Lincoln's Gettysburg oration and first and second inaugural addresses

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GETTYSB

AND FIRST AND SECO1
INAUGURAL ADD

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Presented to the
LIBRARY of the

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO

by

Dr. S. A. Saunders

LINCOLN'S

GETTYSBURG ORATION

AND

FIRST AND
SECOND
INAUGURAL
ADDRESSES

NEW YORK

DUFFIELD & COMPANY
1907

Copyright, 1907, by
DUFFIELD & COMPANY

LINCOLN'S FIRST
INAUGURAL ADDRESS

DELIVERED ON THE
4TH OF MARCH, 1861

Fellow- Citizens

of the United States:

In compliance with a cus-
tom as old as the Government
itself, I appear before you to
address you briefly, and to
take in your presence the oath
prescribed by the Constitu-
tion of the United States to
be taken by the President "be-
fore he enters on the execution
of his office."

I do not consider it neces-
sary at present for me to dis-
cuss those matters of adminis-
tration about which there is no
i

special anxiety or excitement.
Apprehension seems to ex-
ist among the people of the
Southern States that by the
accession of a Republican Ad-
ministration their property
and their peace and personal
security are to be endangered.
There has never been any rea-
sonable cause for such appre-
hension. Indeed, the most am-
ple 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

it

the institution of slavery in the
States where it exists. I be-
lieve I have no lawful right to
do so, and I have no inclina-
tion 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 them-
selves and to me, the clear and
emphatic resolution which I
now read:

"Resolved, that the mainte-
nance inviolate of the rights of
the States, and especially the
right of each State to order
and control its own domestic

institutions according to its
own judgment exclusively, is
essential to that balance of
power on which the perfection
and endurance of our political
fabric depend, and we de-
nounce the lawless invasion by
armed force of the soil of any
State or Territory, no matter
under what pretext, as among
the gravest of crimes."

I now reiterate these senti-
ments ; 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 any wise endangered by
the now incoming Administra-
tion. I add, too, that all the

4

-

protection which, consistently
with the Constitution and the
laws, can be given, will be
cheerfully given to all the
States when lawfully demand-
ed, for whatever cause — as
cheerfully to one section, as to
another.

There is much controversy
about the delivering up of
fugitives from service or labor.
The clause I now read is as
plainly written in the Consti-
tution as any other of its pro-
visions:

"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 there-
in, be discharged from such

1

service or labor, but shall be
delivered up on claim of the
party to whom such service or
labor may be due."

It is scarcely questioned that
this provision was intended by
those who made it for the re-
claiming of what we call fugi-
tive slaves; and the intention
of the lawgiver is the law. All
members of Congress swear
their support to the whole
Constitution — to this provi-
sion as much as to any other.
To the proposition, then, that
slaves, whose cases come with-
in 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

m

!S\r
1

not, with nearly equal unanim-
ity, 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 unsub-
stantial controversy as to how
it shall be kept?

Again, in any law upon this
subject, ought not all the safe-

guards of liberty known in
civilized and humane jurispru-
dence 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 Con-
stitution 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 particu-

lar 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 vio-
late 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, admin-
istered the Executive branch
of the Government. They
have conducted it through
many perils, and generally

with great success. Yet, with
all this scope of 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 men-
aced, is now formidably at-
tempted.

I hold that, in contempla-
tion of universal law, and of
the Constitution, the union of
these States is perpetual. Per-
petuity is implied, if not ex-
pressed, in the fundamental
law of all national govern-
ments. It is safe to assert that
no government proper ever
had a provision in its organic
law for its own termination.
10

Continue to execute all the
express provisions of our Na-
tional Constitution, and the
Union will endure forever — it
being impossible to destroy it
except by some action not pro-
vided for in the instrument it-
self.

Again, if the United States
be not a government proper,
but an association of States in
the nature of contract merely,
can it, as a contract, be peace-
ably 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 law-
fully rescind it?

Descending from these gen-
eral principles, we find the
11

proposition that, in legal con-
templation, the Union is per-
petual, confirmed by the his-
tory of the Union itself. The
Union is much older than the
Constitution. It was formed,
in fact, by the Articles of As-
sociation in 1774. It was ma-
tured and continued by the
Declaration of Independence
in 1776. It was further ma-
tured, 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!9
12

But if destruction of the
Union by one, or by a part
only, of the States be lawfully
possible, the Union is less per-
fect than before the Constitu-
tion, having lost the vital ele-
ment 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 author-
ity of the United States, are
insurrectionary or revolution-
ary, according to circum-
stances.

I therefore consider that, in
view of the Constitution and

13

the laws, the Union is unbrok-
en; and to the extent of my
ability, I shall take care, as the
Constitution itself expressly
enjoins upon me, that the laws
of the Union be faithfully exe-
cuted in all the States. Doing
this I deem to be only a sim-
ple duty on my part; and I
shall perform it, so far as prac-
ticable, unless my rightful
masters, the American people,
shall withhold the requisite
means, or in some authorita-
tive manner direct the con-
trary. I trust this will not be
regarded as a menace, but only
as the declared purpose of the
Union that it will constitution-
ally defend and maintain it-
self.

14

In doing this there needs to
be no bloodshed or violence;
and there shall be none, unless
it be forced upon the national
authority. The power con-
fided to me will be used to
hold, occupy, and possess the
property and places belong-
ing to the Government, and to
collect the duties and imposts ;
but beyond what may be ne-
cessary for these objects, there
will be no invasion, no using of
force against or among the
people anywhere. Where hos-
tility to the United States, in
any interior locality, shall be
so great and universal as to
prevent competent resident
citizens from holding the Fed-
eral offices, there will be no

15

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 at-
tempt to do so would be so ir-
ritating, and so nearly imprac-
ticable withal, that 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 favorable to calm
thought and reflection. The
course here indicated will be
followed unless current events

16

-

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 sym-
pathies and affections.

That there are persons in
one section or another who
seek to destroy the Union at
all events, and are glad of any
pretext to do it, I will neither
affirm nor deny; but if there be
such, I need address no word
to them. To those, however,
who really love the Union,
may I not speak?

17

Before entering upon so
grave a matter as the destruc-
tion of our national fabric,
with all its benefits, its mem-
ories, and its hopes, would it
not be wise to ascertain pre-
cisely 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 exist-
ence? Will you, while the cer-
tain ills you fly to are greater
than all the real ones you fly
from — will you risk the com-
mission of so fearful a mis-
take?

All profess to be content in
the Union, if all constitutional
rights can be maintained. Is
it true, then, that any right,

18

Wrf(,

plainly written in the Consti-
tution, has been denied? I
think not. Happily the hu-
man 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 pro-
vision of the Constitution has
ever been denied. If, by the
mere force of numbers, a ma-
jority should deprive a minor-
ity of any clearly written con-
stitutional right, it might, in a
moral point of view, justify
revolution — certainly would, if
such right were a vital one.
But such is not our case. All
the vital rights of minorities
and of individuals are so plain-
ly assured to them by affirma-

19

tions and negations, guaran-
tees and prohibitions, in the
Constitution, that controver-
sies never arise concerning
them. But no organic law can
ever be framed with a provi-
sion specifically applicable to
every question which may oc-
cur in practical administration.
No foresight can anticipate,
nor any document of reason-
able length contain, express
provisions for all possible
questions. Shall fugitives from
labor be surrendered by na-
tional or by State authority?
The Constitution does not ex-
pressly say. May Congress
prohibit slavery in the Terri-
tories? The Constitution does
not expressly say. Must Con-

20

gress 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 major-
ity 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,
they 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

21

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 por-
tions of the present Union now
claim to secede from it? All
who cherish disunion senti-
ments are now being educated
to the exact temper of doing
this.

Is there such perfect identi-
ty of interests among the
States to compose a new
Union as to produce harmony
only, and prevent renewed se-
cession?

Plainly, the central idea of
secession is the essence of an-
archy. A majority held in re-
straint by constitutional checks

22

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 ne-
cessity, fly to anarchy or to
despotism. Unanimity is im-
possible; the rule of a minor-
ity, as a permanent arrange-
ment, is wholly inadmissible;
so that, rejecting the majority
principle, anarchy or despot-
ism in some form is all that is
left.

I do not forget the position,
assumed by some, that consti-
tutional questions are to be de-
cided by the Supreme Court;
nor do I deny that such de-
cisions must be binding, in any

23

case, upon the parties to a suit,
as to the object of that suit,
while they are also entitled to
very high respect and con-
sideration in all parallel cases
by all other departments of the
Government. And while it is
obviously possible that such
decision may be erroneous in
any given case, still the evil
effect following it, being limit-
ed to that particular case, with
the chance that it-may be over-
ruled, and never become a pre-
cedent for other cases, can bet-
ter 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

24

the whole people, is to be ir-
revocably fixed by decisions of
the Supreme Court, the in-
stant they are made in ordi-
nary litigation between parties
in personal actions, the people
will have ceased to be their
own rulers, having to that ex-
tent practically resigned their
government into the hands of
that eminent tribunal. Nor is
there in this view any assault
upon the court or the judges.
It is a duty from which they
may not shrink to decide cases
properly brought before them,
and it is no fault of theirs if
others seek to turn their de-
cisions to political purposes.

One section of our country
believes Slavery is right, and

25

I

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 imperfect-
ly 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 sec-
tions, than before. The for-

I

j

eign slave-trade, now imper-
fectly suppressed, would be
ultimately revived without re-
striction in one section; while
fugitive slaves, now only par-
tially surrendered, would not
be surrendered at all by the

Physically speaking, we can-
not separate. We cannot re-
move 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

27

continue between them. Is it
possible, then, to make that in-
tercourse more advantageous
or more satisfactory after sep-
aration than before? Can
aliens make treaties easier than
friends can make laws? Can
treaties be more faithfully en-
forced between aliens than
laws can among friends? Sup-
pose 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 insti-
tutions, 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 dismem-
ber 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 amend-
ments, I fully recognize the
rightful authority of the peo-
ple over the whole subject, to
be exercised in either of the
modes prescribed in the instru-
ment itself; and I should,
under existing circumstances,
favor rather than oppose a fair
opportunity being afforded the
people to act upon it. I will

29

1

venture to add, that to me the
convention mode seems prefer-
able, in that it allows amend-
ments to originate witt the
people themselves, instead of
only permitting them to take
or reject propositions origi-
nated by others, not especial-
ly chosen for the purpose, and
which might not be precisely
such as they would wish to
either accept or refuse. I un-
derstand a proposed amend-
ment to the Constitution—
which amendment, however, I
have not seen — has passed
Congress, to the effect that the
Federal Government shall
never interfere with the do-
mestic institutions of the
States, including that of per-

80

il

sons held to service. To avoid
misconstruction of what I have
said, I depart from my pur-
pose, not to speak of particu-
lar amendments, so far as to
say that, holding such a provi-
sion to now be implied consti-
tutional law, I have no objec-
tions to its being made express
and irrevocable.

The Chief Magistrate de-
rives all his authority from the
people, and they have con-
ferred none upon him to fix
terms for the separation of the
States. The people them-
selves 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 il

31

came to his hands, and to
transmit it, unimpaired by
him, to his successor.

Why should there not be a
patient confidence in the ulti-
mate 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 pre-
vail by the judgment of this
great tribunal of the Ameri-
can people.

By the frame of the Govern-
ment under which we live, this

same people have wisely given
their public servants but little
power for mischief; and have,
with equal wisdom, provided
for the return of that little to
their own hands at very short
intervals. While the people
retain their virtue and vigi-
lance, no administration, by
any extreme of wickedness or
folly, can very seriously injure
the Government in the short
space of four years.

My countrymen, one and
all, think calmly and well upon
this whole subject. Nothing
valuable can be lost by taking
time. If there be an object to
hurry any of you, in hot haste,
to a step which you would
never take deliberately* that

object will be frustrated by
taking time; but no good ob-
ject can be frustrated by it.
Such of you as are now dissat-
isfied, still have the old Consti-
tution 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. Intelli-
gence, patriotism, Christian-
ity, and a firm reliance on Him
who has never yet forsaken
this favored land, are still
competent to adjust, in the

34

.

best way, all our present dif-
ficulty.

In your hands, my dissatis-
fied fellow-countrymen, and
not in mine, is the momentous
issue of civil war. The Gov-
ernment will not assail you.
You can have no conflict, with-
out being yourselves the ag-
gressors. You have no oath
registered in Heaven to de-
stroy the government, while I
shall have the most solemn one
to "preserve, protect, and de-
fend it."

I am loth to close. We are
not enemies, but friends. We
must not be enemies. Though
passion may have strained, it
must not break our bonds of
affection. The mystic chords

35

of memory, stretching from
every battlefield 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 angels of
our nature.

36

LINCOLN'S

GETTYSBURG

ORATION

AT THE DEDICATION OF THE
NATIONAL CEMETERY, GET-
TYSBURG, PA., NOV., 19, 1863

Fourscore and seven years
ago, our fathers brought forth
on this continent a new na-
tion, conceived in liberty, and
dedicated to the proposition
that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a
great civil war, testing wheth-
er that nation, or any nation
so conceived and so dedicated,
can long endure. We are met
on a great battlefield of that
war. We have come to dedi-

37

cate a portion of that field as
a final resting-place for 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
poor 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 unfin-
ished work which they who
fought here have thus far so

38

nobly advanced. It is rather
for us to be here dedicated to
the great task remaining be-
fore us — that from these hon-
ored dead we take increased
devotion to that cause for
which they gave the last full
measure of devotion — that we
here highly resolve that these
dead shall not have died in
vain — that this nation, under
God, shall have a new birth of
freedom — and that govern-
ment of the people, by the peo-
ple, for the people, shall not
perish from the earth.

39

LINCOLN'S SECOND
INAUGURAL ADDRESS

DELIVERED ON THE
4TH OF MARCH, 1865

Fellow-Country men :

At this second appearing to
take the oath of the Presiden-
tial office, there is less occasion
for an extended address than
there was at the first. Then,
a statement, somewhat in de-
tail, of a course to be pursued,
seemed fitting and proper.
Now, at the expiration of four
years, during which public
declarations have been con-
stantly called forth on every
point and phase of the great
contest which still absorbs the

40

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 de-
pends, is as well known to the
public as to myself; and it is,
I trust, reasonably satisfac-
tory and encouraging to all.
With high hope for the future,
no prediction in regard to it is
ventured.

On the occasion correspond-
ing to this four years ago, all
thoughts were anxiously di-
rected to an impending civil
war. All dreaded it; all sought
to avert it. While the inau-
gural address was being de-
livered from this place, devot-
ed altogether to saving the

41

Union without war, insurgent
agents were in the city seeking
to destroy it without war-
seeking to dissolve the Union,
and divide effects, by negotia-
tion. Both parties deprecated
war; but one of them would
make war rather than let the
nation survive; and the other
would accept war rather than
let it perish. And the war
came.

One-eighth of the whole
population were colored slaves,
not distributed generally over
the Union, but localized in the
southern part of it. These
slaves constituted a peculiar
and powerful interest. All
knew that this interest was,
somehow, the cause of the war.

1

To strengthen, perpetuate,
and extend this interest was
the object for which the insur-
gents would rend the Union,
even by war; while the Gov-
ernment claimed no right to
do more than to restrict the
territorial enlargement of it.
Neither party expected for the
war the magnitude or the
duration which it has already
attained. Neither anticipated
that the cause of the conflict
might cease with, or even be-
fore, the conflict itself should
cease. Each looked for an
easier triumph, and a result
less fundamental and astound-
ing. Both read the same
Bible, and pray to the same
God; and each invokes His

43

:

aid against the other. It may
seem strange that any men
should dare to ask a just God's
assistance in wringing their
bread from the sweat of other
men's faces: but let us judge
not, that we be not judged.
The prayers of both could not
be answered; that of neither
has been answered fully. The
Almighty has His own pur-
poses. "Woe unto the world
because of offenses ! for it must
needs be that offenses come;
but woe to that man by whom
the offense cometh." If we
shall suppose American Slav-
ery is one of those offenses
which, in the providence of
God, must needs come, but
which, having continued

44

through His appointed time,
He now wills to remove, and
that He gives to both North
and South this terrible war, as
the woe due to those by whom
the offense came, shall we dis-
cern therein any departure
from those divine attributes
which the believers in a living
God always ascribe to Him?
Fondly do we hope, fervently
do we pray, that this mighty
scourage of war may speedily
pass away. Yet, if God wills
that it continue until all the
wealth piled by the bondman's
two hundred and fifty years
of unrequited toil shall be
sunk, and until every drop of
blood drawn with the lash
shall be paid by another

45

drawn with the sword, as
was said three thousand
years ago, so still it must be
said, "The judgments of the
Lord are true and righteous
altogether."

With malice toward none,
with charity for all, with firm-
ness in the right, as God gives
us to see the right, let us strive
on to finish the work we are in ;
to bind up the nation's
wounds; to care for him who
shall have borne the battle, and
for his widow, and his orphan;
to do all which may achieve
and cherish a just and a last-
ing peace among ourselves and
with all nations.

46

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