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THE
LIFE AND ADMINISTRATION
OP
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
PRESENTING-
HIS EARLY HISTORY, POLITICAL CAREER, SPEECHES, MESSAGES, PROCLAMATIONS, LETTERS, ETC.,
WITH
A GENERAL VIEW OF HIS POLICY
AS
PBESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES,
EMBRACING-
THE LEADING EVENTS OF THE WAE.
ALSO THE EUROPEAN PRESS ON HIS DEATH.
COMPILED BY
G. W. BACON.
LONDON:
SAMPSON LOW, SON, AND MARSTON,
MILTON HOUSE, LUDGATE HILL ;
BACON AND CO., 48, PATERNOSTER ROW.
1865.
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PREFACE.
In this brief memoir of one of the most remarkable men of the age, we do not promise either complete- ness in biographical incident, or an exhaustive analysis of character. The very limited compass of the book renders this impossible. We have selected from the best sources those facts of a most remarkable career, which we thought most likely to interest the English reader. The work is compiled largely from the " Life of Abraham Lincoln," by Orville J. Victor, and larger biographies by J. H. Barrett and H. J. Raymond. We must also acknowledge our indebtedness to " The Ameri- can Conflict," by Horace Greeley,* " Victor's History of the Southern Rebellion," " Greeley's Political Text- Book," and " The Lincoln and Douglas Debates." All of these are American productions, and conse- quently cannot be expected to be entirely free from party bias. Perhaps a similar leaning may be detected in these pages, but it is believed that the closest scrutiny will fail to discover a single statement of fact which cannot be sustained by a reference to authentic documents.
The Appendix will be found to contain a collection of rare and important documents, in addition to which it has been deemed not out of place to present in a connected view the comments of the English and French press on the late melancholy event, which so greatly enhances the interest that is already attached to Mr. Lincoln's career.
* 0. D. Case and Co., Hartford, U.S. ; Bacon and Co., L ndon.
INTRODUCTION.
A few years ago, scarcely a man in the whole eastern hemisphere, few even in America, beyond the limits of his own State, had heard the name of Abraham Lincoln. It is now vocal upon the lips, and engraved in the hearts, of every lover of humanity, not in America alone, but in all Christendom. How shall we account for so mar- vellous a phenomenon ? Had he been gifted with eloquence, with military genius, had he been possessed of extraordinary learning or science, to startle the world with some wonderful and unexpected discovery or inven- tion, the solution would be obvious. But that an individual whose intellectual capacity was certainly by no means extraordinary, and who, so far from being aided by any accident of birth or fortune, was compelled to struggle through a youth and manhood of extreme penury and utter obscurity, unprepossessing in appearance, nay, with an ungainliness of manner almost as obtrusive as were analogous defects in our own Dr. Johnson —
INTRODUCTION. V
that such a waif upon the sea of life should, in so marvellously brief a period, attain the very pin- nacle of fame, and win from the people of even dis- tant coutinents a love and admiration co-extensive therewith, is an event unprecedented in the history of the world.
We think that the facts of his biography, if rightly interpreted, point to a solution which has only to be suggested to become evident ; it is this — a great humani- tarian development had been ripening on the American continent — was struggling into the world of fact. It sought a fit exponent — sought an exponent where Christianity itself had resorted — among the meek, the lowly, and simple-hearted. Genius was not wanted, because genius is egotistical, and seeks to impress its own individuality upon those pregnant events which only ask for development. Give space, light, and freedom, and the great human " leviathan" will grow apace. A passive but loving faith in the future was all that was wanting, and this was found in the broad, genial, and guileless nature of the American backwoodsman. And this one quality is the simple secret of his success in safely piloting the great nation which had wisely chosen him for her ruler through a crisis whose dangers and difficulties might well have appalled and would doubt- less have foiled a statesman of the Napoleonic type.
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CONTENTS.
I^TEODrCTION-
p. IV
CHAPTER I.
His early History and Education — His Experience as a Flat- Boatman — Removal to Hlinois — Hard Experiences — Second Flit-Boat Voyage— Is known as " Honest Abe"— Enlists as a Volunteer in the Black-Hawk War . . .p. 1—13
CHAPTER IL
As a Merchant, Legislator, and Lawyer — In Congress— The Canvass of 1S34 — The Great Senatorial Contest— Visit to Kansas and Xew York — Speech at Cooper Institute — Beautiful Incident p. 13— 3S
CHAPTER III.
The Secession Movement — Mr. Lincoln's "Record" — The Conspirators — The "Progress" of the President -Elect from Illinois to "Washington— The Inaugm-ation — Secession — Events of the War p. 3S— V2
VI INTRODUCTION.
" I claim not to have controlled events, but confess " plainly that events have controlled me. Now, at the " end of three years' straggle, the nation's condition is " not what either party or any man devised or expected k' — God alone can claim it. Whither it is tending " seems plain. If God now wills the removal of a great " wrong, and wills that we of the North shall pay fairly " for our complicity in that wrong, impartial history will " find therein new cause to attest and revere the justice " and goodness of God."
Abraham Lincoln was not permitted to behold the complete fruition of his noble faith. Yet he had restored and enlarged the boundaries of freedom, and had in- ducted an oppressed race within its pale. He had, at least, seen the revolution safely through all danger, and clearly perceived " whither it is tending." The op- pressed of the earth, and the friends of the oppressed, will bewail his death — so sudden, so cruel, and untimely. But there is compensation in all misfortunes. He had lived his higher existence, he had fulfilled his mission, and the vile assassin who deprived him of a few short years, added to him another crown of immortality. He was already one of the heroes of progress ; he is now one of its martyrs.
CONTENTS.
Intboduction
CHAPTER I.
His early History and Education— His Experience as a Flat- Boatman — Eemoval to Illinois — Hard Experiences — Second Flat-Boat Voyage— Is known as "Honest Abe"— Enlists as a Volunteer in the Black-Hawk War . . .p. 1 — 13
CHAPTER II.
As a Merchant, Legislator, and Lawyer — In Congress— The Canvass of 1851 — The Great Senatorial Contest— Visit to Kansas and New York — Speech at Cooper Institute — Beautiful Incident p. 13—38
CHAPTER III.
The Secession Movement — Mr. Lincoln's "Record" — The Conspirators — The "Progress" of the President-Elect from Illinois to Washington— The Inauguration — Secession — Events of the War p. 38—92
iiiim
INTRODUCTION.
" I claim not to have controlled events, but confess " plainly that events have controlled me. Now, at the " end of three years' struggle, the nation's condition is " not what either party or any man devised or expected " — God alone can claim it. Whither it is tending " seems plain. If God now wills the removal of a great " wrong, and wills that we of the North shall pay fairly " for our complicity in that wrong, impartial history will " find therein new cause to attest and revere the justice " and goodness of God."
Abraham Lincoln was not permitted to behold the complete fruition of his noble faith. Yet he had restored and enlarged the boundaries of freedom, and had in- ducted an oppressed race within its pale. He had, at least, seen the revolution safely through all danger, and clearly perceived " whither it is tending." The op- pressed of the earth, and the friends of the oppressed, will bewail his death — so sudden, so cruel, and untimely. But there is compensation in all misfortunes. He had lived his higher existence, he had fulfilled his mission, and the vile assassin who deprived him of a few short years, added to him another crown of immortality. He was already one of the heroes of progress ; he is now one of its martyrs.
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CONTENTS.
I^TEODUCTIOy
p. IV
CHAPTER I.
His early History and Education — His Experience as a Flat- Boatman — Eemoval to Illinois — Hard Experiences — Second Flat-Boat Yoyage— Is known as " Honest Abe"— Enlists as a Volunteer in the Black-Hawk "War . . • p- 1—13
CHAPTER II.
As a Merchant, Legislator, and Lawyer — In Congress— The Canvass of 1851 — The Great Senatorial Contest — Yisit to Kansas and New York— Speech at Cooper Institute — Beautiful Incident p. 13—38
CHAPTER III.
The Secession Movement — Mr. Lincoln's "Record" — The Conspirators — The "Progress" of the President-Elect from Illinois to Washington— The Inauguration — Secession — Events of the War p. 38—92
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VI INTRODUCTION.
" I claim not to have controlled events, but confess " plainly that events have controlled me. Now, at the " end of three years' struggle, the nation's condition is " not what either party or any man devised or expected k' — God alone can claim it. Whither it is tending " seems plain. If God now wills the removal of a great " wrong, and wills that we of the North shall pay fairly " for our complicity in that wrong, impartial history will " find therein new cause to attest and revere the justice " and goodness of God."
Abraham Lincoln was not permitted to behold the complete fruition of his noble faith. Yet he had restored and enlarged the boundaries of freedom, and had in- ducted an oppressed race within its pale. He had, at least, seen the revolution safely through all danger, and clearly perceived "whither it is tending." The op- pressed of the earth, and the friends of the oppressed, will bewail his death — so sudden, so cruel, and untimely. But there is compensation in all misfortunes. He had lived his higher existence, he had fulfilled his mission, and the vile assassin who deprived him of a few short years, added to him another crown of immortality. He was already one of the heroes of progress ; he is now one of its martyrs.
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CONTENTS.
Inteoductios-
CHAPTER I.
His early History and Education — His Experience as a Flat- Boatman — Removal to Illinois — Hard Experiences — Second Flat-Boat Voyage— Is known as "Honest Abe"— Enlists as a Volunteer in the Black-Hawk War . . • p- 1—13
CHAPTER II.
As a Merchant, Legislator, and Lawyer — In Congress— The Canvass of 1854 — The Great Senatorial Contest — Visit to Kansas and New York— Speech at Cooper Institute — Beautiful Incident p. 13—38
CHAPTER III.
The Secession Movement — Mr. Lincoln's " Record" — The Conspirators — The "Progress" of the President-Elect from Elmoisto Washington— The Inauguration — Secession — Events of the War p. 38—92
INTRODUCTION.
" I claim not to have controlled events, but confess " plainly that events have controlled me. Now, at the " end of three years' struggle, the nation's condition is " not what either party or any man devised or expected k' — God alone can claim it. Whither it is tending " seems plain. If God now wills the removal of a great " wrong, and wills that we of the North shall pay fairly " for our complicity in that wrong, impartial history will " find therein new cause to attest and revere the justice " and goodness of God."
Abraham Lincoln was not permitted to behold the complete fruition of his noble faith. Yet he had restored and enlarged the boundaries of freedom, and had in- ducted an oppressed race within its pale. He had, at least, seen the revolution safely through all danger, and clearly perceived "whither it is tending." The op- pressed of the earth, and the friends of the oppressed, will bewail his death — so sudden, so cruel, and untimely. But there is compensation in all misfortunes. He had lived his higher existence, he had fulfilled his mission, and the vile assassin who deprived him of a few short years, added to him another crown of immortality. He was already one of the heroes of progress ; he is now one of its martyrs.
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CONTENTS.
I^TEODUCTION-
CHAPTER I.
His early History and Education — His Experience as a Flat- Boatruan — Removal to Illinois — Hard Experiences — Second Flat-Boat Yoyage— Is known as " Honest Abe"— Enlists as a Volunteer in the Black-Hawk War . . . p- 1—13
CHAPTER II.
As a Merchant, Legislator, and Lawyer — In Congress— The Canvass of 1854 — The Great Senatorial Contest — Yisit to Kansas and New York— Speech at Cooper Institute — Beautiful Incident p. 13—38
CHAPTER III.
The Secession Movement — Mr. Lincoln's "Record" — The Conspirators — The "Progress" of the President-Elect from Hhnoisto Washington— The Inauguration — Secession — Events of the War p. 38—92
CONTENTS TO APPENDIX.
PAFB
The English and French Press . . .93
Lines from " Punch" . . . . 113
Kepublican Platform . . . .115
Democratic (Douglas) Platform . . . 119
Democratic (Breckinridge) Platform. . . 120
Ordinances of Secession, and the Votes thereupon . 121
Speech at Springfield . . . .123
Farewell Address at Springfield . . 130
Inaugural Address . . . .130
Emancipation Proclamation . . . 142
The President's Letter to the Illinois Convention . 146
The President's Letter to Colonel Hodges . 152
Mr. Lincoln's Last Speech . . . .154
Theory of Government , 159
Articles of Confederation . . . .161
United States Constitution . . . 162
THE _.
LIFE AND ADMINISTRATION
OF
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
CHAPTER I.
His early History and Education — His Experience as a Fiat-Boat man— Kemoval to Illinois— Hard Experiences — Second Flat-Boat Voyage — Is known as " Honest Abe" — Enlists as a Volunteer- in the Black-Hawk War.
Abraham Lincoln was born on the 12th clay of February, 1809, in an obscure cabin in that portion of Hardin county, Kentucky, which has since been formed into the county of Larue. Like that of Jackson, Clay, Webster, and others whose illustrious names are bright upon the scroll of American history, his early life was cast in the unfavouring crucible of poverty and toil — a crucible from which we come forth dross or gold, as the case may be. Thomas Lincoln, his father, and Abraham, his grandfather, were natives of Rockingham county, Vir- ginia, their ancestors having emigrated thither from Berks county, Pennsylvania. Further back than this, we find it difficult to trace his genealogy. It was a Quaker family, originally, but subsequently, the
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THE
LIFE AND ADMINISTRATION
OP
ABRAHAM LINCOLN,
CHAPTER I.
His early History and Education — His Experience as a Flat-Boat man— Removal to Illinois— Hard Experiences — Second Flat-Boat Voyage — Is known as " Honest Abe" — Enlists as a Volunteer in the Black-Hawk War.
Abraham Lincoln was born on the 12th day of February 5 1809, in an obscure cabin in that portion of Hardin county, Kentucky, which has since been formed into the county of Larue. Like that of Jackson, Clay, Webster, and others whose illustrious names are bright upon the scroll of American history, his early life was cast in the unfavouring crucible of poverty and toil — a crucible from which we come forth dross or gold, as the case may be. Thomas Lincoln, his father, and Abraham, his grandfather, were natives of Rockingham county, Vir- ginia, their ancestors having emigrated thither from Berks county, Pennsylvania. Further back than this, we find it difficult to trace his genealogy. It was a Quaker family, originally, but subsequently, the
I THF LIFE OF ABRAHAM LlNCOlxfl
characteristic habits of that sect seem to have been for-" saken by the Lincolns: Our hero's grandsire, Abraham, had four brothers — Isaac, Jacob, John, and Thomas. Isaac emigrated to a point near the junction of Vir- ginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee, where his descend- ants are now living. The descendants of Jacob ancl John are still living in Virginia. Thomas came to the wilds of Kentucky, and, subsequently, died in that State, whence his descendants migrated still further west, to Missouri,
In the year 1 780, the remaining brother, Abraham, removed to Kentucky with his family, and took pos- session of a small tract of land in the forest solitude. Armed with the pioneer's watchword, " Hope and hard work," he here set himself resolutely to the project of hewing for himself a comfortable and permanent home out of the game-peopled, Indian- haunted wilderness. But his occupation was accompanied by considerable personal peril, which was greatly increased by the iso- lated locality which he had selected for his habitation. He had not long occupied his new home when he shared ■'she fate of hundreds of the pioneers of those early days, A skulking savage murdered him while occupied at a distance fromi his cabin, and his scalped remains were found the nest meaning by his afflicted family.
Upon sustaining this heavy loss, the widow was left alone in the inhospitable wilderness with her three sons and two daughters. Poverty compelled a family sepa- ration, and all the children but Thomas bade a farewell to their sorrowing mother, to seek other homes, the second son migrating to Indiana, and the rest to other portions of Kentucky. Thomas, the younger son, owing' tw- his> mother's straitened oimn.m.stam.vs. war-, from
THE LIFE OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 3
ariy childhood, a wandering farm-boy, and grew up without education. The extent of his knowledge of penmanship was the mastery of his own signature. He was in his twenty-eighth year when, upon his final re- turn to Kentucky, he married Nancy Hanks, mother of our subject, in the year 1806. Thomas Lincoln and his wife were plain people, members of the Baptist church, and both uneducated. The latter could read, but could not write. Nevertheless, he could fully appre- ciate the value of a better education than he himself possessed, and was not devoid of that truly democratic reverence which can bow before superior mental attain- ments in others. He was, besides, an industrious, cheerful, kind-hearted man. His wife was a woman of excellent judgment, sound sense, and proverbial piety, and, withal, an excellent helpmeet for a backwoods- man of Thomas Lincoln's stamp, and a mother whose piety and aifection must have been of inestimable value in the shaping and directing of her children's des- tinies. Says the poet : —
" There's a Divinity that shapes our ends, Rough hew them as we will."
But how much that divinity is controlled and directed by the heart and hand of the mother, the lives of all men remind us. In their keeping rests the destiny of their children.
Three children were the fruit of this union — a daughter, a son who died in infancy, and Abraham. The sister, who was older than Abraham, attained the years of womanhood and married, bat long since died without issue, so that the subject of this biography had, at the time of his death, neither brother nor sister.
4 THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
Together with his sister, Abraham was first sent to school when he was seven years of age. But this first by-lane to the broad highway to learning was relin- quished by the young aspirant almost as soon as begun, owing to his father's removal, shortly afterward, to another State. Thomas Lincoln seems to have been impelled to this removal by an inherent disgust for the institution of slavery, with which he had become early imbued, although himself a Southron by birth and resi- dence. An early acquaintance with the ,evil wrought upon his own class by the influence of the " pecu- liar institution," combined with an independence of spirit which revolted at the consequent degradation which, as a "poor white," he must undergo, if he remained in the midst of slavery, continually prompted him northward ; until, at length, in the autumn of 1816, finding a purchaser for his farm, he migrated from the then slave-teeming region of Kentucky to rude, but free, Indiana, accompanied by his wife and son — the latter then approaching his ninth year. The place whereon the home-seeking pioneer proposed to strive anew was in Spencer county, Indiana.
As soon as the sale was effected, the father determined to proceed alone to Indiana in quest of the new home to which he was finally to remove his family. Having had some experience as a carpenter, he set to work, with such slight assistance as could be afforded by little Abe, and built a flat-boat, wherewith to transport his house- hold goods to the northern bank of the Ohio river. The boat was soon finished ; and the pioneer bade adieu to Abraham, who stood watching him from the bank, and was soon on his way down the stream. He mafie bis final landing at Thompson's Ferry, which was the
THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. &
nearest point on the river to the locality of his contem- plated home. The district in which he proposed to locate was ver}r sparsely settled, and the approach to it difficult in the extreme. For the last few miles, they were com- pelled to hew their way through the unbroken forest, to make a road by which to proceed. Several days were em- ployed in accomplishing the distance of eighteen miles. Mr. Lincoln was heard to say, afterwards, that the hardest experience of his hard, rude life was his journey from Thompson's Ferry to Spencer county, Indiana.
Having determined the site of his new home, the pioneer returned to Kentucky on foot, leaving his goods under the care of one of his new neighbours in Indiana. Preparations to remove his family were soon completed, and the emigrants set forth with three horses, Mrs. Lincoln and her daughter mounted on one, Abraham or another, and the head of the family on the third.
After a weary journey of seven days, through a region almost uninhabited, making a couch of the earth and a roof of the sky by night, they at length arrived at their future residence. An axe was placed in the hands of the boy, a neighbour also assisted, and, in a few days, a clearing for the site of the cabin was effected. Soon, under the experienced supervision of Mr. Lincoln, a comfortable abode, about eighteen feet square, was reared for the future homestead. It was composed of logs, which were fastened together in the usual way, by notches, and the crevices between them " chinked" with billets of wood and mud. A bed, table, and four stools, were then made of slabs, and the rude habitation was ready to receive its occupants. The cabin had only one room, though the slabs laid across the rough joists over- head formed a sort of loft between them and the roof.
THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
This loft, allotted to Abraham for a bed-room, was reached from below by means of a ladder. We question if a sweeter sleep or balmier repose than the future President of the United States enjoyed in this humble tenement, after his long days of wood-chopping, ever was attained by the most pampered pet of princely luxury.
Although diligently employed during the ensuing winter, besides giving attention to the prosecution of his simple studies, he also was constrained to practise with the rifle, and became quite a proficient in the use of that important implement of woodcraft. It was con^ sidered important that boys should early learn to shoot with accuracy ; and a lad with a natural tact for the rifle was looked upon as a " rising genius" by the neighbour- ing settlers. Skill with the fire-arm was, further, to be valued and desired, inasmuch as, in addition to procuring game for the larder, furs were in great demand, and many animals were esteemed on this account. This early culture in the use of the rifle assisted much in the development of that physical vigour, manly strength, and great power of endurance which ever after dis- tinguished him.
In the autumn of 1818, 4-braham, now nearly ten years of age, had the misfortune to lose his excellent mother. That she was a truly noble woman, the son's- after life attested. From her came his deep and abiding reverence for holy things — his profound trust in Provi- dence, and faith in the triumph of truth. From her he learned the gentleness and amiability of temper which, in the lofty station of chief magistrate, he displayed so strikingly during years of most appalling responsibility, ^rom her he received the spirit of playfulness and th^
THE LIFE OF ABR&B&M -LINCOLN. 7
, desire to see others happy which afterwards formed so prominent a trait in his character. Though uneducated in books, she was wise in the wisdom of experience and truth. He never ceased to mourn her loss, and never mentioned her name, in after years, but with the deepest reverence.
One year after the death cf his mother, his father mar- ried Mrs. Sally Johnston, a widow, with three children. Abraham achieved the art of reading before his own mother's death ; and it may well be presumed that he did not permit this key to knowledge to become rusty in his keeping. He was an inveterate book- worm, as far as mate- rials could be procured, from the moment of his mastery of the rudiments, and soon became the subject of remark among the neighbouring settlers for his thoughtful ways and mental industry. Our young pioneer, in the pur- suit of learning, was again sent to school when about twelve or thirteen years old. Previous to this he had learned to write, chiefly practising out of doors with a piece of chalk or a charred stick. In his new school he greatly improved himself, and soon was master of his teacher's store of arithmetic. Mr. Lincoln has remarked that the aggregate of his schooling did not amount to one year. He never attended a college or academy as a student, and never, indeed, even saw the inside of a col- lege or academy till after ke had won his law licence. What he possessed in the way of an education he ob- tained by dint of hard, unaided study. He took un- common pride in his early studies, and his praiseworthy diligence soon won him the esteem of his masters. He was quicker to learn than most boys, and was gifted -with a very retentive memory. Books were his great .delight, and the procuring of a sufficient number of tthem to employ his mind one of his principal anxietieSo
8 THE LIFE OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
His father did much to aid him in his difficult pursuit, and whenever he heard of any particular volume which he thought desirable, or for which Abraham asked, he always endeavoured to obtain it for the use of his son.
In this way he became acquainted with Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress," " ^Esop's Fables," a "Life of Henry Clay," and Weems' " Life of Washington." The "hatchet" story of Washington, which has done more to make boys truthful than a hundred solemn exhortations, made a strong, impression upon Abraham, and was one of those unseen, gentle influences which helped to form his character for integrity and honesty. Its effect may be traced in the following story, which bids fair to become as never-failing an accompaniment to a "Life of Lincoln" as the hatchet case to that of Washington : —
" Mr. Crawford had lent him a copy of the ' Life of Washington.' One night he laid it down carefully, as he thought, and the next morning he found it soaked through with water. The rain had beaten in through a crack in the logs, and 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. Craw- ford accepted the offer, and gave Abraham the book for his own, in return for three days' steady labour. His manliness and straightforwardness won the esteem of the Crawfords, and, indeed, of all the neighbourhood."
Another significant trait in his character is said to have manifested itself while he still was at school. Among his schoolfellows he was invariably a " peace- maker," He adjusted their misunderstandings, medi-
THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 9
ated, in cases of extreme difficulty, with remonstrance and soothing kindness, and in more than one instance- he is said to have thrown himself between infuriated urchins, aud restored harmony at the risk of personal injury to himself. Certain it is he ever afterwards- retained this characteristic in an eminent degree. Not the least memorable instance was his long, patient, and. earnest efforts for. conciliation at the outbreak of the great Southern rebellion, The immortal page of his- tory will bear witness that he went as far to preserve the peace and stay the madness of the slave propa- gandists as he dared to go, considering his oath to support and maintain the Constitution and to enforce the laws.
But when he had mastered the rule of three, the school days of Abraham Lincoln were over, and even ruder days of physical toil than he had as yet experienced were in store for him.
Between the time of his leaving school and the at- tainment of his nineteenth year, he was constantly em- ployed in the hardy avocation of a western woodman, cutting down trees, splitting rails, and the like, and during the evenings, eagerly devoting the few hours until bedtime to such books as he could manage to pro- cure.
When he was a year older (twenty), Abraham was employed, at the rate of ten dollars per month, to go to New Orleans on a flat-boat loaded with, stores, which, were to be vended at the Mississippi river plantations.
In those days the vocation of fiat-boating and keel- boating on the great water-courses of the West and South-west furnished almost the only mode of water transportation, for the era of steam-boats had barely com- menced. The boatmen who were employed in traversing these great water-routes were a fearless, hardy, athletic
10 THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
class of men, exposed to many perils, and almost shelter,- less in all phases of clime and weather. With no bed but the deck of their boats on which to lie at night, and no covering but a blanket, they spent months and years of their existence. It was on such boats that the rich cargoes ascending the Mississippi were carried. By human labour they were propelled against the strong current nearly two thousand miles ; and it was a labour that required great muscular strength and remarkable powers of endurance. The result was that a class of men were trained in this business of unusual courage^ and proud only of their ability to breast storms and en- dure hardships. Young Lincoln was, at this time, pe- culiarly fitted for the hardy vocation which he agreed, for a period, to embrace. Nature had bestowed upon him a frame of much muscular power, a readiness of wit, and a shrewdness of judgment, all of which qualities could be used to advantage in the flat-boat voyage.
Accompanied by one associate (the son of his em- ployer), young Lincoln started upon his voyage. The scenery of the banks was perpetually changing, like a vast panorama, and they frequently met and passed other crafts, with their numerous and jolly crews, and com- municated with the people who would appear upon the river-banks from the neighbouring villages and planta- tions. On the way they were attacked by seven negroes, and their lives and property were in great danger ; but owing to their good use of the muscular force they had acquired, as backwoodsmen, they succeeded in driving off the assailants, and pushing their boat out into the stream in safety. The result of the voyage was satis- factory to the owner, and Abraham Lincoln gained, in addition to his ten dollars a month, a reputation as a youth of promising business talent.
THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 11
The nomadic Thomas Lincoln was again to strike nis tent for a newer home ; for the paradisian accounts of the prairie lands of Illinois began to spread in the more eastern States. Accordingly, he deputed Dennis Hanks, a relative of his living wife, to proceed to Illinois and report upon actual advantages offered, and the inducements held out for a change of residence. The tour of investigation was duly made, and the subsequent report of th# agent fully confirmed all that had been reported by others. The change of home was decided upon at once. It was little more than two years after the flat-boat voyage, and Abraham was just arrived of age, that Thomas Lincoln, in the month of March, 1830, accompanied by his family, and the families of the two daughters and sons-in-law of his second wife, left the homestead in Indiana for the teeming prairies of Illinois. Their mode of conveyance was by ox-teams, and, this time, the transit occupied fifteen days.
Reaching the county of Macon, they halted for a period, and during this same month (March), the Lincoln family settled on the north bank of the San- gamon river, about ten miles, in a westerly direction, from Decatur. They reared a log-cabin upon their new location, into which the family removed. The next " improvement" was a rail fence sufficient to surround ten acres of ground, for which young Lincoln assisted in splitting the rails — the identical rails which after- wards became the theme of joke, song, and story. Of their history the following incident is related : —
" During the sitting of the Republican State Con- vention at Decatur, a banner, attached to two of these rails, and bearing an appropriate inscription, was jbrought into the assemblage, and formally presented to
12 THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
that body, amid a scene of unparalleled enthusiasm. After that, they were in demand in every State of the Union in which freed labour is honoured, where they were borne in processions of the people, and hailed by hundreds of thousands of freemen as a symbol of triumph, and as a glorious vindication of freedom and of the rights and dignity of free labour."
A hard siege of fever and ague afflicted the new settlers before the close of the first autumn. Upon this account they were greatly discouraged, and determined to seek a more congenial location. They remained, however, through the succeeding winter, which was the season of the " deep snow" of Illinois. For three weeks, or more, the snow was three feet deep upon a level, and the weather intensely cold. There was great consequent suffering entailed upon beasts as well as men — all being totally unprepared for such extraordinary severity of climate. Our pioneers were fortunate in having a sufficient supply of corn, but they had laid up an in- sufficient quantity of meat, and the deep snow seriously interfered with their dependence upon their rifles. Abraham, however, was willing to brave any and every hardship to relieve their household wants. Through his untiring exertions, he managed to furnish enough game to keep the family in food, although he was not a first rate hunter, his love for books having early over- come the fondness and enthusiasm with which he had at first adopted the rifle.
"We seldom went hunting together," writes one of his early associates • on this subject. "AbewTas not a noted hunter, as the time spent by other boys in such amusements was improved by him in the perusal of some good book." This same winter he made a second
THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN". 13
flat-boat trip to New Orleans. During- the prosecution of this boating enterprise, Offult, his employer, conceived a liking for young Lincoln, and contracted with him to act as a clerk, in charge of a shop and mill at New Salem, Illinois. After his return from New Orleans, Lincoln, in. pursuance of his new contract, remained at New Salem. This was in July, 1831. Here he soon made many acquaintances and friends, and won the respect of all with whom he had business dealings, while, socially, he was even more beloved by his acquaintances, and came to be familiarly known as "Honest Abe."
Upon the breaking out of the Black-Hawk war of 1832, he joined a volunteer company, and, to his great surprise, was elected captain. He has often said that he never had any success in life which gave him so much satisfaction. Young Lincoln's company shortly afterwards proceeded to Beardstown, whence in a. few days it was summoned to the expected scene of conflict. But before the term of enlistment had expired the contest was at an end, and he returned home without having seen the enemy. He is said to have been a great favourite in the army — an efficient officer, and a brave, danger-scorning, fatigue-defying soldier.
CHAPTER II.
As a Merchant, Legislator, and Lawyer — In Congress — The Can- vass of 1854 — The great Senatorial Contest — Visit to Kansas and New York— Speech at Cooper Institute — Beautiful incident.
After his return from this campaign, he was astonished to learn that it was proposed, among his friends and
14 THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN,?
admirers,- to nominate him for the Legislature. Though he had only been a resident of the county for nine months, an undoubted, intelligent " Henry Clay man" was required for the ticket, and he was deemed a can- didate "proper to success,"
The choice was particularly influenced by the fact, that the county had given General Jackson a large majority the year before ; whereas it was believed that Lincoln's popularity would now insure success to the opposite ticket. The nomination was accordingly made. It must have been a proud moment, and one hard to realize, for the young man yet fresh from the woods, when, across a brief interval of retrospect, he could thus contrast his humble life of physical toil with the condition which found him worthy to sit in council beside the statesmen of his new, but wealth- gathering and fast*rising State. He accepted the proffered dig- nity with the gratitude and enthusiasm of youth and hope. The issue, however, was averse to him ; he re- ceived but two hundred and seventy-seven votes out of the two hundred and eighty-four cast in New Salem ; there being, in all, eight aspirants for the legislative distinction. This was the only time that Mr. Lincoln ever was beaten in a direct issue before the people.
With the versatility characteristic of western enterprise, we find him about this period of his upward struccle uniting in his own person the double function of shop-keeper and village postmaster. He struggled manfully in his new vocation, but a lack of capital compelled him at last to abandon trade, and seek a different Held of exertion.
Nothing daunted by his ill-fortune, he next endea- voured to gain an insight into the profession of law.
o
THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 1
To this end he borrowed some books from a friend, and' gradually made himself acquainted with the rudiments of the profession in which he afterwards achieved a marked success.
He, meantime, pursued his studies diligently. He made himself somewhat proficient in grammar ; while his newer opportunities gave him the means of far more extensive reading than he had hitherto enjoyed, It was his custom to write out an epitome of every book he read — a process which served to impress the contents more indelibly on his memory, as well as to give him skill in composition.
Before he had proceeded very far in his study of the law, he became acquainted with Mr. John Cal- houn— afterwards President of the Lecompton (Kansas) Constitutional Convention, who proposed to him to take up the study and vocation of surveying. Mr. Lincoln assented, and immediately commenced the requisite routine of study and practice. He frequently went with Mr. Calhoun to the field, and in a short time set up for a surveyor on his own account. In this adven- ture fortune was more in his favour than it yet had been. He set to work with his usual industry and vigour, and soon obtained plenty of work. He won quite a reputation in his vocation, but continued in it for little more than a year.
At the close of this period, in August of 1834- — two years after our subject was first a candidate for the Legislature, and when he had just entered his twenty ■= sixth year — he was again nominated as a candidate for the Legislature of Illinois. The prospect of success was much brighter than before, for Abraham Lincoln bad become a very popular man. The first to enlist.
16 THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
and the last to leave, he was thought to have distin- guished himself as a military man. He was an excel- lent surveyor, a tolerable lawyer — in fact, a rising man, in the western sense of the term. More than this, he was heartily esteemed for his good sense, greatness of heart, and integrity of soul.
These auguries 'were not fallacious. The day of election arrived ; a large vote was polled ; and, as had been generally anticipated, Mr. Lincoln was the suc- cessful candidate by a handsome majority.
In this manner was commenced the political life of the humble and noble man who at length became the recipient of the highest gift of dignity and honour which it is in the power of the American people to bestow. To the Legislature of Illinois he accordingly went.
It was during the first session that he determined to continue the study of the law ; and he here formed the acquaintance of his colleague, the Hon. John T. Stuart. He was three times re-elected to the Legislature — in 1836, 1838, and 1840. ""What were his particular ser- vices, it is Hot necessary to relate. That he laboured successfully and 'acceptably for the interests of his con- stituents, and for the advancement of his State, is certain. The quick-discerning and strong-minded men who generally compose the " first settlers" of a new country, were not to be satisfied with the pretence of work ; they judged the tree by its fruits, and that Mr, Lincoln was so frequently re-elected proves him to have been true to his old habits of industry and well-doing. It was during his legislative duties that Mr. Lincoln first became acquainted with Stephen A. Douglas. Little did the two men then realize the position they were, ere
THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 17
long, to assume toward one another and toward their coun- try. Mr. Douglas, like Mr. Lincoln, was the sole archi- tect of his own fortunes ; the State of Illinois cradled them both in their humble estate, and gave them, as her own, to a career of political glory now become historical.
He obtained a law-licence in 1836, removed to Springfield in April, 1837, and commenced the practice of his profession as partner of Mr. Stuart.
One instance, in connection with his practice of the law, we may relate. A murder having been committed, " a young man, named Armstrong, a son of the aged couple for whom, many years before, Abraham Lincoln had worked, was charged with the deed. Being arrested and examined, a true bill was found against him, and he was lodged in jail to await his trial. As soon as Mr. Lincoln received intelligence of the affair, he addressed a kind letter to Mrs. Armstrong, stating his anxiety that her son should have a fair trial, and offer- ing, in return for her kindness to him while in adverse circumstances some years before, his services gratui- tously. Investigation convinced the volunteer-attorney that the young man was the victim of a conspiracy, and he determined to postpone the case until the excitement had subsided. The day of trial, however, finally arrived, and the accuser testified positively that he saw the accused plunge the knife into the heart of the murdered man. He remembered all the circumstances perfectly; the murder was committed about half-past nine o'clock at night, and the moon was shining brightly. Mr. Lincoln reviewed all the testimony care- fully, and then proved conclusively that the moon, which the accuser had sworn was shining brightly, did not rise
18 THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
until an hour or more after the murder was committed ! Other discrepancies were exposed, and, in thirty minutes after the jury retired, they returned with a verdict of 'not guilty.' "
The prisoner and his mother had been awaiting the verdict with agonizing anxiety. No sooner had the most momentous words, "not guilty," dropped from the foreman's lips, than the mother swooned in the arms of her son. He raised her, and pressed her to his heart with words of glad reassurance.
" Where is Mr. Lincoln ?" he exclaimed, and then flew across the room and grasped his deliverer by the hand, with a heart too full for speech.
It was sunset-time, and they were near a window that faced the west. Mr. Lincoln returned the warm grasp of the prisoner, and then cast his glance through the window towards the golden western horizon.
" It is not yet sundown," said he, tenderly, " and you are free."
Mr. Lincoln continued prospering, devoting the succeeding six years to the study as well as the practice of the law. Each new case seemed to add to his growing reputation for ability as a court and jury lawyer, and emi- nence as counsel. Several of his associates in practice at the Springfield bar were remarkable men. Says a writer, familiar with the persons and incidents of that gathering of great and peculiar men who made the Illinois capital the arena of their combats : —
" It would be hard to find in any backwoods-town, at the period of which I have been speaking, a collection of men of equal ability and possibilities with those who pleaded, and wrangled, and electioneered together in Springfield. Logan, one of the finest examples of the
THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 19
purely legal mind that the West has ever produced ; M'Dougal, who afterwards sought El Dorado ; Bissell, and Shields, and Baker, brothers in arms and in council, the flower of the Western chivalry, and the brightest examples of Western oratory; Trumbull, then, as now, with a mind pre-eminently cool, crystalline, sagacious ; Douglas, heart of oak and brain of fire, of energy un- daunted, and courage unparalleled, ambition insatiate, and aspiration unsleeping ; Lincoln, then, as afterwards, thoughtful, and honest, and brave, conscious of great capabilities, and quietly sure of the future, before all his peers in a broad humanity, and in that prophetic lift of spirit that saw the triumph of principles then dimly discovered in the contest that was to come."
Truly a singular gathering of great souls, each one of whom was destined to occupy prominent positions in their country's history.
His interest in the exciting and important political events of the day — his steadily- increasing conception of their importance not only to his own community but to the country — ere long drew him into the vortex of politics. During the presidential canvass of 1844, he " stumped " the State of Illinois with unwearying- enthusiasm. His admiration of Henry Clay, which had been early imbibed, influenced in no small degree the remainder of his life.
The antagonism to Slavery — in which he was to be- come such a distinguished mover and champion — was publicly manifested as early as 1837. The Legislature of Illinois had, like most of the newer Western States, lost no occasion to appease the ruffled feelings of their " Southern brethren" upon the agitation of this sub- ject, by the adoption of resolutions of an eminently pro-
Attention Scanner Foldout in Book!
20
THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
slavery type, as well as by offering other evidences of sympathy. But, in the session of 1837, when Mr. Lincoln was one of the representatives from Sangamon county, he refused to vote for several of these regularly digested resolutions for the propitiation of the slavery sentiment ; and, taking advantage of a, constitutional privilege, combined with his colleague from Sangamon in the following protest, which was read to the House March 3rd, 1837 : —
" Resolutions on the subject of domestic slavery having passed both houses of the General Assembly at its present session, the undersigned hereby protest against the passage of the same.
" They believe that the institution of slavery is founded on both injustice and bad policy ; but that the promulgation of abolition doctrines tends to increase rather than abate its evils.
" They believe that the Congress of the United States has no power, under the Constitution, to inter- fere with the institution of slavery in the different States.
" They believe that the Congress of the United States lias 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.
" The difference between these opinions and those contained in the said resolutions is their reason for enter- ing this protest.
" Dan. Stone, " A. Lincoln, "Representatives from the county of Sangamon."
In the election of 1844 — already referred to — the
THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
21
tariff question being the main subject at issue — Mr. Lincoln's name beaded the Whig electoral ticket, as opposed to John Calhoun's* on the Democratic side. Calhoun was then regarded as the ablest debater of his party in Illinois. They " stumped " the State together, usually making speeches, on alternate days, at each place, where they were listened to generally by large audiences. The canvass proved how thoroughly he had studied the question in all its bearings — how exhaustively he had read history and political economy. He demon- strated not only his own native strength as a debater, but his accomplishments as a well-read student and statesman. He spoke with that directness and precision, which are ever most forcible in popular addresses. His manner was familiar, as if talking to a large circle of friends — a feature of his oratory which became one of his peculiar characteristics. We say oratory, yet it would hardly be termed such in the Ciceronian sense of the word. The very familiarity of his discourse, the home- liness of his illustrations, the quiet good-humour of his temper, and the seemingly inexhaustible fund of anecdote and story ever ready at his command, served to invest his speeches with something of the characteristics of the harangue ; yet, his simple words were weighty with an eloquence which swayed not only the hearts but the judgments of his hearers, and few men ever left an audience under greater weight of obligation for truths spoken and principles enunciated. He came out of that first canvass the conceded champion of the Whig party and policy in the State, and was soon made to assume still
* This Calhoun will not be confounded with the great pro-slavery propounder, John C. Calhoun, of South Carolina. Ed.
20 THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
slavery type, as well as by offering other evidences of sympathy. But, in the session of 1837, when Mr. Lincoln was one of the representatives from Sangamon county, he refused to vote for several of these regularly digested resolutions for the propitiation of the slavery sentiment ; and, taking advantage of s. constitutional privilege, combined with his colleague from Sangamon in the following protest, which was read to the House March 3rd, 1837 :—
" Resolutions on the subject of domestic slavery having passed both houses of the General Assembly at its present session, the undersigned hereby protest against the passage of the same.
" They believe that the institution of slavery is founded on both injustice and bad policy ; but that the promulgation of abolition doctrines tends to increase rather than abate its evils.
" They believe that the Congress of the United States has no power, under the Constitution, to inter- fere with the institution of slavery in the different States.
" They believe that the Congress of the United States lias 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.
" The difference between these opinions and those contained in the said resolutions is their reason for enter- ing this protest.
" Dan. Stone, " A. Lincoln, "Representatives from the county of Sangamon."
In the election of 1844 — already referred to — the
THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 21
tariff question being the main subject at issue — Mr. Lincoln's name beaded tbe WTiig electoral ticket, as opposed to Jobn Calhoun's* on the Democratic side. Calhoun was then regarded as the ablest debater of his party in Illinois. They " stumped " the State together, usually making speeches, on alternate days, at each place, where they were listened to generally by large audiences. The canvass proved how thoroughly he had studied the question in all its bearings — how exhaustively he had read history and political economy. He demon- strated not only his own native strength as a debater, but his accomplishments as a well-read student and statesman. He spoke with that directness and precision, which are ever most forcible in popular addresses. His manner was familiar, as if talking to a large circle of friends — a feature of his oratory which became one of his peculiar characteristics. We say oratory, yet it would hardly be termed such in the Ciceronian sense of the word. The very familiarity of his discourse, the home- liness of his illustrations, the quiet good-humour of his temper, and the seemingly inexhaustible fund of anecdote and story ever ready at his command, served to invest his speeches with something of the characteristics of the harangue ; yet, his simple words were weighty with an eloquence which swayed not only the hearts but the judgments of his hearers, and few men ever left an audience under greater weight of obligation for truths spoken and principles enunciated. He came out of that first canvass the conceded champion of the Whig party and policy in the State, and was soon made to assume still
* This Calhoun will not be confounded with the great pro-slavery propounder, John C. Calhoun, of South Carolina. Ed.
22 THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
more important functions in public life by representing his district in the United States Congress.
Mr. Lincoln was elected to Congress from the cen- tral district of Illinois in 1846 : and took his seat in that body on the first Monday in December, 1847.
Mr. Winthrop, of Massachusetts, was elected Speaker of the House. This House was replete with the best talent of the country ; and it proved one of the most agitated and agitating sessions ever convened in Wash- ington. Enrolled with Mr. Lincoln, as Whigs, were such names as Collamer, Tallmage, Ingersoll, Botts, Clingman, Stephens, Toombs, and Thompson ; while, opposed to him in politics, were others not less distin- guished, of whom we may mention Wilmot, Bocock, Rhett, Linu, Boyd and Andrew Johnson — the latter afterwards his associate and coadjutor in the great work of restoring the Union, and now his successor to the Presidency. Such conspicuous lights as Webster, Cal- houn, Dayton, Davis, Dix, Dickinson, Hale, Bell, Crit- tenden and Corwin constituted a senatorial galaxy which seldom has been outshone.
Mr. Lincoln was the only representative from his State who had been elected under the Whig standard — his six colleagues being all Democrats.
He entered into the spirit of his new duties with characteristic energy, voting pro or con on every im- portant question, ever ready with his tongue for the argumentative contest, always exhibiting that capability and good sense which distinguished him through life.
Mr. Giddings having presented a memorial (Decem- ber 21st, 1847) from certain citizens of the District of Columbia, asking for the repeal of all laws upholding the slave-trade within its limits, a motion was made to
THE LIFE OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 23
lay it on the table, when Mr. Lincoln voted in the negative.
Although he went with the majority of the Whig party in opposing the declaration of war with Mexico, he invariably supported, with his vote, any bill or reso- lution having for its object the sustenance of the health, comfort, and honour of our soldiers engaged in the war. On the 22nd of December, he introduced, with one of his characteristically humorous and logical speeches in their favour, a series of resolutions, keenly criticizing the motives which had brought about the war. In later years, it was charged against Mr. Lincoln by those whose political enmity he had incurred, that he lacked a genuine patriotism, inasmuch as he had voted against the Mexican war. The charge was sharply and clearly made by Judge Douglas at the first of their joint dis- cussions, in the senatorial contest of 1858. Mr. Lincoln replied : " I was an old Whig, and whenever the Demo- cratic party tried to get me to vote that the war had been righteously begun by the President, I would not do
it But when he (Judge Douglas), by a
general charge, conveys the idea that I withheld supplies from the soldiers who were fighting in the Mexican war, or did anything else to hinder the soldiers, he is, to say the least, grossly and altogether mistaken, as a consul- tation of the records will prove to him."
Mr. Lincoln's congressional career, though brief, was important and brilliant to a singular degree, and is well worthy of a diligent study by the student in statesmanship.
On the right of petition, Mr. Lincoln voted repeatedly against laying on the table, without consideration, peti- tions in favour of the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia.
24 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
On the question of abolishing slavery in the district, he took rather a prominent part. A Mr. Gott had in- troduced a resolution directing the committee of the house to introduce a bill abolishing the slave-trade in the District. To this Mr. Lincoln moved an amendment instructing them to introduce a bill for the abolition, not of the slave-trade, but of slavery within the District. The bill which he proposed prevented any slave from ever being brought into the District, except in the case of officers of the Government, who might bring the neces- sary servants for themselves and their families while in the District on public business. It prevented any one, when resident within the District, or thereafter born within it, from being held in slavery without the Dis- trict. It declared that all children of slave-mothers, born in the District after January 1st, 1850, should be free, but should be reasonably supported and educated by the owners of their mothers, and that any owners of slaves in the District might be paid their value from the treasury, and the slaves should thereupon be free ; and it provided, also, for the submission of the act to the people of the District for their acceptance or rejection.
The question of the Territories came up in many ways. The Wilmot Proviso had made its appearance in the previous session, in the August before ; but it was repeatedly before this Congress also, when efforts were made to apply it to the territory which was procured from Mexico, and to Oregon. On all occasions, when it was before the House, it was supported by Mr. Lincoln, and he stated, during his contest with Judge Douglas, that he had voted for it "in one way and another, about forty times." He thus showed himself, in 1847, the same friend of freedom for the Territories which
THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 25
he was afterwards during the heats of the Kansas struggle.
Another instance in which the slavery question was before the house, was in the famous Pacheco case. The ground taken by the majority was that slaves were regarded as property by the Constitution, and, when taken for public service, should be paid for as property. The principle involved in the bill was, therefore, the same which the slaveholders have sought in so many ways to maintain. As they sought, afterwards, to have it established by a decision of the Supreme Court, so, now, they sought to have it recognized by Congress. Mr. Lincoln opposed it in Congress as heartily as he after- wards opposed it when it took the more covert, but no less dangerous, shape of a judicial dictum.
On other questions which came before Congress, Mr. Lincoln, being a Whig, took the ground which was held by the great body of his party. He believed in the right of Congress to make appropriations for the im- provement of rivers and harbours. He was in favour of giving the public lands, not to speculators, but to actual occupants and cultivators, at as low rates as pos- sible ; he was in favour of a protective tariff, and of abolishing the franking privilege.
In the Whig National Convention of 1848, Mr. Lincoln was a delegate, and earnestly advocated the nomination of General Zachary Taylor for the Pre- sidency. During the ensuing canvass he " stumped the states of Indiana and Illinois in support of his favourite candidate."
In 1849, he was a candidate for United States senator, before the Illinois Legislature, but was beaten by General Shields — the Democrats having control of
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26 THE LIFE OF ABKAHAM LINCOLN.
the State. The bitterness of the previous Presidential canvass was intensified by the desire to elect also a Legislature which should return a Democrat to the United States Senate. Mr. Lincoln visited Massa- chusetts once during the campaign, and was present at the Massachusetts State Convention, by invitation of parties endeavouring to effect harmony of action between the strict anti- slavery and the Whig or " Conserva- tive" factions. He did not speak, however, except at New Bedford, where he made one of his happiest efforts.
For the five years succeeding the canvass of 1848, Mr. Lincoln was but little engrossed in public affairs. He practised his profession with diligence and success, adding both to his fame as a lawyer and to his fortunes. His interest in politics, though lively, did not draw him from the bar. But the repeal of the Missouri com- promise suddenly aroused him for fresh endeavours. Illinois was once more a field for the battle of Freedom, and the bold leader, who before had led the van of the host arrayed against slave encroachment, was not deaf to the call for his good right arm. The old compact, won by the Herculean efforts of Henry Clay, and which stood like the sea-dike of Holland to keep off the all- devouring flood, was to be rent asunder, and the beau- tiful land, reclaimed for ever to free labour, was to be given over to darkness and death. All the lion in Mr. Lincoln's nature was aroused. What were peace, and fame, and fortune, when the country was assailed by treachery and cunning device ? The warrior put aside all his own interests, girded on his armour, and went forth, like Peter the Hermit, to arouse his people to a s ense of their shame and loss in permitting the holy
THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 27
sepulchre of freedom to be invaded by the Southern Moslem and Northern Tartars.
The desperate political struggle of that year was measurably influenced by his power, and the crowning victory, which gave Illinois her first Republican Legis- lature, and made Lyman Trumbull her United States Senator, it is conceded was mainly due to his extraor- dinary efforts.
In 1854 the anti-Nebraska (afterward Eepublican) party offered to Mr. Lincoln the nomination for Go- vernor. He declined, saying, " No, I am not the man ; Bissell will make a better Governor than I, and you can elect him on account of his Democratic antece- dents."
Thus, again, did he permit his love for his party, and the principles involved, to overcome any desire which he may have had to be their standard-bearer and leader.
In the first National Convention of the Republican party, which met at Philadelphia, June 17th, 1856, the name of Abraham Lincoln was conspicuous before the convention for the "Vice- Presidency, standing second to Mr. Dayton on the informal ballot, and receiving one hundred votes. The choice of that convention having settled upon John C. Fremont and William L. Dayton for its candidates, Mr. Lincoln took an active part in the ensuing canvass. The Republican electoral ticket of Illinois was headed with his name ; though, in the event, the Democrats carried the State by a plurality vote.
The great Senatorial contest of Illinois, between Mr. Douglas on the one hand, and Mr. Lincoln on the other, which gave rise to those debates which have become a
28 THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
distinguished part of our national political history, took place in the summer of 1858.
Mr. Douglas, by his refusal to support the Lecomp- ton fraud, had earned for himself the enmity of the Administration ; but his strength, inside and outside of Illinois, was still enormous. In consequence of his de- fection from the then openly avowed pro-slavery policy of his party, and the commendation which he had earned from many Republicans, he was probably stronger than ever before. Of course, under these cir- cumstances, it required a man of no ordinary ability, and of no ordinary hold upon the public regard, to con- test the State of Illinois with the " Little Giant " (Mr. Douglas). As a Republican candidate for United States Senator, and one of less equivocal record with regard to the absorbing issue of slavery or freedom in the Terri- tories, Mr. Lincoln was thought to be the opponent upon whom the freedom-lovers of Illinois could best depend as their champion. He was, accordingly, nomi- nated by the Republican State Convention, which met at Springfield, June 2nd, 1858.
In the projected tournament of debate between the rival candidates, Mr. Lincoln was the first to fling down the gauntlet, in a brief note, under date of July 24th, requesting an arrangement to " divide time, and address the same audiences during the present canvass." The challenge was accepted, and the terms agreed upon, and the places and days of meeting specified.
It will be impossible to give anything more than a brief synopsis of these celebrated debates. It was, generally, the verdict of the press and of the country, that in every encounter Mr. Lincoln held his ground firmly against his talented opponent ; and it is very pro-
THE LIFE OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 29
bable that the majority accorded to the former the meed of victory. [See speech in " Appendix."]
In perhaps the severest test that could have been applied to any man's temper — his political contest with Senator Douglas in 1858 — Mr. Lincoln not only proved himself an able speaker and a good tactician, but de- monstrated that it is possible to carry on the fiercest political warfare, without once descending to rude per- sonality and coarse denunciation. It is stated on the authority of a gentleman, who followed Mr. Lincoln throughout the whole of this campaign, that in spite of all the temptations to an opposite course to which he was continually exposed, no personalities against his opponent, no vituperation or coarseness, ever defiled his lips. His kind and genial nature lifted him above a resort to any such weapons of political war-fare, and it was the commonly expressed regret of fiercer natures that he treated his opponent too courteously and urbanely. Vulgar personalities and vituperation are the last thing that can be truthfully charged against Abraham Lin- coln. His heart was too genial, his good sense too strong, and his innate self-respect too predominant to permit him to indulge in them. His nobility of nature — and we may use the term advisedly — has been as manifest through- out his whole career as his temperate habits, his self- reliance, and his mental and intellectual power. This picture presented the man as he appeared and acted.
In his personal habits, Mr. Lincoln was as simple as a child. He loved a good dinner, and ate with the appetite which goes with a great brain, but his food was plain and nutritious. He never drank intoxicating liquors of any sort, not even a glass of wine. He was not addicted to tobacco in any of its shapes. He never used profane language.
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30 THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
Judah Benjamin, of Louisiana, one of the ablest of Southern senators, afterward Secretary of State in Jef- ferson Davis' cabinet, complimented Mr. Lincoln very highly, in the course of a speech wherein he had occa- sion to review this celebrated series of debates. Speak- ing of the queries propounded by Douglas to his op- ponent, and the answers they elicited, Mr. Benjamin observed : —
" It is impossible, Mr. President, however we may differ in opinion with the man, not to admire the per- fect candour and frankness with which these answers were given ; no equivocation, no evasion."
During the campaign, Mr. Lincoln paid the follow- ing noble tribute to the Declaration of Independence : —
" Now, my countrymen, if you have been taught doctrines conflicting with the great landmarks of the Declaration of Independence ; if you have listened to suggestions which would take away from its grandeur, and mutilate the fair symmetry of its proportions ; if" you have been inclined to believe that all men are not created equal in those inalienable rights enumerated by our chart of liberty, let me entreat you to come back — return to the fountain whose waters spring close by the blood of the Revolution.
" You may do anything with me you choose, if you only heed these sacred principles. You may not only defeat me for the Senate, but you may take me and put me to death. While pretending no indifference to earthly honours, I do claim to be actuated in this con- test by something higher than an anxiety for office. I charge you to drop every paltry and insignificant thought for any man's success. It is nothing ; I am nothing ; Judge Douglas is nothing. But do not destroy
THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 31
that immortal emblem of humanity — the Declaration of American Independence."
The election day at length arrived. The popular vote stood : for the Republican candidate, 126,084 ; for the Douglas Democrats, 121,940 ; for the Lecompton candidates, 5,091. But the vote for Senator being cast by the Legislature, Mr. Douglas was elected, his sup- porter having a majority of eight on joint ballot. Not- withstanding the result, the endeavours of Mr. Lincoln during the debate had caused an immense increase in the Republican vote ; and his party had no reason to regret that their choice of a leader had fallen upon him.
Mr. Lincoln made several visits into other States after the close of the senatorial contest, and before the opening of the campaign of 1860. He made several speeches in Ohio in the following year ; and also visited Kansas, where he was received with great enthusiasm. In February, 1860, he was in New York, and made a speech before the Young Men's Republican Club at the Cooper Institute, which made him many friends in a quarter where they were already numbered by the thousand. It was the finest oration, as such, pronounced by the eminent speaker up to that time, and commanded much attention from men of all classes.
A most touching incident occurred — probably during this visit — which is thus narrated by a teacher at the Five Points House of Industry : —
" Our Sunday school in the Five Points was assem- bled one Sabbath morning, when I noticed a tall, remark- able-looking man enter the room, and take a seat among us. He listened with fixed attention to our exercises, and his countenance expressed such genuine interest that I approached him and suggested that he might be
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32 THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
willing to say something to the children. He accepted the invitation with evident pleasure, and, coming for- ward, began a simple address, which at once fascinated every little hearer, and hnshed the room into silence. His language was strikingly beautiful, and his tones musical with intensest feeling. The little faces around him would droop into sad conviction as he uttered sen- tences of warning, and would brighten into sunshine as he spoke cheerful words of promise. Once or twice he attempted to close his remarks, but the imperative shout of ; eo on ! ' ' oh, go on ! ' would compel him to resume. As I looked upon the gaunt and sinewy frame of the ger, 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 leav- ing the room, I begged to know his name. He cour- teouslv replied ; ' It is Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois.' "
Abraham Lincoln had now become recognized as one of the most able, faithful, and consistent republican leaders. His known personal popularity, as well as his former services, now pointed to him as the fittest and most eligible candidate of his party in the coming Pre- sidential election. He was first conspicuously named for the Presidency at a meeting of the Illinois State Eepublican Convention, where a Democrat of Macon county presented to the convention two gaily-decorated fence-rails, upon which were inscribed the following words : —
" Abraham Lincoln, the rail candidate for President in 1860. Two rails from a lot of 3000, made in 1830 by Thomas Hanks and Abe Lincoln, whose father was the first pioneer of Macon county."
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THE LIFE OF ABKAHAM LINCOLN.
33
The production of these singular and appropriate tokens of the advantages which the American democratic institutions afforded to the humblest in life, was a signal for enthusiastic applause. Mr. Lincoln, who happened to be present as a spectator, was loudly called upon for a speech. He rose from his seat, acknowledged that he had been a rail-splitter some thirty years previous, and said that he was informed that those before him were some which his own axe had hewn.
In the autumn of 1859, Mr. Lincoln, in compliance with invitations from various States, made several powerful speeches in favour of Republican principles, to one of which — that he delivered at Cooper Institute, New York, February 27th, 1860 — we have already adverted. These speeches confirmed the impression which had been growing in the public mind since 1854, that Mr. Lincoln — " Honest Abe," as he was chris- tened— was the man for President if the people could name their candidate ; yet few really anticipated his nomination.
The Republican National Convention met at the "Wigwam," in Chicago, May 16th, 1860. Not less than ten thousand persons were in the building, while vast throngs blocked the entrance, and filled the grounds around, unable to obtain admission.
On Thursday morning the Convention again assem- bled at ten o'clock, and, upon the adoption of rules, it was agreed a majority should nominate the candidates.
The committee on resolutions then reported the platform, which was adopted with enthusiasm, the im- mense multitude of spectators rising to their feet, with cheer upon cheer of applause.
It had soon become evident that the actual contest
3
32 THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
willing to say something to the children. He accepted the invitation with evident pleasure, and, coming for- ward, began a simple address, which at once fascinated every little hearer, and hushed the room into silence. His language was strikingly beautiful, and his tones musical with intensest feeling. The little faces around him would droop into sad conviction as he uttered sen- tences of warning, and would brighten into sunshine as he spoke cheerful words of promise. Once or twice he attempted to close his remarks, but the imperative shout of ' go on ! ' ' oh, 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 leav- ing the room, I begged to know his name. He cour- teously replied ; ' It is Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois.' "
Abraham Lincoln had now become recognized as one of the most able, faithful, and consistent republican leaders. His known personal popularity, as well as his former services, now pointed to him as the fittest and most eligible candidate of his party in the coming Pre- sidential election. He was first conspicuously named for the Presidency at a meeting of the Illinois State Republican Convention, where a Democrat of Macon county presented to the convention two gaily-decorated fence-rails, upon which were inscribed the following words : —
" Abraham Lincoln, the rail candidate for President in 1860. Two rails from a lot of 3000, made in 1800 by Thomas Hanks and Abe Lincoln, whose father was the first pioneer of Macon county."
THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 33
The production of these singular and appropriate tokens of the advantages which the American democratic institutions afforded to the humblest in life, was a signal for enthusiastic applause. Mr. Lincoln, who happened to be present as a spectator, was loudly called upon for a speech. He rose from his seat, acknowledged that he had been a rail-splitter some thirty years previous, and said that he was informed that those before him were some which his own axe had hewn.
In the autumn of 1859, Mr. Lincoln, in compliance with invitations from various States, made several powerful speeches in favour of Republican principles, to one of which — that he delivered at Cooper Institute, New York, February 27th, I860 — we have already adverted. These speeches confirmed the impression which had been growing in the public mind since 1854, that Mr. Lincoln — "Honest Abe," as he was chris- tened— was the man for President if the people could name their candidate ; yet few really anticipated his nomination.
The Republican National Convention met at the "Wigwam," in Chicago, May 16th, 1860. Not less than ten thousand persons were in the building, while vast throngs blocked the entrance, and filled the grounds around, unable to obtain admission.
On Thursday morning the Convention again assem- bled at ten o'clock, and, upon the adoption of rules, it was agreed a majority should nominate the candidates.
The committee on resolutions then reported the platform, which was adopted with enthusiasm, the im- mense multitude of spectators rising to their feet, with cheer upon cheer of applause.
It had soon become evident that the actual contest
3
Attention Scanner: Foldout in Book!
32
THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
willing to say something to the children. He accepted the invitation with evident pleasure, and, coming for- ward, "began a simple address, which at once fascinated every little hearer, and hushed the room into silence. His language was strikingly beautiful, and his tones musical with intensest feeling. The little faces around him wo aid droop into sad conviction as he uttered sen- tences of warning, and would brighten into sunshine as he spoke cheerful words of promise. Once or twice he attempted to close his remarks, but the imperative shout of ' go on ! ' ' oh, 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 leav- ing the room, I begged to know his name. He cour- teously replied ; ' It is Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois.' "
Abraham Lincoln had now become recognized as one of the most able, faithful, and consistent republican leaders. His known personal popularity, as well as his former services, now pointed to him as the fittest and most eligible candidate of his party in the coming Pre- sidential election. He was first conspicuously named for the Presidency at a meeting of the Illinois State Republican Convention, where a Democrat of Macon county presented to the convention two gaily-decorated fence-rails, upon which were inscribed the following words : —
" Abraham Lincoln, the rail candidate for President in 1860. Two rails from a lot of 3000, made in 1800 by Thomas Hanks and Abe Lincoln, whose father was the first pioneer of Macon county."
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THE LIFE OP ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
33
The production of these singular and appropriate tokens of the advantages which the American democratic institutions afforded to the humblest in life, was a signal for enthusiastic applause. Mr. Lincoln, who happened to be present as a spectator, was loudly called upon for a speech. He rose from his seat, acknowledged that he had been a rail-splitter some thirty years previous, and said that he was informed that those before him were some which his own axe had hewn.
In the autumn of 1859, Mr. Lincoln, in compliance with invitations from various States, made several powerful speeches in favour of Republican principles, to one of which — that he delivered at Cooper Institute, New York, February 27th, I860 — we have already adverted. These speeches confirmed the impression which had been growing in the public mind since 1854, that Mr. Lincoln — " Honest Abe," as he was chris- tened— was the man for President if the people could name their candidate ; yet few really anticipated his nomination.
The Republican National Convention met at the "Wigwam," in Chicago, May 16th, 1860. Not less than ten thousand persons were in the building, while vast throngs blocked the entrance, and filled the grounds around, unable to obtain admission.
On Thursday morning the Convention again assem- bled at ten o'clock, and, upon the adoption of rules, it was agreed a majority should nominate the candidates.
The committee on resolutions then reported the platform, which was adopted with enthusiasm, the im- mense multitude of spectators rising to their feet, with cheer upon cheer of applause.
It had soon become evident that the actual contest
3
Attention Scanner: Foldout in Book!
32
THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
willing to say something to the children. He accepted the invitation with evident pleasure, and, coming for- ward, began a simple address, which at once fascinated every little hearer, and hushed the room into silence. His language was strikingly beautiful, and his tones musical with intensest feeling. The little faces around him would droop into sad conviction as he uttered sen- tences of warning, and would brighten into sunshine as he spoke cheerful words of promise. Once or twice he attempted to close his remarks, but the imperative shout of ' o-o on ! ' ' oh, go on ! ' would compel him to resume. As I looked upon the gaunt and sinewy frame of the strano-er, 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 leav- ing the room, I begged to know his name. He cour- teously replied ; ' It is Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois.' "
Abraham Lincoln had now become recognized as one of the most able, faithful, and consistent republican leaders. His known personal popularity, as well as his former services, now pointed to him as the fittest and most eligible candidate of his party in the coming Pre- sidential election. He was first conspicuously named for the Presidency at a meeting of the Illinois State Republican Convention, where a Democrat of Macon county presented to the convention two gaily-decorated fence-rails, upon which were inscribed the following words : —
" Abraham Lincoln, the rail candidate for President in 1860. Two rails from a lot of 3000, made in 1SC0 by Thomas Hanks and Abe Lincoln, whose father was the first pioneer of Macon county."
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THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
33
The production of these singular and appropriate tokens of the advantages which the American democratic institutions afforded to the humblest in life, was a signal for enthusiastic applause. Mr. Lincoln, who happened to be present as a spectator, was loudly called upon for a speech. He rose from his seat, acknowledged that he had been a rail-splitter some thirty years previous, and said that he was informed that those before him were some which his own axe had hewn.
In the autumn of 1859, Mr. Lincoln, in compliance with invitations from various States, made several powerful speeches in favour of Republican principles, to one of which — that he delivered at Cooper Institute, New York, February 27th, 1860 — we have already adverted. These speeches confirmed the impression which had been growing in the public mind since 1854, that Mr. Lincoln — "Honest Abe," as he was chris- tened— was the man for President if the people could name their candidate ; yet few really anticipated his nomination.
The Republican National Convention met at the "Wigwam," in Chicago, May 10th, 1860. Not less than ten thousand persons were in the building, while vast throngs blocked the entrance, and filled the grounds around, unable to obtain admission.
On Thursday morning the Convention again assem- bled at ten o'clock, and, upon the adoption of rules, it was agreed a majority should nominate the candidates.
The committee on resolutions then reported the platform, which was adopted with enthusiasm, the im- mense multitude of spectators rising to their feet, with cheer upon cheer of applause.
It had soon become evident that the actual contest
3
34 THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
would be between Mr. Seward and Mr. Lincoln. It was proposed that tbe Convention should at once proceed to the nomination of candidates, but an adjournment was had until morning. Had this motion to proceed at once to business been carried, it is more than probable that Mr. Seward would have been the nominee, as his, at that time, was the most conspicuous name before the Convention ; but, during the night, combinations were effected in favour of Mr. Lincoln which eventually secured his nomination. Great excitement was mani- fested in the Convention upon its next sitting, and the interest with the audience was intense.
Upon the first ballot, Mr. Seward had 173f votes to 102 for Mr. Lincoln, with others scattering. Upon the second ballot, the chairman of the Vermont delega- tion, whose votes had previously been divided, an- nounced that " Vermont casts her ten votes for the Young Giant of the West, Abraham Lincoln," when the " beginning of the end " began to be felt throughout the Convention. On this ballot, Mr. Seward had 184f to 181 for Mr. Lincoln ; and the third ballot gave Mr. Lincoln 230 votes — nearly a majority. Hereupon Mr. Carter, of Ohio, announced a change in Ohio's vote of four votes in favour of Mr. Lincoln, which raised the excitement of the Convention to the highest pitch. Now, as the choice was certain, State after State struggled to be next in succession to exchange votes for Mr. Lincoln. The whole number of votes cast at the next ballot was 466, of which 234 were necessary to a choice. Three hundred and fifty -four were cast for Abraham Lincoln, who was thereupon declared duly nominated.
When the loud applause with which the nomination was greeted had somewhat subsided, Mr. William
THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 35
Evarts, of New York City, came forward, and moved that the nomination be made unanimous. The motion was seconded by Mr. Andrews, of Massachusetts ; and the nomination was accordingly concurred in without a dissenting voice.
The excitement, consequent upon the nomination, spread from the Convention to the audience within the building, and from them, like wildfire, to the crowds without, to whom the result had been announced. At the close of Mr. Evart's remarks, a life-size portrait of Mr. Lincoln had been displayed from the platform, greeted with bursts of uncontrollable applause. The building vibrated with the shouts of the delighted thousands beneath its roof, and, with cheer upon cheer, the multitude in the streets caught up the glad acclaim ; while, amid the boom of artillery salutes, the undulation of banners, and the tempestuous gusts of band- music, the intelligence of the people's choice flashed over the wires from Maine to Kansas, and from the Lakes to the Gulf.
A pleasant anecdote is related of the manner in which Mr. Lincoln received his nomination : —
He was at Springfield during the sitting of the Con- vention; and, having left the telegraphic office after learning the result of the first two ballots, was quietly conversing with some friends, in the office of the State Journal, while the casting of the third ballot was in pro- gress. In a little time the result was received at the telegraph office. The superintendent, who was present hastily wrote upon a scrap of paper : " Mr. Lincoln, you are nominated on the third ballot ; " which he imme- diately sent, by a boy, to Mr. Lincoln. A shout of ap- plause greeted the message throughout the office of the
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ob THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
Journal, but Mr. Lincoln received it in silence. Then he put the paper in his pocket, arose, and said quietly, before he left the room : " There is a little woman down at our house would like to hear this. Ill go down and tell her."
The news of this nomination was very acceptable to Republicans generally. Not only did they recognize in Abraham Lincoln a man of integrity and simple virtue, but one in whom was embodied the truly democratic element of free America, a freedom-lover, a right- respecter, and a noble, talented statesman, sprung from the very heart of the masses. Confident of their man, and devoted to their principles — as embodied and set forth in the platform adopted by the Convention — they entered the contest with a zeal and industry which were without parallel in the history of the country. More noise was made in the campaign of 1840, when General Harrison was elected; but the zeal of 1860 was more rational and all-pervading, betraying a resolute purpose not to be defeated which did much towards alarming the slave-power for the perpetuity of its long-enjoyed con- trolling power.
The action taken by the Charleston (South Carolina) National Democratic Convention, which was convened April 23rd, 1SG0, is conclusive evidence that it desired the success of the Republican party, in order to con- summate the long-talked-of secession of the Slave States ; for the nomination of Mr. Lincoln, upon the unequivocal Free-State platform, seems to have prompted them to urge the most ultra pro-slavery views upon the Conven- tion with the design of securing a division in the ranks of the Democracy — whose union upon one candidate must have insured the defeat of the Republicans. The
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THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
37
more extreme of the Southern politicians took no pains to conceal their threats of disunion in the event of a triumph of the Free- State party ; though the Northern Democrats in the Convention were incredulous that the menaces would ever be carried out. But if it had been more generally believed, it is questionable if the popular vote of Mr. Lincoln would have been diminished. For those who supported him stood upon the broad, stead- fast platform of human rights and God-intended equity — firmly resolved that Freedom should henceforth spread her asgis over the whole country, and slavery be left to remain as the makers of the Constitution intended, in the States then already cursed by its baleful presence.
The result of the ensuing election of November I860, was, that Mr. Lincoln received 491,275 over Mr. Douglas; 1,018,499 over Mr. Breckinridge; and 1,275,821 over Mr. Bell; and the electoral vote, subse- quently proclaimed by Congress, was —
For Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois . . . 180
For John C. Breckinridge, of Kentucky . 72
For John Bell, of Tennessee 39
For Stephen A. Douglas, of Illinois . . 12
The following States cast their electoral vote for Mr. Lincoln: — Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massa- chusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Penn- sylvania. Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, California — sixteen in number.
The intention of the American people, in electing Abraham Lincoln to be their chief magistrate, was to restrict the extension of slavery in the Territories, and to abrogate its political power, which had threatened to become perpetual. The consequences of that election
36 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
Journal, but Mr. Lincoln received it in silence. Then lie put the paper in his pocket, arose, and said quietly, before he left the room : " There is a little woman down at our house would like to hear this. I'll go down and tell her."
The news of this nomination was very acceptable to Republicans generally. Not only did they recognize in Abraham Lincoln a man of integrity and simple virtue, but one in whom was embodied the truly democratic element of free America, a freedom-lover, a right- respecter, and a noble, talented statesman, sprung from the very heart of the masses. Confident of their man, and devoted to their principles — as embodied and set forth in the platform adopted by the Convention — they entered the contest with a zeal and industry which were without parallel in the history of the country. More noise was made in the campaign of 1840, when General Harrison was elected; but the zeal of 1860 was more rational and all-pervading, betraying a resolute purpose not to be defeated which did much towards alarming the slave-power for the perpetuity of its long-enjoyed con- trolling power.
The action taken by the Charleston (South Carolina) National Democratic Convention, which was convened April 23rd, 1S60, is conclusive evidence that it desired the success of the Eepublican party, in order to con- summate the long-talked-of secession of the Slave States ; for the nomination of Mr. Lincoln, upon the unequivocal Free-State platform, seems to have prompted them to urge the most ultra pro-slavery views upon the Conven- tion with the design of securing a division in the ranks of the Democracy — whose union upon one candidate must have insured the defeat of the Republicans. The
THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 37
more extreme of the Southern politicians took no pains to conceal their threats of disunion in the event of a triumph of the Free- State party ; though the Northern Democrats in the Convention were incredulous that the menaces would ever be carried out. But if it had been more generally believed, it is questionable if the popular vote of Mr. Lincoln would have been diminished. For those who supported him stood upon the broad, stead- fast platform of human rights and God-intended equity — firmly resolved that Freedom should henceforth spread her aegis over the iclwle country, and slavery be left to remain as the makers of the Constitution intended, in the States then already cursed by its baleful presence.
The result of the ensuing election of November 1860, was, that Mr. Lincoln received 491,275 over Mr. Douglas; 1,018,499 over Mr. Breckinridge; and 1,275,821 over Mr. Bell; and the electoral vote, subse- quently proclaimed by Congress, was — ■
For Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois . . .180 For John C. Breckinridge, of Kentucky . 72
For John Bell, of Tennessee 39
For Stephen A. Douglas, of Illinois . . 12
The following States cast their electoral vote for Mr. Lincoln : — Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massa- chusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Penn- sylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, California — sixteen in number.
The intention of the American people, in electing Abraham Lincoln to be their chief magistrate, was to restrict the extension of slavery in the Territories, and to abrogate its political power, which had threatened to become perpetual. The consequences of that election
38 THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
have been widely different from what was anticipated. Possibly the people of the North would have permitted themselves to be governed by their apprehensions rather than their sentiments, had they foreseen that the in- sanity of the South would culminate in the terrible conflict which devastated the land ; but, can there be a doubt now, when the ultimate issue of the shaking struggle between freedom and slavery is so clearly in view, that they are moving onward to better things — that the result of the campaign of 1860 was a thing ordained by Providence for the best ?
He who does all things well, has nations as well as individuals in his keeping ; and that He permitted the events of 1860-61 to culminate in civil war, must have been for some divine purpose. A few generations hence the world will look back with wonder and awe upon the appalling trial through which the Union passed ; but, if they see as its fruits a nation of freemen who shudder at the crimes of their fathers in buying and selling human flesh and blood, the sacrifice will be deemed to have been not too great.
CHAPTER in.
The Secession Movement — Mr. Lincoln's " Record" — The Con- spirators— The " Progress" of the President Elect from Illinois to Washington — The Inauguration— Secession — Events of the War.
That Abraham Lincoln was for the subversion of the Constitution, by intermeddling with slavery within the States where it existed, was widely proclaimed by the ambitious leaders of public opinion in the South. In
THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 39
no utterance, public or private, which Mr. Lincoln had made during his life, was this principle upheld or hinted. He had, indeed, watched the increase of the slave power, and the baneful effects it was producing upon the Government, with jealousy and apprehension ; but the means he would have used to arrest the evil was simply by confining the institution within the limits of those States which already, by their own State constitution, had legalized and ingrafted it upon their domestic systems. He had, therefore, boldly asserted the right of Congress to prohibit the extension of the institution to those Territories* which were as free and untrammelled as the broad rivers that rush through their wastes, or the winds that sing through their forests.
* In addition to the thirty-six States, there is a large district of land belonging to the United States lying westward and extending to the Pacific (see map). It embraces an area of 1,344,000 square miles, and is divided into nine districts, called "Territories." Notwithstanding their immense area, they only contained in 1860 a white population of 220,149. They are mostly inhabited by wild tribes of native Indians, but are rapidly being settled up from the States and by foreign immigration. These Ter- ritories are under the control of Congress, but any of them may be admitted into the Union as States on the same footing as the other States on attaining a population necessary for one representative in Congress — viz., 124,000. The relation of the Territories to the General Government differs widely from that sustained by the States, and is based on the following provision of the Constitution and the rules and regulations established in pursuance of the same : —
" The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all needful rules and regulations respecting the Territory or other pro- perty belonging to the United States ; and nothing in this Con- stitution shall be so construed as to prejudice the claims of the United States, or of any particular State."
Since the adoption of the Constitution by the thirteen original States, twenty-one new States have been formed out of the Terri- tories, and have adopted, assented to, and ratified the Constitution,
40 THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
The Southerners knew this, and they knew — many of them had said — that there was nothing which was unconstitutional in such principles, and the promul- gation of them. The purpose in the hearts of the Southern extremists, which had been gestating for thirty years, was the destruction of the American Union, and the foundation of a slave empire upon the North American continent, and the accomplishment of this ambitious scheme was the overruling motive of action. The election of Mr. Lincoln was made a pretext for secession, and was the culminating argument by which the " Southern heart was fired."
It is, therefore, not wonderful that the news of Mr. Lincoln's election was the signal for general gratulation and undisguised pleasure in many parts of the South.
and become integral parts of the Union — making thirty-six States in all — nine Territories still remaining. The following are the chief regulations established by Congress, in pursuance of the Constitution : —
The Governor is appointed for each Territory by the President.
The Legislative Assembly of each Territory consists of a Council and House of ^Representatives elected by the people.
All laws passed by the Legislature, and approved by the Terri- torial Governors, must be submitted to the National Congress, and if disapproved, are null and void.
The Secretary of the Territory is also appointed by the President for four years ; also the United States Attorney and Marshal.
The Judiciary of each Territory is vested in a supreme court and other inferior courts, from which there is an appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States.
The constitution and laws of the United States have the same force -within the Territories as elsewhere in the United States.
Each Territory sends a delegate to the Lower House of the Rational Congress, who is entitled to speak and debate on all matters in which his Territory is interested, but is not entitled to a vote in the House.
THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 41
They had been seeking excuses — here was one ready to their hand ! In vain did the North exclaim, " This is ungenerous — unfair! We stood your Presidents, one after another, for a quarter of a century. You will surely allow us, the majority, four years. At any rate, be reasonable. Only try us ! For never so brief a time, let us, at least, have a trial, that you may judge us." What ! risk the long-sought-for, at-length- discovered excuse for the parricidal blow, and the esta- blishment of their slave kingdom — risk that on the chance of an experiment with the " Black Republican Abolitionists ?" No, never ! In short, the news of Mr. Lincoln's election was not a month old before the spirit of secession in South Carolina began to assume pro- portions most startling to the loyal people of the United States.
Mr. Douglas had been the favourite of the Demo- cratic Convention which had originally assembled at Charleston; but the slaveholding politicians had ma- naged to procure the nomination of Mr. Breckinridge, with a full knowledge that the division in their party thus produced could hardly fail to secure the success of the Republican candidate at the polls. The two wings of the Democratic party, which were thus created, were not so widely antagonistic in principles but that the South might have united upon that one represented by Mr. Douglas, without serious detriment to their sup- posed rights and privileges, had they been disposed to preserve the Union.
Mr. Breckinridge represented that pro-slavery ele- ment of the Democratic party which demanded the positive protection of slave property in the Territories against any legislation, either of Congress or of
42 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
the people of the Territories themselves, that might seek to impair their alleged right of property in human beings.
Mr. Douglas, on the contrary, represented the theory that the inhabitants of the Territories had a perfect right to decide whether or not the institution of slavery should find foothold on their soil.
Thus, while the Republicans maintained the right of Congressional interference, in the Territories, to pro- hibit the entrance of slavery, and the Southern Demo- crats held the right of Congressional interference to protect but not to prohibit slavery therein, Mr. Douglas was similarly and equally opposed to both Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Breckinridge in the Presidential issue.
The supporters of John Bell were simply the few who were dissatisfied with all existing parties, and who did not enunciate definite opinions on the main points at issue.*
The different sections of the country had entered the election with equal zeal and activity. And, as here- tofore, the Lincoln, Bell, and Douglas parties, though desirous of success, were fully willing to abide by the victory, upon whichever standard it might happen to perch. But the Breckinridge Democracy had entered upon the contest with the distinct intention of " acquies- cing in the result only in the event of its giving them the victory." The election of the Republican candidate — which, by their own action, they especially promoted — was to be the signal for revolt.
When the secession storm began to gather in the South, after the 6th of November, the peojne were not
* See " platforms" of the four political parties in the Ap- pendix.
THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN. 43
long in discovering that, even in the cabinet of Mr. •
Buchanan, there were dishonourable men who had long been in active complicity with the traitors, and who were now ready to afford them all the aid in their power. Probably the prince of these was John B. Floyd, Secretary of War, whose stupendous tissue of embezzlement was, for a short time, though with diffi- culty, kept from the light. So that, when General Scott wrote to the President and this Secretary, expressing his fears that the Secessionists would seize some of the Federal forts in the Southern States, and recommending that the strongholds be immediately reinforced, in order to prevent such a disaster, it is not at all surprising that the conspirator, Floyd, should endeavour, with his utmost, to prevent acquiescence in this politic recom- mendation, which, if carried into practice, must have greatly crippled, if not actually thwarted, the foul con- spiracy. A subsequent official report from the Ordnance Department " shows that, during the year 1860, and previous to the Presidential election, one hundred, and fifteen thousand 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." The quotas of Government arms for the Southern States were not only filled when he knew the object was to use them against the laws and the Constitution, but the perfidious servant, anticipating the resolution, sent two years' quotas where only one was due — thus stripping the arsenals, and depriving the Northern States of the materiel for arming their citizens to preserve the Union.
This treachery was succeeded by a duplicity almost as heinous, when the Hon. John S. Black, in reply (Nov.
44 THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LIXCOLX.
20th, 1860) to inquiries of Mr. Buchanan, gave his official opinion, as Attorney- General (and a " State Rights" advocate, it may be added), that it was not in the power even of Congress to prevent a violation of the Constitution by making war upon any State ; and the Executive, it soon became evident, would pursue a course in conformity with this theory.
The Legislature of South Carolina initiated the Se- cession movement, when, in November, 1860, that body passed an act summoning a State Convention to meet at Columbia on the 17th of the ensuing month. Francis W. Pickens, who was elected Governor on the 10th, distinctly declared, in his inaugural, the determination of South Carolina to secede, because, "in the recent election for President and Vice-President, the North had carried the election upon principles which make it no longer safe for us to rely upon the powers of the Federal Government or the guarantees of the Federal compact." If untrue, the declaration was yet unequivo- cal, inasmuch as it foretold the coming event. The Convention adjourned from Columbia to Charleston on the first day of its session, and, on the 20th of Decem- ber, an ordinance was passed, whereby the ordinance of 1788, ratifying the Federal Constitution, was unani- mously declared repealed, and the union existing be- tween South Carolina and the United States dissolved.
South Carolina was thus the first State to pass an ordinance of secession. So far as she was concerned, secession was the steadily increasing growth of more than two generations. " And the disclosures which have since been made, imperfect, comparatively, as they are, prove clearly that the whole secession movement was in the hands of a few conspirators, who had their head-
THE LTFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 45
quarters at the national capital, and were themselves closely connected with the Government of the United States." At a secret meeting of these conspirators, January 5th, 1861, at which many Southern Senators were present, " it was decided that each Southern State should secede from the Union as soon as possible ; that a convention of seceding States should be held at Mont- gomery, 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 secession move- ment. Davis, of Mississippi, Slidell, of Louisiana, and Mallory, of Florida, were appointed a committee to carry these decisions into effect; and in pursuance of them, Mississippi passed an ordinance of secession, January 9th ; Alabama and Florida, January 11th ; Louisiana, January 26th; and Texas, February 5th. All these acts, as well as all which followed, were simply the execution of the behests of this secret conclave of leading spirits who had long resolved upon secession.
Although the Legislatures of these seceding States had enjoined upon the conventions not to pass any act of secession without making its validity depend upon a popular ratification at the polls, in scarcely one of them was the question submitted to the vote of the people ! In accordance with the programme, delegates were com- missioned by all the conventions to meet at Montgomery ; and this inter- State Convention duly assembled on the 4th of February. A Provisional Constitution was adopted, to continue for one year ; and, under this in- strument, Jefferson Davis was elected President of the newly-formed Southern Confederacy, and Alexander H.
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Stephens, Vice-President. They were inaugurated on the 18th.
The immediate policy determined on was to maintain a status quo until Mr. Buchanan's term should expire ; feeling that they had nothing to apprehend from him, and hoping, by an increase and pretentious display of power, to frighten the new Administration into a relin- quishment of any coercive designs which they might have contemplated ; and, with a blindness little short of infatuation, they persisted in the belief that a pre- ponderating influence in the North was favourable to their schemes.
The conspirators, however, were busily preparing for the contingency of war. The South was alive with military organizations ; and the manufacture of war- munitions was industriously prosecuted.
The extent of the ground we are compelled to com- pass, and the limited space to which we are allotted, compel us to touch but lightly upon these events which are so interwoven with the political biography of Mr. Lincoln, in order that we may do justice to the most important of those which followed.
In all their vaunting confidence, in all their professed contempt for Northern courage, and braggart promises of future deeds, the leaders of the revolt committed at least one fatal fallacy — overlooked at least one uncon- querable obstacle to their success : they failed to appre- ciate the simple strength, the honest hardihood, the great-hearted, invincible courage of Abraham Lincoln. It may be that his very simplicity of soul made him too incredulous of the extent of the malignity of his oppo- nents ; but, when thoroughly cognizant of their " depth of guile," they discovered their fatal mistake in supposing
THE LIFE OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 47
that his hitherto conciliatory course had been in the least owing to timidity.
Yain efforts of compromise absorbed the first months of the new year at the national capital. Congress tried its efforts to placate the boiling elements of secession. The Peace conference brought forward its olive branch — but in vain. There was one thing which the South desired — separation. Therefore, no terms which could be named with a remnant of honour on the part of the Republicans, were acceptable. " Southern Independence" the pro- slavery extensionists would have, even at the hazard of war.
Mr. Lincoln had maintained a remarkable reticence from the day of his election. He left Springfield on the 11th of February, 1861, and was escorted to the railroad depot by a large concourse of his fellow- townsmen. He bade them farewell in a brief, non- committal address, and proceeded on his way eastward.
In the evening, after his arrival at Indianapolis, he made an address to the members of the Legislature, who waited upon him in a body at his hotel ; and this address, significant as it is in being his first public allusion to national affairs since his election, and from the commotion it created in consequence throughout the land, we must present in full : —
" Fellow-citizens of the State of Indiana : I am here to thank you much for this magnificent welcome, and still more for the very generous support given by your State to that political cause which, I think, is the true and just cause of the whole country and the whole world. Solomon says, ' There is a time to keep silence ;' and when men wrangle by the niouth, with no certainty that they mean the same thing while using the same
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words, it perhaps were as well if they would but keep silence. The words ' coercion' and ' invasion' are much used in these days, and often with some temper and hot blood. Let us make sure, if we can, that we do not misunderstand the meaning of those who use them. Let us get the exact definition of these words, not from dictionaries, but from the men themselves, who certainly deprecate the things they would represent by the use of the words. What, then, is 'coercion'? What is 'in- vasion'? Would the marching an army into South Carolina, without 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 impor- tations, or even withhold the mails from places where they were habitually violated, would any or all of these things be '■invasion'' or '■coercion'? Do our professed lovers of the Union, but who spitefully resolve that they will resist coercion and invasion, understand that such things as these, on the part of the United States, would be coercion or invasion of a State ? If so, their idea of means to preserve the object of their great affection would seem to be exceedingly thin and airy. If sick, the little pills of the homceopathist would be much too large for it to swallow. In their view, the Union, as a family relation, would seem to be no regular marriage, but rather a sort of ' free-love' arrangement, to be maintained by passional attraction. By the way, in what consists the special sacredness of a State ? I speak not of the position assigned to a State ir "the Union by the Constitution, for that is the bond we all
THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 49
recognize. That position, however, a State cannot carry- out of the Union with it. I speak of that assumed primary right of a State to rule all which is less than itself, and to ruin all which is larger than itself. If a State and a county, in a given case, should be equal in extent of territory and equal in number of inhabitants, in what, as a matter of principle, is the State better than the county ? Would an exchange of name be an exchange of rights ? Upon what principle, upon what rightful principle, may a State, being no more than one- fiftieth part of the nation in soil and population, break up the nation, and then coerce a proportionably 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 anything ; I am merely asking questions for you to consider. And, now, allow me to bid you farewell."
Here, after spending a few hours in the usual re- ceptions, he retired to his room — it being generally understood that he was ill from over- fatigue ; but he was soon en route for Washington. Much surprise was manifested throughout the country at this flight by night, and the enemies of the incoming Administration were disposed to give an air of ridicule to his hasty and secret journey from Harrisburg to the national capital. But disclosures which were afterwards made fully justi- fied and commended the precaution which had been taken. Even before his departure from Illinois, a rumour had been current that he would not be permitted to reach Washington alive. Indeed, on the 11th of February, at the commencement of his journey, an attempt was made to throw the train in which he was
4
50 THE LIFE OF ABKAHAH LINCOLN.
journeying from the track ; and, as he was leaving Cin- cinnati, it was discovered that a hand-grenade had heen secreted in the cars. These and other circumstances led to investigations, through the police, which disclosed the fact that a small band of assassins, headed by an Italian, under the assumed name of Orsini, had been organized with the express intention of taking his life on his passage through Baltimore. Accordingly, acting under the advice of General Scott, Mr. Seward, and other friends, and disguised by a Scotch plaid cap and cloak, he left Harrisburg by a special train, for Phila- delphia, and thence proceeded in the regular midnight train for Baltimore and Washington, reaching the na- tional capital on the morning of Saturday, the 23rd, at an early hour. Their next standing threat was, that the President elect should never be inaugurated.
Mr. Lincoln's unexpected advent took all by surprise. Preparations on a large scale had been made for his reception ; the Mayor had written an address of congratulation and welcome ; the military had pre- pared new uniforms and reburnished their arms ; the two Houses of Congress were in for an early ad- journment, and the " coming man " was the theme of general remark. All preconcerted arrangements were frustrated, for he came into their midst an unheralded and unexpected guest. When it became known that he was in the city, his hotel was thronged — all anxious for a word with him who was to direct the destiny of the Republic for good or evil. But he remained inaccessible to all visitors. At eleven o'clock, in company with Mr. Seward, he called upon Mr. Buchanan. The surprise of the occupant of the White House was great ; but he gave his successor a very cordial greeting. The Cabinet
THE LIFE OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 51
being in session, Mr. Lincoln passed into its chamber, to the astonishment and delight of its members. A call was made upon General Scott, but the veteran was not on duty. Thus, dispensing with all official formality, the Republican President set a good example of Repub- lican simplicity of manners and kindness.
During the remainder of the day he received visi- tors freely. All partisan feeling seemed to be forgotten, and Democrats vied with Republicans in their really genial welcome. Only the extreme Southern men stood aloof; they had no word of felicitation for the man who, it was felt, would rule without fear, and prove faithful to his oath to " sustain the Constitution and the laws."
In the evening, by appointment, Mr. Lincoln received the " Peace Congress " members. The entire body was presented to him, and a cordial hour passed in an informal greeting. This closed his first day at the capital. Thereafter he was to enter upon the thorny field of administration. A Cabinet was to be chosen, Ministers to be selected, and a settled policy to be drawn out of fearful distraction. The brief interval of ten days, prior to his inauguration, was to be the most trying of his experience ; for the claims of persons to posts of honour — the rights of sections — the harmonization of conflicting interests — the disposition of places demanding a peculiar fitness — all were among those minor annoy- ances of administration which rendered the yoke any- thing but easy to bear.
The 4th of March, 1861, was a beautiful day, and the event of the hour had thronged Washington with a vast concourse, in which every State was amply represented. In the Senate, Vice-President Breckinridge resigned the chair in a few courteous words to his successor, Vice-
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53
and many of these efforts were more or less successful in the accomplishment of their obj
The President's first ad astrud bis Cabinet
by the appointment of William H. Seward, of N York, Secretary of State ; Salmon P. Chase, of Ohio, • i it of the Treasury; Simon Cameron, of Penn- sylvania, Secretary of War ; Gideon Welles, of Connec- ticut, Secretary of the Navy; Caleb B. Smith, of Indiana, Secretary of the Interior; Montgomery Blair, of Maryland, Postmaster-General; and Edward B of Missouri, Attorney-! teneraL The Senate haying oon- nrmedall these nominations, the gentlemen immediately entered upon the discharge of their duties.
The South had been busily preparing for war, tho North Mill longe 1 for p< ace, and had made no prepara- tion whatever, [ndeed, Mr. Buchanan .-.cms to have left the ship of state a wreck in his successor's hands. Mr. L;n<M,ln found all departments of the government not only disorganized, but the mischievous Bentiment had been studiously disseminated that tin- General Go- vernment had no power to enforce the law. Hence tho very officers of tin- General Government had, to a greal
tied to respect laws which they had not tho
power to compel the people to obey.
On the L2th of March, two gentlemen, Messrs. John Forsyth, of Alabama, and Crawford, of Georgia, Btyling themselves " Commie from tin- Southern Con-
federacy, appeared at Washington with a view to eiate for an adjustment of all questions between the "two Governments." For this purpose they requested an interview with the Secretary of State, which was very properly declined, on the ground that it "could I admitted that the States referred to had, in law or fact,
52 THE LIFE OF ABKAHAM LINCOLN.
President Hamlin ; seats allotted to the Ministers of foreign powers were then filled by that body in full dress, displaying the insignia of their various orders. The Justices of the Supreme Court next entered. The whole assemblage, upon learning that Mr. Lincoln had entered the building, then proceeded to the eastern portico of the Capitol, on which a platform was erected, and before which a vast concourse, consisting of upwards of thirty thousand persons, was assembled. The Presi- dent elect was introduced to them by Senator Edward D. Baker, of Oregon, amid most enthusiastic cheering. Silence restored, Mr Lincoln read, in his lucid distinct tones, the Inaugural Address (given in the Appendix) .
This paper is probably the most remarkable docu- ment of the kind yet produced in America. The author evidently still was incredulous of the inveterate nature of the crisis, and thought to soothe the angry elements by merely disabusing the mind of the South of her mis- apprehensions as to the feeling at the North, and as to the future course of his administration. This tone of conciliation, kindness, dispassionate entreaty, indeed, was the ruling feature of the address. The oath of office was then administered by Chief Justice Taney, and Mr. Lincoln proceeded to the White House, accompanied by ex-President Buchanan.
The Inaugural Address was received with general satisfaction in the loyal States, including the Border States, in the main. But in these latter States, as in the South, there were thousands of scheming minds ready to misconstrue and misrepresent it. Every effort was, therefore, made to spread through the Border States the idea that the inaugural was intended as a covert declaration of war upon the Southern States,
THE LIFE OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 53
and many of these efforts were more or less successful in the accomplishment of their object.
The President's first act was to construct his Cabinet by the appointment of William H. Seward, of New York, Secretary of State ; Salmon P. Chase, of Ohio, Secretary of the Treasury ; Simeon Cameron, of Penn- sylvania, Secretary of War ; Gideon Welles, of Connec- ticut, Secretary of the Navy ; Caleb B. Smith, of Indiana, Secretary of the Interior ; Montgomery Blair, of Maryland, Postmaster- General ; and Edward Bates, of Missouri, Attorney- General. The Senate having con- firmed all these nominations, the gentlemen immediately entered upon the discharge of their duties.
The South had been busily preparing for war, the North still longed for peace, and had made no prepara- tion whatever. Indeed, Mr. Buchanan seems to have left the ship of state a wreck in his successor's hands. Mr. Lincoln found all departments of the government not only disorganized, but the mischievous sentiment had been studiously disseminated that the General Go- vernment had no power to enforce the law. Hence the very officers of the General Government had, to a great degree, ceased to respect laws which they had not the power to compel the people to obey.
On the 12th of March, two gentlemen, Messrs. John Forsyth, of Alabama, and Crawford, of Georgia, styling themselves ;t Commissioners" from the Southern Con- federacy, appeared at Washington with a view to nego- ciate for an adjustment of all questions between the " two Governments." For this purpose they requested an interview with the Secretary of State, which was very properly declined, on the ground that it " could not be admitted that the States referred to had, in law or fact,
54 THE LIFE OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
withdrawn from the Federal Union, or that they could do so in any other manner than with the consent and con- cert of the people of the United States, to he given through a National Convention, to he assembled in conformity with the provisions of the Constitution of the United States." This communication was framed on the 15th of March, but, with the consent of the Commissioners themselves, was withheld until April 8th, when it was delivered. Its receipt and character, when made known at Char- leston, were made the occasion of precipitating the tragedy of Sumter, which, it was thought, could not fail to unite all the Southern people as one man against the North.
General Beauregard, the Confederate commander at Charleston, was, accordingly, instructed to demand the surrender of Fort Sumter, around which a cordon of rebel batteries had been gradually drawn so completely as to make compulsion, in case of a refusal, merely a matter of time. General Beauregard accordingly made his demand on the 11th of April ; but Major Anderson, commanding the fort, at once replied that his " sense of honour and obligations to his Government prevented his compliance." Further correspondence took place, but the unwavering, loyal soldier could not be shaken in his purpose to defend his trust, or yield it up in ruins.
It is not necessary to dwell upon the capture of Anderson and his handful of men by the combined bat- teries and multiplied legions of South Carolina and her sisters. On the 12th of April fire was opened, and Sumter was bombarded to its fall— the formal surrender and eva- cuation taking place on Sunday morning, the 14th.
The blow was at last struck— the deed accomplished The patiently-proffered olive-branch of the North and of
THE LIFE OF ABKAHAM LINCOLN. 55
the Union was trampled in the dust. War was not only- proclaimed — insisted upon by the South — but actually had commenced ; the sword was not only drawn menacingly, but its bright blade was crimson with fratri- cidal blood. What was left for the North ? Simply what followed — war ; war for the laws, for the Consti- tution, for the preservation of the nation — war for honour and peace. The country had calmly borne everything up to this time — but now the cup was full to overflowing', the fratricidal hand was red with a brother's blood, and the North, springing to arms, as one man, accepted the dread alternative of war which had thus been thrust upon them. In this crisis, fortunate indeed for the Union, for liberty, and for humanity, was the North in having for a leader that man of the people, with spirit tempered to iron endurance in the great battle of life — Abraham Lincoln.
On the day after the evacuation of Sumter appeared that famous call for 75,000 men to suppress the rebellion which created such unbounded enthusiasm throughout the country. Every State still loyal responded promptly and with profusion. In a brief time after the issue of the proclamation, the patriot legions of the Union were pouring towards the capital. But dark days were in- cluded in that brief time : for an attack upon Washing- ton, either from Virginia or Maryland, was hourly apprehended, and the small force of Volunteers which General Scott was enabled to raise from the District was but a frail protection. In this trying period the cheerfulness, courage, and trust of the chief magistrate never for one moment deserted him. And shortly after the gallant New York Seventh regiment reached the capital, bringing sunshine by its presence. The Massa-
56 THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
chusetts Sixth followed — the first regiment in the galaxy of glory, in having shed blood for its country, having fought its way through the pro-slavery mobs of Baltimore.
The murderous assault on the United States volun- teers at Baltimore was felt as an outrage throughout the loyal States. The Baltimore and Maryland authori- ties pretended that their people were uncontrollable, and Governor Hicks and Mayor Brown united in a letter to the President, requesting that no more troops should pass through Maryland. In his reply, through Secretary Seward, Mr. Lincoln administered to these unpatriotic officials a severe rebuke.
On the 19th of April, Mr. Lincoln issued his procla- mation, blockading the ports of seceded States. These, and several subsequent orders, were the steps by which the Government sought to defend itself; for the tone of the Southern press, as well as the declaration of Southern officials, plainly indicated that it was their purpose to push northward the war they had inaugurated at Charleston. Jefferson Davis had intimated as much long previous ; and Mr. Walker, the Confederate Secretary of War, hearing that the attack on Sumter had commenced, made a speech, in which he 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 the dome of the old Capitol at Washington before the first of May," and " might eventually float over Faneuil Hall* itself." The South already had pushed 20,000 men into Virginia; and President Lincoln was therefore fully justified in limit-
* A public hall in Boston.
THE LIFE OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 57
ing his early military operations to the defence of Washington.
Virginia was carried out of the Union about this time; other slave States followed her example; and hence, on the 27th of April, the blockade of Southern ports was extended, by proclamation, to Virginia and North Carolina. On the 3rd of May, more troops were called out, and recruits ordered to be raised for the regular army and navy.
The new Administration early devoted itself to define the position taken with reference to foreign powers. Mr. Adams, Minister to London, received instructions to govern his course which were at once prudent and manly. It was feared that the British Government, before the arrival of Minister Adams, would act in concert with France in a recognition of the South as a belligerent power. Against this Mr. Adams was instructed to make a decided protest. June loth, the British and French Ministers at Washington requested an interview with Mr. Seward, in order to communicate certain instructions they had received from their respective Governments ; but, upon learning the nature of the instructions, the Secretary of State declined to hear the instructions read, or even to receive official notice of them.
This was Mr. Lincoln's foreign policy from the com- mencement of the war — to utterly, decisively, reso- lutely refuse anything like an interference in the do- mestic troubles of America by foreign powers.
Congress met in extra session on the 4th of July, 1861, the Republicans having control of both Houses, besides being supported by some Democratic members who were urgent for the rigid prosecution of the war.
58 THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
Hon. Galusha A. Growd, a strong war man, was chosen speaker of the House. On the 5th of July, President Lincoln communicated to Congress his first message. The President, in this communication, explained the circumstances which had preceded the bombardment of Fort Sumter in a most satisfactory and lucid manner, and thus set forth the course which he had endeavoured to pursue towards the seceded States, until their open act of bloodshed had compelled him to sterner measures.
" The policy chosen looked to the exhaustion of all peaceful measures before a resort to any stronger ones. It sought only to hold the public places and property not already wrested from the Government, and to collect the revenue, relying for the rest on time, discussion, and the ballot-box. It promised a continuance of the mails, at Government expense, to the very people who were resisting the Government, and it gave repeated pledges against any disturbances to any of the people, or any of their rights, of all that which a President might constitutionally and justifiably do in such a case ; everything was forborne, without which it was believed possible to keep the Government on foot."
The step had been taken and was irretrievable. If any possibility had existed of a reconstruction, the opportunity for reconciliation was gone the moment the first gun was fired at Fort Sumter. Said Mr. Lincoln —
" By the affair of 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 harbour years before, for their own protection, and still ready to give that protection in whatever was law-
THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 59
ful. In this act, discarding all else, they have forced upon the country the distinct issue, immediate dissolution or blood, and this issue embraces more than the fate of these United States. It presents to the whole family of man the question whether a constitutional Republic or Democracy, a government of the people, by the same people, can or cannot retain its territorial integrity against its own domestic foes. It presents the question whether discontented individuals, too few in numbers to control the Administration according to the organic law in any case, can always, upon the pretences made in this case, or any other pretences, or arbitrarily without any pretences, break up their Government, and thus practically put an end to free Government upon the earth. It forces us to ask, ' Is there in all Republics this inherent and fatal weakness ?' Must a Government of necessity be too strong for the liberties of its own people, or too weak to maintain its own existence ? So viewing the issue, no choice was left but to call out the war- power of the Government, and so to resist the force employed for its destruction by force for its preserva- tion."
Passing rapidly over the secession of Virginia, and the circumstances of violence and deceit by which it had been effected, and exposing the unjustness and hol- lowness of Kentucky's " neutrality," the President gave a brief sketch of the measures decided upon as neces- sary for the immediate work in hand. He then adverted to the abstract question of secession, denying, with cogent logic, its chief claims.
The pervading vein of this message — and, indeed, of every document of a similar character which he issued — is a vindication of sentiments in harmony and sym-
60 THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
pathy with the claims of humanity and enlightened pro-
The message concluded with the following memorable words : —
" It was with the deepest regret that the Executive found the duty of employing the war-power, in defence of the Government, forced upon him. He could but perform this duty, or surrender the existence of the Government. No compromise by public servants could, in this case, be a cure ; not that compromises are not often proper, but that no popular Government can long survive a marked precedent that those who carry an election can only save the Government from immediate destruction by giving up the main point upon which the people gave the election. The people themselves, and not their servants, can safely reverse their own delibe- rate decisions.
"Asa private citizen, the Executive could not have consented that these institutions shall perish ; much less could he, in betrayal of so vast and so sacred a trust as these free people had confided to him. He felt that he had no moral right to shrink, not even to count the chances of his own life, in what might follow. In full view of his great responsibility, he has, so far, done what he has deemed his duty. You will now, according to your own judgment, perform yours. He sincerely hopes that your views and your actions may so accord with his as to assure all faithful citizens, who have been disturbed in their rights, of a certain and speedy restoration to them, under the Constitution and the laws.
" And, having thus chosen our course, without guile and with pure purpose, let us renew our trust in God, and go forward without fear and with manly hearts."
THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 61
The action of the extra session, throughout, was in perfect accordance with the patriotic views of the Exe- cutive ; a resolution, offered by M'Clernand, of Illinois, passing the House by a large majority, by which that body pledged itself to vote any amount of money and any number of men which might be requisite to suppress the rebellion. The session closed on the 6th of August, after having adopted the most energetic measures for the prosecution of the war, yet prudently avoided any action which would tend to divide or enfeeble the loyal sentiment of the nation. The people responded to the action of Congress with enthusiasm and with a una- nimity truly remarkable.
The national army moved from the Potomac, under the command of General M'Dowell, on the 16th of July, and the battle of Bull Run was commenced five days thereafter — resulting in the complete discomfiture of the raw Federal forces, who fell back to Washington, a panic-stricken, disorganized mass, or in flying frag- ments, after sustaining a loss of 480 killed and 1,000 wounded. Had the Confederates been cognizant of the completeness of this discomfiture, the capture of Washington must have followed with certainty.
But the hand on the national helm was that of a man who had hewed his path through the primeval forests of the great West, and breasted the current of the Father of Waters with a flat-boatman's oar ; and he did not quail even when the other sailors on the deck were blanched with fear. He had one object — to subdue the South ; and this was to be done through defeat as well as victory. He knew that he had a people at his back strong to second him in every attempt looking to this final result ; and he went forward " without fear and
02 THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
with a manly heart." No one in the North was per- manently discouraged by the disaster at Bull Run. The army was reorganized, increased in numbers and efficiency, and vigorous measures put under way to obtain a footing on the coast, as well as in the heart, of the South.
On the 28th of August, Fort Hatteras fell into the possession of the national forces, with all its guns and garrison. Port Royal followed, surrendering October 31st, thus giving to the Federal arms a foothold in South Carolina. Ship Island, lying between Mobile and New Orleans, was occupied December 3rd. The New Orleans expedition was then set on foot. The Confederates also were driven out of Western Virginia, Kentucky and Missouri.
General Scott resigned his position on the 31st of October, and Major-General M'Clellan was called to the command to prepare for a fresh advance upon Richmond.
Thus far the Congress had avoided, as much as possible, in the prosecution of the war, any measures in regard to slavery which would serve to excite the pre- judices of the Border Slave States — the Confiscation Act affecting only those slaves who should Jbe " required or permitted by their masters to render service to the rebellion." The same wise caution influenced the Executive.
On the 27th of May (1861), General Butler origi- nated the term of contraband for slaves coming a£ fugitives to his camp. The question, " What shall we do with them ?" was a puzzler for a considerable time ; but Butler began to increase his stock of contrabands in a quiet way ; and, not only that, he set them to work for the Federal Government. The policy of the War
THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 63
Department was exceedingly ambiguous and tender upon this subject from the outset; but it Dever, for a moment, dreamed of a rendition of such slaves to their masters ; and, before the close of August, the war policy had so broadened out that the Secretary of War instructed General Butler to receive all fugitives coming into his lines, whether of loyal or disloyal masters ; it being proposed, at the same time, that a record of such fugitives should be kept, in order to compensate loyal owners at the close of hostilities.
General Fremont was then in command of the Department of Missouri : and his remarkable order, declaring " the property, real and personal, of all persons in the State of Missouri, who shall take up arms against the United States, or who shall be directly proven to have taken an active part with their enemies in the field, is declared to be confiscated to the public use, and their slaves, if any they have, are hereby declared free men" was issued August 31st. This was, of course, transcending the authority then delegated to General Fremont, or proper for him to exercise. Congress alone coukl order such a decree. President Lincoln regarded it in this light. Indeed, he regarded it as exceeding the authority vested in himself by Congress, and made haste to rectify the error which was working mischief everywhere throughout the Border Slave States. On the 11th of September, he accordingly wrote to General Fremont, ordering a modification of the objectionable clause, so as to mal^e it conform with the provisions of the Confiscation Act of August 6th, 1861.
Time has since proven the wisdom of Mr. Lincoln's course upon this exoeedingly difficult and delicate subject. Efforts were continually made, from many quarters, to
64 THE LITE OE ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
induce the President to depart from his gradual and pro- gressive policy — progressive as the "war seemed to de- mand and compel. The great majority of his party friends desired him at once not only to proclaim the emancipation of slaves of rebels, but also to put arms in their hands and employ them as soldiers. But the cau- tious Executive was not to be shaken from the policy which his vested powers and the then existing circum- stances imposed upon him. He thus declares his policy : " Gentlemen, I am not a leader of the people in these great questions ; I am but an instrument in their hands. If they require, for instance, an emancipation proclamation from me, they need only speak their demands through the action of Congress, and they will find in me an instrument to execute their desires. I would not shape public opinion, but will be obedient to its will in this tremendous crisis of the Republic. Thus, by not transcending, I need never retract. What I do is indubitable — irrevocable." Most conclusively was the chief magistrate's course sustained by the great majority of the people. It was no less justified by its success ; and the prescience which governed his action seems now one of the most remarkable evidences of his fitness for the crisis.
He was most anxious to preserve peace with all the nations of Europe, and especially with England and France. It was his good sense and firmness that in- duced the American Government to give up Messrs. Mason and Slidell. The candid, sober thought of the people approved of the action of Government. At a later period he averted a dangerous dispute with the French Government by disregarding the vote of Con- gress on the subject of the Mexican Empire.
THE LTFE OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 65
The Message* which Mr. Lincoln transmitted to Congress at its regular session, in December, 1861, was a document veined by the wise Conservatism which had distinguished his former papers. In alluding to the policy to be adopted to secure the suppression of the rebellion, he mentioned that he had been careful that the inevitable conflict necessary for the accomplishment of that purpose should not degenerate into a remorseless revolutionary contest. In every document which, as Executive, he officially promulgated, as well as in his language upon the leading exciting questions of the day or hour, his personal opinions were not left a subject of ambiguity. And his personal views — as expressed alike in his letter to Fremont, modifying the emancipation clause of that General's order, and in his letter to Governor Magoffin, of Kentucky, refusing to remove the Federal troops from that State, and rebuking the unpatriotic demands of that official — in every thing, and at every time, his views have been of a strong, judicious, exalted nature, and they never failed to receive the respect and hearty support of his fellow-country- men. A few weeks at most served to show to the public the wisdom and justice of every act where the President was called to exercise his supreme functions as commander-in-chief and as executor of the laws.
On the 6th of March, 1862, Congress received a Message from the President, suggesting the adoption of measures for the gradual emancipation of slavery. He proposed the adoption of a resolution of the following purport : —
* Vide Appendix.
66 THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
"Resolved — That the United States ought to co- operate with any State which may adopt a gradual abolishment of slavery, giving to such State pecuniary aid, to be used by such State in its discretion, to com- pensate for the inconveniences, public and private, pro- duced by such change of system."
" Such a proposition," he said, "on the part of the General Government sets up no claim of a right by Federal authority to interfere with slavery within State limits, referring as it does the absolute control of the subject in each case to the State and its people imme- diately interested. It is proposed as a matter of per- fectly free choice with them."
This important war measure was received with satis- faction in almost all loyal sections of the country. A note of outside approval was blown from England — the liberal press complimenting the recommendation of the President as a fair and magnanimous policy.
Mr. R. Conkling, of New York, prompted by this recommendation of the Executive, introduced, a few days thereafter, in the House of Representatives, a re- solve embodying the emancipation views of the message. It was adopted by a vote of 89 to 31 ; subsequently passing the Senate, also, by 32 to 10. The act, as passed, was approved by the President, April 10th. This re- solve was generally regarded merely as an experiment, but its passage was an important step in the develop- ment of the anti-slavery sentiment fast taking hold of the minds of all loyalists.
On the 9th of May, General Hunter, commanding the military department which included the States of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, issued an order declaring all slaves within his department to be thence-
THE LIFE OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 67
forth " for ever free," as a purely military necessity ; whereupon the President issued a proclamation embody- ing the order of General Hunter, but rescinding the same, preferring, in case necessity should require it, to reserve to himself the promulgation of such orders, instead of leaving the question to the decision of his military subordinates. In this proclamation, Mr. Lin- coln then quoted the resolve of Congress, already re- ferred to, and appealed to his fellow-citizens in most earnest language, for a calm and enlarged consideration of the subject.
When the first steps are taken towards the consum- mation of some grand, humanitarian principle, others quickly follow ; progress advances from steps to strides. Slavery was abolished in the District of Columbia in the month of April, 1862. In making the act of Con- gress to this effect a law of the land, Mr. Lincoln transmitted to Congress an approving message.
During May, the ports of Beaufort, Port Royal, and New Orleans were declared open to the commerce of the world.
The President sought, and obtained on the 12th of July, a conference with the members of Congress from the Border Slave States, in order to urge upon them, if possible, some action of their respective States in the direction of gradual emancipation — earnestly feeling that such action could not fail to strengthen the loyalty of their several States, and detach them still more in- dubitably from the cause of the slaveholders' Confederacy. Mr. Lincoln addressed these representatives upon the subject in his usual direct, earnest way.
A majority of the members thus eloquently and earnestly appealed to, submitted a reply, in which they
68 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
dissented from the President in his view that the adop- tion of emancipation measures would be beneficial to the cause of the Union, or hasten the termination of the war ; but a minority submitted a reply of their own, in which was expressed a substantial concurrence in the wisdom of the President's views.
The Confiscation Bill followed, preceded and suc- ceeded by other important measures, and Congress adjourned on the 17th of July.
On the 6th of August a great war-meeting was held at Washington, at which President Lincoln was present, and delivered a characteristic speech.
The great official act of the year and of the century followed, on the 22nd of September, 1862. Upon that day Mr. Lincoln issued the famous proclamation, whereby all persons held as slaves in the rebellious States were pronounced to be, on and after the approaching New Tear's day, for ever released from bondage.
Two days had only elapsed since the promulgation of the Emancipation Proclamation, when another man- date of almost equal importance dropped like a bomb- shell amid the ranks of the Southern sympathizers. This was the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus. Herein it was ordered : —
" First. That during the existing insurrection, and as a necessary measure for suppressing the same, all rebels and insurgents, their aiders and abettors, within the United States, and all persons discouraging volunteer enlistments, resisting militia drafts, or guilty of any dis- loyal practice affording aid and comfort to the rebels against the authority of the United States, shall be sub- ject to martial law, and liable to trial and punishment by courts-martial or military commission.
THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 69
" Third. That the writ of habeas corpus is suspended in respect to all persons arrested, or who are now, or hereafter during the rebellion shall be imprisoned in any fort, camp, arsenal, military prison, or other place of confinement, by any military authority, or by the sentence of any court-martial or military commission."
This act — unquestionably called for by the growing danger of the spirit of discontent being excited by the friends of slavery in the North —strengthened the Presi- dent's hands to a degree exceedingly distasteful to the peace Democracy. The disaffected were now at any moment liable to be grasped by the strong hand of military law. And the beneficial effects of this order were not long in manifesting themselves in the total and instant cessation of all interference with enlistments.
This was also the famous period which has since been termed the battle season of 1862. The summer had witnessed the discomfiture of the great army of General M'Clellan, which had proceeded to the capture of Richmond so confidently and slowly. It was driven before the Southern bayonets down the Peninsula, and consequent gloom pervaded the North. Small space is here accorded to treat of the controversy which arose, after this disaster, as to who was directly responsible for it : the friends of General M'Clellan defending their hero zealously, and heaping all the blame upon the President and his Secretary of War, and the lovers of the Government defending it against these assaults with equal energy, attributing the defeat solely to the inca- pacity and timidity of M'Clellan. It is difficult to fore- see the verdict of the future and dispassionate historian. But, by few candid reviewers at the present time can blame be attached to the Executive.
70 THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
General Pope was appointed to succeed M'Clellan in the immediate command of the army of the Potomac ; and on the 27th of August General Halleck, who had been called to Washington, ordered General M'Clellan to take the entire direction of sending the troops from Alexandria to reinforce General Pope, who was being hard pressed by the powerful Southern army near War- renton Junction.
President Lincoln, in all his correspondence with General M'Clellan, was patient and gentle to the last degree. He ever reproved with kindness ; and though he may have occasionally been a little sarcastic in his replies to the commander's petulant complaints, those replies always were in a familiar suggestive vein, and usually in the form of private letters.
The North was filled with sorrow by this disastrous summer, but drooping spirits were revived by the glorious struggle of Hooker and Burnside at Antietam and Perryville, which, if not actual victories, at any rate relieved the soil of the invaders, east and west.
To the Congress, which convened in the ensuing December, Mr. Lincoln transmitted a message of cha- racteristic good sense and moderation. The friends of secession, both at the North and in Europe, had strongly urged the, injustice and impolicy of the war waged against the South, and had thrown upon it the imputa- tion of being simply a struggle for dominion. In the following message, from which we present a few ex- tracts, Mr. Lincoln with his customary homely but in- vincible logic, refutes at once the argument and imputation by showing the absurdity and impossibility of secession, and recommending the adoption of mea- sures which would for ever silence those cavillers who
THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 71
maintained that the North was as indifferent to the rights of the slave in the abstract, as the Sonth, with whom it was alleged they but made it a pretext for quarrel : —
" In the Inaugural Address I briefly pointed out the total inadequacy of disunion as a remedy for the differences be- tween the people of the two sections. I did so in language which I cannot improve, and which, therefore, I beg to repeat : —
" ' One section of our country believes slavery is right, and ought to be extended, while the other believes it is wrong, and ought not to be extended. This is the only substantial dispute. The fugitive slave clause of the Constitution, and the law for the suppression of the foreign slave-trade, are each as well enforced, perhaps, as any law can ever be in a community where the moral sense of the people imperfectly supports the law itself. The great body of the people abide by the dry legal obligation in both cases, and a few break over in each. This, I think, cannot be perfectly cured ; and it would be worse, in both cases, after the separation of the sections than before. The foreign slave-trade, now imper- fectly suppressed, would be ultimately revived without re- striction 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 divorced, and go out of the presence and beyond the reach of each other ; but the different parts of our country cannot do this. They cannot but remain face to face ; and intercourse, either amicable or hostile, must continue be- tween 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, upon which to divide. Trace through,
72 THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
from east to west, upon the line between the free and slave country, and we shall find a little more than one-third of its length are rivers, easy to be crossed, and populated, or soon to be populated, thickly upon both sides ; while nearly all its remain nig length are merely surveyors' lines, over which people may walk back and forth without any con- sciousness of their presence. No part of this line can be made any more difficult to pass by writing it down on paper or parchment as a national boundary. The fact of separa- tion, if it comes, gives up, on the part of the seceding sec- tion, the fugitive slave clause, along with all other consti- tutional 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 Bocky Mountains, and south by the line along which the culture of corn and cotton meets, and which includes part of Virginia, part of Tennessee, all of Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Mis- souri, Kansas, Iowa, Minnesota, and the Territories of Dakota, Nebraska, and part of Colorado, already has above ten millions of people, and will have 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 States — certainly more than one million of square miles. One-half as populous as Massachusetts already is, it would have more than seventy-five millions of people. A glance at the map shows that, territorially speaking, it is the great body of the Bepublic. The other parts are but marginal borders to it, the magnificent region sloping west from the Bocky Mountains to the Bacific being the deepest, and also the richest in undeveloped resources. In the pro- duction of provisions, grains, grasses, and all which pro- ceed from them, this great interior region is naturally one of the most important in the world. Ascertain from the statistics the small proportion of the region which has as yet been brought into cultivation, and also the large and rapidly increasing amount of its products, and we shall be overwhelmed with the magnitude of the prospect pre- sented. And yet this region has no seacoast — touches no ocean anywhere. As part of one nation, its people now find, and may for ever 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
THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 73
country into two nations, as designed by the present rebel- lion, and every man of this great interior region is thereby cut off from some one or more of these outlets, not, perhaps, by a physical barrier, but by embarrassing and onerous trade regulations.
" And this is true, wherever a dividing or boundary line may be fixed. Place it between the now free and slave country, or place it south of Kentucky, or north of Ohio, and still the truth remains that none south of it can trade to any port or place north of it, and none north of it can trade to any port or place south of it, except upon terms dictated by a Government foreign to them. These outlets, east, west and south, are indispensable to the well-being of the people inhabiting and to inhabit this vast interior region. "Which of the three may be the best is no proper question. All are better than either, and all of right belong to that people and to their successors for ever. True to themselves, they will not ask where a line of separation shall be, but will vow rather that there shall be no such fine. Nor are the mar- ginal regions less interested in these communications to and through them to the great outside world. They too, and each of them, must have access to this Egypt of the "West, without paying toll at the crossing of any national boundary.
" Our national strife springs not from om- permanent part — not from the land we inhabit — not from our national homestead. There is no possible severing of this but would multiply and not mitigate evils among us. In all its adapta- tions and aptitudes it demands union and abhors separation. In fact, it would ere long force reunion, however much of blood and treasure the separation might have cost.
" Our strife pertains to ourselves — to the passing genera- tions of men, and it can, without convulsion, be hushed for ever with the passing of our generation.
" In this view, I recommend the adoption of the following resolution and articles amendatory to the Constitution of the United States : —
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled (two-thirds of both Houses concurring), — That the following articles be proposed to the Legislatures (or Conventions) of the several States as amendments to the Constitution of the United States, all or any of which articles, when ratified by three- fourths of the said Legislatures (or Conventions), to be valid as part or parts of the said Constitution, viz. : —
Article. — Every State, wherein Slavery now exists,
74 THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
which shall abolish the same therein at any time or times before the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand and nine hundred, shall receive compensation from the United States as follows, to wit : —
The President of the United States shall deliver to every such 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.
Article. — All slaves who shall have enjoyed actual free- dom by the chances of the war, at any time before the end of the rebellion, shall be for 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 other- wise provide for colonizing free-coloured persons, with their own consent, at anyplaceor places without the United States.
Burnside's defeat at Fredericksburg, at the close of 1862, again disheartened the loyal North ; but brighter days were near their dawn, although the defeat of Hooker at Chancellorsville in the ensuing April seemed an unpropitious opening of the new year. The Southern army next invaded Maryland and Pennsylvania, and met with the overpowering repulse of Gettysburg, losing nearly fourteen thousand prisoners, and twenty-five thou- sand small arms.
A piece of ground was afterwards marked off, near Gettysburg, for a national cemetery for depositing the remains of the loyal thousands who fell in this great
THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 75
battle. To the impressive dedication of this vast grave- yard came the President and his Cabinet, attended by an imposing military demonstration, and a vast con- course of visitors. Hon. Edward Everett delivered the formal speech, and President Lincoln delivered the fol- lowing beautiful address: —
" Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so con- ceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We are met to dedicate a portion of it, as the final resting-place of those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
" But in a larger sense we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us, the living, rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work that they have thus far so nobly carried on. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that from these honoured dead we take increased devotion to the cause for which they here gave the last full measure of devo- tion— that we here highly resolve that the dead shall not have died in vain — that the nation shall, under God, have a new birth of freedom ; and that the Go- vernment of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth."
The tremendous successes of Vicksburg and Port Hudson followed quickly upon Gettysburg — that of Vicksburg taking place on the 4th of July, thus pro-
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bably constituting the most glorious and substantial celebration ever before accorded to that national holiday. The fruits of this year were deemed ample reason for the appointment of a day which should be devoted to thanksgiving ; accordingly, President Lincoln issued a proclamation which, for its humility of spirit, beauty of expression and nobility of sentiment, must remain marked ever among the remarkable papers which have issued from the President's hands. We quote it : —
" The year that is drawing toward its close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to pene- trate and soften even the heart which is habitually insen- sible to the ever- watchful providence of Almighty God.
" In the midst of a civil war of unequalled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to invite and provoke the aggression of foreign States, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere, except in the theatre of mili- tary conflict ; while that theatre has been greatly con- tracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union.
"The needful diversions of wealth and strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defence have not arrested the plough, the shuttle, or the ship. The axe has enlarged the borders of our settle- ments, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the previous metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege, and the battle-field ; and the country, rejoicing in the consequences of augmented strength and vigour, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom.
" No human counsel hath devised, nor hath any
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mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.
" It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and voice by the whole American people ; I do, therefore, invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea, and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a Day of Thanksgiving and Prayer to our beneficent Father, who dwelleth in the heavens. And I recom- mend to them that, while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners, or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fer- vently implore the interposition of the Almighty hand, to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it, as soon as maybe consistent with the Divine purposes, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity, and union."
We must here be permitted to quote the President's acknowledgment to General Grant of the capture of Vicksburg ; for, in this communication Mr. Lincoln's character for honesty and candour is agreeably dis- played in the modest and unconscious garb of his own language. It is as follows : —
" Executive Mansion, Washington, "July 13th, 1S63. " My dear General, — I do not remember that you and I ever met personally. I write this now as a grateful acknowledgment for the almost inestimable service you have done the country. I write to say a word further. When you reached the vicinity of Vicksburg, I thought you should do what you finally
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did — march the troops across the neck, run the bat- teries with the transports, and thus go below ; and I never had any faith except a general hope that you knew better than I that the Yazoo Pass expedition, and the like, could succeed. When you got below and took Port Gibson, Grand Gulf, and vicinity, I thought you should go down the river and join General Banks, and when you turned northward, east of the Big Black, I feared it was a mistake. I now wish to make the per- sonal acknowledgment that you were right and I was wrong. Yours truly,
" A. Lincoln. " Majoe- General G-eant."
Mr. Lincoln's annual message was sent in to Congress on the 9th day of December, 1863. As an authentic and condensed resume of the progress and results of the war to its date, we give it.
" When Congress assembled a year ago, the war had already lasted nearly twenty months, and there had been many conflicts on both land and sea, with varying re- sults. The rebellion had been pressed back into reduced limits ; yet the tone of public feeling and opinion, both at home and abroad, was not satisfactory. With other signs, the popular elections, then just past, indicated uneasiness among ourselves, while, amid much that was cold and menacing, the kindest words coming from Europe were uttered in accents of pity that we were too blind to surrender a hopeless cause. Our commerce was suffering greatly by a few armed vessels built upon and furnished from foreign shores ; and we were threatened with such additions from the same quarter as would sweep our trade from the sea and raise our blockade. We had failed to elicit from European Governments'any- thing hopeful upon this subject. The preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, issued in September, was running its assigned period to the beginning of the new year. A month later the final proclamation came,
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including the announcement that coloured men of suit- able condition would be received into the war-service. The policy of emancipation, and of employing black soldiers, gave to the future a new aspect, about which hope and fear and doubt contended in uncertain conflict. According to our political system, as a matter of civil administration, the General Government had no lawful power to effect emancipation in any State ; and for a long time it had been hoped that the rebellion could be suppressed without resorting to it as a military measure. It was all the while deemed possible that the necessity for it might come, and that if it should, the crisis of the contest would then be presented. It came, and, as was anticipated, it was followed by dark and doubtful days. Eleven months having now passed, we are permitted to take another review. The Rebel borders are pressed still further back, and, by the complete opening of the Mississippi, the country dominated by the rebellion is divided into distinct parts, with no practical communi- cation between them. Tennessee and Arkansas have been substantially cleared of insurgent control, and influential citizens in each, owners of slaves and advo- cates of slavery at the beginning of the rebellion, now declare openly for emancipation in their respective States. Of those States not included in the Emancipa- tion Proclamation, Maryland and Missouri, neither of which, three years ago, would tolerate any restraint upon the extension of slavery into new territories, only dispute now as to the best mode of removing it within their own limits.
" Of those who were slaves at the beginning of the rebellion, full one hundred thousand are now in the United States' military service, about one-half of which number actually bear arms in the ranks ; thus giving the double advantage of taking so much labour from the insurgeut cause, and supplying the places which otherwise must be filled with so many white men. So far as tested, it is difficult to say they are not as good soldiers as any. No servile insurrection, or tendency to violence or cruelty, has marked the measures of emanci-
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pation and arming the blacks. These measures have been much discussed in foreign countries, and con- temporary with such discussion the tone of public senti- ment there is much improved. At home the same measures have been fully discussed, supported, criticised, and denounced, and the annual elections following are highly encouraging to those whose official duty it is to bear the country through this great trial. Thus we have the new reckoning. The crisis which threatened to divide the friends of the Union is past.
" Looking now to the present and future, and with reference to a resumption of the National authority within the States wherein that authority has been sus- pended, I have thought fit to issue a proclamation, a copy of which is herewith transmitted. On examina- tion of this proclamation it will appear, as is believed, that nothing is attempted beyond what is amply justified by the Constitution. True, the form of an oath is given, but no man is coerced to take it. The man is only promised a pardon in case he voluntarily takes the oath. The Constitution authorizes the Executive to grant or withhold the pardon at his own absolute discretion ; and this includes the power to grant on terms, as is fully established by judicial and other authorities.
" It is also proffered that if, in any of the States named, a State Government shall be, in the mode pre- scribed, set up, such Government shall be recognized and guaranteed by the United States, and that under it the State shall, on the constitutional conditions, be pro- tected against invasion and domestic violence. The constitutional obligation of the United States to guarantee to every State in the Union a republican form of govern- ment, and to protect the State, in the cases stated, is explicit and full. But why tender the benefits of this provision only to a State Government set up in this particular way ? This section of the Constitution con- templates a case wherein the element within a State favourable to republican government, in the Union, may be too feeble for an opposite and hostile element external
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to or even within the State : and such are precisely the cases with which we are now dealing.
" An attempt to guarantee and protect a revived State Government, constructed in whole, or in preponderating part, from the very element against whose hostility and violence it is to be protected, is simply absurd. There must be a test by which to separate the opposing element, so as to build only from the sound ; and that test is a sufficiently liberal one, which accepts as sound whoever will make a sworn recantation of his former unsoundness.
" But if it be proper to require, as a test of admission to the political body, an oath of allegiance to the Con- stitution of the United States, and to the Union under it, why also to the laws and proclamations in regard to slavery ? Those laws and proclamations were enacted and put forth for the purpose of aiding in the suppres- sion of the rebellion. To give them their fullest effect, there had to be a pledge for their maintenance. In my judgment they have aided, and will further aid, the cause for which they were intended. To now abandon them would be not only to relinquish a lever of power, but would also be a cruel and an astounding breach of faith. I may add at this point that, while I remain in my present position, I shall not attempt to retract or modify the Emancipation Proclamation ; nor shall I return to slavery any person who is free by the terms of that proclamation, or by any of the acts of Congress. For these and other reasons, it is thought best that sup- port of these measures shall be included in the oath ; and it is believed the Executive may lawfully claim it in return for pardon and restoration of forfeited rights, which he has clear constitutional power to withhold altogether, or grant upon the terms which he, shall deem wisest for the public interest. It should be observed, also, that this part of the oath is subject to the modify- ing and abrogating power of legislation and supreme judicial decision.
"The proposed acquiescence of the National Executive in any reasonable temporary State arrangement for the freed people, is made with the view of possibly modify-
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ing the confusion and destitution which must, at best, attend all classes by a total revolution of labour through- out whole States. It is hoped that the already deeply afflicted people in those States may be somewhat more ready to give up the cause of their affliction, if, to this extent, this vital matter be left to themselves ; while no power of the National Executive to prevent an abuse is abridged by the proposition.
" The suggestion in the proclamation as to maintaining the political framework of the States on what is called reconstruction, is made in the hope that it may do good without danger of harm. It will save labour, and avoid great confusion.
" But why any proclamation now upon this subject ? This question is beset with the conflicting views that the step might be delayed too long or be taken too soon. In some States the elements for resumption seem ready for action, but remain inactive, apparently for want of a rallying point — a plan of action. Why shall A adopt the plan of B, rather than B that of A ? And if A and B should agree, how can they know but that the General Government here will reject their plan ? By the pro- clamation a plan is presented which may be accepted by them as a rallying point, and which they are assured in advance will not be rejected here. This may bring them to act sooner than they otherwise would.
" The objection to a premature presentation of apian by the National Executive consists in the danger of committals on points which could be more safely left to further developments. Care has been taken to so shape the document as to avoid embarrassments from this source. Saying that, on certain terms, certain classes will be pardoned, with rights restored, it is not said that other classes or other terms will never be included. Saying that reconstruction will be accepted, if presented in a specified way, it is not said it will never be accepted in any other way.
" The movements, by State action, for emancipation in several of the States, not included in the Emancipa- tion Proclamation, are matters of profound gratulation.
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And while I do not repeat in detail what I have hereto- fore so earnestly urged npon this subject, my general views and feelings remain unchanged ; and I trust that Congress will omit no fair opportunity of aiding these important steps to a great consummation.
"In the midst of other cares, however important, we must not lose sight of the fact that the war power is still our main reliance. To that power alone can we look, yet for a time, to give confidence to the people in the contested regions that the insurgent power will not again overrun them. Until that confidence shall be established, little can be done anywhere for what is called reconstruction. Hence our chiefest care must still be directed to the Army and Navy, who have thus far borne their harder part so _ nobly and well. And it may be esteemed fortunate that in giving the greatest efficiency to these indispensable arms, we do also honour- ably recognize the gallant men, from commander to sentinel, who compose them, and to whom, more than to others, the world must stand indebted for the home of freedom disenthralled, regenerated, enlarged, and perpetuated.
December 8, 1863. " Abraham Lincoln."
In a proclamation accompanying this message, Mr. Lincoln, in pursuance of a previous Act of Congress, offered a pardon, or "general amnesty," to all citizens of the rebellious States who should come forward and subscribe an oath to sustain the Constitution of the United States, and all laws in pursuance thereof, "with reference to slaves." There were, however, some exceptions made against the officers and agents of the " so-called Confederate Government." He also pro- claimed that " whenever in any of the ' seceded States ' a number of persons, not less than one-tenth in number" of its loyal voting population, should re-establish a State Government, that fact should entitle such State to re-
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admission into the Union. The wisdom of both these measures soon appeared in the defection from the rebel- lion of thousands of individuals, who hastened to take the oath of amnesty, and in its influence in bringing back into the Union two important States.
While the seceded States were thus manifesting, in consequence of a wise and clement policy, a disposition to return to their loyalty, an equal improvement was exhibited in the tone of Northern sentiment. This was clearly shown in the improved temper of the House of Representatives, as compared with that of the preceding one. A severe and indignant censure of the Secessionist, Harris, of Maryland, and of his sympathizing coadjutor, Alexander Long, of Ohio, passed the House by a decided majority.
On the first day of the session, a joint resolution, reviving the rank of Lieutenant- General in the army, was adopted by both Houses in tee last days of Feb- ruary, and approved by the President. All eyes were now turned upon General Ulysses S. Grant, the hero of so many victories, who was seen to be, if not the most earnest and the most unselfish, at least the most suc- cessful commander in a war in which so many officers had won a high place in popular regard, as the fit per- son to receive this chief honour, with its immense responsibilities. He was immediately nominated as Lieutenant- General, and unanimously confirmed on the 2nd day of March by the Senate. Having been called to Washington without delay, he received his commission with a rare modesty, and at once proceeded to organize a grand campaign, embracing the armies of the East and the West in a combined effort for their closing work.
Earlier movements in Florida and in Louisiana,
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already undertaken, afforded no very auspicious open- ing to the campaigning season ; Fort Pillow on the Mississippi, and Plymouth in North Carolina, were captured by the rebels, followed by massacres unparal- leled in barbarism by the acts of any professedly civilized people since the darkest ages ; but the grand armies of Eastern Tennessee and in Virginia, heavily increased in strength by new levies and by the withdrawal of troops from positions in which their action could not be effective in executing the intended advance upon the great central points of the rebellion, were put in con- dition for striking the last mortal blows upon a totter- ing conspiracy.
It would serve but little purpose, even had we the requisite space, to chronicle here that terrible series of battles for the possession of Richmond which signalized the fourth year of the war. They are still fresh in the recollection of the whole civilized world. Suffice it to say, that although the bloody fields of Spottsylvania and the Wilderness were thought by many to have been the theatres of a wanton and fruitless waste of human life, subsequent events have proved, that in those terrible conflicts General Grant completely broke the very spinal column of the Confederacy. It was in the summer campaign of 1864 that General Lee put forth his most telling efforts, and showered upon his giant assailant his most vigorous and best-directed blows ; but it was, nevertheless, in 1864, rather than in the closing battles of the war, that the contest was lost. The generalship of Grant was hastily condemned because of his attempt to accomplish by brute force what should have been the fruit of strategy ; but the event has shown that he comprehended the situation better than his critics.
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With these military events Mr. Lincoln was but remotely identified, his only merit being the sagacity exhibited in his appreciation of true military genius, and the appointment of General Grant to the newly-created post of Lieutenant- General of the United States' armies. It will accord more with the scope of this memoir to recur to those civil measures with which he was more immediately connected. Nearly all of these necessarily bore, more or less directly, upon the institution of slavery. He had become convinced that this was the disease which had so long been eating into the vitals of the Common- wealth, and was now threatening it with dissolution. To its eradication he therefore directed all his efforts.
In pursuance of the new policy, we have seen that the initiatory measure of emancipation had been adopted as early as September, 1862. Others, emanating in part from individual States, in part from the nation, now followed. The Fugitive Slave Law, which had been since its first enactment so sore a burden and grief to all right-minded and right-hearted men in America, was abrogated. A law was passed which rendered it impossible that any of the seceding States, even if they were penitent enough to seek reunion, should return to their allegiance in any other condition than the sacrifice of their slave institution. Emancipation was effected in Western Virginia, which remained in the hands of the National Government ; also in the State of Missouri, Arkansas, and Maryland, every slave was made and de- clared free. Provisions were made to admit the Ter- ritories of Colorado, Nebraska, and Nevada as Free States. Idaho, Montana, Dacotah, and Arizona — not populous enough to justify their being constituted as States — were nevertheless organized as free Territories.
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Another ordinance admitted negroes to equal rights in the United States' Courts, both as parties to suits and as witnesses.
Social arrangements proved responsive to political enactments ; and in the District of Columbia the equality of the negro was recognized in the public conveyances. And the industrial problem — declared to be insoluble by the participants in the crime of slavery, and their abettors — was also most successfully worked out. Tree labour was established in numerous plantations in South Caro- lina, Louisiana, Tennessee, and in fact wherever the Fe- deral arms marked their victorious way. While the slave power was yet dominant, to teach the mere elements of learning to a negro involved the penalties of fine and imprisonment, in Virginia, South Carolina, and other States. In these localities schools were set up for the education of freed slaves. The wives and the children of all freed slaves employed in the military or civil ser- vice of the United States were declared free. All negroes, whether bond or free, were regarded as citizens, and held eligible for military duty. To these measures a sympathetic response was made even on Southern soil. The loyal people of Arkansas, Tennessee, Louisiana, and Florida, sought a return to the Union on the basis of freedom to all, and of the abolition and prohibition of slavery. A two-thirds majority in the Senate, and an equal preponderance of votes in the other House, decreed the formal abolition of slavery. The Republican party in concerting its programme for the Presidential and other elections of 1864, made the prohibition of slavery the basis of the Governmental administration for the future. The Federal Government formally forbad itself, and its future successors, ever to employ in its
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service any person being a slave. To crown the whole, and complete this great edifice, consisting of so many, but so consistent and coherent parts, over a hundred and fifty thousand negroes wore the Union uniform, and gallantly fought under the Union's flag. Such is a brief recital of the chief measures instituted by Mr. Lincoln against that fabric of Anglo- African slavery of which he was the heaven-destined destroyer.
The spring elections of 1864, in New Hampshire, Connecticut and Rhode Island, showed still more de- cidedly than those of the previous year, that the Ad- ministration had become strong in the confidence and affection of the people. That this gratifying result had a direct relation to Mr. Lincoln in person, is seen in the fact that the Administration party in each of those States, had committed itself, without dissent, in favour of his re-election, making this a distinct issue of the canvass. In twelve other States, nearly at the same time, the popular voice, as declared through State Con- ventions or Legislatures, demanded, with like unanimity and enthusiasm, that Mr. Lincoln should continue in the Presidency for another term. A similar current of opinion was seen to exist in every other loyal State. Since the celebrated " era of good feeling," in the days of President Monroe, this manifestation of popular sen- timent has had no parallel.
The probable result of the election was apparent for weeks before it was officially announced. General M'Clellan, when first nominated by the Peace Demo- cracy to oppose him, was not without a very fair prospect of success. The further prosecution of the war seemed to be almost hopeless, and was certainly becoming very distasteful to a large body of the Northern people.
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With this weariness of war, and a corresponding desire for pea.ce, which, was gaining strength with every un- successful onslaught made upon the seemingly invinci- ble breastworks before Richmond, General M'Clellan, the Democratic candidate had been long more or less identified. The fall of Atlanta, however, had the doubly damaging effect upon his aspirations of at once infusing new hopes and new determination in the Northern masses, and of operating a change in his policy which partially deprived him of the support of even those who continued to clamour for peace. In short, after vacil- lating between the two wings of his party, the war and peace democrats, the success of the Federal arms deter- mined his leaning to the former, and he thus forfeited all claim to support from that section which advocated peace. Mr. Lincoln was re-elected by a large majority. There can be no doubt that this event in itself contri- buted no little to the triumph of the Union cause. The Southerns had expected with anxiety the close of Mr. Lincoln's term. The hope that the usual party excite- ments attending the Presidential election would effect fatal dissensions among their enemies, had helped to buoy them through the terrible hardships and preter- natural exertions of the last year of the war. With this hope now vanished, they beheld before them the long dreary perspective of another four years' desperate struggle. It is impossible not to suppose that the deep despondency flowing from this discouraging and hopeless prospect had much to do with hastening the catastrophe. That catastrophe was much nearer than even the most despondent Southron or the most hopeful Unionist ima- gined ; for while the Federal army of the South-west contrived to slowly drive before it the Secession forces
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in that quarter, General Lee continued to hold Rich- mond with a tenacity that seemed to augur a tedious prolongation of the contest. But while the destinies of the great Republic still tremble in equipoise at the great centre of hostilities, a diversion was unexpectedly made in another quarter, which changed in a few weeks the whole aspect of the contest. The capture of Vicksburg had already severed the Confederacy at one point, and now the capture of Atlanta, with its four converging lines of railway, linking every part of the Confederacy, almost completed the division and isolation of its differ- ent sections. The taking of Savannah and Branchville completed this disabling process, and placed the Con- federacy in a condition which rendered impossible that ability to command and concentrate at will her whole strength, which had heretofore availed her in so many desperate straits.
Nevertheless, the press of the Confederacy, boastful to the last, and to the last deceiving the people with false hopes, never failed of plausible reasons for the Fabian policy of General Johnston, who it was con- stantly predicted would soon realize for Sherman another Moscow retreat ; or reinforced by Lee, would overwhelm him in one disastrous overthrow. Meanwhile Charleston, after a siege unprecedented in history, was abandoned and burned by its defenders ; and finally by the capture of Wilmington, the umbilical cord of this embryo State, which after four years' throes was des- tined never to live the outward life, was cut — what more ? Upon this terrible tragedy the curtain fell amidst blood and death. The last of the long series of battles for the possession of Richmond was one of the most destructive. The number of killed and wounded was about ten thou-
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sand men, of which by far the greater number were Southrons. In one week afterwards, on the 9th of April, 1865, General Robert Lee made an unconditional surrender of his sole remaining army to the Acting Commander-in-Chief of the forces.
It may yet be premature to pronounce that the war is at an end. Small bodies of desperate men may con- tinue for months, possibly years, to keep up a desultory guerilla war in remote and inaccessible portions of the Southern States, and would doubtless be at least as difficult of entire subjection as the Seminole Indians, who for years defied the whole power of the United States. Such a mode of warfare is to be deprecated by the South even more than the North. Yet it cannot be doubted that the probabilities at least of such a termination of the great rebellion are strong. Its leaders are men of high passions and a haughty, in- domitable spirit, and now are placed in a position utterly desperate. Their fate is confiscation, and if captured, perhaps death. Their influence over many of the deluded men who followed their fortunes so long must be immense, and may possibly be exerted in the concoction of some mode of resistance which may entail on the country the horrors of long-continued irregular warfare. A conciliatory policy on the part of the North would do much to prevent or cut short a denouement of this kind by ranging the mass of the Southrons them- selves in hostility to so desperate and suicidal a course.
Until the death of Mr. Lincoln, the adoption of lenient and gentle measures was universally and reason- ably anticipated. Mr. Lincoln himself had not, it is true, definitely announced any settled plan of pacifica- tion ; but such was the faith everywhere felt in his good
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sense and benevolence, that in Enrope people had begun to rest their minds in the conviction that a wise and judicious clemency would be employed as the most potent engine to extinguish old animosities, and reunite the alienated peoples of the two sections in a social as well as political sense. This hope had been strengthened by the few cautious but kindly expressions which he had yet permitted himself. He " had spoken kindly of Lee," and it is said that his utterances at the council board were in a similar spirit. But while all large-minded and philan- thropic men were eagerly expecting the first step of conciliatory overture, which was already thus fore- shadowed, the American President, to the horror and amazement of the whole civilized world, fell beneath the hand of an assassin.
The following is the official report of the death of Mr. Lincoln, addressed to the Legation in London : —
" Washington, April 15. " Sir, — It has become my distressing duty to an- nounce to you that last night his Excellency Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, was assassi- nated, about the hour of half-past ten o'clock, in his private box at Ford's Theatre, in this city. The Presi- dent, about eight o'clock, accompanied Mrs. Lincoln to the theatre. Another lady and gentleman were with them in the box. About half-past ten, during a pause in the performance, the assassin entered the box, the door of which was unguarded, hastily approached the President from behind, and discharged a pistol at his head. The bullet entered the back of his head, and penetrated nearly through. The assassin then leaped from the box upon the stage, brandishing a large knife or dagger, and exclaiming, " Sic semper tyrannis /" and escaped in the rear of the theatre. Immediately upon the discharge , the President fell to the floor in- sensible, and continued in that state until twenty minutes
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past seven o'clock this morning, when he breathed his last. About the same time the murder was being com- mitted at the theatre, another assassin presented himself at the door of Mr. Seward's residence, gained admission by representing he had a prescription from Mr. Seward's physician, which he was directed to see administered, and hurried up to the third story chamber, where Mr. Seward was lying. He here discovered Mr. Frederick Seward, struck him over the head, inflicting several wounds, and fracturing the skull in two places, inflict- ing, it is feared, mortal wounds. He then rushed into the room where Mr. Seward was in bed, attended by a young daughter and a male nurse. The male attendant was stabbed through the lungs, and it is believed will die. The assassin then struck Mr. Seward with a knife or dagger twice in the throat and twice in the face, in- flicting terrible wounds. By this time Major Seward, eldest son of the Secretary, and another attendant reached the room, and rushed to the rescue of the Se- cretary ; they were also wounded in the conflict, and the assassin escaped. No artery or important blood ves- sel was severed by any of the wounds inflicted upon him, but he was for a long time insensible from the loss of blood. Some hope of his possible recovery is enter- tained. Immediately upon the death of the President, notice was given to Vice-President Johnston, who hap- pened to be in the city, and upon whom the office of President now devolves. He will take the office and assume the functions of President to-day. The mur- derer of the President has been discovered, and evidence obtained that these horrible crimes were committed in execution of a conspiracy deliberately planned and set on foot by rebels, under pretence of avenging the South and aiding the rebel cause ; but it is hoped that the im- mediate perpetrators will be caught. The feeling occa- sioned by these atrocious crimes is so great, sudden, and overwhelming, that I cannot at present do more than communicate them to you. At the earliest moment yes- terday the President called a Cabinet meeting, at which General Grant was present. He was more cheerful and
94 THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
liappy than I had ever seen him, rejoiced at the near prospect of firm and durable peace at home and abroad, manifested in a marked degree the kindness and humanity of his disposition, and the tender and forgiving spirit that so eminently distinguished him. Public notice had been given that he and General Grant would be present at the theatre, and the opportunity of adding the Lieut.- General to the number of victims to be murdered was no doubt seized for the fitting occasion of executing the plans that appear to have been in preparation for some weeks, but General Grant was compelled to be absent, and thus escaped the designs upon him. It is needless for me to say anything in regard of the influence which this atrocious murder of the President may exercise upon the affairs of this country ; but I will only add that, horrible as are the atrocities that have been re- sorted to by the enemies of the country, they are not likely in any degree to impair the public spirit or post- pone the complete final overthrow of the rebellion. In profound grief for the events which it is my duty to com- municate to you, I have the honour to be, very respect- fully, your obedient servant,
"Edwin M. Stanton."
APPENDIX.
The following extracts from leading English journals, evoked by the news of Mr. Lincoln's assassination, will, it is thought, be interesting to the reader. They are the spontaneous outburst of national feeling, and taken together, constitute perhaps the most splendid eulogy ever pronounced by the accordant voices of men of most opposite opinions upon the ruler of a friendly power : —
From The Times. " The American news which we publish this morning will be received throughout Europe with sorrow as sincere and profound as it awoke even in the United States Unjust as we believe it to be, the Con- federate cause will not escape the dishonour cast upon it by the wanton murders of Mr. Lincoln and the Secretary. The admiration won by the long and gal- lant defence of Richmond will be lessened ; the memory of Lee's lofty bearing and Jackson's deep religious feel- ing will be obscured by the atrocities committed in the name and on behalf of the South. Arson in New York, theft under the pretence of war in Vermont, and assas- sination in the capital, dim the lustre of a four years' resistance to superior forces, and of many a well-fought field in Virginia.
" The critical condition of affairs in America, the position of the Southern States at the feet of their victorious antagonists, the gigantic task of reconstruc- tion which must be undertaken by the political leaders of the North, tend to exalt our estimate of the loss which the States have suffered in the murder of the President; but it would be unjust not to acknow-
96 APPENDIX.
ledge that Mr. Lincoln was a man who could not un der any circumstances be easily replaced. Starting from an humble position to one of the greatest eminence, and adopted by the Republican party as a makeshift, simply because Mr. Seward and their other prominent leaders were obnoxious to different sections of the party, it was natural that his career should be watched with jealous suspicion. The office cast upon him was great, its duties most onerous, and the obscurity of his past career afforded no guarantee of his ability to discharge them. His shortcomings, moreover, were on the sur- face. The education of a man whose early years had been spent in earning bread by manual labour had necessarily been defective, and faults of manner and errors of taste repelled the observer at the outset. In spite of these drawbacks, Mr. Lincoln slowly won for himself the respect and confidence of all. His perfect honesty speedily became apparent, and, what is, per- haps, more to his credit, amid the many unstudied speeches which he was called upon from time to time to deliver, imbued though they were with the rough humour of his early associates, he was in none of them betrayed into any intemperance of language towards his oppo- nents or towards neutrals. His utterances were appa- rently careless, but his tongue was always under com- mand. The quality of Mr. Lincoln's administration which served, however, more than any other to enlist the sympathy of bystanders, was its conservative pro- gress. He felt his way gradually to his conclusions ; and those who will compare the different stages of his career one with another, will find that his mind was growing throughout the course of it. The naivete with which he once suggested to the negroes that they should take themselves off to Central America, be- cause their presence in the States was inconvenient to the white population,, soon disappeared. The gradual change of his language and of his policy was most remarkable. Englishmen learnt to respect a man who showed the best characteristics of their race in his respect for what is good in the past, acting
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in unison with a recognition of what was made ne- cessary by the events of passing history. But the growth of M*. Lincoln's mind was subject to a sin- gular modification. It would seem that he felt himself of late a mere instrument engaged in working out a great cause, which he could partly recognize, but which he was powerless to control."
From the Daily News.
"In the hour of his great work done, President Lincoln has fallen. Not, indeed, in the flush of triumph, for no thought of triumph was in that honest and humble heart, nor in the intoxication of applause, for the fruits of victory were not yet gathered in his hand, was the chief of the American people, the foremost man in the great Christian revolution of our age, struck down. But his task was, nevertheless, accomplished, and the battle of his life was won. So he passes away from the heat and the toil that still have to be endured, full of the honour that belongs to one who has nobly done his part, and carrying in his last thoughts the sense of deep, steadfast thankfulness that he now could see the assured corning of that end for which he had so long striven in faith and hope. Who shall pity or lament such a death, while the tears of a nation fall upon his corpse, and the world softly speaks how true and good he was ? Who will not bow the head submissive to the inscrutable decree which mocks our plans and fancies, but even in our sorrow makes us feel that it is wiser, juster, kinder than our vain wishes might have been ?
" For in all time to come, not among Americans only, but among all who think of manhood as more than rank, and set worth above display, the name of Abraham Lincoln will be held in reverence. Rising from among the poorest of the people, winning his slow way upwards by sheer hard work, preserving in every successive stage a character unspotted and a name untainted, securing a wider respect as he became better known, never pre- tending to more than he was, nor being less than he professed himself, he was at length, for very singleness
7
98 APPENDIX,
of heart and uprightness of conduct, because all felt that they could trust him utterly, and would desire to be guided by his firmness, courage, and sense, placed in the chair of President at the turning-point of his nation's history. A life so true, rewarded by a dignity so majestic, was defence enough against the petty shafts of malice which party-spirit, violent enough to light a civil war, aimed against him. The lowly callings he had first pursued became his titles to greater respect among those whose respect was worth having; the little ex- ternal rusticities only showed more brightly, as the rough matrix the golden ore, the true dignity of his nature. Never was any one, set in such high place, and surrounded with so many motives of furious detraction, so little impeached of aught blameworthy. The bitterest enemy could find no more to lay to his charge than that his language was sometimes too homely for a super- sensitive taste, or that he conveyed in a jesting phrase what they deemed more suited for a statelier style. But against these specks, what thorough nobility have we not to set ? A purity of thought, word, and deed never challenged, a disinterestedness never suspected, an honesty of purpose never impugned, a gentleness and tenderness that never made a private enemy or alienated a friend — these are indeed qualities which may well make a nation mourn. But he had intellect as well as goodness. Cautiously conservative, fearing to pass the limits of established systems, seeking the needful amendments rather from growth than alteration, he proved himself in the crisis the very man best suited for his post. He held back the ardent while he gave con- fidence to the timid ; his reluctance to innovate did not prevent him from recognizing and accepting the changes in the situation which the progress of events brought to pass ; and the firmness with which he refused to proceed faster than they warranted was equalled by the tenacity with which he refused to retire from the position he had at last thought it right to take up. So four years of trial convinced his countrymen that there was none among them who could better fill Iris place. And there
APPENDIX. 90
can be no doubt that, in his known respect for established rights, as well as in his known justice, impartiality, and benevolence, South as well as North had begun to look upon him as their surest friend, and as the safe arbiter in whom they could both trust to exact no more and to claim no less than might suffice to make then1 reconcili- ation perpetual."
From the Morning Star.
" For Abraham Lincoln one cry of universal regret will be raised all over the civilized earth. We do not believe that even the fiercest partisans of the Confe- deracy in this country will entertain any sentiment at such a time but one of grief and hcrror. To us Abra- ham Lincoln has always seemed the finest character produced by the American war on either side of the struggle. He was great not merely by the force of genius — and only the word genius will describe the power of intellect by which he guided himself and his country through such a crisis — but by the simple, natu- ral strength and grandeur of his character. Talleyrand once said of a great American statesman that without experience he ' divined ' his way through any crisis. Mr. Lincoln thus divined his way through the perilous, exhausting, and unprecedented difficulties which might well have broken the strength and blinded the prescience of the best-trained professional statesman. He seemed to arrive by instinct — by the instinct of a noble, unsel- fish, and manly nature — at the very ends which the highest of political genius, the longest of political ex- perience, could have done no more than reach. He bore himself fearlessly in danger, calmly in difficulty, modestly in success. The world was at last beginning to know how good, and, in the best sense, how great a man he was. It had long indeed learned that he was as devoid of vanity as of fear, but it had only just come to know what magnanimity and mercy the hour of triumph would prove that he possessed. Reluctant enemies were just beginning to break into eulogy over his wise and noble clemency when the dastard hand of a
100 APPENDIX.
vile murderer destroyed his noble and valuable life. Assailed by the coarsest attacks on this side the ocean, tried by the sorest temptations on that, Abraham Lin- coln calmly and steadfastly maintained a policy of peace with England, and never did a deed, never wrote or spoke a word which was unjust or unfriendly to the British nation. Had such a man died by the hand of disease in the hour of his triumph the world must have mourned for his loss. That he has fallen by the coward hand of a vile assassin exasperates and embitters the grief beyond any power of language to express. He lived long enough to accomplish his great patriotic work, and then he became its martyr."
From the Standard.
" The startling news which was yesterday received from America is such as to throw into the shade even the tremendous catastrophe of the fall of Richmond and the surrender of Lee's army. * * * All texts and sermons of the mutability of human affairs, and the instability of life, pale into insignificance before this tremendous com- mentary. Much as we have condemned the attitude of the American people during this civil war, and though we have from the first opposed the policy and censured the acts of the late President of the United States, we must sympathize with the nation which is widowed by this sudden bereavement. Now that he is dead the good qualities of the unfortunate Lincoln seem to come into the foreground."
From the Express. " President Lincoln is dead. Even now it seems hard to conceive that before long the anxiously expected news from America will flash along the wires from time to time with no mention of his familiar name. He is gone ■ — too soon, indeed ; and yet, had it been earlier, how far greater had been our loss. He had lived to show the world how just, and moderate, and wise he could be in the moment of his great triumph ; he had lived to point out the way to that peace and reconstruction which to
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the faint-hearted and the evil-minded seemed so hope- less ; and what is more, he had lived to inspire a whole people with the spirit of peace and good-will towards that section of their race with whom they had so long contended in bitter warfare."
From the Globe.
" It is too soon to estimate the depth and breadth of this great calamity to America and Europe. Mr. Lin- coln had come nobly through a great ordeal. He had ■ extorted the approval even of his opponents, at least on this side of the water. They had come to admire, reluc- tantly, his firmness, honesty, fairness, and sagacity. He had tried to do, and he had done, what he considered to be his duty, with magnanimity. He had never called for vengeance upon any one. In his dealings with foreign countries, and in his expressions with regard to them, he had come to be remarkable, because, among American Presidents, he showed a justness of view and tone which was not common. In the hour when the cause he had laboured for was about to triumph, and peace once more prevail over a torn and bleeding con- tinent, he was shot in the back at a theatre by a cowardly assassin.
" It was easy enough to slay him. He went about unguarded. We were told that assassination was not in the American character, as if that character were radi- cally different from the character of men in other parts of the world. The lawlessness which prompted men to fire New York, in the hope of burning it down, which led the Confederate refugees in Canada to commit felonies in Vermont, has now struck at the head of the State, and has taken his life. How the wretched assassins could hope to benefit their cause by foul murder it is difficult to conceive ; and one shudders to think of the consequences that may flow from this hideous crime."
From the Pall-mall Gazette. " Since the day when Henry IV. was stabbed by Ravaillac, a fouler, or more detestable, or more deplor-
102 APPENDIX.
able event than the assassination of President Lincoln was never committed in this world. The loss itself is unspeakably great, not only in the United States, but to ourselves. For four years Mr. Lincoln discharged the most difficult duties which could fall to the lot of a human being, not indeed in a way to strike the imagi- nation of those who care for mere external show, but with a degree of substantial judgment and good sense which it would be almost impossible to overrate. He was our best friend. He never lent himself to the pur- poses of that foolish and wicked minority which tried to set enmity between America and England. He never said or wrote an unfriendly word about us. It would be hard to show that he made one false step in the management of the great trust committed to him."
From the Caledonian Mercury. " In view of the terrible calamity involved in the death of President Lincoln, and the circumstances con- nected with it, the first question likely to arise is, ' What effect will it have on the future of the war, or on the probability of an early and satisfactory peace ?' To this wTe believe we can give an answer, which the future will demonstrate to be correct. The war will be proceeded with, and the work of reconstruction will go on as certainly, as surely, and as successfully as if the calamity itself had not occurred. The American people readily accommodate themselves to circum- stances, adverse as well as favourable ; and while they will mourn with sincerest sorrow the loss of one so eminently sagacious and good, they will also prosecute to its early and satisfactory completion the work he so faithfully and firmly showed them how to perform. Vice-President Johnson has already assumed the reins of office. He is a tried man, a more thorough Aboli- tionist even than President Lincoln himself, and one also who will abate neither jot nor tittle of the national demands. Notwithstanding his unfortunate appearance at the occasion of his inauguration, he is believed in and trusted by the American people. He has done
APPENDIX. 103
much good service to the State in his day — he has displayed a firmness and fearlessness against the slave- holding faction which has endeared him to the thorough- going emancipationists of both North and South ; and while he will want the suave manner, and genial tem- perament, and long-sighted perspicacity of ' honest old Abe,' he has other qualities which not less fit him to be the wise and powerful ruler of the destinies of a great nation passing like refined gold out of a furnace of fire. We have no doubt he will rise to the dignity of his position and the responsibilities of his office ; and that, carrying out the typical idea to which we have given expression, he will perfect like Joshua with the Judges, what Moses was not permitted to perform. Rulers die, nations live, God reigns. This is our com- fort and consolation in the midst of sudden calamities, overwhelming the spirit and drowning the soul in grief, and this is especially our consolation in the con- templation of the awful end of the father of a regene- rated people."
From the Spectatok. " There never was a moment in the history of his country when firmness, and shrewdness, and gentleness were so unspeakably important, and the one man in America whose resolve on the crucial question was un- changeable, whose shrewdness statesmen indefinitely keener than himself could never baffle, whose gentleness years of incessant insult had failed to weary out, who, possessed of these qualities, was possessed also of the supreme power, and who had convinced even his enemies that the power would be exerted under the influence of the qualities, has been taken away from his work. The future of the black race still oscillates between serfage and freedom, and the one man sure to have preferred freedom, and preferring to have secured it, has been removed ; the feeling of the white race fluctuates between forgiveness and vindictiveness, and the one man whose influence would have insured mercy has been murdered amidst the race who are striving to forgive by the class
104 APPENDIX.
towards whom lie forbade vindictiveness. As if to show that the South is unworthy of pardon, a Southerner assassinates the ruler who on that very day was con- tending with his Cabinet for the policy of pardon to the South, and who must be succeeded by a man who, avowedly worshipping the people, can scarcely, even to conciliate that people, restrain his own desire for a policy of vengeance. Whatever of vindictiveness is latent in the Northern heart has been supplied at once with an excuse which even the South will not deny, and with the very agent whom vindictiveness in full swing might have prompted the nation to elect. It is the very irony of fate, a calamity for which the single consolation lies in the old expression of a trust to which political faith is mere suspicion, ' Shall not the Judge of all the world do right ? ' With the ship barely over the bar the pilot falls dead upon the deck — and it must be well, but the sailors may be pardoned if for the moment they feel as if the harbour would never be attained. It is hard to estimate even the immediate effects of a disaster so great and so unexpected ; the consequences are so vast, the data so numerous, that the mind is bewildered by the effort preliminary to calculation. The main datum of all is, however, secured ; the law-abiding North re- jects the idea of revolution, and intends to accept Mr. Andrew Johnson as its chief magistrate; and that fact once granted, two or three results will, we think, seem to reflecting men almost inevitable: — 1. The North has suffered an immense loss of power ; 2. The prospect of peace has been weakened, if not materially, still perceptibly ; but, 3. The triumph of the great cause itself is as secure as ever."
From the Daily Telegraph. " No fouler crime stands chronicled in all history than the murder of Abraham Lincoln. The sorry pleas of State necessity or political interest that have been advanced time out of mind to palliate assassination cannot even be heard with toleration in such a case as this, for the act is one that outrages humanity and shocks the common conscience of the world. It is accursed and supremely infamous ; it is
APPENDIX. 105
most cowardly, most cruel. Every war has its horrors, and the great fight between the North and South has been no exception to the rule ; but there never was anything more atrocious than this — never anything more base than the slaughter of a man who, during years of great excitement, had scarcely made a single personal enemy. In the agony and crisis that preceded Eobespierre's Reign of Terror, Danton said, ' The Revolution, like Saturn, is beginning to devour its own children !' Abraham Lincoln was the child — in no invidious sense, we may even say the puppet — of the passions of his time, and now he has become their victim. A fine spirit of popular enthusiasm made him chief magis- trate of the greatest Republic ever known ; the ferocity and the madness of a few desperadoes have abruptly ended a career which already loomed so largely. A wonderful life was Lincoln's — a life quite as startling and surprising as his death ; but, at any rate, the worst part of his work seemed over. The resistance of the South had been crushed. A sturdy, sensible Western man, with long limbs and a longer head, Mr. Lincoln had worked his way in the world without any dishonourable subterfuges or mean devices. Clear, direct, simple, and straightforward, he had already, during his brief term of office, outlived many suspicions, jealousies, misconstructions, and dislikes. He bore his honours well, and was settling down into a quiet simple dignity of manner, and a kindly moderation of thought and temper. Terrible had been the trial through which he had victoriously passed. He was emphatically one of the people, but his homespun virtues seemed to justify the people's choice. At any rate, he had diligently, faithfully, and not unskilfully, laboured according to such light as was given him ; and now, as he seemed to touch the goal, his course is abruptly checked. To-day, all party-feeling, all political jealousies, must be hushed and suspended; to-day, no man is a sympathizer with North or South ; we are all mourners over the fate of
an honest citizen
" Abraham Lincoln's life was not particularly happy. He was a sagacious, toilsome, dogged, patient man ; he rose by his energy and his shrewdness from a very humble position to the Presidential chair ; but the Presidential chair itself was not a luxurious resting-place, and even the strong Ken- tuckian frame of the man was sorely tried. Mr. Tennyson speaks of the fierce light which beats upon a throne ; fiercer yet, even more broad, open, dazzling, and glaring, was that which played so terribly around the President. It has lit up
106 APPENDIX.
many noble points in his character, to which, as the years roll on and as party passions fade away, full justice will assuredly be done ; but, even viewed in this utter publicity, this sheer nakedness of life, his character stands singularly clear of all that was mean or base. It was easy to caricature his ungainly form, and it was often necessary to dwell upon his mental limitations and defects ; his jests were sometimes in bad taste, his language exaggerated and heedless; yet upon everything that he said or did there was the stamp of strong individual manhood. In truth, those who knew him best were convinced that his life was really sad ; that his jokes were but the efforts of a jaded, melancholy nature to relieve its sense of weariness ; that, knowing he had no time to cry, he laughed as often as he could. Be this said to his honour — whatever cruel things have been done by his sub- ordinates, Abraham Lincoln himself never sent a man to the scaffold. The journalists of his own country have not spared him; yet, after all, the sum of their accusations was also the basis of his glory. Abraham Lincoln, who had been a 'rail-splitter5 and then a 'village lawyer,' contrived by shrewd mother-wit and robust integrity of character to win the esteem of the stout men of the West — a nobler type of Americanism than the motley tribes of New York ; whilst at last he became the foremost man in the greatest Republic in the world at the hour of its supremest need. His acts are on record — they fill a large volume ; and whoever may study them as a part of history, not as material for party polemics, they will prove, upon the whole, singularly saga- cious and astute. It has often been our lot to blame them — often been our lot to question the wisdom of the policy which he pursued ; nor do we retract what we have said, even now that we have to review it so solemnly and sadly. From factious hatred, from meanness, jealousy, uncharitableness, this ruler was nobly free. The strange grim face, that was yet illuminated so often by a gleam of honest humour or a glance of genuine kindliness, has been quietly covered by the sere-cloth ; the almost gigantic frame, lifeless and limp, has been coffined and palled. He had given the Republic all he had — his time, his peace, his reputation, his children. One son, his eldest, he had to the front with General Grant ; another he lost while the war was raging; and yet the office- seekers would not give him an hour's rest, but almost tor- tured him into madness by their importunities. Through- out the dreariest time of national reverses and calamity, he never despaired. Almost solemn now are those well-
APPENDIX. 107
remembered familiar phrases, ' I have put my foot down,' and ' We must keep pegging away.' They were but rough translations of a sentiment which, expressed in more knightly phrase, we should regard as heroical. And at last came what seemed to be the fruition of his labours, the reward of his patience and his courage. He, the man of Kentucky and Illinois, entered Eichmond as a conqueror ; but he launched no decree of proscription ; for the fight appeared over, and it was not in the man's large heart to bear malice against a beaten foe. ' He spoke very kindly of Lee,' said Stanton ; and on the night of that memorable council, where he pleaded for peace and for mercy, a villain killed him. Not for Lincoln himself can the end be considered as unhappy. To the extent of his power he has done his duty, with singleness of heart, with honesty of purpose ; and if ever man needed rest, he needed it. That rest he has obtained, and, with it, the reward that follows honest service."
From the Scotsman.
" This one man held in his hands the destinies of two nations — once forming one people, of late seeming likely once again to form one people, but which had for a time become magnificent fragments, and could not be combined anew without the exercise of rare delicacy and immense power. The long dreary conflict seemed near its close ; the waste of the best lives and of all the best possessions of a mighty people seemed about to end. The labour of this man was not now any longer to lie in the ensanguined fields of war, into which his stern love of an idea — the idea of the Uuion— and his inflexible pursuance of what he held to be the path of duty, had led him. Henceforth his more kindly and, we are willing to believe, more congenial task was to be, the healing of the hurts of war— the winning back, into his own ways, of those who had turned, in his judgment, into mistaken and wrongful ways. To that task, delicate and arduous, he was about to apply himself with all his skill and all his heart. The moment of the crowning test of Mr. Lincoln was at hand. All the omens might be read as pro- mising that Mr. Lincoln would stand that test as his best friends could most desire, and so that even his enemies must fail to be reasonably dissatisfied. At the sorest need of the conquered South and the perplexed North, the man of will, of energy, of clear vision and unswerving course, has vanished. What will follow, no man knows. This, how-
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ever, all know — that the good thing which might bnt yes- terday have been hopefully expected, may now fail to be given us ; and that we have now greater cause than but a day ago we had, for fearing what we had all but ceased to fear. . . . There is enough of depth, and honesty, and capacity for noble anger and generous sorrow, in the character of the Americans (they are too closely kin with ourselves that we should not be quick to believe it) to make it not impossible that the blood of Mr. Lincoln may be the cement of a new Union."
From the Morning Post.
" The startling intelligence which has reached us from America will excite but one sentiment in the minds of all, no matter what then political predilections. Northerner and Southerner, European and American, slaveholder and abolitionist, must equally concur in reprobating the das- tardly crime which has just been consummated. The Pre- sident of the United States of America has, in the moment of what he at least considered to be victory, and at the very instant when he had reason to believe that the gigantic enterprize to which he devoted himself was on the point of being crowned with success, fallen by the hand of an assassin. The event is so astounding that it is with difficulty we can bring ourselves to realize its occurrence, much less to esti- mate its consequences. It is but a few short days since the great and crowning events of the civil war took place, since Richmond was evacuated, and the army of Virginia laid down its arms, and since Mr. Lincoln, boasting once more to be not only cle jure, but de facto President of the entire American Republic, proclaimed it to the civilized world, and appointed a day of general thanksgiving to inaugurate the commencement of a new and happier era. On Sunday, the 9th of the present month, General Lee capitulated ; on the following day Mr. Lincoln congratulated his fellow-citizens on the happy issue of the arduous struggle in which they had been so long engaged, and besought their co-operation in that no less arduous work of reconstruction to ■which he purposed devoting the second period of his official career and on the Friday following he was brutally murdered. In the annals of history there are to be found but too many instances in which the chief magistrate of a State has fallen by the assassin's hand, but we doubt if there is one which, by its surrounding circumstances, will retain a deeper hold
APPENDIX. 109
on the memory of posterity than the murder of the Ame- rican President. What Mr. Lincoln might have been, and what he might have accomplished, must always remain mat- ters of speculation; but that he should have been arrested midway in his career, and that the wishes of a great nation should be frustrated by the will of a rabid fanatic, points a moral of the futility of all human projects, which, however trite, is not uninstructive. At the very time when most persons would have concurred in approving the policy of the Northern States in again electing Mr. Lincoln to the Presidential office, and would have gladly seen him endea- vour to reconstruct the edifice which has been so cruelly shaken, he is suddenly carried from the scene. ' The king is dead. God save the king.' As it is in monarchies, so it is in republics."
THE FEENCH PEESS ON ME. LINCOLN'S ASSASSINATION.
From the Patrie.
"Horrible is this war which began in 1861 by the double suicide of Jackson and Ellsworth, accusing each other reciprocally of tyranny, and which, on the point of terminating, arms the brothers Booth ! This crime is a double misfortune for America ! It will arouse sanguinary passions, prepare perhaps terrible measures of retaliation, and that will take place at the very moment when Mr. Lincoln, endeavouring to repair the past, desired to become the instrument of tranquillity and peace ! His death does nothing, and can do nothing, for the South, but it creates the risk of weakening the North by the division of parties. It is now an open struggle between the majority who ap- plauded Mr. Lincoln's spirit of conciliation, and that ardent minority who exclaimed against the conditions imposed on the vanquished. The blow which has struck Messrs. Lincoln and Seward seems to have threatened General Grant. Is it intended to make the Federal General pay for the honour of Lee's capitulation ? The minority, whose violence is to be feared, has now, it must be said, by the regular working of the Constitution, one of its partisans in power. Let us bear in mind that six months ago, at the time of the election, the moderate journals themselves exclaimed :— ' What would become of the Eepublic if, in
110 APPENDIX.
case Mr. Lincoln should die, Mr. Johnson should exercise supreme authority?' It would almost seem that those journals had a presentiment of the new afflictions which were to fall upon America."
From the Moniteue,.
" The news of the double assassination of Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Seward has excited in France a movement of general indignation. Public opinion is unanimous in branding with reprobation a crime so odious, and in paying a tribute of regret to the memory of the President of the United States."
From the Debats.
" People, it observes, now ask themselves what are likely to be the political consequences of the death of President Lincoln. We do not think that this catastrophe will sen- sibly modify the situation. Without doubt, we are far from rendering the Southern cause responsible for the crime of a few fanatics, but the fact is not the' less true that the horror inspired by an act so atrocious can only have the effect of diminishing the sympathies which the Separatists might still meet with in Europe ; already vanquished ma- terially, or nearly so, they are now undergoing a moral defeat also. All that is to be feared is that the North in its exasperation may allow itself to be hurried into taking reprisals, or at least that the feelings of conciliation towards the Secessionists, of which it was beginning to afford proofs, may give place to sentiments of quite a different nature* and that it may profit by its victory to impose rigorous conditions on the South. We have, however, too much confidence in the good sense of the North to conceive serious apprehensions on that subject. Its legitimate in- dignation will not make it deviate from the line of modera- tion and prudence which it has so far followed ; it will understand that the best way of honouring the memory of Mr. Lincoln is not to dejoart from the political traditions of that statesman."
The eminent French historian, M. Henri Martin, writes as follows to the Siecle, upon the assassination of Mr. Lincoln : —
" Slavery, before expiring, has gathered up the remnants of its strength and rage to strike a coward blow at its
APPENDIX. Ill
conqueror. The Satanic pride of that perverted society- could not resign itself to defeat ; it did not care to fall with honour, as all causes fall which are destined to rise again ; it dies as it has lived, violating all laws, divine and human. In this we have the spirit, and perhaps the work of that famous secret association, the Golden Circle, which after preparing the great rebellion for twenty years, and spreading its accomplices throughout the West and North, around the seat of the Presidency, gave the signal for this im- pious war on the day when the public conscience finally snatched from the slaveholders the government of the United States. The day on which the excellent man whom they have just made a martyr was raised to power, they appealed to force, to realize what treason had prepared. They have failed. They did not succeed in overthrowing Lincoln from power by war ; they have done so by assassina- tion. The plot appears to have been well arranged. By striking down with the President his two principal minis- ters, one of whom they reached, and the General-in-Chief, who was saved by an accidental occurrence, the murderers expected to disorganize the Government of the Republic and give fresh life to the rebellion. Their hopes will be frustrated. These sanguinary fanatics, whose cause has fallen not so much by the material superiority as the moral power of democracy have become incapable of understanding the effects of the free institutions which them fathers glo- riously aided in establishing. A fresh illustration will be seen of what those institutions can produce. The indigna- tion of the people will not exhaust itself in a momentary outburst ; it will concentrate and embody itself in the una- nimous, persevering, invincible action of the universal will ; whoever may be the agents, the instruments of the work, that work, we may rest assured, will be finished. The event will show that it did not depend upon the life of one man or of several men. The work will be completed after Lincoln as if finished by him ; but Lincoln will remain the austere and sacred personification of a great epoch, the most faith- ful expression of democracy. This simple and upright man, prudent and strong, elevated step by step from the artizan's bench to the command of a great nation, and always without parade and without effort at the height of his position, exe- cuting without precipitation, without flourish, and with invincible good sense, the most colossal acts, giving to the world this decisive example of the civil power in a republic, directing a gigantic war, without free institutions being for
112 APPENDIX.
an instant compromised or threatened by military usurpa- tion, dying finally at the moment in which, after conquering, he was intent on pacification — and may God grant that the atrocious madmen who killed him have not killed clemency with him, and determined instead of the peace he wished, pacification by force — this man will stand out in the tradi- tions of his country and the world as an incarnation of the people and of modern democracy itself. The great work of emancipation had to be sealed, therefore, with the blood of the just, even as it was inaugurated with the blood of the just. The tragic history of the abolition of slavery which opened with the gibbet of John Brown, will close with the assassination of Lincoln. And now let him rest by the side of Washington, as the second founder of the great republic. European democracy is present in spirit at his funeral, as it voted in its heart for his re-election, and applauded the victory in the midst of which he passes away. It will wish with one accord to associate itself with the mo- nument that America will raise to him upon the capital of prostrate slavery."
M. Peyrat writes as follows in the Avenir National : —
" Abraham Lincoln receives his reward, the only one he would have longed for if ambition of any kind could have entered the heart of that great citizen ; the two worlds are mourning his death. What is especially striking and note- worthy in the effect produced here by this unexpected news, is the universal conviction that the death of one man, how- ever great he may be, can neither disturb the affairs nor shake the institutions of the American Eepublic. Among a really free people there are neither necessary nor provi- dential men, there are citizens. All the better for that nation if those citizens are great, devoted, and honest, like Lincoln ; but, as it is the institutions there which make the men, the greatness of a citizen is never detrimental to the welfare of the nation. With the theory of providential men we commence with Washington, but we never know with whom to finish. With the theory which subordinates men to institutions, and which makes them, especially the greatest, the servants of the right, we commence with Washington and finish with Lincoln, or rather do not finish ; we go from honest man to honest man, from good citizen to good citizen. We see Andrew Johnson, when installed as President twelve hours after the death of Lincoln, bow
APPENDIX. 113
before the national representation, speak not of his rights, but of his duties, and declare that he will faithfully fulfil them. The United States have the freest, the gentlest, and at the. same time the strongest government on earth. What distinguishes them above all is not so much the courage with which they have conquered their independence as the wisdom with which they have constituted their liberty. That a nation driven to desperation should overthrow its oppressors is one of the commonest facts of history ; what is more rare is that a nation, energetic enough to gain its rights, should be vigilant and firm enough to retain them. To conquer liberty merely to lose it, to possess and not know how to make use of it, that is to say, not know how to be free, such has been the sight afforded more than once by European democracy. But to strengthen liberty after having conquered it, to guarantee it by vigorous institu- tions, to form around it by good laws an impenetrable rampart, and preserve it thus from its own errors, is a secret which antiquity never possessed, which Europe is but little acquainted with, and which the New World has revealed to the Old. The guarantee of liberty is fidelity to principles ; they are the compass which in great political crises should serve as guides to the men who rule the destinies of nations. And it is because he was devoted to liberty, even to martyrdom, that Lincoln is mourned in the two worlds, and that he has, as we said three days ago, his place marked out by the side of Washington. He was not, we admit, what is called a man of genius, and, far from regretting this, we ought to rejoice at it, for he has shown what may be done, even without great talents, by elevation and firmness of character, political honesty, and devotion to the cause of justice and liberty."
The following beautiful lines are from Punch : —
You lay a wreath on murdered Lincoln's bier, You, who with mocking pencil wont to trace,
Broad for the self-complacent British sneer,
His length of shambling limb, his furrowed face.
His gaunt, gnarled hands, his unkempt, bristling hair, His garb uncouth, his bearing ill at ease,
His lack of all we prize as debonair,
Of power or will to shine, of art to please.
8
114 APPENDIX.
You, whose smart pen backed up the pencil's laugh, Judging each step, as though the way were plain :
Reckless, so it could point its paragraph, Of chief's perplexity, or people's pain.
Beside this corpse, that bears for winding-sheet The Stars and Stripes he lived to rear anew,
Between the mourners at his head and feet, Say, scurril-jester, is there room for you ?
Tes, he had lived to shame me from my sneer, To lame my pencil, and confute my pen —
To make me own this hind of princes peer, This rail-splitter a true-born king of men.
My shallow judgment I had learnt to rue,
!Noting how to occasion's height he rose, How his quaint wit made home-truth seem more true,
How, iron-like, his temper grew by blows.
How humble yet how hopeful he could be : How in good fortune and in ill the same :
Nor bitter in success, nor boastful he, Thirsty for gold, nor feverish for fame.
He went about his work — such work as few Ever had laid on head aud heart and hand —
As one who knows, where there's a task to do,
Man's honest will must Heaven's good grace command ;
Who trusts the strength will with the burden grow, That God makes instruments to work his will,
If but that will we can arrive to know,
Nor tamper with the weights of good and ill.
So he went forth to battle, on the side
That he felt clear was Liberty's and Right's,
As in his peasant boyhood he had plied
His warfare with rude Nature's thwarting mights —
The uncleared forest, the unbroken soil,
The iron-bark, that turns the lumberer's axe,
The rapid, that o'erbears the boatman's toil,
The prairie, hiding the mazed wanderer's tracks,
The ambushed Indian, and the prowling bear —
Such were the needs that helped his youth to train :
Bough culture — but such trees large fruit may bear, If but their stocks be of right girth and grain.
APPENDIX. 115
So he grew up, a destined work to do, And lived to do it : four long-suffering years'
Ill-fate, ill-feeling, ill-report, lived through, And then he heard the hisses change to cheers,
The taunts to tribute, the abuse to praise,
And took both with the same unwavering mood :
Till, as he came on light, from darkling days,
And seemed to touch the goal from where he stood,
A felon had, between the goal and him.
Reached from behind his back, a trigger prest, — And those perplexed and patient eyes were dim,
Those gaunt, long-labouring limbs, were laid to rest !
The words of mercy were upon his lips,
Forgiveness in his heart and on his pen, When this vile murderer brought swift eclipse
To thoughts of peace on earth, good-will to men.
The Old "World and the New, from sea to sea,
Utter one voice of sympathy and shame ! Sore heart, so stopped when it at last beat high,
Sad life, cut short just as its triumph came.
A deed accurst ! Strokes have been struck before By the assassin's hand, whereof men doubt
If more of horror or disgrace they bore ;
But thy foul crime, like Cain's, stands darkly out.
Vile hand, that brandest murder on a strife,
Whate'er its grounds, stoutly and nobly striven ;
And with the martyr's crown crownest a life "With much to praise, little to be forgiven !
REPUBLICAN PLATFORM Adopted at Chicago, 1860.
Resolved, That we, the delegated representatives of the Republican electors of the United States, in Convention assembled, in discharge of the duty we owe to our con- stituents and our country, unite in the following declara- tions : —
1. That the history of the nation, during the last four
116 APPENDIX.
years, has fully established the propriety and necessity of the organization and perpetuation of the Kepublican party, and that the causes which called it into existence are permanent in their nature, and now, more than ever before, demand its peaceful and constitutional triumph.
2. That the maintenance of the principles promulgated in the Declaration of Independence, and embodied in the Federal Constitution, " That all men are created equal ; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalien- able rights ; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness ; that to secure these rights, govern- ments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed," is essential to the pre- servation of our Kepublican institutions ; and that the Federal Constitution, the Eights of the States, and the Union of the States, must and shall be preserved.
3. That to the Union of the States this nation owes its unprecedented increase in population, its surprising develop- ment of material resources, its rapid augmentation of wealth, its happiness at home, and its honour abroad; and we hold in abhorrence all schemes for Disunion, come from whatever source they may : And we congratulate the country that no Kepublican member of Congress has uttered or countenanced the threats of Disunion so often made by Democratic members, without rebuke and with applause from their political associates; and we denounce those threats of Disunion, in case of a popular overthrow of their ascendency, as denying the vital principles of a free govern- ment, and as an avowal of contemplated treason, which it is the imperative duty of an indignant people sternly to rebuke and for ever silence.
4. That the maintenance inviolate of the rights of the States, and especially the right of each State to order and control its own domestic institutions according to its own judgment exclusively, is essential to that balance of powers on which the perfection and endurance of our political fabric depends ; and we denounce the lawless invasion by armed force of the soil of any State or Territory, no matter under what pretext, as among the gravest of crimes.
5. That the present Democratic Administration has far exceeded our worst apprehensions, in its measureless subserviency to the exactions of a sectional interest, as especially evinced in its desperate exertions to force the infamous Lecompton Constitution upon the protesting
people of Kansas; in construing the personal relation
APPENDIX. 117
between master and servant to involve an unqualified pro- perty in persons ; in its attempted enforcement, everywhere, on land and sea, through the intervention of Congress and of the Federal Courts of the extreme pretensions of a purely local interest ; and in its general and unvarying abuse of the power intrusted to it by a confiding people.
6. That the people justly view with alarm the reckless extravagance which pervades every department of the Federal Government ; that a return to rigid economy and accountability is indispensable to arrest the systematic plunder of the public treasury by favoured partisans, while the recent startling developments of frauds and corruptions at the Federal metropolis, show that an entire change of administration is imperatively demanded.
7. That the new dogma, that the Constitution, of its own force, carries Slavery into any or all of the Territories of the United States, is a dangerous political heresy, at variance with the explicit provisions of that instrument itself, with contemporaneous exposition, and with legislative and judicial precedent ; is revolutionary in its tendency, and subversive of the peace and harmony of the country.
8. That the normal condition of all the territory of the United States is that of freedom ; that as our Republican fathers, when they had abolished Slavery in all our national territory, ordained that " no person should be de- prived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law," it becomes our duty, by legislation, whenever such legislation is necessary, to maintain this provision of the Constitution, against all attempts to violate it ; and we deny the authority of Congress, of a territorial legislature, or of any individuals, to give legal existence to Slavery in any territory of the United States.
9. That we brand the recent reopening of the African slave-trade, under the cover of our national flag, aided by perversions of judicial power, as a crime against humanity and a burning shame to our country and age ; and we call upon Congress to take prompt and efficient measures for the total and final suppression of the execrable traffic.
10. That in the recent vetoes, by their Federal Gover- nors, of the acts of the Legislatures of Kansas and Nebraska, prohibiting Slavery in those territories, we find a practical illustration of the boasted Democratic principle of non-intervention and popular sovereignty, embodied in the Kansas -Nebraska Bill, and a demonstration of the deception and fraud involved therein.
118 APPENDIX.
11. That Kansas should, of right, be immediately ad- mitted as a State under the Constitution recently formed and adopted by her people, and accepted by the House of Representatives.
12. That, while providing revenue for the support of the General Government by duties upon imports, sound policy requires such an adjustment of these imposts as to encourage the development of the industrial interest of the whole country; and we commend that policy of national exchanges which secures to the working men liberal wages, to agriculture remunerative prices, to mechanics and manufactures an adequate reward for their skill, labour, and enterprize, and to the nation commercial prosperity and independence.
13. That we protest against any sale or alienation to others of the public lands held by actual settlers, and against any view of the homestead policy which regards the settlers as paupers or suppliants for public bounty ; and we demand the passage by Congress of the complete and satisfactory homestead measure which has already passed the House.
14. That the Republican party is opposed to any change in our Naturalization Laws or any State legislation by which the rights of citizenship hitherto accorded to immi- grants from foreign lands shall be abridged or impaired ; and in favour of giving a full and efficient protection to the rights of all classes of citizens, whether native or naturalized, both at home and abroad.
15. That appropriations by Congress for river and harbour improvements of a national character, required for the accommodation and security of an existing commerce, are authorized by the Constitution, and justified by the obligations of Government to protect the lives and property of its citizens.
16. That a railroad to the Pacific Ocean is imperatively demanded by the interest of the whole country ; that the Federal Government ought to render immediate and efficient aid in its construction ; and that, as preliminary thereto, a daily Overland Mail should be promptly esta- blished.
17. Finally, having thus set forth our distinctive principles and views, we invite the co-operation of all citizens, however differing on other questions, who sub- stantially agree with us in their affirmance and support.
APPENDIX. 119
DEMOCEATIC (DOUGLAS) PLATFOKM, Adopted at Charleston and Baltimore, 1860.
1. Resolved, That we, the Democracy of the Union, in Convention assembled, hereby declare our affirmance of the resolutions unanimously adopted and declared as a platform of principles by the Democratic Convention at Cincinnati, in the year 1856, believing that Democratic principles are unchangeable in their nature, when applied to the same subject matters ; and we recommend, as the only further resolutions, the following: —
Inasmuch as differences of opinion exist in the Demo- cratic party as to the nature and extent of the Powers of a Territorial Legislature, and as to the powers and duties of Congress, under the Constitution of the United States, over the institution of Slavery within the territories :
2. Resolved, That the Democratic party will abide by the decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States on the questions of Constitutional law.
3. Resolved, That it is the duty of the United States to afford ample and complete protection to all its citizens, whether at home or abroad, and whether native or foreign.
4. Resolved, That one of the necessities of the age, in a military, commercial, and postal point of view, is speedy communication between the Atlantic and Pacific States ; and the Democratic party pledge such constitutional Government aid as will insure the construction of a railroad to the Pacific coast, at the earliest practicable period.
5. Resolved, That the Democratic party are in favour of the acquisition of the island of Cuba, on such terms as shall be honourable to ourselves and just to Spain.
6. Resolved, That the enactments of State Legislatures to defeat the faithful execution of the Fugitive Slave Law, are hostile in character, subversive of the Constitution, and revolutionary in their effect.
7. Resolved, That it is in accordance with the true inter- pretation of the Cincinnati Platform, that, during the existence of the Territorial Government, the measure of restriction, whatever it may be, imposed by the Federal Constitution on the power of the Territorial Legislature over the subject of the domestic relations, as the same has been, or shall hereafter be, finally determined by the Supreme Court of the United States, shall be respected by all good
120 APPENDIX.
citizens, and enforced with promptness and fidelity by every branch of the General Government.
DEMOCEATIC (BRECKINRIDGE) PLATFORM
Adopted at Charleston and Baltimore, 1860.
Resolved, That the Platform adopted by the Democratic party in Cincinnati be affirmed, with the following explana- tory resolutions : — •
1. That the Government of a Territory organized by an Act of Congress, is provisional and temporary ; and during its existence, all citizens of the United States have an equal right to settle with their property in the Territory, without their rights, either of person or property, being destroyed or impaired by Congressional or Territorial legislation.
2. That it is the duty of the Federal Government, in all its departments, to protect, when necessary, the rights of persons and property in the Territories, and wherever else its Constitutional authority extends.
3. That when the settlers in a Territory having an adequate population, form a State Constitution, in pur- suance of law, the right of sovereignty commences, and, being consummated by admission into the Union, they stand on an equal footing with the people of other States ; and the State thus organized ought to be admitted into the Federal Union, whether its Constitution prohibits or recognizes the institution of Slavery.
4. That the Democratic party are in favour of the acquisition of the island of Cuba, on such terms as shall be honourable to ourselves and just to Spain, at the earliest practicable moment.
5. That the enactments of State Legislatures to defeat the faithful execution of the Fugitive Slave Law are hostile in character, subversive of the Constitution, and revolu- tionary in their effect.
6. That the democracy of the United States recognize it as the imperative duty of this Government to protect the naturalized citizen in all his rights, whether at home or in foreign lands, to the same extent as its native-born citizens.
Wliereas, one*6f the greatest necessities of the age in a political, commercial, postal, and military point of view, is a
APPENDIX. 121
speedy communication between the Pacific and Atlantic coasts ; therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Democratic party do hereby pledge themselves to use every means in their power to secure the passage of some Bill to the extent of the Constitutional authority of Congress for the Construction of a Pacific railroad from the Mississippi Eiver to the Pacific Ocean, at the earliest practicable moment.
As both the Douglas and Breckinridge Conventions readopted the Democratic Platform of 1856, the republica- tion of that document seems necessary to an understanding of the present position of the "National Democracy."
ORDINANCES OF SECESSION, AND THE VOTES THEREUPON.
Of these documents we give only one as a specimen — that of Alabama. Its perusal will do away with that false impression in regard to the causes and origin of the American war, which, even yet, is greatly prevalent in Europe. It will be seen that, whatever partisan-emissaries may aver, now that their declaration at the time of secession — the res gestae of their case — points only to one dispute, viz., that in regard to slavery. As regards the votes on the passage of the different ordinances, all of which are given, the reader must bear in mind that they convey an erroneous idea of unanimity, the popular vote being very different from the electoral. This is explained by the fact, that many of the electors who swelled the secession vote were themselves chosen by a bare majority.
Alabama Ordinance.
(Passed in Secret Session of Convention at Montgomery, 11th.
January, 1861, by a vote of 61 ayes to 39 nays.)
Whereas the election of Abraham Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin to the offices of President and Vice-President of the United States of America by a sectional party, avowedly hostile to the domestic institutions and to the peace and security of the people of the State of Alabama, preceded by many and dangerous infractions of the Constitution of the United States by many of the States and people of the Northern section, is a political wrong of so insulting and menacing a character as to justify the people of the State of
122 APPENDIX.
Alabama in the adoption of prompt and decided measures for their future peace and security : Therefore,
Be it declared and ordained by the people of the State of Alabama, in convention assembled, That the State of Alabama now withdraws, and is hereby withdrawn, from the Union known as " the United States of America," and henceforth ceases to be one of said United States, and is, and of right ought to be, a sovereign and independent State.
Sec. 2. Be it further declared and ordained by the people of the State of Alabama, in convention assembled, That all the powers over the territory of said State, and over the people thereof, heretofore delegated to the Government of the United States of America be, and they are hereby, with- drawn from said Government, and are hereby resumed and vested in the people of the State of Alabama.
And as it is the desire and purpose of the State of Ala- bama to meet the slaveholding States of the South who may approve such purpose, in order to frame a provisional as well as permanent government, upon the principles of the Constitution of the United States,
Be it resolved by the people of Alabama, in convention assembled, That the people of the States of Delaware, Mary- land, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Missouri, be, and are hereby, invited to meet the people of the State of Alabama, by their delegates, in convention, on the 4th day of February, a.d. 1861, at the city of Montgomery, in the State of Alabama, for the purpose of consulting with each other as to the most effectual mode of securing concerted and harmonious action in whatever measures may be deemed most desirable for our common peace and security.
And be it further resolved, That the president of this con- vention be, and is hereby, instructed to transmit forthwith a copy of the foregoing preamble, ordinance, and resolution, to the Governors of the several States named in said reso- lution.
The ordinance of the State of Arkansas was adopted in Convention at Little Eock, 6th May, 1861, by a vote of 69 ayes to 1 nay ; that of Florida, at Tallahasse, 7th January, 1861, by a vote of 62 ayes to 7 nays ; that of Georgia, at Milledgeville, lyth- January, 1861, by a vote of 208 ayes to 89 nays ; of Louisiana, at Baton Eouge, 26th January, 1861, by a vote of 113 ayes to 17 nays ; of Mississippi, at Jackson,
APPENDIX. ] 23
9th January, 1861, by a vote of 84 ayes to 15 nays ; of North Carolina, in Ealeigh, 21st May, 1861, by a unanimous vote — yet this State was really one of the most reluctant ; of South Carolina, at Charleston, 20th December, 1860, by a unanimous vote. In Tennessee, the ordinance passed the Legislature, subject to ratification by the people at Nash- ville, on 6th May, 1861, by a vote in the senate of 20 ayes to 4 nays, in the House, 46 ayes to 21 nays. The ordinance of Virginia was passed at Eichmond on the 17th April, 1861, by a vote of 88 ayes to 55 nays.
Of these ordinances, four — to wit, those of the border States of Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Ar- kansas— succeeded the bombardment of Fort Sumter, which was determined upon chiefly with the object of compelling them to take sides with the South.
SPEECH AT SPEINGFIELD, ILLINOIS, June 17, 1858.
"Mr. President, and Gentlemen of the Convention, — If we could first know where we are, and whether we are tending, we could better judge what to do, and how to do it. We are now far into the fifth year, since a policy was initiated with the avowed object, and confident promise of putting an end to slavery agitation. Under the operation of that policy, that agitation has not only not ceased, but has constantly augmented. In my opinion, it will not cease until a crisis shall have been reached and passed. ' A house divided against itself 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 further 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
124 APPENDIX.
almost complete legal combination — piece of machinery, so to speak — compounded of the Nebraska doctrine and the Dred Scott decision. Let him consider not only what work the machinery is adapted to do, and how well adapted ; but also let him study the history of its construction, and trace, if he can, or rather fail, if he can, to trace the evidence of design, and concert of action, among its chief architects, from the beginning.
" The new year of 1854 found slavery excluded from more than half the States by State Constitutions, and from most of the national territory by Congressional pro- hibition. 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 indorse- ment 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,' otherwise called ' sacred right of self-government,' which latter phrase, though expressive of the only rightful basis of any government, was so perverted in this attempted use of it, as to amount to just this : That if any one man choose to enslave another, no third man should be allowed to object. That argument was incor- porated 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 institu- tions in their own way, subject only to the Constitution of the United States.' Then opened the roar of loose declama- tion in favour of ' squatter sovereignty,' and ' sacred right of self-government.' ' 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 lata case involving the question of a negro's freedom, by reason of his owner having voluntarily taken him first into a Free State and then into a territory covered by the Congressional prohibition, and held him as a slave for a long time in each, was passing through the United States
APPENDIX. I2S
Circuit court for the district of Missouri ; and both Ne- braska bill and law suit were brought to a decision in the same month of May, 1854. The negro's name was ' Dred Scott,' which name now designates the decision finally made in the decision. Before the then next Presidential election, the law case came to, and was argued in the Su- preme 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 ex- clude slavery from their limits ; and the latter answers : ' That is a question for the Supreme Court.'
"The election came. Mr. Buchanan was elected, and the indorsement, such as it was, secured. That was the second point gained. The indorsement, however, fell short of a clear popular majority by nearly four hundred thou- sand votes, and so, perhaps, was not overwhelmingly reliable and satisfactory. The outgoing President, in his last annual message, as impressively as possible, echoed back upon the people the weight and authority of the in- dorsement. The Supreme Court met again ; did not an- nounce their decision, but ordered a re-argument. The presidential inauguration came, and still no decision of the court ; but the incoming President in his inaugural address, fervently exhorted the people to abide by the forthcoming decision, whatever it might be. Then in a few days came the decision.
" The reputed author of the Nebraska bill finds an early occasion to make a speech at this capital, indorsing the Dred Scott decision, and vehemently denouncing all oppo- sition to it. The new President, too, seizes the early oc- casion of the Silliman letter to indorse and strongly construe that decision, and to express his astonishment that any different view had ever been entertained !
" At length a squabble springs up between the President and the author of the Nebraska bill, on the mere question of fact, whether the Lecompton Constitution was or was not, in any just sense, made by the people of Kansas ; and in that quarrel the latter declares that all he wants is a fair vote for the people, and that he cares not whether slavery be voted down or voted up. I do not understand his de- claration that he cares not whether slavery be voted down or voted up, to be intended by him other than as an apt definition of the policy he would impress upon the public
126 APPENDIX.
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 exist- ence, tumbled down like temporary scaffolding — like the mould at the foundry served through one blast and fell back into loose sand — helped to carry an election, and then was kicked to the winds. His late joint struggle with the Republicans against the Lecompton Constitution, involves nothing of the original Nebraska doctrine. That struggle was made on a point, the right of a people to make their own constitution, upon which he and the Eepublicans have never differed.
" The several points of the Dred Scott decision, in con- nection with Senator Douglas's ' care not' policy, constitute the piece of machinery in its present state of advancement. This was the thud 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 de- prive 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 immunities of citizens in the several States.'
" Secondly, That ' subject to the Constitution of the United States,' neither Congress nor a Territorial Legis- lature can exclude slavery from any United States territory. This point is made in order that individual men may fill up the territories with slaves, without danger of losing them as property, and thus to enhance the chances of permanency to the institution through all the future.
" Thirdly, That whether the holding a negro in actual slavery in a free State, makes him free, as against the holder, the United States courts will not decide, but will leave to be decided by the courts of any slave State the negro may be forced into by the master. This point is made, not to be pressed immediately ; but, if acquiesced in for awhile, and apparently indorsed by the people at an election, then to sustain the logical conclusion that what Dred Scott's master might lawfully do with Dred Scott, in
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the free state of Illinois, every other master may lawfully do with any other one, or one thousand slaves in Illinois, or in any other free State.
" Auxiliary to all this, and working hand in hand with it, the Nebraska doctrine, or what is left of it, is to educate and mould public opinion, at least Northern public opinion, not to care whether slavery is voted down or voted up. This shows exactly where we now are ; and partially, also, whither we are tending.
" It will throw additional light on the latter, to go back, and run the mind over the string of historical facts already stated. Several things will now appear less dark and mys- terious than they did when they were transpiring. The people were to be left ' perfectly free,' subject only to the Constitution. What the Constitution has to do with it, outsiders could not then see. Plainly enough now, it was an exactly fitted niche, for the Dred Scott decision to after- ward come in, and declare the perfect freedom of the people to be just no freedom at all. Why was the amendment 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 carried. Why the outgoing President's felicitation on the indorsement ? Why the delay of a re-argument ? Why the incoming President's advance exhortation in favour 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 adapta- tions 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 different pieces exactly adapted to their respective places, and not a piece too many or too few, not omitting even scaffolding ; or, if a single piece be
128 APPENDIX.
lacking, we see the place in the frame exactly fitted and prepared yet to bring such piece in ; in such a case, we fiud it impossible not to believe that Stephen and Franklin, and Roger and James all understood one another from the beginning, and all worked upon a common plan or draft drawn up before the first blow was struck.
" It should not be overlooked that, by the Nebraska bill, the people of a State as well as a Territory, were to be left ' perfectly free,' ' subject only to the Constitution.' Why mention a State ? They were legislating for Territories, and not for or about States. Certainly the people of a State are and ought to be subject to the Constitution of the United States ; but why is mention of this lugged into this merely Territorial law ? Why are the people of a Territory and the people of a State therein lumped together, and their relation to the Constitution therein treated as being precisely the same ? While the opinion of the court by Chief- Justice Taney, in the Dred _ Scott case, and the separate opinions of all the concurring Judges, expressly declare that the Constitution of the United States neither permits Congress nor a Territorial Legislature to exclude slavery from any United States Territory, they all omit to declare whether or not the same Constitution permits a State, or the people of a State, to exclude it. Possibly this is a mere omission ; but who can be quite sure, if McLean or Curtis had sought to get into the opinion a declaration of unlimited power in the people of a State to exclude slavery from their limits, just as Chase and Mace sought to get such declaration, in behalf of the people of a territory, into the Nebraska Bill— I ask, who can be quite sure that it would not have been voted down in the one case as it had been in the other ? The nearest approach to the point of declaring the power of a State over slavery, is made by Judge Nelson. He approaches it more than once, using the precise idea, and almost the language, too, of the Nebraska Act. On one occasion his exact language is, ' except in cases where the power is restrained by the Constitution of the United States, the law of the State is supreme over the subject of slavery within its jurisdiction.' In what cases the power of the 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 Terri- tories, 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
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decision, declaring that the Constitution of the United States does not permit a State to exclude slavery from its limits. And this may especially be expected if the doctrine of ' care not whether slavery be voted down or voted up,' shall gain upon the public mind sufficiently to give promise that such a decision can be maintained when made.
" Such a decision is all that slavery now lacks of being alike lawful in all the States. Welcome or unwelcome, such decision is probably coming, and will soon be upon us, unless the power of the present political dynasty shall be met and overthrown. We shall lie down pleasantly dreaming that the people of Missouri are on the verge of making their State free, and we shall awake to the reality instead, that the Supreme Court has made Illinois a slave State. To meet and overthrow the power of that dynasty, is the work now before all those who would prevent that consummation. This is what we have to do. How can we best do it ?"
Mr. Lincoln having been invited by the Eepublicans of Boston to attend a festival in honour of the anniversary of Jefferson's birthday, on the 13th of April, 1859, replied as follows : —
" Springfield, III., April 6, 1859.
" Gentlemen, — Tour kind note inviting me to attend a festival in Boston, on the loth instant, in honour of the birthday of Thomas Jefferson, was 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. Republicans, on the contrary, are both for the man and the dollar, but in case of conflict the man before the dollar.
" I remember being once much amused at seeing twc- partially intoxicated men engaged in a fight with their great-coats on, which fight, after a long and rather harm- less contest, ended in each having fought himself out of his own coat and into that of the other. If the two leading parties 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 Jefferson from total overthrow in this nation
9
130 APPENDIX.
This is a world of compensations ; and he who would be no slave must consent to have no slave. Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves ; and, under a just God, cannot long retain it.
"All honour to Jefferson ; to a man who, in the concrete pressure of a struggle for national independence by a single people, had the coolness, forecast, and capacity to introduce into a merely revolutionary document an abstract truth, applicable to all men and all times, and so to embalm it there, that to-day and in all coming days it shall be a rebuke and a stumbling-block to the harbingers of reap- pearing tyranny and oppression.
" Your obedient servant,
"A. Lincoln.
" Messrs. H. L. Pieece, and others, etc."
The following characteristic speech was made by Mr. Lincoln to his fellow-townsmen, on his departure from Springfield to assume the duties of President. It is a beau- tiful illustration of his modesty and sincerity, and of that deep religious trust by which he was sustained in the very difficult and trying position to which he was called : —
" My friends, no one not in my position can appreciate the sadness I feel at this parting. To this people I owe all that I am. Here I have lived more than a quarter of a century ; here my children were born, and here one of them lies buried. I know not how soon I shall see you again. A duty devolves upon me which is, perhaps, greater than that which has devolved upon any other man since the days of Washington. He never would have succeeded except for the aid of Divine Providence, upon whom he at all times relied. I feel that I cannot succeed without the same Divine aid which sustained him, and on the same Almighty Being I place my reliance for support ; and I hope you, my friends, will all pray that I may receive that Divine assistance, without which I cannot succeed, but with which success is certain. Again I bid you all an affectionate farewell."
INAUGUEAL ADDEESS, March 4, 1861.
" Felloiv- citizens of tlie United States, — In compliance with a custom as old as the Government itself, I appear before you to address you briefly, and to take in your pre- sence the oath prescribed by the Constitution of the United
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States to be taken by the President ' before be enters on tbe execution of bis office.'
" I do not consider it necessary at present for me to discuss those matters of administration about which there is no special anxiety or excitement.
" Apprehension seems to exist among the people of the Southern States that, by the accession of a Republican Administration, their property and their peace and personal security are to be endangered. There has never been any reasonable cause for such apprehension. Indeed, the most ample evidence to the contrary has all the while existed and been open to their inspection. It is found in nearly all the published speeches of him who now addresses you. I do but quote from one of those speeches when I declare that ' I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no in- clination 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 more than this, they placed in the platform for my accep- tance, and as a law to themselves and to me, the clear and emphatic resolution which I now read : —
" ' Resolved, That the maintenance inviolate of the rights of the States, and especially the right of each State to order and control its own domestic institutions according to its own judgment exclusively, is essential to the balance of power on which the perfection and endurance of our political fabric depend ; and we denounce the lawless invasion by armed force of the soil of any State or Teriitory, no matter under what pretext, as among the gravest of crimes.'
" I now reiterate these sentiments ; and, in doing so, I only press upon the public attention the most conclusive evidence of which the case is susceptible, that the property, peace, and security of no section are to be in anywise endangered by the now incoming Administration. I add, too, that all the protection which, consistently with the Constitution and the laws, can be given, will be cheerfully given to- all the States when lawfully demanded, for what- ever cause — as cheerfully to one section as to another.
" There is much controversy about the delivering up of fugitives from service or labour. The clause I now read is as plainly written in the Constitution as any other of its provisions : —
" ' No person held to service or labour in one State, under
132 APPENDIX.
the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation therein, be discharged from such service or labour, but shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or labour may be due.'
" It is scarcely questioned that this provision was intended by those who made it for the reclaiming of what we call fugitive slaves ; and the intention of the law-giver 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 enforced by national or by State authority ; but surely that difference is not a very material one. If the slave is to be surrendered, it can be of but little consequence to him or to others by which authority it is done. And should any one, in any case, be content that his oath shall go unkept, on a merely unsubstantial controversy as to how it shall be kept ?
" Again, in any law upon this subject, ought not all the safeguards of liberty known in civilized and humane juris- prudence 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 ?'
" I take the official oath to-day with no mental reserva- tions, and with no purpose to construe the Constitution or laws by any hypercritical rules. And while I do not choose now to specify particular acts of Congress as proper to be enforced, I do suggest that it will be much safer for all, both in official and private stations, to conform to and abide by all those acts which stand unrepealed, than to violate any of them, trusting to find impunity in having them held to be unconstitutional.
" It is seventy-two years since the first inauguration of a President under our National Constitution. During that period, fifteen different and greatly distinguished citizens have, in succession, administered the Executive branch of the Government. They have conducted it through many
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perils, and generally with great success. Yet, with all this scope for precedent, I now enter upon the same task for the brief constitutional term of four years under great and peculiar difficulty. A disruption of the Federal 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 expressed, in the fundamental law of all National Governments. It is safe to assert that no Government proper ever had a provision in its organic law for its own termination. Continue to execute all the express provisions to our National Constitution, and the Union will endure for ever — it being impossible to destroy it, except by some action not provided for in the instrument itself.
" Again, if the United States be not a Government proper, but an association of States in the nature of the contract merely, can it, as a contract, be peaceably unmade by less than all the parties who made it ? One party to a contract may violate it — break it, so to speak ; but does it not require all to lawfully rescind it ?
" Descending from these general principles, we find the proposition that, in legal contemplation, the Union is per- petual, confirmed by the history of the Union itself. The Union is much older than the Constitution. It was formed, in fact, by the Articles of Association in 1774. It was matured and continued by the Declaration of Independence in 1776. It was further matured, and the faith of all the then thirteen States expressly plighted and engaged that it should be perpetual, by the Articles of Confederation in 1778. And, finally, in 1787, one of the declared objects for ordaining and establishing the Constitution was ' to form a more perfect union.'
" But if 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 Constitution having lost the vital element of perpetuity.
" It follows from these views, that no State, upon its own mere motion, can lawfully get out of the Union ; that resolves and ordinances to that effect are legally void ; and that acts of violence, within any State or States, against the authority of the United States, are insurrectionary or revolutionary, according to circumstances.
" I, therefore, consider that, in view of the Constitution and the laws, the Union is unbroken, and, to the extent of my
134 APPENDIX.
ability, I shall take care, as the Constitution itself expressly enjoins upon me, that the laws of the Union be faithfully executed in all the States. Doing this I deem to be only a simple duty on my part ; and I shall perform it, so far as practicable, unless my rightful masters, the American people, shall withhold the requisite means, or, in some authoritative manner, direct the contrary. I trust this will not be regarded as a menace, but only as a declared purpose of the Union that it will constitutionally defend and main- tain 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 confided to me will be used to hold, occupy, and possess the property and places belonging to the Government, and to collect the duties and imposts ; but, beyond what may be necessary**for these objects, there will be no invasion, no using of force against or among the people anywhere. Where hostility to the United states, in any interior locality, shall be so great and universal as to prevent competent resident citizens from holding the Federal offices, there will be no attempt to force obnoxious strangers 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 sense of perfect security which is most favourable to calm thought and reflection. The course here indicated will be followed, unless current events and experience shall show a modification or change to be proper ; and in every case and exigency my best discretion will be exercised, according to circumstances actually exist- ing, and with a view and a hope of a peaceful solution of the national troubles, and the restoration of fraternal sympathies and affections.
" That there are persons in one section or another who seek to destroy the Union at all events, and are glad of any pretext to do it, I will neither affirm nor deny ; but if there be such, I need address no word to them. To those, how- ever, who really love the Union, may I not speak ?
" Before entering upon so grave a matter as the destruc- tion of our national fabric, with all its benefits, its memories, and its hopes, would it not be wise to ascertain precisely
APPENDIX. 135
why we do it ? Will you hazard so desperate 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 yon risk the commission of so fearful a mistake ?
" All profess to be content in the Union, if all constitu- tional rights can be maintained. Is it true, then, that any right, plainly written in the Constitution, has been denied ? I think not. Happily, the human mind is so constituted, that no party can reach to the audacity of doing this. Think, if you can, of a single instance in which a plainly written provision of the Constitution has ever been denied. If, by the mere force of numbers, a majority should deprive a minority of any clearly written Constitutional right, it might, hi 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 con- troversies never arise concerning them. But no organic law can ever be framed with a provision specifically appli- cable to every question which may occur in practical administration. No foresight can anticipate, nor any docu- ment of reasonable length contain, express provisions for all possible questions. Shall fugitives from labour be sur- rendered by national or by State authority ? The Constitu- tion 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 acquiescence on one side or the other. If a minority in such case will secede rather than acquiesce, tiiey make a precedent which, in turn, will divide and ruin them ; for a minority of their own will secede from them whenever 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 F All who cherish dis- union sentiments are now being educated to the exact temper of doing this.
13G APPENDIX.
" Is there such perfect identity of interests among the States to compose a new Union, as to produce harmony only, and prevent renewed secession ?
" Plainly, the central idea of secession is the essence of anarchy. A majority held in restraint by constitutional checks and limitations, and always changing easily with deliberate changes of popular opinions and sentiments, is the only true sovereign of a free people. Whoever rejects it, does, of necessity, fly to anarchy or to despotism. Una- nimity is impossible ; the rule of a minority, as a permanent arrangement, is wholly inadmissible ; so that, rejecting the majority principle, anarchy or despotism in some form is all that is left.
" I do not forget the position assumed by some, that con- stitutional questions are to be decided by the Supreme Court ; nor do I deny that such decision 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 depart- ments of the Government. And while it is obviously pos- sible that such decision may be erroneous in any given case, still the evil effect following it, being limited to that par- ticular case, with the chance that it may be overruled, and never become a precedent for other cases, can better be borne than could the evils of a different practice. At the same time, the candid citizen must confess that if the policy of the Government upon vital questions, affecting the whole people, is to be irrevocably fixed by decisions of the Supreme Court the instant they are made in ordinary litigation be- tween pai-ties in personal actions, the people will have ceased to be their own rulers, having to that extent practically re- signed 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 poli- tical 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 dispute. The fugitive slave clause of the Con- stitution, 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
APPENDIX. 137
of the people abide by the dry legal obligation in both cases and a few break over in each. This, I think, cannot be per- fectly 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 sur- rendered 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 divorced, and go out of the presence and beyond the reach of each other ; but the different parts of our country cannot do this. They cannot but remain face to face ; and intercourse, either amicable or hostile, must continue be- tween 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 inter- course, are again upon you.
" This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing Government they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it, or their revolutionary right to dis- member 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 in- strument itself; and I should, under existing circumstances, favour rather than oppose a fair opportunity being afforded the people to act upon it. I will venture to add that to me the convention mode seems preferable, in that it allows amendments to originate with the people themselves, instead of only permitting them to take or reject propositions origi- nated 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 amend- ment to the Constitution — which amendment, however, I have not seen — has passed Congress, to the effect that the
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Federal Government shall never interfere with the domestic institutions 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 amend- ments so far as to say that, holding such a provision now to be implied constitutional law, I have no objection to its being made express and irrevocable.
" The chief magistrate derives all his authority from the people, and they have conferred none upon him to fix 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 ? 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 G-overnment under which we live, this same people have wisely given their public servants but little power for mischief; and have, with equal wisdom, provided for the return of that little to their own hands at very short intervals. "While the people retain then- virtue and vigilance, no Administration, by any extreme of weak- ness or folly, can very seriously injure the Government in the short space of four years.
" My countrymen, and all, think calmly and toell upon this whole subject. Nothing valuable can be lost by taking time. If there be any object to hurry any of you, in hot haste, to a step which you would never take deliberately, that object will be frustrated by taking time ; but no good object can be frustrated by it. Such of you as are now dissatisfied, still have the old Constitution unimpaired, and, on the sensitive point, the laws of your own framing under it; while the new administration will have no immediate power, if it would, to change either. If it were admitted that you who are dissatisfied hold the right side in the dispute, there still is no single good reason for precipitate action. Intelligence, patriotism, Christianity, and a firm reliance on Him who has never yet forsaken this favoured land, are still competent to adjust, in the best way, all our present difficulty.
APPENDIX. 139
" In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The Goveimment will not assail you,. You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors. You have no oath registered in heaven to destroy the Government, while I shall have the most solemn one to ' preserve, protect, and defend it.'
" I am 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 chords of memory, stretching from every battle-field and patriot grave to every living heart and hearth-stone, all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better anerels of our nature."
COMPENSATED EMANCIPATION.
The President sent the following message to Congress, March 6, 1862 :—
" Fellow-citizens of the Senate and House of Eepre- sentatives, — I recommend the adoption of a joint resolution by your honourable bodies, which shall be substantially as- follows : —
" ' Resolved, That the United States ought to co-operate with any State which may adopt gradual abolishment of slavery, giving to such State pecuniary aid, to be used by such State in its discretion, to compensate for the incon- veniences, public and private, produced by such change of system.'
"If the proposition contained in the resolution does not meet the approval of Congress and the country, there is the end ; but if it does command such approval, I deem it of importance that the States and people immediately interested should be at once distinctly notified of the fact, so that they may begin to consider whether to accept or reject it. The Federal Government would find its highest interest in such a measure, as one of the most efficient means of self-preservation. The leaders of the existing insurrection entertain the hope that this Government will ultimately be forced to acknowledge the independence of some part of the disaffected region, and that all the slave
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States north of such part will then say, 'the Union for which we have struggled being already gone, we now choose to go with the southern section.' To deprive them of this hope, substantially ends the rebellion ; and the initiation of emancipation completely deprives them of it as to all the States initiating it. The point is not that all the States tolerating slavery would very soon, if at all, initiate eman- cipation ; but that, while the offer is equally made to all, the more Northern shall, by such initiation, make it certain to the more Southern that in no event will the former ever join the latter in their proposed confederacy. I say ' initiation,' because, in my judgment, gradual, and not sudden eman- cipation, is better for all. In the mere financial or pecuniary view, any member of Congress, with the census tables and Treasury reports before him, can readily see for himself how very soon the current expenditures of this war would purchase, at fair valuation, all the slaves in any named State. Such a proposition on the part of the General Government sets up no claim of a right by Federal authority to interfere with slavery within State limits, referring, as it does, the absolute control of the subject in each case to the State and its people immediately interested. It is proposed as a matter of perfectly free choice with them.
" In the annual message last December, I thought fit to say, ' the Union must be preserved ; and hence all indis- pensable means must be employed.' I said this not hastily, but deliberately. War has been made, and continues to be an indispensable means to this end. A practical reacknow- ledgmcnt of the national authority would render the war unnecessary, and it would at once cease. If, however, re- sistance continues, the war must also continue ; and it is impossible to foresee all the incidents which may attend, and. all the ruin which may follow it. Such as may seem indispensable, or may obviously promise great efficiency towards ending the struggle, must and will come.
"The proposition now made, though an offer only, I hope it may be .esteemed no offence to ask whether the pecuniary consideration tendered would not be of more value to the States and private persons concerned, than are the institution and property in it, in the present aspect of affairs ?
" While it is true that the adoption of the proposed re- solution would be merely initiatory, and not within itself a practical measure, it is recommended in the hope that it would soon lead to important practical results. In full view
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of my great responsibility to my God and to my country, I earnestly beg the attention of Congress and the people to the subject.
"Abraham Lincoln."
LETTER TO HORACE GREELEY.
Executive Mansion, Washington, Friday, Aug. 22, 1862.
Dear Sir, — I have just read yours of the 19th instant, addi*essed to myself through the " New York Tribune."
If there be in it any statements or assumptions of fact which I may know to be erroneous, I do not now and here controvert them.
If there be 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. I 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 could at the same time save slavery, I do not agree with them.
If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could at the same time destroy slavery, I do not agree with them.
My paramount object is to save the Union, and not either to save or destroy slavery.
If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it ; and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it ; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would also do that.
What I do about slavery and the coloured race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union ; and what I forbear, I forbear because I do not believe it would help to save the Union.
I shall do less whenever I shall believe what I am doing hurts the cause, and shall do more whenever I believe doing more will help the cause.
142 APPENDIX.
I shall try to correct errors when shown to be errors, and I shall adopt new views so fast as they shall appear to be true views.
I have here stated my purpose according to my view of official duty, and I intend no modification of my oft-expressed personal wish that all men everywhere could be free. Yours, Hon. Horace Greeley. A. Lincoln.
EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION or Sept. 22, 1862.
I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States of America, and Commander-in-Chief of the army and navy thereof, do hereby proclaim and declare, that hereafter, as heretofore, the war will be prosecuted for the object of prac- tically 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 Con- gress, 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 there- after may voluntarily adopt, immediate or gradual abolish- ment 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 pre- viously obtained consent of the Government existing there, will be continued.
That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State, or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and for ever free ; and the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any effort they may make for their actual freedom.
That the Executive will, on the first day of January
APPENDIX. 143
aforesaid, by proclamation, designate the States, and parts of States, if any, in which the people thereof, respectively, shall then be in rebellion against the United States ; and the fact that any State, or the people thereof, shall on that day be, in good faith, represented in the Congress of the United States by members chosen thereto at elections wherein a majority of the qualified voters of such State shall have participated, shall, in the absence of strono- countervailing testimony, be deemed conclusive evidence that such State, and the people thereof, are not in rebellion against the United States.
That attention is hereby called to an Act of Congress, entitled " An Act to make an additional Article of War," approved March 13, 1862, and which Act is in the words and figures following : —
" Be it enacted by the Seriate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That hereafter the following shall be promulgated as an addi- tional article of war, for the government of the army of the United States, and shall be obeyed and observed as such.
"Article. — All officers or persons in the military or naval service of the United States are prohibited from em- ploying any of the forces under their respective commands for the purpose of returning fugitives from service or labour who may have escaped from any person to whom such ser- vice or labour is claimed to be due, and any officer who shall be found guilty by a court-martial of violating this article shall be dismissed from the service.
" Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That this act shall take effect from and after its passage."
Also to the ninth and tenth sections of an act entitled " An act to suppress insurrection, to punish treason and re- bellion, to seize and confiscate property of rebels, and for other purposes," approved July 17, 1862, and which sections are in the words and figures following :
" Sec. 9. And be it further enacted, That all slaves of persons who shall hereafter be engaged in rebellion against the Government of the United States or who shall in any way give aid or comfort thereto, escaping from such persons and taking refuge within the lines of the army ; and all slaves captured from such persons or deserted by them, and coming under the control of the Government of the United States ; and all slaves of such persons found on [or] being within any place occupied by rebel forces and after- wards occupied by the forces of the United States, shall be
144 APPENDIX.
deemed captives of war, and shall be for ever free of their servitude, and not again held as slaves.
" Sec. 10. And be it further enacted, That no slave escap- ing into any State, Territory, or the District of Columbia, from any other State, shall be delivered up, or in any way impeded or hindered of his liberty, except for crime, or some offence against the laws, unless the person claiming such fugitive shall first make oath that the person to whom the labour or service of such fugitive is alleged to be due is his lawful owner, and has not borne arms against the United States in the present rebellion, nor in any way given aid and comfort thereto ; and no person engaged in the military or naval service of the United States shall, under any pretence whatever, assume to decide on the validity of the claim of any person to the service or labour of any other person, or surrender up any such person to the claimant, on pain of being dismissed from the service."
And I do hereby enjoin upon and order all persons en- gaged in the military and naval service of the United States to observe, obey, and enforce, within their respective spheres of service, the act and sections above recited.
And the Executive will in due time recommend that all citizens of the United States who shall have remained loyal thereto throughout the rebellion shall (upon the restoration of the constitutional relation between the United States and their respective States and people, if 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 September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, and of the Independence of the United States the eighty-seventh.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN. By the President :
"William H. Seward, Secretary of State.
EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION.
January 1, 1863.
" Whereas, on the twenty-second day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty- two, a proclamation was issued by the President of the
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United States, containing, among other things, the following, to wit : —
" ' That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all per- sons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and for ever free ; and the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom.
" ' That the Executive will, on the first day of January aforesaid, by proclamation, designate the States and parts of States, if any, in which the people thereof, respectively, shall then be in rebellion against the United States ; and the fact that any State, or the people thereof, shall on that day be in good faith represented in the Congress of the United States, by members chosen thereto at elections, wherein a majority of the qualified voters of such States shall have participated, shall, in the absence of strong countervailing testimony, be deemed conclusive evidence that such State, and the people thereof, are not then in rebellion against the United States.'
" Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, by virtue of the power in me vested as Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, in time of actual armed rebellion against the autho- rity 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 proclaimed for the full period of one hundred days from the day first above men- tioned, 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 foUowing, to wit: —
"Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, (except the parishes of St. Bernard, Plaquemines, Jefferson, St. John, St. Charles, St. James, Ascension, Assumption, Terre Bonne, Lafourche, St. Mary, St. Martin, and Orleans, including the city of New Orleans,) Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia, (except the forty- eight counties designated as West Virginia, and also the
10
146 APPENDIX.
counties of Berkeley, Accomac, Northampton, Elizabeth City, York, Princess Ann, and Norfolk, including the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth,) and which excepted parts are for the present left precisely as if this proclamation were not issued.
" And by virtue of the power and for the purpose afore- said, I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States and parts of States are, and henceforward shall be, free ; and that the Executive Govern- ment 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 labour faithfully for reasonable wages.
" And I further declare and make known that such per- sons, 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 by the Constitution upon military neces- sity, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind and the gracious favour of Almighty God.
" In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
" Done at the city of Washington this first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the independence of the United States of America the eighty-seventh.
"ABRAHAM LINCOLN. " By the President :
" William H. Seward, Secretary of State."
THE PRESIDENT'S LETTER TO THE ILLINOIS CONVENTION.
Executive Mansion, Washington, August 26, 1863.
My dear. Sir, — Your letter inviting me to attend a mass meeting of unconditional Union men, to be held at the capital of Illinois, on the 3rd day of September, has been received. It would be very agreeable for me thus to meet
APPENDIX. 147
my old friends at my own home ; but I cannot just now be absent from here so long as a visit there would require.
The meeting is to be of all those who maintain uncon- ditional devotion to the Union ; and I am sure that my old political friends will thank me for tendering, as I do, the nation's gratitude to those other noble men whom no par- tisan malice or partisan hope can make false to the nation's life.
There are those who are dissatisfied with me. To such I would say : you desire peace, and you blame me that we do not have it. But how can [we attain it ? There are but three conceivable ways : First — to suppress the rebel- lion by force of arms. This I am trying to do. Are you for it ? If you are, so far we are agreed. If you are not for it, a second way is to give up the Union. I am against this. Are you for it ? If you are, you should say so plainly. If you are not for force, nor yet for dissolution, there only remains some imaginable compromise.
I do not believe that any compromise embracing the maintenance of the Union is now possible. All that I learn leads to a directly opposite belief. The strength of the rebellion is its military, its army. That army dominates all the country, and all the people within its range. Any offer of terms made by any man or men within that range, in opposition to that army, is simply nothing for the present ; because such man or men have no power whatever to enforce their side of a compromise, if one were made with them.
To illustrate : Suppose refugees from the South and peace men of the jSTorth get together in convention, and frame and proclaim a compromise embracing a restoration of the Union. In what way can that compromise be used to keep Lee's army out of Pennsylvania ? Meade's army can keep Lee's army out of Pennsylvania, and, I think, can ultimately drive it out of existence. But no paper compro- mise to which the controllers of Lee's army are not agreed can at all affect that army. In an effort at such compromise we would waste time, which the enemy would improve to our disadvantage ; and that would be all.
A compromise, to be effective, must be made either with those who control the rebel army, or with the people, first liberated from the domination of that army by the success of our own army, Now, allow me to assure you that no word or intimation from that rebel army, or from any of the men controlling it, in relation to any peace compromise, has
148 APPENDIX.
ever come to my knowledge or belief. All charges and insinuations to the contrary are deceptive and groundless. And I promise you that if any such proposition shall here- after come, it shall not be rejected and kept a secret from you. I freely acknowledge myself to be the servant of the people, according to the bond of service, the United States Constitution ; and that, as such, I am responsible to them.
But, to be plain. Tou are dissatisfied with me about the negro. Quite likely there is a difference of opinion between you and myself upon that subject. I certainly wish that all men could be free, while you, I suppose, do not. Yet, I have neither adopted nor proposed any measure which is not consistent with even your view, provided that you are for the Union. I suggested compensated emancipation ; to which you replied you wished not to be taxed to buy negroes. But I had not asked you to be taxed to buy negroes, except in such a way as to save you from greater taxation to save the Union exclusively by other means.
You dislike the Emancipation Proclamation, and perhaps would have it retracted. You say it is unconstitutional. I think differently. I think the Constitution invests its com- mander-in-chief with the law of war in time of war. The most that can be said, if so much, is, that slaves are property. Is there, has there, ever been, any question that by the law of war, property, both of enemies and friends, may be taken when needed ? And is it not needed whenever it helps us and hurts the enemy ? Armies, the world over, destroy enemies' property when they cannot use it; and even destroy their own to keep it from the enemy. Civilized belligerents do all in their power to help themselves or hurt the enemy, except a few things regarded as barbarous or cruel. Among the exceptions are the massacre of vanquished foes and non-combatants, male and female.
But the Proclamation, as law, either is valid or is not valid. If it is not valid it needs no retraction. If it is valid it cannot be retracted, any more than the dead can be brought to life. Some of you profess to think its retraction would operate favourably for the Union. Why better after the retraction than before the issue ? There was more than a year and a half of trial to suppress the rebellion before the Proclamation was issued — the last one hundred days of which passed under an explicit notice that it was coming, unless averted by those in revolt returning to their allegi- ance. The war has certainly progressed as favourably for us since the issue of the Proclamation as before.
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I know as fully as one can know the opinion of others that some of the commanders of our armies in the field, who have given us most important victories, believe the emanci- pation policy and the use of coloured troops constitute the heaviest blows yet dealt to the rebellion, and that at least one of those important successes could not have been achieved when it was but for the aid of black soldiers.
Among the commanders who hold these views are some who have never had an affinity with what is called " aboli- tionism," or with "Eepublican party politics," but who hold them purely as military opinions. I submit their opinions as entitled to some weight against the objections often urged that emancipation and arming the blacks are unwise as military measures, and were not adopted as such in good faith.
You say that you will not fight to free negroes. Some of them seem willing to fight for you ; but no matter. Fight you, then, exclusively, to save the Union. I issued the pro- clamation on purpose to aid you in saving the Union. When- ever you shall have conquered all resistance to the Union, if I shall urge you to continue fighting, it will be an apt time then for you to declare you will not fight to free negroes. I thought that in your struggle for the Union, to whatever extent the negroes should cease helping the enemy, to that extent it weakened the enemy in his resist- ance to you. Do you think differently ? I thought whatever negroes can be got to do as scldiers, leaves just so much less for white soldiers to do in saving the Union. Does it appear otherwise to you ? But negroes, like other people, act upon motives. Why should they do anything for us if we will do nothing for them ? If they stake their lives for us they must be prompted by the strongest motives, even the promise of freedom. And the promise, being made, must be kept.
The signs look better. The Father of Waters again goes unvexed to the sea. Thanks to the great North-west for it ; nor yet wholly to them. Three hundred miles up they met New England, Empire, Keystone, and Jersey, hewing their way right and left. The sunny South, too, in more colours than one, also lent a helping hand. On the spot, their part of the history was jotted down in black and white. The job was a great national one, and let none be slighted who bore an honourable part in it. And while those who have cleared the great river may well be proud, even that is not all. It is hard to say that anything has been more bravely
150 APPENDIX.
and well done than at Antietam, Murfreesboro, Gettysburg, and on many fields of less note. Nor must Uncle Sam's web -feet be forgotten. At all the watery margins they have been present, not only on the deep sea, the broad bay, .and the rapid river, but also up the narrow, muddy bayou, and wherever the ground was a little damp they have been and made their tracks. Thanks to all. For the great Re- public— for the principle it lives by and keeps alive — for man's vast future — thanks to all.
Peace does not appear so distant as it did. I hope it will come soon and come to stay ; and so come as to be worth the keeping in all future time. It will then have been proved that among freemen there can be no successful ap- peal from the ballot to the bullet, and that they who take such appeal are sure to lose their case and pay the cost. And there will be some black men who can remember that with silent tongue, and clenched teeth, and steady eye, and well-poised bayonet, they have helped mankind on to this great consummation, while I fear there will be some white ones unable to forget that with malignant heart and deceitful speech they have striven to hinder it.
Still, let us not be over-sanguine of a speedy, final triumph. Let us be quite sober. Let us diligently apply the means, never doubting that a just God, in his own good time, will give us the rightful result.
Yours, "very truly, A. LINCOLN.
Hon. James C. Conkxing.
INAUGURAL ADDRESS. Maech 4, 1865.
" Fellow- Countrymen, — At this second appearing to take the oath of the Presidential office, there is less occasion for an extended address than at first. Then a statement somewhat in detail of the course to be pursued seemed very fitting and proper; now, at the expiration of four years, during which public declarations have constantly been called forth concerning every point and place of the great contest which absorbs attention and engrosses the energies of the nation, little that is new could be presented.
" The progress of our arms, upon which all else chiefly depends, is as well known to the public as to myself. It is,
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I trust, reasonably satisfactory and encouraging to all. "With a high hope for the future, no prediction in that regard is ventured. On the occasion corresponding to this four years ago, all thoughts were anxiously directed to an impending civil war. All dreaded it. All sought to avoid it. While the inaugural address was being delivered from the place devoted altogether to saving the Union without war, the insurgent agents were m the city seeking to destroy it without war, seeking to dissolve the Union, and divide the effects by negotiating. Both parties deprecated war, but oue of them would make war rather than let it perish, and war came. One-eighth of the whole population were coloured slaves, not distributed generally over the Union, but located in the Southern part.
" These slaves contributed a peculiar and powerful interest. All knew the interest would somehow cause war. To strengthen, perpetuate, and extend this interest was the object for which the insurgents would rend the Union by war, while the Government claimed no right to do more than restrict the territorial enlargement of it. Neither party expected the magnitude or duration which it has already attained ; neither anticipated that the cause of the conflict might cease even before the conflict itself should cease. Each looked for an easier triumph, and a result less fundamental and astonishing. Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God. Each invokes his aid against the other. It may seem strange that any man should dare ask a just God's assistance in wringing bread from the sweat of other men's faces ; but let us judge not that we be not judged. The prayer of both should not be answered ; that of neither has been answered fully, for the Almighty has his own purposes. 'Woe unto the world because of offences, for it must needs be that offences come ; but woe unto that man by whom the offence cometh.' If we shill suppose American slavery one of these offences, which in the Providence of God must needs come, but which having continued through his appointed time He now wills to remove, and that He gives to both North and South this terrible war, as was due to those by whom the offence came, shall we discern that there is any departure from those divine attributes which believers in the living God always ascribe to Him ? Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away ; yet if it be God's will that it contmue until the wealth piled by bondsmen by 250 years' unrequited toil shall be sunk,
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and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said 3000 years ago, so still it must be said, that the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. With malice towards none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for whom shall have borne the battle and for his widow and orphans, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and a lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations."
THE PRESIDENT'S LETTER TO COLONEL HODGES, OF KENTUCKY.
Executive Mansion, "Washington, April 4, 1864.
My Dear Sir, — Tou ask me to put in writing the sub- stance of what I verbally said the other day, in your presence, to Governor Bramlette and Senator Dixon. It was about as follows :
" I am naturally an ti- slavery. If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong. I cannot remember when I did not so think and feel, and yet I have never understood that the Presidency conferred upon me an unrestricted right to act officially upon this judgment and feeling. It was in the oath I took that I would to the best of my ability preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States. I could not take the office without taking the oath. Nor was it my view that I might take an oath to get power, and break the oath in using the power. I understood, too, that in ordinary and civil administration this oath even forbade me to practically indulge my primary abstract judgment on the moral question of slavery. I had publicly declared this many times, and in many ways. And I aver that, to this day, I have done no official act in mere deference to my ab- stract judgment and feeling on slavery. I did understand, however, that my oath to preserve the Constitution to the best of my ability, imposed upon me the duty of preserving, by every indispensable means, that Government — that nation, of which that Constitution was the organic law.. Was it possible to lose the nation, and yet preserve the Con-
APPENDIX. 153
stitution ? By general law, life and limb must be protected ; yet often a limb must be amputated to save a life ; but a life is never wisely given to save a limb. I felt that measures, otherwise unconstitutional, might become lawful, by be- coming indispensable to the preservation of the Constitution, through the preservation of the nation. Eight or wrong, I assumed this ground, and now avow it. I could not feel that, to the best of my ability I had even tried to preserve the Constitution, if, to save slavery, or any minor matter, I should permit the wreck of Government, country, and Con- stitution, altogether. When early in the war, General Fremont attempted military emancipation, I forbade it, because I did not then think it an indispensable necessity. When a little later, General Cameron, then Secretary of War, suggested the arming of the blacks, I objected, because I did not yet think it an indispensable necessity. When, still later, General Hunter attempted military emancipation, I again forbade it, because I did not yet think the indispen- sable necessity had come. When in March and May, and July, 1862, 1 made earnest and successive appeals to the Border States to favour compensated emancipation, I believed the indispensable necessity for military emancipa- tion and arming the blacks would come, unless averted by that measure. They declined the proposition, and I was, in my best judgment, driven to the alternative of either sur- rendering the Union, and with it, the Constitution, or of laying strong hand upon the coloured element. I chose the latter. In choosing it, I hoped for greater gain than loss, but of this I was not entirely confident. More than a year of trial now shows no loss by it in our foreign relations, none in our home popular sentiment, none in our white military force, no loss by it any how, or anywhere. On the contrary, it shows a gain of quite a hundred and thirty thousand sol- diers, seamen, and labourers. These are palpable facts, about which, as facts, there can be no cavilling. We have the men; and we could not have had them without the measure.
" And now let any Union man who complains of this measure, test himself by writing down in one line, that he is for subduing the rebellion by force of arms ; and in the next, that he is for taking three hundred and thirty thou- sand men from the Union side, and placing them where they would be, but for the measure he condemns. If he cannot face his case so stated, it is only because he cannot face the truth."
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I add a word which was not in the verbal conversation. In telling this tale, I attempt no compliment to my own sagacity. I claim not to have controlled events, but confess plainly that events have controlled me. Now at the end of three years' struggle, the nation's condition is not what either party, or any man devised, or expected. God alone can claim it. Whither it is tending seems plain. If God now wills the removal of a great wrong, and wills also that we of the North, as well as you of the South, shall pay fairly for our complicity in that wrong, impartial history will find therein new causes to attest and revere the justice and goodness of God.
Yours, truly,
A. LINCOLN. A. G. Hodges, Esq., Frankfort Ky.
ME. LINCOLN'S LAST SPEECH. The following is the full text of the speech delivered at "Washington on the evening of the 11th of April, 1865, by President Lincoln : —
" We meet this evening not in sorrow but in gladness of heart. The evacuation of Petersburg and Richmond, and surrender of the principal insurgent army, gives hopes of a righteous peace, whose joyous expression cannot be restrained. In the midst of this, however, He from whom all blessings flow must not be forgotten. A call for a national thanksgiving is being prepared, and will be pro- mulgated throughout the country. Nor must those whose harder part gives us the cause of rejoicing be overlooked ; their honours must not be parcelled out with others. I myself was near the front, and had the high pleasure of transmitting much of the good news to you, but no part of the honour for the plan or execution is mine. To General Grant, his skilful officers and brave men, it all belongs. The gallant navy stood ready, but was not in reach to take active part. By these recent successes the reinauguration of the national authority, the reconstruction of which has had a large share of thought from the first, is pressed much more closely upon our attention. It is fraught with great difficulty. Unlike a case of war between independent nations, there is no authorized organ for us to treat with ; no one man has authority to give up the rebellion for any
, APPENDIX. 155
other man. We simply must begin with, and mould from, disorganized and discordant elements. Nor is it a small additional embarrassment that we, the loyal people, differ among ourselves as to the mode, manner, and measure of reconstruction. As a general rule, I abstain from reading the reports of attacks upon myself, wishing not to be pro- voked by that to which I cannot properly ret arn an answer. In spite of this precaution, however, it comes to my know- ledge that I am much censured for some supposed agency in setting up and seeking to sustain the new States Govern- ment of Louisiana. In this I have done just so much and no more than the public knows. In the annual message of December, 1863, and accompanying proclamation, I pre- sented a plan of reconstruction, as the phrase goes, which I promised, if adopted by any State, would be acceptable to and sustained by the Executive Government of the nation. I distinctly stated that this was not the only plan which might possibly be accepted, and I also distinctly protested that the Executive claimed no right to say when or whether members should be entitled to seats in Congress from such States, This plan was in advance submitted to the Cabinet, and approved by every member of it. One of them sug- gested that I should then, and in that connection, apply the emancipation proclamation to the excepted parts of Virginia and Louisiana ; that I should drop the suggestion about apprenticeship for freed people, and that I should omit the protest against my own power in regard to the admission of members to Congress; but even he approved every part and parcel of the plan which has since been employed or touched by the action of Louisiana. The new constitution of Louisiana, declaring emancipation of the whole State, practically applies the proclamation to the whole part pre- viously excepted; it does not adopt apprenticeship for freed people, and is silent, as it could not well be otherwise, about the admission of members to Congress. So that, as it applied to Louisiana, every member of the Cabinet fully approved the plan. The message went to Congress, and I received many commendations of the plan, written and verbal, and not a single objection to it from any professed emancipationist came to my knowledge until after the news had reached Washington that the people of Louisiana had begun to move in accordance with it. From about July, 1862, I had corresponded with different persons supposed to be interested in the reconstruction of the State Govern- ment for Louisiana. When the Message of 1863, with the
156 APPENDIX.
plan before-mentioned, reached ~New Orleans, General Banks wrote me that he was confident the people, with his military co-operation, wonld reconstruct substantially on that plan. I wrote to him and some of them to try it. They tried it, and the result is known. Such has been my only agency in getting up the Louisiana Government. As to sustaining it, my promise is but as before stated ; but as bad promises are better broken than kept, I shall treat this as a bad promise, and break it whenever I shall be con- vinced that keeping it is adverse to the public interest ; but I have not yet been so convinced. I have been shown a letter on this subject, supposed to be an able one, in which the writer expresses regret that my mind has not seemed to be definitely fixed on the question whether the seceded States, so called, are in the Union or out of it. It would, perhaps, add astonishment to his regret, were he to learn that since I have found professed Union men endeavouring to answer that question, I have purposely foreborne any public expression upon it. As it appears to me, that ques- tion has not been, nor yet is, a practically material one, and that any discussion of it while it thus remains practically immaterial, could have no effect other than the mischievous one of dividing our friends. As yet, whatever it may become, that question is bad as a basis of controversy, and good for nothing at all. We all* agree that the seceded States, so called, are out of their proper practical relation with the Union and the sole object of the Government, civil and military, in regard to these States, is to again get them into that proper practical relation. I believe it is not only possible, but, in fact, easier to do this without deciding, or even considering, whether those States have ever been out of the Union than with it. Finding themselves safely at home, it would be utterly immaterial whether they had been abroad. Let us all join in doing the acts necessary to restore the proper practical relations between these States and the Union, and each for ever after innocently indulge his own opinion, whether, in doing the acts, he brought the States from without into the Union, or only gave them proper assistance, they never having been out of it. The amount of consti- tuency, so to speak, on which the Louisiana Government rests would be more satisfactory to all if it contained 50,000, or 30,000 or even 20,000, instead of 12,000, as it does. It is also unsatisfactory to some that the elective franchise is not given to the coloured men. I would myself prefer that it
APPENDIX. 157
were now conferred on the very intelligent, and on those who serve our cause as soldiers. Still the question is not whether the Louisiana Government, as it stands, is quite all that is desirable. The question is, will it be wiser to take it as it is, and help to improve it, or to reject it ? Can Louisiana be brought into the proper practical relation with the Union sooner by sustaining or discarding her new State Government ? Some 12,000 voters in the heretofore slave State of Louisiana have sworn allegiance to the Union, assumed to be the rightful political power of the State, held elections, organized a State Government, adopted a free State Constitution, giving the benefit of the public schools equally to white and black, and empowering the Legislature to ccnfer the elective franchise upon the coloured man. This Legislature has already voted to ratify the constitu- tional amendment recently passed by Congress abolishing slavery throughout the nation. These 12,000 persons are thus fully committed to the Union, and to perpetuate free- dom in the State, committed to the very things, and nearly all the things, the nation wants, and they ask the nation's recognition and its assistance to make this committal. Now, if we reject and spurn them, we do our utmost to disorganize and disperse them. We, in fact, say to the white man, you are worthless or worse ; we will neither help you nor be helped by you. To the blacks we say, this cup of liberty which these your old masters hold to your lips we will dash from you, and leave you to the chances of gathering the spilled and scattered contents in some vague and undefined when, where, or how. If this course — disparaging and paralyzing both white and black — has any tendency to bring Louisiana into proper practical rela- tions with the Union, I have so far been unable to perceive it. If, on the contrary, we recognize and sustain the new Government of Louisiana, the adverse of all this is true. "We encourage the hearts and nerve the arms of 12,000 to adhere to then work, and argue for it, and proselyte for it, and fight for it, and feed it, and grow it, and ripen it to a complete success. The coloured man, too. in seeing all united for him, is inspired with vigilance, and energy, and daring to the same end. Grant that he desires the elective franchise, will he not obtain it sooner by saving the already advanced steps towards it than by falling backwards over them ? Concede that the new Government of Louisiana is only to what it should be as the egg is to the fowl; we shall sooner have the fowl by hatching the egg than by
158 APPENDIX.
smashing it. (Laughter.) Again, if we reject Louisiana, we also reject our vote in favour of the proposed amend- ment to the national constitution. To meet this proposition it has been argued that no more than three-fourths of those States which have not attempted secession are necessary to validly ratify the amendment. I do not commit myself against this further than to say that such a ratification would be questionable, and sure to be persistently ques- tioned ; while its ratification by three-fourths of all States would be unquestioned and unquestionable. I repeat the question, Can Louisiana be brought into proper practical relations with the Union sooner by sustaining or discard- ing her new State Government ? What has been said of Louisiana will apply to other States ; and yet so great pecu- liarities pertain to each State, and such important and sudden changes occur in the same State, and withal so new and unprecedented is the whole case, that no exclusive and inflexible plan can safely be prescribed as to details and collaterals. Such an exclusive and inflexible plan would surely become an entanglement. Important principles may and must be inflexible. In the present situation, as the phrase goes, it may be my duty to make some new an- nouncement to the people of the South. I am considering, and shall not fail to act when satisfied that action will be proper."
APPENDIX. 159
BRIEF SYNOPSIS OF THE AMERICAN" FEDE- RATIVE SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT.
"We hero present, for the benefit of the English reader, a brief exposition of that mixed political system, "with the practical operation of which Mr. Lincoln was, during the latter part of his life, so intimately con- nected.
It must be remembered that the United States Government is not like the British Government, having' one centre of political life ; but that while there is a National Government for the administration of national and chiefly external affairs, there are also separate State Governments, whose powers are entirely confined to local and internal affairs. By Section 8fh, Article 1st, of the Constitution, the States have delegated to Con- gress the power to declare war, to make peace, to enter into treaties, coin money, regulate commerce, and, in short, all acts characteristic of national sovereignty ; and by Sec. 10th, the exercise of these national powers by the States is prohibited. Also, by Article 10th of the Amendments, the powers not delegated to Congress are " reserved to the States or to the people." There- fore the powers to enact municipal laws— i. e. all laws which concern only the States directly and immediately, are among the reserved rights of the States and the people, and are vested, by the people, in the State Legislature.
Thus the separate States are sovereign in a municipal capacity, while the General Government is sovereign in a national capacity, and is represented and known officially as one nation throughout the world.
The leading provisions of the State Constitutions are analogous to those of the National Constitution. Indeed, the latter has in a great measure been the model of all the State Constitutions formed since its adoption, and that again was formed from the English
160 APPENDIX.
Constitution, amended and adapted to the Federative system.
The powers of the State Governments are divided into three departments — Legislative, Executive, and Judicial. The Legislative department is likewise divided into two branches — the Senate and House of Assembly — the former representing counties, the latter the people at large. They are governed by the same rules of precedence as the National Government. These, also, are derived from the rules of the British Parliament, except where the peculiar circumstances of Republican government render them inadmissible. They, like Congress, decide on the qualifications of their own members, and determine the rules of their own proceedings.
Every Bill requires the signature of the Governor to become a law, and if vetoed by him, it is rejected, unless subsequently passed by a majority of two-thirds of both Houses.
The following are some of the chief functions exer- cised by the separate State Governments : —
First. The enactment of domestic and municipal laws, and the enforcement of them by a proper organiza- tion of judicial courts ; such as those which relate to corporate and public bodies, incorporating, railway, and stock companies, chartering banks, and literary and public institutions, taxation, etc. — Police regulations, and the punishment of crimes, except crimes committed against the General Government — those which concern private property and rights — those which relate to the institution of slavery, the States having the power — exercised already by the Northern States — to abolish it entirely.
Second. The co-operation in the amendments of the Constitution, three-fourths of the States being required to assent to every amendment.
Third. The mode of choosing the President of the United States, appointing the "electors" in such manner as the State Legislatures shall direct.
APPENDIX. 161
The' following is a synopsis of the "Articles of Confederation" under which the United States termi- nated the war of the Revolution. They continued till the adoption of the present Constitution in 1787 : —
1st. That the style of the Confederacy should be the "United States of America."
2nd. That each State should retain its sovereignty, independence, and such rights as were not delegated to the general Congress.
3rd. That the object of the league was the general welfare, and the common defence against foreign aggression.
4th. That the citizens of one State shall have the privileges of citizens in another, and that full faith and credit shall be given to the records, acts, and judicial proceedings in another State.
5th. That for the management of the general inte- rests, delegates shall be annually appointed to meet in Congress, each State not having less than two nor more than seven ; and that in determining questions in Con- gress, each State shall have one vote.
6th. That no State shall, without the consent of Congress, enter into any treaty or alliance with any foreign power or nation, or with any other State ; nor lay any imposts or duties interfering with any stipula- tions contained in any treaty made by Congress ; nor keep any vessels of war or armed forces in time of peace, except such as Congress may deem necessary ; nor engage in any war without the consent of Congress, unless the State be actually invaded, or the danger imminent ; nor grant letters of marque, unless such State be infested with pirates.
7th. All charges for the general welfare shall be defrayed out of a common treasury, which shall be levied in proportion to the value of land within each State.
8th. The " United States in Congress assembled" shall have the exclusive right of making peace and
11
1G2 APPENDIX.
war; entering into treaties and alliances; granting letters of marque, and establishing courts and rules for the trial of piracies and felonies, and determining ques- tions in relation to captures ; and that the Congress have the power to determine all questions and differ- ences between two or more States, concerning any cause whatever, which authority shall be exercised by instituting a court in manner and form as provided, where judgment shall be final and decisive ; and that they have power to fix the standard of weights, mea- sures, and coin ; establish post-offices and commission- officers ; that they shall have power to appoint a Committee of the States, and such other civil officers as may be necessary to manage the general affairs of the United States under their direction ; to elect their President ; to fix the sums of money to be raised ; to borrow money and emit bills of credit ; to agree on the number of forces to be raised, which are to be dis- tributed among the States in proportion to their white inhabitants ; that the " United States" shall not exercise these powers unless nine States assent to the same, nor shall any question except that of adjournment be de- termined, unless by the votes of a majority of the States.
9th. It is further provided, that the Committee of the States, or any nine of them, shall be authorized to execute, in the recess of Congress, such of the powers of Congress as the United States, or any nine of them, shall think proper to vest them with.
10th. All debts contracted under the authority of Congress shall be deemed and considered as a charge against the United States, for which the public faith is pledged.
11th. That every State shall abide by the determina- tions of Congress upon the questions submitted to it, and the union shall be perpetual.
Constitution of fire Inifeb State.
PREAMBLE.
We, the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America^
The Constitution contains seven articles, to which have been added several miscellaneous amendments.
Article 1st. Relates to the Legislative Power.
Article 2nd. To the Executive Power.
Article 3rd. To the Judicial Power.
Article 4th. To the validity of Public Acts and Records — the rights of Citizenship — the admission of new States — and the forms of State Governments.
Article 5th. Relates to the mode of amending the Constitution.
Article 6th. To the national faith and the bindiog force of the Constitution
Article 7th. To the mode of its ratification.
ARTICLE I.
Of the Legislatice Power.
SECTION I.
All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.
164? THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION.
SECTION II.
1. The House of Representatives shall be composed of members chosen every second year by the people of the several States, and the electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State Legislature.
2. No person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the age of twenty -five years, and been seven years a citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen.
3. Representatives and direct taxes shall be appor- tioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole num- ber of free persons — including those bound to service for a term of years, and excluding Indians not taxed — three-fifths of all other persons* The actual enumera- tion shall be made within three years after the first meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent term of ten years, in such manner as they shall by law direct. The number of Representa- tives shall not exceed one for every thirty thousand, but each State shall have at least one representative ; and until such enumeration shall be made, the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to choose three, Massachu- setts eight, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five, New York six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Vir- ginia ten, North Carolina five, South Carolina five, and Georgia three.
4. When vacancies happen in the representation from
* The other persons referred to are slaves, and consequently the slave holding states have a representation in the House of Representatives, foi three-fifths of the number of slaves. This provision was the result of a compromise, without which it is probable the Union would nevei- have been formed.
THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION. 135
any State, the Executive authority thereof shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies.
5. The House of Representatives shall choose their Speaker and other officers; and shall have the sole power of Impeachment.
SECTION III.
1. The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legis- lature thereof, for six years ; and each Senator shall have one vote.
2. Immediately after they shall be assembled in con- sequence of the first election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three classes. The seats of the senators of the first class shall be vacated at the expira- tion of the second year, of the second class at the ex- piration of the fourth year, and of the third class at the expiration of the sixth year, so that one third may be chosen every second year ; and if vacancies happen by resignation, or otherwise, during the recess of the Legislature of any State, the Executive thereof may make temporary appointments until the next meeting of the Legislature, which shall then fill such vacancies.
3. No person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the age of thirty years, and been nine years a citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen.
4. The Vice-President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no vote unless they be equally divided.
5. The Senate shall choose their other officers, and also a President pro tempore, in the absence of the Vice- President, or when he shall exercise the office of President of the United States.
6. The Senate shall have the sole power to try all Impeachments. When sitting for that purpose, they shall be on oath or affirmation. When the President of
166 THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION.
the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall pre- side ; and no person shall be convicted without the con- currence of two-thirds of the members present.
7. Judgment in cases of Impeachment shall not ex- tend further than to removal from office, and disqualifica- tion to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States ; but the party couvicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to indictment, trial, judgment, and punishment, according to law.
SECTION IV.
1. The times, places, and manner of holding elections for Senators and Representatives shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof ; but the Congress may at any time by law make or alter such regulations, except as to the places of choosing Senators.
2. The Cougress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall by law appoint a different day.
section v.
1. Each House shall be the judge of the elections, returns, and qualifications of its own members, and a majority of each shall constitute a quorum to do business ; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the attendance of absent members, in such manner and under such penalties, as each House may provide.
2. Each House may determine the rules of its pro- ceedings, punish its members for disorderly behaviour, and, with the concurrence of two-thirds, expel a member.
3. Each House shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and from time to time publish the same, excepting such parts as may in their judgment require secrecy ; and the yeas and nays of the members of either House on any question shall, at the desire of one-fifth of those present, be entered on the journal.
4. Neither House, during the session of Congress^
TEE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION. 167
shall, ■without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting.
SECTION VI.
1. The Senators and Representatives shall receive a compensation for their services, to be ascertained by law, and paid out of the treasury of the United States. They shall in all cases, except treason, felony, and breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at the session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same ; and for any speech or debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other place.
2. No Senator or Representative shall, during the time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil office under the authority of the United States, which shall have been created, or the emoluments whereof shaU have been increased during such time ; and no person holding any office under the United States, shall be a member of either House during his continuance in office
SECTION VII.
1 All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives ; but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments as on other bills.
2. Every bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate shall, before it becomes a law, be presented to the President of the United States ; if he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his objections, to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the objections at large on their journal, and proceed to reconsider it.* If after such reconsideration two thirds of that House shall agree
* This power of the President has been frequently exercised — by George Washington, in respect to a Bill fixing the ratio of representation — by President Monroe, on the Internal Improvement Bill — by President Jackson, on the United States Bank— by President Taylor, on the Tar.fi Bill, and in other cases.
168 THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION.
to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the ob- jections, to the other House, bj which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two-thirds of that House, it shall become a law. But in all such cases the votes of both Houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the persons voting for and against the bill shall be entered on the journal of each House respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the President within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a law, in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their adjournment prevent its return, in which case it shall not be a law.
S. Every order, resolution, or vote to which the con- currence of the Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary (except on a question of adjournment), shall be presented to the President of the United States ; and before the same shall take effect, shall be approved by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two- thirds of the Senate and House of Representa- tives, according to the rules and limitations prescribed in the case of a bill.
SECTION VIII.
The Congress shall have power : —
1. To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, to pay the debts and preside for the common defence and general welfare of the United States ; but all duties, imposts, and excises shall be uniform through- out the United States ;
2. To borrow money on the credit of the United States ;
3. To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian tribes ;
4. To establish a uniform rule of naturalization,* and
In pursuance of this power Congress has passed laws prescribing the mode of naturalization. They provide that any alien of full age shall be admitted to citizenship in the following manner : — 1st. He shall declare on oath that it is his intention to become a citizen of the United States,
THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION. 169
uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies, throughout the United States ;
5. To coin money, regulate the value thereof,* and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures ;
6. To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the United States ;
7- To establish post-ofEces and post-roads ;
8. To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and dis- coveries ;f
9. To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court ;
10. To define and punish piracies and felonies com- mitted on the high seas, and offences against the law of nations ;
11. To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water ;
12. To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of money to that use shall be for a longer term than two years ;
13. To provide and maintain a navy ;
14. To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces ;
15. To provide for calling forth the militia to execute
and renounce for ever all foreign allegiance. 2nd. That he shall declare on oath that he will support the Constitution of the United States. 3rd. That the Court admitting such alien shall be satisfied that he has resided within the United States the continued term of five years next preceding his admission, and that during that time he has behaved as a man of good moral character;
* The coinage is entirely decimal. The Spanish milled dollar is taken as the unit, and all smaller coin is in tenth parts, and all gold coin is in ^enths above. Five dollars are equal to one pound sterling.
f The term for which a patent may be obtained is seventeen years. The cost of obtaining which is thirty-five dollars. Copyrights are secured tor twenty-eight years.
170 THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION.
the laws of the Union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions ;
16. To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplin- ing the militia, and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively the appointment of the officers, and the authority of training the militia ac- cording to the discipline prescribed by Congress ;
17. To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases, what- soever, over such district (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of particular States, and the accep- tance of Congress, become the seat of the Government of the United States,* and to exercise like authority over all places purchased by the consent of the Legislature of the State in which the same shall be for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dock-yards, and other needful buildings ; and
18. To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any department or officer thereof.
SECTION IX.
1. The migration or importation of such persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a tax or duty may be imposed upon such importation, not exceeeding ten dollars for each person f
* In pursuance of this power Gongress, in 1790, accepted of a grant from the States of Virginia and Maryland, of ten miles square, on the Potomac, for the seat of Government, which is the present District of Columbia, in which the City of Washington is situated; and in April, 1862, in exercise of the exclusive jurisdiction guaranteed by this clause, abolished slavery therein.
■j- The persons here referred to were slaves, and the effect of this clause was to permit the slave trade till 1808. After that date Congress prohibited it in every direction, and affixed to it the penalties of piracy.
THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION. 171
2. 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.
3. No bill of attainder or ex post facto law shall be passed.
4. No capitation, or other direct tax, shall be laid, unless in proportion to the census or enumeration herein before directed to be taken.
5. No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any State. No preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce or revenue to the ports of one State over those of another; nor shall vessels bound to, or from, one State, be obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties in another.
6. No money shall be drawn from the treasury, but in consequence of appropriations made by law ; and a regular statement and account of the receipts and expen- diture of all public money shall be published from time to time.
7. No title of nobility shall be granted bv the United States ; and no person holding any office of profit or trust under them, shall without the consent of Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office, or title of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign state.
section x.
1 . No State shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or confederation ;* grant letters of marque or reprisal ; coin money ; emit bills of credit ; make anything but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts ; pass any bill of attainder, ex post facto law, cr law impairing the obligation of contracts, or grant any title of nobility.
2. No State shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay any imposts or duties on imports or exports, except
* When the States parted with this power to enter into any treaty alliance or confederation, they parted with one of those characteristics which had previously made them independent of each other, and thus they divested themselves of national sovereignty. — Mansfield's Political, Manual.— />0 116.
172 THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION,
what may be absolutely necessary for executing its in- spection laws; and the net produce of all duties and imposts, laid by any State on imports or exports, shall be for the use of the treasury of the United States ; and all such laws shall be subject to the revision and control of the Congress.
3. No State shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any duty of tonnage, keep troops or ships of war in time of peace, enter into any agreement or compact with another State, or with a foreign power, or engage in war, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent danger as will not admit of delay.
ARTICLE II.
Of the Executive Power,
SECTION I.
1. The executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. H* shall hold his office during the term of four years, and, together with the Vice-President, chosen for the same term, be elected, as follows : —
2. Each State shall appoint, in such manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a number of Electors, equal to the whole number of Senators and Represen- tatives to which the State may be entitled in the Con- gress : but no Senator or representative, or person hold- ing an office of trust or profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector.
[* The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by Dallot for two persons, of whom one at least shall not be an inhabitant of the same State with themselves. And they shall make a list of all the pserson voted for, and the number of votes for each ; which list they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the Government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall then be
* This clause within brackets has been superseded and annulled by the twelfth amendment.
THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION. 1/3
counted. The person having the greatest number of votes shali be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed ; and if there be more than one who have such majority, and have an equal number of votes, then the House of Representatives shall immediately choose by ballot one of them for President ; and if no per- son have a majority, then from the five highest on the list the said House shall in like manner choose the President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by States, the representation from each State having one vote ; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the States, and a majority of all the States shall be necessary to a choice. In every case, after the choice of the President, the person having the greatest number of votes of the Electors shall be the Vice-President. But if there should remain two or more who have equal votes, the Senate shall choose from them by ballot the Vice-President.]
3. The Congress may determine the time of choosing the Electors, and on the day on which they shall give their votes ; which day shall be the same throughout the United States.
4. No person, except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States, at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of President ; neither shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained to the age of thirty-five years, and been fourteen years a resident within the United States.
5. In case of the removal of the President from office, or of his death, resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of the said office, the same shall devolve on the Vice-President,* and the Congress may by law provide for the case of removal, death, resignation, or inability, both of the President and Vice-President, declaring what officer shall then act as President, and such officer shall act accordingly, until the disability be removed, or a President shall be elected.
6. The President shall at stated times, receive for his services a compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the period for which he shall have
* Under this provision Vice-President Tyler, iu 1841, succeeded Presi- dent Harrison, who died just one month after his inauguration.' Vice- President Fillmore also succeeded President Taylor under this provision in 1850, and Andrew Johnson succeeded President Lincoln Aptil 15, loGo.
174 THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION.
been elected, and he shall not receive within that period any other emolument from the United States, or any of them.*
7< Before he enter on the execution of his office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation :
" I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States."
SECTION 11.
1. The President shall be commander-in-chief of the army and navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several States, when called into the actual service of the United States ; he may require the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of the executive departments, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices, and he shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offences against the United States, except in cases of Impeachment.
2. He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to make treaties, provided two- thirds of the Senators present concur ; and he shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the United States, whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by law : but the Congress may by law vest the appointment of such inferior officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of departments.
3. The President shall have power to fill up all vacan- cies that may happen during the recess of the Senate, by granting commissions which shall expire at the end of their next session.
* Congress has permanently fixed the salary of the Pre id nt at "25.000 dollar? perannam, and that of the Vice-President at 5,000 do-Wsi.
THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION. 175
SECTION III.
He shall from time to time give to the Congress in- formation of the state of the Union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient ; he may, on extraordinary occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in case of disagreement between them, with respect to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper ; he shall receive ambassadors and other public ministers ; he shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed, and shall commission all the officers of the United States.
SECTION IV.
The President, Vice-President, and all civil officers of the United States, shall be removed from office on im- peachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.
ARTICLE III.
Of the Judicial Power.
SECTION I.
The judicial power of the United States shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The judges, both of the Supreme and inferior courts, shall hold their offices during good behaviour, and shall, at stated times, receive for their services a compensation, which shall not be diminished during their continuance in office
SECTION II.
1. The judicial power shall extend to all cases, in law and equity, arising under this Constitution, the laws of the United States, and treaties made, or which shall be made, under their authority ; to all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls ; — to ail
1YG THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION.
cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction; — to controversies to which the United States shall be a party ; — to controversies between two or more States ; — between a State and citizens of another State ; — between citizens of different States, — between citizens of the same State claiming lands under grants of different States, and between a State, or the citizen thereof, and foreign States, citizens, or subjects.
2. In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, and those in which a State shall be party, the Supreme Court shall have original juris- diction. In all the other cases before mentioned, the Supreme Court shall have appellate jurisdiction, both as to law and fact, with such exceptions, and under such 'regulations as the Congress shall make.
3. The trial of all crimes except in cases of Impeach- ment, shall be by jury : and such trial shall be held in the State where the said crimes shall have been com- mitted ; but when not committed within any State, the trial shall be at such place or places as the Congress may by law have directed.
SECTION III.
1. Treason against tbe United States shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open court.
2. The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of treason, but no attainder of treason shall work corruption jf blood or forfeiture, except during the life of the person attainted.
ARTICLE IV.
Of the Validity of Public Acts and Records — the Rights of Citizenship — the Admission of New States, and the forms of State Governments.
THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION. 177
SECTION I.
Full faith and credit shall be given in each State to the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other State. And the Congress may by general laws prescribe the manner in which such acts, records, and proceedings shall be proved, and the effect thereof.
SECTION 11.
1. The citizens of each State shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of citizens in the several States.
2. A person charged in any State with treason, felony, or other crime, who shall flee from justice, and be found in another State, shall, on demand of the Executive Authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having jurisdiction of the crime.
3. 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 dis- charged from such service or labor, but shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or labor may be due.*
SECTION III.
1. New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union ; but no new State shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any other State ; nor any State be formed by the junction of two or more States, or parts of States, without the consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress.
2. The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all needful rules and regulations respecting the territory or other property belonging to the United States ; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so
* This clause refers to the slaves of the Southern States, who may e^cujje and take refuge in the Northern States.
12
178 THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION.
construed as to prejudice any claims of the United States or of any particular State.
SECTION IV.
The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a republican form of government, and shall protect each of them against invasion ; and on applica- tion of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened), against domestic violence.
ARTICLE V.
Of the Mode of Amending the Constitution.
The Congress, whenever two-thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution, or, on the application of the Legislatures of two-thirds of the several States, shall call a conven- tion for proposing the amendments, which, in either case shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three-fourths of the several States, or by conventions in three-fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the Congress, provided that no amendment which may be made prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any manner affect the first and fourth clauses in the niuth section of the first Article ; and that no State, without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate.
ARTICLE VI.
Of the National Faith and the Binding Force of the Constitution. %
1. All debts contracted and engagements entered into, before the adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States under this Constitution, as under the Confederation.
THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION. 179
2. This Constitution and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof; and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land ; and the judges in every State shall be bound thereby, anything in the Constitution or laws 0/ anv State to the contrary notwithstanding.
3. The Senators and Representatives before mentioned^ and the members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by oath or affirmation to support this Constitution ; but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.
ARTICLE VII.
Of the Mode of its Ratification. The ratification of the conventions of nine States shall be sufficient lor the establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the same.
Done in convention by the unanimous consent of the States present, the seventeenth day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven, and of the Independence of the United States of America the twelfth. In witness whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names,
GEO. WASHINGTON,
Fredat. and Deputy from Virginia.
Here follow the signatures of the other members from the thirteen states.
ISO THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION.
ARTICLES
IN ADDITION TO, AND AMENDMENT OF, THE
Constitution of the United States of America,
PROPOSED BY CONGRESS, AND RATIFIED BY THE LEGISLATURES OF THE SEVERAL STATES, PURSUANT TO THE FIFTH ARTICLE OF THE ORIGINAL CON- STITUTION.
ARTICLE I.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establish- ment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press ; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
ARTICLE II.
A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.
ARTICLE III.
No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.
ARTICLE IV.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION 1M
ARTICLE V.
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger ; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice $mt in jeopardy of life or limb ; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law ; nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation.
ARTICLE VI.
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation ; to be confronted with the witnesses against him ; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favour, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defence.
ARTICLE VII.
In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise re-examined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.
ARTICLE VIII.
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
182 THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION.
ARTICLE IX.
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
ARTICLE X.
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are re- served to the States respectively, or to the people.
ARTICLE XL
» The judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, com- menced or prosecuted against one of the United States by citizens of another State, or by citizens or subjects of any foreign state.
ARTICLE XII.
1. The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same State with themselves ; they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President, and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice-President, and of the number of votes for each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the Govern- ment of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in pre- sence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted. The person having the greatest number of votes for Presi- dent shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed ; and if no per
THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION. 183
son have such majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by States, the representation from each State having one vote ; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a mem- ber or members from two-thirds of the States, and a majority of all the States shall be necessary to a choice. And if the House of Representatives shall not choose a President whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day of March next follow- ing, then the Vice-President shall act as President, as in the case of the death or other constitutional disability of the President.
2. The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice-President shall be the Vice-President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed ; and if no person have a majority, then from the two highest numbers on the list the Senate shall choose the Vice-President ; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number of Senators, and majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice.
o. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice- President of the United States.
DATES OF THE ADOPTION OF THE CON- STITUTION AND OF THE AMENDMENTS.
The Constitution 17th September, 1787.
The first ten Amendments 15th December, 1791.
The eleventh Amendment 8th January, 1798.
The twelfth Amendment 25th September, 1804.
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