may not then be in rebellion against the United States, and which States may then have voluntarily adopted, or thereafter may vol- untarily adopt, immediate or gradual abolishment of slavery within their respective limits; and that the effort to colonize persons of African descent, with their consent, upon this continent or elsewhere, with the previously obtained consent of the governments existing there, will be continued. That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any Stat*, or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion II 258 The Life, Public Services, and against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free; and the Executive Government of the United States, including the mili- tary and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acta to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom. That the Executive will, on the first day of January aforesaid, by pr<>«> lamation, designate the States and parts of States, if any, in A'hioh lb* people thereof respectively shall then be in rebellion against the United States; and the fact that any State, or the people thereof, shall on that day be in good faith represented in the Congress of the United States, by ] iembers chosen thereto at elections wherein a majority of the qualified voters of such State shall have participated, shall, in the absence of strong countervailing testimony, be deemed conclusive evidence that such State, and the people thereof, are not then in rebellion against the United States. That attention is hereby called to an act of Congress entitled "An Act to make an additional Article of War," approved March 13th, 1862, and which act is in the words and figures following : — Be it enacted by the Senate and Rouse of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That hereafter the following shall be promulgated as an additional article of war for the government of the army of the United States, and shall be obeyed and observed ad such : — Section 1. — All officers or persons in the military or naval service of the United States are prohibited five recited. /nd the Executive will in due time recommend that all citizens of the United States who shall have remained loyal thereto throughout the rebellion, shall (upon the restoration of the constitutional relation be- tween the United States and their respective States and people, if that relation shall have been suspended or disturbed) be compensated for all losses by acts of the United States, including the loss of slaves. In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the City of Washington, this twenty-second day of Sep- tember, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and [l. s.] sixty-two, and of the Independence of the United States the eighty-seventh. Abeaham Lincoln. By the President : William H. Sewabd, Secretary of State. The issuing of this proclamation created the deepest interest, not nnmixed with anxiety, in the public mind. The opponents of the Administration in the loyal States, as well as the sympathizers with secession everywhere, insisted that it afforded unmistakable evidence that the object of the war was, what they had always declared it to be, the abolition of slavery, and not the restoration of the Union ; and they put forth the most vigorous efforts to arouse public sentiment against the Administration on this ground. They were met, however, by the clear and explicit declaration of the document itself, in which the President " proclaimed and declared" that " hereafter, as heretofore, the war will be prosecuted for the object of practically restoring the constitutional relation between 260 The Life, Public Services, and the United Slates and each of the States and the people thereof, in which that relation is or may be suspended or disturbed." This at once made it evident that emancipa- tion, as provided for in the proclamation, as a war meas- ure, was subsidiary and subordinate to the paramount object of the war — the restoration of the Union and the re-establishment of the authority of the Constitution ; and in this sense it was favorably received by the great body of the loyal people of the United States. I It only remains to be added, in this connection, that ot the 1st of January, 1863, the President followed this measure by issuing the following PROCLAMATION. Whereas, on the 22d day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, a proclamation was issued by the President of the United States, containing, among other things, the fol lowing, to wit: — That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any States or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free ; and the Executive Government of the United States, in eluding the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to re- press such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom. That the Executive will, on the first day of January aforesaid, by proc- lamation, designate the States and parts of States, if any, in which the people thereof respectively shall then be in rebellion against the United States ; and the fact that any State, or the people thereof, shall on that day be in good faith represented in the Congress of the United States, by members chosen thereto at elections wherein a majority of the qualified voters of such State shall have participated, shall, in the absence o;' strong countervailing testimony, be deemed conclusive evidence that sue.'- State, and the people thereof, are not then in rebellion against the United States. Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, by virtue of the power in me vested as commander-in-chief of the army and navy of the United States in time of actual armed rebellion against the authority and Government of the United States, and as a fit and necessary war measure for suppressing said rebellion, do, on this first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and in accordance with my purpose so to do, publicly pro- claimed for the full period of one hundred days from the day first above State Papeks of Abraham Lincoln. 261 mentioned, order and designate, as the States and parts of States wherein the people thereof respectively are this day in rebellion against the United States, the following, to wit: Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana (except the parishes of St. Bernard, Plaque- mines, Jefferson, St. John, St. Charles, St. James, Ascension, Assumption, Terra Bonne, Lafourche, Ste. Marie, St. Martin, and Orleans, including thfc City of New Orleans), Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia (except the forty-eight countiei designated as West Virginia, and also the counties of Berkeley, Accomac, Northampton, Elizabeth City, York, Princess Anne, and Norfolk, inclu- ding the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth), and which excepted parts are for the present left precisely as if this proclamation were not issued. And by virtue of the power and for the purpose aforesaid, I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States and parts of States are, and henceforward shall be, free; and that ihe Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons. And I hereby enjoin upon the people so declared to be free to abstain from all violence, unless in necessary self-defence; and I recommend to them that, in all cases when allowed, they labor faithfully for reasonable wages. And I further declare and make known that such persons, of suitable condition, will be received into the armed service of the United States, to garrison forts, positions, stations, and other places, and to man vessels of all sorts in said service. And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted oy the Constitution upon military necessity, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind, and the gracious favor of Almighty God. In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my name, and caused the ical of the United States to be affixed. Done at the City of Washington, this first day of January, in the year , of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixtTy-three, ai-d of the independence of the United States the eighty-seventh. By the President: Abraham Lihcol*. William II. Sewabd, Secretary of State. 262 The Life, Public Services, and CHAPTER IX. THE MILITARY ADMINISTRATION OF 1862. -THE PRESIDENT A> j GENERAL MoCLELLAN. General MoClbllan succeeds McDowell. — The President's Order fob an Advance. — The Movement to the Peninsula. — Rebel Evacuation of Manassas. — Arrangements for the Peninsular Movement. — The President's Letter to General MoOlellan. — The Rebel Strength AT YORKTOWN. THE BATTLE OF WlLLIAMSBURG. McClELLAN'S FEAR of being Overwhelmed. — The President to McClellan. — Jackson's Raid in tee Shenandoah Vallet. — The President to McClellan. — Seven Pines and Fair Oaks. — MoClellan's Complaints of Mc- Dowell. — His Continued Delays. — Prepares for Defeat. — Calls for more Men. — His Advice to the President. — Preparations to Concentrate the Army.— -General Halleck to McClellan. — Ap- pointment of General Pope. — Imperative Orders to McClellan.— MoClellan's Failure to aid Pope. — His Excuses for Delay. — Pro- poses to leave. — Pope unaided. — Excuses for Franklin's Delay. — His Excuses proved Groundless. — His alleged Lack of Supplies. — Advance into Maryland.— The President's Letter to McClellan. — He Protests against Delay. — McClellan relieved from Com- mand. — Speech by the President. The repulse of the national forces at the battle oi Bull Run in July, 1861, aroused the people of the loyal States to a sense of the magnitude of the contest which had been forced upon them. It stimulated to intoxication the pride and ambition of the rebels, and gave infinite encourage ment to their efforts to raise fresh troops, and increase the military resources of their Confederation. Nor did the reverse the national cause had sustained for an instant damp the ardor or-check the determination of the Govern- ment and people of the loyal States. General McDowell, the able and accomplished officer who commanded the army of the United States in that engagement, conducted the operations of the day with signal ability ; and his defeat was due, as subsequent disclosures have clearly shown, far more to accidents for which others were re- State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 263 sponsible, than to any lack of skill in planning the hat- tie, or of courage and generalship on the field. But it was the first considerable engagement of the war, and its loss was a serious and startling disappointment to the sanguine expectations of the people : it was deemed neces- sary therefore, to place a new commander at the head of the army in front of Washington. General McClellan, who had been charged, at the outset of the war, with operations in the Department of the Ohio, and who had achieved marked success in clearing Western Virginia of the rebel troops, was summoned to Washington on the 22d of July, and on the 27th assumed command of the Army of the Potomac. Although then in command only of a department, General McClellan, with an ambition and a presumption natural, perhaps, to his age and the circumstances of his advancement, addressed his atten- tion to the general conduct of the war in all sections of the country, and favored the Government and Lieut enant- General Scott with several elaborate and meritorious let- ters of advice, as to the method most proper to be pur- sued for the suppression of the rebellion. He soon, how- ever, found it necessary to attend to the preparation of the army under his command for an immediate resumption of hostilities. Fresh troops in great numbers speedily poured in from the Northern States, and were organized and disciplined for prompt and effective service. The number of troops in and about the Capital when General McClellan assumed command, was a little over fifty thou - eand, and the brigade organization of General McDowell I ormed the basis for the distribution of these new forces. By the middle of October this army had been raised to over one hundred and fifty thousand men, with an artil- lery force of nearly five hundred pieces — all in a state of excellent discipline, under skilful officers, and animated by a zealous and impatient eagerness to renew the contest for the preservation of the Constitution and Government of the United States. The President and Secretary of War had urged the division of the army into corps (Parmee, for the purpose of more effective service ; but 264. The Life, Public Services, and General McClellan had discouraged and thwarted their endeavors in this direction, mainly on the ground that there were not officers enough of tried ability in the army to be intrusted with such high commands as this division would create. On the 22d of October, a portion of our forces which had been ordered to cross the Potomac above Washing- ton, in the direction of Leesburg, were met by a heavy force of the enemy at Ball' s Bluff, repulsed with severe loss, and compelled to return. The circumstances of this disaster excited a great deal of dissatisfaction in the pub- lic mind, and thi.3 was still further aggravated by the fact that the rebels had obtained, and been allowed to hold, complete control of the Potomac below Washington, so as to establish a virtual and effective blockade of the Capital from that direction. Special efforts were repeat- edly made by the President and Navy Department to clear the banks of the river of the rebel forces, known to be small in number, which held them, but it was found impossible to induce General McClellan to take any steps to aid in the accomplishment of this result. In October he had promised that on a day named, four thousand troops should be ready to proceed down the river to co- operate with the Potomac flotilla under Captain Craven ; but at the time appointed the troops did not arrive, and General McClellan alleged, as a reason for having changed his mind, that his engineers had informed him that so large a body of troops could not be landed. The Secre- tary of the Navy replied that the landing of the troop* was a matter of which that department assumed th responsibility ; and it was then agreed that the troops should be sent down the next night. They were not sent, however, either then or at any other time, for which General McClellan assigned as a reason the fear that such an attempt might bring on a general engagement. Cap- tain Craven upon this threw up his command, and the Potomac remained closed to the vessels and transports of the United States until it was opened in March of the next year by the voluntary withdrawal of the rebel forces. State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 265 On the 1st of November, General McClellan was ap- pointed by the President to succeed General Scott in the command of all the armies of the Union, remaining in personal command of the Army of the Potomac. Hia attention was then of necessity turned to the direction of army movements, and to the conduct of political affairs, .so far as they came under military control, in the more distant sections of the country. But no movement took place in the Army of the Potomac. The season had been unusually favorable for military operations — the troops were admirably organized and dis ciplined, and in the highest state of efficiency — in num bers they were known to be far superior to those of the rebels opposed to them, who were nevertheless permit- ted steadily to push their approaches towards Washing- ton, while, from the highest officer to the humblest pri- vate, our forces were all animated with an eager desire to be led against the enemies of their country. As winter approached without any indications of an intended move- ment of our armies, the public impatience rose to the> highest point of discontent. The Administration was everywhere held responsible for these unaccountable de- lays, and was freely charged by its opponents with a de- sign to protract the war for selfish political purposes of its own ; and at the fall election the public dissatisfaction made itself manifest by adverse votes in every considera- le State where elections were held. Unable longer to endure this state of things, President Lincoln put an end to it on the 27th of January, 1862, by issuing the following order : — Executive Mansion, Washington, January 27, 184S2. Ordered, That the twenty-second day of February, 1862, be the day for a general movement of the land and naval forces of the Unitf tl States against the insurgent forces. That especially the army at and about For- tress Monroe, the Army of the Potomac^ the Army of Western Virginia, the army near Munfordsville, Kentucky, the army and flotilla at Cairo, »nd a naval force in the Gulf of Mexico, be ready to move on that day. That all other forces, both land and naval, with their respective com- manders, obey existing orders for the time, and be ready to obey addi- tional orders when duly given. 266 The Life, Public Services, and That the heads of departments, and especially the Secretaries of "Wai and of the Navy, with all their subordinates, and the General-in-Chief with all other commanders and subordinates of land and naval force? will severally be held to their strict and full responsibilities for prompt execution of this order. Abraham Lisooln. This order, which applied to all the armies of the Uni- ted States, was followed four days afterwards by the fol lowing special order directed to General McClellan : — ExEotrrrvB Mansion, Washington, January 81, 1662. Ordered, That all the disposable force of the Army of the Potomac, after providing safely for the defence of Washington, be formed into an expedition for the immediate object of seizing and occupying a point upon the railroad southwest of what is known as Manassas Junction, all details to be in the discretion of the Commander-in-Chief, and the expe- dition to move before or on the twenty-second day of February next. Abraham Lincoln. The object of this order was to engage the rebel army in front of Washington by a flank attack, and by its de- feat relieve the Capital, put Richmond at our mercy, and break the main strength of the rebellion by destroying the principal army arrayed in its support. Instead of obeying it, General McClellan remonstrated against its execution, and urged the adoption of a different plan of attack, which was to move upon Richmond by way of the Chesapeake Bay, the Rappahannock River, and a land march across the country from Urbana, leaving the. rebel forces in position at Manassas to be held in check, if they should attempt a forward movement, only by the troops in the fortifications around Washington. As the result of several conferences with the President, he ob- tained permission to state in writing his objections to his plan — the President meantime sending him the following letter of inquiry : — Kxboutivb Mansion, "Washington, February 8. 1M1 My Dear Sir: — You and I have distinct and different plans for a movement of the Army of the Potomac : yours to be done by the Chesa- peake, up the Rappahannock to Urbana, and across land to the terminus of the railroal on the York River ; mine to move directly to a point on the railroad southwest of Manassas. State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 267 li you will give satisfactory answers to the following questions, I shall gladly yield my plan to yours : — 1st. Does not your plan involve a greatly larger expenditure of time *nd nconry than mine? 2d. W herein is a victory more certain by your plan than mine ? 3d. Wherein is a victory more valuable by your plan than mine? 4th. In fact, would it not be less valuable in this : that it would break ao great line of the enemy's communications, while mine would? 5th. In case of disaster, would not a retreat be more difficult by your plan than mine ? Yours, truly, Abraham Lincoln. Major-General McOlellan. General McClellan sent to the Secretary of War, un- der date of February 3d, a very long letter, presenting strongly the advantage possessed by the rebels in hold- ing a central defensive position, from which they could with a small force resist any attack on either flank, con- centrating their main strength upon the other for a deci- sive action. The uncertainties of the weather, the neces- sity of having long lines of communication, and the prob- able indecisiveness even of a victory, if one should be gained, were urged against the President's plan. So strongly was General McClellan in favor of his own plan of operations, that he said he "should prefer the move from Fortress Monroe as a base, to an attack upon Ma- nassas." The President was by no means convinced by General McClellan' s reasoning; but in consequence of his steady resistance and unwillingness to enter upon the execution of any other plan, he assented to a submission of the matter to a council of twelve officers held late in February, at head-quarters. The result of that council was, a decision in favor of moving by way of the lower Chesapeake and the Rappahannock — seven of the Gen- erals present, viz., Fitz-John Porter, Franklin, W. F. Smith, McCall, Blenker, Andrew Porter, and Naglee, voting in favor of it, as did Keyes also, with the qualifi- cation that the army should not move until the rebels were driven from the Potomac, and Generals McDowell, Sumner, Heintzelman, and Barnard, voting against it. In this decision the President acquiesced, and on the 268 The Life, Public Services, and 8tli of March issued two general war orders, the first directing the Major-General commanding the Army of the Potomac to proceed forthwith to organize that part of said army destined to enter upon active operations into four army corps, to be commanded, the first "by General McDowell, the second by General Sumner, the third by leneral Heintzelman, and the fourth by General Keyes. General Banks was assigned to the command of a fifth corps. It also appointed General Wadsworth Military Governor at Washington, and directed the order to be " executed with such promptness and dispatch as m t to delay the commencement of the operations already di- rected to be undertaken by the Army of the Potomac. ' The second of these orders was as follows : — Executive Mansion, "Washington, March 8, 1862. Ordered, That no change of the base of operations of the Army of the Potomac shall be made without leaving in and about Washington such a force as, in the opinion of the General-in-Chief and the com- manders of army corps, shall leave said city entirely secure. That no more than two army corps (about fifty thousand troops) ot said Army of the Potomac shall be moved en route for a new base of operations until the navigation of the Potomac, from Washington to the Chesapeake Bay, shall be freed from the enemy's batteries, and other obstructions, or until the President shall hereafter give express per- mission. That any movement as aforesaid, en route for a new base of operations, which may be ordered by the General-in-Chief, and which may be in- tended to move upon the Chesapeake Bay, shall begin to move upon the y as early as the eighteenth March instant, and the General-in-Chief ihall be responsible that it moves as early as that day. Ordered, That the army and navy co-operate in an immediate effort to capture the enemy's batteries upon the Potomac between Washington and the Chesapeake Bay. Abraham Lincoln. L. Thomas, Adjutant- General. This order was issued on the 8th of March. On the 9th, information was received by General McClellan, at Washington, that the enemy had abandoned his position in front of that city. He at once crossed the Potomac, and on the same night issued orders for an immediate ad- vance of the whole army towards Manassas — not with ►State Pappus of Abraham Lincoln. 2&J any intention, as lie lias since explained, of pursuing the rebels, and taking advantage of their retreat, but to "gel rid of superfluous baggage and other impediments which accumulate so easily around an army encamped for a long time in one locality"— to give the troops " some expe- rience on the march and bivouac preparatory to the cam- paign," and to afford them also a "good intermediate step between the quiet and comparative comfort of the camps around Washington and the vigor of active opera- tions."* These objects, in General McClellan's opinio j were sufficiently accomplished by what the Prince de Joinville, of his staff, styles a "promenade" of the army to Manassas, where they learned, from personal inspec- tion, that the rebels had actually evacuated that position ; and on the 15th, orders were issued for a return of the forces to Alexandria. On the 11th of March, the President issued another or- der, stating that "Major-General McClellan having per- sonally taken the field at the head of the Army of the Potomac, until otherwise ordered, he is relieved from the command of the other military departments, retaining command of the Department of the Potomac." Major- General Halleck was assigned to the command of the De- partment of the Mississippi, and the Mountain Depai v ment was created for Major-General Fremont. All the commanders of departments were also required to report directly to the Secretary of War. On the 13th of March, a council of war was held at head-quarters, then at Fairfax Court-House, by which V was decided that, as the enemy had retreated behind t .Rappahannock, operations against Richmond could becu be conducted from Fortress Monroe, provided : — 1st. That the enemy's vessel, Merrimac, can be neutralized. 2d. That the means of transportation, sufficient for an immediate trans fer of the force to its new base, can be ready at Washington and Alexan- dria to move down the Potomac ; and, 3d. That a naval auxiliary force can be had to silence, or aid in silen •ing, the enemy's batteries on the York River. * See General MciTlellafc s Report, dated Aueust 4, 1863. 270 The Life, Public Services, and 4th. That the forcfl to be left to eovor Washington shall be such as tc ifive an entire feeling of security for its safety from menace. Note. — That with the forts on the right bank of the Potomac fully garrisoned, and those on the left bank occupied, a covering force in front of the Virginia line of twenty-five thousand men would suffice. (Keyes, Heintzelman, and McDowell.) A total of forty thousand men for the defenco of the city would iufEse (Sumner.) Upon receiving a report of this decision, the following oinmunication was at once addressed to the commanding general : — War Department, March 18, 1862. The President having considered the plan of operations agreed upon by yourself and the commanders of army corps, makes no objection to the same, but gives the following directions as to its execution : — 1st. Leave such force at Manassas Junction as shall make it entirely certain that the enemy shall not repossess himself of that position aD 1 line of communication. 2d. Leave Washington entirely secure. 3d. Move the remainder of the force down the Potomac, choosing » new base at Fortress Monroe, or anywhere between here and there; or, at all events, move such remainder of the array at once in pursuit of tb * enemy by some route. Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War. Major-General George B. MoOlellan. It will readily be seen, from these successive orders, that the President, in common with the whole country, had been greatly pained by the long delay of the Army of the Potomac to move against the enemy while en- camped at Manassas, and that this feeling was converted itp chagrin and mortification when the rebels were a lowed to withdraw from that position without the slightest molestation, and without their design being even suspected until it had been carried into complete and suc- cessful execution. He was impatiently anxious, there- fore, that no more time should be lost in delays. In reply to the Secretary of War, General McClellan, before embarking for the Peninsula, communicated his intention of reaching, without loss of time, the field of what he believed would be a decisive battle, which he expected state Papers of Abraham Lincoln 271 to fight between West Point and Richmond. On the 31st of March, the President, out of deference to the importu- nities of General Fremont and his friends, and from a be- lief that this officer could make good use of a larger force than he then had at his command in the Mountain Depart- ment, ordered General Blenker's division to leave the Army of the Potomac and join him ; a decision which h< announced to General McClellan in the following let ter .— Executive Mansion, Washington, March 81, 1862. My Dear Sir: — This morning I felt constrained to order Blenker'i division to Fremont, and I write this to assure you that 1 did so with great pain, understanding that you Avould wish it otherwise. If you could know the full pressure of the case, I am confident that you would justify it, even beyond a mere acknowledgment that the Commander-in-Ohie/ may order what he pleases. Yours, very truly, A. Lincoln. Major-General McClellan. Genera] Banks, who had at first been ordered by Gen- eral McClellan to occupy Manassas, and thus cover Washington, was directed by him, on the 1st of April, to throw the rebel General Jackson well back from Win- chester, and then move on Staunton at a time " nearly coincident with his own move on Richmond ;" though General McClellan expressed the fear that General Banks "could not be ready in time" for that movement. The four corps of the Army of the Potomac, destined for acth operations by way of the Peninsula, were ordered to em bark, and forwarded as rapidly as possible to Portress Monroe. On the 1st of April, General McClellan wrote to the Secretary of war, giving a report of the dispositions he had made for the defence of Washington ; and on the 2d, General Wadsworth submitted a statement of the forces under his command, which he regarded as entirely inade- quate to the service required of them. The President re- ferred the matter to Adjutant- General Thomas and Genera] E. A. Hitchcock, who made a report on the same day, in which they decided that the force left by General McClel- lan was not sufficient to make Washington " entirely 272 The Life, Public Services, and secure," as the President had required in his ordei ol March 13 ; nor was it as large as the council of officers held at Fairfax Court- House on the same day had ad- j udged to be necessary. In accordance with this decision, and for the purpose of rendering the Capital safe, the army -jorps of General McDowell was detached from General 1 cClellan's immediate command, and ordered to report to the Secretary of War. On reaching Fortress Monroe, General McClellan found Commodore Goldsborough, who commanded on that naval station, unwilling to. send any considerable portion of his force up the York River, as he was employed in watching the Merrimack, which had closed the James River against us. He therefore landed at the Fortress, and commenced his march up the Peninsula, having reached the Warwick River, in the immediate vicinity of Yorktown, which had been fortified, and was held by a rebel force of about eleven thousand men, under General Magruder— a part of them, however, being across the river at Gloucester. He here halted to reconnoitre the position ; and on the 6th wrote to the President that he had but eighty-five thousand men fit for duty — that the whole line of the Warwick River was strongly fortified — that it was pretty certain he was to "have the whole force of the enemy on his hands, probably not less than a hundred thousand men, and probably more," and that e should commence siege operations as soon as he could ^et up his train. He entered, accordingly, upon this work, telegraphing from time to time complaints that he was not properly supported by the Government, and asking for re-enforcements. On the 9th of April, President Lincoln addressed him the following letter : — ■Washington, April 9, 1662. My Dear Sir : — Your dispatches, complaining that you are not prop- erly sustained, while they do not offend me, do pain me very much. Blenker's division was withdrawn from you before you left here, and you know the pressure under which I did it, and, as I thought, acqui- esced in it — certainly not without reluctance. After 70a left, I ascertained that less than twenty thousand unorgajr State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 273 ixed men, without a single field battery, were all you designed to be left for the defence of Washington and Manassas Junction, and part of thii even was to go to General Hooker's old position. General Banks's <;orps, once designed for Manassas Junction, was diverted and tied up on the line of Winchester and Strasburg, and could not leave it without again exposing the Upper Potomac and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. This presented, or would present, when McDowell and Sumner should be gone, a great temptation to the enemy to turn back from the Rappahannock an& sack Washington. My implicit order that Washington should, by th judgment of all the commanders of army corps, be left entirely secure, had been neglected. It was precisely this that drove me to detain Mr j Do well. I do not forget that I was satisfied with your arrangement to leave Banks at Manassas Junction : but when that arrangement was broken up, and nothing was substituted for it, of course I was constrained to substitute something for it myself. And allow me to ask, do you really think I should permit the line from Richmond, vid Manassas Junction, to this city, to be entirely open, except what resistance could be presented by less than twenty thousand unorganized troops? This is a question which the country will not allow me to evade. There is a curious mystery about the number of troops now with you. When I telegraphed you on the sixth, saying you had over a hundred thousand with you, I had just obtained from the Secretary of War a state- ment taken, as he said, from your own returns, making one hundred and eight thousand then with you and en route to you. You now say you will have but eighty -five thousand when all en route to you shall have reached you. How can the discrepancy of twenty-throe thousand be accounted for? As to General Wool's command, I understand it is doing for you pre- cisely what a like number of your own would have to do if that command was away. I suppose the whole force which has gone forward for you is with you by this time. And if so, I think it is the precise time for you to strike a blow. By delay, the enemy will relatively gain upon you — that is, be will gain faster by fortifications and re-enforcements than you can by re- enforcements alone. And once more let me tell you, it is indispensable to you that you strike a blow. I am powerless to help this. You will do me the justice to remember I always insisted that going down the bar in search of a field, instead of fighting at or near Manassas, was only shifting and not surmounting a difficulty ; that we would find the same enemy, aiui the same or equal intrenchments, at either place. The coun- try will not fail to note, is now noting, that the present hesitation to move upon an intrenched enemy is but the story of Manassas repeated. 1 beg to assure you that I have never written you or spoken to you in greater kindness of feeling than now, nor with a fuller purpose to sustair 18 274 1/he Life, Public Services, and you, so far as, in my most anxious judgment, I consistently can. Bu you must act. Yours, very truly, Abraham Lincoln. Major-General MoClellan. In this letter the President only echoed the impatience and eagerness of the whole country. The most careful inquiries which General Wool, in command at Fortress Monroe, had been able to make, satisfied him that "York iiown was not held by any considerable force ; and sub- sequent disclosures have made it quite certain that this force was so utterly inadequate to the defence of the position, that a prompt movement upon it would have caused its immediate surrender, and enabled our army to advance at once upon Richmond. General McClellan decided, however, to approach it by a regular siege ; and it was not until this design had become apparent, that the rebel Government began to re-enforce Magruder.* He * The following extract from the official report of Major-General Magru ler, dated May 3d, 1862, and published by order of the Confederate Congress, is con- clusive as to the real strength of the force which General McClellan had in front of him at Yorktown : — Headquarters, Department of the Peninsula, ) Lee's Farm, May 8, 1862. General 8. Cooper, A. and I. G. 0. 8. A. : General :— Deeming it of vital importance to hold Yorktown on York Eiver, and Mulberry Island on James River, and to keep the enemy in check by an intervening line until the author ltles might take such steps as should be deemed necessary to meet a serious advance of the ene my in the Peninsula, I felt compelled to dispose of my forces in such a manner as to accomplish these objects with the least risk possible under the circumstances of great hazard which sur- rounded the little army 1 commanded. I had prepared, as my real line of defence, positions in advance at Ilarwood's and Young'l Mills. Both flanks of this line were defended bv boggy and difficult streams and swamps. * * In my opinion, this advanced line, with its flank defence^ might have been held , twenty thousand troops. * * * Finding tnyforc.es too weak to attempt the de it of this line, I was compelled to prepare to receive the enemy on a second lino on War- wick Eiver. This line was incomplete in its preparations. Keeping then only small bodies of troops at Harwood's and Young's Mills, and on Ship Point, I distributed my remaining forcei along the Warwick line, embracing a front from Yorktown to Minor's farm of twelve miles, and from the latter place to Mulberry Island Point one and a half miles. I was compelled U place in Gloucester Point, Yorktown, and Mulberry Is ; and, fixed garrisons, amounting to six thou- tand men, my whole force being eleven tlwusand. so that it will be seen thai the balance of th* line, embracing a length of thirteen miles, was defended by about five thousand ■MA After the reconnoissances in great force from Fortress Monroe and Newport News, the enonv, •a the 8d of April, advanced and took possession of Harwood's Mill He advanced in two heavy •oluinns, one along the old York road, and the other along the Warwick road, and on the 6th ef April appeared simultaneously along the whole pnrt of our line from Minor's farm to Yorktowt I La/e no accurate data upon which to bw «->i exact statement of his force; bit from varioal State Pajhks os Abraham Lincoln. 275 continued his applications to the Government for more troops, more cannon, more transportation — ail which were sent forward to him as rapidly as possible, being taken mainly from McDowell's corps. On the 14th of April, General Franklin, detached from that corps, reported to General McClellan, near Yorktown, but his troops re- mained on board the transports. A month was spent in this way, the President urging action in the most earnest manner, and the commanding general delaying from day to day his reiterated promises to commence operations immediately. At last, on the morning of the 4th of May, it was discovered that the rebels had been busy for a day or two in evacuating Yorktown, and that the last of their columns had left that place, all their supply trains hav- ing been previously removed on the day and night pre- ceding. General McClellan, in announcing this event to the Government, added that " no time would be lost" in the pursuit, and that he should "push the enemy to the wall." General Stoneman, with a column of cavalry, was at once sent forward to overtake the retreating enemy, which he succeeded in doing on the same day, and was repulsed. On the 5th, the forces ordered for- ward by General McClellan came up, and found a very strong rear-guard of the rebels strongly fortified, about two miles east of Williamsburg, and prepared to dispute the advance of the pursuing troops. It had been known •ourcea of information I was satisfied that I had before me the enemy's Army of the Potomac, under the command of General McClellan, with the exception of the two corps d'armee of ftanks and McDowell respectively — forming an aggregate number certainly of not leas than one oundred thousand, since ascertained to have been one hundred and twenty thousand men. On every portion of my lines he attacked us with a furious cannonading and musketry, which was responded to with effect by our batteries and troops of the line. His skirmishers also were well thrown forward on this and the succeeding day, and energetically felt our whole line, but were everywhere repulsed by the steadiness of our troops. Thus, with Jive thousand men, exclusive of the garrisons, we stopped arid held in check over one hundred thousand of th4 enemy. Every preparation was made in anticipation of another attack by the enemy. Th« men slept in the trenches and under arms, but, to my utter surprise, he permitted day after day to elapse vrithout an assault. In a few days the object of his delay was apparent. In every direction in front of our lines, through the intervening woods and along the open fields, earthwork* began to appear. Through the energetic action of the Government re-enforcements began to pour in, and e>.ich hour Vie army of the Peninsula grew stronger and stronger, until anxiety passed from 7»j as to the result of an attack upon us. * * * J. Baskhead Maqbitdkb, Major- General. ^76 The Life, Public Services, and from tlie beginning that a very formidable line of forta had been erected here, and it ought to have been equally well known by the commanding general that the retreat- ing enemy would avail himself of them to delay the pursuit General McClellan, however, had evidently anticipated no resistance. He remained at his head-quar- ters, two miles in the rear of Yorktown, until summoned by special messenger in the afternoon of the 5th, who announced to him that our troops had encountered the enemy strongly posted, that a bloody battle was in progress, and that his presence on the field was impera- tively required. Replying to the messenger that he had supposed our troops in front " could attend to that little matter," General McClellan left his head-quarters at about half-past two, p. m., and reached the field at five. Gen- eral Hooker, General Heintzelman, and General Sumner had been fighting under enormous difficulties, and with heavy losses, during all the early part of the day ; and just as the commanding general arrived, General Kearney had re- enforced General Hooker, and General Hancock had executed a brilliant ilank movement, which turned the fortunes of the day, and left our forces in possession of the field. General McClellan does not seem to have understood that this affair was simply an attempt of the rebel rear- guard to cover the retreat of the main force, and that when it had delayed the pursuit it had accomplished its whole purpose. He countermanded an order for the advance of two divisions, and ordered them back to Yorktown ; and in a dispatch sent to the War Depart- ment the same night, he treats the battle as an engage- ment with the whole rebel army. "I find," he says, 1 ' General Joe Johnston in front of me in strong force, probably greater, a good deal, than my own." He again complains of the inferiority of his command, says he will do all he can " with the force at his disposal," and that he should "run the risk of at least holding them in check here (at Williamsburg) while he resumed the original plan" — which was to send Franklin to West Point by State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 277 water. Bat the direct pursuit of the retreating rebel aimy was abandoned — owing, as the General said, to the bad state of the roads, which rendered it impracticable. Some five days were spent at Williamsburg, which en- abled the rebels, notwithstanding the "state of the roads," to withdraw their whole force across the Chick- . i hominy, and establish themselves within the fortifica. lions in front of Richmond. On the morning of the 7th, General Franklin landed at West Point, but too late tc intercept the main body of the retreating army ; he was met by a strong rear-guard, with whom he had a sharp but fruitless engagement. The York River had been selected as the base of operations, in preference to the James, because it "wa& in a better position to effect a junction with any troops that might move from Washington on the Fredericksburg line ;"* and arrangements were made to procure supplies* for the army by that route. On the 9th, Norfolk was evacuated by the rebels, all the troops withdrawing in safety to Richmond ; and the city, on the next day, was occupied by General Wool. On the 11th, the formidable steamer Merrimack, which had held our whole naval force at Fortress Monroe completely in check, was blown up by the rebels themselves, and our vessels attempted to reopen the navigation of the James River, but were repulsed by a heavy battery at Drury's Bluff, eight .iles below Richmond. After waiting for several days I or the roads to improve, the main body of the army waa put in motion on the road towards Richmond, which was about forty miles from Williamsburg ; and, on the 16th, head-quarters were established at White House, at the point where the Richmond Railroad crosses the Pamun- key, an affluent of the York River— the main body of the army lying along the south bank of the Chickahominy, a swampy stream, behind which the rebel army had in- trenched itself for the defence of Richmond. General McClellan began again to prepare for fighting * Sae General McCle!tep'« testimony— Report of Committee oe 0o»4uet o f th$ War, yqI I, p. 431. 278 The Life. Public Services, and the " decisive battle' 1 which he had been predicting evei since the rebels withdrew from Manassas, but which they had so far succeeded in avoiding. A good deal of his at- tention, however, was devoted to making out a case of neglect against the Government. On the 10th of May, when he had advanced but three miles beyond Williams- burg, he sent a long dispatch to the War Department, reiterating his conviction that the rebels were about to dispute his advance with their whole force, and asking for " every man' ' the Government could send him. If not re-enforced, he said he should probably be "obliged to fight nearly double his numbers strongly intrenched." Ten days previously the official returns showed that he had one hundred and sixty thousand men under his com- mand. On the 14th, he telegraphed the President, reit- erating his fears that he was to be met by overwhelming numbers, saying that he could not bring more than eighty thousand men into the field, and again asking for " every man" that the War Department could send him. Even if more troops should not.be needed for -military pur- poses, he thought a great display of imposing force in the capital of the rebel government would have the best moral effect. To these repeated demands the President, through the Secretary of War, on the 18th of May, made the following reply : — Washington, May 18—2 p. n General: — Your dispatch to the President, asking re-enforceraenU bas been received and carefully considered. The President is not willing to uncover the Capital entirely ; and it i. believed that even if this were prudent, it would require more time to effect a junction between your army and that of the Rappahannock by the way of the Potomac and York River, than by a land march. In order, therefore, to increase the strength of the attack upon Richmond at the earliest moment, General McDowell has been ordered to march upon that city by the shortest route. He is ordered, keeping himself always in posi- tion, to save the Capital from all possible attack, so to operate as to put his left wing in communication with your right wing, and you are in structed to co-operate so as to establish this communication as soon as possible by extending your right wing to the north of Richmond. It is believed that this communication can be safely established eitnei yorth or south of the Paraunkey River. State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 279 fn any event, you will be able to prevent the main body of the enemy's forces from leaving Richmond, and falling in overwhelming force upon General McDowell. He will move with between thirty-fivo and fort) thousand men. A copy of the instructions to General McDowell are with this. The gpecific task assigned to his command has been to provide against any danger to the capital of the nation. At your earliest call for re- enforcements, he is sent forward to co-oper- ate in the reduction of Richmond, but charged, in attempting this, not to uncover the City of Washington, and you will give no order, either before or after your junction, which can put him out of position to cover this ■jity. You and ho will communicate with each other by telegraph or otherwise, as frequently as may be necessary for sufficient co-operation. When General McDowell is in position on your right, his supplies must be drawn from West Point, and you will instruct your staff officers to be prepared to supply him by that route. The President desires that General McDowell retain the command of the Department of the Rappahannock, and of the forces with which he moves forward. By order of the President. Edwin M. Stanton. In reply to this, on the 21st of May, General McClellan repeated his declarations of the overwhelming force of the rebels, and urged that General McDowell should join him by water instead of by land, going down the Rappa- hannock and the bay to Fortress Monroe, and then ascend- ing the York and Pamunkey Rivers. He feared there was " little hope that he could join him overland in time for the coming battle. Delays," he says, "on my part will be dangerous : I fear sickness and demoralization. This region is unhealthy for Northern men, and unless cept moving, I fear that our soldiers may become dis- couraged" — a fear that was partially justified by the ex- perience of the whole month succeeding, during which he kept them idle. He complained also that McDowell was not put more completely under his command, and declared that a movement by land would uncover Wash- ington quite as completely as one by water. He was busy at that, time in bridging the Chickahominy, and gave no instructions, as required, for supplying McPew ell's forces on their arrivil ! f West Point 280 The Life, Punic Services, and To these representations lie received fiom the Presi dent the following reply : — Washington May 24, 1862. I left General McDowell's camp at dark last evening. Shields's com- mand is there, but it is so worn that he cannot move before Mondaj morning, the 26th. We have so thinned our line to get troops for other places that it was broken yesterday at Front Royal, with a probable lost (o us of one regiment infantry, two companies cavalry, putting Genera- Banks in some peril The enemy's forces, under General Anderson, now opposing Genera. I McDowell's advance, have, as their line of supply and retreat, the road U \ Richmond. If, in conjunction with McDowell's movement against Anderson, you could send a force from your right to cut off the enemy's supplies from Richmond, preserve the railroad bridge across the two fords of the Pa- munkey, and intercept the enemy's retreat, you will prevent the army now opposed to you from receiving an accession of numbers of nearly fifteen thousand men ; and if you succeed in saving the bridges, you will secure a line of railroad for supplies in addition to the one you now have. Can you not do this almost as well as not, while you are building the Chickahominy bridges ? McDowell and Shields both say they can, and positively will move Monday morning. I wish you to move cautiously and safely. You will have command of McDowell, after he joins you, precisely as you indicated in your long dispatch to us of the 21st. A. Lincoln, President. Major-General G. B. MoOlellan. General Banks, it will be remembered, had been sent by General McClellan, on the 1st of April, to guard the ap- proaches to Washington by the valley of the Shenandoah, which were even then menaced by Jackson with a con , siderable rebel force. A conviction of the entire insn ffi I ciency of the forces left for the protection of the Capital' had led to the retention of McDowell, from whose com- mand, however, upon General McClellan' s urgent and impatient applications, General Franklin's division had been detached. On the 23d, as stated in the above letter *rom the President, there were indications of a purpose on Jackson's part to move in force against Banks ; and this purpose was so clearly developed, and his situation became so critical, that the President was compelled to State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 281 re-enforce him, a movement which he announced in the following dispatch to General McCleilan :— - May 24, 1862.— (From "Washington, 4 p. m.) In consequence of General Banks's critical position, I have been com filled to suspend General McDowell's movements to join you. Th% enemy are making a desperate push upon Harper's Ferry, and we are trying to throw General Fremont's force, and part of General McDowell's, in their rear. A. Lincoln, President. Major-General G. B. MoOlkllan. Unable, apparently, or unwilling to concede any tmng whatever to emergencies existing elsewhere, General McCleilan remonstrated against the diversion of McDow- ell, in reply to which he received, on the 26th, the following more full explanation from the President : — "Washington, May 25, 1S62. Your dispatch received. General Banks was at Strasburg with about six thousand men, Shields having been taken from him to swell a col- umn for McDowell to aid you at Richmond, and the rest of his force scattered at various places. On the 23d, a rebel force, of seven thousand to ten thousand, fell upon one regiment and two companies guarding the bridge at Port Royal, destroying it entirely: croused the Shenandoah, and on the 24th, yesterday, pushed on to get north of Banks on the road to Winchester. General Banks ran a rjv.ce with them, beating them into Winchester yesterday evening. This morning a battle ensued between the two forces, in which General Banks was beaten back into full retreat towards Martinsburg, and probacy is broken up into a total rout. Geary, on the Manassas Gap Railroad, just now reports that Jackson is now near Front Royal with ten thousand troops, following up and supporting, as 1 i\ lerstand, the force now pursuing Banks. Also, that another force at ten thousand is near Orleans, following on in the same direction. Stripped bare, as we are here, I will do all we can to prevent them cross- ing the Potomac at Harper's Ferry or above. McDowell has about twenty thousand of his forces moving back to the vicinity of Port Royal, and Fremont, who was at Franklin, is moving to Harrisonburg — both these movements intended to get in the enemy's rear. One more of McDowell's brigades is ordered through here to Harper's Ferry ; the rest of his forces remain for the present at Fredericksburg. We are sending such regiments and dribs from here and Baltimore as we can spare to Harper's Ferry, supplying their places in some sort, calling in militia from the adjacent States. We also have eighteen cannon on the road to Harper's Ferry, of which arm there is not a single one at that point. This is now our situation. 282 The Life, Public Services, and Tf McDowell's force was now beyond onr reach, we should b* entirety helpless. Apprehensions of something like this, and no unwillingness to sustain yon, has always been my reason for withholding McDowell'i forces from you. Please understand this, and do the best you can with the forces yon b,';ve. A. Lincoln, President. Miyor-General MoOlkllan. Jackson continued his triumphant march through the Shenandoah Valley, and for a time it seemed as if noth- ing could prevent his crossing the Potomac, and making his appearance in rear of Washington. The President promptly announced this state of things to General Mo Clellan in the following dispatch : — Washington, May 25, 1862—2 p. u. The enemy is moving north in sufficient force to drive General Bank* tvfifore him ; precisely in what force we cannot tell. He is also threaten- ing Leesbnrg and Geary on the Manassas Gap Railroad, from both north and south; in precisely what force we cannot tell. I think the move- ment is a general and concerted one. Such as would not be if he was acting upon the purpose of a very desperate defence of Richmond. I tliiok the time is near when you must either attack Richmond or give up the job, and come to the defence of Washington. Let me hear from vou instantly. A. Lincoln. To this General McClellan replied that, independently of the President's letter, "the time was very near when he should attack Richmond." He knew nothing of Banks' s position and force, hut thought Jackson' s move ment was designed to prevent re- enforcements being sen I to him. On the 26th, the President announced to General Mc- Clellan the safety of Banks at Williamsport, and then turned his attention, with renewed anxiety, to the move- ment against Richmond, urging General McClellan, if possible, to cut the railroad between that city and the Rappahannock, over which the enemy obtained their supplies. The General, on the evening of the 26th, in- formed him that he was " quietly closing in upon the enemy preparatory to the last struggle" — that he felt forced to take every possible precaution against disaster, State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 283 and that his " arrangements for the morrow were very important, and if successful would leave him free to strike on the return of the force attacked." The move- ment here referred to was one against a portion of the rebel forces at Hanover Court-House, which threatened McDowell, and was in a position to re-enforce Jackson. The expedition was under command of General Fitz-John Porter, and proved a success. General McClellan on the 28th announced it to the Government as a " complete rout" of the rebels, and as entitling Porter to the highest honors. In the same dispatch he said he would do his best to cut off Jackson from returning to Richmond, but doubted if he could. The great battle was about to be fought before Richmond, and he adds : "It is the policy And the duty of the Government to send me by water all the well-drilled troops available. All unavailable troops should be collected here." Porter, he said, had cut all the railroads but the one from Richmond to Fred- ericksburg, which was the one concerning which the President had evinced the most anxiety. Another expedition was sent to the South Anna River and Ashland, which destroyed some bridges without op- position. This was announced to the Government by General McClellan as another "complete victory " achiev- ed by the heroism of Porter — accompanied by the state- ment that the enemy were even in greater force than he had supposed. "I will do," said the dispatch, "ail thai quick movements can accomplish, and you must send me all the troops you can, and leave to me full latitude as to choice of commanders." In reply, the President sent him the following : — Washington, May 28, 186J. I am very glad of General F. J. Porter's victory ; still, if it was a total rout of the enemy, I am puzzled to know why the Richmond and Fred- ericksburg Railroad was not seized again, as you say you have all the railroads but the Richmond and Fredericksburg. I am puzzled to see how, lacking that, you can have any, except the scrap from Richmond to West Point. The scrap of the Virginia Central, from Richmond to Han- over Junction, without more, is simply nothing. That the whole of thf «n©iny is concentrating on Richmond. I think, cannot be o>"**tnly know* 284 The Life, Public Services, and to you or me. Saxton, at Harper's Ferry, informs us that large forces* ■apposed to be Jackson's and Ewell's, forced Ms advance from Charles- iown to-day. General King telegraphs us from Fredericksburg that con- trabands give certain information that fifteen thousand left Hanovet J~ notion Monday morning to re-enforce Jackson. I am painfully im- pressed with the importance of the struggle before you, and shall aid yoa all I can consistently with my view of the due regard to all points. A. Lincoln. Major-Genera) JIcClellan. To a dispatch reporting the destruction of the South Anna Railroad bridge, the President replied thus : — Washington, Aay 29, 1868. Your dispatch as to the South Anna and Ashland being seized by our forces this morning is received. Understanding these points to be on the Richmond and Fredericksburg Railroad, I heartily congratulate the country, and thank General McOlellan and his army for their seizure. A. Lincoln. On the 30th, General McClellan telegraphed to the Sec- retary of War, complaining that the Government did not seem to appreciate the magnitude of Porter's victory, and saying that his army was now well in hand, and that " another day will make the probable field of battle pass able for artillery." On the 25th of May, General Keyes with the Fourth Corps had been ordered across the Chickahominy, and was followed by the Third, under General Heintzelman — cue division of the Fourth, under General Casey, being pushed forward within seven miles of Richmond, to Seven Pines, which he was ordered to hold at all hazards. On the 28th, General Keyes was ordered to advance Casey's Division three-quarters of a mile to Fair Oaks. General Keyes obeyed the order, but made strong representations to head- quarters of the extreme danger of pushing these troops so far in advance without adequate support, and requested that General Heintzelman might be brought within sup- porting distance, and that a stronger force might be crossed over the Chickahominy to be in readiness for the general engagement which these advances would be very likely to bring on. These requests were neglected, and Genera] State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 285 Keyes was regarded and treated as an alarmist. On the afternoon of the 30th he made a personal examination ot liis front, and reported that he was menaced by an over- whelming force of the enemy in front and on both Hanks, and he again urged the necessity for support, to which he received a very abrupt reply that no moTe troops would be crossed over, and that the Third Corps would not be ad- vanced unless he was attacked. At about noon the next day he was attacked on both flanks and in front, General Casey's Division driven back with heavy loss, and in spite of a stubborn and gallant resistance on the part of his corps, General Keyes was compelled to fall back with severe losses, some two miles, when the enemy was check- ed, and night put an end to the engagement. On hearing the firing at head-quarters, some four miles distant, Gen- eral McClellan ordered General Sumner to hold his com- mand in readiness to move. General Sumner not only did so, but moved them at once to the bridge, and on receiv- ing authority crossed over, and, by the greatest exertions over muddy roads, reached the field of battle in time to aid in checking the rebel advance for the night. Early the next morning the enemy renewed the attack with great vigor, but the arrival of General Sumner, and the advance of General Heintzelman' s Corps, enabled our forces, though still greatly inferior, not only to repel the assault, but to inflict upon the enemy a signal defeat. They were driven back in the utmost confusion and with terrible losses upon Richmond, where their arrival created the utmost con- sternation, as it was taken for granted they would be immediately followed by our whole army. General McClellan, who had remained with the main body of the army on the other side of the Chickahominy during the whole of the engagements of both days, crossed the river after the battle was over, and visited the field. "The state of the roads," he says, "and the impossibil- ity of manoeuvring artillery, prevented pursuit.' ' He re- turned to head-quarters in the afternoon. On the next day, June 2d, General Heintzelman sent forward a strong reconnoitring party under General Hooker, wliich went 286 The Life, Public Services, and within four miles of Richmond without finding any en em 7. Upon being informed of this fact, General McCle] • Ian ordered the force to fall back to its old position, assigning the bad state of the roads as the reason for not, attempting either to march upon Richmond, or even to hold the ground already gained. In a dispatch to Wash • ingt-on on the 2d, he states that he " only waits for th«3 river to fall to cross with the rest of the army and make a general attack. The morale of my troops," he adds, is now such that I can venture much. I do not fear for odds against me." It seems to have been his intention then, to concentrate his forces for an immediate advance upon the rebel capital, though in his report, written mora than a year afterwards, he says the idea of uniting the two wings of the army at that time for a vigorous mov* upon Richmond was " simply absurd, and was probably never seriously entertained by any one connected with the Army of the Potomac."* The Government at once took measures to strengthen the army by all the means available. An order was issued, placing at his command all the disposable forces at Fortress Monroe, and another ordering McDowell to send McCalP s division to him by water from Fredericksburg. McDowell or Fremont was expected to fight Jackson at Front Royal, after which, part of their troops would become available for the Army of the Potomac. On the 4th, General McClellan telegraphed that it was raining, that the river was still high, that he had "to be very cautious," that .he expected another severe battle, and hoped, after our I icavy losses, he " should no longer be regarded as an 'alarmist." On the 5th, the Secretary of War sent him word that troops had been embarked for him at Baltimore, to which he replied on the 7th, " / shall be in perfect ? eadiness to moveforward and lake Richmond the moment McCall reaches here, and the ground will admit the pas- sage of artillery" .On the 10th, General McCaH's forces began to arrive at White House, and on the same day * See General MeClelian'g Report. August 4, 1861. State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 287 General McClellan telegraphed to the department that a rumor had reached him that the rebels had been re-enforced by Beauregard — that he thought a portion of Hal leek' n army from Tennessee should be sent to strengthen him but that he should " attack with what force he had, aa soon as the weather and ground will permit — but ther<> will be a delay," he added, "the extent of which no on ■ can foresee, for the season is altogether abnormal." The Secretary of War replied that Halleck would be urged to comply with his request if lie could safely do so — that neither Beauregard nor his army was in Richmond, that McDowell's force would join him as soon as possible, that Fremont had had an engagement, not wholly successful, with Jackson, and closing with this strong and cordial assurance of confidence and support : — Be assured, General, that there never has been a moment when my df ■ire has been otherwise than to aid you with my whole heart, mind, ai d strength, since the hour we first met ; and whatever others may say tor their own purposes, you have never had, and never can have, any ou« more truly your friend, or more anxious to support you, or more joyful than I shall be at the success which, I have no doubt, will soon be achieved by your arms. On the 14th, General McClellan wrote to the War Department that the weather was favorable, and thai two days more would make the ground practicable. H still urges the propriety of sending him more troops, bu finds a new subject of complaint in a telegram he had received from McDowell. The latter, on the 8th, had received the following orders : — The Secretary of War directs that, having first provided adequately for the defence of the City of Washington and for holding the position at Fredericksburg, you operate with the residue of your force as speedily a? possible in the direction of Richmond to co-operate with Major-Genera? McClellan, in accordance with the instructions heretofore given you. Mt CalVs Division, which has been by previous order directed towards Rich mond by water, will still form a part of the Army of the Rnpixihrnmoek, and will come under your orders when you are in a position to rn-operatj with General McClellan. 288 The Life, Public Services, and General McDowell had telegraphed McClellan as foi lows on the 10th of June : — For the third time I am ordered to join you, and hope this time to get through. In view of the remarks made with reference to my leaving you, and not joining you hefore, by your friends, and of something I have heard as coming from you on that subject, I wish to say, I go with the greatest satisfaction, and hope to arrive with my main body in tim to be of service. McCall goes in advance by water. I will be with yo in ten days with the remainder by Fredericksburg. And again, June 12th :— The delay of Major-General Banks to relieve the division of my com- mand in the valley beyond the time I had calculated on, will prevent my joining you with the remainder of the troops I am to take below at as early a day as I named. My Third Division (McCall's) is now on the way. Please do me the favor to so place it that it may be in a 2 ) osition to join the others as they come flown from Fredericksburg. These telegrams, it will be seen, are in accordance with the orders to McDowell of the 8th, which directed that McCall's Division should continue to form part of the Army of the Rappahannock, and required that McDowell should operate in the direction of Richmond, to co-oper- ate with McClellan in accordance with instructions here- tofore given him. These instructions are those of the 17th and 18th of May, concerning which McClellan sent to the President *his long telegram of the 21st, in which he says : — This fact (McDowell's forces coming within his department), my supe- rior rank, and the express language of the sixty-second article of war, will place his command under my orders, unless it is otherwise specially directed by your Excellency, and I consider that he will be under my command, except that I am not to detach any portion of his forces, or give any orders which can put him out of position to cover Washington To this the President answered : — Yon will have command of McDowell after he joins you, precisely ai jrou indicated in your long dispatch to us of the 21st. In regard to this, McClellan, in his report (August 4tb, 1863), aajs;- State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 289 This information, that McDowell's Corps would march from Fiodericks- burg on the following Monday — the 28th — and that he would be under my command as indicated in my telegram of the 21st, was cheering news, and I now felt confident that we would, on his arrival, be sufficiently strong to overpower the large army confronting us. Yet in the simple request of McDowell, as to the posting of his Third (McCall's) Division — made to carry out the plan — the news of which, McClellan says, was so cheering, and inspired him with such confidence, Mc- Clellan sees nothing but personal ambition on McDowell's part, and protests against that " spirit " in the following terms: — That request does not breathe the proper spirit. Whatever troops come to me must be disposed of so as to do the most good. I do not feel that, in such circumstances as those in which I am now placed, General McDowell should wish the general interests to be sacrificed for the pur- pose of increasing his command. If I cannot fully control all his troops, I want none of them, hut icould prefer to fight the battle with what I have, and let others be responsible fot the results. The department lines should not be allowed to interfere with me ; bnl General McD., and all other troops sent to me, should be placed complete- ly at my disposal, to do with them as I think best. In no other way cai *hey be of assistance to me. I therefore request that I may have entire and full control. The stake at issue is too great to allow personal con- siderations to be entertained : you know that I have none. It had been suggested, in some of the journals of the day, that General McDowell might possibly advance upon Richmond from the north, without waiting for McClellan : it is scarcely possible, however, that any suspicion of such a purpose could have had any thing tt do with General McClellan' s reiterated and emphatic desire that McDowell should join him by water, so as to be in his rear, and not by land, which would bring him on his front — with his peremptory demand that all Mc- Dowell's troops should be " completely at his disposal," with his indignant protest against McDowell's personal ambition, or with his conviction of the propriety and necessity of disavowing all personal considerations for himself. But it is certainly a little singular that a com- 19 200 The Life, Public Services, anu rnander, intrusted with an enterprise of such transcendent importance to Ids army and country, who had been so urgently calling for re-enforcements as absolutely indis- pensable to success, should have preferred not to receive them, but to fight the battle with what he had, rather than have the co-operation of McDowell under the two conditions fixed by the President, (1) that he should not deprive him of his troops, or, (2) post them so as to prevent their being kept interposed between the enemy and Washington. Even if he could leave " others to be responsible for the results," it is not easy to see how he could reconcile the possibility of adverse results with his professedly paramount concern for the welfare of hia country. On the 20th of June, he telegraphed the President that troops to the number of probably ten thousand had left Richmond to re-enforce Jackson ; that his defensive works on the Chickahominy, made necessary by his "inferiority of numbers," would be completed the next day ; and that he would be glad to learn the " disposi- tion, as to numbers and position, of the troops not under his command, in Virginia and elsewhere," as also to lay before his Excellency, "by letter or telegraph, his views as to the present state of military affairs throughout the whole country" To this he received the following reply :— Washington, June 21, 1S62— 6 p. u. Yi'ir dispatch of yesterday, two p. m., was received this morning. It it would not divert too much of your time and attention from the arm) ander your immediate command, I would be glad to have your views a* io the present state of military affairs throughout the whole country, aa vou say you would be glad to give them. I would rather it should be by setter than by telegraph, because of the better chance of secrecy. As to the numbers and positions of the troops not under your command in Virginia and elsewhere, even if I could do it with accuracy, which I cannot, I would rather not transmit, either by telegraph or letter, because of the ehances of its reaching the enemy. I would be very glad to talk nith you, bat you cannot leave your camp, and I cannot well leave here. A. Linocln, President. Major-General Gkokge B. MoClbxlas. » 1 ! I ' State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 291 The President also stated that the news of Jackson's having been re-enforced from Richmond was confirmed by General King at Fredericksburg, and added, "If this is true, it is as good as a re- enforcement to yon of an equal force." In acknowledging the first dispatch, Gen- eral McClellan said, he " perceived that it would be better to defer the communication he desired to make" on the condition of the country at large ; he soon, indeed, had occasion to give all his attention to the army under nis command. General McClellan had been, for nearly a month, de- claring his intention to advance upon Richmond imme- diately. At times, as has been seen from his dispatches, the movement was fixed for specific days, though in every instance something occurred, when the decisive moment arrived, to cause a further postponement. Gn the 18th, again announcing his intention to advance, he said that a "general engagement might take place at any hour, as an advance by us involves a battle more or less decisive." But in the same dispatch he said, "After to- morrow we shall fight the rebel army as soon as Provi- dence will permit." But in this case, as in every other, in spite of his good intentions, and the apparent permis- sion of Providence, General McClellan made no move- ment in advance, but waited until he was attacked. He had placed his army astride the Chickahominy — the left wing being much the strongest and most compact, the right being comparatively weak and very extended. He .had expended, however, a great deal of labor in bridging the stream, so that either wing could have been thrown across with great ease and celerity. Up to the 24th of June, General McClellan believed Jackson to be in strong force at Gordonsvilie, where he was receiving re-enforce- ments from Richmond with a view to operations in that quarter. But on that day he was told by a deserter that Jackson was planning a movement to attack his right and rear on the 28th, and this information was confirmed by advices from the War Department on the 25th. On that day, being convinced that he is to be attacked, and will hi J 292 The Life, Public Services, and therefore be compelled to fight, he writes to the Depart- ment to throw upon others the responsibility of an antici pated defeat. He declares the rebel force to be some two hundred thousand, regrets his " great inferiority of num- bers," but protests that he is not responsible for it, as he has repeatedly and constantly called for re enforcements, &nd declares that if the result of the action is a disaster, the " responsibility cannot be thrown on his shoulders, but must rest where it belongs." He closes by announ- cing that a reconnaissance which he had ordered had proved successful, that he should probably be attacked the next day, and that he felt "that there was no use in Again asking for re-enforcements." To tliis the President replied as follows : — Washington, June 2C, 1862. Your three dispatches of yesterday in relation, ending with the state ment that you completely succeeded in making your point, are very grati tying. The later one, suggesting the probability of your being over whelmed by two hundred thousand men, and talking of to whom the re gponsibility will belong, pains me very much. I give you all I can, and act on the presumption that you will do the best you can with what you have ; while you continue, ungenerously, I think, to assume that I could give you more if I would. I have omitted — I shall omit — no opportunity to send you re-enforcements whenever I can. A. Lincoln. General McClellan had foreseen the probability of be- ing attacked, and had made arrangements for a defeat. "More than a week previous," he says in his report, "that is, on the 18th," he had prepared for a retreat to the James River, and had ordered supplies to that point. His extreme right was attacked at Mechanicsville on the afternoon of the 26th, but the enemy were repulsed. The movement, however, disclosed the purpose of the rebel army to crush his light wing and cut off his communica- tions, if possible Two plans were open to his adoption : he might have brought over his left wing, and so strength- ened his right as to give it a victory, or he might have withdrawn his right across the Chickahominy — in itself a strong defensive line — and have pushed his whole force into ilk hmond, and upon the rear of the attacking force. Con- State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 293 (Yiitmtion seemed to be absolutely essential to success in any event. But he did not attempt it. He left the right wing to contend next day with thirty thousand men, without support, against the main body of the rebel army, and only withdrew it acioss the Chickahominy after it had been beaten with terrific slaughter on the 27th, in the battle of Gaines's Mill. On the evening of that day he informed his corps commanders of his purpose to fall back to the James River, and withdrew the remainder of his right wing across the Chicka- hominy. On the next day the whole army was put in motion on the retreat, and General McClellan found time again to reproach the Government with neglect of his army. If he had ten thousand fresh men to use at once, he said, he could take Richmond ; but, as it was, all he could do would be to cover his retreat. He repeated that he " was not responsible " for the result, and that he must have instantly very large re-enforcements ; and closed by saying to the Secretary of War — what we do not believe any subordinate was ever before permitted to say to his superior officer without instant dismissal — " If I save this army now, I tell you plainly that I owe no thanks to you or to any persons in Washington : you have done your best to sacrifice this army" To this dispatch the President replied as follows : — Washington, June 96, 1802. Save your army at all events. Will send re-enforcements as fast as we can. Of course they cannot reach you to-day, to-morrow, or next day. I have not said you were ungenerous for saying you needed re-enforce- ments; I thought you were ungenerous in assuming that I did not send them as fast as I could. I feel any misfortune to you and your army quite as keenly as you feel it yourself. If you have had a drawn battle or a repulse, it is the price we pay for the enemy not being in Washington. We protected Washington, and the enemy concentrated on you. Had we stripped Washington, he would have been upon us before the troops sent could have got to you. Less than a week ago you notified us that re- enforcements were leaving Richmond to come in front of us. It is the nature of the case, and neither you nor the Government is to blame. A. Lincoln. Under general orders from General McClellan, he and 294 The Life, Public Skuvioes, and his staff proceeding in advance, and leaving word wliere the corps commanders were to make successive stands to resist pursuit, but taking no part personally in any one of the succeeding engagements, the army continued its march towards James River. They first resisted and re- pulsed the pursuing rebels on the 29th at Savage Station, in a bloody battle, fought under General Sumner, and od the 30th had another severe engagement at Glendale On the 1st of July, our troops, strongly posted at Mai vera Hill, were again attacked by the rebels, whom thh n Porter, then under Pope, reported a battle imminent. At 10 a.m. on that day, he was told by Halleck, "that Franklin's Corps should march in that direction (Manas- sas) as soon as possible ;" and again at 12 p. m., he was further told by Halleck that " Franklin's Corps should move out by forced marches, carry iiig three or four days'' provisions, and to be supplied as far as possible by railroad" It is well to bear in mind these explicit orders, and the circumstances under which, and the object for which they were given, for General McClellan either seems to have forgotten them, or to have utterly failed to appre- ciate their importance. A battle reported by his favorite general, Fitz- John Porter, as imminent, within cannoD sound of where he was, — the road to the battle-field, a wide, straight, Macadam turnpike, well-known to both General McClellan and General Franklin, as each had been over it more than once, — the whole of the enemy and army which had been pressing Pope since the 9th, now concentrating to overwhelm him, — here, one would think, was every motive for him to do, as he claims to have done, every thing in his power to send re-enforce- ments forward, and to send them instantly. Why was it, then, that, at 7.15 p. m. on the 29th, more than two days after the order for it to go by forced marches to re-enforce an army engaged in battle, Frank- lin's Corps, was still at Anandale, about seven miles from Alexandria, and Franklin himself in Alexandria? Gen eral Halleck says it was all contrary to his orders, and McClellan acknowledges himself " responsible for botli these circumstances." In the mean time, Pope's forces fought the battles of the 27th, 28th, and 29th, and were now to fight that of the State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 307 80th without Franklin's help. Why was this? Were the orders to send Franklin out countermanded ? General Halleck says they were not. As it is never just to judge a person by the light obtained after the fact, let us see, so far as the correspondence enables us, what were the dif- ferent phases of the case as they presented themselves at the time. The intimation to McClellan on the 26th, that Franklin was to go to the front, was followed by the positive or- ! lers of the 27th, given at 10 a. m. and 12 m. On that day General McClellan reports that Generals Franklin, Smith, and Slocnm are all in Washington ; and that he had given orders to place the corps in readiness to march to the next in rank. At the same time, he reports heavy firing at Centreville. On the 28th, Halleck, learning that McClellan, who it seems had also gone to Washington, had not returned to Alexandria, sent orders to Franklin direct, to move with his corps that day (the 28th) towards Manassas Junction. On the 28th, at 3.30 p. m., Halleck informs McClellan that " not a moment must be lost in pushing as large a force as possible towards Manassas, so as to communicate with Pope before the enemy is re-enforced.' ^he same day, at 7.40 p. m., he again tells him : — There must be no further delay in moving Franklin's Corps towards Manassas. They must go to-morrow morning, ready or not ready. If wr delay too long to get ready, there will be no necessity to go at all, for Pope will either be defeated or victorious without our aid. If there is a want of wagons, the men must carry provisions with them till the wagon* «*.ome to their relief. There is no possible room for misunderstanding the in tention of the General-in-Chief from these orders. He wished, and ordered, that communication should be at once re-established with Pope, and Pope re-enforced in time to be of service. Why did not McClellan re-establish the communication, and re-enforce Pope in time to be of service ? Why did fie halt Franklin's Corps at Anandale ? He gives reasons for this in Ms telegram to Halleck of S08 The Life, Public Services, and August 29th. " By referring to my telegrams," he saysj " of 10.30 a. m., 12 m., and 1 p. M., together with youi leply of 2.48 p. m., you will see why Franklin' s Corps halt- fed at Anandale." Let us examine these telegrams in connection with the circumstances then existing. The first is as follows : — Camp near Alexandria, August 29, 10.80 a. k. Franklin's Corps are in motion ; started about six a. m. I can give him but two squadrons of cavalry. I propose moving General Cox to Upton's Hill to bold tbat important point with its works, and to push cavalry scouts to Vienna via Freeman's Hill and Hunter's Lane. Cox bas two squadrons of cavalry. Please answer at once wbether tbis meets your approval. I bave directed Woodbury, with the Engineer Brigade, to bold Fort Lyon. Sumner detached last night two regiments to the vicinity of Forts Ethan Allen and Marcy. Meagher's Brigade is still at Aquia. If Sumner moves in support of Franklin, it leaves us without any reliable troops in and near Washington ; yet Franklin is too weak alone. What shall be done ? No more cavalry arrived. Have but three squadrons be- longing to the Army of the Potomac. Franklin has but forty rounds of ammunition, and no wagons to move more. I do not think Franklin is In a condition to accomplish much if he meets strong resistance. I should not have moved him out for your pressing orders of last night. What iiave you from Vienna and Drainsville ? Geo. B. McClellan, Major- General. Major-General H. W. Halleok, General-in-Chief. To this Halleck replies : — "War Dhpartment, Washington, D. C, August 29 1862. Upton's Hill arrangement all right. We must send wagons and am- munition to Franklin as fast as they arrive. Meagher's Brigade ordered up yesterday. Fitzhugh Lee was, it is said on good authority, in Alex- andria on Sunday last for three hours. I hear nothing from Drainsville. H. W. Halleok, General-in-Chief. Major-General MoClellan, Alexandria. To this McClellan sends the second of the dispatches he refers to, as follows. There are two telegrams of the same date : — IIkad-Quap.teks Army Potomac, August 29, 1862, 12 m. Your telegram received. Do you wish the movement of Franklin's Corps to continue? Ho is without reserve ammunition, and without transportation. Geo. H. McClellan, Major- General. Major-General H. W. Halleok, General-in-Chief. State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 309 Head-Quarters Armt Potomac, J Alexandria, Virginia, August 29, 1S62, 12 x. j Have ordered most of the 12th Pennsylvania Cavalry to report to Gen. eral Bernard for scouting duty towards Rockville, Poolesville, &c If you apprehend a raid of cavalry on your side of river, I had hetter send a brigade or two of Sumner's to near Tennallytown. "Would it meet your views to post rest of Sumner's Corps between Arlington and Fort Corcoran, where they can either support Cox, Franklin, Chain Bridge, and even Tennallytown? Franklin has only ten thousand to eleven thousand ready for duty. How far do you wish the force to advance? Geo. B. MoClellan, Major- General U. 8. Army. Major-General Halleok, General-in- Chief. Then follows the telegram of 1 p. m. : — Head-Quarters near Alexandria, | August 29, 1 862, 1p.m. f I anxiously await reply to my last dispatch in regard to Sumner. Wis! to give order at once. Please authorize me to attach new regiments per- manently to my old brigades. I can do much good to old and new troops in that way. I shall endeavor to hold a line in advance of Forts Allen and Marsh, at least with strong advanced guards. I wish to hold the line through Prospect Hill, Marshall's, Miner's, and Hall's Hills. This will give us timely warning. Shall I do as seems lest to me with all the troops in this vicinity, including Franklin, who I really think ought not, under the present circumstances, to proceed oeyond Anandale t Geo. B. McClellan, Major- General. General Halleok, General-in- Chief. It certainly is not easy to discover in these dispatches any indications of a strong desire to re-enforce the Array of the Potomac, then fighting a battle in his front and within his hearing, but under another commander. They evince no special interest in the result of that battle, or the fate of that army — the army for which, while under his command, he had expressed so much affection, and whose defeat he afterwards declared, when he was again at its head, would be incomparably more disastrous to the nation than the capture of Washington itself. We find in these dispatches, which he cites in his own vindica- tion, no eyiienee to sustain the declaration of 14s report* 310 The Life, Public Services, and that from the moment of his arrival at Alexandria he u left nothing in his power undone to forward supplies and re-enforcements to General Pope." On the contrary, they seem to show that he had decided to do, what in a telegram of the same date he had suggested to the Presi- dent, "leave Pope to get out of his scrape," and devote himself exclusively to the safety of Washington.* He thinks any disposition of Franklin's and Sumner's troops wise, except sending them forward to re-enforce Pope. He is anxious to send them to Upton's Hill, to Chain Bridge, to Tennallytown, to Arlington, and Fort Corco- ran — anywhere and everywhere except where they were wanted most, and where alone they could assist in get- ting Pope "out of his scrape," and in saving the Army of the Potomac. It was natural and proper that he should give attention to the defence of Washington, for he had, as General Helleck says, "general authority over all the troops" that were defending it. But his special duty was "sending out troops from Alexandria to re-en- force Pope." Why did he give so much attention to the former, and so little to the latter duty ? Why was it that, from the time of his landing at Alexandria, not another man of his army joined Pope, or made a diversion in his favor, till after Pope had fallen back from Manassas and fought four battles without the aid he had a right to ex- pect, and which General McClellan was repeatedly and peremptorily ordered to give ? Those of McClellan' s forces which had reached Alex * On the 29th he had telegraphed to the President as follows : — I am clear that one of two courses should be adopted : First, to concentrate all our available forces to open communications with Pope ; second, to leave Pope to get out of ms scrape, and at once use all our means to make the Capi- tal perfectly safe. No middle ground will now answer. TeJl nv» what you wish me to do, and I will do all in my power to accomplish it. To this the President had thus replied :— Washington, August 29, 1862-4. 10 p u. Yours of to-day just received. I think your first alternative, to wit, " to concentrate all our available forces to open communication with Pope," is th« right one, but I wish not to control. That T now leave to General Halleck, aided by vour counsels. A- Lincqln. Major-General McCLEiiLiK State Papers of Abraham Lincoln, oil andria before him, or were there before his arrival, Stur- gis, Kearney, Hooker, and Heintzelman, had all gone forward and joined in these battles. Why conld not Franklin — all of whose movements were controlled by McClellan— do as much with him as his brother com- manders had done without him 1 The first thing that McClellan did, on reaching Alex- andria, in the discharge of his duties to send forward troops, was to stop those actually going ! In his dispatch of August 27th, nine o'clock p. m., he says to General ilaileck— " I found part of Cox's command under orders to take the cars : will halt it with Franklin until morn ing ! " And Cox never went out, though anxiously ex pected and under orders to move. What are the reasons given by McClellan for not sending, or not permitting Franklin to go ? On the 27th, at quarter past eleven p. m . immediately after the positive order was issued for Frank lin to move by forced marches and carry three or four days' provisions, McClellan says : — Franklin's artillery has no horses except for four guns without cais- §ons. I can pick up no cavalry. * * I do not see that we have force enough in hand to form a connection with Pope, whose exact position we 4o not know. A part of the perplexity he seems to have been in was removed that day at six o'clock p. m., when he received, as he says, a copy of a dispatch from Pope to Halleck, in which Pope says : "All forces now sent forward should be sent to my right at Gainesville." The next day, at one o'clock p. m., he telegraphs : — "I have been doing all possible to hurry artillery and cavalry. The moment Franklin can be started with a reasonable amount of artillery he •hall go." Again, at forty minutes past four of the 28th, he tele- graphs : — General Franklin is with me here. I will know in a few moments the condition of artillery and cavalry. We are not yet in a condition to move ; may be by to-morrow morning. 312 • The Life, Public Services, and A. few moments later, he says : — Your dispatch received. Neither Franklin's nor Sumner's Corps it now in a condition to move and fight a battle. It would be a sacrifice to send them out now I I have sent aids to ascertain the condition of Col- onel Ty.e». ; but I still think that a premature movement in small foro* will accomplish nothing but the destruction of the troops sent out. The small force (?) to which he refers consisted, as here- tofore stated, of Sumner's Corps of fourteen thousand and Franklin's of eleven thousand, a total of twenty -five thousand — not going to fight a battle "by itself, but to re- enforce an army already engaged, and constituting cer- tainly a handsome re-enforcement on any field. On the 29th, he says : — Franklin has but forty rounds of ammunition, and no wagons to move more. I do not think Franklin is in a condition to accomplish much if he meets strong resistance. I should not have moved him but for your pressing orders of last night. On this same day : — Do you wish the movement of Franklin's Corps to continue? He is without reserve ammunition and without transportation. It may be remarked here, that Franklin had not yet gone beyond Anandale — about seven miles — and had, as yet, neither come upon the enemy, nor joined the army in front, nor gained any information about either. If, there- fore, his movement was not to continue, it must be be- cause it was too hazardous, or because he had no reserve ammunition or transportation. So, it seems, it was General McClellan's judgment that Franklin cc^ild not be sent, as soon as he landed, to re- enforce Pope — because, first, he had his artillery only partially mounted ; second, he had no cavalry ; third, he had but forty rounds of ammunition, and no transporta- tion for more. The subsequent difficulties were, that he had no transportation for his reserve ammunition, and was too weak alone, and Sumner ought not to be sent to aupport him, as if would leave the Capital unprotected ! State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 313 It is fortunate some of McClellan' s Corps preceded him from the Peninsula, and arrived and marched before he came up. For, if not, two of the corps who joined Pope and fought under him would have been halted for the reascns that stayed Franklin. Kearney joined without artillery, and Pope ordered two batteries to be given him ; Porter had but forty rounds of ammunition — Heint- zelman joined without cavalry. "Why, may it be asked, were " neither Sumner's nor Franklin' s Corps in a condition to move and fight a bat- tle?" McClellan had been told that in embarking his troops he must see they were supplied with ammunition, "as they might have to fight as soon as they landed." The men were not fatigued by hard marches, nor ex- hausted with fighting and lack of food, as were then companions in front. What was there to prevent their going to re-enforce them, but the orders and pretexts for delay of General McClellan ? It will have been noticed that lack of transportation was at the bottom of the alleged difficulties. Transpor- tation was not required for supplies, for the men were ordered to carry their food with them. Is it not strange that, in view of the emergency of the case, some extraor- dinary means were not resorted to, to impress horses and wagons — if none existed in the hands of the Government — in the cities of Alexandria, Georgetown, and Washing- ton, where there was an abundance of both % Such things have been done even in this war, on much less important occasions than this one. But will not this plea seem stranger still when it is found that there was no need of pressing any private property into service — that there was plenty of public transportation on hand? Let the following dispatch show : — War Department, Washington, D. C, August 80, 186S. I am by no means satisfied with General Franklin's march of yester- day, considering the circumstances of the case. He was very wrong in stopping at Alexandria. Moreover, I learned last night that the Quarter- master's Department would have given him plenty of transportation if 314 The Life, Public Services, and he had applied for it any time since his arrival at Alexandria. He knew the importance of opening communication with General Pope's army, and should have acted more promptly. H. W. Halleok, General-in- Chief, Major-General McClellan, Alexandria. But most strange of all is, that General McClellan knew of there being public transportation at hand, and yet did not use it, even when the fate of a campaign depended upon it, and afterwards assigned the want of it as the reason for not obeying his orders to send re- enforcements. He says, in hip dispatch of August 30, to General Pope : — The quartermasters here (Alexandria) said there was none disposable. The difficulty seems to consist in the fact (lie adds), that the greater part of the transportation on hand at Alexandria and Washington has been needed for current supplies of the garrisons. The inference is irresistible that General McClellan, who had charge of every thing in and around Alexan- dria and Washington, thought it was better that the Army of the Potomac, under Pope, should not be re- enforced, and be defeated, than that the garrisons should be subjected to the slightest inconvenience ! The answer of General Halleck to the telegrams of Gen- eral McClellan, in which the latter made so many propo- sitions about the movements of Sumner's Corps and the disposition of Cox's force and the other troops for th<- defence of Washington, is as follows : — War Department, Washington, D. C., August 29, 1862. Your proposed disposition of Sumner's Corps seems to me judicious. Of course I have no time to examine into details. The present danger is a raid upon Washington in the night-time. Dispose of all troops as you deem best. I want Franklin's Corps to go far enough to find out something about the enemy. Perhaps he may get such information at Anandale as to prevent his going further. Otherwise, he will push on towards Fairfax. Try to get something from direction of Manassas eithei bj telegrams or through Franklin's scouts. Our people must move *> tively and find out where the enemy is. I am tired of guesses. H. W. Halleok, Oeneral-in- Chitf Major-General McCiStLAlT, Alexandria. State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 315 It is in tliis dispatch that General Mcdellan finds his authority to halt Franklin at Anandale. Franklin had been repeatedly ordered to join Pope, but had been de- layed by McClellan, who evidently did not intend he should get beyond his control if possible. In his telegram to Halleck of one o'clock p. m. of the 29th, he asks if he may do as seems to him best with all the troops in the vicinity of Alexandria, including Franklin — Franklin being still in the vicinity of Alexan- dria. Halleck, in giving him authority to dispose of all troops in his vicinity evidently refers to the disposition to be made of those for the forts and defences, for he pro- ceeds to say, I want " Franklin's Corps to go far enough to find out something about the enemy." Franklin's Corps did not go out far enough to learn any thing about the enemy. What he learned he picked up at Anandale from citizens, and probably from Banks's wagon-train, which passed him as it came from the front, which it seems it was able to do with safety at the time McClellan considered it too hazardous for forty thousand men to move to the front to join the army. It is unnecessary to pursue this matter any further, and show, as might easily be done, how similar delays were procured with respect to other troops which might have been sent to re-enforce Pope. It is sufficient to say that forty thousand men, exclusive of Burnside's force, wero thus — as it seems to us intentionally — withheld from Pop -« Relations op the War to Slavery. — Our Foreign Relations. — Proposed Mediation of the French Emperor. — Reply to the French Proposal. — Secretary Seward's Dispatch. — The Presi- dent's Letter to Fernando Wood. — Observance of the Sabbath In every other section of the country, except in East- ern Virginia, the military operations of the year 1862 were marked by promptitude and vigor, and attended by success to the National arms. Early in February, a lodg- ment had been effected by the expedition under General Burnside on the coast of North Carolina ; and, on the 19th of January, the victory of Mill Springs had released Western Kentucky from rebel rule, and opened a path for the armies of the Union into East Tennessee. The President's order of January 27th, for an advance of all the forces of the Government on the 22d of February, had been promptly followed by the capture of Forts Henry and Donelson on the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers, which led to the evacuation of Bowling Green, the surren-J der of Nashville, and the fall of Columbus, the rebel strong- hold on the Mississippi. Fort Pulaski, which guarded the entrance to Savannah, was taken, after eighteen hours' bombardment, on the 12th of April, and the whole west coast of Florida had been occupied by our forces. By the skilful strategy of General Halleck, commanding the Western Department, seconded by the vigorous activity of General Curtis, the rebel commander in Missouri, Gem eral Price, had been forced to retreat, leaving the whole of that State in our hands ; and he was badly beaten in a subsequent engagement at Sugar Creek in Arkansas. On the 14th, Island No. 10, commanding the passage of the State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 3 'J 7 Mississippi, was taken by General Pope ; and, 01 the 4th of June, Forts Pillow and Randolph, still lower down, were occupied by our forces. On the 6th, the city of Memphis was surrendered by the rebels. Soon after the fall of Nashville, a formidable expedition had ascended the Tennessee River, and, being joined by all the available Union forces in that vicinity, the whole, under command of General Halleck, prepared to give battle to the rebel army, which, swelled by large re- enforcements from every quarter, was posted in the vicin- ity of Corinth, ninety miles east of Memphis, intending by a sudden attack to break the force of the Union army, which was sweeping steadily down upon them from the field of its recent conquests. The rebels opened the attack with great fury and effect, on the morning of the 6th of April, at Pittsburg Landing, three miles in ad- vance of Corinth. The fight lasted nearly all day, the rebels having decidedly the advantage ; but in their final onset they were driven back, and the next day our army, strengthened by the opportune arrival of General Buell, completed what proved to be a signal and most im- portant victory. When news of it reached Washing ton, President Lincoln issued the following proclama tion : — It has pleased Almighty God to vouchsafe signal victories to the land and naval forces engaged in suppressing an internal rebellion, and at the *amo time to avert from our country the dangers of foreign intervention ind invasion. It is therefore recommended to the people of the United States, that at , t-ir next weekly assemblages in their accustomed places of public wor- ' .lp which shall occur after the notice of this Proclamation shall hav* been received, they especially acknowledge and render thanks to our Heavenly Father for these inestimable blessings ; that they then and then? implore spiritual consolation in behalf of all those who have been brought into affliction by the casualties and calamities of sedition and civil war; and that they reverently invoke the Divine guidance for our national counsels, to the end that they may speedily result in the restoration of peace, harmony, and unity throughout our borders, and hasten the estab- lishment of fraternal relations among all the countries of the earth. In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal sf the TjLited States to be affixed. 328 The Life, Public Services, and Done at the City of Washington, this tenth vlay of April, in th« [l. ».] year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty -two, and of the independence of the United States the eighty-sixth. Abraham Lincoln. By the President : Wm. H. Sewabd, Secretary of State. On the 28th of May the rebels evacuated Corinth, and were pushed southward by our pursuing forces for some twenty -five or thirty miles. General Mitchell, by a daring and most gallant enterprise in the latter part of April, took possession of Huntsville in Alabama. Li February a formidable naval expedition had been fitted out under Commodore Farragut for the capture of New Orleans ; and on the 18th of April the attack commenced upon Forts Jackson and St. Philip, by which the passage of the Mississippi below the city is guarded. After six days' bombardment, the whole fleet passed the forts on the night of the 23d, under a terrible fire from both ; and on the 25th the rebel General Lovell, who had command of the military defences of the city, withdrew, and Com- modore Farragut took possession of the town, which he retained until the arrival of General Butler on the 1st of May, who thereupon entered upon the discharge of his duties as commander of that Department. During the summer, a powerful rebel army, undei General Bragg, invaded Kentucky for the double pur- pose of obtaining supplies and affording a rallying point for what they believed to be the secession sentiment of the State. In the accomplishment of the former object, they were successful, but not in the latter. They lost more while in the State from desertions than they gained by recruits ; and after a battle at Perry ville, on the 7th of October, they began their retreat. On the 5th of Oc- tober a severe battle was fought at Corinth, from which a powerful rebel army attempted to drive our troops under General Rosecrans, but they were repulsed with very heavy losses, and the campaign in Kentucky and Ten- nessee was virtually at an end. A final effort of the enemy in that region led to a severe engagement at Mur- State Papers of Abuaiiam Lincoln. 320 freesboro' on the 31st of December, which resulted in the defeat of the rebel forces, and in relieving Tennessee from the presence of the rebel armies. In all the military operations of this year, especial care had been taken by the generals in command of the several departments, acting under the general direction of the Government, to cause it to be distinctly understood that the object of the war was the preservation of the Union and the restoration of the authority of the Constitution. The rebel authorities, both civil and military, lost na opportunity of exciting the fears and resentments of the people of the Southern States, by ascribing to the Nation- al Government designs of the most ruthless and implaca- ble hostility to their institutions and their persons. It was strenuously represented that the object of the war was to rob the Southern people of their rights and their property, and especially to set free their slaves. The Government did every thing in its power to allay the apprehensions and hostilities which these statements were calculated to produce. General Garfield, while in Ken- tucky, just before the victory of Mill Springs, issued on the 16th of January an address to the citizens of that section of the State, exhorting them to return to their allegiance to the Federal Government, which had never made itself injuriously felt by any one among them, and promising them full protection for their persons and their >roperty, and full reparation for any wrongs they might lave sustained. After the battle of Mill Springs, the Secretary of War, under the direction of the President, issued an order of thanks to the soldiers engaged in it, in which he again announced' that the " purpose of the war was to attack, pursue, and destroy a rebellious enemy, and to deliver the country from danger menaced by traitors.'' On the 20th of November, 1861, General Halleck, commanding the Department of the Missouri, on the eve of the advance into Tennessee, issued an order enjoining upon the troops the necessity of discipline and of order, and calling on them to prove by their acts that they came "to restore, not to violate the Constitution and 330 The Life, Public Services, and the laws," and that the people of the South under the flag of the Union should " enjoy the same protection of life and property as in fcrmer days." " It does not belong to the military," said this order, "to decide upon the relation of master and slave. Such questions must be settled by the civil courts. ~No fugitive slave will, there- fore, be admitted within our lines or camps except wLen specially ordered by the General commanding."* So also General Burnside, when about to land on the soil of North Carolina, issued an order, February 3d, 1862, call- ing upon the soldiers of his army to remember that they were there "to support the Constitution and the laws, to put down rebellion, and to protect the persons and prop- erty of the loyal and peaceable citizens of the State." And on the 18th of the same month, after Fort Henry and .Roanoke Island had fallen into our hands, Commodore Goldsborough and General Burnside issued a joint proc tarnation, denouncing as false and slanderous the attempt of the rebel leaders to impose on the credulity of the Southern people by telling them of "our desire to de- stroy their freedom, demolish their property, and liberate their slaves," and declaring that the Government asked only that its authority might be recognized, and that "in no way or manner did it desire to interfere with their laws, constitutionally established, their institutions of any kind whatever, their property of any sort, or their usages in any respect." And, on the 1st of March, Gener Curtis, in Arkansas, had addressed a proclamation to Ui * In regard to this order, which was afterwards severely criticised in Congress, General Halleck wrote the following letter of explanation : — Hkad-Quaeters Department of tob Missouri, » St. Louis, December 8, 1S61. \ My Dear Colonel :— -Yours of the 4th instant is just received. Order No. 3 was, in my mind, elearly a military necessity. Unauthorized persons, black or white, free or slaves, must he kept uut of our camps, unless we are willing to publish to the enemy every thing we do or intend to do. It was a military and not a political order. I am ready to carry out any lawful instructions in regard to fugitive slaves which my supe fiors may give me, and to enforce any law which Congress may pass. But I caunot make law, and will not violate it Tou know my private opinion on the policy of confiscating the slave property of the rebels in arms. If Congress shall pass it, you may be certain that I shall enforce it Perhaps my policy as to the treatment of rebels and their property is as well set out In Or iir No. IS, issued the day your letter was written, as I could now dee. ribe it Hon. P. P. Blaie, WashiDgtoa. State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 331 people of that State, denouncing as false and calumnious the statements widely circulated of the designs and sen- timents of the Union armies, and declaring that they sought only "to put down rebellion by making war against those in arms, their aiders and abettors" — and that they came to "vindicate the Constitution, and to preserve and perpetuate civil and religious liberty under a Hag that was embalmed in the blood of our Revolution- ary fathers." In all this the Government adhered, with just and rigorous fidelity, to the principles it had adopt- ed for its conduct at the outset of the war ; and in its anxiety to avoid all cause of complaint and all appear- ance of justification for those who were in arms against its authority, it incurred the distrust and even the denuncia- tion of the more zealous and vehement among its own friends and supporters in the Northern States. On the 22d of July, in order to secure unity of action among the commanders of the several military departments, upon the general use to be made of rebel property, the President directed the issue of the following order : — War Department, Washington, July 22, 1862. First. Ordered that military commanders within the States of Virginia, Norch Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, and Arkansas, in an orderly manner seize and use any property, real or personal, which may be necessary or convenient for their several com- mands, for supplies, or for other military purposes ; and that while prop- erty may be destroyed for proper military objects, none shall be destroyed; in wantonness or malice. Second. That military and naval commanders shall employ as laborers, within and from said States, so many persons of African descent as can be advantageously used for military or naval purposes, giving them reason- able wages for their labor. Third. That, as to both property, and persons of African descent, accounts shall be kept sufficiently accurate and in detail to show quan- tities and amounts, and from whom both property and such persons shall have come, as a basis upon which compensation can be made in proper cases; and the several departments of this Government shall attend to and perform their appropriate parts towards the execution of these orders. By order of the President : Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War, And on the 25th of July he issued the following procla- 332 Tin: Life, Public Services, and mation, warning the people of the Southern States against persisting in their rebellion, under the j)enalties prescribed by the confiscation act passed by Congress at its preceding session : — By order of the President of the United States. j A PROCLAMATION. In pursuance of the sixth section of the Act of Congress, entitled "An Act to suppress insurrection, to punish treason and rebellion, to seize and confiscate the property of rebels, and for other purposes," approved July 17th, 1862, and which Act, and the joint resolution explanatory thereof, are herewith published, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, do hereby proclaim to and warn all persons within the contem- plation of said sixth section to cease participating in, aiding, countenan- cing, or abetting the existing rebellion, or any rebellion, against the Gov- . ernment of the United States, and to return to their proper allegiance to the United States, on pain of the forfeiture and seizures as within and by said sixth section provided. In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the City of Washington, this twenty-fifth day of July, in the r 8 ] y ear °f our ^ord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, and of the independence of the United States the eighty-seventh. Abraham Lincoln. By the President : William H. Seward, Secretary of State. Our relations with foreign nations during the year 1862 continued to be in the main satisfactory. The President held throughout, in all his intercourse with European powers, the same firm and decided language in regard to the rebellion which had characterized the correspondence of the previous year. Our Minister in London, with vigi- lance and ability, pressed upon the British Government the duty of preventing the rebel authorities from building and fitting out vessels of war in English ports to prey upon the commerce of the United States; but in every instance these remonstrances were without practical effect. The Government could never be convinced that the evi- dence in any specific case was sufficient to warrant its interference, and thus one vessel after another was allowed to leave British ports, go to some other equally neutral State Papers of Aiuiaham Lincoln. 333 locality and take on board munitions of war, and enter upon its career of piracy in the rebel service. As early as the 18th of February, 1862, Mr. Adams had called the attention of Earl Russell to the fact that a steam gunboat, afterwards called the Oreto, was being built in a Liverpool ship-yard, under the supervision of well-known agents t >i aio rebel Government, and evidently intended for the rebel service. The Foreign Secretary replied that the vessel was intended for the use of parties in Palermr Sicily, and that there was no reason to suppose she w intended for any service hostile to the United States. Mr. Adams sent evidence to show that the claim of being designed for service in Sicily was a mere pretext; but he failed, by this dispatch, as in a subsequent personal conference with Earl Russell on the 15th of April, to in- duce him to take any steps for her detention. She sailed soon after, and was next heard of at the British " neutral" port of Nassau, where she was seized by the authorities ai the instance of the American consul, but released by the same authorities on the arrival of Captain Semmes to take command of her as a Confederate privateer. In Oc- tober an intercepted letter was sent to Earl Russell by Mr. Adams, written by the Secretary of the Navy of the Confederate Government, to a person in England, com- plaining that he had not followed the Oreto on her de- parture from England and taken command of her, in ac- cordance with his original appointment. In June, Mr. Adams called Earl Russell's attention to another power- ful war steamer, then in progress of construction in the shij yard of a member of the House of Commons, evi- dently intended for the rebel service. This complaint went through the usual formalities, was referred to the " Lords Commissioners of her Majesty's Treasury," who reported in due time that they could discover no evidence sufficient to warrant the detention of the vessel. Soon afterwards, however, evidence was produced which was sufficient to warrant the collector of the port of Liverpool in ordering her detention ; but before the necessary for- malities could be gone through with, and through delays 354 The Life, Public Services, and caiis-'d, as Earl Russell afterwards explained, "by tlie "sudden development of a malady of the Queen's ad vocate, totally incapacitating him for the transaction of business," the vessel, whose managers were duly adver- tised of every thing that was going on, slipped out of port took on board an armament in the Azores, and entere< the rebel service as a privateer. Our Government su sequently notified the British Government that it would ty» held responsible for all the damage which this vessel, iiown first as "290," and afterwards as the Alabama, might infiict on American commerce. Discussions were had upon the refusal of the British authorities to permit American vessels of war to take in coal at Nassau, upon the systematic attempts of British merchants to violate our blockade of Southern ports, and upon the recapture, by the crew, of the Emily St. Pierre, which had been seized in attempting to run the blockade at Charleston, and was on her way as a prize to the poi of New York. The British Government vindicated hei rescue as sanctioned by the principles of international law. The only incident of special importance which occurred during the year in our foreign relations, grew out of sax attempt on the part of the Emperor of the French to secure a joint effort at mediation between the Government of the, United States and the rebel authorities, on the part of Great Britain and Russia in connection with his own Government. Rumors of such an intention on the part of the Emperor led Mr. Dayton to seek an interview with Hie Minister for Foreign Affairs on the 6th of November, t which indications of such a purpose were apparent, i-'he attempt failed, as both the other powers consulted declined to join in any such action. The French Govern- ment thereupon determined to take action alone, and on the 9th of January, 1863, the Foreign Secretary wrote to the French Minister at Washington a dispatch, declaring the readiness of the French Emperor to do any thing in his power which might tend towards the termination of the war, and suggesting that " nothing would hinder the Government of the United States, without renouncing the State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 335 advantages which, it believes it can attain by a continua- tion of the war, from entering upon informal conferences with the Confederates of the South, in case they should show themselves disposed thereto. " The specific advan- tages of such a conference, and the mode in which it was to be brought about, were thus set forth in this dispatch :— Representatives or commissioners of the two parties could assemble h tach point as it should be deemed proper to designate, and which could, for this purpose, be declared neutral. Reciprocal complaints could be examined into at this meeting. In place of the accusations which North and South mutually cast upon each other at this time, would be substituted an argumentative discussion of the interests which divide them. They would seek out by means of well-ordered and profound deliberations whether these interests are definitively irreconcilable — whether separation is an extreme which can no longer be avoided, or whether the memories of a common existence, whether the ties of any kind which have made of the North and of the South one sole and whole Federative State, and have borne them on to so high a degree of prosperity, are not more powerful than the causes which have placed arms in the hands of the two popula- tions. A negotiation, the object of which would be thus determinate, would not involve any of the objections raised against the diplomatic in- terventions of Europe, and, without giving birth to the same hopes as th<* immediate conclusion of an armistice, would exercise a happy influence on the march of events. Wbf, therefore, should not a combination which respects all the rela- tions of the United States obtain the approbation of the Federal Govern- ment? Persuaded on our part that it is in conformity with their true interests, we do not hesitate to recommend it to their attention ; and, not having sought in the project of a mediation of the maritime powers of Europe any vain display of influence, we would applaud, with entire free- dom f-om all susceptibility of self-esteem, the opening of a negotiatioi which would invite the two populations to discuss, without the co-opera- tiuE of Europe, the solution of their differences. The reply which the President directed to be made to this proposition embraces so many points of permanent interest and importance in connection with his Adminis- tration, that we give it in full. It was as follows : — Department of State, Washington, February 6, 1863L Sir:-— The intimation given in your dispatch of January 15th, that 1 might expect a special visit from M. Mercier, lias been realized. He called on the 3d instant, and gave me a copy of a dispatch whicn he had just theo received from M. Drouyn de Tlluys under the date of the 9th of January. 336 The Life, Public Services, and I have taken the President's instructions, and I now proceed to give yon his views upon the subject in question. It has been considered with seriousness, resulting from the reflection that the people of France are known to be faultless sharers with the American nation in the misfortunes and calamities of our unhappy civil war ; nor do we on this, any more than on other occasions, forget the traditional friendship of the two countries, which we unhesitatingly be- eve has inspired the counsels that M. Drouyn de l'Huys has imparted. lie says, "the Federal Government does not despair, we know, of giv- ing more active impulse to hostilities ;" and again he remarks, u the pro- traction of the struggle, in a word, has not shaken the confidence (of the Federal Government) in the definite success of its efforts." These passages seem to me to do unintentional injustice to the language, whether confidential or public, in which this Government has constantly spoken on the subject of the war. It certainly has had and avowed only one purpose — a determination to preserve the integrity of the country. So far from admitting any laxity of effort, or betraying any despondency, the Government has, on the contrary, borne itself cheerfully in all vicissi- tudes, with unwavering confidence in an early and complete triumph of the national cause. Now, when we are, in a manner, invited by a friendly power to review the twenty -one months' history of the conflict, we find no occasion to abate that confidence. Through such an alternation of victories and defeats as is the appointed incident of every war, the land and naval forces of the United States have steadily advanced, reclaiming from the insurgents the ports, forts, and posts which they had treacher- i ously seized before the strife actually began, and even before it was seri- ously apprehended. So many of the States and districts* ♦vhich the insur- I gents included in the field of their projected exclusive slaveholding dominions have already been re-established under the flag of the Union, that they now retain only the States of Georgia, Alabama, and Texas, with half of Virginia, half of Forth Carolina, two-thirds of South Caro- j ,'ua, half of Mississippi, and one-third respectively of Arkansas and j Louisiana. The national forces hold even this small territory in close blockade and siege. Thi3 Government, if required, does not hesitate to submit its achieve inents to the test of comparison; and it maintains that in no part of the world, and in no times, ancient or modern, has a nation, when rendered ' all unready for combat by the enjoyment of eighty years of almost un- broken peace, so quickly awakened at the alarm of sedition, put forth energies so vigorous, and achieved successes so signal and effective as < those which have marked the progress of this contest on the part of the Union. M. Drouyn de l'Huys, I fear, has taken other light than the correspond- ence of this Government for his guidance in ascertaining its temper and firmness. He has probably read of divisions of sentiment among those who bold themselves forth as organs of public opinion here, and has givos State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 337 to them an undue importance. It is to be remembered that this ia n nation of thirty millions, civilly divided into forty-one States and Ten- i Lories, which cover an expanse hardly less than Europe ; that the people are a pure democracy, exercising everywhere the utmost freedom of speech and suffrage ; that a great crisis necessarily produces vehement as well as pro- found debate, with sharp collisions of individual, local, and sectional interests, sentiments, and ambitions ; and that this heat of controversy is increased by the intervention of speculations, interests, prejudices, and passions from every other part of the civilized world. It is, however, through such debates that the agreement of the nation upon any subject is habitually attained, its resolutions formed, and its policy establishes TVhile there has been much difference of popular opinion and favi concerning the agenwj who shall carry on the war, the princip'«3 cu which it shall be waged, and the means with which it shall be pros- ecuted, M. Drouyn de l'Huys has only to refer to the statute-book of Congress and the Executive ordinances to learn that the national ac- tivity has hitherto been, and yet is, as efficient as that of any other Qation, whatever its form of government, ever was, under circumstances of equally grave import to its peace, safety, and welfare. Not one voice has been raised anywhere, out of the immediate field of the insurrection, in favor of foreign intervention, of mediation, of arbitration, or of com- promise, with the relinquishment of one acre of the national domain, or the surrender of even one constitutional franchise. At the same time, it is manifest to the world that our resources are yet abundant, and our credit adequate to the existing emergency. What M. Drouyn de l'Huys suggests is, that this Government shall ap- point commissioners to meet, on neutral ground, commissioners of the insurgents. He supposes that in the conferences to be thus held, recipro- cal complaints could be discussed, and in place of the accusations which the North and South now mutually cast upon each other, the conferees would be engaged with discussions of the interests which divide them. He assumes, further, that the commissioners would seek, by means of well- ordered and profound deliberation, whether these interests are definitively irreconcilable, whether separation is an extreme that can no longer be avoided, or whether the memories of a common existence, the ties of every kind which have made the North and the South one whole Federative State, and have borne them on to so high a degree of prosperity, are not more powerful than the causes which have placed arms in the hands of the two populations. The suggestion is not an extraordinary one, and it may well have Deen thought by the Emperor of the French, in the earnestness of his benevo- lent desire for the restoration of peace, a feasible one. But when M. Drouyn de l'Huys shall come to review it iu the light in which it must necssearily be examined iu this country, I think he can hardly fail to per- ceive that it amounts to nothing less than a proposition that, wbile this Government is engaged in suppressing an armed insurrection, with the 22 338 Tux LiFjti, Public Services, and purpose of maintaining the constitutional national authority, and preserving the integrity of the country, it shall enter into diplomatic discussion with the insurgents upon the questions whether that authority shall not be re- nounced, and whether the country shall not be delivered over to disunion, uO be quickly followed by ever-increasing anarchy. If it were possible for the Government of the United States to com- promise the national authority so far as to enter into such debates, it is not easy to perceive what good results could be obtained by them. The commissioners must agree in recommending either that the Union shall stand or that it shall be voluntarily dissolved ; or else they must leave the vital question unsettled, to abide at last the fortunes of the war. The Government has not shut out the knowledge of the present temper, any more than of the past purposes, of the insurgents. There is not the least ground to suppose that the controlliug actors would be persuaded at this moment, by any arguments which national commissioners could otter, to forego the ambition that has impelled them to the disloyal position they are occupying. Any commissioners who should be appointed by these actors, or through their dictation or influence, must enter the conference imbued with the spirit and pledged to the personal fortunes of the insur- gent chiefs. The loyal people in the insurrectionary States would be un- heard, and any offer of peace by this Government, on the condition of the maintenance of the Union, must necessarily be rejected. On the other hand, as I have already intimated, this Government has not the least thought of relinquishing the trust which has been confided to it by the nation under the most solemn of all political sanctions; and if it had any such thought, it would still have abundant reason to know that peace proposed at the cost of dissolution would be immediately, un- reservedly, and indignantly rejected by the American people. It is a grea* mistake that European statesmen make, if they suppose this people art demoralized. Whatever, in the case of an insurrection, the people of France, or of Great Britain, or of Switzerland, or of the Netherlands would do to save their national existence, no matter how the strife might be re- garded by or might affect foreign nations, just so much, and certainly no 'ess, the people of the United States will do, if necessary to save for the com- on benefit the region which is bounded by the Pacific and the Atlantic oasts, and by the shores of the Gulfs of St. Lawrence and Mexico, together with the free and common navigation of the Rio Grande, Missouri, Arkan- sas, Mississippi, Ohio, St. Lawrence, Hudson, Delaware, Potomac, and other natural highways by which this land, which to them is at once a land of inheritance and a land of promise, is opened and watered. Even if the agents of the American people now exercising their power should, Mi rough fear or faction, fall below this height of the national virtue, they would be speedily, yet constitutionally, replaced by others of sterner character and patriotism. I must be allowed to say, also, that M. Drouyn de l'Huys errs in his description of the parties to the •••vgenl '•ontiict We have here, in th« State Pamsks of Abraham Lincoln. 339 political sense, no North and South, no Northern and Southern States. We have an insurrectionary party, which is located chielly upon and adja- cent to the shore of the Gulf of Mexico ; and we have, on the other hand, a loyal people, who constitute not only Northern States, but also Eastern, Middle, Western, and Southern States. I have on many occasions heretofore submitted to the French Govern- ment the President's views of the interests, and the ideas more effective for the time than even interests, which lie at the bottom of the determi- nation of the American Government and people to maintain the Federal Union. The President has done the same thing in his Messages and other public declarations. I refrain, therefore, from reviewing that argument ir connection w T ith the existing question. M. Drouyn de l'Huys draws to his aid the conferences which took place between the Colonies and Great Britain in our Revolutionary War. He m\\ allow us to assume that action in the crisis of a nation must accord with its necessities, and therefore can seldom be conformed to precedents. Great Britain, when entering on tho negotiations, had manifestly come to entertain doubts of her ultimate success; and it is certain that the councils of the Colonies could not fail to take new courage, if not to gain other advantage, when the parent State compromised so far as to treat of peace on the terms of conceding their independence. It is true, indeed, that peace must come at some time, and that con- ferences must attend, if they are not allowed to precede tntj pacification. There is, however, a better form for such conferences than the one which M. Drouyn de l'Huys suggests. The latter would be palpably in deroga- tion of the Constitution of the United States, and would carry no weight, because destitute of the sanction necessary to bind either the disloyal or the loyal portions of the people. On the other hand, the Congress of the United States furnishes a constitutional forum for debates between the alienated parties. Senators and representatives from the loyal portion of the people are there already, freely empowered to confer ; and seats a_Bo are vacant, and inviting senators and representatives of this discon- tented party who may be constitutionally sent there from the States in- volved ir. the insurrection. Moreover, the conferences which can thus be held in Congress have this great advantage over any that could be organ- ized upon the plan of M. Drouyn de l'Huys, namely, that the Congress, if it were thought wise, could call a national convention to adopt its recom- mendations, and give them all the solemnity and binding force of organic law. Such conferences between the alienated parties may be said to have already begun. Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Missouri — States which are claimed by the insurgents — are already represented in Congress, and submitting with perfect freedom and in a proper spirit their advice upon the course best calculated to bring about, in the shortest time, a firm, lasting, and honorable peace. Representatives have been •ent also from Louisiana, and others are understood to be coming from 340 The Life, Public Services, avt> There is a preponderating argument in favor of the Congressional form r>f conference over that which is suggested by M. Drouyn de l'lluys, namely, that while an accession to the latter would bring this Govern- ment into a concurrence with the insurgents in disregarding and setting aside an important part of the Constitution of the United States, and so would be of pernicious example, the Congressional conference, on the contrary, preserves and gives new strength to that sacred writing which must continue through future ages the sheet-anchor of the Republic. You will be at liberty to read this dispatch to M. Drouyn de l'Huyg, and to give him a copy if he shall desire it. To the end that you may be informed of the whole case, I transmit » oopy of M. Drouyn de l'Huys's dispatch. I am, sir, your obedient servant, William H. Seward. The effect of this dispatcn was very marked. It put an end to all talk of foreign intervention in any form, and met the cordial and even enthusiastic approbation of the people throughout the country. Its closing suggestions, as to the mode in which the Southern States could resume their old relations to the Federal Government, were re- garded as significant indications of the policy the Ad- ministration was inclined to pursue whenever the ques- tion of restoration should become practical ; and while they were somewhat sharply assailed, in some quarters, they commanded the general assent of the great body of the people. The subject of appointing commissioners to confer with the authorities of the rebel Confederacy had been dis- cussed, before the appearance of this correspondence, in 'the Northern States. It had emanated from the party most openly in hostility to the Administration, and those men in that party who had been most distinctly opposed to any measures of coercion, or any resort to force for the purpose of overcoming the rebellion. It was represented by these persons that the civil authorities of the Confed- eracy were restrained from abandoning the contest only by the refusal or neglect of the Government to give them an opportunity of doing so without undue humiliation and dishonor ; and in December, Hon. Fernando Wood, of New York, wrote to the President, informing him that State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 34* he had reason to believe the Southern States would " send representatives to the next Congress, provided a full and general amnesty should permit them to do so," and ask- ing the appointment of commissioners to ascertain the truth of these assurances. To this request the President made the following re- : y : — ExEcirrrv* Mansion, Washington, December IB, 180B. Rei. Fernando Wood : My Deab Sir: — Your letter of the 8th, with the accompanying note of same date, was received yesterday. The most important paragraph in the letter, as I consider, is in these words: "On the 25th of November last I was advised by an authority which I deemed likely to be well informed, as well as reliable and truth- ful, that the Southern States would send representatives to the next Con- gress, provided that a full and general amnesty should permit them to do so. No guarantee or terms were asked for other than the amnesty re- ferred to." 1 strongly suspect your information will prove to be groundless ; never- theless, I thank you for communicating it to me. Understanding the phrase in the paragraph above quoted — " the Southern States would send representatives to the next Congress " — to be substantially the same as that "the people of the Southern States would cease resistance, and would reinaugurate, submit to, and maintain the national authority within the limits of such States, under the Constitution of the United States," I say that in such case the war would cease on the part of the United States; find that if withiu a, reasonable time " a fnll and general amnesty" were tic( essary to such end, it would not be withheld. f do not think it would be proper now to communicate this, formally informally, to the people of the Southern States. My belief is that ©y already know it; and when they choose, if ever, they can commu- nicate with me unequivocally. Nor do I think it proper now to suspend military operations to try any experiment of negotiation. 1 should nevertheless receive, with great pleasure, the exact informa- tion you now have, and also such other as you may in any way obtain. Such information might be more valuable before the 1st of January thar p.fterwards. While there is nothing in this letter which I shall dread to see in his- tory, it is, perhaps, better for the present that its existence should not become public. I therefore have to request that you will rogard it as sonfidential. Your obedient servant, A. LlNOOLN. Tto? intimation in this better that information oonceruiug 342 The Life, Public Ser vices, and the alleged willingness of the rebels to resume their alle giance, " might be more valuable before the 1st of Jan nary than afterwards, " had reference to the Emancipation Proclamation, which he proposed to issue on that day, unless the offer of his preliminary proclamation should be accepted. That proclamation had been issued on the 22d of September, and the sense of responsibility undei which this step was taken, was clearly indicated in the following remarks made by the President on the evening of the 24th of that month, in acknowledging the compli- ment of a serenade at the Executive Mansion : — Fellow-Citizens : — I appear before you to do little more than acknowl- edge the courtesy you pay me, and to thank you for it. I have not been distinctly informed why it is that on this occasion you appear to do me this honor, though I suppose it is because of the proclamation. What I did, I did after a very full deliberation, and under a very heavy and sol- emn sense of responsibility. I can only trust in God I havt made no mis- take. I shall make no attempt on this occasion to sustain what I have done or said by any comment. It is now for the country and the world to pass judgment, and may be take action upon it. I will say no more upon this subject. 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 fu- ture happiness and prosperity of this country. Let us never forget them. On the 14th and 17th days of this present month there have been battles bravely, skilfully, and successfully fought. We do not yet know the par- ticulars. Let us be sure that, in giving praise to certain individuals, we do no injustice to others. I only ask you, at the conclusion of these few remarks, to give three hearty cheers to all good and brave officer? and mei. who fought those successful battles. In November the President published the following order regarding the observance of the day of rest, and the vice of profanity, in the army and navy : — Exbcutiy* Mansion, Washington, November 16, 1862. The President, commander-in-chief of the army and navy, desires and enjoins the orderly observance of the Sabbath by the officers and men in the military and naval service. The importance for man and beast of the prescribed weekly rest, the sacred rights of Christian soldiers and sailors, a becoming deference to the best sentiment of a Christian people, and a dao regard for the Divine will, demand that Sunday Jabor in the army And navy be reduced to the measure of strict necessity. State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. §43 Tlie diwipliae and character of the National forces should not snflfer. nor the cause they defend be imperilled, by the profanation of the day or name of the Most High. "At this time of publis distress," adopting the words of Washington in 1776, "men may find enough to do in the service of God and their country, without abandoning themselves to vice and im- morality." The first general order issued by the Father of his Country after the Declaration of Independence, indicates the spirit in which our institutions were founded, and should ever be defended. " The general jopes and trusts that every officer and man will endeavor to live and act <5s becomes a Christian soldier defending the dearest rights and liberfeai c h\s eoiiiitry." A. LlHOOLS. 344 The Life, .Public Services. and CHAPTER XL THE CONGRESSIONAL SESSION OF 1862-'63.— MESSAGE OF THE PRESIDENT AND GENERAL ACTION OF THE SESSION. The Pkesident's Message. — Are the IIebel States Aliens? — Tub V*r vision fok a dkaft. — message on the finances and currency. Admission of Western Virginia. — Close of the Session. The third session of the Tliirty- seventh Congress opened on the 1st day of December, 1862— the supporters of the Administration having a large majority in both branches. The general condition of the country, and the progress made in quelling the rebellion, are clearly set forth in the following Message of President Lincoln, which was sent in to Congress at the beginning of the session : — Fellow- Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives : — Since your last annual assembling, another year of health and bountiful harvests has passed, and Awhile it has not pleased the Almighty to bless us with the return of peace, we can but press on, guided by the best light He gives us, trusting that, in His own good time and wise way, all will be well. The correspondence, touching foreign affairs, which has taken place dur'ng the last year, is herewith submitted, in virtual compliance with a request to that effect made by the House of Representatives near the dose of the last session of Congress. If the condition of our relations with other nations is less gratifying than it has usually been at former periods, it is certinly more satisfactory than a nation so unhappily distracted ;is we are might reasonably have apprehended. In the month of June last there were some grounds to expect that the maritime Powers, which, at the beginning of our domestic difficulties, so unwisely and unncessarik, as we think, recognized the insurgents as a belligerent, would soon recede from that position, which has proved only less injurious to themselves than to our own country. But the temporary reverses which afterwards befell the National arms, and which were exaggerated by our own disloyal citizens abroad, have hitherto delayed that act of simple jus- tice. The civil war which lias so radically changed for the moment the occu- pations and habits of the American people, has necessarily disturbed the State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 345 social condition, and affected very deeply the prosperity of the nations with winch we hare carried on a commerce that has been steadily in- creasing throughout a period of half a century. It has, at the same time, excited political ambitions and apprehensions which have produced a pro- found agitation throughout the civilized world. In this unusual agitation we ha\>e forborne from taking part in any controversy between foreign States, and between parties or factions in such States. We have attempt- ed no propagandism, and acknowledged no revolution. But we have left to every nation the exclusive conduct and management of its own affairs. Our struggle has been, of course, contemplated by foreign nations with reference less to its own merits than to its supposed and often exaggerated effects and consequences resulting to those nations themselves. Never- theless, complaint on the part of this Government, even of it were just, would certainly be unwise. The treaty with Great Britain for the suppression of the slave-trade has been _iut into operation with a good prospect of complete success. It is an occasion of special pleasure to acknowledge that the execution of it on the part of ITer Majesty's Government has been marked with a jealous respect for the authority of the United States and the rights of their moi al and loyal citizens. The convention with Hanover for the abolition of the stade dues has been carried into full effect, under the act of Congress for that pur- pose, l A blockade of three thousand miles of sea-coast could not oe established and vigorously enforced, in a season of great commercial activity like the present, without committing occasional mistakes, and inflicting uninten- tional injuries upon foreign nations and their subjects. A civil war occurring in a country where foreigners reside and carry on trade under treaty stipulations is necessarily fruitful of complaints of the violation of neutral rights. All such collisions tend to excite misap- prehensions, and possibly to produce mutual reclamations between nations which have a common interest in preserving peace and friendship. In clear cases of these kinds I have, so far as possible, heard and redressed romplaints which have been presented by friendly Powers. There is s" ill, hcwever, a large and an augmenting number of doubtful cases, upon which the Government is unable to agree with the Governments whose protection is demanded by the claimants. There are, moreover, many cases in which the United States, or their citizens, suffer wrongs from the naval or military authorities of foreign nations, which the Governments of these States are not at once prepared to redress. I have proposed to some of the foreign States thus interested mutual conventions to examine and adjust such complaints. This proposition has been made especially to Great Britain, to France, to Spain, and to Prussia. In each case it has been kindly received, but has not yet been formally adopted. T deem it my duty to recommend an appropriation in behalf of the wneri of the Norwegian bark Admiral P, TornVnskiold, which vessel S46 The Life, Public Services, and was in May, 1861, prevented by the commander of the blockading force <>if Charleston from leaving that port with cargo, notwithstanding a sim- ilar privilege had, shortly before, been granted to an English vessel. I have directed the Secretary of State to cause the papers in the case to be communicated to the proper committees. Applications have been made to me by many free Americans of African descent to favor their emigration, with a view to such colonization as w*r contemplated in recent acts of Congress. Other parties, at home an J abroad — some from interested motives, others upon patriotic considers* tions, and still others influenced by philanthropic sentiments — have sug- gested similar measures; while, on the other hand, several of the Span- ish-American Republics have protested against the sending of such colo- nies to their respective territories. Under these circumstances, I have declined to move any such colony to any State without first obtaining the consent of its Government, with an agreement on its part to receive and protect such emigrants in all the rights of freemen ; and I have at the game time offered to the several States situated within the tropics, or baving colonies there, to negotiate with them, subject to the advice and consent of the Senate, to favor the voluntary emigration of persons of that class \z i teir respective territories, upon conditions which shall be equal, just, a/ic humane. Liberia and Hayti are, as yet, the only countries to which colonists of African descent from here could go with certainty of being received and adopted i2 citizens ; and I regret to say such persons, contemplating colonization, do not seem so willing to migrate to tiiose countries as to some others, nor so willing as I think their interest de mands. I believe, however, opinion among them in this respect is improving; and that ere long there will be an augmented and considera- ble migration to both these countries from the United States. The new commercial treaty between the United States and the Sultan of Turkey has been carried into execution. A commercial and consular treaty has been negotiated, subject in the. Senate's consent, with Liberia; and a similar negotiation is now pending j wi h the Republic of Hayti. A considerable improvement of the national coi.iraerce is expected to result from these measures. Our relations with Great Britain, France, Spain, Portugal, Russia, Prussia, Denmark, Sweden, Austria, the .Netherlands, Italy, Rome, and the other European States remain undisturbed. Very favorable rela- tions also continue to be maintained with Turkey, Morocco, China, and Japan. During the last year there has not only been no change of our previous relations with the Independent States of our own continent, but more friendly sentiments than have heretofore existed are believed to be en tertained by these neighbors, whose safety and progress are so intimately connected with our own. This statement especially applies to Mexico, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Honduras, Pern, and Chili. The commission under the convention with the Republic of New Gra State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 347 nada closed its session without having audited and passed upon all the claims which were submitted to it. A proposition is pending to revive the convention, that it be able to do more complete justice. The joint commission between the United States and the Republic of Costa Rica has completed its labors and submitted its report. I have favored the project for connecting the United States with Eu- rope by an Atlantic telegraph, and a similar project to extend the tele- graph from San Francisco to connect by a Pacific telegraph with the line which is being extended across the Russian Empire. *• The Territories of the United States, with unimportant exception 8, have remained undisturbed by the civil war; and they are exhibiting such evidence of prosperity as justifies an expectation that some of them will soon be in a condition to be organized as States, and be constat ltion- ally admitted into the Federal Union. The immense mineral resourced of some of those Territories ought to be developed as rapidly as possible. Every step in that direction would have a tendency to improve the revenues of the Government and dimin- ish the burdens of the people. It is worthy of your serious considera- tion m hether some extraordinary measures to promote that end cannot be adopted. The means which suggests itself as most likely to be effec- tive, is a scientific exploration of the mineral regions in those Territories, with a view to the publication of its results at home and in foreign coun- tries — results which cannot fail to be auspicious. The condition of the finances will claim your most diligent considera- tion. The vast expenditures incident to the military and naval opera- tions required for the suppression of the rebellion have been hitherto met with a promptitude and certainty unusual in similar circumstances; and the public credit has been fully maintained. The continuance of the war, however, and the increased disbursements made necessary by the augmented forces now in the field, demand your best reflections as to the best modes of providing the necessary revenue, without injury to busi- ness, and with the least possible burdens upon labor. The suspension of specie payments by the banks, soon after the com- mencement of your last session, made large issues of United States notes auavoidable. In no other way could the payment of the troops and the satisfaction of other just demands, be so economically or so well provided for. The judicious legislation of Congress, securing *he receivability of these notes for loans and internal duties, and making them a legal tender for other debts, has made them a universal currency, and has satisfied, partially at least, and for the time, the long felt want of a uniform circu- lating medium, saving thereby to the people immense sums in discount* and exchanges. A return to specie payments, however, at the earliest period compati- ble with due regard to all interests concerned, should ever be kept in view. Fluctuations in the value of currency are always injurious, and to reduce these fluctuations to the lowest possible point win **.lways be a 348 Thl Life, Public Services, and leading purpose in wise legislation. Convertibility, prompt and certain convertibility into coin, is generally acknowledged to be the best and •nrest safeguard against them ; and it is extremely doubtful whether a circulation of United States notes, payable in coin, and sufficiently large for the wants of the people, can be permanently, usefully, aud safely maintained. Is there, then, any other mode in which the necessary provision for the public wants can be made, and the great advantages of a safe and uniform currency secured? 1 know of none which promises so certain results, and is, at the same time, so unobjectionable as the organization of banking associations, un- der a general act of Congress, well guarded in its provisions. To such associations the Government might furnish circulating notes, on the security of United States bonds deposited in the Treasury. These notes, prepared under the supervision of proper officers, being uniform in ap- pearance and security, and convertible always into coin, would at once protect labor against the evils of a vicious currency, and facilitate com- merce by cheap and safe exchanges. A moderate reservation from the interest on the bonds would compen- sate the United States for the preparation and distribution of the notes, and a general supervision of the system, and would lighten the burden of that part of the public debt employee 1 as securities. The public credit, moreover, would be greatly improved, and the negotiation of new loans greatly facilitated by the steady market demand for Government bonds which the adoption of the proposed system would create. It is an additional recommendation of the measure, of considerable weight, in my judgment, that it would reconcile as far as possible all existing interests, by the opportunity offered to existing institutions to reorganize under the act, substituting only the secured uniform national circulation for the local and various circulation, secured and unsecured, now issued by them. The receipts into the Treasury, from all sources, including loans, and balance from the preceding year, for the fiscal year ending on the 30th of June, 1862, were $583,885,247.60, of which sum $49,056,397.62 were derived from customs; $1,795,331.73 from the direct tax; from public lands, $152,203.77; from miscellaneous sources, $931,787.64; from loans in all forms, $529,692,460.50. The remainder, $2,257,065.80, was the balance from last year. The disbursements during the same period were for Congressional, Executive, and Judicial purposes, $5,939,009.29; for foreign intercourse, $1,339,710.35 ; for miscellaneous expenses, including the mints, loans, post-office deficiencies, collection of revenue, and other like charges, $14,129,771.50; for expenses under the Interior Department, $3,102,- 985.52 ; under the War Department, $394,368,407.36 ; under the Navy Department, $42,674,569.69; for interest on public debt, $13,190,324.4.0; and for payment of public debt, including reimbursement of temporar* State PapejIs t>«r Abraham Lincoln 349 loan, and redemptions, $90,090,022.09; making an aggregate of $570,- 841,700.25, and leaving a balance in the Treusu.w on the 1st day of July, 1SG2, of $13,043,546.81. It should be observed that the sura of $96,096,922.09, expended for reimbursements and redemption of public debt, being included also in the loans made, may be properly deducted, both from receipts and expen- ditures, leaving the actual receipts for the year $487,788,324.97, and the expenditures, $474,744,778.16. Other information on the subject of the finances will be found in the report of the Secretary of the Treasury, to whose statements a*»d views I invite your most candid and considerate attention. The reports of the Secretaries of War and of the Navy are herewith transmitted. These reports, though lengthy, are scarcely more than brief abstracts of the very numerous and extensive transactions and operations conducted through those Departments. Nor could 1 give a summary of them here, upon any principle which would admit of it* being mu^.2 shorter than the reports themselves. 1 therefore content myself w^th ]«ying the reports before you, and asking your attention tc them. It gives me pleasure to report a decided improvement in the financial condition of the Post-Office Department, as compared with several pre ceding years. The receipts for the fiscal year 1861 amounted tc $8,349,296.40, which embraced the revenue from all the States of the Union for three-quarters of that year. Notwithstanding the cessation of revenue from the so-called seceded States during the last fiscal year, the increase of the correspondence of the loyal States has been suffi- cient to produce a revenue during the same year of $8,299,820.90, oeing only $50,000 less than was derived from all the States of the Union during the previous year. The expenditures show a still more favorable result. The amount expended in 1861 was $13,606,759.11. For the last year the amount has been reduced to $11,125,364.13, show- ing a decrease of about $2,481,000 in the expenditures as compared with lie pieceding year, and about $3,750,000 as compared with the fiscal vear '»36». The deficiency in the Department for the previous year w.v $4,551,960.98. For the last fiscal year it was reduced to $2,112,8 u.: These favorable results are in part owing to the cessation of mail som. in the insurrectionary States, and in part to a careful review of all expeu ditures in that department in the interest of economy. The efficiency of the postal service, it is believed, has also been much improved. The Postmaster-General has also opened a correspondence, through the De Ipartment of State, with foreign Governments, proposing a convention ot postal representatives for the purpose of simplifying the rates of foreign postage, and to expedite the foreign mails. This proposition, equally im portant to our adopted citizens and to the commercial interests of this country, has been favorably entertained and agrees to by all the Qovern- inents from whom replies have been received. 350 The Life, Public Services, and r ask the attention of Congress to the suggestions of the Postmaster- General in his report respecting the further legislation required, in his opinion, for the benefit of the postal service. The Secretary of the Interior reports as follows in regard to the rublic lands : — The public lands have ceased to be a source of revenue. From the 1st July, 1861, to the 30th September, 1862, the entire cash receipts from the sale of hinds were $137,476.26 — a sum much less than the expenses of our land system during the same period. The homestead law, whici will take effect on the 1st of January next, offers such inducements t: ■settlers that sales for cash cannot be expected, to an extent sufficient to ii-et the expense of the General Land Office, and the cost of surveying Und bringing the land into market. The discrepancy between the sum here stated as arising from the sales of the public lands, and the sum derived from the same source aa reported from the Treasury Department, arises, as I understand, from the fact that the periods of time, though apparently, were not reallj coincident at the beginning-point — the Treasury report including a con- siderable sum now which had previously been reported from the inte- rior — sufficiently large to greatly overreach the sum derived from the three months now reported upon by the Interior, and not by the Treasury. The Indian tribes upon our frontiers have, during the past year, mani fested a spirit of insubordination, and, at several points, have engaged in open hostilities against the white settlements in their vicinity. The tribes occupying the Indian country south of Kansas renounced their allegiance to the United States, and entered into treaties with the insur- gents. Those who remained loyal to the United States were driven from the country. The chief of the Cherokees has visited this city for the purpose of restoring the former relations of the tribe with the Ui.ited States. He alleges that they were constrained, by superior force, to en- ter into treaties with the insurgents, and that the United States neg- ievted to furnish the protection which their treaty stipulations required. In the month of August last, the Sioux Indians in Minnesota attacked the settlement in their vicinity with extreme ferocity, killing, indiscrimi- nately, men, women, and children. This attack was wholly unexpected, and therefore no means of defence had been provided. It is estimated that not less than eight hundred persons were killed by the Indians, and a large amount of property was destroyed. How this outbreak was in- duced is not definitely known, and suspicions, which may be unjust, need not be stated. Information was received by the Indian Bureau, from different sources, about the time hostilities were commenced, that a si multaneous attack was to be made upon the white settlements by all the tribes between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains. The State of Minnesota has suffered great injury from this Indian war. A large portion of her territory has been depopulated, and a severe lose State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 351 has been sustained by the destruction of property. The people of that State manifest much anxiety for the removal of the tribes beyond the limits of the State as a guarantee against future hostilities. The Coin inissioner of Indian Affairs will furnish full details. I submit for youi especial consideration whether our Indian system shall not be remodelled Many wise and good men have impressed me with the belief that this can be profitably done. I submit a statement of the proceedings of commissioners, which show the progress that has been made in the enterprise of constructing thv Pacific Railroad. And this suggests the earliest completion of thi3 road, and also the favorable action of Congress upon the projects now pending before them for enlarging the capacities of the great canals in New York and Illinois, as being of vital and rapidly increasing importance to the whole nation, and especially to tho vast interior region hereinafter to be noticed at some greater length. I purpose having prepared and laid be- fore you at an early day some interesting and valuable statistical informa- tion upon this subject. The military and commercial importance of enlarging the Illinois and Michigan Canal, and improving the Illinois River, is presented in the report of Colonel Webster to the Secretary of War, and now transmitted to Congress. I respectfully ask attention to it To carry out the provisions of the act of Congress of the 15th of Ma) last, I have caused the Department of Agriculture of the United States to be organized. The Commissioner informs me that within the period of a few months this department has established an extensive system of correspondence and exchanges, both at home and abroad, which promises to effect highly beneficial results in the development of a correct knowledge of recent improvements in agriculture, in the introduction of new products, and in the collection of the agricultural statistics of the different States. Also, that it will soon be prepared to distribute largely seeds, cereals, plants, and cuttings, and has already published and liberally diffused much valu- ab'e information in anticipation of a more elaborate report, which will ii due time be furnished, embracing some valuable tests in chemical science now in progress in the laboratory. The creation of this department was for the more immediate benefit of a large class of our most valuable fellow-citizens ; and I trust that the liberal basis upon which it has been organized will not only meet your approbation, but that it will realize, at no distant day, all the fondest anticipations of its most sanguine friends, and become the fruitful source ef advantage to all our people. On the 2 v 2d day of September last, a proclamation was issued by the Executive, a copy of which is herewith submitted. In accordance with the purpose expressed in the second paragraph of that paper, I now respectfully call your attention to what may be called '" compensated emancipation." A nation may be said to consist of its territory, its people. Mid its "uh-s 852 The Life, Public Services,, and The territory is the only part which is of certain durability. '* One goner ation passeth away, and another generation cometh, but the earth ahidetb forever." It is of the first importance to duly consider and estimate thii ever-enduring part. That portion of the earth's surface which is owned and inhabited by the people of the United States is well adapted to the home of one national family, and it is not well adapted for two or more Its vast extent, and its variety of climate and productions, are of advan- tage in this age for one people, whatever they might have been in forme ages. Steam, telegraphs, and intelligence have brought these to be a advantageous combination for one united people. In the Inaugural Address I briefly pointed out the total inadequacy of disunion as a remedy for the differences between the people of the two sections. I did so in language which I cannot improve, and which, there- fore, I beg to repeat: — "One section of our country believes slavery is right, and ought to be extended; while the other believes it is wrong, and ought not to be extended. This is the only substantial dispute. The fugitive slave clause of the Constitution, and the law for the suppression of the foreign slave- trade, are each as well enforced, perhaps, as any law can ever be in a community where the moral sense of the people imperfectly supports the iaw itself. The great body of the people abide by the dry legal obligation in both cases, and a few break over in each. This, I think, cannot be cured ; and it would be worse, in both cases, after the separation of the sections than before. The foreign slave-trade, now imperfectly suppressed, would be ultimately revived without restriction in one section; while fugitive slaves, now only partially surrendered, would not be surrendered at all by the other. "Physically speaking, we cannot separate. We cannot remove our respective sections from each other, nor build an impassable wall between them. A husband and wife may be divorcee^ a .vA go out of the presence and beyond the reach of each other ; but the different parts of our coun- try cannot do this. They cannot but remain face to face ; and intercourse, either amicable or hostile, must continue between them. Is it possible, then, to make that intercourse more advantageous or more satisfactory after separation than before ? Can aliens make treaties easier than friends can make laws? Can treaties be more faithfully enforced between aliens than laws can among friends? Suppose you go to war, you cannot fight always; and when, after much loss on both sides, and no gain on either, you cease fighting, the identical old questions, as to terms of intercourse, are again upon you." There is no line, straight or crooked, suitable for a national boundary, apon which to divide. Trace through, from east to west, upon the line between the free and slave country, and we shall find a little more than •>ne-third of its length are rivers, easy to be crossed, and populated, 01 soon to be populated, thickly upon both sides; while nearly all its re maining length are merely surveyors' lines, over which people may walk back and forth without any consciousness of their presence. No part of Dim line can be made any more difficult to pass by writing it down or ftper or parchment as a national boundary, '£hd fact of separation* if i* State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 353 cones, t iveo up, on the part of the seceding section, the fugitive slave clause, aiong "with all other constitutional obligations upon the section seceded from, while I should expect no treaty stipulation would ever be made to take its place. But there is another difficulty. The great interior region, bounded east by the Alleghanies, north by the British dominions, west by the Rocky Mountains, and south by the line along which the culture of corn and cottoa meets, and which includes part of Virginia, part of Tennessee, all of Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Misscnri, Kansas, Iowa, Minnesota, and the Territories of Dakota, Nebraska, and part of Colorado, already has above ten millions of people, and will havo fifty millions within fifty years, if not prevented by any political folly or mistake. It contains more than one-third of the country owned by the United Scales — certainly more than one million of square miles. Onco half as populous as Massachusetts already is. it would have more than seventy-five millions of people. A glance at the map shows that, terri- torially speaking, it is the great body of the Republic. The other parts are but marginal borders to it, the magnificent region sloping west from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific being the deepest, and also the richest In undeveloped resources. In the production of provisions, grains, grasses, and all which proceed from them, this great interior region is naturally one of the most important of the world. Ascertain from the statistics the small propoition of the region which has as yet been brought into culti- vation, and also the large and rapidly increasing amount of its products, and we shall be overwhelmed with the magnitude of the prospect pre sented. And yet this region has no sea-coast — touches no ocean any- where. As part of one nation, its people now find, and may forever find, their way to Europe by New York, to South America and Africa by New Orleans, and to Asia by San Francisco. But separate our common coun- try into two nations, as designed by the present rebellion, and every man of this great interior region is thereby cut off from some one or more of these outlets, not perhaps by a physical barrier, but by embarrassing and onerous trade regulations. And this is true, wherever a dividing or boundary line may be fixe << Place it between the now free and slave country, or place it south Kentucky, or north of Ohio, and still the truth remains that none soui; of it can trade to any port or place north of it, and none north of it can trade to any port or place south of it, except upon terms dictated by a Government foreign to them. These outlets, east, west, and south, are indispensable to the well-being of the people inhabiting and to inhabit this vast interior region. Which of the three may be the best is no proper question. All are better than either, and all of right belong to that people and to their successors forever. True to themselves, they will not ask where a line of separation shall be, but will vow rather that there shall be no such line. Nor are the marginal regiom lees interested in these communications to and through them to the great 23 354 The Life, Public Services and outside world. They too, and each of thein, must have access to ihU Egypt of the West, without paying toll at the crossing of any national boundary. Our national strife springs not from our permanent part; not from the land we inhabit; not from our national homestead. There is no possible severing of this, but would multiply and not mitigate evils among us. Ip ail its adaptations and aptitudes it demands union and abhors separation In fact, it would ere long force reunion, however much of blood and treasure the separation might have cost. Onr strife pertains to ourselves — to the passing generations of men ; and it can, without convulsion, be hushed forever with the passing of one generation. In tnis view, I recommend the adoption of the following resolution and articles amendatory to the Constitution of l*he United States : — Resolved by the Senate and Rouse of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled (two-thirds of both Houses con curring), That the following articles be proposed to the Legislatures (or Conventions) of the several States as amendments to the Constitution of the United States, all or any of which articles, when ratified by three- fourths of the said Legislatures (or Conventions), to be valid as part or parts of the said Constitution, viz. : — Aktiole. — Every State, wherein slavery now exists, which shall abolisn the same therein at any time or times before the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand and nine hundred, shall receive com- pensation from the United States as follows, to wit : The President of the United States shall deliver to every such State bonds of the United States, bearing interest at the rate of per cent. per annum, to an amount equal to the aggregate sum of for each slave shown to have been therein by the eighth census of the United States, said bonds to be delivered to such State by instalments, or in one parcel, at the completion of the abolishment, accordingly as the same shall have been gradual, or at one time, within such State; and interest shall begin to run upon any such bond only from the proper time of its delivery as aforesaid. Any State having received bonds as aforesaid, and afterwards reintroducing or tolerating slavery therein, shall refund to the United States the bonds so received, or the value thereof, and all interest paid thereon. 3 Article. — All slaves who shall have enjoyed actual treedom by the ( - ances of the war, at any time before the end of the rebellion, shall be i ever free; but all owners of such, who shall not have been disloyal, shall be compensated for them at the same rates as is provided for States adopting abolishment of slavery, but in such way that no slave shall be twice accounted for. Article. — Congress may appropriate money, and otherwise provide for colonizing free colored persons, with their own consent, at any place or places without the United States. I beg indulgence to discuss these proposed articles at some length. Without slavery the rebellion could never have existed ; without slavery it cotud not continue. Among the friends of the Union thero is great diversity of senti^eat I I - \* State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 355 and of policy in regard to slavery and the African race amongst us Bome would perpetuate .slavery; some would abolish it suddenly, and without compensation ; some would abolish it gradually, and with com- pensation; some would remove the freed people from us, and some would retain them with us: and there are yet other minor diversities. Because of these diversities we waste much strength among ourselves. By mutual concession we should harmonize and act together. This would be compromise; but it would be compromise among the friends, and not with the enemies of the Union. These articles are intended to embody a plan of such mutual concessions. If the plan shall be adopted, it is assumed that emancipation will follow in at least several :f the States. As to the first article, the main points are : first, the emancipation ; secondly, the length of time for consummating it — thirty -seven years; and, thirdly, the compensation. The emancipation will be unsatisfactory to the advocates of perpetual slavery ; but the length of time should greatly mitigate their dissatisfac- tion. The time spares both races from the evils of sudden derangement — in fact, from the necessity of any derangement; while most of those whose habitual course of thought will be disturbed by the measure will have passed away before its consummation. They will never see it. Another class will hail the prospect of emancipation, but will deprecate the length of time. They will feel that it gives too little to the now liv- ing slaves. But it really gives them much. It saves them from the vagrant destitution which must largely attend immediate emancipation in localities where their numbers are very great; and it gives the inspiring assurano that their posterity shall be free forever. The plan leaves to each State choosing to act under it, to abolish slavery now, or at the end of the cen- tury, or at any intermediate time, or by degrees, extending over the whole or any part of the period ; and it obliges no two States to proceed alike. It also provides for compensation, and generally the mode of making it. This, it would seem, must further mitigate the dissatisfaction of those who favor perpetual slavery, and especially of those who are to receive tJi« y compensation. Doubtless some of those who are to pay and not receive will object. Yet the measure is both just and economical. In a certain sense the liberation of slaves is the destruction of property — property acquired by descent or by purchase, the same as any other property. It is no less true for having been often said, that the people of the South are not more responsible for the original introduction of this property than are the people of the North ; and when it is remembered how unhesitat- ingly we all use cotton and sugar, and share the profits of dealing in them, it may not be quite safe to say that the South has been more respon- sible than the North for its continuance. If, then, for a common object this property is to be sacrificed, is it not just that it be done at a common charge ? A.nd if with less money, 01 money more easily paid, we can preserve > / ; 356 The Life, Public Services, and the benefits of the Fnion by this means than we can by the war alone, is it not also economical to do it? Let us consider it, then. Let ns ascer- tain the sum we have expended in the war since compensated emancipation was proposed last March, and consider whether, if that measure had teen promptly accepted by even some of the slave States, the same sum wc uld not have done more to close the war than has been otherwise done. If so, the measure would save money, and, in that view, would be a prud ent and economical measure. Certainly it is not so easy to pay somett .njj as it is pay nothing ; but it is easier to pay a large sum than it is to nay t larger one. And it is easier to pay any sum when we are able, than it is to pay it before we are able. The war requires large sums, and requires them at once. The aggregate sum necessary for compensated emancipa- tion of course would bo large. But it would require no ready cash, nor the bonds even, any faster than the emancipation progresses. This might not, and probably would not, close before the end of the thirty-seven years. At that time we shall probably have a hundred millions of people to share the burden, instead of thirty-one millions, as now. And not only so, but the increase of our population may be expected to continue for & long time after that period as rapidly as before ; because our territory will not have become full. I do no state this inconsiderately. At the same ratio of increase which we have maintained, on an average from our first national census, in 1790, until that of 1860, we should, in 1900, have a population of one hundred and three million two hundred and eight thousand four hundred and fifteen. And why may we not con tinue that ratio — far beyond that period ? Our abundant room — our broad national homestead — is our ample resource. Were our territory as limited as are the British Isles, very certainly our population could not expand as stated. Instead of receiving the foreign born as now, we should be com- pelled to send part of the native born away. But such is not our condi- tion. We have two million nine hundred and sixty-three thousand square miles. Europe has three million and eight hundred thousand, with a population averaging seventy-three and one-third persons to the •quare mile. Why may not our country at some time average as many f Is it less fertile ? Has it mc re waste surface, by mountains, rivers, lakes, deserts, or other causes ? Is it inferior to Europe in any natural advan- tage? If then we are, at some time, to be as populous as Europe, how ■oon ? As to when this may be, we can judge by the past and the present ; as to when it will be, if ever, depends much on whether we maintain the Union. Several of our States are already above the average of Europe — seventy-three and a third to the square mile. Massachusetts one hundred and fifty-seven ; Ehode Island one hundred and thirty-three ; Connecticut ninety-nine ; New York and New Jersey, each eighty. Also two other great States, Pennsylvania and Ohio, are not far below, the former having sixty-three and the latter fifty-nine. The States already above the European average, except New York, have increased in as rapid a ratio, sinoe passing that point, as ever before ; while no one of them is equal to State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 357 some other parte of our country in natural capacity for sustaining a dente population. Taking the nation in the aggregate, and we find its population and ratio of increase, for the several decennial periods, to be as follows — 1799 3,929,827 1800 5,-305,937 35.02 per cent, ratio of increase 1810 7,239,814 36.45 " " « 1820 9,638,131 33.13 " " « !830 12,866,020 33.49 " " « 1840 17,069,453 32.67 " " " 1850 23,191,876 35.87 " " " 1860 31,443,790 35.58 " u " This shows an average decennial increase of 34.60 per cent, in popuia tion through the seventy years, from our first to our last census yet take* . It is seen that the ratio of increase, at no one of these two periods, ig either two per cent, below or two per cent, above the average ; thus show- ing how inflexible, and consequently how reliable, the law of increase in our case is. Assuming that it will continue, it gives the following re- sults : — 1870 42,523,341 1880 56,967,216 1890 76,677,872 1900 103,208,415 1910 138,918,526 1920 186,984,335 1930 251,680,914 These figures show that our country may be as populous as Europe now is at some point between 1920 and 1930— say about 1925 — our territory, at seventy -three and a third persons to the square mile, being of capacity to contain two hundred and seventeen million one hundred and eighty- fix thousand. And we will reach this, too, if we do not ourselves relinquish the chaae^ ty the folly and evils of disunion, or by long and exhausting wars spring- ing from the only great element of national discord among us. While it cannot be foreseen exactly how much one huge example of secession, breeding lesser ones indefinitely, would retard population, civilization, and prosperity, no one can doubt that the extent of it would be very great and injurious. The proposed emancipation would shorten the war, perpetuate peace, insure this increase of population, and proportionately the wealth of the country. With these we should pay all the emancipation would cost, together with our other debt, easier than we should pay our other debt with- out it. If we had allowed our old national debt to run at six per cent, per annum, simple interest, from the end of our Revolutionary struggle wtil to-day, without paying anything on either principal or interest, each tunc of us would owe lew upon that ou it C 358 The Life, Public Services, and then; and this because our increase of men, through the whole Teriod, has been greater than six per cent.; has run faster than the interest upon the debt. Thus, time alone relieves a debtor nation, so long as its popu- lation increases faster than unpaid interest accumulates on its debt. This fact would be no excuse for delaying payment of what is justly due ; but it shows the great importance of time in this connection — the great advantage of a policy by which we shall not have to pay until we number a hundred millions, what, by a different policy, we wo-ild have to now, when we number but thirty-one millions. In a word, u ehows thg % dollar will be much harder to pay for the war than will be a dollar for tli emancipation on the proposed plan. And then the latter will cost no Mood, no precious life. It will be a saving of both. As to the second article, I think it would be impracticable to return to bondage the class of persons therein contemplated. Some of them, doubt- less, in the property sense, belong to loyal owners; and hence provision is made in this article for compensating such. The third article relates to the future of the freed people. It does not oblige, but merely authorizes Congress to aid in colonizing such as may consent. This ought not to be regarded as objectionable on the one hand or on the other, insomuch as it comes to nothing unless by the mutual con sent of the people to be deported, and the American voters, through theii representatives in Congress. I cannot make it better known than it already is, that I strongly favor colonization. And yet I wish to say there is an objection urged against free colored persons remaining in the country which is largely imaginary, if not sometimes malicious. It is insisted that their presence would injure and displace white labor and white laborers. If there ever could be a proper time for mere catch arguments, that time surely is not now. In times like the present men should utter nothing for which they would not willingly be responsible through time and in eternity. Is it true, then, that colored people can displace anymore white labor by being free than by remaining slaves? If tbey stay in their old places, they jostle no white laborers ; if they leave O.eir old places, they leave them open to white laborers. Logically, there is nether more nor less of it. Emancipation, even without deportation, would probably enhance the wages of white labor, and, very surely, would cot reduce them. Thus the customary amount of labor would still have to be performed — the freed people would surely not do more than their old proportion of it, and very probably for a time would do less, leaving an increased part to white laborers, bringing their labor into greater demand, and consequently enhancing the wages of it. With deportation, even to a limited extent, enhanced wages to white labor is mathematically pertain. Labor is like any other commodity in the market — increase the demand for it and you increase the price of it. Reduce the supply of Mack i.iior, by colonizing the black laborer out of the country, and by preei^ly bo much you Increase the demand for and wages of white labor State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 359 But it h dreaded that the freed people will swarm forth and coTet the whole land! Are they not already in the land? Will liberation make them any more numerous ? Equally distributed among the whites of the whole country, and there would be but one colored to seven whites. Could the one, in any way, greatly disturb the seven? There are many communities now having more- than one free colored person to seven whites ; and this, without any apparent consciousness of evil from it. The District of Columbia and the States of Maryland and Delaware are all in this condition. The District has more than one free colored to six whites; and yet, in its frequent petitions to Congress, I believe it has never presented the presence of free colored persons as one of its griev- ances. But why should emancipation South send the freed people North? People of any color seldom run unless there be something to run from Heretofore colored people to some extent have fled North from bondage ; and now, perhaps, from bondage and destitution. But if gradual eman- cipation and deportation be adopted, they will have neither to flee from. Their old masters will give them wages at least until new laborers can be procured, and the freedmen in turn will gladly give their labor for the wages till new homes can be found for them in congenial climes and with people of their own blood and race. This proposition can be trusted on the mutual interests involved. And in any event, cannot the North de- cide for itself whether to receive them ? Again, as practice proves more than theory, in any case, has there been any irruption of colored people northward because of the abolishment cf slavery in this District last spring? What I have said of the proportion of free colored persons to the whites in the District is from the census of 1880, having no reference to persons called contrabands, nor to those made free by the act of Congress abolishing slavery here. The plan consisting of these articles is recommended, not but that a restoration of national authority would be accepted without its adoption. Nor will the war, nor proceedings under the proclamation of Septem- ber 22, 1862, be stayed because of the recommendation of this plan. Its timely adoption, I doubt not, would bring restoration, and thereby stay both. And, notwithstanding this plan, the recommendation that Congress provide by law for compensating any State which may adopt emancipa- tion before this plan shall have been acted upon, is hereby earnestly re- newed. Such would be only an advanced part of the plan, and the same arguments apply to both. This plan is recommended as a means, not in exclusion of, but addi- tional to, all others for restoring and preserving the national authority throughout the Union. The subject is presented exclusively in its eco- Qomical aspect. The plan would, I am confident, secure peace mure speedily, and maintain it more permanently, than can be done by force alone; while all it would coat, considering amounts, and manner of pay 360 The Life, Public Services, and merit, and times of payment, would be easier paid than will be the add! tional cost of the war, if we solely rely upon force. It is much — very much — that it would cost no blood at all. The plan is proposed as permanent constitutional law. It cannot be- come such, without the concurrence of, first, two-thirds of Congress, and afterwards three-fourths of the States. The requisite three-fourths of the States will necessarily include seven of the slave States. Their concur- rence, if obtained, will give assurance of their severally adopting eman- cipation, at no very distant day, upon the new constitutional terms, This assurance would end the struggle now, and save the Union forever. I do not forget the gravity which should characterize a paper addressed to the Congress of the nation by the Chief Magistrate of the nation. K or do I forget that some of you are my seniors ; nor that many of you have more experience than I in the conduct of publie affairs. Yet I trust that, m view of the great responsibility resting upon me, you will perceive no want of respect to yourselves in any undue earnestness I may seem to display. Is it doubted, then, that the plan I propose, if adopted, would shorten the war, and thus lessen its expenditure of money and of blood? Is it doubted that it would restore the national authority and national pros- perity, and perpetuate both indefinitely ? Is it doubted that we here — Congress and Executive — can secure its adoption ? Will not the good people respond to a united and earnest appeal from us ? Can we, can they, by any other means, so certainly or so speedily assure these vital objects? We can succeed only by concert. It is not " Can any of us ima- gine better?" but "Can we all do better?" Object whatsoever is possible, still the question recurs, " Can we do better?" The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew, and act anew. We must disinthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country. Fellow-citizens, we cannot escape history. We of this Congress and this Administration will be remembered in spite of ourselves. No per- sonal significance or insignificance can spare one or another of us. The fiery trial through which we pass will light us down in honor or dishonor to the latest generation. We say that we are for the Union. The world will not forget that we say this. We know how to save the Union. The world knows we do know how to save it. We — even we here— hold the power and bear the responsibility. In giving freedom to the slave we as- sure freedom to the free — honorable alike in what we give and what we preserve. We shall nobly save or meanly lose the last best hope of earth. Other means may succeed ; this could not, cannot fail. The way is plain, peaceful, generous, just — a way which, if followed, the world will forevei applaud, and God must forever Mess. Abraham Lincoln. State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 361 At the very outset of the session, resolutions were in- troduced by the opponents of the Administration, censur- ing, in strong terms, its arrest of individuals in the loyal States, suspected of giving, or intending to give, aid and comfort to the rebellion. These arrests were denounced as utterly unwarranted "by the Constitution and laws of the United States, and as involving the subversion of the public liberties. In the Senate, the general subject was discussed in a debate, commencing on the 8th of Decem- ber, the opponents of the Administration setting forth very fully and very strongly their opinion of the unjusti- fiable nature of this action, and its friends vindicating it, as made absolutely necessary by the emergencies of the case. Every department of the Government, and every section of the country, were filled at the outset of the war with men actively engaged in doing the work of spies and informers for the rebel authorities ; and it was known that, in repeated instances, the plans and purposes of the Government had been betrayed and defeated by these aiders and abettors of treason. It became absolutely necessary, not for purposes of punishment, but of preven tion, to arrest these men in the injurious and perhaps fatal action they were preparing to take ; and on this ground the action of the Government was vindicated and justified by the Senate. On the 8th of December, in th^ House of Representatives, a bill was introduced, declaring the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus to have been required by the public safety ; confirming and declaring ralid all arrests and imprisonments, by whomsoever made or caused to be made, under the authority of the President ; and indemnifying the President, secretaries, heads of departments, and all persons who have been concerned in making such arrests, or in doing or advising any such acts, and making void all prosecutions and pro- ceedings whatever against them in relation to the matters in question. It also authorized the President, during the existence of the war, to declare the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus, "at such times, and in such places, and with regard to such persons, as in his judgment the 862 The Life, Public Services, and public safe t j may require." This bill was passed, receiv- ing ninety votes in its favor, and forty-live against it. It was taken up in tlie Senate on the 22d of December, and after a discussion of several days, a new bill was substi- tuted and passed ; ayes 33, noes 7. This was taken up in the House on the 18th of February, and the substitute of the Senate was rejected. This led to the appointment of a committee of conference, which recommended that the Senate recede from its amendments, and that the bill, substantially as it came from the House, be passed. This report was agreed to after long debate, and the bill thus became a law. The relations in which the rebel States were placed by their acts of secession towards the General Government became a topic of discusion in the House of Representa- tives, in a debate which arose on the 8th of January, upon an item in the Appropriation Bill, limiting the amount to be paid to certain commissioners to the amount that might be collected from taxes in the insurrectionary States. Mr. Stevens, of Pennsylvania, pronounced the opinion that the Constitution did not embrace a State that was in arms against the Government of the United States. He maintain- ed that those States held towards us the position of alien enemies — that every obligation existing between them and us. had been annulled, and that with regard to all the Southern States in rebellion, the Constitution has no bind- ing force and no application. This position was very strongly controverted by men of both parties. Those who were not in full sympathy with the Administration opposed it, because it denied to the Southern people the protection of the Constitution ; while many Republicans regarded it as a virtual acknowledgment of the validity and actual force of the ordinances of secession passed by the Rebel States. Mr. Thomas, of Massachusetts, expressed the 6entiment of the latter class very clearly when he said that one object of the bill under discussion was to impose a tax upon States in rebellion — that our only authority for so doing was the Constitution of the United States — and that we could only do it on the ground that the author- State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 363 ity of the Government over those States is just as valid now as it was before the acts of secession were passed, and that every one of those acts is utterly null and void. No vote was taken which declared directly the opinion of the House on the theoretical question thus involved. The employment of negroes as soldiers was subjected to a vigorous discussion, started on the 27th of January, by an amendment offered to a pending bill by Mr. Stevens, directing the President to raise, arm, and equip as many volunteers of African descent as he might deem useful, for such term of service as he might think proper, not exceeding five years — to be officered by white or black persons, in the President's discretion — slaves to be accept- ed as well as freemen. The members from the Bordei States opposed this proposition with great earnestness, aa certain to do great harm to the Union cause among their con- stituents, by arousing prejudices which, whether reason- able or not, were very strong, and against which argument would be found utterly unavailing. Mr. Crittenden, of Kentucky, objected to it mainly because it would convert the war against the rebellion into a servile war, and es- tablish abolition as the main end for which the war was carried on. Mr. Sedgwick, of New York, vindicated the policy suggested, as having been dictated rather by neces- sity than choice. He pointed out the various steps by which the President, as the responsible head of the Gov- ernment, had endeavored to prosecute the war success- fully without interfering with slavery, and showed also how the refusal of the Rebel States to return to their allegiance had compelled him to advance, step by step, to the more rigorous and effective policy which had now become inevitable. After considerable further discussion, the bill, embodying substantially the amendment of Mr. Stevens, was passed ; ayes 83, noes 54. On reaching the Senate it was referred to the Committee on Military Affairs, which, on the 12th of February, reported against its pas- sage, on the ground that the autherity which it was in- tended to confer upon the President was already sufficient- ly granted in the act of the previous session, approved 364 The Life, Public Services, and July 17, 1862, which authorized the President to employ, in any military or naval service for which they might "be found competent, persons of African descent. One of the most important acts of the session was that which provided for the creation of a national force "by enrolling and drafting the militia of the whole country — each State "being required to contribute its quota in the ratio of its population, and the whole force, when raised, to Ibe under the control of the President. Some measure of the kind seemed to have been rendered absolutely ne- cessary by the revival of party spirit throughout the loyal States, and by the active and effective efforts made by the Democratic party, emboldened by the results of the fall elections of 1862, to discourage and prevent volunteer- ing. So successful had they been in this work, that the Government seemed likely to fail in its efforts to raise men for another campaign ; and it was to avert this threat- ening evil that the bill in question was brought forward for the action of Congress. It encountered a violent resist- ance from the opposition party, and especially from those members whose sympathies with the secessionists were the most distinctly marked. But after the rejection of numerous amendments, more or less affecting its character and force, it was passed in the Senate, and taken up on the 23d of February in the House, where it encountered a similar ordeal. It contained various provisions for exempting from service persons upon whom others wer* most directly and entirely dependent for support — such en. the only son of a widow, the only son of aged and infirm parents who relied upon him for a maintenance, &c. It allowed drafted persons to procure substitutes ; and, to cover the cases in which the prices of substitutes might become exorbitant, it also provided that upon payment of three hundred dollars the Government itself would procure a substitute, and release the person drafted from service. The bill was passed in the House, with some amendments, by a vote of 115 to 49 ; and the amendments being concurred in by the Senate, the bill became a law, One section of this act required the President to issue State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 365 a proclamation offering an amnesty to deserters, and he accordingly issued it, in the following words :— A PKOCLAMATTON. By the President of the United States of America. Executive Mansion, "Washington, March 10, 1S6& In pursuance of the twenty-sixth section of the act of Congress entitled *? An Act for enrolling and calling out the National Forces, and for other purposes," approved on the third of March, in the year one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, I, Abraham Lincoln, President, and commander- m-chief of the army and navy of the United States, do hereby order and command that all soldiers enlisted or drafted into the service of the United States, now absent from their regiments without leave, shall forthwith return to their respective regiments ; and I do hereby declare and pro- claim that all soldiers now absent from their respective regiments without leave, who shall, on or before the first day of April, 18G3, report them- selves at any rendezvous designated by the General Orders of the War Department, No. 58, hereto annexed, may be restored to their respective regiments without punishment, except the forfeiture of pay and allow- ances during their absence ; and all who do not return within the time above specified shall be arrested as deserters, and punished as the law provides. And whereas evil-disposed and disloyal persons, at sundry places, have enticed and procured soldiers to desert and absent themselves from » their regiments, thereby weakening the strength of the armies, and prolonging the war, giving aid and comfort to the enemy, and cruelly exposing the gallant and faithful soldiers remaining in the ranks to increased hardships and dangers : I do therefore call upon all patriotic and faithful citizens to oppose and resist the aforementioned dangerous and treasonable crimes, and aid in restoring to their regiments all soldiers absent without leave, and assist in the execution of the act of Congress for " Enrolling and calling out the National Forces, and for other purposes," and to support the proper authorities in the prosecution and punishment of offenders against said act, and aid in suppressing the insurrection and the rebellion. In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand. Done at the City of Washington, this tentli day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the independence of the United States the eighty-seventh. Abraham Linoouet. By the President : Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War. The finances of the country enlisted a good deal of attention during this session. It was necessary to pro- 366 The Life, Public Services, and vide in some way for the expenses of the war, and also for a currency ; and two bills were accordingly introduced at an early stage of the session relating to these two sub- jects. The Financial Bill, as finally passed by both Houses, authorized the Secretary of the Treasury to borrow and issue bonds for nine hundred millions of dollars, at not more than six per cent, interest, and payable at a time not less than ten nor more than forty years. It also authorized the Secretary to issue treasury notes to the amount of four hundred millions of dollars, bearing interest, and also notes not bearing interest to the amount of one hundred and fifty millions of dollars. While this bill was pending, a joint resolution was passed by both Houses, authorizing the issuing of treas- ury notes to the amount of one hundred millions of dollars, to meet the immediate wants of the soldiers and sailors in the service. The President announced that he had signed this reso lution, in the following MESSAGE. To the Senate and House of Representatives : — I have signed the joint resolution to provide for the immediate pay- ment of the army and navy of the United States, passed by the House of Kepresentatives on the 14th, and by the Senate on the 15th inst. The joint resolution is a simple authority, amounting, however, under the existing circumstances, to a direction to the Secretary of the Treasury to make an additional issue of one hundred millions of dollars in United States notes, if so much money is needed, for the payment of the army sad navy. My approval is given in order that every possible facility may be afforded for the prompt discharge of all arrears of pay due to our sol- diers and our sailors. While giving this approval, however, I think it my duty to express my sincere regret that it has been found necessary to authorize so large an additional issue of United States notes, when this circulation, and that of the suspended banks together, have become already so redundant as to increase prices beyond real values, thereby augmenting the cost of living, to the injury of labor, and the cost of supplies — to the injury of the whole country. It seems very plain that continued issues of United States notes, without any check to the issues of suspended banks, and without adequate provision for the raising of money by loans, and for funding the issues, so as to keep them within due limits, must soon produce disastrous cons* State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 3G7 qnences; and this matter appears to me so important that I feel bound to avail myself of this occasion to ask the special attention of Congress to it That Congress has power to regulate the currency of the country can hardly admit of doubt, and that a judicious measure to prevent the dete- rioration of this currency, by a reasonable taxation of bank circulation or otherwise, is needed, seems equally clear. Independently of this gen- eral consideration, it would be unjust to the people at large to exempt banks enjoying the special privilege of circulation, from their just propor- tion of the public ourdens. In order to raise money by way of loans most easily and cheaply, it ia clearly necessary to give every possible support to the public credit. To that end, a uniform currency, in which taxes, subscriptions, loans, and all other ordinary public dues may be paid, is almost if not quite indispensa- ble. Such a currency can be furnished by banking associations authorized under a general act of Congress, as suggested in my message at the begin- ning of the present session. The securing of this circulation by the pledge of the United States bonds, as herein suggested, would still further facili- tate loans, by increasing the present and causing a future demand for such bonds. In view of the actual financial embarrassments of the Government, and of the greater embarrassment sure to come if the necessary means of re- lief be not afforded, I feel that I should not perform my duty by a simple announcement of my approval of the joint resolution, which proposes relief only by increasing the circulation, without expressing my earnest desire that measures, such in substance as that 1 have just referred to, may receive the early sanction of Congress. By such measures, in my opinion, will payment be most certainly secured, not only to the army and navy, but to all honest creditors of the Government, and satisfactory provision made for future demands on the Treasury. Abraham Lincoln. The second bill—that to provide a national currency, secured by a pledge of United States stocks, and to provide for the circulation and redemption thereof, was passed in the Senate— ayes twenty-three, noes twenty-one ; and in the House, ayes seventy-eight, noes sixty-four— under the twofold conviction that so long as the war continued the country must have a large supply of paper money, and that it was also highly desirable that this money should be national in its character, and rest on the faith of the Government as its security. Another act of importance, passed by Congress at this session, was the admission of West Virginia into the Union. The Constitution of the United States declares 368 The Life, Public Services, and that no new State shall be formed within the jurisdiction of any State without the consent of the legislature of the State concerned, as well as of the Congress. The main question on which the admission of the new State turned, therefore, was whether that State had been formed with the consent of the Legislature of Virginia. The facts of the case were these : In the winter of 1860--61, the Legis- lature of Virginia, convened in extra session, had called a convention, to be held on the 14th of February, 1861, at Richmond, to decide on the question of secession. A vote was also to be taken, when the delegates to this con- vention should be elected, to decide whether an ordinance of secession, if passed by the convention, should be re- ferred back to the people ; and this was decided in the affirmative, by a majority of nearly sixty thousand. The convention met, and an ordinance of secession was passed, and referred to the people, at an election to be held on the fourth Tuesday of May. Without waiting for this vote, the authorities of the State levied war against the United States, joined the Rebel Confederacy, and invited the Confederate armies to occupy portions of their territory. A convention of nearly five hundred delegates, chosen in Western Virginia under a popular call, met early in May, declared the ordinance of secession null and void, and called another convention of delegates from all the coun- ties of Virginia, to be held at Wheeling, on the 11th of June, in case the secession ordinance should be rati- fied by the popular vote. It was so ratified, and the convention met. It proceeded on the assumption that the officers of the old Government of the State had va- cated their offices by joining the rebellion ; and it ac- cordingly proceeded to fill them, and to reorganize the Government of the whole State. On the 20th of August the convention passed an ordinance to " provide for the formation of a new State out of a portion of the territory of this State.' ' Under that ordinance, delegates were rilected to a convention which met at Wheeling, November 2J6th, and proceeded to draft a Constitution for the State of West Virginia, as the new State was named, which State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 369 was submitted to the people of West Virginia in April, 1862, and by them ratified — eighteen thousand eight hundred and sixty -two voting in favor of it, and live hun- Ired and fourteen against it. The Legislature of Virginia, the members of which were elected by authority of the Wheeling Convention of June 11th, met, in extra session, called by the Governor appointed by that convention, on the 6th of May, 1862, and passed an act giving its consent to the formation of the new State, and making application to Congress for its admission into the Union. The ques- tion to be decided by Congress, therefore, was whether the legislature which met at Wheeling on the 11th of June was "the Legislature of Virginia," and thus competent to give its consent to the formation of a new State within the State of Virginia. The bill for admitting it, notwith- standing the opposition of several leading and influential Republicans, was passed in the House — ayes ninety-six, noes fifty-five. It passed in the Senate without debate, and was approved by the President on the 31st of Decem- ber, 1862, and on the 20th of April, 1863, the President issued the following proclamation for the admission of the new State : — Whereas, by the act of Congress approved the 31st day of December last, the State of West Virginia was declared to be one of the United States of America, and was admitted into the Union on an equal footing with the original States in all respects whatever, upon the condition that certain changes should be duly made in the proposed Constitution for that State. And whereas, proof of a compliance with that condition, as required by the second section of the act aforesaid, has been submitted to me : Now, therefore, be it know n that I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, do hereby, in pursuance of the act of Congress aforesaid, declare and proclaim that the said act shall take effect and be in force from and after sixty days from the date hereof. In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal or the United States to be affixed. Done at the City of Washington, this twentieth day of April, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty- [l. s.] three, and of the independence of the United States the eighty-seventh. Abraham Lincoln, By the President • William H. Seward, Secretary of Stat*. U 370 The Liee, Public Services, and A bill was brought forward in the Senate for discussion on the 29th of January, proposing a grant of money to aid in the abolition of slavery in the State of Missouri. It gave rise to a good deal of debate, some Senators doubt- ing whether Congress had any constitutional right to make such an appropriation, and a marked difference of opinion, moreover, growing up as to the propriety of gradual or immediate emancipation in that State. Mr. Sumner, Mr. Wilson, and several others, insisted that the aid proposed should be granted only on condition that emancipation should be immediate ; while the Senators from Missouri thought that the State would be much more certain to provide for getting rid of slavery if the time were ex- tended to twenty -three years, as the bill proposed, than if slie were required to set free all her slaves at once. The Senators from the slave States generally opposed the measure, on the ground that Congress had no authority under the Constitution to appropriate any portion of the public money for such a purpose. The bill was finally passed in the Senate, but it failed to pass the House. Two members of Congress from the State of Louisiana were admitted to seats in the House of Representatives under circumstances which made that action of consider- able importance. Immediately after the occupation of New Orleans by the National forces under General But- ler, the President had appointed General Shepley military governor of the State of Louisiana. The rebel forces were driven out from the City of New Orleans, and some of the adjoining parishes ; and when, during the ensuing summer, the people were invited to resume their allegiance to the Government of the United States, over sixty thou- sand came forward, took the oath of allegiance, and were admitted to their rights as citizens. On the 3d of Decem- ber, General Shepley, acting as military governor of the State, ordered an election for members of Congress in the two districts into which the City of New Orleans is divi ded — each district embracing also some of the adjoining parishes. In one of these districts, B. F. Flanders was elected, receiving two thousand three hundred and seventy State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 371 votes, and all others two hundred and seventy-three ; and in the other, Michael Hahn was elected, receiving two thousand seven hundred and ninety-nine votes out of five thousand one hundred and seventeen, the whole numbei cast. A committee of the House, to which the appliea- tion of these gentlemen for admission to their seats had been referred, reported, on the 9th of February, in favor of their claim. It was represented in this report that the requirements of the Constitution of the State of Louisiana ■had in all respects been complied with, the only question being whether a military governor, appointed by the President of the United States, could properly and right- fully perform the functions of the civil governor of the State. The committee held that he could, and cited a de- cision of the Supreme Court of the United States, not only recognizing the power of the President to appoint a mili- tary governor, bat also recognizing both his civil and military functions as of full validity and binding obliga- tion. On the other hand, it was maintained that repre- sentatives can be elected to the Federal Legislature only in pursuance of an act of the State Legislature, or of an act of the Federal Congress. In this case neither of these requirements had been fulfilled. The House, however, admitted both these gentlemen to their seats, b a vote of ninety-two to forty-four. Before adjourning, Congress passed an act, approved on the 3d of March, authorizing the President, "in all domestic and foreign wars," to issue to private armed vessels of the United States letters of marque and reprisal — said authority to terminate at the end of three years from the date of the act. Resolutions were also adopted in both Houses, protesting against every proposition of foreign interference, by proffers of mediation or other- wise, as " unreasonable and inadmissible, " and declaring the " unalterable purpose of the United States to prose- cute the war until the rebellion shall be overcome.' ' These resolutions, offered by Mr. Sumner, received in the Senate thirty-one votes in their favor, while but five were cast against them., and in the House one hundred 372 The Life, Public Services, and and three were given for their passage, and twenty- eight against it. The session closed on the 4th of March, 1863. Its pro- ceedings had been marked by the same thorough, and fixed determination to carry on the war, by the use of the most vigorous and effective measures for the suppres- sion of the rebellion, and by the same full and prompt support of the President, which had characterized the I n -needing Congress. While some members of the Administration party, becoming impatient of the delays which seemed to mark the progress of the war, were inclined to censure the caution of the President, and to insist upon bolder and more sleeping assaults upon the persons and property of the people of the Rebel States, and especially upon the institution of slavery — and while, on the other hand, its more open opponents denounced every thing like severity, as calculated to exasperate the South and pro- long the war, the great body of the members, like the great body of the people, manifested a steady and firm reliance on the patriotic purpose and the calm sagacity evinced by the President in his conduct of public affairs. State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 373 CHAPTER Xn. ARBITRARY ARRESTS.— THE SUSPENSION OP THE WRW 0? HABEAS CORPUS.— THE DRAFT. Arbitrary Arrests. — First Suspension of the Habeas Corpus. — Am and Comfort to the Rebels. — Executive Order about Arrests. — Appointment of a Commissioner on Arrests. — Opposition to tiib Government. — The Case of Vallandigham. — Governor Seymour on Vallandigham. — President Lincoln on Arrests. — President Lincoln on Military Arrests. — The President's Letter to Mr. Corning. — The President to the Ohio Committee. — The President on Vallandigham's Case. — The Habeas Corpus Suspended. — Proclamation Concerning Aliens. — The Draft. — TnE New York Riots. — Letter to Governor Seymour. — The Draft Resumed and Completed. At trie very outbreak of the rebellion, the Administra- tion was compelled to face one of the most formidable of the many difficulties which have embarrassed its iction. Long before the issue had been distinctly made by the rebels in the Southern States, while, under the protecting toleration of Mr. Buchanan's Administration, the conspirators were making preparations for armed resistance to the Government of the United States, evi- dences were not wanting that they relied upon the active co-operation of men and parties in the Northern States, whose political sympathies had always been in harmony with their principles and their action. As early as in Jauuary, 1861, while the rebels were diligently and actively collecting arms and other munitions of war, by purchase in the Northern States, for the contest on which they had resolved, Fernando Wood, then Mayor of New York, had apologized to Senator Toombs, of Georgia, for the seizure by the police of New York of ft arms intended for and consigned to the State of Georgia/' and had assured him that " if he had the power, he should sum- marily punish the authors of this illegal and unjustifiable 374 The Life, Public Services, and seizure of private property." The departments at Wash- ington, the army and the navy, all places of responsi- bility and trust under the Government, and all depart- ments of civil and political activity in the Northern States, were found to be largely filled • "by persons in active sympathy with the secession movement, and ready at all times to give it all the aid and comfort in their power. Upon the advent of the new Administration, and when active measures began to be taken for the sup- pression of the rebellion, the Government found its plans betrayed and its movements thwarted at every turn. Prominent presses and politicians, moreover, throughout the country, began, by active hostility, to indicate their sympathy with those who sought, under cover of oppo- sition to the Administration, to overthrow the Govern- ment, and it became speedily manifest that there was suf- ficient of treasonable sentiment throughout the North to paralyze the authorities in their efforts, aided only by the ordinary machinery of the law, to crush the secession movement. Under these circumstances, it was deemed necessary to resort to the exercise of the extraordinary powers with which, in extraordinary emergencies, the Constitution had clothed the Government. That instrument had pro- vided that " the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus should not be suspended, unless when, in cases of rebel- lion or invasion, the public safety might require it." By necessary implication, whenever, in such cases either of rebellion or invasion, the public safety did require it, the privilege of that writ might be suspended ; and, from the very necessity of the case, the Government which was charged with the care of the public safety, was em- powered to judge when the contingency should occur. The only question that remained was, which department of the Government was to meet this responsibility. If the act was one of legislation, it could only be performed by Congress and the President ; if it was in its nature executive, then it might be performed, the emergency re- quiring it, by the President alone. The pressing emer- State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 3?o gency of the case, moreover, went far towards dictating the decision. Congress had adjourned on the 4th of March, and could not be again assembled for some months ; and infinite and, perhaps fatal mischief might be done during the interval, if the Northern allies of the rebellion were allowed with impunity to prosecute their plans. Under the influence of these considerations, the Presi dent, in his proclamation of the 3d of May, 1861, direct- ing the commander of the forces of the United States on the Florida coast to permit no person to exercise any authority upon the islands of Key West, the Tortugas, and Santa Rosa, which might be inconsistent with the authority of the United States, also authorized him, "if he should find it necessary, to suspend the writ of habeas corpus, and to remove from the vicinity of the United States fortresses all dangerous or suspected persons." This was the first act of the Administration in that direction ; but it was very soon found necessary to resort to the exercise of the same powers in other sections of the country. On the 25th of May, John Merryman, a resi- dent of Hayfield, in Baltimore County, Maryland, known by the Government to be in communication with the rebels, and to be giving them aid and comfort, was arrested and imprisoned in Fort McHenry, then com- manded by General Cadwallader. On the same day he forwarded a petition to Roger B. Taney, Chief- Justice of the United States, reciting the circumstances of his arrest, and praying for the issue of the writ of habeas corpus. The writ was forthwith issued, and General Cadwallader w r as ordered to bring the body of Merryman before the Chief- Justice on the 27th. On that day Colonel Lee pre- sented a written communication from General Cadwalla- der, stating that Merryman had been arrested and com- mitted to his custody by ohlcers acting under the author- ity of the United States, charged with various acts of treason: with holding a commission as lieutenant in a company avowing its purpose of armed hostility against the Government, and with having made often and unre- served declarations of his association with this armet 376 The Life, Public Services, and force, and of his readiness to co-operate with those en- gaged in the present rebellion against the Government of the United States. The General added, that he was " duly authorized by the President of the "United States to suspend the writ of habeas corpus for the public safety ;" and that, while he fully appreciated the deli- cacy of the trust, he was also instructed "that, in times of civil strife, errors, if any, should be on the side of safety to the country." The commanding General ac- cordingly declined to obey the writ, whereupon an attachment was forthwith issued against him for con- tempt of court, made returnable at noon on the next day. On that day, the marshal charged with serving the at- tachment made return that he was not admitted within the fortress, and had consequently been unable to serve the writ. The Chief- Justice, thereupon, read an opinion that the President could not suspend the writ of habeas corpus, nor authorize any military officer to do so, and that a military officer had no right to arrest any person, not subject to the rules and articles of war, for an offence against the laws of the United States, except in aid of the judicial authority, and subject to its control. The Chief- Justice stated further, that the marshal had the power to summon out the posse comitatus to enforce the service of the writ, but as it was apparent that it would be resisted by a force notoriously superior, the Court could do nothing further in the premises. On the 12th of May, another writ was issued by Judge Giles, of Baltimore, to Major Morris, of the United States Artillery, at Fort McHenry, who, in a letter dated the 14th, refused to obey the writ, because, at the time it was issued, and for two weeks previous, the City of Balti- more had been completely under the control of the rebel authorities, United States soldiers had been murdered in the streets, the intention to capture that fort had been openly proclaimed, and the legislature of the State was at that moment debating the question of making war upon the Government of the United States. All this, in his judgment, constituted a case of rebellion, and afford - State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 377 ed sufficient legal cause for suspending the writ of habeas corpus. Similar cases arose, and were disposed of in a similar manner, in other sections of the country. The Governor of Virginia had proposed to Mr. G. Heincken, of New York, the agent of the New York and Virginia Steamship Company, payment for two steamers of that line, the Yorktown and Jamestown, which he had seized for the rebel service, an acceptance of which proffer, Mr. Heincken was informed, would be treated as an act of treason to the Government ; and on his application, Mr. Seward, the Secretary of State, gave him the follow ing reasons for this decision : — An insurrection has broken out in several of the States of this Union, including Virginia, designed to overthrow the Government of the United States. The executive authorities of that State are parties to that insur- rection, and so are public enemies. Their action in seizing or buying vessels to be employed in executing that design, is not merely without authority of law, but is treason. It is treason for any person to give aid and comfort to public enemies. To sell vessels to them which it is their purpose to use as ships of war, is to give them aid and comfort. To receive money from them in payment for vessels which they have seized for those purposes, would be to attempt to convert the unlawful seizure into a sale, and would subject the party so offending to the pains and penalties of treason, and the Government would not hesitate to bring the offender to punishment. These acts and decisions of the Government were vehe- mently assailed by the party opponents of the Adminis- tration, and led to the most violent and intemperate assaults upon the Government in many of the public prints. Some of these journals were refused the privi- lege of the public mails, the Government not holding itself under any obligation to aid in circulating assaults upon its own authority, and stringent restrictions were placed upon the transmission of intelligence by telegraph. On the 5th of July, 1862, Attorney- General Bates trans mitted to the President an elaborate opinion, prepared at his request, upon his power to make arrests of persona known to have criminal complicity with the insurgents, or against whom there is probable cause for suspicion of such criminal complicity, and also upon his right U> 378 The Life, Public Services, and refuse to obey a writ of habeas corpus in case of such arrests. The Attorney- General discussed the subject at considerable length, and reached a conclusion favorable to the action of the Government. From that time for- ward the Government exerted, with vigor and energy, all the power thus placed in its hands to prevent the rebel- lion from receiving aid from those in sympathy with its objects in the Northern States. A large number of persons, believed to be in complicity with the insurgents, were placed in arrest, but were released upon taking an oath of allegiance to the United States Baltimore con- tinued for some time to be the head-quarters of conspira- cies and movements of various kinds in aid of the rebel- lion, and the arrests were consequently more numerous there than elsewhere Indeed, very strenuous efforts were made throughout the summer to induce some action on the part of the legislature which wo aid place the State in alliance with the Rebel Confederacy, and it was confi- dently believed that an ordinance looking to this end would be passed at the extra seosion which was convened for the 17th of September ; but on the 16th, nine secession members of the House of Delegates, with the officers of both houses, were arrested by General McClellan, then in command of the army, who expressed his full appro- bation of the proceedings, and the session was not held. The President at the time gave the following statement of his views in regard to these arrests : — The public safety renders it necessary that the grounds of these arrests ■hould at present be withheld, but at the proper time they will be made public. Of one thing the people of Maryland may rest assured, that no arres: las been made, or will be made, not based on substantial and un mistakable complicity with those in armed rebellion against the Govern- ment of the United States. In no case has an arrest been made on iner« suspicion, or through personal or partisan animosities ; but in all cases the Government is in possession of tangible and unmistakable evidence, which will, when made public, be satisfactory to every loyal citizen. Arrests continued to be made under authority of the State Department, not without complaint, certainly, from large numbers of the people, but with the general acqui- State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 379 esoence of the whole community, and beyond all question greatly to the advantage of the Government and the coun- try. On the 14th of February, 1862, an order was issued on the subject, which transferred control of the whole matter to the War Department. The circumstances which had made these arrests necessary are stated with so much clearness and force in that order, that we insert it ai length, as follows : — EXECUTIVE OEDERS IN RELATION TO STATE PEISONEEft. War Department, Washington, February 14. Tne breaking out of a formidable insurrection, based on a conflict of political ideas, being an event without precedent in the United States, was necessarily attended by great confusion and perplexity of the public mind. Disloyalty, before unsuspected, suddenly became bold, and treason astonished the world by bringing at once into the field military forces superior in numbers to the standing army of the United States. Every department of the Government was paralyzed by treason. De- jection appeared in the Senate, in the House of Representatives, in the Cabinet, in the Federal Courts ; ministers and consuls returned from foreign countries to enter the insurrectionary councils, or land or naval forces ; commanding and other officers of the army and in the navy be- 1 rayed the councils or deserted their posts for commands in the insurgent forces. Treason was flagrant in the revenue and in the post-office service, as well as in the Territorial governments and in the Indian reserves. Not only governors, judges, legislators, and ministerial officers in the States, but even whole States, rushed, one after another, with apparent unanimity, into rebellion. The Capital was besieged, and its connection with all the States cut off. Even in the portions of the country which were most loyal, political combinations and secret societies were formed, furthering the work ol disunion, while, from motives of disloyalty or cupidity, or from excited passions or perverted sympathies, individuals were found furnishing men, money, and materials of war and supplies to the insurgents' military and Haval forces. Armies, ships, fortifications, navy yards, arsenals, military posts and garrisons, one after another, were betrayed or abandoned to the insurgents. Congress had not anticipated and so had not provided for the emergency. The municipal authorities were powerless and inactive. The judicial ma- chinery seemed as if it had been designed not to sustain the Government, but to embarrass and betray it. Foreign intervention, openly invited and industriously instigated by the abettors of the insurrection, became imminent, and has onlv been prs- 380 The Life, Public Services, and vented by the practice of strict and impartial justice, with the most perfect moderation in our intercourse with nations. The public mind was alarmed and apprehensive, though fortunately not distracted or disheartened. It seemed to be doubtful whether the Federal Government, which one year before had been thought a model worthy of universal acceptance, had indeed the ability to defend and maintain itself. Some reverses, which perhaps were unavoidable, suffered by newly levied and inefficient forces, discouraged the loyal, and gave new hope to the insurgents. Voluntary enlistments seemed about to cease, and desert) jns commenced. Parties speculated upon the question whether conscription had not become necessary to fill up the armies of the United States. In this emergency the President felt it his duty to employ with energy the extraordinary powers which the Constitution confides to him in cases of insurrection. He called into the field such military and naval forces, unauthorized by the existing laws, as seemed necessary. He directed measures to prevent the use of the post-office for treasonable correspond- ence. He subjected passengers to and from foreign countries to new passport reguhytfons, and he instituted a blockade, suspended the writ of habeas corpus in various places, and caused persons who were represented to him as being or about to engage in disloyal or treasonable practices to be arrested by special civil as well as military agencies, and detained in military custody, when necessary, to prevent them and deter others from such practices. Examinations of such cases were instituted, and some of the persons so arrested have been discharged from time to time, under circumstances or upon conditions compatible, as was thought, with the public safety. Meantime a favorable change of public opinion has occurred. The line between loyalty and disloyalty is plainly defined ; the whole structure of the Government is firm and stable ; apprehensions of public danger and facilities for treasonable practices have diminished with the passions which prompted heedless persons to adopt them. The insurrection is believed to have culminated and to be declining. The President, in view of these facts, and anxious to favor a return to the normal course of the Administration, as far as regard for the public welfare will allow, directs that all political prisoners or state prisoners now held in military custody, be released on their subscribing to a parole engaging them to render no aid or comfort to the enemies in hostility to the United States. The Secretary of War will, however, at his discretion, except from the eifect of this order any persons detained as spies in the service of the in- surgents, or others whose release at the present moment may be deemed incompatible with the public safety. To all persons who shall be so released, and who shall keep their parole. State Papers of Abraham Lincoln 381 the President grants an amnesty for any past offences of treason or dis- l oyalty which they may have committed. Extraordinary arrests will hereafter be made under the direction of the military authorities alone. By order of the President: Edwin M. Stanton. Secretary of War. , On the 27th of the same month, a commission was ap- pointed by the War Department, consisting of Major- General Dix and Hon. Edwards Pierrepont, of New York, to examine into the cases of the state prisoners then remaining in custody, and to determine whether, in view of the public safety and the existing rebellion, they should be discharged, or remain in arrest, or be remitted to the civil tribunals for trial. These gentlemen entered at once upon the discharge of their duties, and a large number of prisoners were released from custody on taking the oath of allegiance. Wherever the public safety seemed to require it, however, arrests continued to be made — the President, in every instance, assuming all the responsibility of these acts, and throwing himself upon the courts and the judgment of the country for his vindi- cation. But the President himself had not up to this time directed any general suspension of the writ of habeas corpus, or given any public notice of the rules by which the Government would be guided in its action upon cases that might arise. It was left to the Secretary of War to decide in what instances and for what causes arrests should be made, and the privilege of the writ should be sus- pended. In some of the courts into which these cases were brought, the ground was accordingly taken that, although the President might have authority under the Constitution, when, in cases of rebellion or invasion, the public safety should require it, to suspend the writ, he could not delegate that authority to any subordinate. To meet this view, therefore, the President, on the 24th of September, 1862, issued the following PROCLAMATION. Whereas, it has been necessary to call into service, not only volunteers, hut also portions of the militia of the States by draft, in order to supprww 382 The Life, Public Services, and the insurrection existing in the United States, and disloyal persons are not adequately restrained by the ordinary processes of law from hindering this measure, and from giving aid and comfort in various ways to the in- surrection : Now, therefore, be it ordered — First. That during the existing insurrection, and as a necessary measuni for suppressing the same, all rebels and insurgents, their aiders and abettor* , within the United States, and al] persons discouraging volunteer enlist meuts, resisting military drafts, or guilty of any disloyal practice affording ai 1 and comfort to the rebels against the authority of the United States, Ahall be subject to martial law, and liable to trial and punishment by courts-martial or military commission. Second. That the writ of habeas corpus is suspended in respect to all persons arrested, or who are now, or hereafter during the rebellion shall be, imprisoned in any fort, camp, arsenal, military prison, or other place of confinement, by any military authority, or by the sentence of any court-martial or military commission. In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal, and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the City of Washington, this twenty-fourth day o.* September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hun- |l. s.] dred and sixty-two, and of the independence of the United States the eighty-seventh. Abbaham Lincols. By the President : William H. Sewabd, Secretary of State. This proclamation was accompanied by orders from the War Department appointing a Provost- Marshal-G^ieial, whose head-quarters were to "be at Washington, with special provost-marshals, one or more in each State, charged with the duty of arresting deserters and disloyal persons, and of inquiring into treasonable practices ihroughout the country. They were authorized to call upon either the civil or military authority for aid in the discharge of their duties, and were required to report to the department at Washington. The creation of this new department had been made necessary by the increased activity of the enemies of the Government throughout the North, and by the degree of success which had attended their efforts. Prompted partly by merely political and partisan motives, but in many instances by thorough sym- pathy with the secession movement, active political lead- State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 38b ers had set in vigorous motion very extensive machinery for the advancement of their designs. ' ' Peace-meetings " were held in every section of the Northern States, at which the action of the Government was most vehemently as- sailed, the objects of the war were misrepresented, and its prosecution denounced, and special efforts made to prevent enlistments, to promote desertions, and in every way to cripple the Government in its efforts to subdue the rebel- lion by force of arms. The vigorous action of the Gov- ernment, however, in arresting men conspicuous in these disloyal practices, had created a salutary reaction in the public mind, and had so far relieved the Administration from apprehension as to warrant the promulgation of th* following order : — Wab Department, Washington, November 22, 1868. Ordered — 1. That all persons now in military custody, who have been arrested for discouraging volunteer enlistments, opposing the draft, or for otherwise giving aid and comfort to the enemy, in States where the draft has been made, or the quota of volunteers and militia has been furnished, shall be discharged from further military restraint. 2. The persons who, by the authority of the military commander or governor in rebel States, have been arrested and sent from such State for disloyalty or hostility to the Government of the United States, and are now in military custody, may also be discharged upon giving their parole to do no act of hostility against the Government of the United States, nor render aid to itn enemies. But all such persons shall remain subject to military surveiliar.ee and liable to arrest on breach of their parole. And if any such persons shall prefer to leave the loyal States on condition of their not returning again during the war, or until special leave for that purpose be obtained from the President, then such persons shall, at hii option, be released and depart from the United States, or be conveyed beyond the military lines of the United States forces. 3, This order shall not operate to discharge any person who has been ik arms against the Government, or by force and arms has resisted or at- tempted to resist the draft, nor relieve any person from liability to trial *nd punishment by civil tribunals, or by court-martial or military commis- sion, who may be amenable to such tribunals for offences committed. By order of the Secretary of War : E. D. Townsend, Assistant Adjutant-General. During the succeeding winter, while Congress was in cession, public sentiment was comparatively at rest on this 384 The Life, Public Services, and subject. Congress bad enacted a law, sanctioning the action of the President in suspending the writ of habeas corpus •, and clothing him with full authority to check and punish all attempts to defeat the efforts of the Government in the prosecution of the war. After the adjournment, however, when the political activity of the country was transferred from the Capital to the people in their respec- tive localities, the party agitation was revived, and public meetings were again held to denounce the conduct of the Government, and to protest against the further prosecu- tion of the war. One of the most active of these advo- cates of peace with the Rebel Confederacy was Hon. C. L. Yallandigham, a member of Congress from Ohio, wno had steadily opposed all measures for the prosecution of the war throughout the session. After the adjournment he made a political canvass of his district, and in a speech at Mount Vernon, on the 1st of May, he denounced the Gov ernment at Washington as aiming, in the conduct of the war, not to restore the Union, but to crush out liberty and establish a despotism. He declared that the war was nraged for the freedom of the blacks and the enslaving of the whites — that the Government could have had peace long before if it had desired it— that the mediation of France ought to have been accepted, and that the Govern ment had deliberately rejected propositions by which the Southern States could have been brought back to the Union. He also denounced an order, No. 38, issued by General Burnside, in command of the department, forbid- ding certain disloyal practices, and giving notice that per- sons declaring sympathy for the enemy would be arrested for trial, proclaimed his intention to disobey it, and called on the people who heard him to resist and defeat its exe- cution. For this speech Mr. Yallandigham was arrested, by order of General Burnside, on the 4th of May, and ordered for tral before a court-martial at Cincinnati. On the 5th, he applied, through his counsel, Senator Pugh, to the Circuit Court of the tlnited States for a writ of habeas corpus. In reply to this application, a letter was read from Gen- State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 386 eral Burnside, setting forth the considerations which had led him to make the arrest, and Vallandigham' s counsel was then heard in a very long argument on the case. Judge Stewart pronounced his decision, refusing the writ, on the ground that the action of General Burnside was necessary for the public safety. u The legality of the ar- rest," said the judge, " depends upon the extent of the necessity for making it, and that was to be determined by the military commander." And he adds — Hen should know and lay the truth to heart, that there is a course ot conduct not involving overt treason, and not therefore subject to punish- ment as such, which, nevertheless, implies moral guilt, and a gross offence against the country. Those who live under the protection and enjoy the blessings of our benignant Government, must learn that they cannot stab its vitals with impunity. If they cherish hatred and hostility to it, and desire its subversion, let them withdraw from its jurisdiction, and seek the fellowship and protection of those with whom they are in sympathy Ii they remain with us, while they are not of us, they must he subject vO such a course of dealing as the great law of self-preservation prescribes and will enforce And let them not complain if the stringent doctrine of military necessity should find them to be the legitimate subjects of its action. I have no fear that the recognition of this doctrine will lead to an arbitrary invasion of the personal security, or personal liberty, of the citizen. It is rare indeed that a charge of disloyalty will be made on insufficient grounds. But if there should be an occasional mistake, such an occurrence is not to be put in competition with the preservation of the nation ; and I confess I am but little moved by the eloquent appeals of those who, while they indignantly denounce violation of personal liberty, look with no horror upon a despotism as unmitigated as the world ha* ever witnessed. The military commission, before which Yallandigham was ordered for trial, met on the 6th, found him guilty of the principal offences charged, and sentenced him to be placed in close confinement in some fortress of the United States, to be designated by the commanding officer of that department. Major-General Burnside approved the sen- tence, and designated Fort Warren, in Boston Harbor, as the place of confinement. The President modified this sentence by directing that, instead of being imprisoned, nandigham should be sent within the rebel lines, not return to the United States until after the 386 The Life, Public Services, and termination of the war. This sentence was at once carried into execution. The arrest, trial, and sentence of Mr. Vallandigham created a good deal of excitement throughout the country The opponents of the Administration treated it as a case of martyrdom, and held public meetings for the purpose of denouncing the action of the Government as tyiannical and highly dangerous to the public liberties. One of the I curliest of these demonstrations was held at Albany, N.Y., i»n the 16th of May, at which Hon. Erastus Corning pre- sided, and to which Governor Seymour addressed a letter, expressing in the strongest terms his condemnation of the course pursued by the Government. "If this proceed- ing," said he, speaking of the arrest of Vallandigham, "is approved by the Government, and sanctioned by the people, it is not merely a step towards revolution — it is revolution. It will not only lead to military despotism — it establishes military despotism. In this aspect it must be accepted, or in this aspect rejected. * * * The people of this country now wait with the deepest anxiety the decision of the Administration upon these acts. Hav- ing given it a generous support in the conduct of the war, we pause to see what kind of a government it is for which we are asked to pour out our blood and our treasure. The action of the Administration will determine, in the minds of more than one-half of the people of the loyal States, whether this war is waged to put down rebellion at the South, or destroy free institutions at the North.' ' The resolutions which were adopted at this meeting pledged the Democratic party of the State to the preser- vation of the Union, but condemned in strong terms the whole system of arbitrary arrests, and the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus. A copy of these resolutions was forwarded by the pre- siding officer to President Lincoln, who sent the follow- ing letter in reply : — Executive Mansion, WjlBhington, JUne 18, 1868. Hon. Ebastus Corning and others : Gentlemen: — Your letter of May 19, enclosing the resolutions of * pob State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 387 lie meeting held at Albany, N. Y., on the 16th of the same month, was received several days ago. The resolutions, as I understand them, are resolvable into two proposi- tions : first, the expression of a purpose to sustain the cause of the Union, to secure peace through victory, and to support the Administration in every constitutional and lawful measure to suppress the rebellion ; and, secondly, a declaration of censure upon the Administration for supposed unconstitutional action, such as the making of military arrests. And from the two propositions a third is deduced, which is, that the gentlemen composing the meeting are resolved on doing their part to maintain our common Government and country, despite the folly or wickedness, as they may conceive, of any Administration. This position is eminently patriotic, and as such I thank the meeting and congratulate the nation for it. My own purpose is the same, so that the meeting and myself have a common object, and can have no difference, except in the choice of means or measures for effecting that object. And here I ought to close this paper, and would close it, if there were no apprehension that more injurious consequences than any merely per sonal to myself might follow the censures systematically cast upon me for doing what, in my view of duty, I could not forbear. The resolutions promise to support me in every constitutional and lawful measure to sup- press the rebellion, and I have not knowingly employed, nor shall know- ingly employ any other. But the meeting, by their resolutions, assert and argue tnat certain military arrests, and proceedings following them, for which I am ultimately responsible, are unconstitutional. I think they are not. The resolutions quote from the Constitution the definition of treason, and also the limiting safeguards and guarantees therein provided for the citizen on trial for treason, and on his being held to answer for capital, or otherwise infamous crimes, and, in criminal prosecutions, his right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury. They proceed to resolve "that these safeguards of the rights of the citizen against the pretensions vf arbitrary power were intended more especially for his pro- tection in times of civil commotion." i And, apparently to demonstrate the proposition, the resolutions pro- ceed : "They were secured substantially to the English people after years of protracted civil war, and were adopted into our Constitution at the close of the Revolution." Would not the demonstration have been better if it could have been truly said that these safeguards had been adopted and applied during the civil wars and during our Revolution, instead of after the one and at the close of the other? I, too, am devotedly for them after civil war, and before civil war, and at all times, " except when, in cases of rebellion or invasion, the public safety may require " their sus- pension. The resolutions proceed to tell us that these safeguards M have stood the test of seventy-six years of trial, under our republican system, nnder circumstances which show that, while they constitute the founda- 388 The Life, Public Services, and tion of all free government, they are the elements of the enduring sta- bility of the Republic." No one denies that they have so stood the teet np to the beginning of the present rebellion, if we except a certain occur- rence at New Orleans ; nor does any one question that they will stand the same test much longer after the rebellion closes. But these provisions of the Constitution have no application to the case we have in hand, be- cause the arrests complained of were not made for treason — that is, not for the treason defined in the Constitution, and upon conviction of which the punishment is death — nor yet were they made to hold persona to answer for any capital or otherwise infamous crimes ; nor were the proceedings following, in any constitutional or legal sense, " criminal prosecutions." The arrests were made on totally different grounds, and the proceedings following accorded with the grounds of the arrest. Let us consider the real case with which we are dealing, and apply to it the parts of the Constitution plainly made for such cases. Prior to my installation here, it had been inculcated that any State had a lawful right to secede from the National Union, and that it would be expedient to exercise the right whenever the devotees of the doctrine should fail to elect a President to their own liking. I was elected con- trary to their liking, and accordingly, so far as it was legally possible, they had taken seven States out of the Union, had seized many of the United States forts, and had fired upon the United States flag, all before I was inaugurated, and, of course, before I had done any official act what- ever. The rebellion thus began soon ran into the present civil war ; and, in certain respects, it began on very unequal terms between the par- ties. The insurgents had been preparing for it more than thirty years, while the Government had taken no steps to resist them. The former had carefully considered all the means which could be turned to their account. It undoubtedly was a well-pondered reliance with them that, in their own unrestricted efforts to destroy Union, Constitution, and law altogether, the Government would, in great degree, be restrained by the same Constitution and law from arresting their progress. Their sympa- thizers pervaded all departments of the Government, and nearly all com- munities of the people. From this material, under cover of " liberty of speech," "liberty of the press," and "habeas corpus," they hoped to keep on foot among us a most efficient corps of spies, informers, suppliers, and aiders and abettors of their cause in a thousand ways. They knew that in times such as they wore inaugurating, by the Constitution itself the '• habeas corpus " might be suspended ; but they also knew they had friends who would make a question as to who was to suspend it : mean- while, their spies and others might remain at large to help on their cause. Or if, as has happened, the Executive should suspend the writ, without ruinous waste of time, instances of arresting innocent persons might occur, as are always likely to occur in such cases, and then a clamor could be raised in regard to this which might be, at least, of some service to th« State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 389 insurgent cause. It needed no very keen perception to discover this part of the enemy's programme, so soon as, by opening hostilities, their ma- chinery was put fairly in motion. Yet, thoroughly imbued with a rev- erence for the guaranteed rights >J individuals, I was slow to adopt the strong measures which by degrees I have been forced to regard as being within the exceptions of the Constitution, and as indispensable to the public safety. Nothing is better known to history than that courts of justice are utterly incompetent to such cases. Civil courts are organized chiefly for trials of individuals, or, at most, a few individuals acting in concert, and this in quiet times, and on charges of crimes well defined in the law. Even in times of peace, bands of horse-thieves and robbers fre- quently grow too numerous and powerful for the ordinary courts of jus- tice. But what comparison, in numbers, have such bands ever borne to the insurgent sympathizers even in many of the loyal States ? Again, a jury too frequently has at least one member more ready to hang the panel than to hang the traitor. And yet, again, he who dissuades one man from volunteering, or induces one soldier to desert, weakens the Union cause as much as he who kills a Union soldier in battle. Yet this dissuasion or inducement may be so conducted as to be no defined crime of which any civil court would take cognizance. Ours is a case of rebellion — so called by the resolution before me — in fact, a clear, flagrant, and gigantic case of rebellion ; and the provision of the Constitution that " the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended unless when, in cases of rebellion or invasion, the pub- lic safety may require it," is the provision which specially applies to our present case. This provision plainly attests the understanding of those who made the Constitution, that ordinary courts of justice are inadequate to "cases of rebellion" — attests their purpose that, in such cases, men may be held in custody whom the courts, acting on ordinary rales, would discharge. Habeas corpus does not discharge men who are proved to be guilty of defined crime ; and its suspension is allowed by the Constitu- tion on purpose that men maybe arrested and held who cannot be proved to be guilty of defined crime, " when, in cases of rebellion or invasion, the public safety may require it." This is precisely our present case— a case of rebellion, wherein the public safety does require the suspension. Indeed, arrests by process of courts, and arrests in cases of rebellion, do not proceed altogether upon the same basis. The former is directed at the small percentage of ordinary and continuous perpetration of crime ; while the latter is directed at sudden and extensive uprisings against the Government, which at most will succeed or fail in no great length of time. In the latter case arrests are made, not so much for what has been done as for what probably would be done. The latter is more for the preventive and less for the vindictive than the former. In such case* the purposes of men are much more easily understood than in case* of ordinary crime. The man who stands by and says nothing, when the 590 The Life, Public Services, and peril of his Government is discussed, cannot be misunderstood. If not hindered, he is sure to help the enemy; much more, if he talks ambigu- ously — ta!ks for his country with "buts," and "ifs," and "ands." Of how little value the constitutional provisions I have quoted will be ren- dered, if arrests shall never be made until defined crimes shall have boed committed, may be illustrated by a few notable examples. General John 0. Breckinridge, General Robert E. Eee, General Joseph E. Johnston, General John B. Magruder, General William B. Preston, General Simc B. Buckner, and Commodore Franklin Buchanan, now occupying the ve: highest places in the rebel war service, were all within the power of th Government since the rebellion began, and were nearly as well known to be traitors then as now. Unquestionably, if we had seized and held them, the insurgent cause would be much weaker. But no one of them had then committed any crime defined in the law. Every one of them, if arrested, would have been discharged on habeas corpus, were the writ allowed to operate. In view of these and similar cases, I think the time not unlikely to come when I shall be blamed for having made too few wrests rather than too many. By the third resolution, the meeting indicate their opinion that military arrests may be constitutional in localities where rebellion actually exists, but that such arrests are unconstitutional in localities where rebellion 01 msarrection does not actually exist. They insist that such arrests shall not be made " outside of the lines of necessary military occupation and *he scenes of insurrection." Inasmuch, however, as the Constitution itself jiakes no such distinction, I am unable to believe that there is any such jonstitutional distinction. I concede that the class of arrests complained )f can be constitutional only when, in cases of rebellion or invasion, the public safety may require them ; and I insist that in such cases they are constitutional wherever the public safety does require them ; as well in places to which they may prevent the rebellion extending as in those where it may be already prevailing ; as well where they may restrain mis- chievous interference with the raising and supplying of armies lo sup press the rebellion, as where the rebellion may actually be; as well where they may restrain the enticing men out of the army, as where they would prevent mutiny in the army; equally constitutional at all places where they will conduce to the public safety, as against the dan- gers of rebellion or invasion. Take the particular case mentioned by the meeting. It is asserted, in substance, that Mr. Vallandigham was, by a military commander, seized and tried " for no other reason than words addressed to a public meeting, in criticism of the course of the Admin- istration, and in condemnation of the military orders of the general." Now, if there be no mistake about this ; if this assertion is the truth and the whole truth ; if there was no other reason for the arrest, then I con- cede that the an est was wrong. But the arrest, as I understand, was imde for a very different reason. Mr. Val»andigham avows his hostility to State Papers qjp Ajjraham Lincoln. 391 the war on the part of the Union ; and his arrest was made because he was laboring, with some effect, to prevent the raising of troops; to en- courage desertions from the army ; and to leave the rebellion without an adequate military force to suppress it. He was not arrested because ne was damaging the political prospects of the Administration, or the per- sonal interests of the commanding general, but because he was damaging the army, upon the existence and vigor of which the life of the nation depends. He was warring upon the military, and this gave the military constitutional jurisdiction to lay hands upon him. If Mr. Vallandigham was not damaging the military power of the country, then this arrest was made on mistake of fact, which I would be glad to correct on rea- sonable satisfactory evidence. I understand the meeting, whose resolutions 1 am considering, to be in favor of suppressing the rebellion by military force — by armies. Long experience has shown that armies cannot be maintained unless desertions shall be punished by the severe penalty of death. The case requires, and the law and the Constitution sanction, this punishment. Must I shoot a simple-minded soldier boy who deserts, while I must not touch a hair of a wily agitator who induces him to desert? This is none the less injuri- ous when effected by getting a father, or brother, or friend, into a public meeting, and there working upon his feelings till he is persuaded to write the soldier boy that he is fighting in a bad cause, for a wicked Administration of a contemptible Government, too weak to arrest and punish him if he shall desert. I think that in such a case to silence the agitator and save the boy is not only constitutional, but withal a great mercy. If I be wrong on this question of constitutional power, my error lies in believing that certain proceedings are constitutional when, in cases of rebellion or invasion, the public safety requires them, which would not be constitutional when, in the absence of rebellion or invasion, the pub- lic safety does not require them ; in other words, that the Constitution is not, in its application, in all respects the same, in cases of rebellion or invasion involving the public safety, as it is in time of profound peace and public security. The Constitution itself makes the distinction ; and I can no more be persuaded that the Government can constitutionally take no strong measures in time of rebellion, because it can be shown that the same could not be lawfully taken in time of peace, than I can be persuaded that a particular drug is not good medicine for a sick man, because it can be shown not to be good food for a well one. Nor am I able to appreciate the danger apprehended by the meeting that the Amer- ican people will, by means of military arrests during the rebellion, lose the right of public discussion, the liberty of speech and the press, the law of evidence, trial by jury, and habeas corpus, throughout the indefi- nite peaceful future, which I trust lies before them, any more than I am able to believe that a man coulc* o->ntraot so strong an appetite for emetics 392 The Life, Public Services, and during temporary illness as to persist in feeding npon them during the remainder of his healthful life. In giving the resolutions that earnest consideration which you request of me, I cannot overlook the fact that the meeting speak as u Demo- crats." Nor can I, with full respect for their known intelligence, and the fairly presumed deliberation with which they prepared their reso- lutions, be permitted to suppose that this occurred by accident, or in any way other than that they preferred to designate themselves " Dem- ocrats" rather than "American citizens." In this time of national peril, 1 would have preferred to meet you on a level one step higher than any party platform ; because I am sure that, from such more elevated position, wo could do better battle for the country we all love than we possibly can from those lower ones where, from the force of habit, the prejudices of the past, and selfish hopes of the future, we are sure to ex- pend much of our ingenuity and strength in finding fault with and aiming blows at each other. But, since you have denied me this, I will yet be thankful, for the country's sake, that not all Democrats have done so. He on whose discretionary judgment Mr. Vallandigham was arrested and tried is a Democrat, having no old party affinity with me ; and the judge who rejected the constitutional view expressed in these resolutions, by refusing to discharge Mr. Vallandigham on habeas corpus, is a Democrat of better days than these, having received his judicial mantle at the hands of President Jackson. And still more, of all those Democrats who are nobly exposing their lives and shedding their blood on the battle-field, I have learned that many approve the course taken with Mr. Vallandig- ham, while I have not heard of a single one condemning it. I cannot assert that there are none such. And the name of Jackson recalls an incident of pertinent history : After the battle of New Orleans, and while the fact that the treaty of peace had been concluded was well known in the city, but before official knowledge of it had arrived, General Jackson etill maintained martial or military law. Now that it could be said the war was over, the clamor against martial law, which had existed from the first, grew more furious. Among other things, a Mr. Louiallier pub- lished a denunciatory newspaper article. General Jackson arrested him. A lawyer by the name of Morrel procured the United States Judge Hall to issue a writ of habeas corpus to relive Mr. J : jiallier. General Jack- son arrested both the lawyer and the judge. A Mr. Hollander ventured to say of some part of the matter that "it was a dirty trick." General Jackson arrested him. When the officer undertook to serve the writ of habeas corpus, General Jackson took it from him, and sent him away with a copy. Holding the judge in custody a few days, the General eent him beyond the limits of his encampment, and set him at liberty, with an order to remain till the ratification of peace should be regularlj announced, or until the British should have left the Southern coast. A day or two more elapsed the ratification of a treaty of peace was regu State Papbrs of Abraham Lincoln. 39 larly announced, and the judge and others were fully liberated. A few- days more, and the judge called General Jackson into court and fined him $1,000 for having arrested him and the others named. The General paid the fine, and there the matter rested for nearly thirty years, when Con- gress refunded principal and interest. The late Senator Douglas, then in the House of Eepresentatives, took a leading part in the debates, in which the constitutional question was much discussed. I am not pre- pared to say whom the journals would show to have voted for the measure. It may be remarked : First, that we had the same Constitution then as now ; secondly, that we then had a case of invasion, and now we have a case of rebellion ; and, thirdly, that the permanent right of the people to public discussion, the liberty of speech and of the press, the trial by jury, the law of evidence, and the habeas corpus, suffered no detriment what- »ver by that conduct of General Jackson, or its subsequent approval by the American Congress. And yet, let me say that, in my own discretion, I do not know whether I would have ordered the arrest of Mr. Vallandigham. While I cannot shift the responsibility from myself, I hold that, as a general rule, the commander in the field is the better judge of the necessity in any partic- ular case. Of course, I must practise a general directory and revisory power in the matter. One of the resolutions expresses the opinion of the meeting that arbi- trary arrests will have the effect to divide and distract those who should be united in suppressing the rebellion, and I am specifically called on to discharge Mr. Vallandigham. I regard this as, at least, a fair appeal to me on the expediency of exercising a constitutional power which I think exists. In response to such appeal, I have to say, it gave me pain when I learned that Mr. Vallandigham had been arrested — that is, I was pained that there should have seemed to be a necessity for arresting him — and that it will afford me great pleasure to discharge him so soon as I can, by any means, believe the public safety will not suffer by it. I further say that, as the war progresses, it appears to me, opinion and action, which were in great confusion at first, take shape and fall into more regular channels, so that the necessity for strong dealing with them gradually decreases I have every reason to desire that it should cease altogether; and far from the least is my regard for the opinions and wishes of those who, like the meeting at Albany, declare their purpose to sustain the Government in every constitutional and lawful measure to suppress the rebellion. Still, I must continue to do so much as may seem to be re- quired by the public safety. A. Lincoln. Similar meetings were held in New York, Philadelphia, and other cities and towns of the North, and, on the 11th of June, a State Convention of the Democratic party waa held at CoJumhus, Ohio, for the nomination of State offi- 394 The Life, Public Services, and cers. Mr. Vallandigham was, at that convention, made the Democratic candidate for Governor, receiving, on the first "ballot, four hundred and forty-eight votes out of four hundred and sixty-one, the whole number cast. Senator Pugh was nominated for Lieutenant-Governor, and reso- lutions were adopted protesting against President Lin- coln's emancipation proclamation; condemning martial law in loyal' States, where war does not exist ; denoun- cing the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus ; protest- ing very strongly against the banishment of Vallandig ham, and calling on the President to restore him to his rights ; declaring that they would hail with delight the desire of the seceded States to return to their allegiance, and that they would co-operate with the citizens of those States in measures for the restoration of peace. A committee of the convention visited Washington, and on the 26th of June presented to the President the resolutions adopted by the convention, and urged the immediate recall and restoration of Mr. Vallandigham, their candidate for Governor. To this, President Lincoln made the following reply : — Washington, Jwm 29, 1868. Gentlemen : — The resolutions of the Ohio Democratic State Conven- tion, which you present me, together with your introductory and closing remarks, being in position and argument mainly the same as the resolu- tions of the Democratic meeting at Albany, New York, I refer you to my response to the latter as meeting most of the points in the former. This response you evidently used in preparing your remarks, and I de ftire no more than that it be used with accuracy. In a single reading of your remarks, I only discovered one inaccuracy in matter which I suppose you took from that paper. It is where you say, " The undersigned are unable to agree with you in the opinion you have expressed that the Constitu- tion is different in time of insurrection or invasion from what it is in time of peace and public security." A recurrence to the paper will show you that I have not expressed the opinion you suppose. I expressed the opinion that the Constitution is different in its application in cases of rebellion or invasion, involving the public safety, from wnat it is in times of profound peace and public security ; and this opinion I adhere to, simply because by the Constitu- tion itself things may be do"* »u the one case which may not be done in the other. State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 395 I dislike to waste a word on a merely personal point, bnt I mnst re- spectfully assnre you that you will find yourselves at fault should you ever seek for evidence to prove your assumption that I "opposed in discussions before the people the policy of the Mexican war." You say: "Expunge from the Constitution this limitation upon the power of Congress to suspend the writ of habeas corpus, and yet the other guarantees of personal liberty would remain unchanged." Doubt- less, if this clause of the Constitution, improperly called, as I think, a imitation upon the power of Congress, were expunged, the other guar- antees would remain the same ; but the question is, not how those guar- antees would stand with that clause out of the Constitution, but how they stand with that clause remaining in it, in case of rebellion or invasion, involving the public safety. If the liberty could be indulged in expun- ging that clause, letter and spirit, Ireally think the constitutional argu- ment would be with you. My general view on this question was stated in the Albany response, and hence I do not state it now. I only add that, as seems to me, the benefit of the writ of habeas corpus is the great means through which the guarantees of personal liberty are conserved and made available in the last resort ; and corroborative of this view is the fact that Mr. Val- landigham, in the very case in question, under the advice of able law yers, saw not where else to go but to the habeas corpus. But by the Constitution the benefit of the writ of habeas corpus itself may be sus- pended, when, in case of rebellion or invasion, the public safety may require it. You ask, in substance, whether I really claim that I may override all the guaranteed rights of individuals, on the plea of conserving the public safety — when I may choose to say the public safety requires it. This question, divested of the phraseology calculated to represent mo as struggling for an arbitrary personal prerogative, is either simply a question who shall decide, or an affirmation that nobody shall decide, what the public safety does require in cases of rebellion or invasion. The Constitution contemplates the question as likely to occur for de- fbion, but it does not expressly declare who is to decide it. By neces- sary 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 responsibility of making it. If he uses the power justly, the same people will probably justify him ; if he abuses it, he is in their hands to be dealt with by all the modes they have reserved to themselves in the Constitution. The earnestness with which you insist that persons can only, in timei of rebellion, be lawfully dealt with in accordance with the rules for criminal trials an'' punishments in times of peace, induces me to add * 396 The Life, Public Services, and word to what I said on that point in the Albany response. Yon claim that men may, if they choose, embarrass those whose duty it is to com- bat a giant rebellion, and then be dealt with only in turn as if there were no rebellion. The Constitution itself rejects this view. The mili- tary arrests and detentions which have been made, including those of Air. Vallandighani, which are not different in principle from, the other, nave been for prevention, and not for punishment — as injunctions to stay mjury, as proceedings to keep the peace — and hence, like proceedings in luch cases and for like reasons, they have not been accompanied with indictments, or trial by juries, nor in a single case by any punishment whatever beyond what is purely incidental to the prevention. The •original sentence of imprisonment in Mr. Vallandigham's case was to irevent injury to the military service only, and the modification of it tfas made as a less disagreeable mode to him of securing the same pre- tention. I am unable to perceive an insult to Ohio in the case of Mr. Vallan- digham. Quite surely nothing of this sort was or is intended. I waa wholly unaware that Mr. Vallandigham was, at the time of his arrest, a candidate for the Democratic nomination of Governor, until so informed by your reading to me the resolutions of the convention. I am grateful to the State of Ohio for many things, especially for the brave soldier* and officers she has given in the present national trial to the armies of the Union. You claim, as I understand, that according to my own position in the Albany response, Mr. Vallandigham should be released; and this be- cause, as you claim, he has not damaged the military service by discour- aging enlistments, encouraging desertions, or otherwise; and that if ho had, he should have been turned over to the civil authorities under the recent acts of Congress. I certainly do not know that Mr. Vallandigham has specifically and by direct language advised against enlistments and in favor of desertions and resistance to drafting. We all know tha combinations, armed in some instances, to resist the arrest of dese-ters, began several months ago; that more recently the like has appeared in •esistance to the enrolment preparatory to a draft; and that quite a number of assassinations have occurred from the same animus. These had to be met by military force, and this again has led to bloodshed and death. And now, under a sense of responsibility more weighty and enduring than any which is merely official, I solemnly declare my belief that this hindrance of the military, including maiming and murder, is due to the cause in which Mr. Vallandigham has been engaged, in a greater degree than to any other cause ; and it is due to him personally in a greater degree than to any other man. These things have been notorious, known to all, and of course known to Mr. Vallandigham. Perhaps I would not bo wrong to say thej eriginated with his especial friends and adherents. With perfect knowl State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 397 edge of them, he has frequently, if not constantly, made speeches in Congress and before popular assemblies ; and if it can be shown that, with these things staring him in the face, he has ever uttered a word of rebuke or counsel against them, it will be a fact greatly in his favo" with me, and of which, as yet, I am totally ignorant. When it is known that the whole burden of his speeches has been to stir up men against the prosecution of the war, and that in the midst of resistance to it he has not been known in any instance to counsel against such resistance, it is next to impossible to repel the inference that he has counselled directly m favor of it. With all this before their eyes, the convention you represent have nominated Mr. Vallandigham for Governor of Ohio, and both they and you have declared the purpose to sustain the National Union by all con- stitutional means; but, of course, they and you, in common, reserve to yourselves to decide what are constitutional means, and, unlike the Albany meeting, you omit to state or intimate that, in your opinion, an army is a constitutional means of saving the Union against a rebellion, or even to intimate that you are conscious of an existing rebellion being in progress with the avowed object of destroying that very Union. At the same time, your nominee for Governor, in whose behalf you appeal, is known to you, and to the world, to declare against the use of an army to suppress the rebellion. Your own attitude, therefore, encourages desertion, resistance to the draft, and the like, because it teaches those who incline to desert and to escape the draft to believe it is your pur- pose to protect them, and to hope that you will become strong enough to do so. After a short personal intercourse with you, gentlemen of the com- mitted, I cannot say I think you desire this effect to follow your attitude ; but I assure you that both friends and enemies of the Union look upon it in this light. It is a substantial hope, and, by consequence, a real •trength to the enemy. If it is a false hope, and one which you would willingly dispel, I will make the way exceedingly easy. I send you Indicates of this letter, in order that you, or a majority, may, if yon choose, indorse your names upon one of them, and return it thus indorsed to me, with the understanding that those signing are thereby committed to the following propositions, and to nothing else :— 1. That there is now rebellion in the United States, the object and tendency of which is to destroy the National Union; and that, in your opinion, an army and navy are constitutional means for suppressing that rebellion. 2. That no one of you will do any thing which, in his own judgment, will tend to hinder the increase, or favor the decrease, or lessen the efficiency of the army and navy, while engaged in the effort to suppreaa that rebellion ; and, — 8. That each of you will ; ~ l » 5 * sphere, do all he can to have th« 398 The Life, Public Services, a^d officers, soldiers, and seamen of the army and navy, while engaged in the effort to suppress the rebellion, paid, fed, clad, and otherwise well pro- vided for and supported. And with the further understanding that upon receiving the lettei and names thus indorsed, I will cause them to be published, which publication shall be, within itself, a revocation of the order in relation to Mr. Vallandigham. It will not escape observation that I consent to the release of Mr, Vallandigham upon terms not embracing any pledge from him or from others as to what he will or will not do. I do this because ho is not present to speak for himself, or to authorize others to speak for him ; and hence I shall expect that on returning he would not put himself practically in antagonism with the position of his friends. But I do ft chiefly because I thereby prevail on other influential gentlemen of Ohio to so define their position as to be of immense value to the army — thus more than compensating for the consequences of any mistake in allowing Mr. Vallandigham to return, so that, on the whole, the public safety wili not have suffered by it. Still, in regard to Mr. \allandigham and all others, I must hereafter, as heretofore, do so mucb 91 the public service may seem to require. I have the honor to be respectfully yours, &c, A. Lincoln. The canvass throughout the summer was very animated. As a matter of course, the opponents of the Administration in Ohio, as elsewhere throughout the country, made thi* matter of arbitrary arrests a very prominent point of attack. Special stress was laid upon the fact that, instead of acting directly and upon his own responsibility in these cases, the President left them to the discretion of military com- manders in the several departments. This was held to be in violation of the law of Congress which authorized the President to suspend the writ of habeas corpus, but not to delegate that high prerogative. To meet this objection, therefore, and also in order to establish a uniform mode of action on the subject, the President issued the following PROCLAMATION. Whereas, the Constitution of the United States has ordained that " The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless, when in cases of rebellion or invasion, the public safety may roquire it ; and, whereas, a rebellion was existing on the 3d day of March, 1863, which rebellion is still eveting: and, whereas, by a statute which was approved 1 State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 399 on that day, it was enacted by the Senate and House of Representative! of the United States, in Congress assembled,, that during the present in- surrection the President of the United States, whenever, in hip judgment, the public safety may require, is authorized to suspend the privilege of the writ of hibeas corpus in any case throughout the United States, or any part thereof; and, whereas, in the judgment of the President the public safety does require that the privilege of the said writ shall now be sus- pended throughout the United States in cases where, by the authority of the President of the United States, military, naval, and civil officers of the United States, or any of them, hold persons under their command or in their custody, either as prisoners of war, spies, or aiders or abettors of the enemy, or officers, soldiers, or seamen enrolled, drafted, or mustered, or enlisted in, or belonging to the land or naval forces of the United States, or as deserters therefrom, or otherwise amenable to military law, or to the rules and articles of war, or the rules and regulations prescribed for the military or naval services by the authority of the President of the United States, or for resisting the draft, or for any other oifence against the military or naval service : Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, do hereby proclaim and make known to all whom it may con- cern, that the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus is suspended throughout the United States in the several cases before mentioned, and that this sus- pension will continue throughout the duration of the said rebellion, or until this Proclamation shall, by a subsequent one, to be issued by the President of the United States, be modified and revoked. And I do here- by require all magistrates, attorneys, and other civil officers within the United States, and all officers and others in the military and naval services of the United States, to take distinct notice of this suspension and give it full effect, and all citizens of the United States to conduct and govern themselves accordingly, and in conformity with the Constitution of the United States and the laws of Congress in such cases made and provided. In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal ©t the United States to be affixed, this fifteenth day of September, in the f$&r of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the independence of the United States of America the eighty-eighth. Abraham Lincoln. By the President : Wm. H. Seward, Secretary of State. The act passed by Congress " for enrolling and calling out the national forces," commonly called the Conscrip- tion Act, provided that all able-bodied male citizens, and persons of foreign birth who had declared their intention to become citizens, between the ages of twenty and forty* five, were liable to be called into service The strenuous 400 The Life, Public Services, and efforts made by the enemies of the Administration to arouce the hostility of the people against its general policy, had proved so far successful as greatly to discourage volun- teer enlistments ; and the Government was thus compelled to resort to the extraordinary powers conferred upon it by this act. Questions had been raised as to the liability of foreigners to be drafted under this law ; and in order to settle this point, the President, on the 8th of May, issued the following proclamation. Washington, May 8, 1868. By the President of the United States of America. PROCLAMATION. Wliereas, the Congress of the United States, at its last session, enacted a law, entitled M An Act for enrolling and calling ont the national forces, and for other purposes," which was approved on the 3d day of March last; and Whereas, it is recited in the said act that there now exists in the United States an insurrection and rebellion against the authority thereof, and it is, under the Constitution of the United States, the duty of the Govern- ment to suppress insubordination and rebellion, to guarantee to each State a republican form of government, and to preserve the public tranquillity ; and Whereas, for these high purposes, a military force is indispensable, to raise and support which all persons ought willingly to contribute ; and Whereas, no service can be more praiseworthy and honorable than that which is rendered for the maintenance of the Constitution and the Union, and the consequent preservation of free government ; and Whereas, for the reasons thus recited it was enacted by the said stat- ute that all able-bodied male citizens of the United States, and persons of foreign birth who shall have declared on oath their intentions to become citizens under and in pursuance of the laws thereof, between the ages of twenty and forty-five years, with certain exemptions not necessary to be here mentioned, are declared to constitute the National forces, and shall be liable to perform military duty in the service of the United States, when called out by the President for that purpose ; and Whereas, it is claimed, on and in behalf of persons of foreign birth, with- in the ages specified in said act, who have heretofore declared on oath their intentions to become citizens under and in pursuance to the laws of the United States, and who have not exercised the right of suffrage, or any other political franchise under the laws of the United States, or of any of the States thereof, that they are not absolutely precluded by their afore- •aid declaration of intention from renouncing their purpose to become citizens ; and that, on the contrary, such persons, under treaties and th* State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 401 law of nations, retain a right to renounce that purpose, and to forego tho privilege of citizenship and residence within the United States, nndei the obligations imposed by the aforesaid act of Congress : Now, therefore, to avoid all misapprehensions concerning the liability of persons concerned to perform the service required by such enactment, and fr3 give it full effect, I do hereby order and proclaim that no plea of alien- ago will be received, or allowed to exempt from the obligations imposed by the aforesaid act of Congress any person of foreign birth who shall have declared on oath his intention to become a citizen of the United States, under the laws thereof, and who shall be found within the United States at any time during the continuance of the present insurrection and rebellion, at or after the expiration of the period of sixty -five days from the date of this proclamation ; nor shall any such plea of alienage be allowed in favor of any such person who has so, as aforesaid, declared his inten- tion to become a citizen of the United States, and shall have exercised at any time the right of suffrage, or any other political franchise within the United States, under the laws thereof, or under the laws of any of the several States. In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the City of Washington, this 8th day of May, in the year of oui r , Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the in dependence of the United States the eighty -seventn. Abbaham Lincoln. By the President : William H. Sewabd, Secretary of State. it was subsequently ordered that the draft should take place in July, and public proclamation was made of the number which each State would be required to furnish. Enrolling officers had been appointed for the several dis- tricts of all the States, and, all the names being placed in a wheel, the number required were to be publicly drawn, under such regulations as were considered necessary to insure equal and exact justice. Very great pains had been taken by the opponents of the Administration to excite odium against that clause of the law which fixed the pice of exemption from service under the draft at three hundred dollars. It was represented that this clause was for the special benefit of the rich, who could easily pay the sum required ; while poor men who could not pay it would be compelled, at whatever hardships to themselves and their families, to enter the army. The draft was commenced in 26 402 The Life, Public Services, and the City of New York on Saturday, July 11th, and was conducted quietly and successfully during that day. Od Sunday plots were formed and combinations entered into to resist it ; and no sooner was it resumed on Monday morning, July 13, than a sudden and formidable attack was made by an armed mob upon the office in one of the districts ; the wheel was destroyed, the lists scattered, and the building set on fire. The excitement spread through the city. Crowds gathered everywhere, with no apparent common object ; but during the day the movement seem- ed to be controlled by leaders in two general directions. The first was an attack upon the negroes ; the second an assault upon every one who was supposed to be in any way concerned in the draft, or prominently identified, officially or otherwise, with the Administration or the Re- publican party. Unfortunately, the militia regiments of the city had been sent to Pennsylvania to withstand the rebel invasion ; and the only guardians left for the public peace were the regular police and a few hundred soldiers who garrisoned the forts. Both behaved with the greatest vigor and fidelity, but they were too few to protect the dozen miles between the extremities of the city. The mob, dispersed in one quarter, would reassemble at another, and for four days the city seemed given up to their control. The outrages committed during this time were numerous and aggravated. Negroes were assaulted, beaten to death, mutilated, and hung ; building after building was sacked and burned ; gangs of desperadoes patrolled the streets, levying contributions, and ordering places of business to be closed. A Colored Orphan Asylum, sheltering some hundreds of children, was sacked and burned. After the first day, the riot, which was at first directed against the draft, took a new turn. The entire mass of scoundrel- ism in the city seemed to have been let loose for indis criminate plunder. Women, half-grown boys, and chil- dren, were foremost in the work of robbery, and no man felt safe from attack. The police force did their duty manfully, aided at first by the few troops at the disposal of the authorities, and subsequently by the regiments who State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 403 began to return from Pennsylvania. In the street-fights which occurred, many of the defenders of law and order lost their lives, while a far larger number of the rioters were killed. The bands of rioters were finally dispersed, and the pes.ce of the city was restored. During these occurrences the draft was necessarily sus- pended; and on the 3d of August, Governor Seymour addressed a long letter to the President, asking that fur- ther proceedings under the draft might be postponed until it should be seen whether the number required from the State of New York could not be raised by volunteering, and also until the constitutionality of the law could be tested in the judicial tribunals of the country. The Governor pointed out an alleged injustice in the applica- tion of the law, by which, in four districts of the State of New York, a far higher quota in proportion to the popu- lation was required than in the other districts of the State ; and this was urged as an additional reason for postponing the further execution of the law. To this appeal the President, on the 7th of August, made the following reply : — ExaouTiTB Mahsiok, W ashikgtok, August T, 18«. His Excellency Horatio Seymour, Governor of New York, Albany, N. Y. : Your communication of the 3d inst. has been received and attentively considered. I cannot consent to suspend the draft in New York, as you request, because, among other reasons, timk is too important. By the figures you send, which I presume are correct, the twelve districts repre- sented fall in two classes of eight and four respectively. The disparity of the quotas for the draft in these two classes is certainly very striking, being the difference between an average of 2,200 in one class, anc 4,864 in the other. Assuming that the districts are equal, one to another, in entire population, as required by the plan on which they were made, this disparity is 6uch as to require attention. Much of it, however, I suppose will be accounted for by the fact that so many more persons fit for soldiers are in the city than are in the country, who have too recently arrived from other parts of the United States and from Europe to be either included in the census of I860, or to have voted in 1862. Still, making due allowance for this, I am yet unwilling to stand upon it at aa entirely sufficient explanation of the great disparity. I shall direei 404 The Lite, Public Services, and the draft to proceed in all the districts, drawing, however, at first from each of the four districts — to wit, the Second, Fourth, Sixth, and Eighth — only, 2,200 being the average quota of the other class. After this drawing, these four districts, and also the Seventeenth and Twenty-ninth, shall be carefully re-enrolled; and, if you please, agents of yours may witnesi every step of the process. Any deficiency which may appear by the new enrolment will be supplied by a special draft for that object, allowing due credit for volunteers who may be obtained from these districts respectively during the interval ; and at all points, so far as consistent with practical convenience, due credits shall be given for volunteers, and your Exce*- lenoy shall be notified of the time fixed for commencing a draft in each district. I do not object to abide a decision of the United States Supreme Oourt, or of the Judges thereof, on the constitutionality of the draft law. In fact, I should be willing to facilitate the obtaining of it. But I cannot consent to lose the time while it is being obtained. We are contending with an enemy who, as I understand, drives every able-bodied man he can reach into his ranks, very much as a butcher drives bullocks into a slaughter-pen. No time is wasted, no argument is used. This produces an army which will soon turn upon our now victorious soldiers already in the field, if they shall not be sustained by recruits as they should bo. It produces an army with a rapidity not to be matched on our side, if we first waste time to re-experiment with the volunteer system, already deemed by Congress, and palpably, in fact, so far exhausted as to be inadequate ; and then more time to obtain a Oourt decision as to whether a law is con- stitutional which requires a part of those not now in the service to go to the aid of those who are already in it ; and still more time to determine with absolute certainty that we get those who are to go in the precisely legal proportion to those who are not to go. My purpose is to be in my action just and constitutional, and yet practical, in performing the impor- tant duty with which I am charged, of maintaining the unity and the free principles of our common country. Your obedient servant, A. Lincoln. On the 8th Governor Seymour replied, reasserting the unfairness and injustice of the enrolments, and expressing his regret at the President's refusal to postpone the draft He also sent a voluminous statement, prepared by Judge- Advocate Waterbury, designed to sustain the position he had previously assumed. To this the President thus re Dlied : — State Papers of Abraham Lincoln, 405 ExKommt Mansion, Washington, August 11 18tt fill Excellenoy Hobatio Seymour, Governor of New York: Yours of the 8th, with Judge- Advocate General Waterbury's report, was received to-day. Asking you to remember that I consider time as being very important both to the general cause of the country and to the soldiers in the field, I beg to remind you that I waited, at your request, from the 1st until the 6th inst., to receive your communication dated the 3d. In view of itt great length, and the known time and apparent care taken in its prepara- tion, I did not doubt that it contained your full case as you desired to present it, It contained the figures for twelve districts, omitting the other nineteen, as I suppose, because you found nothing to complain of as to them. I answered accordingly. In doing so I laid down the principle to which I purpose adhering, which is to proceed with the draft, at the same time employing infallible means to avoid any great wrong. With the communication received to-day you send figures for twenty-eight dis- tricts, including the twelve sent before, and still omitting three, for which I suppose the enrolments are not yet received. In looking over the fuller list of twenty-eight districts, I find that the quotas for sixteen of them are above 2,000 and below 2,700, while, of the rest, six are above 2,700 and six are below 2,000. Applying the principle to these new facts, the Fifth and Seventh Districts must be added to the four in which the quotas have already been reduced to 2,200 for the first draft; and with these four others must be added to those to be re-enrolled. The correct case will then stand : the quotas of the Second, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth Districts fixed at 2,200 for the first draft. The Provost-Marshal General informs me that the drawing is already completed in the Six teenth, Seventeenth, Eighteenth, Twenty-second, Twenty-fourth, Twenty- sixth, Twenty-seventh, Twenty-eighth, Twenty-ninth, and Thirtieth Dis- tricts. In the others, except the three outstanding, the drawing will be made upon the quotas as now fixed. After the first draft, the Second, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, Sixteenth, Seventeenth, Twenty- first, Twenty-fifth, Twenty-ninth, and Thirty- first will be enrolled for the purpose, and in the manner stated in my letter of the 7th inst. The same principle will be applied to the now outstanding districts when they shall come in. No part of my former letter is repudiated by reason of not being restated in this, or for any other cause. Your obedient servant, A. Lincoln. The draft in New York was resumed on the 19th of Au- as ample preparations had been made for the of the public peace, it encountered no further 406 The Life, Public Services, aud opposition. In every other part of the country the pro ceedings were conducted and completed without resist aDce. Some difficulty was experienced in Chicago, and the Mayor and Comptroller of that city addressed the Presi dent on the subject of alleged frauds in the enrolment, and received the following dispatch in reply : — Washington, Augutt 27, 1861. F. 0. Sheeman, Mayor ; J. S. Hays, Comptroller : Yours of the 24th, in relation to the draft, is received. It seems to mi the Government here will be overwhelmed if it undertakes to conduct these matters with the authorities of cities and counties. They must be conducted with the Governors of States, who will, of course, represent their cities and counties. Meanwhile, you need not be uneasy until yon again hear from here. A. Lincoln. Subsequently, in reply to further representations on the subject, the same gentlemen received the following : — Washington, September 7, 1868. Yours of August 29th just received. I suppose it was intended by Con- gress that this Government should execute the act in question without dependence upon any other Government, State, City, or County. It ia, however, within the range of practical convenieEce to confer with the Governments of States, while it is quite beyond that range to have co\ • respondence on the subject with counties and cities. They are too nu- merous. As instances, I have corresponded with Governor Seymour, but mot with Mayor Opdykt; with Governor Ourtin, but not with Mayo' Henry, „ A. Ijnoolm. 14 DAY USE RETURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED LOAN DEPT. This book is due on the last date stamped below, or on the date to which renewed. Renewed books are subject to immediate recall. 12Mar'58FFr *EC'D LD l " t »271958 General Library LD 21A-50m-8,'57 University of California (C8481sl0)476B Berkeley