THE 
 
 MAETYR'S MONUMENT 
 
 BEIKG THE 
 
 PATRIOTISM AND POLITICAL WISDOM 
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN, 
 
 AS EXHIBITED IN HIS 
 
 SPEECHES, MESSAGES, OEDEES, AND PEOCLAMATIONS, FEOM THE 
 PKESIDENTIAL CANVASS OF 1S60 UNTIL HIS 
 
 ASSASSINATION, APEIL 14, 1865. .--''-';:"r*" 
 
 ■ I have builded a monument more enduring than brass." — Horace. 
 
 NEW YORK ; 
 THE AMEKICAN NEWS COMPANY, 
 
 119 & 121 NASSAU STKEET. 
 
fii 
 
 Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1865, by 
 
 THE AMERICAN NEWS COMPANY, 
 
 In the Clerk's Office of tho District Court of the United States for the Southern 
 District of New York. 
 
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PREFATORY 
 
 A FEW days after tlie assassination of Presi- 
 dent Lincoln, tlie publishers of the present 
 volume received the following letter from the dis- 
 tinguished gentleman whose name it bears : 
 
 Gentlemen : 
 
 You have it in your power to erect a monument of its 
 own kind to the memory of the President, who, but a 
 few months ago, was elected by one of the greatest na- 
 tional acts known in all history, and has now been taken 
 off by foul assassination, as the chief representative of 
 our national existence, and by an assassin who represents 
 in this deed the ruthless evil aga,inst which we contend. 
 
 Collect and pubHsh, in the speediest possible manner, 
 the inaugural and other addresses of Abraham Lincoln, 
 his proclamations, messages, and public letters ; indeed, 
 all he has written as President, and you will contribute 
 to the mournful celebrations of the American people 
 your share of lasting value, and of far more impressive 
 eloquence than the most fervent orator could utter. 
 
iv PEEFATORY. 
 
 You would tlius make the martyr rear his own monu- 
 ment, which no years, no centuries could level and cause 
 to mingle again with the dust. Your obedient, 
 
 Francis Liebee. 
 
 New Tobk, April 18th, 1865. 
 
 In accordance witli this suggestion the follow- 
 ing pages have Ibeen prepared ; their object Ibeing 
 to present in a convenient and easily accessible 
 form, and with chronological arrangement, the 
 writings of which. Dr. Lieber speaks with such 
 well-merited admiration. But the editor has in- 
 cluded in the collection somewhat more than all 
 that Mr. Liistcoln wrote as President. The pith 
 of his remarkable speech delivered at the Cooper 
 Institute, in April, 1860, all of Ms speeches of any 
 importance while he was President elect, and other 
 expressions of his purposes and his convictions, 
 not uttered exactly as President, will be found in 
 the collection, which is well worth the thoughtful 
 perusal of every citizen of the Republic, 
 
THE MARTYR'S MONUMENT. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 The memory of Abraham Lincoln is now fresh in 
 the hearts of his countrymen. It is hardly a memory. 
 The grass which we would keep ever green has not yet 
 had time to spring upon his grave. But already we are 
 taking measures to erect monuments which will preserve 
 that memory, and show the honor in which we hold it to 
 after generations. This is right, and proper, and becom- 
 ing; but it is almost superfluous. The name and the 
 fame of him who fell by an assassin's hand, a martyr to 
 his devotion to his country, to the duties of his high 
 office, a-nd to his conviction that •' if slavery is not wrong 
 nothing is wrong," will endure without the help of stone 
 or bronze. It was what he did that Avill make our dead 
 President immortal; and his deeds will of necessity be 
 recorded upon one of the grandest and most stirring 
 pages of the world's history. But beside the record of 
 his acts he left behind him in his spoken and written 
 words, which were but the expression of the motives of 
 his deeds, a monument more enduring than any, however 
 splendid, that will ever be erected to him by wealth and 
 taste inspired by gratitude. To present his character in 
 these fitly and completely to his fellow citizens, that they 
 may be enabled to see how wise and^ good he was, how 
 entirely he was devoted to the cause of his country and 
 
2 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 to freedom, and how skillfullj he performed one of the 
 most difficult tasks that ever man was called upon to 
 undertake, how bj forbearance and bj patient waiting, 
 no less than bj vigorous and decided action when the 
 time had come for action, he led a great nation through a 
 crisis of unequaled peril, until he fell a victim in the 
 very hour of its complete salvation, is the purpose of the 
 following pages. 
 
 This collection presents a complete view of Mr. Lin- 
 coln's public life from the time when he was chosen as a 
 candidate for the Presidency by those who were deter- 
 mined that slavery should no longer be extended by the 
 authority and under the flag of this Republic, until the 
 very day when that flag was formally raised again upon 
 Fort Sumter as a sign that the Republic was preserved 
 in its integrity and Slavery was utterly destroyed, and 
 when he, having accomplished his great mission, closed his 
 labors and gave up his spirit. Of all his speeches, 
 messages, proclamations, public letters, and orders during 
 that eventful period, only such parts have been omitted 
 as were of a merely formal and business character. All 
 that displayed his patriotism, set forth his principles, or 
 illustrated his personal character has been solicitously 
 retained. We have here Abraham Lincoln's portrait 
 painted, and his monument raised, by his own hands. 
 
 THE great issue. 
 
 Rarely, if ever, was the issue to be decided by a great 
 war so simple and so clearly defined as in the case of 
 that war of which Abraham Lincoln's election was the 
 immediate occasion, and which his administration con- 
 
THE martyr's monument. 6 
 
 ducted to so triumphant a close. That issue was whether 
 the Government of the Republic known as the United 
 States of America had the right, and the power, and the 
 will to prevent the extension of negro-slaver j over the 
 common territory and under the authority of the Union. 
 That right was asserted, and the intention to exert it 
 declared, by the party whose votes made Mr. Lincoln 
 President. It was denied, and the purpose based upon 
 it was denounced, not only by a large majority of the 
 people of the Slave States but by a powerful minority 
 in the Free States ; which majority and minority, work- 
 ing together, had for many years directed the councils 
 and swayed the power of the Government. Upon this 
 issue Mr. Lincoln delivered an address at the Cooper 
 Institute in New York on the evening of February 27, 
 1860, at a time when he had no notion that he should 
 ever be President. Senator Douglas, then the leader of 
 the Free State minority above mentioned, had taken the 
 position that the fathers of the Republic had denied the 
 right of the Government to interfere with the question of 
 slavery in the Territories or common landed possessions 
 of the Union, adding, as a conclusive argument against 
 such interference, that "our fathers when they framed 
 the Government under which we live understood this 
 question just as well and even better than we do now," 
 
 This doctrine of Mr. Douglas Mr. Lincoln took as the 
 subject of his address, and by careful historical research 
 he brought to light the remarkable and pregnant fact 
 that, with one or two exceptions, the fathers of the 
 Republic, meaning those who took part in framing the 
 Constitution and in establishing the Government, had, 
 on every occasion of the consideration of the subject of 
 
4 THE MARTYR'S MONUMENT. 
 
 slavery in the Territories, shown by their votes that in 
 their judgment Congress had the constitutional right to 
 exclude slavery from or admit it to tlie Territories, or to 
 modify the form under which it should be admitted, or 
 declare the conditions under which it should exist. Mr. 
 Lincoln brought forward contemporary record of such 
 action by the fathers of the Republic in 1784 and in 
 1787, before the formation of the present constitution ; 
 in 1789, in 1798, in 1804, and in 1820. Mr. Lincoln 
 thus summed up the facts which he had brought to light. 
 
 Here, then, we have twenty-tliree out of our thirty-nine 
 fathers " who framed the Governinent under which we live,'^ 
 who have, upon their oflQcial responsibility and their corporal 
 oaths, acted upon the very question which the text affirms they 
 " understood just as well, and even better than we do now ; " 
 and twenty-one of them — a clear majority of the whole "thirty- 
 nine " — so acting upon it as to make them guilty of gross polit- 
 ical impropriety and wilful peijury, if, in their understanding, 
 any proper di\ision between local and federal authority, or 
 anything in the Constitution they had made themselves, and 
 sworn to support, forbade the Federal Government to control 
 as to slavery in the federal territories. Thus the twenty-one 
 acted ; and, as actions speak louder than words, so actions, 
 under such responsibility, speak still louder. 
 
 ******** 
 
 The sum of the whole is, that of our thirty-nine fathers who 
 framed the original Constitution, twenty-one — a clear majority 
 of the whole — certainly understood that no proper division of 
 local from federal authority, nor any part of the Constitution, 
 forbade the Federal Government to control slavery in the federal 
 territories ; while all the rest probably had the same under- 
 standing. Such, unquestionably, was the understanding of 
 our fathers who framed the original Constitution ; and the text 
 affirms that they understood the question " better than we." 
 
 It is surely safe to assume that the thirty-nine framers of the 
 original Constitution, and the seventy-six members of the Con- 
 
THE martyr's monument. 6 
 
 gress wliicli framed the amendments thereto, taken together, do 
 certainly include those who may be fairly called " our fathers 
 who framed the Government under which we live." And, 
 so assuming, I defy any man to show that any one of them ever, 
 in his whole life, declared that, in his understanding, any proper 
 di^■ision of local from federal authoiity, or any part of the Con- 
 stitution, forbade the Federal Government to control as to 
 slavery in the federal territories. I go a step further. I defy 
 any one to show that any li^dng man in the whole world ever 
 did, prior to the beginning of the present century, (and I might 
 almost say prior to the beginning of the last half of the present 
 century,) declare that, in his understanding, any proper division 
 of local from federal authority, or any part of the Constitution, 
 forbade the Federal Government to control as to slavery in the 
 federal territories. To those who now so declare, I give, not 
 only " our fathers who framed the Government under which we 
 live," but with them all other living men within the century in 
 which it was framed, among whom to search, and they shall not 
 be able to find the evidence of a single man agreeing with them. 
 
 In this speech Mr. Lincoln set forth, in a very note- 
 worthy manner, his appreciation of the relative positions 
 of the Free and the Slave States upon the great question 
 then agitating the country. After saying that the Re- 
 publican party only asked that slavery should be marked 
 as " the fathers" marked it, " as an evil not to be extended, 
 but to be tolerated and protected only because of, and so 
 far as, its actual presence among us makes that toleration 
 and protection a necessity: — let," he continued, '^all 
 the guaranties those fathers gave it, be, not grudgingly, 
 but fully and fairly maintained." Then, addressing him- 
 self to the propagandists of slavery, he said as follows : 
 
 And now, if they would listen — as I suppose they will not — 
 I would address a few words to the Southern people. 
 
 I would say to them : — You consider yourselves a reasonable 
 and a just people ; and I consider that in the general qualities 
 
6 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 of reason and justice you are not inferior to any other people. 
 Still, wlien you speak of us Republicans, you do so only to de- 
 nounce U3 as reptiles, or, at tlie best, as no better than outlaws. 
 You will grant a heaidng to pirates or murderers, but nothing 
 like it to " Black Republicans." In all your contentions with 
 one another, each of you deems an unconditional condemnation 
 of " Black Republicanism" as the first thing to be attended to. 
 Indeed, such condenmation of us seems to be an indispensable 
 prerequisite — license, so to speak — among you to be admitted 
 or permitted to sj)eak at all. Now, can you, or not, be prevailed 
 upon to pause and to consider whether this is quite just to us, or 
 even to yourselves ? Bring forward your charges and specifica- 
 tions, and then be patient long enough to hear us deny or justify. 
 You say we are sectional. We deny it. That makes an issue ; 
 and the burden of proof is upon you. You produce your proof; 
 and what is it ? Why, that our party has no existence in your 
 section — gets no votes in your section. The fact is substantially 
 true ; but does it prove the issue ? If it does, then in case we 
 should, without change of principle, begin to get votes in your 
 section, we should thereby cease to be sectional. You cannot 
 escape this conclusion ; and yet, are you willing to abide by it ? 
 If you are, you will j^robably soon find that we have ceased to 
 be sectional, for we shall get votes in your section this very 
 year. You will then begin to discover, as- the truth plainly is, 
 that your proof does not touch the issue. The fact that we get 
 no votes in your section, is a fact of your making, and not of 
 ours. And if there be fault in that fact, that fault is primarily 
 yours, and remains so until you show that we repel you by some 
 wrong principle or practice. If we do repel you by any wrong 
 princii)le or practice, the fault is ours ; but this biings you to 
 where you ought to have started — to a discussion of the right 
 or wrong of our principle. If our principle, put in practice, 
 would wrong your section for the benefit of ours, or for any 
 other object, then our principle, and we with it, are sectional, 
 and are justly opposed and denounced as such. Meet us, then, 
 on the question of whether our principle, put in practice, would 
 wrong your section ; and so meet us as if it were possible that 
 something may be said on our side. Do you accept the chal- 
 
THE MARTYR'S MONUMENT. 7 
 
 lenge ? No ! Then you really believe that the principle which 
 " our fathers who framed the Government under which we live" 
 thought so clearly right as to adopt it, and indorse it again and 
 again, upon their official oaths, is in fact so clearly wrong as to 
 demand your condemnation without a moment's consideration. 
 
 Some of you d Jight to flaunt in our faces the warning against 
 sectional parties given by Washington in his Farewell Address. 
 Less than eight years before Washington gave that warning, he 
 had, as President of the United States, approved and signed an 
 act of Congress, enforcing the prohibition of slavery in the 
 Northwestern Territory, which act embodied the policy of the 
 Government upon that subject up tc«and at the very moment 
 he penned that warning ; and about one year after he penned 
 it, he wrote La Fayette that he considered that prohibition a 
 wise measure, expressing in the same connection his hope that 
 we should at some time have a confederacy of free States. 
 
 Bearing this in mind, and seeing that sectionalism has since 
 arisen upon this same subject, is that warning a weapon in your 
 hands against us, or in our hands against you ? Could Wash- 
 ington himself speak, would he cast the blame of that section- 
 alism upon us, who sustain his policy, or upon you who repu- 
 diate it? We respect that warning of Washington, and we 
 commend it to you, together with his example pointing to the 
 right application of it. 
 
 Of emancipation and of such efforts as that of John 
 Brown, Mr. Lincoln expressed these views : 
 
 Li the language of Mr, Jefferson, uttered many years ago, "It 
 is still in our power to direct the process of emancipation, and 
 deportation, peaceably, and in such slow degrees, as that the 
 evil will wear off insensibly ; and their [the negroes'] places be, 
 pari passu, filled up by free white laborers. If, on the contrary, 
 it is left to force itself on, human nature must shudder at the 
 prospect held uj^." 
 
 Mr. Jefferson did not mean to say, nor do I, that the power 
 of emancipation is in the Federal Government. He spoke of 
 Virginia ; and, as to the power of emancipation, I speak of the 
 Blave-holding Stites only. The Federal Government, however, 
 
8 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 as we insist, has the j^ower of restraining the extension of the 
 institution — the power to insure that a slave insurrection shall 
 never occur on any American soil which is now free from slavery. 
 John Brown's effort was peculiar. It was not a slave insur- 
 rection. It was an attempt by white men to get up a revolt 
 among slaves, in which the slaves refused to participate. In 
 fact, it was so absurd, that the slaves, with all their ignorance, 
 saw plainly enough it could not succeed. That affair, in its 
 philosophy, corresponds with the many attempts, related in 
 history, at the assassination of kings and emperors. An enthu- 
 siast broods over the 023pression of a people till he fancies him- 
 self commissioned by Heaven to liberate them. He ventures 
 the attempt, which ends in little else than his own execution. 
 Orsini's attempt on Louis Napoleon, and John Brown's attempt 
 at Hai-per's Ferry were, in their philosophy, precisely the same. 
 The eagerness to cast blame on old England in the one case, and 
 on New England in the other, does not disprove the sameness 
 of the two things.' 
 
 Mr. Lincoln closed his discourse by the following pas- 
 sage which he addressed specially to the opponents of the 
 extension of slavery, i. e., in his words, the Republicans, 
 although there were many who united with him in that op- 
 position and in these views as to its nature, its right, and 
 its necessity, who had not acted with the Republican party. 
 
 A few words now to Republicans. It is exceedingly desirable 
 that all j)arts of this great Confederacy shall be at peace, and 
 in harmony, one with another. Let us Republicans do our 
 part to have it so. Even though much provoked, let us do 
 nothing through passion and ill-temper. Even though the 
 Southern people will not so much as listen to us, let us calmly 
 consider their demands, and yield to them if, in our deliberate 
 view of our duty, we possibly can. Judging by all they say 
 and do, and by the subject and nature of their controversy with 
 us, let us determine, if we can, what will satisfy them. 
 
 Will they be satisfied if the Territories be unconditionally 
 surrendered to them ? We know they will not. In all their 
 
THE martyr's monument. 9 
 
 present complaints against us, tlie Territories are scarcely men- 
 tioned. Invasions and insurrections are the rage now. Will it 
 satisfy tliem, if, in the future, we have nothing to do with in- 
 vasions and insurrections ? We know it T\all not. We so know, 
 because we know we never had anything to do with invasions 
 and insurrections ; and yet this total abstaining does not exempt 
 us from the charge and the denunciation. * * * * 
 
 In all our platforms and speeches we have constantly pro- 
 tested our purpose to let them alone; but this has had no 
 tendency to convince them. Alike unavailing to convince them, 
 is the fact that they have never detected a man of us in any 
 attempt to disturb them. 
 
 These natural, and apparently adequate means all failing, 
 what will convince them ? This, and this only , cease to call 
 slavery wrong ^ and join them in calling it riglit. And this must 
 be done thoroughly — done in acts as well as in words. Silence 
 will not be tolerated — we must place ourselves avowedly with 
 them. Senator Douglas's new sedition law must be enacted 
 and enforced, suppressing all declarations that slavery is wrong, 
 whether made in politics, in presses, in pulj)its, or in private. 
 We must arrest and return their fugitive slaves with greedy 
 pleasure. We must pull down our Free State constitutions. 
 The whole atmosphere must be disinfected from all taint of 
 opposition to slavery, before they will cease to believe that all 
 their troubles proceed from us, ***** * 
 
 Nor can we justifiably withhold this, on any ground save our 
 conviction that slavery is wrong. If slavery is right, all words, 
 acts, laws, and constitutions against it, are themselves wrong, 
 and should be silenced, and swept away. If it is light, we 
 cannot justly object to its nationality — its universality; if it is 
 wrong, they cannot justly insist upon its extension — its enlarge- 
 ment. All they ask, we could readily grant, if we thought 
 slavery right ; all we ask, they could as readily grant, if they 
 thought it wrong. Their thinking it right, and our thinking it 
 wrong, is the j^recise fact upon which depends the whole con- 
 troversy. Thinking it right, as they do, they are not to blame 
 for desiring its full recogTiition, as being right ; but, thinking it 
 wrong, as we do, can we yield to them ? Can we cast our vote« 
 
10 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 with their view, and against our own ? In view of our moral, 
 social, and political responsibilities, can we do this ? 
 
 Wrong as we think slavery is, we can yet afford to let it alone 
 where it is, because that much is <iue to the necessity arising 
 from its actual presence in the nation ; but can we,while our votes 
 will prevent it, allow it to spread into the National Territories, 
 and to overrun us here in these Free States ? If our sense of 
 duty forbids this, then let us stand by our duty, fearlessly 
 and effectively. Let us be diverted by none of those sophisti- 
 cal contrivances wherewith we are so industriously plied and 
 belabored — contrivances such as groping for some middle ground 
 between the right and the wrong, vain as the search for a man who 
 should be neither a living man nor a dead man — such as a 
 policy of " don't care " on a question about which all true men 
 do care — such as Union appeals beseeching true Union men to 
 yield to Disunionists, reversing the divine rule, and calling, not 
 the sinners, but the righteous to reiDcntance — such as invoca- 
 tions to Washington, imploring men to unsay what Washington 
 said, and undo what Washington did. 
 
 Neither let us be slandered from our duty by false accusa- 
 tions against us, nor frightened from it by menaces of destruc- 
 tion to the Government nor of dungeons to ourselves. Let us 
 have faith that right makes might, and in that faith, let us, to 
 the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it. 
 
 Thus clearly, fairly and with eminent kindness and 
 consideration towards the slave-holders did Mr. Lincoln 
 set forth the Great Issue which he was afterwards called 
 upon to try before the world. But previously he had ex- 
 pressed more tersely and almost epigramatically his judg- 
 ment as to the future of this country in regard to this sub- 
 ject. When Mr. Lincoln was nominated to the Senate 
 of the United States, in 1858, he made a speech, in the 
 opening passage of which were these memorable words : 
 
 "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 
 
THE MARTYR'S MONUMENT. 11 
 
 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." 
 
 Surelj political sagacity and foresight were never more 
 manifest than in this prediction. It has been verified by 
 subsequent events to the letter. The slaveholders were 
 determined that the Government should be all "slave." 
 During the years which immediately preceded the 
 attempted secession, they thought that they were rapidly 
 bringing about the end which they so much desired ; and 
 there is no reasonable doubt that at first secession itself 
 jvas but a new and rough method adopted by them to accom- 
 plish this same purpose ;^that they believed that after 
 they had shown their ability to defy and resist the Gov- 
 ernment and establish the principle of State Sovereignty, 
 they could reconstruct the Union on a basis which would 
 enable them to carry slavery into the Territories, and 
 their slaves into any State of their reconstructed Union. 
 They were rudely undeceived, and the man who, next to 
 themselves, was the chief instrument of their destruction, 
 was he who only six years before had told them that they 
 must succeed entirely or fail utterly, that the Government 
 could not endure half slave and half free, and that the 
 Union would not be dissolved. 
 
 NOMINATION TO THE PRESIDENCY. 
 
 Mr. Lincoln, unexpectedly to himself and to the 
 country, was nominated to the Presidency by the conven- 
 tion of 1860, at Chicago. To the announcement of this 
 fact made by a committee, he made the following reply : 
 
 " Mr. CMirnian and Gentlemen of the Committee — I tender to 
 you, and through you to the Republican National Convention, 
 
12 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 and all tlie people represented in it, my profoundest thanks for 
 the high honor done me, which you now formally announce. 
 Deeply, and even painfully sensible of the great responsibility 
 which is inseparable from this high honor — a responsibility 
 which I could almost wish had fallen upon some one of the far 
 more eminent men and experienced statesmen whose distin- 
 guished names were before the Convention, I shall, by your 
 leave, consider more fully the resolutions of the Convention, 
 denominated the platform, and without any unnecessary or 
 um'easonable delay, respond to you, Mr. Chairman, in writing, 
 not doubting that the platform will be found satisfactory, and 
 the nomination gratefully accepted. 
 
 " And now I will not longer defer the pleasure of taking 
 you, and each of you, by the hand." 
 
 The response in writing to which he referred, was soon 
 after received in the following words : 
 
 Springfielb, Illixois, May, 1S60. 
 
 Sir — I accept the nomination tendered to me by the Conven- 
 tion over which you presided, of which I am formally ajDprized 
 in a letter of yourself and others acting as a Committee of the 
 Convention for that pui*pose. The declaration of principles 
 and sentiments which accompanies your letter meets my ap- 
 proval, and it shall be my care not to violate it, or disregard it 
 in any part. Imploring the assistance of Divine Providence, 
 and with due regard to the views and feelings of all who were 
 represented in the Convention, to the rights of all the States 
 and Territories and people of the nation, to the inviolability of 
 the Constitution, and the perpetual union, harmony, and pros- 
 perity of all, I am most happy to co-operate for the practical 
 success of the principles declared by the Convention. 
 
 Your obliging friend and fellow-citizen, 
 Abraham Lincoln. 
 
 Hon. Gjeoege Ashmun, 
 
 President of the Republican Convention. 
 
 These were almost mere formalities. Yet their tone 
 indicated the character of the man. The short speech 
 was uttered in a tone and with a manner full of dignity, 
 
THE MAETYR'S monument. 13 
 
 and with an expression of a sense of responsibility which 
 almost amounted to sadness. And in both speech and 
 letter there appears that mingling of firmness and self- 
 distrust, that determination and that reliance upon a 
 higher powder which marked Mr. Lincoln's words and 
 conduct throughout his public life. When, after his 
 election, the time had arrived for him to leave his quiet 
 home for the capital of his distracted country, he ad- 
 dressed his friends and neighbors in the following few 
 brief sentences. But few and brief although they are, 
 how fully they express a just and large appreciation of 
 the crisis in which he was called to poAver, how imbued 
 they are with the man's tenderness, and the statesman's 
 trust in God ! 
 
 PARTING SPEECH AT ILLINOIS, FEB. 11th, 1860. 
 
 3fy 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 which 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, vdW 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. 
 
 His journey to Washington was a progress like that 
 of a monarch in olden time — he, that simple, unassuming, 
 almost rude frontiersman and village lawyer. He was 
 
 V 
 
14 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 met at every station -by throngs of people eager to cheer 
 and encourage him, and to hear a word of cheer and 
 encouragement in return. In what he said he of course 
 repeate d himself often, and on some occasions he merely 
 uttered a kindly sentence or two, which was cut short 
 by the impatient shriek of the railway engine. The 
 following are all the speeches made by him upon his 
 journey, to which the above remarks do not apply : 
 
 SPEECHES AT INDIANAPOLIS. 
 
 0(yD. Morton and Felloic- Citizens of the State of Indiana — Most 
 heartily do I thank you for this magnificent reception, and while 
 I cannot take to myself any share of the compliment thus paid, 
 more than that which pertains to a mere instrument, an acciden- 
 tal instrument, perhaps I should say, of a great cause, I yet 
 must look upon it as a most magnificent reception, and as such, 
 most heartily do thank you for it. You have been pleased to 
 address yourself to me chiefly in behalf of this glorious Union 
 in which we live, in all of which you have my hearty sympathy, 
 and, as far as may be within my power, will have, one and 
 inseparably, my hearty consideration ; while I do not expect 
 upon this occasion, or until I get to Washington, to attempt 
 any lengthy speech, I will only say. To the salvation of the 
 Union there needs but one single thing, the hearts of a people 
 like yours. [Applause.] 
 
 The people, when they rise in mass in behalf of the Union 
 and the liberties of their country, truly may it be said, " The 
 gates of hell cannot prevail against them." [Renewed ap- 
 plause.] In all trying positions in which I shall be placed, and, 
 doubtless I shall be placed in many such, my reliance will be 
 placed upon you and the people of the United States ; and I 
 wish you to remember, now and forever, that it is your business, 
 and not mine ; that if the union of these States, and the liber- 
 ties of this people shall be lost, it is but little to any one man 
 of fifty-two years of age, but a great deal to the thirty millions 
 of people who inhabit these United States, and to their poster- 
 
THE martyr's monument. . 15 
 
 ity in all coming time. It is your business to rise up and pre- 
 serve the Union and liberty for yourselves, and not for me. 
 
 I desire they should be constitutionally performed. I, as 
 already intimated, am but an accidental instrument, temporary, 
 and to serve but for a limited time, and I appeal to you again 
 to constantly bear in mind that mth you, and not with politi- 
 cians, not with Presidents, not with office-seekers, but with you, 
 is the question, Shall the Union and shall the liberties of this 
 country be preserved to the latest generations ? [Cheers.] 
 
 The above speech was delivered in front of the Bates 
 House, at Indianapolis, to a promiscuous assemblage, 
 among which appeared the governor and members of both 
 houses of the State Legislature. That which follows was 
 made at the same hotel in the evening, in response to a 
 formal welcome from the Legislature. 
 
 FelloiD- Citizens of the State of Indiana — I am here to thank 
 you much for this magnificent welcome, and still more for the gen- 
 erous support given by your State to that political cause which I 
 think is the true and just cause of the whole country and the 
 whole world. 
 
 Solomon says, there is " a time to keep silence," and when men 
 wrangle by the mouth with no certainty that they mean the 
 same thing, while using the same word, it perhaps were as well 
 if they would keep silence. 
 
 The words "coercion" and "invasion" are much used in these 
 days, and often with some temper and hot blood. Let us make 
 sure, if we can, that we do not misunderstand the meaning of 
 those who use them. Let us get exact definitions of these 
 words, not from dictionaries, but from the men themselves, who 
 certainly depreciate the tJdngs they would represent by the use 
 of words. What, then, is " Coercion ?" What is " Invasion ?" 
 AYould the marching of 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 
 
16 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 retake its own forts and other proiDerty, and collect the duties 
 on foreign importations, or even withhold the mails from places 
 where they were habitually violated, would any or all these 
 things be "invasion" or "coercion?" Do our professed lovers 
 of the Union, but who spitefully resolve that they will resist 
 coercion and invasion, understand that such things as these, on 
 the part of the United States, would be coercion or invasion o*f 
 a State ? If so, their ideas of means to preserve the object of 
 their affection would seem exceedingly thin and airy. If sick, 
 the little pills of the homoeopathists would be too large for it to 
 swallow. In their view, the Union, as a family relation, would 
 seem to be no regular marriage, but a sort of " free love" 
 arrangement, to be maintained only on " jDassional attraction." 
 
 By the way, in what consists the special sacrednessof a State? 
 I speak not of the position assigned to a State in the Union, by 
 the Constitution ; for that, by the bond, we all recognize. That 
 position, however, a State cannot carry out of the Udiou with 
 it. I speak of that assumed primary right of a State to rule all 
 which is less than itself and ruin all which is larger tlian itself. 
 If a State and a county in a given case, should bf' equal in 
 extent of territory, and equal in number of inhabitants, in what^ 
 as a matter of principle, is the State better than th<^ county ? 
 AVould an exchange of names be an exchange of HgMs upon 
 pi-inciple ? On what rightful principle may a State, being not 
 more than one-fiftieth part of the nation, in soil and popula- 
 tion, break up the nation, and then coerce a proportionally 
 larger subdivision of itself, in the most arbitrary way ? What 
 mysterious right to play tyrant is conferred on a district of 
 country, with its people, by merely calling it a State ? 
 .Fellow-citizens, I am not asserting anything; I am merely 
 asking questions for you to consider. And now allow me to 
 bid you farewell. 
 
 SPEECH AT CINCINNATI. 
 
 Mr. Mayor and Fellow- Citizens — I have spoken but once be- 
 fore this in Cincinnati. That was a year previous to the late 
 Presidential election. On that occasion, in a playful manner, but 
 with sincere words, I addressed much of what I said to the Ken- 
 
17 
 
 tuckians. I gave my opinion that we, as Eepublicans, would 
 ultimately beat them, as Democrats, but that they could postpone 
 that result longer by nominating Senator Douglas for the Presi- 
 dency than they could in any other way. They did not, in any true 
 sense of the word, nominate Mr, Douglas, and the result has come 
 certainly as soon as ever I expected. I also told them how I 
 expected they would be treated after they should have been 
 beaten ; and I now wish to call their attention to what I then 
 said upon that subject. I then said, " When we do as we say, 
 beat you, you perhaps want to know what we will do T\dth you. 
 I will tell you, as far as I am authoiized to speak for the oppo- 
 sition, what we mean to do with you. We mean to treat you 
 as near as we possibly can, as Washington, Jefferson, and Mad 
 ison treated you. We mean to leave you alone, rmd in no way 
 to interfere with your institutions ; to abide by all and every 
 compromise of the Constitution ; and, in a word, coming back 
 to the original proposition, to treat you, so far as degenerate 
 men, if we have degenerated, may, according to the example of 
 those noble fathers, Washington, Jefferson and Madison. 
 We mean to remember that you are as good as we ; that there 
 is no difference between us, other than the difference of circum- 
 stances. We mean to recognize and bear in mind always that 
 you have as good hearts in your bosoms as any people, or as 
 we claim to have, and treat you accordingly. 
 
 Fellow-citizens of Kentucky ! friends ! brethren, may I call 
 you in my new position ? I see no occasion, and feel no incli- 
 nation to retract a word of this. If it shall not be made good, 
 be assured the fault shall not be mine. 
 
 SPEECH AT COLUMBUS. 
 
 Mr. President ami Mr. Speaker^ and Oentlemen of iJie General 
 Assernbly — It is true, as has been said by the President of the 
 Senate, that very great responsibility rests upon me in the po- 
 sition to which the votes of the American peoj)le have called 
 me. I am deeply sensible of that weighty responsibility. I 
 cannot but know "what you all know, that without a name, per- 
 haps without a reason why I should have a name, there has 
 fallen upon me a task such as did not rest even upon the Pathei 
 
18 
 
 of his country, and so feeling I cannot but turn and look for 
 the support without which it will be impossible for me to per- 
 form that great task. I turn, then, and look to the great Amer- 
 ican people, and to that God who has never forsaken them. 
 
 Allusion has been made to the interest felt in relation to the 
 policy of the new administration. In this I have received from 
 some a degree of credit for having kept silence, and from oth- 
 ers some def)reciation. I still think I was right. In the varying 
 and repeatedly shifting scenes of the present, and without a 
 precedent which could enable me to judge by the past, it has 
 seemed fitting that before speaking upon the difficulties of the 
 country, I should have gained a view of the whole field so as 
 to be sure after all — at liberty to modify and change the course 
 of policy as future events may make a change necessary. I 
 have not maintained silence from any want of real anxiety. It 
 is a good thing that there is no more than anxiety, for there is 
 nothing going wrong. It is a consoling circumstance that when 
 we look out, there is nothing that really hurts anybody. We 
 entertain different views upon political questions, but nobody 
 is suffering anything. This is a most consoling circumstance, 
 and from it we may conclude that all we want is time, patience, 
 and a reliance on that God who has never forsaken this people. 
 Fellow-citizens, what I have said I have said altogether extem- 
 poraneously, and will now come to a close. 
 
 This speech is strongly marked bj that peculiar and, 
 as it proved, very wise trait of Mr. Lincoln's policy in 
 the early part of his administration, although it subjected 
 liim at first to reproach, and to charges on the one side 
 of lukewarmness, and on the other of levity — a watchful 
 consideration of the course of events, and the tone of the 
 public mind; a determination not to attempt the imprac- 
 ticable, and not to be too far in advance of the general 
 public sentiment. 
 
 SPEECH AT STEUBENVILLE. 
 
 I fear that the great confidence placed in my ability is un- 
 founded. Indeed, I am sure it is. Encompassed by vast diffi- 
 
19 
 
 culties as I am, nothing shall be wanting on my part, if 
 sustained by the American people and God. I believe the 
 devotion to the Constitution is equally great on both sides of 
 the river. It is only the different understanding of that instru- 
 ment that causes difficulty. The only dispute on both sides is 
 " AYhat are their rights ?" If the majority should not rule, who 
 should be the judge ? Where is such a judge to be found ? 
 We should all be bound by the majority of the American peo- 
 ple — if not, then the minority must control. Would that be 
 right? Would it be just or generous? Assuredly not. I reit- 
 erate that the majority should rule. If I adopt a wrong policy, 
 the opjDortunity for condemnation wiU occur in four years' 
 time. Then I can be turned out, and a better man with better 
 views put in my place. 
 
 But he was not turned out. The heathen raged, and 
 some of the people imagined a vain thing, yet in the 
 midst of this fearful conflict, with such an approach to 
 unanimity as has not been seen since the days of Wash- 
 ington or Jackson, his fellow-citizens declared that a bet- 
 ter man with better views could not be found for the 
 emergency. 
 
 EXTRACT FROM MR. LINCOLN'S SPEECH AT PITTSBURG. 
 
 It is often said that the tariff is the specialty of Pennsylvania. 
 Assuming that direct taxation is not to be adopted, the Tariff 
 question must be as durable as the Government itself. It is a 
 question of national housekeeping. It is to the Government 
 what replenishing the meal-tub is to the family. Every varying 
 circumstance will require frequent modifications as to the 
 amount needed, and the sources of supply. So far there is 
 little difference of ojjinion among the people. It is only wheth- 
 er, and how far, the duties on imports shall be adjusted to favor 
 home productions. In the home market that controversy 
 begins. One party insists that too much protection oppresses 
 one class for the advantage of another, while the other party 
 
20 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 argues that, -with all its incidents, in the long run, all classes are 
 benefited. In the Chicago Platform there is a plank upon this 
 subject, which should be a general law to the incoming Admin- 
 istration. We should do neither more nor less than we gave the 
 people reason to believe we would when they gave us their votes. 
 That plank is as I now read : 
 
 Mr. Lincoln's private secretary then read section twelfth of 
 the Chicago Platform, as follows : 
 
 " That while providing revenue for the support of the Gen- 
 eral Government, by duties upon imports, sound policy requires 
 such an adjustment of these duties upon imports as will en- 
 courage the development of the industrial interest of the whole 
 countiy ; and we commend that policy of national exchanges 
 which secures to working-men liberal wages — to agriculture 
 remunerating jDrices — to mechanics and manufacturers adequate 
 reward for their skill, labor, and enterprise ; and to the nation 
 commercial iDrosperity and independence." 
 
 Mr. Lincoln resumed: As with all general ^propositions 
 doubtless there will be shades of difference in construing this' 
 I have by no means a thoroughly matured judgment upon this 
 subject, especially as to details ; some general ideas are about 
 all. I have long thought to produce any necessary article at 
 home which can be made of as good quality and with as little 
 labor at home as abroad, would be better policy, at least by the 
 difierence of the carrying from abroad. In such a case the 
 carrying is demonstrably a dead loss of labor. For instance, 
 labor being the true standard of value, is it not plain that if 
 equal labor gets a bar of railroad iron out of a mine in Eng- 
 land, and another out of a mine in Pennsylvania, each can be 
 laid down in a track at home cheaper than they could exchange 
 countries, at least by the cost of carriage ? K there be a ]3res- 
 ent cause why one can be both made and carried cheaper in 
 money price than the other can be made without carrying, that 
 cause is an unnatural and injurious one, and ought naturally if 
 not rapidly to be removed. The condition of the treasury at 
 this time would seem to render an early revision of the Tariff 
 indispensable. The Morrill Tariff bill, now pending before 
 Congress, may or may not become a law. I am not posted as 
 
THE martyr's MOXUMEXT. 21 
 
 to its particular proyisions, but if they are generally satisfac- 
 tory and the bill shall now pass, there will be an end of the 
 matter for the present. If, however, it shall not pass, I suppose 
 the whole subject will be one of the most pressing and impor- 
 tant for the next Congress. By the Constitution, the Executive 
 may recommend measures which he may think proper, and he 
 may veto those he thinks improper, and it is supposed that he 
 may add to these certain indirect influences to affect the action 
 of Congress. My political education strongly inclines me against 
 a very free use of any of these means by the Executive to con- 
 trol the legislation of the country. As a rule, I think it better 
 that Congress should originate as well as perfect its measures 
 mthout external bias. I, therefore, would rather recommend 
 to every gentleman who knows he is to be a member of the next 
 Congress, to take an enlarged view, and inft)rm himself thor- 
 oughly, so as to contribute his part to such an adjustment of 
 the tariff" as shall produce a sufficient revenue, and in its other 
 bearings, so far as possible, be just and equal to all sections of 
 the country and all classes of the people. 
 
 SPEECH AT BUFFALO. 
 
 Mr. Mayor aiid Fellow- Citizens of Buffalo and the State of 
 New Torh — I am here to thank you briefly for this grand recep- 
 tion given to me, not personally, but as the representative of 
 our great and beloved country. [Cheers.] Your worthy Mayor 
 has been j^leased to mention, in his address to me, the fortunate 
 and agreeable journey which I have had from home, only it is a 
 rather circuitous route to the Federal caj^ital. I am very happy 
 that he was enabled in truth to congratulate myself and com- 
 pany on that fact. It is true we have had nothing thus far to 
 mar the pleasure of the trip. We have not been met alone by 
 those who assisted in giving the election to me ; I say not alone 
 by them, but by the whole population of the country through 
 which we have passed. This is as it should be. Had the elec- 
 tion fallen to any other of the distinguished candidates instead 
 of myself, under the peculiar circumstances, to say the least, it 
 would have been proper for all citizens to have greeted him as 
 
22 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 you now greet me. It is an evidence of the devotion of the 
 whole people to the Constitution, the Union, and the pei-petuity 
 of the liberties of this country. [Cheers.] I am unwilling on 
 any occasion that I should be so meanly thought of as to have 
 it supposed for a moment that these demonstrations are ten- 
 dered to me personally. They are tendered to the country, to 
 the institutions of the country, and to the perpetuity of the 
 liberties of the country, for which these institutions were made 
 and created. 
 
 Your worthy Mayor has thought fit to express the hope that 
 I may be able to relieve the country from the present, or, I 
 should say, the threatened difficulties. I am sure I bring a 
 heart true to the w^ork. [Tremendous applause.] For the 
 ability to j^erform it, I must trust in that Supreme Being who 
 has never forsaken this favored land, through the instrumental- 
 ity of this great and intelligent people. Without that assist- 
 ance I shall surely fail ; with it I cannot fail. When we speak 
 of threatened difficulties to the country, it is natural that it 
 should be expected that something should be said by myself 
 with regard to particular measures. Upon more mature reflec- 
 tion, however — and others will agree with me — that, when it is 
 considered that these difficulties are without precedent, and" 
 never have been acted upon by any individual situated as I am, 
 it is most proper I should wait and see the developments, and 
 get all the light j)ossible, so that when I do speak authoritative- 
 ly, I may be as near' right as possible. [Cheers.] When I shall 
 speak authoritatively, I hope to say nothing inconsistent with 
 the Constitution; the Union, the rights of all the States, of each 
 State, and of each section of the country, and not to disappoint 
 the reasonable expectations of those who have confided to me 
 their votes. In this connection allow me to say that you, as a 
 portion of the great American people, need only to maintain 
 your composure, stand up to your sober convictions of right, 
 to your obligations to the Constitution, and act in accordance 
 with those sober convictions, and the clouds which now arise in 
 the horizon will be dispelled, and we shall have a bright and 
 glorious future ; and when this generation has passed away, 
 tens of thousands will inhabit this country where only thou- 
 
THE martyr's moxumext. 23 
 
 sands inhabit it now. I do not propose to address you at length ; 
 I have no voice for it. Allow me again to thank you for this 
 magnificent reception, and bid you farewell. 
 
 The following brief recognition of his welcome at Uti- 
 ca, is marked by a trait of that whimsical humor which 
 did much to smooth the rugged road over which Mr- 
 Lincoln was called to pass to glorj and the grave. 
 
 AT UTICA. 
 
 Ladies and Gentlemen — I have no speech to make to you, and 
 no time to speak in. I appear before you that I may see you, 
 and that you may see me ; and I am willing to admit, that so 
 far as the ladies are concerned, I have the best of the bargain, 
 though I wish it to be understood that I do not make the same 
 acknowledgment concerning the men. [Laughter and applause.] 
 
 SPEECH IN THE HALL OF ASSEMBLY AT ALBANY. 
 
 Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Legislature of tlie State of 
 NeiD Y&rJc — It is with feelings of great diffidence, and I may say, 
 with feelings of awe, perhaps greater than I have recently ex- 
 perienced, that I meet you here in this place. The history of 
 this great State, the renown of those great men who have stood 
 here, and spoken here, and been heard here, all crowd around my 
 fancy, and incline me to shrijik from any attemj^t to address 
 you. Yet I have some confidence given me by the generous 
 manner in which you have invited me, and by the still more 
 generous manner in which you have received me, to speak fur- 
 ther. You have invited and received me without distinction of 
 party. I cannot for a moment suppose that this has been done, 
 in any considerable degree, with reference to my personal ser- 
 vices, but that it is done in so far as I am regarded at this time 
 as the representative of the majesty of this great nation. I 
 doubt not this is the truth, and the whole truth of the case, and 
 this is as it should be. It is much more gratifying to me that 
 this reception has been given to me as the representative of a 
 free people, than it could possibly be if tendered as an evidence 
 
24 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 of devotion to me, or to any one man personally. And now I 
 think it were more fitting that I should close these hasty re- 
 marks. It is true that, while I hold myself, T\4thout mock 
 modesty, the humblest of all individuals that have ever been 
 elevated to the Presidency, I have a more difficult task to per- 
 form than any one of them. You have generously tendered me 
 the united support of the great Empire State. For this, in be- 
 half of the nation —in behalf of the present and future of the 
 nation — in behalf of civil and religious liberty for all time to 
 come, most gratefully do I thank you. I do not propose to 
 enter into an explanation of any particular line of policy as to 
 our present difficulties, to be adopted by the incoming Admin- 
 istration. I deem it just to you, to myself, and to all, that I 
 should see everything, that I should hear everything, that I 
 should have every light that can be brought within my reach, in 
 order that when I do so speak, I shall have enjoyed every oppor- 
 tunity to take correct and true grounds ; and for this reason I 
 don't propose to sj)eak, at this time, of the policy of the Gov- 
 ernment. But when the time comes I shall speak, as well as I 
 am able, for the good of the present and future of this country — 
 for the good both of the North and the South of this country — 
 for the good of the one and the other, and of all sections of the 
 country. [Rounds of applause.] In the meantime, if we have 
 patience, if we restrain ourselves, if we allow ourselves not to 
 run off in a passion, I still have confidence that the Almighty, 
 the Maker of the Universe, will, through the instrumentality of 
 this great and intelligent people, bring us through this as he 
 has through all the other difficulties of our country. Relying 
 on this, I again thank you for this generous reception." [Ap- 
 plause and cheers.] 
 
 SPEECH AT THE ASTOR HOUSE, NEW YORK. 
 
 Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen — I am rather an old man to 
 avail myself of such an excuse as I am now about to do. Yet 
 the truth is so distinct, and presses itself so distinctly upon me, 
 that I cannot well avoid it — and that is, that I did not under- 
 stand when I was brought into this room that I was brought 
 
THE martyr's monument. 25 
 
 here to make a speecli. It was not intimated to me that I was 
 brought into the room where Daniel Webster and Henhy 
 Clay had made speeches, and where, in my position, I might be 
 expected to do something like those men, or do something wor- 
 thy of myself or my audience. I, therefore, will beg you to 
 make very great allowance for the circumstances in which I 
 have been by surprise brought before you. Now, I have been 
 in the habit of thinking and speaking sometimes upon political 
 questions that have for some years past agitated the country ; 
 and if I were disposed to do so, and we could take up some one 
 of the issues, as the lawyers call them, and I were called upon 
 to make an argument about it to the best of my ability, I could 
 do so without much preparation. But, that is not what you 
 desire to be done here to-night. 
 
 I have been occupying a position, since the Presidential elec- 
 tion, of silence, of avoiding public speaking, of avoiding public 
 writing. I have been doing so, because I thought, upon full 
 consideration, that was the proper course for me to take. 
 [Great applause.] I am brought before you now, and required 
 to make a speech, when you all approve more than anything 
 else of the fact that I have been keeping silence. [Great laugh- 
 ter, cries of " Good," and applause.] And now it seems to me 
 that the response you give to that remark ought to justify me 
 in closing just here. [Great laughter.] I have not kept silence 
 since the Presidential election from any party wantonness, or 
 from any indifference to the anxiety that pervades the minds of 
 men about the aspect of the political affairs of this country. I 
 have kept silence for the reason that I supposed it was pecu- 
 liarly proper that I should do so until the time came when, ac- 
 cording to the custom of the country, I could speak officially. 
 
 A voice — The custom of the country ? 
 
 I heard some gentleman say, "According to the custom of the 
 country." I alluded to the custom of the President-elect, at 
 the time of taking the oath of office. That is what I meant by 
 " the custom of the country." I do supjDose that, while the po- 
 litical drama being enacted in this country, at this time, is rap- 
 idly shifting its scenes — forbidding an anticipation, with any 
 degree of certainty, to-day, what we shall see to-morrow — ^it 
 
 2 
 
26 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 was peculiarly fitting that I should see it all, up to the last min- 
 ute, before I should take ground that I might be disposed (by 
 the shifting of the scenes afterwards) also to shift. [Apjjlause.] 
 I have said, several times, upon this journey, and I now repeat 
 it to you, that when the time does come, I shall then take the 
 ground that I think is right — [applause] — the ground that I 
 think is right — [applause, and cries of " Good, good"] — right 
 for the North, for the South, for the East, for the West, for the 
 whole country. [Cries of " Good," "Hurrah for Lincoln," and 
 applause.] And in doing so, I hope to feel no necessity pressing 
 upon me to say anything in conflict with the Constitution ; in 
 conflict with the continued union of these States — [applause] — 
 in conflict with the perpetuation of the liberties of this people 
 — [applause] — or anything in conflict with any thing whatever 
 that I have ever given you reason to expect from me. [Applause.] 
 And now, my friends, have I said enough ? [Loud cries of " No, 
 no," and three cheers for Lincoln.] Now, my friends, there ap- 
 pears to be a difierence of opinion between you and me, and I 
 really feel called npon to decide the question myself. [Ap- 
 plause, during which Mr. Lincoln descended from the table.] 
 
 AT THE CITY HALL, NEW YORK, 
 
 Mr. Lincoln was formally received by the then Mayor, 
 Mr. Fernando Wood, in the following words : 
 
 Mr. Lincoln — As Mayor of New York, it becomes my duty to 
 extend to you an oflicial welcome in behalf of the Corporation. 
 In doing so permit me to say, that this city has never ofiered 
 hospitality to a man clothed with more exalted powers, or rest- 
 ing under graver responsibilities, than those which circum- 
 stances have devolved upon you. Coming into office with a 
 dismembered Government to reconstruct, and a disconnected 
 and hostile people to reconcile, it will require a high patriotism, 
 and an elevated compreheusion of the whole country and its 
 varied interests, opinions, and prejudices, to so conduct public 
 afiairs as to bring it back again to its former harmonious, consoli- 
 dated, and prosperous condition. If I refer to this topic, sir, it is 
 
THE martyr's monument. 27 
 
 because New York is deeply interested. The present political 
 divisions have sorely afflicted her people. All her material in- 
 terests are paralyzed. Her commercial greatness is endangered. 
 She is the child of the American Union, She has grown up un- 
 der its maternal care, and been fostered by its paternal bounty, 
 and we fear that if the Union dies, the j) resent supremacy of 
 JSTew York may perish with it. To you, therefore, chosen un- 
 der the forms of the Constitution as the head of the Confederacy, 
 we look for a restoration of fraternal relations between the 
 States — only to be accomplished by peaceful and conciliatoiy 
 means, aided by the wisdom of Almighty God. 
 
 Events showed the utter foolishness and presumption of 
 Mr. Wood in thus attempting to dictate to Abraham Lin- 
 coln, and in his declaration that New York was the child 
 of the American Union and that the Union in its integ- 
 rity and prosperity was to be restored only by peaceful 
 and conciliatory means. Mr. Lincoln met these solemn 
 platitudes with the following expression of his clear-headed 
 common sense and patriotism. 
 
 Mr. Mayor — It is with feelings of deep gratitude that I make 
 my acknowledgments for the reception that has been given me 
 in the great commercial city of New York. I cannot but re- 
 member that it is done by the people, who do not, by a large 
 majority, agree with me in political sentijuent. It is the more 
 grateful to me, because in this I see that for the great principles of 
 our Government the people are pretty nearly or quite unani- 
 mous. In regard to the difficulties that confront us at this time, 
 and which you have seen fit to speak so becomingly and so justly, 
 I can only say that I agree with the sentiments expressed. In 
 my devotion to the Union I hope I am behind no man in the 
 nation. As to my wisdom in conducting affairs so as to tend to 
 the preservation of the Union, I fear too great confidence may 
 have been placed in me. I am sure I bring a heart devoted to 
 the work. There is nothing that could ever biing me to con- 
 sent — willingly to consent — to the destruction of this Union (io 
 
28 THE MARTYR'S MONUMENT. 
 
 which not only the great city of New York, but the whole 
 country, has acquired its greatness), unless it would be that 
 thing for which the Union itself was made. I understand that 
 the ship is made for the carrying and preservation of the cargo ; 
 and so long as the shij) is safe with the cargo, it shall not be 
 abandoned. This Union shall never be abandoned, unless the 
 possibility of its existence shall cease to exist, without the ne- 
 cessity of throwing passengers and cargo overboard. So long, 
 then, as it is possible that the prosperity and liberties of this 
 people can be preserved within this Union, it shall be my pur- 
 pose at all times to preserve it. And now, Mr. Mayor, renewing 
 my thanks for this cordial reception, allow me to come to a 
 close. [Applause.] 
 
 AT NEWARK 
 
 Mr. Lincoln uttered the following brief but significant 
 sentences : 
 
 Mr. Mayor — I thank you for this reception at the city of New- 
 ark. With regard to the great work of which you speak, I will 
 say that I bring to it a heart filled with love for my country, and 
 an honest desire to do what is right. I am sure, however, that 
 I have not the ability to do any thing unaided of God, and that 
 without his support, and that of this free, happy, prosperous, 
 and intelligent people, no man can succeed in doing that the 
 importance of which we all comprehend. Again thanking you 
 for the reception you have given me, I will now bid you fare- 
 well, and proceed upon my journey. 
 
 SPEECHES AT TRENTON, N. J. 
 IN THE SENATE CHAMBER. 
 
 Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Senate of the State of New 
 Jersey— 1 am very grateful to you for the honorable reception 
 of which I have been the object. I can not but remember the 
 place that New Jersey holds in our early history. In the early 
 revolutionary struggle few of the States among the old thirteen 
 
29 
 
 had more of the battle-fields of the country within their limits 
 than old New Jersey. May I be pardoned if, upon this occa- 
 sion, I mention that away back in my childhood, the earliest 
 days of my being able to read, I got hold of a small book, such 
 a one as few of the younger members have ever seen, " Weem's 
 Life of Washington.'''' I remember all the accounts there given 
 of the battle-fields and struggles for the liberties of the country, 
 and none fixed themselves upon my imagination so deeply as 
 the struggle here at Trenton, New Jersey. The crossing of the 
 river ; the contest with the Hessians ; the great hardships endured 
 at that time, all fixed themselves on my memory, more than any 
 single revolutionary event ; and you all know, for you have all 
 been boys, how these early impressions last longer than any 
 others. I recollect thiaking then, boy even though I was, that 
 there must have been something more than common that these 
 men struggled for. I am exceedingly anxious that that thing 
 which they struggled for; that something even more than 
 National Independence ; that something that held out a great 
 promise to all the people of the world to all time to come — I 
 am exceedingly anxious that this Union, the Constitution, and 
 the liberties of the people shall be perpetuated in accordance 
 with the original idea for which that struggle was made, and I 
 shall be most happy indeed if I shall be an humble instrument 
 in the hands of the Almighty and of this, his most chosen peo- 
 ple, as the chosen instrument— also in the hands of the Almighty 
 — for perpetuating the object of that great struggle. You give 
 me this reception, as I understand, without distinction of party. 
 I learn that this body is composed of a majority of gentlemen 
 who, in the exercise of their best judgment in the choice of a 
 Chief Magistrate, did not think I was the man. I understand, 
 nevertheless, that they come forward here to greet me as the 
 constitutional President of the United States— as citizens of the 
 United States, to meet the man who, for the time being, is the 
 representative man of the nation — united by a purpose to per- 
 petuate the Union and liberties of the people. As such, I accept 
 this reception more gratefully than I could do did I believe it 
 was tendered to me as an individual. 
 
30 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 EST TECE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY. 
 
 Mr. Speaker and. GeoitleTnen — I have just enjoyed the honor of 
 a reception by the other branch of this Legislature, and I return 
 to you and them my thanks for the reception which the people 
 of New Jersey have given, through their chosen representatives, 
 to me as the representative, for the time being, of the majesty 
 of the people of the United States. I appropriate to myselt 
 very little of the demonstrations of respect with which I have 
 been greeted. I think little should be given to any man, but 
 that it should be a manifestation of adherence to the Union and 
 the Constitution. I understand myself to be received here by 
 the representatives of the people of New Jersey, a majority of 
 whom differ in opinion from those with whom I have acted. 
 This manifestation is, therefore, to be regarded by me as express- 
 ing their devotion to the Union, the Constitution, and the liberties 
 of the people. You, Mr. Speaker, have well said, that this is a 
 time when the bravest and wisest look with doubt and awe upon 
 the aspect presented by our national affairs. Under these cir- 
 cumstances, you will readily see why I should not S23eak in detail 
 of the course I shall deem it best to pursue. It is proper that 
 I should avail myself of all the information and all the time at 
 my command, in order that when the time arrives in which I 
 must speak officially, I shall be able to take the ground which 
 I deem the best and safest, and from which I may have no occasion 
 to swerve. I shall endeavor to take the ground I deem most 
 just to the North, the East, the West, the South, and the whole 
 country, I take it, I hope, in good temper, certainly with no 
 malice towards any section, I shall do all that may be in my 
 power to promote a peaceful settlement of all our difficulties. 
 The man does not live who is more devoted to peace than I am. 
 [Cheers.] None who would do more to preserve it, but it may 
 be necessaiy to j)ut the foot down firmly. [Here the audience 
 broke out into cheers so loud, and long, that for some moments 
 it was impossible to hear Mr. Lincoln's voice.] And if I do 
 my duty and do right you will sustain me, will you not ? [Loud 
 cheers, and cries of " Yes, yes, we will."] Received, as I am, 
 by the members of a Legislature, the majority of whom do not 
 
31 
 
 agree with me in political sentiments, I trust that I may liave 
 their assistance in piloting the ship of state through this voyage, 
 surrounded by perils as it is, for if it should suffer wreck now, 
 there will be no pilot ever needed for another voyage. Gentle- 
 men, I have already spoken longer than I intended, and must 
 heg leave to stop here. 
 
 SPEECHES AT PHILADELPHIA. 
 
 Mr. Mayor and Fellow- Citizens of Philadelphia — I appear before 
 you to make no lengthy speech, but to thank you for this recep- 
 tion. The reception you have given me to-night is not to me, 
 the man, the individual, but to the man who temporarily repre- 
 sents, or should represent the majesty of the nation. [Cheers.] 
 It is true, as your worthy Mayor has said, that there is anxiety 
 amongst the citizens of the United States at this time. I deem 
 it a happy circumstance that this dissatisfied position of our 
 fellow-citizens does not point us to anything in which they are 
 being injured, or about to be injured, for which reason I have 
 felt all the while justified in concluding that the crisis, the panic, 
 the anxiety of the country at this time, is artificial. If there be 
 those who differ with me upon this subject, they have not pointed 
 out the substantial difficulty that exists. I do not mean to say 
 that an artificial j^anic may not do considerable harm : that it 
 has done such I do not deny. The hope that has been expressed 
 by your Mayor, that I may be able to restore peace, harmony, and 
 prosperity to the country, is most worthy of him ; and happy, 
 indeed, will I be if I shall be able to verify and fulfill that hope. 
 [Tremendous cheering.] I promise you, in all sincerity, that I 
 bring to the work a sincere heart. Whether I will bring a head 
 equal to that heart will be for future times to determine. It 
 were useless for me to speak of details of jolans now ; I shall 
 speak officially next Monday week, if ever. K I should not 
 speak then it were useless for me to do so now. If I do speak 
 then it is useless for me to do so now. When I do speak I shall 
 take such ground as I deem best calculated to restore peace, har- 
 mony, and prosperity to the country, and tend to the perpetuity 
 of the nation and the liberty of these States and these people. 
 
32 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 Your worthy Mayor lias expressed the wish, in which I join 
 with him, that it were convenient for me to remain in your city 
 long enough to consult your merchants and manufacturers ; or, 
 as it were, to listen to those breathings rising within the conse- 
 crated walls wherein the Constitution of the United States, and 
 I will add, the Declaration of Independence, were originally 
 framed and adopted. [Enthusiastic applause.] I assure you 
 and your Mayor that I had hoped on this occasion, and uj^on all 
 occasions during my life, that I should do nothing inconsistent 
 with the teachings of these holy and most sacred walls. I 
 never asked anything that does not breathe from these walls. All 
 my political warfare has been in favor of the teachings that 
 came forth from these sacred walls. May my right hand forget 
 its cunning, and my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if 
 ever I prove false to those teachings. Fellow-citizens, I have 
 addressed you longer than I expected to do, and now allow me 
 to bid you good night. 
 
 AT INDEPENDENCE HALL, 
 
 In Philadelphia, Mr. Lincoln was present to honor the 
 raising of a new flag upon that time-honored building. 
 He raised the flag with his own hands, and afterward 
 made the following speech, in which he made a striking 
 allusion, which subsequent events gave reason for be- 
 lieving was not made by mere chance, to the possibility 
 of his life being sought by assassins. The purposes of 
 the men who were then seeking to get him out of their 
 way by the knife and the pistol, were frustrated for four 
 years, long enough for him to accomplish the great object 
 of his life — the preservation and the regeneration of his 
 country. 
 
 Mr. Cuyler — I am filled with deepemotion at finding myself 
 standing here in this place, where were collected together the 
 wisdom, the patriotism, the devotion to principle from whicl' 
 
THE martyr's monument. 33 
 
 sprang the institutions under which we live. You have kindly 
 suggested to me that in my hands is the task of restoring peace 
 to the present distracted condition of the country. I can say 
 in return, sir, that all the political sentiments I entertain have 
 been drawn, so far as I have been able to draw them, from the 
 sentiments which originated in and were given to the world 
 from this hall. I have never had a feeling, politically, that did 
 net spiing from the sentiments embodied in the Declaration of 
 Independence. I have often pondered over the dangers which 
 were incurred by the men who assembled here, and framed and 
 adopted that Declaration of Independence. I have pondered 
 over the toils that were endured by the officers and soldiers of 
 the army who achieved that Independence. I have often in- 
 quired of myself what great principle or idea it was that kept 
 this Confederacy so long together. It w^as not the mere mat- 
 ter of the separation of the Colonies from the mother land, 
 but that sentiment in the Declaration of Independence which 
 gave liberty, not alone to the people of this country, but I 
 hope, to the world, for all future time. [Great applause,] It 
 was that which gave joromise that in due time the weight would 
 be lifted from the shoulders of all men. This is the sentiment 
 embodied in the Declaration of Independence. Now, my 
 friends, can this country be saved uijon that basis ? If it can, 
 I ■^'ill consider myself one of the haj)piest men in the world if 
 I can help to save it. If it cannot be saved upon that principle 
 it will be truly awful. But if this country cannot be saved 
 without giving up that principle, I was about to say I would 
 rather be assassinated on this spot than surrender it. [Ap- 
 plause.] Now, in my view of the present aspect of affairs, 
 there need be no bloodshed or war. There is no necessity for 
 it. I am not in favor of such a course, and I may say in ad- 
 vance that there will be no bloodshed, unless it be forced upon 
 the Government, and then it will be compelled to act in self- 
 defence. [Applause.] 
 
 My friends, this is wholly an unexpected speech, and I did 
 not expect to be called upon to say a word when I came here. 
 I supposed it was merely to do something towards raising the 
 flag — I may therefore, have said something indiscreet. [Cries 
 
 2* . 
 
84 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 of " No, no."] I have said nothing but what I am willing to 
 live by, and if it be the pleasure of Almighty God, die by. 
 
 AT HARRISBURG. 
 
 From Philadelphia, Mr. Lincoln went to Harrisburg, 
 where he was received by the presiding officers of the 
 Houses of Legislature at the Capitol. To his welcome 
 he made the following reply : 
 
 I appear before you only for a very few, brief remarks, in re- 
 sponse to what has been said to me. I thank you most sin- 
 cerely for this reception and the generous words in which sup- 
 port has been promised me upon this occasion. I thank your 
 great Commonwealth for the overwhelming support it recently 
 gave, not me personally, but the cause which I think a just one, 
 in the late election. [Loud applause.] Allusion has been 
 made to the fact — the interesting fact, perhaps, we should say — 
 that I for the first time apj)ear at the Capital of the great Com- 
 monwealth of Pennsylvania upon the birthday of the Father of 
 his Country, in connection with that beloved anniversary con- 
 nected with the history of this country. I have already gone 
 through one exceedingly interesting scene this morning in the 
 ceremonies at Philadelphia. Under the high conduct of gentle- 
 men there, I was for the first time allowed the privilege of stand- 
 ing in old Independence Hall [Enthusiastic cheering], to have a 
 few words addressed to me there, and opening up to me an op- 
 portunity of expressing, with much regret, that I had not more 
 time to express something of my own feelings, excited by the occa- 
 sion, somewhat to harmonize and give shape to the feelmgs 
 that had been really the feelings of my whole life. Besides this, 
 our friends there had provided a magnificent flag of the country. 
 They had it arranged so that I was given the honor of raising 
 it to the head of its staff. [Applause.] And when it went up 
 I was pleased that it went to its place by the strength of my own 
 feeble arm, when, according to the arrangement, the cord was 
 pulled, and it floated gloriously to the wind, without an acci- 
 dent, in the light, glowing sunshine of the morning. I could 
 not help hoping that there was, in the entire success of that 
 
THE martyr's monument. 85 
 
 beautiful ceremony, at least something of an omen of what is to 
 come. [Loud applause.] How could I help feeling then as I 
 often have felt ? In the whole of that proceeding I was a very 
 humble instrument. I had not provided the flag ; I had not 
 made the arrangements foj* elevating it to its place ; I had ap- 
 plied but a very small portion of my feeble strength in raising 
 it. In the whole transaction I was in the hands of the people 
 who had arranged it, and if I can have the same generous co- 
 operation of the people of the nation, I think the flag of our 
 country may yet be kept flaunting gloriously, [Loud, enthu- 
 siastic, and continued cheers.] I recur for a moment but to re- 
 peat some words uttered at the hotel, in regard to what has 
 been said about the military support which the General Govern- 
 ment may expect from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in a 
 proper emergency. To guard against any possible mistake do 
 I recur to this. It is not with any pleasure that I contemplate 
 the possibility that a necessity may arise in this country for the 
 use of the military arm. [Applause.] WhUe I am exceedingly 
 gratified to see the manifestation upon your streets of your mili- 
 tary force here, and exceedingly gratified at your promises here 
 to use that force upon a proper emergency — while I make these 
 acknowledgments, I desire to repeat, in order to preclude any 
 possible misconstruction, that I do most sincerely hope that we 
 shall have no use for them, [Applause.] That it will never 
 become their duty to shed blood, and most especially never to 
 shed fraternal blood. I promise that, so far as I may have 
 wisdom to direct, if so painful a result shall in anywise be 
 brought about, it shall be through no fault of mine. [Cheers.] 
 Allusion has also been made by one of your honored speakers 
 to some remarks recently made by myself at Pittsburg, in regard . 
 to what is supposed to be the especial interest of this great 
 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. I now wish only to say, in 
 regard to that matter, that the few remarks which I uttered on 
 that occasion were rather carefully worded. I took pains that 
 they should be so. I have seen no occasion since to add to 
 them, or subtract from them. I leave them precisely as they 
 stand [applause], adding only now that I am i)leased to have 
 an expression from you, gentlemen of Peimsylvania, significant 
 that they are satisfactory to you. And now, gentlemen of the 
 
36 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 General Assembly of the Commonwealtli of Pennsylvania, allow 
 me to return you again my most sincere thanks. 
 
 From Harrisburg the President-elect went by a night 
 train, and as privately as possible/ to Washington : it hav- 
 ing been thought best by his advisers thus to preclude 
 the possibility of any excitement or disturbance, which 
 could have been taken advantage of by his secret and 
 desperate enemies. The day after his arrival he made 
 the following reply to his welcome by the Mayor and 
 Common Council 
 
 AT WASHINGTON. 
 
 Mr. Mayor— I. thank you, and through you the municipal 
 authorities of this city who accompany you, for this welcome. 
 And as it is the first time in my life, since the present phase of 
 politics has presented itself in this country, that I have said any- 
 thing publicly within a region of country where the institution 
 of slavery exists, I will take this occasion to say, that I think 
 veiy much of the ill-feeling that has existed and still exists 
 between the people in the section from which I came and the 
 people here, is dependent upon a misunderstanding of one 
 another. I therefore avail myself of this opportunity to assure 
 you, Mr. Mayor, and all the gentlemen present, that I have not 
 now, and never have had, any other than as kindly feelings 
 towards you as to the people of my own section. I have aot now, 
 and never have had, any disposition to treat you in any respect 
 otherwise than as my own neighbors. I have not now any 
 purpose to withhold from you any of the benefits of the Consti- 
 tution, under any circumstances, that I would not feel myself 
 constrained to withhold from my own neighbors ; and 1 hope, 
 in a word, that when we shall become better acquainted, and I 
 say it with great confidence, we shall like each other the more. 
 I thank you for the kindness of this reception. 
 
 . On the 4th of March, 1861, Mr. Lincoln assumed the 
 office of President of the United States, to which Vice- 
 
THE martyr's monument. 37 
 
 President Breckinridge had declared in the Senate that 
 he had been lawfully elected. But in seven States, South 
 Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Texas, Florida, 
 and Louisiana, his lawful authority could not be exercised, 
 those States being under the control of the rebels, while 
 Virginia, Maryland, Kentucky, and Tennessee were vio- 
 lently agitated upon the subject of secession. In all of 
 these four States there was a majority of the people, inclu- 
 ding men of high character and ability, faithful to their al- 
 legiance to the National Government. President Lincoln's 
 first task was to take such a position as would consolidate 
 the support of that Government in the Free Spates and 
 confirm the loyalty of the Border States, and if possible, 
 prevent them from falling into the hands of the Seces- 
 sionist party. This was the chief purpose of his inaug?i- 
 ral address, which follows. 
 
 INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 
 
 Fellmc- Citizens of the United States — In compliance witli a 
 custom as old as the Government itself, I appear before you to 
 address you briefly, and to take in your presence the oath pre- 
 scribed by the Constitution of the United States to be taken by 
 the President " before he enters on the execution of his office." 
 
 I do not consider it necessary at present for me to discuss 
 those matters of administration about which there is no special 
 anxiety or excitement. . 
 
 Apprehension seems to exist among the j)eople of the South- 
 ern 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 con- 
 trary 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 
 
38 
 
 interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it 
 exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no 
 inclination to do so." Those who nominated and elected me 
 did so with full knowledge that I had made this and many sim- 
 ilar declarations, and had never recanted them. And more than 
 this, they placed in the platform for my acceptance, and as a law 
 to themselves and to me, the clear and emphatic resolution 
 which I now read : 
 
 Hesolved, That the maintenance inviolate of the rights of the 
 States, and especially the rights of each State, to order and con- 
 trol its own domestic institutions according to its own judgment 
 exclusively, is essential to the balance of power on v/hich the 
 perfection and endurance of our political fabric depend, and 
 we denounce the lawless invasion by armed force of the soil of 
 any State or Territory, no matter under what pretext, as among 
 the gravest of crimes. 
 
 I now reiterate these sentiments ; and, in doing so, I only im- 
 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 Administration. I add, too, that all the protec- 
 tion which, consistently with the Constitution and the laws, can 
 be given, will be cheerfully given to all the States, when law- 
 fully demanded, for whatever cause — as cheerfully to one section 
 as to another. 
 
 There is much controversy about the delivering up of fugi- 
 tives from service or labor. The clause I now read is as plainly 
 written in the Constitution as any other of its provisions : 
 
 " No person held to service or labor in one State, under the laws 
 thereof, escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any law 
 or regulation therein, be discharged from such service or labor, 
 but shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such 
 service or labor may be due." 
 
 It is scarcely questioned that this provision was intended by 
 those who made it for the reclaiming of what we call fugitive 
 slaves ; and the intention of the lawgiver is the law. All mem- 
 bers of Congress swear their support to the whole Constitution 
 — to this provision as much as any other. To the proposition, 
 
THE martyr's monument. 39 
 
 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 sur- 
 rendered, 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 mere 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 jurisprudence 
 to be introduced, so that a free man be not, in any case, surren- 
 dered 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 reservations, and 
 with no purpose to construe the Constitution or laws by any 
 hypercritical rules. And while I do not choose now to specify 
 particular acts of Congress as proper to be enforced, I do sug- 
 gest 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 imj)u- 
 nity in having them held to be unconstitutional. 
 
 It is seventy-two years since the first inauguration of a Presi- 
 dent under our national Constitution. During that period, 
 fifteen different and greatly distinguished citizens have, in suc- 
 cession, administered the Executive branch of the Government. 
 They have conducted it through many perils, and generally with 
 great success. Yet, with all this scope for precedent, I now 
 enter upon the same task for the brief constitutional term of 
 four years, under great and peculiar difficulty. A disruption of 
 the Federal Union, heretofore only menaced, is now formidably 
 attempted. 
 
40 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 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 termi- 
 nation. Continue to execute all the express provisions of our 
 national Constitution, and the Union will endure forever — it 
 being impossible to destroy it, except by some action not pro- 
 vided for in the instrument itself. 
 
 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 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 propo- 
 sition that, in legal contemplation, the Union is perpetual, con- 
 firmed by the history of the Union itself The Union is much 
 older than the Constitution. It was formed, in fact, by the Arti- 
 cles 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 Arti- 
 cles 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 ability 
 I shall take care, as the Constitution itself expressly enjoins 
 
THE martyr's monument. 41 
 
 upon me, tliat 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 i^racticable, 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 the declared purpose of the Union that it will constitu- 
 tionally defend and maintain itself. 
 
 In doing this there need be no bloodshed or violence ; and 
 there shall be none, unless it be forced upon the national author- 
 ity. The iDower confided to me will be used to hold, occupy, 
 and possess the property and places belonging to the Govern- 
 ment, and to collect the duties and imposts ; but beyond what 
 may be but 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. 
 Where 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 imf)racticable 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 j)ossible the people every- 
 where shall have that sense of perfect security which is most 
 favorable to calm thought and reflection. The course here in- 
 dicated 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 vsdll be exercised, accord- 
 ing to circumstances actually existing, and witli 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, however, who really 
 love the Union, may I not speak ? 
 
42 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 Before entering upon so grave a matter as the destruction of 
 
 our national fabric, with all its benefits, its memories, and its hopes, 
 would it not be wise to ascertain precisely why we do it ? Will you 
 hazard so 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 you risk the commission of so fearful a mistake ? 
 All profess to be content in the Union, if all constitutional 
 rights can be maintained. Is it true, then, that any right, 
 plainly written in the Constitution, has been denied ? I think 
 not. Happily the human mind is so constituted that no party 
 can reach to the audacity of doing this. Think, if you can, 
 of a single instance in which a plainly written provision of the 
 Constitution has ever been denied. If, by the mere force of 
 numbers, a majority should deprive a minority of any clearly 
 written constitutional right, it might, in a moral point of view 
 justify revolution, — certainly would if such right were a vital 
 one. But such is not our jcase. All the vital rights of minor- 
 ities and of individuals are so plainly assured to them by 
 aflHrmations and negations, guarantees and prohibitions in the 
 Constitution, that controversies never arise concerning them. 
 But no organic law can ever be framed with a provision specifi- 
 cally applicable to every question which may occur in practical 
 administration. No foresight can anticipate, nor any document 
 of reasonable length contain, express provisions for all possible 
 questions. Shall fugitives from labor be surrendered by Na- 
 tional or by State authority ? The Constitution does not ex- 
 pressly say. May Congress prohibit slavery in the Territories ? 
 The Constitution does not expressly say. Must Congress pro- 
 tect slavery in the Territories ? The Constitution does not ex- 
 pressly 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 alter- 
 native ; 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, Avill 
 
THE martyr's monument. 43 
 
 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 heijce, arbitrarily secede again, pre- 
 cisely as portions of the present Union now claim to secede 
 from it ? All who cherish disunion sentiments are now being 
 educated to the exact temper of doing this. 
 
 Is there such perfect identity of interests among the States to 
 compose a new Union, as to jDroduce 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 limi- 
 tations, 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 desjDotism. Unanimity is impossible ; the rule 
 of a minority, as a permanent arrangement, is wholly inadmis- 
 sible ; so that, rejecting the majority principle, anarchy or des- 
 potism in some form is all that is left. 
 
 I do not forget the position assumed by some, that constitu- 
 tional questions are to be decided by the Supreme Court ; nor 
 do I deny that such decisions must be binding, in any case, 
 upon the parties to a suit as to the object of that suit, while 
 they are also entitled to a very high respect and consideration, 
 in all parallel cases, by all other departments of the Govern- 
 ment. And while it is obviously possible that such decisions 
 may be erroneous in any given case, still the evil effect follo^^nug 
 it being limited to that particular case, with the chance that it 
 may be overruled, and never become a precedent for other 
 cases, can better be borne than could the evils of a different 
 practice. At the same time the candid citizen must confess that 
 if the policy of the Government upon vital questions affecting 
 the whole people, is to be irrevocably fixed by decisions of the 
 SujDreme Court, the instant they are made in ordinary litigation 
 between parties in personal actions, the people will have ceased 
 to be their own rulers, having to that extent practically resigned 
 their Government into the hands of that eminent tribunal. 
 
 jSTor is there in this view any assault upon the Court of the 
 
44 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 Judges. It is a duty from wliich they may not shrink to decide 
 cases properly brought before them, and it is no fault of theirs 
 if others seek to turn their decisions to political purposes. 
 One section of our country believes slavery is right, and ought 
 to be extended, while the other believes it is wrong, and ought 
 not to be extended. This is the only substantial 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 j)eople imperfectly support 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 imperfectly supjDressed, would be ultimately 
 revived without restriction in one section ; while fugitive slaves, 
 now only partially surrendered, would not be surrendered at all 
 by the other. 
 
 Physically speaking, we cannot separate. We cannot remove 
 our respective sections fi*om 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 between them. It is impossible, then, to 
 make that intercourse more advantagous 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 ? 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 fight- 
 ing, the identical old questions as to terms of intercourse, are 
 again upon you. 
 
 This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who 
 inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing Gov- 
 ernment, they can exercise their constitutional right of amend- 
 ing it, or their revolutionaiy right to dismember or overthrow 
 it. I cannot be ignorant of the fact that many worthy and 
 
THE martyr's monument. 45 
 
 patriotic citizens are desirous of liaving the national Constitu- 
 tion amended. While I make no recommendation of amend- 
 ments, I fully recognize the rightful authority of the peo]3le 
 over the whole subject, to be exercised in either of the modes 
 prescribed in the instrument itself; and I should, under exist- 
 ing circumstances, favor rather than oppose a fair opportunity 
 being aflforded the people to act upon it. I will venture to add, 
 that to me the convention mode seems preferable, in that it 
 allows amendments to originate with the people themselves, 
 instead of only permitting them to take or reject propositions 
 originated by others not especially chosen for the purpose, and 
 W^hich might not be precisely such as they would wish to either 
 accept or refuse. I understand a proposed amendment to the 
 Constitution — ^which amendment, however, I have not seen — has 
 passed Congress, to the effect that the Federal Government shall 
 never interfere -svith the domestic institutions of the States, in- 
 cluding that of persons held to service. To avoid misconstruc- 
 tion of what I have said, I depart from my pui-pose not to 
 speak of particular amendments so far as to say that, holding 
 such a provision now to be implied constitutional law, I have 
 no objections to its being made express and irrevocable. 
 
 The Chief Magistrate derives all his authority from the peo- 
 ple, 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 Government under which we live, the 
 same people have wisely given their public servants but little 
 
46 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 power for miscliief ; and have, Tsdth equal wisdom, provided 
 for the return of that little to their owti hands at vciy short 
 intervals. While the people retain their virtue and vigilance, 
 no Administration, by any extreme of wickedness or folly, can 
 very seriously injure the Government in the short space of four 
 years. 
 
 My countiymen, one and all, think calmly and well upon this 
 whole subject. Nothing valuable can be lost, by taking time. 
 If there be an object to hurry any of you in hot haste to a step 
 which you would never take deliberately, that object will be 
 frustrated by taking time, but no good object can be frustrated 
 by it. Such of you as are now dissatisfied still have the old 
 Constitution unimpaired, and, on the sensitive point, the laws 
 of your own framing under it ; while the new Administration 
 will have no immediate power, if it would, to change either. 
 If it were admitted that you who are dissatisfied hold the right 
 side in the dispute, there still is no single good reason for 
 precipitate action. Intelligence, patriotism, Christianity and 
 a firm reliance on Him who has never yet forsaken this fav- 
 ored land, are still competent to adjust, in the best way, all 
 our present difl&culty. 
 
 In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in 
 mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The Government 
 will not assail you. 
 
 You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggress- 
 ors. You have no oath registered in heaven to destroy the 
 Government ; while I shall have the most solemn one to "^ pre- 
 serve, protect, and defend" it. 
 
 I am loth to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We 
 must not be enemies. Though passion may have straine i, it 
 must not break our bonds of affection. 
 
 The mystic chord of memory, stretching from every battle-l ield 
 and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over • 
 this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when 
 again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our 
 nature. Abraham Lincoln. 
 
 President Lincoln's views and announcement of hip 
 
THE martyr's monument. 47 
 
 policy in this address met general approval throughout 
 the Free States ; but in the Border Slave States it was 
 at first a mere bone of contention between the Union men 
 and the secessionists. The State Convention of Vir- 
 ginia, a decided majority of which was against secession, 
 sent a committee of three to the President to ask him to 
 define his position toward the South more clearly. He 
 replied by the following letter which wa's presented to 
 the Convention by the Committee, on the 13th of April : 
 
 REPLY TO THE COMMITTEE OF THE VIRGINIA CONVEN- 
 TION. 
 
 To Hon. Messrs. Preston, Stuart, and Randolph : 
 
 Gentletj:en: As a committee of the Virginia Convention, 
 now in session, you present me a preamble and resolution in 
 these words : 
 
 Whereas, In the opinion of this Convention, the unceiiainty 
 which prevails in the public mind as to the policy which the 
 Federal Executive intends to pursue towards the seceded States, 
 is extremely injurious to the industrial and commercial interests 
 of the country, tends to keep up an excitement which is unfa- 
 vorable to the adjustment of the pending difficulties, and 
 threatens a disturbance of the public peace ; therefore. 
 
 Resolved, That a committee of three delegates be appointed 
 to await on the President of the United States, present to him 
 this preamble, and respectfully ask him to communicate to this 
 Convention the policy which the Federal Executive intends to 
 pursue in regard to the Confederate States. 
 
 In answer I have to say, that having, at the beginning of my 
 official term, expressed my intended policy as plainly as I was 
 able, it is with deep regret and mortification I now learn there 
 is great and injurious uncertainty in the public mind as to what 
 that policy is, and what course I intend to pursue. Not having 
 as yet seen occasion to change, it is now my purpose to pursue 
 
48 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 fclie course marked out in the Inaugural Address. I commend 
 a careful consideration of tlie whole document as the best ex- 
 pression I can give to my purposes. As I then and therein 
 said, I now repeat, " The power confided in me will be used to 
 hold, occupy, and possess property and places belonging to the 
 Government, and to collect the duties and imposts ; but beyond 
 what is necessary for these objects there will be no invasion, no 
 using of force against or among the people anywhere." By the 
 words "property and places belonging to the Government," I 
 chiefly allude to the military posts and property which were in 
 possession of the Government when it came into my hands. 
 But if, as now appears to be true, in pursuit of a purpose to diive 
 the United States authority from these places, an unprovoked 
 assault has been made upon Fort Sumter, I shall hold myself 
 at liberty to repossess it, if I can, like places which had been 
 seized before the Government was devolved upon me ; and in 
 any event I shall, to the best of my ability, repel force by force. 
 In case it proves true that Fort Sumter has been assaulted, as is 
 reiDorted, I shall perhaps, cause the United States mails to be 
 withdrawn from all the States which claim to have seceded, 
 believing that the commencement of actual war against the 
 Government, justifies and possibly demands it. I scarcely need 
 to say that I consider the military posts and property situated 
 within the States which claim to have seceded, as yet belonging 
 to the Government of the United States as much as they did be- 
 fore the supposed secession. Whatever else I may do for the pur- 
 pose, I shall not attempt to collect the duties and imposts by any 
 armed invasion of any part of the country ; not meaning by this, 
 however, that I may not land a force deemed necessary to relieve a 
 fort upon the border of the country. From the fact that I have 
 quoted a part of the Inaugural Address, it must not be inferred 
 that I repudiate any other part, the whole of which I reaffirm, 
 except so far as what I now say of the mails may be regarded 
 as a modification. Abraham Lincoln. 
 
 The leading secessionists felt sure that if they could 
 bring about a collision between what they called the 
 South and the Government, the immediate effect would 
 
 I 
 
THE martyr's monument. 49 
 
 be such an aroused spirit of resistance among all the lead- 
 ing men and "fire-eaters" in the Slave States as would 
 inmiediately enable the secessionists to seize power in the 
 Border States. This collision they sought at Charleston, 
 where, during the unavoidable inaction of the Govern- 
 ment, tliej had at first planned the seizure of Fort Moul- 
 trie, under command of Major Anderson, and after his 
 retirement with his little garrison to Fort Sumter, had 
 surrounded the latter work with powerful shore batteries 
 and a force of many thousand men. When Mr. Lincoln 
 took ofiice it was already impossible to send reinforce- 
 ments to the garrison before their provisions would be 
 exhausted ; and upon it being made known that provisions 
 were about to be sent. General Beauregard, by command 
 of Mr. Jefferson Davis, who had been elected "Provis- 
 ional President" of a temporary Confederacy with head- 
 quarters at Montgomery, Alabama, opened his batteries 
 upon Major Anderson, and after two days' bombardment 
 set the fort on fire, and made it untenable. It was evac- 
 uated on the 14th of April, amid the profoundest excite- 
 ment throughout the country, and on the 15th Mr. Lin- 
 coln issued the following 
 
 PROCLAMATION. 
 
 Whereas^ the laws of the United States have been for some 
 time past and now are opposed, and the execution thereof ob- 
 structed, in the States of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, 
 Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, by combinations too 
 powerful to be suppressed by the ordinary course of judicial 
 proceedings, or by the powers vested in the marshals by law ; 
 now, therefore, I Abraham Lincoln, President of the United 
 States, in virtue of the power in me vested by the Constitution 
 and the laws, have thought fit to call forth, and hereby do caH 
 
 3 
 
50 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 forth, the militia of the several States of the Union to the ag- 
 gregate number of 75,000, in order to suppress said combina- 
 tions, and to cause the laws to be duly executed. 
 
 The details for this object will be immediately communicated 
 to the State authorities through the War Department. I ap- 
 peal to all loyal citizens to favor, facilitate, and aid this effort 
 to maintain the honor, the integrity, and existence of our na- 
 tional Union, and the perpetuity of popular government, and to 
 redress wrongs already long enough endured. I deem it proper 
 to say that the first service assigned to the forces hereby called 
 forth, will probably be to repossess the forts, places, and pro- 
 perty which have been seized from the Union ; and in every 
 event the utmost care will be observed, consistently with the 
 objects aforesaid, to avoid any devastation, any destruction of, 
 or interference with, property, or any disturbance of peaceful 
 citizens of any part of the countiy ; and I hereby command the 
 persons composing the combinations aforesaid, to disperse and 
 retire peaceably to their respective abodes, within twenty days 
 from this date. 
 
 Deeming that the present condition of public affairs presents 
 an extraordinary occasion, I do hereby, in virtue of the power 
 in- me vested by the Constitution, convene both houses of Con- 
 gress. The Senators and Representatives are, therefore, sum- 
 moned to assemble at their respective chambers at twelve 
 o'clock, noon, on Thursday, the fourth day of July next, then 
 and there to consider and determine such measures as, in their 
 wisdom, the pulbic safety and interest may seem to demand. 
 
 In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused 
 the seal of the United States to be affixed. 
 
 Done at the City of "Washington, this fifteenth day of April, 
 in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty- 
 one, and of the independence of the United States the eighty- 
 fifth. 
 
 By the President^ Abraham LrNCOLN. 
 
 "William H. Sewaed, Secretary of State. 
 
 There can be no question that the President issued the 
 foregoing Proclamation with some doubt as to the maii- 
 
THE martyr's monument. 51 
 
 ner in which it would be received by the country. He 
 must have been somewhat surprised as well as overjoyed 
 at finding that it was the occasion of an instant and 
 overwhelming outburst of loyalty and devotion to the 
 flag. If instead of asking for 75,000 men he had asked 
 for 750,000, they would have been forthcoming. As the 
 confederated insurgents had issued proposals for letters of 
 marque against the commerce of the United States, the 
 President, to meet them on this point, issued the following : 
 
 PROCLAMATION. 
 
 Whereas^ an insurrectiori against the Government of the Uni- 
 ted States has broken out in the States of South Carolina, 
 Georgia, Alabama, Florida, MississipjDi, Louisiana, and Texas, 
 and the laws of the United States for the collection of the rev- 
 enue cannot be efficiently executed therein conformable to that 
 provision of the Constitution which requires duties to be uni- 
 form throughout the United States : 
 
 And ichereas a combination of persons, engaged in such in- 
 surrection, have threatened to grant pretended letters of marque 
 to authorize" the bearers thereof to commit assaults on the lives, 
 vessels, and f>roperty of the good citizens of the countiy, law- 
 fully engaged in commerce on the high seas, and in waters of 
 the United States : 
 
 And whereas an Executive Proclamation has been already 
 issued, requiring the persons engaged in these disorderly pro- 
 ceedings to desist therefrom, calling out a militia force for the 
 purpose of repressing the same, and convening Congress in ex- 
 traordinary session to deliberate and determine thereon : 
 
 Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United 
 States, with a view to the same purposes before mentioned, 
 and to the protection of the public peace, and the lives and 
 property of quiet and orderly citizens pursuing their lawful 
 occupations, until Congress shall have assembled and deliber- 
 ated on the said unlawful proceedings, or until the same shall 
 have ceased, have further deemed it advisable to set on foot a 
 
52 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 blockade of the ports within the States aforesaid, in pursuance 
 of the laws of the United States and of the lav\'s of nations in 
 such cases provided. For this purpose, a competent force will 
 be posted so as to prevent entrance and exit of vessels from 
 the ports aforesaid. If, therefore, with a view to violate such 
 blockade, a vessel shall approach, or shall attempt to leave any 
 of the said ports, she will be duly warned by the commander 
 of one of the blockading vessels, who will endorse on her reg- 
 ister the fact and date of such warning ; and if the same vessel 
 shall again attempt to leave or enter the blockaded port, she 
 will be captured and sent to the nearest convenient port, for 
 such proceedings against her and her cargo as prize, as may be 
 deemed advisable. 
 
 And I here]>y proclaim and declare, that if any person, under 
 the pretended authority of such States, or under any other 
 pretence, shall molest a vessel of the United States, or the per- 
 sons or cargo on board of her, such persons will be held amena- 
 ble to the laws of the United States for the prevention and 
 punishment of piracy. 
 
 By the President, Abkaham Lincoln. 
 
 William H. Seward, Secretary of State. 
 
 Washington, April 19, 1861. 
 
 The consequences of the attack upon Fort Sumter 
 were in the Slave States just what the insurgent leaders 
 expected. Virginia was thrown immediately (on the 
 17th of April) into the hands of the insurgents. Ten- 
 nessee soon followed, her Union majority being for the 
 moment overborne by the audacity of the secessionists. 
 But Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri, although pro- 
 foundly agitated, were kept within the pale of the Union. 
 It is needless here to recount the exciting scenes which 
 took place in the first of these States, and especially in 
 Baltimore, immediately after the issuing of the Procla- 
 mation of April 15th, or the manner in which, by the wis- 
 dom and forbearance of Mr. Lincoln, and the sagacity 
 
THE martyr's monument. 53 
 
 and energetic action of General Butler, Maryland was 
 prevented from falling into the hands of the audacious 
 minority -who -wished to side with the insurgents. The 
 Governor of this State in his perplexity at the novel con- 
 dition of public affairs, so far forgot himself as to propose 
 to Mr. Lincoln that the dispute between the Government 
 and the rebels should be referred to the British Minister 
 for arbitration. To this the following reply was made 
 for Mr. Lincoln by Mr. Seward : 
 
 If eighty years could have obliterated all the other noble sen- 
 timents of that age [1776] in Maryland, the President would 
 be hopeful, nevertheless, that there is one that would forever 
 remain there and everywhere. That sentiment is, that no do- 
 mestic contention whatever that may arise among the parties 
 of this republic, ought in any case to be referred to any foreign 
 arbitrament, least of all to the arbitrament of a European 
 monarchy. 
 
 And here may be properly introduced the following 
 extract of a despatch from Mr. Seward to Mr. Adams, 
 dated April 10th, 1865, in which the bold and compre- 
 hensive policy of Mr. Lincoln's administration in regard 
 to our foreign relations, which was maintained without 
 swerving throughout the \Yar, is clearly set forth. 
 
 POSITION ASSUMED TOWARDS FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS. 
 
 Before considering the arguments you are to use, it is impor- 
 tant to indicate those which you are not to emjDloy in executing 
 that mission : 
 
 First. The President has noticed, as the whole American peo- 
 ple have, with much emotion, the expressions of good-will and 
 friendship toward the United States, and of concern for their 
 present embarrassments, which have been made on apt occa. 
 Bions, by her Majesty and her ministers. You will make due 
 
54 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 ackno vYledgments for these manifestations, but at the same time 
 you will not rely on any mere sympathies or national kindness. 
 You will make no admissions of weakness in our Constitution, 
 or of apprehension on the part of the Government. You will 
 rather prove, as you easily can, by comparing the history of our 
 country with that of other States, that its Constitution and 
 Government are really the strongest and surest which have ever 
 been erected for the safety of any people. You will in no case 
 listen to any suggestion of compromise by this Government, 
 under foreign auspices, with its discontented citizens. If, as the 
 President does not at all apprehend, you shall unhappily find 
 her Majesty's Government tolerating the application of the 
 so-called seceding States, or wavering about it, you will not 
 leave them to suppose for a moment that they can grant that 
 application and remain the friends of the United States. You 
 may even assure them jDromptly, in that case, that if they deter- 
 mine to recognize, they may at once prepare to enter into an 
 alliance with the enemies of this republic. You alone will rep- 
 resent your country at London, and you will represent the v/hole 
 of it there. When you are asked to divide that duty with 
 others, diplomatic relations between the Government of Great 
 Britain and this Government will be suspended, and will remain 
 so until it shall be seen which of the two is most strongly 
 intrenched in the confidence of their respective nations and of 
 mankind. 
 
 You will not be allowed, however, even if you were disposed, 
 as the President is sure you will not be, to rest your opposition 
 to the application of the Confederate States on the ground of 
 any favor this Administration, or the party which chiefly called 
 it into existence, proposes to show to Great Britain, or claims 
 that Great Britain ought to show them. You will not consent 
 to draw into debate before the British Government any oppos- 
 ing moral principles which may l^e supposed to lie at the foun- 
 dation of the controversy between those States and the Federal 
 Union. 
 
 You will indulge in no expressions of harshness or disrespect, 
 or even impatience, concerning the seceding States, their agents, 
 or their people. But you will, on the contrarv, all the while 
 
THE martyr's monument. 55 
 
 remember that those States are now, as they always heretofore 
 have been, and, notwithstanding their temporary self-delusion, 
 they must always continue to be, equal and honored members 
 of this Federal Union, and that their citizens throughout all 
 political misunderstandings and alienations still are and always 
 must be our kindred and countrymen. In short, all your argu- 
 ments must belong to one of three classes, namely : First Argu- 
 ments dra^yn from the principles of public law and natural 
 justice, which regulate the intercourse of equal States, Sec- 
 ondly. Arguments which concern equally the honor, welfare, and 
 happiness of the discontented States, and the honor, welfare, 
 and happiness of the whole Union. Thirdly. Arguments which 
 are equally conservative of the rights and interests, and even 
 sentiments of the United States, and just in their bearing upon 
 the rights, interests, and sentiments of Great Britain and all 
 other nations. 
 
 That paper purports to contain a decision at which the British 
 Government has arrived, to the effect that this country is divided 
 into two belligerent parties, of which this Government rejDrfcsents 
 one, and that Great Britain assumes the attitude of a neutral 
 between them. 
 
 This Government could not, consistently with a just regard 
 for the sovereig-nty of the United States, permit itself to debate 
 these novel and extraordinary positions with the Government 
 of her Britannic Majesty ; much less can we consent that that 
 Government shall announce to us a decision derogating from 
 that sovereignty, at v/iiich it has arrived without pre\dously 
 conferring with us upon the question. The United States are 
 still solely and exclusively sovereign within the territories they 
 have lawfully acquired and long possessed, as they have always 
 been. They are at pexice with all the world, as, with unimpor- 
 tant exceptions, they have always been. They are living under 
 the obligations of the law of nations, and of treaties vrith 
 Great Britain, just the same now as heretofore; they are, of 
 course, the friends of Great Britain, and they insist that Great 
 Britain shall remain their friends now, just as she has hitherto 
 been. Great Britain, by virtue of these relations, is a stranger 
 to parties and sections in this country, whether they are loyal 
 
56 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 to the United States or not, and Great Britain can neither right- 
 fully qualify the sovereignty of the United States, nor concede, 
 nor recognize any rights, or interestSj or power of any party, 
 State, or section, in contravention to the unbroken sovereignty 
 of the Federal Union. What is now seen in this country is the 
 occurrence, by no means peculiar, but frequent in all countries, 
 more frequent even in Great Britain than here, of an armed 
 insurrection engaged in attempting to overthrow the regularly 
 constituted and established Government. There is, of course, 
 the employment of force by the Government to suppress the 
 insurrecti(m, as every other government necessarily employs 
 force in such cases. But these incidents by no means constitute 
 a state of war impairing the sovereig-nty of the Government, 
 creating belligerent sections, and entitling foreign States to inter- 
 vene, or to act as neutrals between them, or in any other way 
 to cast off their lawful obligations to the nation thus for the 
 moment disturbed. Any other principle than this would be to 
 resolve government eveiywhere into a thing of accident and 
 caprice, and ultimately all human society into a state of per- 
 petual war. 
 
 We do not go into any argument of fact or of law in support 
 of the position we have thus assumed. They are simply the 
 suggestions of the instinct of self-defence, the primary law of 
 human action — not more the law of individual than of national 
 life. 
 
 The same proclamation which called for a volunteer 
 armj summoned an extra session of Congress, to take 
 such measures as were required by the extraordinary 
 state of the country. Congress assembled on the 4th of 
 July, and received from the President the following 
 Message, in which he set forth in detail the events which 
 had made it neceszary for him to call the Houses to- 
 gether. The document is remarkable not only for the 
 calm, judicial tone which the writer preserved in it in 
 the midst of such a period of excitement, but for the 
 
THE martyr's monument. 57 
 
 clearness with which it sets forth those views of the con- 
 stitutional questions involved in the struggle just begun, 
 which were sustained in the end by the soundest intel- 
 lect in the country as well as by the whole mass of the 
 people. 
 » 
 
 MESSAGE TO THE SPECIAL SESSION OF CONGRESS, 
 JULY 4th, 1861. 
 
 Felloio- Citizens of the Senate and House of Bepresentatiioes — 
 Haying been convened on an extraordinary occasion, as author- 
 ized by the constitution, your attention is not called to any 
 ordinary subject of legislation. 
 
 At the beginning of the present presidential term, four months 
 ago, the functions of the Federal Government were found to be 
 generally suspended within the several States of South Carolina, 
 Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Florida, except- 
 ing only those of the Post-Office Department. 
 
 Within these States all the forts, arsenals, dock-yards, custom- 
 houses and the like, including the movable and stationary 
 property in and about them, had been seized, and were held in 
 open hostility to this Government, exce23ting only Forts Pick- 
 ens, Taylor, and Jefferson, on and near the Florida coast, and 
 Fort Sumter, in Charleston harbor. South Carolina. The forts 
 thus seized had been put in improved condition, new ones had 
 been built, and armed forces had been organized and were 
 organizing, all avowedly for the same hostile purj)ose. 
 
 The forts remaining in the possession of the Federal Govern- 
 ment in and near these States were either besieged or menaced 
 by warlike preparations, and especially Fort Sumter was 
 nearly surrounded by well-protected hostile batteries, with guns 
 equal in quality to the best of its own, and outnumbering the 
 latter as perhaps ten to one. A disproportionate share of the 
 Federal muskets and rifles had somehow found their way into 
 these States, and had been seized to be used against the Govern- 
 ment. Accumulations of the public revenue, lying within them, 
 had been seized for the same object. The Navy was scattered 
 
58 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 in distant seas, leaving but a very small part of it within the 
 immediate reach of the Government. Officers of the Federal 
 Army and Navy had resigned in great numbers ; and of those 
 resigning, a large proportion had taken up arms against the 
 Government. Simultaneously, and in connection with all this, 
 the purpose to sever the Federal Union was openly avowed. In 
 accordance mth this purpose, an ordinance had been adopted 
 in each of these States, declaiing the States, respectively, to be 
 separated from the National Union. A formula for instituting 
 a combined government of these States had been promulgated ; 
 and this illegal organization, in the character of Confederate 
 States, was already invoking recognition, aid, and intervention 
 from foreign Powers. 
 
 Finding this condition of things, and believmg it to be an 
 imperative duty upon the incoming Executive to prevent, if 
 possible, the consummation of such attempt to destroy the Fed- 
 eral Union, a choice of means to that end became indispensable. 
 This choice was made, and was declared in the Inaugural Address. 
 The policy chosen looked to the exhaustion of all peaceful meas- 
 ures 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 contin- 
 uance of the mails, at Government expense, to the very people 
 who were resisting the Government; and it gave repeated 
 pledges against any disturbance to any of the people, or any 
 their rights. Of all that which a President might constitution- 
 ally and justifiably do in such a case, everything was forborne, 
 without which it was believed possible to keep the Government 
 on foot. 
 
 On the 5th of March (the present mcumbent's first full day 
 in office,) a letter of Major Anderson, commanding at Fort Sum- 
 ter, written on the 28th of February, and received at the War 
 Department on the 4th of March, was by that Department 
 placed in his hands. This letter expressed the professional opin- 
 ion of the writer, that reinforcements could not be throvm into 
 that fort within the time for his relief, rendered necessary by 
 the limited supply of provisions, and with a view of holding 
 
THE martyr's monument. 69 
 
 possession of the same, witli a force of less tlian twenty thousand 
 good and well-disciplined men. This opinion was concurred in 
 by all the officers of his command, and their memmrinda on the 
 subject were made enclosures of Major Anderson's letter. The 
 whole was immediately laid before Lieutenant-General Scott, 
 ■who at once concurred with Major Anderson in opinion. On 
 reflection, however, he took full time, consulting with other 
 officers, both of the army and the navy ; and at the end of four 
 days came reluctantly, but decidedly, to the same conclusion as 
 before. He also stated at the same time that no such sufficient 
 force was then at the control of the Government, or could be 
 raised and brought to the ground within the time when the 
 provisions in the fort would be exhausted. In a purely mili- 
 tary point of view, this reduced the duty of the Administration in 
 the case to the mere matter of getting the garrison out of the fort. 
 It was believed, however, that to so abandon that position, un- 
 der the circumstances, would be utterly ruinous ; that the neces- 
 sity- under which it was to be done would not be fully understood ; 
 that by many it would be construed as a part of a voluntary 
 policy ; that at home it would discourage the friends of the 
 Union, embolden its adversaries, and go far to insure to the lat- 
 ter a recognition abroad ; that in fact, it would be our national 
 destruction consummated. This could not be allowed. Star- 
 vation was not yet upon the garrison ; and ere it would be 
 reached Fort Pickens might be reinforced. This would be a 
 clear indication of policy, and would better enable the country 
 to accept the evacuation of Fort Sumter as a military necessity. 
 An order w^as at once directed to be sent for the landing of the 
 troops from the steamship Brooklyn into Fort Pickens. This 
 order could not go by land, but must take the longer and slower 
 route by sea. The first return news from the order was re- 
 ceived just one w^eek before the fall of Fort Sumter. The news 
 itself W'as that the officer commanding the Sabine, to which 
 vessel the troops had been transferred from the Brooklyn, act- 
 ing upon some quad armistice of the late Administration (and 
 of the existence of which the present Administration, up to the 
 time the order was desjDatched, had only too vague and uncer- 
 tain rumors to fix attention), had refused to land the troops. 
 
60 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 To now reinforce Fort Pickens before a crisis would be reached 
 at Fort Sumter was impossible— rendered so by the near exhaus- 
 tion of provisions in the latter-named fort. , In precaution 
 against such a conjuncture, the Government had a few days before 
 commenced preparing an expedition, as well adapted as might 
 be, to relieve Fort Sumter, which expedition was intended to 
 be ultimately used or not, according to circumstances. The 
 strongest anticipated case for using it was now presented, and 
 it was resolved to send it forward. As had been intended in 
 this contingency, it was also resolved to notify the Governor 
 of South Carolina, that he might expect an attempt would be 
 made to provision the fort ; and that, if the attempt should not 
 be resisted, there would be no effort to throw in men, arms, or 
 ammunition, without further notice, or in case of an attack upon 
 the fort. This notice was accordingly given ; whereupon the 
 fort was attacked and bombarded to its fall, without even await- 
 ing the arrival of the provisioning expedition. 
 
 It is thus seen that the assault upon and reduction of Fort 
 Sumter was in no sense a matter of self-defence ujjon the part 
 of the assailants. They well knev^^that the garrison in the fort 
 could by no possibility commit aggression upon them. They 
 knew — they were expressly notified — that the giving of bread 
 to the few brave and hungry men of the garrison was all which 
 would on that occasion be attempted, unless themselves, by re- 
 sisting so much, should provoke more. They knew ^hat this 
 Government desired to keep the garrison in the fort, not to as- 
 sail them, but to maintain visible possession, and thus to pre- 
 serve the Union from actual and immediate dissolution — trust- 
 ing, as hereinbefore stated, to time, discussion, and the ballot-box 
 for final adjustment; and they assailed and reduced the fort for 
 precisely the reverse object— to drive out the visible authority 
 of the Federal Union, and thus force it to immediate dissolution. 
 That this was their object the Executive well understood ; and 
 having said to them in the Inaugural Address, " You can have 
 no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors," he took 
 pains not only to keep this declaration good, but also to keep 
 the case so free from the pov»^er of ingenious sophistiy that the 
 worid should not be able to misunderstand it. By the affaii* 
 
THE martyr's monument. 61 
 
 at Fort Sumter, M'itb its surrounding circumstances, that point 
 was reached. Then and thereby the assailants of the Govern- 
 ment began the conflict of arms, without a gun in sight, or in 
 expectancy to return their fire, save only the few in the fort, 
 sent to that harbor years before for their own protection, and 
 still ready to give that protection in whatever was lawful. In 
 this act, discarding all else, they have forced upon the countiy 
 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 rej)ublic or democracy — a government 
 of the people by the same people — can or cannot maintain its 
 territorial integrity against its own domestic foes. It presents 
 the question, whether discontented individuals, too few in num- 
 bers to control administration, according to organic law, in any 
 case, can always, upon the pretences made in this c^se or on 
 any other pretences, or arbitrarily, without any pretenc^. break 
 up their Government, and thus practically put an end to free 
 government upon the earth. It forces us to ask, " Is th^re, in 
 all republics, this inherent and fatal weakness?" "]Mast a 
 government, of necessity, be too strong for the liberties' of its 
 ov>Ti people, or too weak to maintain its own existence ?" 
 
 So viewing the issue, no choice was left l}ut to call out the 
 war power of the Government ; and so, to resist force employed 
 for its destruction by force for its preservation. 
 
 The call was made, and the response of the country was most 
 gratifying, surpassing in unanimity and spirit the most sanguine 
 expectation. Yet none of the States commonly called Slave 
 States, except Delaware, gave a regiment through regular State 
 organization. A few regiments have been organized within 
 some others of those States by individual enterprise, and re- 
 ceived into the Government service. Of course, the seceded 
 States, so called (and to which Texas had been joined about the 
 time of the inauguration), gave no troops to the cause of the 
 Union. The Border States, so called, were not uniform in their 
 action, some of them being almost for the Union, while in others 
 — as Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas — the 
 Union sentiment was nearly repressed and silenced. The course 
 
taken in Yirgina was the most remarkable— perhaps the most 
 important. A convention, elected by the people of that State 
 to consider this very question of disrupting the Federal Union, 
 was in session at the capital of Virginia when Fort Sumter fell. 
 To this body the people had chosen a large majority of pro- 
 fessed Union men. Almost immediately after the fall of Sumter 
 many members of that majority went over to the original dis- 
 imion minority, and with them adopted an ordinance for with- 
 drawing the State from the Union. Wiiether this change was 
 wrought by their great approval of the assault upon Sumter, or 
 their great resentment at the Government's resistance to that 
 assault is not definitely known. Although they submitted the 
 ordinance for ratification to a vote of the people, to be taken on 
 a day then somewhat more than a month distant, the Conven- 
 tion and the Legislature (which was also in session at the same 
 time and place), with leading men of the State not members of 
 either, immediately commenced acting as if the State were al- 
 ready out of the Union. They pushed military preparations 
 vigorously forward all over the State. They seized the United 
 States armory at Harper's Ferry, and the navy-yard at Gosport, 
 near Norfolk. They received — perhaps invited — into their 
 State large bodies of troops, with their warlike appointments 
 from the so-called seceded States. They formally entered into a 
 treaty of temporary alliance and co-operation with the so- 
 called " Confederate States," and sent members to their Congress 
 at Montgomery ; and, finally, they permitted the insurrectionary 
 government to be transferred to their capital at Richmond. 
 
 The people of Virginia have thus allowed this giant insurrec- 
 tion to make its nest within her borders ; and this Government 
 has no choice left but to deal with it where it finds it. And it 
 has the less regret, as loyal citizens have in due form claimed 
 its protection. Those loyal citizens this Government is bound 
 to recog-nize and j^rotect as being Virginia. 
 
 In the Border States, so-called — in fact, the Middle States — 
 there are those who favor a policy which they call " armed 
 neutrality" — ^that is, an arming of those States to prevent the 
 Union forces passing one way, or the disunion the other, over 
 their soil. This would be disunion comi^leted. Figurative- 
 
THE martyr's monument. 63 
 
 ly speaking, it would be the building of an impassable wall 
 along the line of separation — and yet not quite an impassable 
 one, for, imder the guise of neutrality, it would tie the hands 
 of Union men, and freely pass supplies from among them to 
 the insurrectionists, which it could not do as an open enemy. 
 At a stroke it would take all the trouble off the hands of seces- 
 sion, except only what proceeds from the external blockade. It 
 would do for the disunionists that which of all things they 
 most desire — feed them well, and give them disunion without a 
 struggle of their own. It recognizes no fidelity to the Consti- 
 tution, no obligation to maintain the Union; and while very 
 many who have favored it are doubtless loyal citizens, it is, 
 nevertheless, very injurious in effect. 
 
 Recurring to the action of the Government, it may be stated 
 that at first a call was made for seventy-five thousand militia ; 
 and rapidly following this, a proclamation was issued for closing 
 the ports of the insurrectionary districts by proceedings in the 
 nature of a blockade. So far all was believed to be strictly 
 legal. At this point the insurrectionists announced their pur- 
 pose to enter upon the practice of privateeiing. 
 
 Other calls were made for volunteers to serve for three year? 
 unless sooner discharged, and also for large additions to the 
 regular army and navy. These measures, whether strictly legal 
 or not, were ventured upon under what appeared to be a pop- 
 ular demand and a public necessity ; trusting then, as now, that 
 Congress would readily ratify them. It is believed that noth- 
 ing has been done beyond the constitutional competency of 
 Congress. 
 
 Soon after the first call for militia, it was considered a duty 
 to authorize the Commanding-General, in proper cases, accord- 
 ing to his discretion, to suspend the privilege of the writ of 
 habeas coi-pus, or, in other words, to arrest and detain, T\'ithout 
 resort to the ordinary processes and forms of law, such individ- 
 uals as he might deem dangerous to the public safety. This 
 authority has purposely been exercised but very sparingly. 
 Nevertheless, the legality and j^ropriety of what has been done 
 under it are questioned, and the attention, of the country has 
 been called to the proposition, that one who has sworn to 
 
64 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 " take care that the laws be faithfully executed," should not 
 himself violate them. Of course, some consideration was given 
 to the question of power and propriety before this matter was 
 acted upon. The whole of the laws which were required to be 
 faithfully executed were being resisted, and failing of execution 
 in nearly one-third of the States. Must they be allowed to 
 finally fail of execution, even had it been perfectly clear that 
 by the use of the means necessary to their execution some sin- 
 gle law, made in such extreme tenderness of the citizen's liberty 
 that practically it relieves more of the guilty than of the inno- 
 cent, should to a very limited extent be violated ? To state 
 the question more directly : Are all the laws but one to go 
 unexecuted, and the Government itself go to pieces, lest that one 
 be violated ? Even in such a case, would not the official oath 
 be broken if the Government should be overthrown, when it 
 was believed that disregarding the single law would tend to 
 preserve it ? But it was not believed that this question was 
 presented. It was not believed that any law was violated. The 
 provision of the Constitution that " the privilege of the writ 
 of habeas corpus shall not be suspended unless, when, in cases 
 of rebellion or invasion, the public safety may require it," is 
 equivalent to a provision — is a provision — that such privilege 
 may be suspended when, in case of rebellion or invasion, the 
 public safety does require it. It was decided that we have a 
 case of rebellion, and that the public safety does require the 
 qualified suspension of the privilege of the writ, which was 
 authorized to be made. Now, it is insisted that Congress, and 
 not the Executive, is vested with this power. But the Con- 
 stitution itself is silent as to which or who is to exercise the 
 power ; and as the provision was plainly made for a dangerous 
 emergency, it cannot be believed the framers of the instrument 
 intended that in every case the danger should run its course 
 until Congress could be called together, the very assembling of 
 which might be prevented, as was intended in this case, by the 
 rebellion. 
 
 No more extended argument is now ofiered, as an opinion, at 
 some length, will probably be presented by the Attorney-Gen- 
 eral. Whether there shall be any legislation on the subject 
 
THE martyr's monument. 65 
 
 and, if any, what, is submitted entirely to the better judgment 
 of Congress. 
 
 The forbearance of this Government has been so extraordi- 
 nary, and so long continued, as to lead some foreign nations to 
 shape their action as if they supposed the early destruction of 
 our national Union was probable. While this, on discovery, 
 gave the Executive some concern, he is now happy to say that 
 the sovereignty and rights of the United States are now every- 
 where practically respected by foreign powers ; and a general 
 sympathy T\dth the country is manifested throughout the world. 
 
 The reports of the Secretaries of the Treasury, War, and the 
 Navy, will give the information in detail deemed necessary and 
 convenient for your deliberation and action ; while the Execu- 
 tive and all the Departments will stand ready to supply omis- 
 sions, or to communicate new facts considered important for 
 you to know. 
 
 It is now recommended that you give the legal means for 
 making this contest a short and decisive one ; that you place 
 at the control of the Government, for the v>'ork, at least four 
 hundred thousand men and $400,000,000. That number of 
 men is about one-tenth of those of proper ages within the re- 
 gions where, apparently, all are willing to engage ; and the sum 
 is less than a twenty-third part of the money value owned by 
 the men who seem ready to devote the whole. A debt of 
 $600,000,000 now, is a less sum per head than was the debt of 
 our Revolution when v/e came out of that struggle ; and the 
 money value in the country now bears even a greater propor- 
 tion to what it was then, than does the population. Surely 
 each man has as strong a motive now to preserve our liberties 
 as each had then to establish them. 
 
 A right result, at this time, will be worth more to the world 
 than ten times the men and ten times the money. The evidence 
 reaching us from the country leaves no doubt that the 
 material for the work is abundant, and that it needs only the 
 hand of legislation to give it legal sanction, and the hand of 
 the Executive to give it practical shape and efficiency. One of 
 the greatest perplexities of the Government is to avoid receiv- 
 b\g troops faster than it can provide for them. In a word. 
 
66 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 tlie people will save their Government, if the Grovemment itself 
 will do its part only indiflFerently well. 
 
 It might seem, at first thought, to be of little difference 
 whether the present movement at the South be called " seces- 
 sion," or " rebellion." The movers, however, will understand 
 the difference. At the beginning, they knew they could never 
 raise their treason to any respectable magnitude by any name 
 which implies violation of law. They knew their people pos- 
 sessed as much of moral sense, as much of devotion to law and 
 order, and as much pride in, and reverence for the history and 
 Government of their common country, as any other civilized 
 and patriotic people. They knew they could make no advance- 
 ment directly in the teeth of these strong and noble sentiments. 
 Accordingly, they commenced by an insidious debauching of 
 the public mind. They invented an ingenious sophism, which, 
 if conceded, was followed by perfectly logical steps, through 
 all the incidents, to the complete destruction of the Union. 
 The sophism itself is, that any State of the Union may, con- 
 sistently Avith the national Constitution, and therefore lawfully 
 and peacefully, withdraw from the Union without the consent 
 of the Union, or of any other State. The little disguise that 
 the supposed right is to be exercised only for just cause, them- 
 selves to be the sole judges of its justice, is too thin to merit 
 any notice. 
 
 With rebellion thus sugar-coated they have been drugging 
 the public mind of their section for more than thirty years, and 
 until at length they have brought many good men to a willing- 
 ness to take up arms against the Government the day after some 
 assemblage of men have enacted the farcical pretence of taking 
 their State out of the Union, who could have been brought to 
 no such thing the day before. 
 
 This sophism derives much, perhaps the whole, of its curren- 
 cy from the assumption that there is some omnipotent and sa- 
 cred supremacy pertaining to a State — to each State of our 
 Federal Union. Our States have neither more nor less power 
 than that reserved to them in the Union by the Constitution — 
 no one of them ever having been a State out of the Union. 
 The original ones passed into the Union even before they cast 
 
THE martyr's monument. 67 
 
 off their British colonial dependence ; and the new ones each 
 came into the Union directly from a condition of dependence, 
 excepting Texas. And even Texas, in its temporary indepen- 
 dence, was never designated a State. The new ones only took 
 the designation of States on coming into the Union, while that 
 name was first adopted by the old ones in and by the Declara- 
 tion of Independence. Therein the " United Colonies" were 
 declared to be "free and independent States;" but, even then, 
 the object plainly was not to declare their independence of one 
 another, or of the Union, but directly the contrary ; as their 
 mutual pledge and their mutual action before, at the time, and 
 afterwards, abundantly show. The express plighting of faith 
 by each and all of the original thirteen in the Articles of Con- 
 federation, two years later, that the Union shall be perpetual, 
 is most conclusive. Ha"sdng never been States, either in sub- 
 stance or in name, outside of the Union, whence this magical 
 omnipotence of " State rights," asserting a claim of power to 
 lawfully destroy the Union itself? Much is said about the 
 "sovereignty" of the States; but the word even is not in the 
 national Constitution ; nor, as is believed, in any of the State 
 constitutions. What is " sovereignty" in the political sense of 
 the term ? "Would it be far wrong to define it " a political 
 community without a political superior?" Tested by this, 
 no one of our States, except Texas, ever was a sovereignty. 
 And even Texas gave up the character on coming into the 
 Union ; by which act she acknowledged the Constitution of the 
 United States and the laws and treaties of the United States 
 made in pursuance of the Constitution, to be for her the supreme 
 law of the land. The States have their status in the Union, and 
 they have no other legal status. If they break from this, they 
 can only do so against law and by revolution. The Union, and 
 not themselves, separately, procured their independence and 
 their liberty. By conquest or purchase the Union gave each of 
 them whatever of independence or liberty it has. The Union 
 is older than any of the States, and, in fact, it created them as 
 States. Originally some dependent colonies made the Union, 
 and, in turn, the Union threw off their old dependence for 
 them, and made them States, such as they are. Not one of 
 
68 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 them ever had a State constitution independent of the Union. 
 Of course, it is not forgotten that all the new States framed 
 their constitutions before they entered the Union ; nevertheless 
 dependent upon, and preparatory to, coming into the Union. 
 
 Unquestionably the States have the powers and rights reserved 
 to them in and by the national Constitution ; but among these, 
 surely, are not included all conceivable powers, however mis- 
 chievous or destructive ; but, at most, such only as were known 
 in the world, at the time, as governmental powers; and, cer- 
 tainly, a power to destroy the Government itself had never 
 been known as a governmental — as a merely administrative 
 power. This relative matter of national power and State rights, 
 as a principle, is no other than the principle of generality and 
 locality. Whatever concerns the whole should be confided to 
 the whole — to the General Government ; while whatever con- 
 cerns only the State should be left exclusively to the State. 
 This is all there is of original principle about it. Wliether the 
 national Constitution in defining boundaries between the two 
 has applied the principle with exact accuracy, is not to be ques- 
 tioned. We are all bound by that defining, without question. 
 
 What is now combated, is the position that secession is con- 
 sistent with the Constitution — is lawful and peaceful. It is not 
 contended that there is any express law for it; and nothing 
 should ever be implied as law which leads to unjust or absurd 
 consequences. The nation j^urchased with money the countries 
 out of which several of these States were formed ; is it just 
 that they shall go ofl' without leave and Tvithout refunding ? 
 The nation paid very large sums (in the aggregate, I believe, 
 nearly a hundred millions) to relieve Florida of the aboriginal 
 tribes ; is it just that she shall now be off without consent, or 
 ■v\dthout making any return ? The nation is now in debt for 
 money applied to the benefit of these so-called seceding States 
 in common with the rest ; is it just either that creditors shall 
 go unpaid, or the remaining States pay the whole ? A j)art of 
 the present national debt was contracted to pay the old debts 
 of Texas ; is it just that she shall leave and i^ay no part of this 
 herself? 
 
 Again, if one State may secede, so may another ; and when 
 
THE martyr's monument. 69 
 
 all shall have seceded, none is left to pay the debts. Is this 
 quite just to creditors ? Did vre notify them of this sage view 
 of ours when we borrowed their money ? If we noT\^ recognize 
 this doctrine by allowing the seceders to go in peace, it is diffi- 
 cult to see what we can do if others choose to go, or to extort 
 terms upon which they will promise to remain. 
 
 The seceders insist that our constitution admits of secession. 
 They have assumed to make a national constitution of their 
 own, in which, of necessity, they have either discarded or 
 retained the right of secession, as they insist it exists in ours. 
 If they have discarded it, they thereby admit that, on principle, 
 it ought not to exist in ours. If they have retained it, by their 
 own construction of ours, they show that to be consistent they 
 must secede from one another whenever they shall find it the 
 easiest way of settling their debts, or effecting any other selfish 
 or unjust object. The princiiDle itself is one of disintegration, 
 and upon which no government can possibly endure. 
 
 If all the States save one should assert the power to drive 
 that one out of the Union, it is presumed the whole class of 
 seceder politicians would at once deny the power, and denounce 
 the act as the greatest outrage uj)on State rights. But suppose 
 that precisely the same act, instead of being called " driving 
 the one out," should be called " the seceding of the others from 
 that one," it would be exactly what the seceders claim to do ; 
 unless, indeed, they make the point that the one, because it is a 
 minority, may rightfully do what the others, because they are a 
 majority, may not rightfully do. These politicians are subtile 
 and profound on the rights of minorities. They are not partial 
 to that power which made the Constitution, and speaks from 
 the preamble, calling itself " We, the People." 
 
 It may well be questioned w^hether there is to-day a majority 
 of the legally qualified voters of any State, except, perhaps. 
 South Carolina, in favor of disunion. There is much reason to 
 believe that the Union men are the majority in many, if not in 
 every other one, of the so-called seceded States. The contrary 
 has not been demonstrated in any one of them. It is ventured to 
 affirm this even of Virginia and Tennessee ; for the result of 
 an election held in military camps, where the bayonets are all 
 
70 THE 
 
 on one side of tlie question voted upon, can scarcely be consid- 
 ered as demonstrating popular sentiment. At such an election, 
 all that large class who are at once for the Union and against 
 coercion would be coerced to vote against the Union. 
 
 It may be affirmed without extravagance, that the free insti- 
 tutions we enjoy have developed the powers and improved the 
 condition of our whole people beyond any example in the 
 world. Of this we now have a striking and impressive illustra- 
 tion. So large an army as the Government has now on foot was 
 never before known without a soldier in it but who had taken 
 his place there of his own free choice. But more than this ; 
 there are many single regiments whose members, one and another, 
 possess full practical knowledge of all the arts, sciences, profes- 
 sions, and whatever else, whether useful or elegant, is known in 
 the world ; and there is scarcely one from which there could 
 not be selected a President, a Cabinet, a Congress, and perhaps 
 a court, abundantly competent to administer the Government 
 itself. Nor do I say this is not true also in the army of our late 
 friends, now adversaries in this contest ; but if it is, so much 
 better the reason why the Government which has conferred such 
 benefits on both them and us, should not be broken up. Who- 
 ever, in any section, proposes to abandon such a Government, 
 would do well to consider in deference to what principle it is 
 that he does it ; what better he is likely to get in its stead ; 
 whether the substitute will give, or be intended to give, so much 
 of good to the people ? There are some foreshado wings on this 
 subject. Our adversaries have adopted some declarations of 
 independence, in which, unlike the good old one, penned by 
 Jefferson, they omit the words, " all men are created equal." 
 Why ? They have adopted a temporary national constitution, 
 in the preamble of which, unlike our good old one, signed by 
 Washington, they omit " We, the people," and substitute '' We, 
 the deputies of the sovereign and independent States." Why ? 
 Why this deliberate pressing out of view the rights of men and 
 the authority of the people ? 
 
 This is essentially a people's contest. On the side of the 
 Union it is a struggle for maintaining in the world that form 
 and substance of government whose leading object is to elevate 
 
THE martyr's monument. 71 
 
 the condition of men ; to lift artificial weiglits from all shoul- 
 ders ; to clear the paths of laudable pursuits for ail ; to afford 
 all an unfettered start and a fair chance in the race of life. 
 Yielding to partial and temporary departures, from necessity, 
 this is the leading object of the Government for whose existence 
 we contend. 
 
 I am most happy to believe that the plain people understand 
 and appreciate this. It is worthy of note, that while in this 
 the Government's hour of trial, large numbers of those in the 
 army and navy who have been favored with the offices have 
 resigned and proved false to the hand which had pampered 
 them, not one common soldier or common sailor is known to 
 have deserted his flag. 
 
 Great honor is due to those officers who remained true, despite 
 the example of their treacherous associates ; but the greatest 
 honor, and most important fact of all, is the unanimous firmness 
 of the common soldiers and common sailors. To the last man, 
 so far as known, they have successfully resisted the traitorous 
 efforts of those whose commands but an hour before they obeyed 
 as absolute law. This is the patriotic instmct of plain people. 
 They understand, without an argument, that the destroying the 
 Government which was made by Washington means no good 
 to them. 
 
 Our popular Government has often been called an experiment. 
 Two points in it our people have already settled — the success- 
 ful establishing and the successful administering of it. One 
 still remains — its successful maintenance against a formidable 
 internal attempt to overthrow it. It is now for them to demon- 
 strate to the world that those who can fairly carry an election 
 can also suppress a rebellion ; that ballots are the rightful and 
 peaceful successors of bullets ; and that when ballots have fairly 
 and constitutionally decided, there can be no successful appeal 
 back to bullets ; that there can be no successful appeal, except 
 to ballots themselves, at succeeding elections. Such will be a 
 great lesson of peace; teaching men that what they can not 
 take by an election, neither can they take by a war ; teaching 
 all the folly of being the beginners of a war. 
 
 Lest there be some uneasiness in the minds of candid men as 
 
72 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 to what is to be the course of the Government toward the 
 Southern States after the rebellion shall have been suppressed, 
 the Executive deems it proper to say, it will be his purpose 
 then, as ever, to be guided by the Constitution and the laws ; 
 and that he probably will have no different understanding of 
 the powers and duties of the Federal Government relatively to 
 the rights of the States and the people under the Constitution 
 than that expressed in the inaugural address. 
 
 He desired to preserve the Government, that it may be ad- 
 ministered for all, as it was administered by the men who made 
 it. Loyal citizens everywhere have the right to claim this of 
 theii' Government, and the Government has no right to withhold 
 or neglect it. It is not perceived that in giving it there is any 
 coercion, any conquest, or any subjugation, in any just sense of 
 those terms. 
 
 The Constitution provides, and all the States have accepted 
 the provision, that "the United States shall guarantee to every 
 State in this Union a republican form of Government." But if 
 a State may lawfully go out of the Union, having done so it 
 may also discard the republican form of Government ; so that 
 to prevent its going out is an indispensable means to the end of 
 maintaining the guarantee mentioned ; and when an end is lawful 
 and obligatory, the indispensable means to it are also law^ful 
 and obligatory. 
 
 It was with the deepest regret that the Executive found the 
 duty of employing the war power in defence of the Government 
 forced upon him. He could but perform this duty or surrender 
 the existence of the Government. No compromise by public 
 servants could in this case be a cure ; not that compromises are 
 not often proper, but that no popular Government can long sur- 
 vive a marked precedent that those who carry an election can 
 only save the Government from immediate destruction by giving 
 up the main point upon which the people gave the election. 
 The people themselves, and not their servants, can safely reverse 
 their own deliberate decisions. 
 
 As a private citizen the Executive could not have consented 
 that these institutions shall perish ; much less could he, in be- 
 trayal of so vast and so sacred a trust as these free people 
 
THE maktyr's monument. 73 
 
 have confided to him. He felt that he had no moral right to 
 Bhiink, or even to count the chances of his own life, in what 
 might follow. In full view of his great responsibility he has 
 so far done what he has deemed his duty. You will now, ac- 
 cording to your own judgment, perform yours. He sincerely 
 hojDes that your views and your action 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 ha^dng 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. 
 
 July 4, 1861. Abraham Lencoln. 
 
 BORDER STATE POLICY. 
 
 As one of the first and most important tasks of the 
 Government was to prevent the Border States from being 
 placed in the power of the secessionists, so one of Mr. 
 Lincoln's severest trials in the first year of his Adminis- 
 tration was so to meet and check the moves of the lead- 
 ing men in those States, who were at heart with Jefferson 
 Davis, that he would not irritate the sullen, or excite the 
 lukewarm to open opposition. The following letter which 
 explains itself fully, is a good example of the quiet man- 
 ner in which he showed these men that he understood, 
 and would withstand them. 
 
 REPLY TO GOVERNOR MAGOFFIN, OF KENTUCKY. 
 
 Washington, D, C, August 24, 1S61. 
 
 To His Excellmcy B. Magoffin, Ooverno7' of the State of Ken- 
 tucky — Sir: — Your letter of the 19th inst., in which you "urge 
 the removal from the limits of Kentucky of the military force 
 now organized and in camp within that State," is received. 
 
 I may not possess full and precisely accurate knowledge upon 
 this subject, but I believe it is true that there is a military force in 
 camp within Kentuckv, acting by authority of the United States, 
 
 4 
 
74 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 which force is not very large, and is not now being augmented. 
 I also believe that some arms have been furnished to this force 
 by the United States. 
 
 I also believe that this force consists exclusively of Kentuck- 
 ians, having their camp in the immediate vicinity of their own 
 homes, and not assailing or menacing any of the good people 
 of Kentucky. 
 
 In all I have done in the premises, I have acted upon the 
 urgent solicitation of many Kentuckians, and in accordance 
 with what I believed, and still believe, to be the wish of a ma- 
 jority of all the Union loving people of Kentucky. 
 
 While I have conversed on the subject with many eminent 
 men of Kentucky, including a large majority of her members 
 of Congress, I do not remember that any one of them, or any 
 other person, except your Excellency and the bearers of your 
 Excellency's letter, has urged me to remove the military force 
 from Kentucky or to disband it. One other very worthy citizen 
 of Kentucky did solicit me to have the augmenting of the force 
 suspended for a time. 
 
 Taking all the means within my reach to form a judgment, 
 I do not believe it is the popular wish of Kentucky that the 
 force shall be removed beyond her limits ; and, with this im- 
 pression, I must respectfully decline to remove it. 
 
 I most cordially sympathize with your Excellency in the wish 
 to preserve the peace of my own native State, Kentucky, but it 
 ip with regret I search for and cannot find, in your not very 
 short letter, any declaration or intimation that you entertaia 
 any desire for the preservation of the Federal Union. 
 
 Abraham Lincoln. 
 
 But Mr. Lincoln's perplexities were not all caused by 
 the malignity of the slavery propagandists. Not a few 
 were created for him by the unwise impetuosity of those 
 who seemed to think that there was only one question to 
 be considered in the war, or rather that the war was to 
 be successfully prosecuted by attacking slavery without 
 
75 
 
 regard to law, or even to circumstances. Prominent 
 among these was General Fremont, who assumed the re- 
 sponsibility of declaring the slaves of all active partici- 
 pants in the rebellion, free. This act Mr. Lincoln thought 
 both ill-timed and an unwarrantable arrogation of power ; 
 and he annulled it in the following letter. 
 
 Wasiiikgton, D. C, September 11, 1861. 
 Major- General Jolin C. Fremont — Sir — Yours of the 8tb, in 
 answer to mme of the 2iid hast., is just received. Assured 
 that you upon the ground could better judge of the necessities 
 of your position than I could at this distance, on seeing your 
 proclamation of August 30, I perceived no general objection to 
 it ; the particular clause, however, in relation to the confiscation 
 of property and the liberation of slaves apjDeared to me to be 
 objectionable in its non-conformity to the act of Congress, passed 
 the 6th of last August, upon' the same subjects, and hence I 
 wrote you expressing my wish that that clause should be modi- 
 fied accordingly. Your answer just received expresses the pref- 
 erence on your part that I should make an open order for the 
 modification, w^hich I very cheerfully do. It is therefore or- 
 dered that the said clause of said proclamation be so modified, 
 held and construed as to confirm with, and not to transcend, the 
 provisions on the same subject contained in the act of Con- 
 gress entitled " An Act to confiscate property used for insurrec- 
 tionary purposes," approved August 6, 1861, and the said act 
 be published at length with this order. Your obedient servant. 
 
 Abiiaha]m Lincoln. 
 
 Gen. Fremont was relieved in I^Tovember, of his com- 
 mand in the Department of the West, which devolved 
 upon General David Hunter. Mr. Lincoln always mod- 
 estly disclaimed any military ability ; but the following 
 letter, addressed to that General on the occasion of his 
 taking command, was justified in all its military views 
 by the subsequent course of events in that Department 
 throughout the war : 
 
76 
 
 LETTER TO GENERAL HUNTER. 
 
 i "Washington, October 24, 1861. 
 
 ^^>_The command of the Department of the West having 
 devolved upon you, I propose to offer you a few suggestions, 
 knowing how hazardous it is to bind down a distant commander 
 in the field to specific lines of operation, as so much always 
 depends on the knowledge of localities and passing events. It 
 is intended, therefore, to leave considerable margin for the exer- 
 cise of your judgment and discretion. 
 
 The main rebel army (Price's) west of the Mississippi is be- 
 lieved to have passed Dade County in full retreat upon North- 
 western Arkansas, leaving Missouri almost free from the enemy, 
 excepting in the southeast jDart of the State. Assuming this 
 basis of fact, it seems desirable — as you are not likely to over- 
 take Price, and are in danger of making too long a line from 
 your own base of supplies and reinforcements — that you should 
 give up the pursuit, halt your main army, divide it into two 
 corps of observation, one occupying Sedalia and the other KoUa, 
 the present termini of railroads, then recruit the condition of 
 both corps by re-establishing and improving their discipline 
 and instruction, perfecting their clothing and equipments, and 
 providing less uncomfortable quarters. Of course, both rail- 
 roads must be guarded and kej3t oj)en, judiciously employing 
 just so much force as is necessary for this. From these two 
 two points, Sedalia and Rolla, and esi^ecially in judicious co- 
 oi^eration with Lane on the Kansas border, it would be very 
 easy to concentrate, and repel any army of the enemy returning 
 on Missouri on the Southwest. As it is not probable any such 
 attempt to return will be made before or during the approach- 
 ing cold weather, before spring the people of Missouri will be 
 in no favorable mood for renewing for next year the troubles 
 which have so much afflicted and impoverished them during this. 
 
 If you take this line of policy, and if, as I anticipate, you will 
 see no enemy in great force approaching, you ^\-Lll have a surplus 
 force which you can withdraw from those points, and direct to 
 others, as may be needed— the railroads furnishing ready means 
 of reinforcing those main points, if occasion requires. 
 
 Doubtless local uprisings for a time will continue to occur, 
 
THE maetyr's monument. 77 
 
 but those can be met by detachments of local forces of our own, 
 and will ere long tire out of themselves. 
 
 While, as stated at the beginning of this letter, a large dis- 
 cretion must be and is left with yourself, I feel sure that an in- 
 definite pursuit of Price, or an attempt by this long and circui- 
 tous route to reach Memphis, will be exhaustive beyond endur- 
 ance, and will end in the loss of the whole force engaged in it. 
 
 Your obedient servant. 
 
 The Commander of the Department of the West. ^' LINCOLN. 
 
 THE CONGRESSIONAL SESSION OF 1861-2. 
 
 Congress met for the second time after Mr. Lincoln's 
 inauguration, OQ the 2d of December, 1861. The — 
 so nearly a victory, closing in so shameful a panic — 
 first battle of Manassas Plains, or Bull Run, which 
 took place during the extra session of July, caused 
 great exultation at the South, and was followed, as the 
 reader will remember, by an adhesion of all the time- 
 servers and waiters upon Providence south of Mason and 
 Dixon's line to the cause of the insurgents, by the con- 
 solidation of the so-called Confederate Government, and 
 the castino; of the whole weight of the influence of the 
 governing classes in Europe against the government of 
 our Republic. It was followed also by greater prepara- 
 tions on the part of our Government, and excited, after 
 the first day or two of depression, only a more fixed de- 
 termination on the part of loyal people. Under these 
 circumstances, Mr. Lincoln sent in his second Message. 
 
 MESSAGE. 
 
 Fellow- Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives — In 
 the midst of unprecedented political troubles, we have cause 
 of great gratitude to God for unusual good health, and most 
 abundant harvests. 
 
78 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 You will not be surprised to learn that, in the peculiar exi- 
 gencies of the times, our intercourse with foreign nations has 
 been attended with profound solicitude, chiefly turning upon 
 our own domestic affairs. A disloyal portion of the American 
 people have, during the whole year, been engaged in an attempt 
 to divide and destroy the Union. A nation which endures fac- 
 tious domestic division, is exposed to disrespect abroad ; and 
 one party, if not both, is sure, sooner or later, to invoke foreign 
 intervention. Nations thus tempted to interfere are not always 
 able to resist the counsels of seeming expediency and ungenerous 
 ambition, although measures adopted under such influences sel- 
 dom fail to be unfortunate and injurious to those adopting them. 
 
 The disloyal citizens of the United States who have offered 
 the ruin of our country, in return for the aid and comfort which 
 they have invoked abroad, have received less patronage and 
 encouragement than they probably expected. If it were just to 
 suppose, as the insurgents have seemed to assume, that foreign 
 nations, in this case, discarding all moral, social, and treaty ob- 
 ligations, would act solely and selfishly for the most speedy 
 restoration of commerce, including especially the acquisition of 
 cotton, those nations appear, as yet, not to have seen their way 
 to their object more directly, or clearly, through the destruc- 
 tion, than through the preservation, of the Union. If we could 
 dare to believe that foreign nations are actuated by no higher 
 principle than this, I am quite sure a sound argument could be 
 made to show them that they can reach their aim more readily 
 and easily by. aiding to crush this rebellion, than by giving en- 
 couragement to it. 
 
 The principal lever relied on by the insurgents for exciting 
 foreign nations to hostility against us, as already intimated, is 
 the embarrassment of commerce. Those nations, however, not 
 improbably, saw from the first that it was the Union which made, 
 as well our foreign as our domestic commerce. They can 
 scarcely have failed to perceive that the effort for disunion pro- 
 duced the existing difficulty ; and that one strong nation prom- 
 ises more durable peace, and a more extensive, valuable, and 
 reliable commerce, than can the same nation broken into hostile 
 fragments. 
 
THE martyr's monument. 79 
 
 It is not my purpose to review our discussions witli foreign 
 States ; because whatever might be their wishes or dispositions, 
 the integrity of our country and the stability of our Govern- 
 ment mainly depend, not upon them, but on the loyalty, virtue, 
 patriotism, and intelligence of the American jDeople. The cor- 
 respondence itself, with the usual reservations, is herewith sub- 
 mitted. 
 
 I venture to hope it will appear that we have practiced pru- 
 dence and liberality towards foreign powers, averting causes of 
 irritation ; and with firmness maintaining our own rights and 
 honor. 
 
 Siace, however, it is apparent that here, as in every other 
 State, foreign dangers necessarily attend domestic difficulties, I 
 recommend that adequate and ample measures be adopted for 
 maintaining the public defences on every side. While, under 
 this general recommendation, provision for defending our sea- 
 coast line readily occurs to the mind, I also, in the same con- 
 nection, ask the attention of Congress to our great lakes and 
 rivei-s. It is believed that some fortifications and depots of 
 arms and munitions, with harbor and navigation improvements, 
 all at well-selected points upon these, would be of great im- 
 portance to the national defence and preservation. I ask atten- 
 tion to the \dews of the Secretary of War, expressed in his 
 report upon the same general subject. 
 
 I deem it of importance that the loyal regions of East Ten- 
 nessee and Western North Caroliaa should be connected with 
 Kentucky and other faithful j3ai*ts of the Union by railroad. I, 
 therefore, recommend, as a military measure, that Congress pro- 
 vide for the construction of such road as speedily as possible. 
 
 Kentucky will no doubt co-operate, and, through her Legis- 
 lature, make the most judicious selection of a line. The north- 
 ern terminus must connect with some existing railroad, and 
 whether the route shall be from Lexington or .Nicholasville to 
 the Cumberland Gap, or from Lebanon to the Tennessee line, in 
 the direction of Knoxville, or on some still diflferent line, can 
 easily be determined. Kentucky and the General Government 
 co-operating, the work can be completed in a very short time, 
 and when done it will be not only of vast present usefulness, 
 
80 THE mahtyr's monument. 
 
 but also a valuable permanent improyement worth its cost in all 
 the future. 
 
 Some treaties, designed chiefly for the interests of commerce, 
 and having no grave political importance, have been negotiated, 
 and will be submitted to the Senate for their consideration. 
 Although we have failed to induce some of the commercial 
 Powers to adopt a desirable melioration of the rigor of mari- 
 time war, we have removed all obstructions from the way of 
 this humane reform, except such as are merely of temporary 
 and accidental occurrence. 
 
 I invite your attention to the correspondence between her 
 Britannic Majesty's Mnister, accredited to this Government, and 
 the Secretary of State, relative to the detention of the British 
 ship Perthshire in June last by the United States Steamer Mas- 
 sachusetts, for a supposed breach of the blockade. As this de- 
 tention was occasioned by an obvious misapprehension of the 
 facts, and as justice requires that we should commit no bellig- 
 erent act not founded in strict right as sanctioned by public 
 law, I recommend that an appropriation be made to satisfy the 
 reasonable demand of the owners of the vessel for her detention. 
 
 ******** 
 
 If any good reason exists why we should persevere longer in 
 withholding our recognition of the independence and sovereign- 
 ty of Hayti and Liberia, I am unable to discern it. Unwilling, 
 however, to inaugurate a novel policy in regard to them with- 
 out the approbation of Congress, I submit for your considera- 
 tion the expediency of an appropriation for maintaining a 
 Charge d' Affaires near each of those new States. It does not 
 admit of doubt that important commercial advantages mig-ht 
 be secured by favorable treaties with them. 
 
 The operations of the Treasury during the period which has 
 elapsed smce your adjournment has been conducted with signal 
 success. The patriotism of the people has placed at the dis- 
 posal of the Government the large means demanded by the pub- 
 lic exigencies. Much of the national loan has been taken by 
 citizens of the industrial classes, whose confidence in their 
 country's faith, and zeal for their country's delivemnce from its 
 present peril, have induced them to contribute to the support 
 
THE martyr's monument. 81 
 
 of the Government tlie whole of their limited acquisitions. This 
 fact imposes peculiar obligations to economy and disbursement 
 and energy in action. The revenue from all sources, including 
 loans for the financial year ending on the 30th of June, 1861, 
 was $86,835,900 27 ; and the expenditures for the same period, 
 including payments on account of the public debt, were $84,- 
 578,034 47, leaving a balance in the treasury, on the 1st of July, 
 of $2,357,065 80 for the first quarter of the financial year end- 
 ing on September 30, 1861. The receipts from all sources, in- 
 cluding the balance of July 1, were $102,532,509 27, and the 
 expenses $98,239,733 09, leaving a balance, on the 1st of Octo- 
 ber, 1861, of $4,292,776 18. 
 
 Estimates for the remaining three-quarters of the year and 
 for the financial year of 1863, together with his views of the 
 ways and means for meeting the demands contemplated by 
 them, will be submitted to Congress by the Secretary of the 
 Treasury. It is gratifying to know that the expenses made nec- 
 essary by the rebellion are not beyond the resources of the loyal 
 people, and to believe that the same patriotism which has thus 
 far sustained the Government will continue to sustain it till 
 peace and union shall again bless the land. I respectfully refer 
 to the report of the Secretary of War for information respect- 
 ing the numerical strength of the army, and for recommenda- 
 tions having in view an increase of its efiiciency, and the well- 
 being of the various branches of the service intrusted to his 
 care. It is gratifying to know that the patriotism of the peo- 
 ple has proved equal to the occasion, and that the number of 
 troops tendered greatly exceed the force which Congress au- 
 thorized me to call into the field. I refer with pleasure to those 
 portions of his report which make allusion to the creditable de- 
 gree of disciiDline already attained by our troops, and to the 
 excellent sanitary condition of the entire army. The recom- 
 mendation of the Secretary for an organization of the militia 
 upon a uniform basis is a subject of vital importance to the fu- 
 ture safety of the country, and is commended to the serious at- 
 tention of Congress. The large addition to the regular army, 
 in connection with the defection that has so considerably dim- 
 inished the number of its officers, gives peculiar importance to 
 
82 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 his recommendation for increasing the corps of cadets to the 
 greatest capacity of the Military Academy. 
 
 By mere omission, I presume, Congress has failed to provide 
 chaplains for the hospitals occupied by the volunteers. This 
 subject was brought to my notice, and I was induced to draw 
 up the form of a letter, one copy of which, properly addressed, 
 has been delivered to each of the persons, and at the dates re- 
 spectively named and Stated in a schedlile, containing, also, the 
 form of the letter marked A, and herewith transmitted. These 
 gentlemen, I understand, entered upon the duties designated 
 at the times respectfully stated in the schedule, and have labored 
 faithfully therein ever since. I therefore recommend that they 
 be compensated at the same rate as chaplains in the army. I 
 further suggest that general provision be made for chaplains to 
 serve at hospitals, as w^ell as with regiments. 
 
 The report of the Secretary of the Navy presents, in detail, 
 the operations of that branch of the service, the activity and 
 energy which have characterized its administration, and the re- 
 sults of measures to increase its efficiency and power. Such 
 have been the additions, by construction and purchase, that it 
 may almost be said a navy has been created and brought into 
 service since our difficulties commenced. 
 
 Besides blockading our extensive coast, squadrons larger 
 than ever before assembled under our flag have been put afloat, 
 and performed deeds which have increased our naval renown. 
 
 I would invite special attention to the recommendation of the 
 Secretary for a more perfect organization of the navy, by intro- 
 ducing additional grades in the service. 
 
 The present organization is defective and unsatisfactory, and 
 the suggestions submitted by the department will, it is believed, 
 if adopted, obviate the difficulties alluded to, promote harmony, 
 and increase the efficiency of the navy. 
 
 There are three vacancies on the bench of the Supreme Court 
 — two by the decease of .Justices Daniel and McLean, and one 
 by the resignation of Justice Campbell. I have so far forborne 
 making nominations to fill these vacancies for reasons which I 
 will now state. Two of the out-gomg judges resided within 
 the States now overrun by revolt ; so that if successors were 
 
THE martyr's monument. 83 
 
 appointed in the same localities, they could not now serve upon 
 their circuits; and many of the most competent men there 
 probably would not take the personal hazard of accepting to 
 serve, even here, upon the supreme bench. I have been unwill- 
 ing to throw all the appointments northward, thus disabling 
 myself from doing justice to the South on the return of peace ; 
 although I may remark that to transfer to the North one which 
 has heretofore been in the South, would ifot, with reference to 
 territory and population, be unjust. 
 
 During the long and brilliant judicial career of Judge 
 McLean, his circuit grew into an empire — ^altogether too large 
 for any one judge to give the courts therein more than a nom- 
 inal attendance — rising in population from one million four 
 hundred and seventy thousand and eighteen, in 1830, to six 
 million one hundred and fifty-one thousand four hundred and 
 five, in 1860, 
 
 Besides this, the country generally has outgrown our present 
 judicial system. If uniformity was at all intended, the 
 system requires that all the States shall be accommodated with 
 Circuit Courts, attended by supreme judges, while, in fact, Wis- 
 consin, Minnesota, Iowa, Kansas, Florida, Texas, California and 
 Oregon, have never had any such courts. Nor can this well be 
 remedied without a change of the system ; because the adding 
 of judges to the Supreme Court, enough for the accommodation 
 of all parts of the country with Circuit Courts, would create a 
 court altogether too numerous for a judicial body of any sort. 
 And the evil, if it be one, will increase as new States come into the 
 Union. Circuit Courts are useful, or they are not useful. If use- 
 ful, no State should be denied them, if not useful no State should 
 have them. Let them be provided for all, or abolished as to all. 
 
 Three modifications occur to me, either of which, I think, 
 would be an improvement upon our present system. Let the 
 Supreme Court be of convenient number in every event. Then, 
 first, let the whole country be divided into circuits of conven- 
 ient size, the supreme judges to serve in a number of them cor- 
 responding to their own number, and indejDendent circuit judges 
 provided for all the rest. Or, secondly, let the suj)reme judges 
 be relieved from circuit duties, and circuit judges provided for 
 
84 THE MARTYR'S MONUMENT. 
 
 all tlie circuits. Or, thirdly, dispense with circuit courts alto- 
 gether, leaving the judicial functions wholly to the district 
 courts and an independent Supreme Court. 
 
 I respectfully recommend to the consideration of Congress 
 the present condition of the statute laws, with the hope that 
 Congress will be able to find an easy remedy for many of the 
 inconveniences and evils which constantly embarrass those en- 
 gaged in the practical administration of them. Since the or- 
 ganization of the Government, Congress has enacted some five 
 thousand acts and joint resolutions, which fill more than six 
 thousand closely-printed pages, and are scattered through many 
 volumes. Many of these acts have been drawn in haste and 
 without sufficient caution, so that their j^rovisions are often ob- 
 scure in themselves, or in conflict with each other, or at least so 
 doubtful as to render it very difficult for even the best-informed 
 persons to ascertain precisely what the statute law really is. 
 
 It seems to me very important that the statute laws should be 
 made as plain and intelligible as possible, and be reduced to as 
 small a compass as may consist with the fulness and precision 
 of the will of the legislature and the perspicuity of its lan- 
 guage. This, well done, would, I think, greatly facilitate the 
 labors of those whose duty it is to assist in the administration 
 of the laws, and would be a lasting benefit to the people, by 
 placing before them, in a more accessible and intelligible form, 
 the laws which so deeply concern their interests and their 
 duties. 
 
 I am informed by some whose opinions I respect, that all the 
 acts of Congress now in force, and of a permanent and general 
 nature, might be revised and re-written, so as to be embraced 
 in one volume (or, at most, two volumes) of ordinary and con- 
 venient size. And I respectfully recommend to Congress to 
 consider of the subject, and if my suggestion be approved, to 
 devise such plan as to their wisdom shall seem most proper for 
 the attainment of the end proposed. 
 
 One of the unavoidable consequences of the present insurrec- 
 tion is the entire suppression, in many places, of all the ordi- 
 nary means of administering civil justice by the officers, and in 
 the forms of existing law. This is the case, in whole or in part 
 
THE martyr's monument. 85 
 
 in all the insurgent States ; and as our armies advance upon and 
 take possession of parts of those States, the practical evil 
 becomes more apparent. There are no courts nor officers to 
 whom the citizens of other States may apply for the enforcement 
 of their lawful claims against citizens of the insurgent States ; 
 and there is a vast amount of debt constituting such claims. 
 Some have estimated it as high as two hundred million dollars, 
 due, in large part, from in-surgents in open rebellion to loyal 
 citizens who are, even now, making great sacrifices in the dis- 
 charge of their patriotic duty to support the Government. 
 
 Under these circumstances, I have been urgently solicited to 
 establish, by military power, courts to administer summary 
 justice in such cases. I have thus far declined to do it, not 
 because I had any doubt that the end proposed — the collection 
 of the debts — was just and right m itself, but because I have 
 been unwilling to go beyond the pressure of necessity in the 
 unusual exercise of power. But the powers of Congress, I 
 suppose, are equal to the anomalous occasion, and therefore I 
 Tefer the whole matter to Congress, with the hope that a plan 
 may be devised for the admiuistration of justice in all such parts 
 of the insurgent States and Territories as may be under the con- 
 trol of this Government, whether by a voluntary return to alle- 
 giance and order, or by the power of our arms ; this, however, 
 not to be a permanent institution, but a temporary substitute, 
 and to cease as soon as the ordinary courts can be re-established 
 in peace. 
 
 It is important that some more convenient means should be 
 provided, if possible, for the adjustment of claims against the 
 Government, especially in view of their increased number by 
 reason of the war. It is as much the duty of Government to 
 render prompt justice against itself, in favor of citizens, as it is 
 to administer the same between private indi^dduals. The 
 investigation and adjudication of claims, in their nature belong 
 to the judicial department; besides, it is apparent that the 
 attention of Congress will be more than usually engaged, for 
 some time to come, with great national questions. It is intended, 
 by the organization of the Court of Claims, mainly to remove 
 this branch of business from the halls of Congress ; but while 
 
86 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 the court has proved to be an effective and valuable means of 
 investigation, it in great degree fails to effect the object of its 
 creation, for want of power to make its judgments final. 
 
 Fully aware of the delicacy, not to say the danger, of the 
 subject, I commend to your careful consideration whether this 
 power of making judgments final may not j)roperly be given to 
 the court, reserving the right of appeal on questions of law to 
 the Supreme Court, with such other provisions as experience 
 may have shown to be necessary. 
 
 ******** 
 
 The present insurrection show^s, I think, that the extension of 
 this district across the Potomac River, at the time of establish- 
 lishing the Capital here, was eminently wise, and consequently 
 that the relinquishment of that portion of it which lies within 
 the State of Virginia was unwise and dangerous. I submit for 
 your consideration the expediency of regaining that part of the 
 district, and the restoration of the original boundaries thereof^ 
 ' through negotiations with the State of Virginia. 
 
 The report of the Secretary of the Interior, with the accom- 
 panying documents, exhibits the condition of the several 
 branches of the public business pertaining to that department. 
 The depressing influences of the insurrection have been espe- 
 cially felt in the operations of the Patent and General Land 
 OflSces. The cash receipts from the sales of public lands during 
 the past year have exceeded the expenses of our land system 
 only about two hundred thousand dollars. The sales have been 
 entirely suspended in the Southern States, while the interrup- 
 tions to the business of the countiy, and the diversion of large 
 numbers of men from labor to military service, have obstructed 
 settlements in the new States and Territories of the Northwest. 
 
 The demands upon the Pension Office will be largely increased 
 by the insurrection. Numerous applications for pensions, based 
 upon the casualties of the existing war, have already been made. 
 There is reason to believe that many who are now upon the pen- 
 sion rolls, and in receipt of the bounty of the Government, are 
 in the ranks of the insurgent army or giving them aid and com- 
 fort. The Secretary of the Interior has directed a suspension 
 
THE martyr's monument. 87 
 
 of the payment of the pensions of such persons ujDon proof of 
 their disloyalty. I recommend that Congress authorize that 
 officer to cause the names of such persons to be stricken from 
 the pension rolls. 
 
 The. relations of the Government with the Indian tribes have 
 been greatly disturbed by the insurrection, especially in the south- 
 ern superintendency and in that of New Mexico. The Indian 
 country south of Kansas is in the possession of the insurgents 
 from Texas and Arkansas. The agents of the United States 
 appointed since the 4th of March for this supeiintendency have 
 been unable to reach their posts, while the most of those who 
 were in the office before that time have espoused the insurrec- 
 tionary cause, and assume to exercise the power of agents by 
 virtue of commissions from the insurrectionists. It has been 
 stated in the public press that a portion of those Indians have 
 been organized as a military force, and are attached to the army 
 of the insurgents. Although the Government has no official 
 information upon this subject, letters have been written to the 
 Commissioner of Indian Affairs by several prominent chiefs, 
 giving assurance of their loyalty to the United States, and 
 expressing a wish for the j^resence of Federal troops to protect 
 them. It is believed that upon the repossession of the country 
 by the Federal forces, the Indians will readily cease all hostile 
 demonscrations, and resume their former relations to the Gov- 
 ernment. 
 
 Agricuiture, confessedly the largest interest in the nation, has 
 not a department, nor a bureau, but a clerkship only, assigned 
 to it in the Government. While it is fortunate that this gi^at 
 interest is jk) independent in its nature as to not have demanded 
 and extorted more from the Government, I respectfully ask 
 Congress to consider whether something more can not be given 
 voluntarily with general advantage. 
 
 Annual reports exhibiting the condition of our agriculture, 
 commerce, and manufactures, would present a fund of informa- 
 tion of great practical value to the country. While I make no 
 suggestion as to details, I venture the opinion that an agricul- 
 tural and statistical bureau might profitably be organized. 
 
 The execution of the laws for the suppression of the African 
 
88 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 slaye-trade has been confided to the Department of the Interior. 
 It is a suljject of gratulation that the efforts which have been 
 made for the suppression of this inhuman traffic have been 
 recently attended with unusual success. Five vessels being 
 fitted out for the slave-trade have been seized and condemned. 
 Two mates of vessels engaged in the trade, and one person in 
 equipping a vessel as a slaver, have been convicted and subjected 
 to the penalty of fine and imprisonment, and one captain taken 
 with a cargo of Africans on board his vessel, has been convicted 
 of the highest grade of offence under our laws, the punishment 
 of which is death. 
 
 ******** 
 
 Under and by virtue of the act of Congress entitled " An act 
 to confiscate property used for insurrectionary purposes," 
 approved August 6, 1861, the legal claims of certain persons 
 to the labor and service of certain other persons have become 
 forfeited ; and numbers of the latter, thus liberated, are already 
 dependent on the United States, and must be provided for in 
 some way. Besides this, it is not impossible that some of the 
 States will pass similar enactments for their own benefit resjDec- 
 tively, and by operation of which persons of the same class will 
 be thrown upon them for disposal. In such case I recommend 
 that Congress provide for accej)ting such persons from such 
 States, according to some mode of valuation, in lieu, 'pro tanto^ 
 of direct taxes, or upon some other plan to be agreed on with 
 such States respectively ; that such persons, on such acceptance 
 by the General Government, be at once deemed free ; and that, 
 in any event, steps be taken for colonizing both classes (or the 
 one first mentioned, if the other shall not be brought into exist- 
 ence) at some place or places in a climate congenial to them. 
 It might be well to consider, too, whether the free colored peo- 
 ple already in the United States could not, so far as individuals 
 may desire, be included in such colonization. 
 
 To cany out the plan of colonization may involve the acquir- 
 ing of territory, and also the appropriation of money beyond 
 that to be expended in the territorial acquisition. Having 
 practiced the acquisition of territory for nearly sixty years, the 
 question of constitutional power to do so is no longer an open 
 
THE martyr's monument. 89 
 
 one with us. The power was questioned at first ])y Mr. Jefi"er- 
 son, who, however, in the purchase of Louisiana, yielded his 
 scruples on the plea of great expediency. If it be said that the 
 only legitimate object of acquiring territory is to furnish homes 
 for white men, this measure effects that object ; foi the emigra- 
 tion of colored men leaves additional room for white men remain- 
 ing or coming here. 3Ir. Jefferson, however, placed the impor- 
 tance of i^rocuring Louisiana more on political and commercial 
 grounds than on providing room for population. 
 
 On this whole proposition, including the appropriation of 
 money with the acquisition of territory, does not the expediency 
 amount to absolute necessity — that, without which the Govern- 
 ment itself can not be perpetuated ? 
 
 The war continues. Jn considering the policy to be adopted 
 for suppressing the insurrection, I have been anxious and care- 
 ful that the inevitable conflict for this jDurpose shall not degen- 
 erate into a violent and remorseless revolutionary struggle. 
 
 In the exercise of my best discretion I have adhered to the 
 blockade of the ports held by the insurgents, instead of putting 
 in force by proclamation the law of Congress enacted at the late 
 session for closing those ports. 
 
 So, also, obeying the dictates of prudence, as well as the 
 obligations of law, instead of transcending I have adhered to 
 the act of Congress to confiscate property used for insurrec- 
 tionary purposes. If a new law upon the same subject shall be 
 proposed, its propriety will be duly considered. The Union 
 must be preserved ; and hence all the indispensable means must 
 be employed. We should not be in haste to determine that 
 radical and extreme measures, which may reach the loyal as well 
 as the disloyal are indispensable. 
 
 The inaugural address at the beginning of the Administration, 
 and the message to Congress at the late special session, were 
 both mainly devoted to the domestic controversy out of which 
 the insurrection and consequent war have sprung. Nothing 
 now occurs to add or subtract to or from the principles or gen- 
 eral purposes stated and expressed in those documents. 
 
 The last ray of hope for preserving the Union peaceably 
 expired at the assault upon Fort Sumter ; and a general review 
 
90 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 of what has occurred since may not be unprofitable. What was 
 painfully uncertain then is much better defined and more distinct 
 now ; and the progress of events is plainly in the right direc- 
 tion. The insurgents confidently claimed a strong support from 
 north of Mason and Dixon's line ; and the friends of the Union 
 were not free from apprehension on the point. This, however, 
 was soon settled definitely, and on the right side. South of the 
 line, noble little Delaware led off right from the first. Maryland 
 was made to seem against the Union. Our soldiers were assaulted, 
 bridges were burned, and railroads torn up within her limits ; 
 and we were many days, at one time, without the ability to 
 bring a single regiment over her soil to the capital. Now her 
 bridges and railroads are repaired and open to the Government ; 
 she already gives seven regiments to the cause of the Union, 
 and none to the enemy ; and her people, at a regular election, 
 have sustained the Union by a larger majority and a larger 
 aggregate vote than they ever before gave to any candidate or 
 any question. Kentucky, too, for some time in doubt, is now 
 decidedly and, I think, unchangeably ranged on the side of the 
 Union. Missouri is comparatively quiet, and, I believe, can not 
 again be overrun by the insurrectionists. These three States of 
 Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri, neither of which would 
 promise a single soldier at first, have now an aggregate of not 
 less than forty thousand in the field for the Union ; while of 
 their citizens, certainly not more than a third of that number, 
 and they of doubtful whereabouts and doubtful existence, are 
 in arms against it. After a somewhat bloody struggle of months, 
 winter closes on the Union people of Western Virginia, leav- 
 ing them masters of their own country. 
 
 An insurgent force of about fifteen hundred, for months 
 dominating the narrow peninsular region constituting the coun- 
 ties of Accomac and Northampton, and known as the Eastern Shore 
 of Virginia, together with some contiguous parts of Maryland, 
 have laid down their arms ; and the people there have renewed 
 their allegiance to, and accepted the protection of the old flag. 
 This leaves no armed insurrectionist north of the Potomac, or 
 east of the Chesapeake. 
 
 Also, we have obtained a footing at each of the isolated points 
 
91 
 
 on the Southern coast, of Hatteras, Port Royal, Tybee Island, 
 near Savannah, and Ship Island ; and we likewise have some 
 general accounts of popular movements in behalf of the Union 
 in North Carolina and Tennessee. 
 
 These things demonstrate that the cause of the Union is 
 advancing steadily and certainly southward. 
 
 Since your last adjournment Lieutenant-General Scott has 
 retired from the head of the army. During his long life the 
 nation has not been unmindful of his merit ; yet, on calling to 
 mind how faithfully, ably, and brilliantly he has served the 
 country, from a time far back in our history, when few of the 
 now living had been bom, and thenceforward continually, I can 
 not but think we are still his debtors. I submit, therefore, for 
 your consideration what further mark of recognition is due to 
 him, and to ourselves as a grateful people. 
 
 With the retirement of General Scott came the executive duty 
 of appointing in his stead a general-in-chief of the army. It is 
 a fortunate circumstance that neither in council nor country 
 was there, so far as I know, any difference of opinion as to the 
 proper person to be selected. The retiring chief repeatedly 
 expressed his judgment in favor of General McClellan for the 
 position ; and in this the nation seemed to give a unanimous 
 concurrence. The designation of General McClellan is, there- 
 fore, in considerable degree, the selection of the country as well 
 as of the Executive ; and hence there is better reason to hope 
 there will be given him the confidence and cordial support thus, 
 by fair implication promised, and without which he can not, 
 with so full efficiency, serve the country. 
 
 It has been said that one bad general is better than two good 
 ones : and the saying is true, if taken to mean no more than 
 that an army is better directed by a single mind, though inferior, 
 than by two superior ones at variance and cross-purposes with 
 each other. 
 
 And the same is true in all joint operations wherein those 
 engaged can have none but a common end in view, and can 
 differ only as to the choice of means. In a storm at sea, no one 
 on board can wish the ship to sink ; and yet not unfrequently 
 
92 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 all go down together, because too many will direct, and no 
 single mind can be allowed to control. 
 
 It continues to develo^D that the insurrection is largely, if not 
 exclusively a war upon the first principle of popular govern- 
 ment — the rights of the people. Conclusive evidence of this 
 is found in the most grave and maturely-considered public doc- 
 uments, as well as in the general tone of the insurgents. In 
 those documents we find the abridgment of the existing right 
 of sufii-age, and the denial to the people of all right to partici- 
 pate in the selection of public officers, except the legislative, 
 boldly advocated, with labored arguments to prove that large 
 control of the people in government is the source of all j)olitical 
 evil. Monarchy itself is sometimes hinted at as a possible 
 refuge from the power of the people. 
 
 In my present position, I could scarcely be justified were I 
 to omit raising a warning voice against this approach of re- 
 turning despotism. 
 
 It is not needed, nor fitting here, that a general argument 
 should be made in favor of poj)ular institutions ; but there is 
 one point, with its connections, not so hackneyed as most others^ 
 to which I ask a brief attention. It is the effort to place capital 
 on an equal footing with, if not above, labor, in the structure 
 of Government. It is assumed that labor is available only in 
 connection with capital ; that nobody labors unless somebody 
 else, owning capital, somehow by the use of it induces him to 
 labor. This assumed, it is next considered whether it is best 
 that capital shall hire laborers, and thus induce them to work by 
 their own consent, or buy them, and drive them to it without 
 their consent. Having jDroceeded so far, it is naturally con- 
 cluded that all laborers are either hired laborers, or what we 
 call slaves. And further, it is assumed that whoever is once a 
 hired laborer is fixed in that condition for life. 
 
 Kow, there is no such relation between capital and labor as 
 assumed ; nor is there any such thiug as a free man being fixed 
 for life in the condition of a hired laborer. Both these assump- 
 tions are false, and all inferences from them are groundless. 
 
 Labor is prior to and inde]3endent of capital. Capital is only 
 the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not 
 
THE martyr's monument. 93 
 
 first existed. Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves 
 much the higher consideration. Capital has its rights, which 
 are as worthy of protection as any other rights. Nor is it de- 
 nied that there is, and probably always will be, a relation be- 
 tween labor and capital, producing mutual benefits. The error 
 is in assuming that the whole labor of community exists within 
 that relation. A few men own capital, and those few avoid 
 labor themselves, and, with their capital, hire or buy another 
 few to labor for them. A large majority belong to neither class 
 —neither work for others, nor have others working for them. 
 In most of the Southern States, a majority of the whole people 
 of all colors are neither slaves nor masters ; while in the North- 
 ern, a large majority are neither hirers nor hired. Men, with 
 their families — ^*ives, sons, and daughters — work for themselves, 
 on their fanns, in their houses, and in their shops, taking the 
 whole product to themselves, and asking no favors of capital on 
 the one hand, nor of hired laborers or slaves on the other. It 
 is not forgotten that a considerable number of persons mingle 
 their own labor with capital — that is, they labor with their own 
 hands, and also buy or hire others to labor for them ; but this 
 is only a mixed, and not a distinct class. No principle stated 
 is disturbed by the existence of this mixed class. 
 
 Again : as has already been said, there is not of necessity any 
 such thing as the free hired laborer being fixed to that condi- 
 tion for life. Many independent men everywhere in these 
 States, a few years back in their lives, were hired laborers. The 
 prudent, penniless beginner in the world labors for wages awhile, 
 saves a surplus with which to buy tools or land for himself, 
 then labors on his own account another while, and at length 
 hires another new beginner to help him. This is the just, and 
 generous, and prosperous system, which opens the way to all, 
 gives hope to all, and consequent energy, and progress, and 
 improvement of condition to all. No men living are more 
 worthy to be trusted than those who toil up from poverty — 
 none less inclined to take or touch aught which they have not 
 honestly earned. Let them beware of surrendering a political 
 power which they already possess, and which, if surrendered, 
 will surely be used to close the door of advancement against 
 
94 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 sucli as they, and to fix new disabilities and burdens upon 
 tliem, till all of liberty shall be lost. 
 
 From the first taking of our national census to the last are 
 seventy years ; and we find our population, at the end of the 
 period, eight times as great as it was at the beginning. The 
 increase of those other things which men deem desirable has 
 been even greater. We thus have, at one view, what the popu- 
 lar principle applied to the Government through the machinery 
 of the States and the Union, has produced in a given time ; 
 and also what, if firmly maintained, it promises for the future. 
 There are already among us those who, if the Union be pre- 
 served, will live to see it contain two hundred and fifty millions. 
 TThe struggle of to-day is not altogether for to-day ; it is for a 
 vast future also. With a reliance on Providence, all the more 
 firm and earnest, let us proceed in the great task which events 
 have devolved upon us. Abraham Lincoln. 
 
 GENERAL M'CLELLAN. 
 
 The appointment of General McClellan to the com- 
 mand of the Army of the Potomac after the battle of 
 Bull Run, was received with satisfaction in military cir- 
 cles, and by the public* generally . We all remember the 
 hearty confidence which all loyal people gave him, and 
 the high hopes we all based upon the general estimate 
 of his abilities. We all remember, too, how, accom- 
 plished military man and capable organizer as he was, 
 he yet tried the nation's soul by his delay and his hes- 
 itating strategy. Of our impatience the following Orders 
 were the first public official expression : 
 
 ARMY ORDER. 
 
 ExEcmTo: Mansion, Washington, Jq,nuary 27, 1862. 
 
 Ordered^ That the twenty-second day of February, 1862, be 
 the day for a general movement of the land and naval forces of 
 the United States against the insurgent forces. That especially 
 the army at and about Fortress Monroe, the army of the Poto- 
 
THE martyr's monument. 95 
 
 mac, the army of Western Virginia, the army near Munfords- 
 ville, Kentucky, the army and flotilla at Cairo, and a naval 
 force in the Gulf of Mexico, be ready to move on that day. 
 
 That all other forces, both land and naval, with their respective 
 commanders, obey existing orders for the time, and be ready to 
 obey additional orders when duly given. 
 
 That the heads of departments, and especially the Secretaries 
 of War and of the Navy, mth all their subordinates, and the 
 General-in-Chief, with all other commanders and subordinates 
 of land and naval forces, will severally be held to their strict 
 and full responsibilities for prompt execution of this order. 
 
 Abraham Lincoln. 
 
 ARMY ORDER. 
 
 ExEcunTE Mansion, Washington, January 31, 1862. 
 
 Ordered^ That all the disposable force of the Army of the 
 Potomac, after providing safely for the defence of Washington, 
 be formed into an expedition for the immediate object of seizing 
 and occupying a point upon the railroad southwest of what is 
 known as Manassas Junction, all details to be in the discretion 
 of the Commander-in-Chief, and the expedition to move before 
 or on the twenty-second day of February next. 
 
 Abraham Lencoln. 
 
 The following letter from Mr. Lincoln to General 
 McClellan is one of the earliest manifestations of a rad- 
 ical discrepancy of views between the General and the 
 Administration, which became the source of great em- 
 barrasment, out of which the soldier did not extricate 
 himself or his country by success, and in the course of 
 which the civilian showed at least the ability always to 
 touch with his pen the right point. 
 
 TO GENERAL M'CLELLAN ON THE PLAN OF THE CAM- 
 PAIGN AGAINST RICHMOND. 
 
 ExECTJTiVE Mansion, Washington, February 3, 1862. 
 
 My Bea/r Sir — You and I have distinct and different plans for 
 a movement of the Army of the Potomac ; yours to be done by 
 
96 
 
 the Chesapeake, up the Rappahannock to Urbana, and across 
 land to the terminus of the railroad on the York River ; mine 
 to move directly to a point on the railroad southwest of 
 Manassas. 
 
 If you will give satisfactory answers to the following ques- 
 tions, I shall gladly yield my plan to yours : 
 
 1st. Does not your plan involve a greatly larger expenditure 
 of time and money than mine ? 
 
 3d. Wherein is a victory more certain by your plan than mine ? 
 
 8d. Wherein is a victory tnore valvMble by your plan than mine ? 
 
 4th. In fact, would it not be less valuable in this : that it would 
 break no great line of the enemy's communication, while mine 
 would ? 
 
 5th. In case of disaster, would not a retreat be more difficult 
 by your plan than mine ? 
 
 Tours, truly, Abkaham LmcoLN. 
 
 Major-General McClellan. 
 
 '*aebitrary" arrests. 
 At the outbreak of the rebellion, emissaries of the 
 rebels, and their active sympathizers, hardly less danger- 
 ous, were scattered over the country. Mr. Lincoln, fol- 
 lowing in this matter the example of Washington, ordered 
 the summary arrest and imprisonment of some of these 
 persons, and in this manner, without a doubt, neutralized 
 many efforts that could have been met in no other way. 
 Maryland was the scene of many of these arrests as to 
 which Mr. Lincoln spoke frankly thus : 
 
 " The public safety renders it necessary that the grounds of 
 these arrests should at present be withheld, but at the proper 
 time they will be made public. Of one thing the people of 
 Maryland may rest assured, that no arrest has been made, or 
 will be made, not based on substantial and unmistakable com- 
 plicity with those in armed rebellion against the Government 
 of the United States. In no case has an arrest been made on 
 mere suspicion, or through personal or partisan animosity, but 
 in all cases the Government is in possession of tangible and un- 
 
97 
 
 mistakable evidence, which will, when made public, be satis- 
 factory to every loyal citizen." 
 
 These arrests were made at first under the authority 
 of the State Department, but on the 14th of February, 
 1862, this matter was transferred to the War Depart- 
 ment, which transfer was made the occasion of the fol- 
 lowing State paper upon the subject, in which the rea- 
 sons for these "arbitrary arrests" are fully set forth. 
 After the appearance of this order there was little 
 complaint heard upon this subject, except from those 
 journals and individuals who were well known as sym- 
 pathizers with the rebellion. 
 
 EXECUTIVE ORDERS IN RELATION TO STATE PRISONERS. 
 Wab Depaktment, Washinqtox, Feb. 14, 1862. 
 
 The breaking out of a formidable insurrection, based on a 
 conflict of political ideas, being an event without precedent in 
 the United States, was necessarily attended by great confusion 
 and perplexity of the public mind. Disloyalty, before unsus- 
 pected, suddenly became bold, and treason astonished the 
 world by bringing at once into the field military forces superior 
 in numbers to the standing army of the United States, 
 
 Every department of the Government was paralyzed by 
 treason. Defection appeared in the Senate, in the House of 
 Representatives, in the Cabinet, in the Federal Courts ; Miais- 
 sters and Consuls returned from foreign countries to enter the 
 insurrectionary councils, or land or naval forces ; commanding 
 and other officers of the army and in the navy betrayed the 
 counsels or deserted their posts for commands in the insurgent 
 forces. Treason was flagrant in the revenue and m the post- 
 office service, as well as in the territorial governments and in 
 the Indian reserves. 
 
 Not only Governors, Judges, Legislators, and ministerial 
 officers in the States, but even whole States, rushed, one after 
 another, with apparent unanimity, into rebellion. The capital 
 was besieged and its connection with all the States cut off. 
 
 5 
 
98 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 Eyen in the portions of the country which were most loyal, 
 political combinations and secret societies were formed further, 
 ing the work of disunion, while, from motives of disloyalty or 
 cupidity, or from excited passions or perverted sympathies, 
 individuals were found furnishing men, money, and materials 
 of war and supplies to the insurgents' militarj^ and naval forces. 
 Armies, ships, fortifications, navy yards, arsenals, military posts 
 and garrisons, one after another, were betrayed or abandoned 
 to the insurgents. 
 
 Congress had not anticipated and so had not provided for the 
 emergency. The municipal authorities were powerless and inac- 
 tive. The judicial machinery seemed as if it had been designed 
 not to sustain the Government, but to embarrass and betray it. 
 
 Foreign intervention, openly invited and industriously insti- 
 gated by the abettoi*s of the insurrection, became imminent, 
 and has only been prevented by the practice of strict and im- 
 partial justice with the most perfect moderation in our inter- 
 course with nations. 
 
 The public mind was alarmed and apprehensive, though 
 fortunately not distracted or disheartened. It seemed to be 
 doubtful whether the Federal Government, which one year 
 before had been thought a model worthy of universal accept- 
 ance, had indeed the ability to defend and maintain itself. 
 
 Some reverses, which perhaps were unavoidable, suffered by 
 newly levied and inefficient forces, discouraged the loyal, and 
 gave new hopes to the insurgents. Voluntary enlistments 
 seemed about to cease, and desertions commenced. Parties 
 speculated upon the questions whether conscriptions had not 
 become necessary to fill up the armies of the United States. 
 
 In this emergency the President felt it his duty to employ 
 with energy the extraordinary powers which the Constitution 
 confides to him in cases of insurrection. He called into the 
 field such military and naval forces, unauthorized by the exist- 
 ing laws, as seemed necessary. He directed measures to prevent 
 the use of the post-office for treasonable correspondence. He 
 subjected passengers to and from foreign countries to new pass- 
 port regulations, and he instituted a blockade, suspended the 
 writ of habeas coi^pua in various places, and caused persons whc 
 
THE martyr's monument. 99 
 
 were represented to him as being engaged or about to engage in 
 disloyal and treasonable practices to be arrested by special civil as 
 well as military agencies, and detained in military custody, when 
 necessary, to prevent them and deter others from such practices. 
 Examinations of such cases were instituted, and some of the 
 persons so arrested have been discharged from time to time, 
 under circumstances or upon conditions compatible, as was 
 thought, with the public safety. 
 
 Meantime a favorable change of public opinion has occurred. 
 The line between loyalty and disloyalty is plainly defined ; the 
 whole structure of the Government is firm and stable ; appre- 
 prehensions of public danger and facilities for treasonable 
 practices have diminished with the passions which prompted 
 heedless persons to adopt them. The insurrection is believed 
 to have culminated and to be declining. 
 
 The President, in view of these facts, and anxious to favor a 
 return to the normal course of the Administration, as far as 
 regard for the public welfare will allow, directs that all politi- 
 cal prisoners or State prisoners now held in military custody, 
 be released, on their subscribing to a parole engaging them to 
 render no aid or comfort to the enemies in hostility to the 
 United States. 
 
 The Secretary of "War will, however, at his discretion, except 
 from the effect of this order any persons detained as spies in the 
 service of the insurgents, or others whose release at the present 
 moment may be deemed incompatible with the public safety. 
 
 To all persons who shall be so released, and who shall keep 
 their parole, the President grants an* amnesty for any past 
 offences of treason or disloyalty which they may have com- 
 mitted. 
 
 Extraordinary arrests will hereafter be made under the direc- 
 tion of the military authorities alone. 
 
 By order of the President : 
 
 Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War. 
 
 THE QUESTION OF SLAVERY. 
 
 The public mind had now been brought to a point by 
 the resistance and the spirit of the insurgents, at which 
 
100 THE martyr's monument. '\ 
 
 Mr. Lincoln thought it prudent to bring before Congress j 
 
 the question of the abolition of slavery. This he did >. 
 
 in the following Message, whereby he proposed only, it j 
 
 will be seen, such a co-operation of Congress with the peo- | 
 
 pie of the Slave States, as might provide for the grad- j 
 
 ual extinction of the institution w'hich in three years j 
 was to be utterly destroyed. 
 
 MESSAGE PROPOSINa AID FOR THE GRADUAL ABOLITION 
 OF SLAVERY. 
 
 Washington, March 6, 1862. 
 
 Fellow- Gitkensofthe Senate and House of Beriresentatives — I rec- 
 ommend the adoption of a joint resolution by your honorable 
 body, which shall be, substantially, as follows : 
 
 Besolved, That the United States, in order to co-operate with 
 any State which may adopt gradual abolition of slavery, give 
 to such State pecuniary aid, to be used by such State, in itg 
 discretion, to compensate it for the inconvenience, public and 
 private, produced by such change of system. 
 
 If the proposition contained in the resolution does not meet 
 the apj)roval of Congress and the country, there is an end of it. 
 But if it does command such approval, I deem it of importance 
 that the States and people immediately interested should be at 
 once distinctly notified of the fact, so that they may begin to 
 consider whether to accept or reject it. 
 
 The Federal Government would find its highest interest in 
 such a measure as one of the most important means of self- 
 preservation. The leaders of the existing rebellion entertain 
 the hope that this Government will ultimately be forced to 
 acknowledge the indej)endence of some part of the disaflfected 
 region, and that all the Slave States north of such part will then 
 say, " The Union for w^hich we have struggled being already 
 gone, we now choose to go with the Southern section." To de- 
 prive them of this hope substantially ends the rebellion ; and 
 the initiation of emancipation deprives them of it, and of all 
 the States initiating it. 
 
THE MAKTYR'S monument. 101 
 
 The point is not that all the States tolerating slavery would 
 very soon, if at all, initiate emancii^ation ; but while the offer 
 is equally made to all, the more Korthem shall, by such initia- 
 tion, 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 sud- 
 den emancipation is better for all. 
 
 In the mere financial or pecuniary view, any member of Con- 
 gress with the census or an abstract of the Treasury report be- 
 fore him, can, readily see for himself how very soon the current 
 expenditures of this war would purchase, at a fair valuation, all 
 the slaves in any named State. 
 
 Such a proposition on the part of the General Government 
 sets u^D no claim of a right by the Federal authority to interfere 
 with slavery within State limits — referring as it does the abso- 
 lute control of the subject, in each case, to the State and the 
 people immediately interested. It is proposed as a matter of 
 perfectly free choice to them. 
 
 In the annual message, last December, I thought fit to say 
 "the Union must be preserved, and hence all indispensable 
 means must be employed." I said this, not hastily but delib- 
 erately. War has been made, and continues to be an indispens- 
 able means to this end. A practical reacknowledgment of the 
 national authority would render the war unnecessary, and it 
 would at once cease. But resistance continues, and the war 
 must also continue ; and it is impossible to foresee all the inci- 
 dents 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 con- 
 sideration tendered would not be of more value to the States 
 and private persons concerned than would be the institution and 
 property in it, in the present aspect of affairs. While it is true 
 that the adoption of the proposed resolution would be merely 
 initiatory, and not within itself a practical measure, it is rec- 
 ommended in the hope that it would lead to important prac- 
 tical results. 
 
102 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 In full view of my great responsibility to my God and my 
 country, I earnestly beg tbe attention of Congress and the peo- 
 ple to the subject. Abraham Lincoln. 
 
 GENERAL M'CLELLAN. 
 
 The McClellan trouble grew day by day. We see in 
 this brief letter how tenderly Mr. Lincoln dealt with his 
 touchy commander. 
 
 Executive Mansion, 
 Wasuinqton, March 31, 1862. 
 
 a 
 
 My Dear Sir — This morning I felt constrained to order 
 Blenker's division to Fremont, and I write this to assure you 
 that I did so with great pain, understanding that you would 
 wish it otherwise. If you could know the full pressure of the 
 case I am confident that you would justify it, even beyond a 
 mere acknowledgment that the Commander-in-Chief may order 
 what he pleases. 
 
 Yours, vei*y truly, A. Lincoln. 
 
 Major-General McClellan. 
 
 In this longer communication there is the same kind- 
 ness, the same consideration ; and although it is pervaded 
 by a tone of authority, that authority seems almost pater- 
 nal in its expression. 
 
 Washington, April 9, 1862. 
 
 My Dear Sir — Your dispatches, complaining that you are not 
 properly sustained, while they do not offend me, do pain me 
 very much. 
 
 Blenker's division was withdrawn from you before you left 
 here, and you know the pressure under which I did it, and, as I 
 thought, acquiesced in it — certainly not without reluctance. 
 
 After you left, I ascertained that less than twenty thousand 
 unorganized men, without a single field battery, were all you 
 designed to be left for the defence of Washington and Manassas 
 Junction, and part of this even was to go to General Hooker's 
 old position. General Banks's corps, once designed for Manassas 
 
103 
 
 Junction, was diverted and tied up on the line of Winchester 
 and Strasburg, and could not leave it without again exposing 
 the upper Potomac and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. This 
 presented, or would present, when McDowell and Sumner 
 should be gone, a great temptation to the enemy to turn back 
 from the Rappahannock and sack Washington. My implicit 
 order that Washington should, by the judgment of all the com- 
 manders of army corps, be left entirely secure, had been neg- 
 lected. It was precisely this that drove me to detain McDowell. 
 
 I do not forget that I was satisfied with your arrangement to 
 leave Banks at Manassas Junction : but when that arrangement 
 was broken up, and nothing was substituted for it, of course I 
 was constrained to substitute something for it myself. And 
 allow me to ask, do you really think I should permit the line 
 from Richmond, via Manassas Junction, to this city, to be en- 
 tirely of)en, except what resistance could be presented by less 
 than twenty thousand unorganized troops ? This is a question 
 which the country will not allow me to evade. 
 
 There is a curious mystery about the number of troops now 
 with you. AVhen I telegraphed you on the sixth, saying you had 
 over a hundred thousand with you, I had just obtained from 
 the Secretary of War a statement taken, as he said, from your 
 own returns, making one hundred and eight thousand then with 
 you and en route to you. You now say you will have but eighty 
 five thousand when all en route to you shall have reached you. 
 How can the discrepancy of twenty-three thousand be ac- 
 counted for ? 
 
 As to General Wool's command, I understand it is doing for 
 you precisely what a like number of your own would have to 
 do if that command was away. 
 
 I suppose the whole force which has gone forward for you is 
 with you by this time. And if so, I think it is the precise time 
 for you to strike a blow. By delay, the enemy will relatively 
 gain upon you — that is, he will gain faster by fortifications and 
 reinforcements than you can by reinforcements alone. And 
 once more let me tell you, it is indispensable to you that you 
 strike a blow. I am powerless to help this. You will do me 
 the justice to remember I always insisted that going down the 
 
104 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 bay in searcli of a field, instead of fighting at or near Manassas, 
 was only shifting, and not surmounting a difficulty ; that we 
 would find the same enemy, and the same or eq^ual intrench- 
 ments, at either place. The country will not fail to note, is now 
 noting, that the present hesitation to move upon an intrenched 
 enemy is but the story of Manassas repeated. 
 
 I beg to assure you that I have never v^ritten to you or spoken 
 to you in greater kindness of feeling than now, nor with a fuller 
 purpose to sustain you, so far as, in my most anxious judgment, 
 I consistently can. But you must act. 
 
 Yours, very truly, A. Lincoln. 
 
 Major-Crenerai McClellan. 
 
 But it was only in the movement upon Richmond that 
 there was delay and defeat, if not disaster, in the field. 
 In all other quarters, and under all other generals, the 
 National armies achieved victory, and attained substan- 
 tial success. Grant had captured Fort Donelson and the 
 army by which it was defended, Missouri had been cleared 
 of rebels, Fort Pulaski had fallen. Island No. 10, Mem- 
 phis and Nashville had been taken, and the signal vic- 
 tory of Pittsburg Landing had been won. Upon occa- 
 sion of the latter success, Mr. Lincoln issued the fol- 
 lowing (his first) almost meek and humble 
 
 PROCLAMATION OF THANKSGIVING. 
 
 It has pleased Almighty God to vouchsafe signal victories to 
 the land and naval forces engaged in suppressing an internal 
 rebellion, and at the same time to avert from our country the 
 dangers of foreign intervention and invasion. 
 
 It is therefore recommended to the people of the United 
 States, that at their next weekly assemblages in their accustomed 
 places of public worship, which shall occur after the notice of 
 this Proclamation shall have been received, they especially 
 
THE martyr's monument. 105 
 
 acknowledge and render thanks to our Heavenly Father for 
 these inestimable blessings ; that they then and there implore 
 spiritual consolation in behalf of all those who have been brought 
 into afiiiction by the casualties and calamities of sedition and 
 civil war ; and that they reverently invoke the Divine guidance 
 for our national counsels, to the end that they may speedily 
 result in the restoration of peace, harmony, and unity through- 
 out our borders, and hasten the establishment of fraternal rela- 
 tions among all the countries of the earth. 
 
 In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused 
 the seal of the United States to be affixed. 
 Done at the city of Washington, this tenth day of April, in the 
 
 year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty- 
 [l. s.] two, and of the independence of the United States the 
 
 eighty-sixth. Abraham Lincoln. 
 
 By the President : 
 
 Wm. H. Skttaed, Secretary of State. 
 
 ABOLITION OF SLAVERY IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 
 
 The first step toward the abolition of slavery elicited 
 from Mr. Lincoln the following : 
 
 MESSAGE. 
 
 April 16, 1862. 
 
 Fellow- Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives — The 
 act entitled " An act for the release of certain persons held to 
 service or labor in this District of Columbia," has this day been 
 approved and signed. 
 
 I have never doubted the constitutional authority of Congress 
 to abolish slavery in this District ; and I have ever desired to 
 see the national caj)ital freed from the institution in some satis- 
 factory way. Hence there has never been in my mind any ques- 
 tion upon the subject except the one of expediency, arising in 
 view of all the circumstances. If there be matters within and 
 about this act which might have taken a course or shape more 
 satisfactory to my judgment, I do not attempt to specify them. 
 I am gratified that the two principles of compensation and col- 
 onization are both recognized and practically applied in the act. 
 
106 
 
 In the matter of compensation, it is provided that claims may 
 be presented within ninety days from the passage of the act, 
 " but not thereafter;" and there is no saving for minors, femmes 
 covert, insane, or absent persons. I presume this is an omission 
 by mere oversight, and I recommend that it be supplied by an 
 amendatory or supplemental act. Abraham Lincoln. 
 
 GENERAL HUNTER' S DECLARATION OF FREEDOM. 
 
 On the 9th of May, 1862, General Hunter, in com- 
 mand of the Department of the South, issued another of 
 those precipitate and unauthorized orders upon the sub- 
 ject of slavery, which embarrassed Mr. Lincoln so much 
 in the early part of his administration. He boldly de- 
 clared that order null, thereby provoking the censure of 
 tlie extreme abolitionists, in the following 
 
 PROCLAMATION. 
 
 Whereas, There appears in the public prints what purports 
 to be a proclamation of Major-General Hunter, in the words and 
 figures following: 
 
 Hkadquaeters Depaetment of the South, j 
 Hilton Head, S. C, 3{ay 9, 1862. f 
 
 General Order, No. 11. 
 
 The three States of Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina, 
 comprising the Military Department of the South, having de- 
 liberately declared themselves no longer under the United States 
 of America, and having taken up arms against the United States, 
 it becomes a military necessity to declare them under martial 
 law. 
 
 This was accordingly done on the 25th day of April, 1862. 
 Slavery and martial law in a free country are altogether incom- 
 patible. The persons in these States — Georgia, Florida, and 
 South Carolina — ^heretofore held as slaves, are therefore declared 
 forever free. 
 
 Signed, David Hunter, 
 
 [Official.] Major-General Commanding. 
 
 Ed. W. Smith, Acting Assistant Adjutant- General. 
 
THE martyr's monument. 107 
 
 And^ whereas^ the same is producing some excitement and 
 misunderstanding, therefore I, Abraham Lincoln, President of 
 the United States, proclaim and declare that the Government of 
 the United States had no knowledge or belief of an intention on 
 the part of General Hunter to issue such proclamation, nor has 
 it yet any authentic information that the document is genuine ; 
 and, further, that neither General Hunter nor any other com- 
 mander or person has been authorized by the Government of 
 the United States to make proclamation declaring the slaves of 
 any State free, and that the supposed proclamation now in 
 question, whether genuine or false, is altogether void so far as 
 respects such declaration. I further make known that, whether 
 it be competent for me, as Commander-in-Chief of the Army and 
 Navy, to declare the slaves of any State or States free ; and 
 whether at any time, or in any case, it shall have become a 
 necessity indispensable to the maintenance of the Government 
 to exercise such supposed power, are questions which, under 
 my responsibility, I reserve to myself, and which I cannot feel 
 justified in leaving to the decision of commanders in the field. 
 
 These are totally different questions from those of police regu- 
 lations in armies or in camps. 
 
 On the sixth day of i\Iarch last, by a special Message, I recom- 
 mended to Congress the adoption of a joint resolution, to be 
 substantially as follows : 
 
 Resolved^ That the United States ought to co-operate with 
 any State which may adopt a gradual abolishment of slavery, 
 giving to such State earnest expression to compensate for its 
 inconveniences, public and private, produced by such change of 
 system. 
 
 The resolution in the language above quoted was adopted by 
 large majorities in both branches of Congress, and now stands 
 an authentic, definite, and solem proposal of the Nation to the 
 States and people most interested in the subject matter. To 
 the people of these States now, I mostly appeal. I do not argue 
 — I beseech you to make the arguments for yourselves. You 
 cannot, if you would, be blind to the signs of the times. 
 
 I beg of you a calm and enlarged consideration of them, rang- 
 ing, if it may be, far above partisan and personal politics. 
 
108 
 
 Tliis proposal makes common cause for a common object, cast- 
 ing no reproaches upon any. It acts not tlie Pharisee. The 
 changes it contemplates would come gently as the dews of 
 Heaven, not rending or wrecking anything. Will you not 
 embrace it ? So much good has not been done by one effort in 
 all past time, as in the Providence of God it is now your high 
 privilege to do. May the vast future not have to lament that 
 you have neglected it. 
 
 In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused 
 the seal of the United States to be hereunto affixed. 
 
 Done at the city of Washington, this 19th day of May, in the 
 year of our Lord one thousand eight himdred and sixty- 
 two, and of the independence of the United States the 
 eighty-sixth. 
 
 Signed, Abraham Lincoln. 
 
 By the President : 
 William H. Sewaed, Secretary of State. 
 
 THE M'CLELLAN AFFAIR. 
 
 Chief among the President's sources of personal annoy- 
 ance, as well as of grave concern, were the difficulties 
 constantly occurring between General McClellan and the 
 War Department, and between the Commander-in-Chief 
 and his Generals of Corps and Division; all occurring, 
 too, while the failure of General McClellan to make any 
 effective movement made the country sick at heart. The 
 following letters on this subject, like most of Mr. Lincoln's 
 writings, fully explain themselves. 
 
 The £rst refers to General McClellan's complaints as to 
 the re-organization of the army into corps, and to his 
 favoritism, which excited much ill-feeling. 
 
 FOETRESS Monroe, May 9, 1S65. 
 
 My Dear Sir: — I have just assisted the Secretary of War 
 in forming the part of a dispatch to you, relating to army coi*ps, 
 
THE martyr's monument. 109 
 
 Yvliich dispatch, of course, will have reached you long before 
 this will. I wish to say a few words to you privately on this 
 subject. I ordered the army corps organization not only on the 
 unanimous opinion of the twelve generals of division, but also 
 on the unanimous opinion of every military man I could get an 
 opinion from, and every modem military book, yourself only 
 excepted. Of course I did not on my own judgment pretend 
 to understand the subject. I now think it indispensable for 
 you to know how your struggle against it is received in quar- 
 ters which we can not entirely disregard. It is looked upon as 
 merely an effort to pamper one or two pets, and to persecute 
 and degrade their supposed rivals. I have had no word from 
 Sumner, Heintzelman and Keyes. The commanders of these 
 corps are of course the three highest officers with you, but I 
 am constantly told that you have no consultation or communi- 
 cation with them, that you consult and communicate with 
 nobody but Fitz John Porter, and perhaps General Franklin. 
 I do not say these complaints are true or just ; but, at all 
 events, it is proj)er you should know of their existence. Do 
 the commanders of corps disobey your orders in anything ? 
 
 When you relieved General Hamilton of his command the 
 other day, you thereby lost the confidence of at least one of your 
 best friends in the Senate. And here let me say, not as appli- 
 cable to you personally, that Senators and Representatives speak 
 of me in their places as they please without question ; and that 
 officers of the army must cease addressing insulting letters to 
 them for taking no greater liberty with them. But to return, 
 are you strong enough, even with my help, to set your foot 
 upon the neck of Sumner, Heintzelman and Keyes, all at once ? 
 This is a practical and very serious question to you. 
 
 Yours truly, A. Lencoln. 
 
 Major-General G. B. McClellan. 
 
 The following letter was elicited by General McClel- 
 lan's complaints that he feared he had not men enough to 
 meet the overwhelming force of the rebels, and that Gen- 
 eral McDowell, who had been ordered to co-operate with 
 him, was not sufficiently under his orders. 
 
110 
 
 Washington, May 24, 1865. 
 
 I left General McDowell's camp at dark last evening. Shields* 
 command is there, but it is so worn that he can not move before 
 Monday morning, the 26th. We have so thinned our line to get 
 troops for other places, that it was broken yesterday at Front 
 Royal, with a probable loss to us of one regiment infantry, two 
 companies cavalry, putting General Banks in some peril. 
 
 The enemy's forces, under General Anderson, now opposing 
 General McDowell's advance, have, as their line of supply and 
 retreat, the road to Richmond. 
 
 If, in conjunction with McDowell's movement against Ander- 
 son, you could send a force from your right to cut off the ene- 
 my's supplies from Richmond, preserve the railroad bridge 
 across the two forks of the Pamunky, and intercept the enemy's 
 retreat, you will prevent the army now opposing you from 
 receiving an accession of numbers of nearly 15,000 men ; and 
 if you succeed in saving the bridges, you will secure a line of 
 railroad for supplies in addition to the one you now have. Can 
 you not do this almost as well as not, while you are building 
 the Chickahominy bridges ? McDowell and Shields both say 
 they can, and positively will, move Monday morning. I wish 
 you to move cautiously and safely. 
 
 You will have command of McDowell^ after lie joins you^ pre- 
 cisely as you indicated in your long dispatch to us of the 21st. 
 
 A. Lincoln, President. 
 
 Major-General McClellan. 
 
 The peril in which General Banks was placed by 
 Stonewall Jackson's march up the Shenandoah made it 
 necessary to send General McDowell to his support. 
 Against this General McClellan remonstrated, and received 
 in answer the following letter from the President : 
 
 Washington, 3fay 25, 1865. 
 
 Your dispatch received. General Banks was at Strasburg 
 with about 6,000 men. Shields having been taken from him to 
 swell a column for McDowell to aid you at Richmond, and the 
 
Ill 
 
 rest of his force scattered at various places. On the 23d, a 
 force of 7,000 to 10,000 fell upon one regiment and two compa- 
 nies guarding the bridge at Port Royal, destroying it entirely; 
 crossed the Shenandoah, and on the 24th, yesterday, pushed on 
 to get north of Banks on the road to Winchester. General 
 Banks ran a race with them, beating them into Winchester yes- 
 terday evening. This morning a battle ensued between the two 
 forces, in which General Banks was beaten back into full retreat 
 toward Martinsburg, and probably is broken up into a total 
 rout. Geary, on the Manassas Gap Railroad, just now reports 
 that Jackson is now near Front Royal with 10,000 troops, fol- 
 lowing up and supporting, as I understand, the force now 
 pursuing Banks. Also, that another force of ten thousand is 
 near Orleans, following on in the same direction. Stripped 
 bare, as we are here, I will do all we can to prevent them cross- 
 ing the Potomac at Harper's Ferry or above. McDowell has 
 about twenty thousand of his forces moving back to the vicinity 
 of Port Royal, and Fremont, who was at Franklin, is moving to 
 both these movements intended to get in the 
 
 One more of McDowell's brigades is ordered through here to 
 Harper's Ferry ; the rest of his forces remain for the present at 
 Fredericksburg. We are sending such regiments and dribs 
 from here and Baltimore as we can spare to Harper's Ferry, 
 supplying their places in some sort, calling in militia from the 
 adjacent States. We also have eighteen cannon on the road to 
 Harper's Ferry, of which arm there is not one at that point. 
 This is now our situation. 
 
 IJ McDowell's force was now heyond our reach., we should he 
 entirely helpless. Apprehensions of something like this., and no 
 unwillingness to sustain you., has always deen my reason for with- 
 holding McDowells forces from you. 
 
 Please understand this and do the best you can with the forces 
 
 you have. 
 
 A. Lincoln, President. 
 
 Major-General McClellan. 
 
 The following dispatch, sent within a few hours of the 
 former, probably convinced General McClellan that Mr. 
 
112 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 Lincoln had some reason on his side, as the whole coun- 
 try soon discovered. 
 
 Washington, 3faij 25, 1862—2 p. u. 
 
 The enemy is moving nortli in sufficient force to drive Gene- 
 ral Banks before him ; precisely in what force we cannot tell. 
 He is also threatening Leesburg and Geary on the Manasses 
 Gap Eailroad, from both north and south ; in precisely what 
 force we cannot tell. I think the movement is a general and 
 concerted one. Such as would not be if he was acting upon 
 the purjDose of a very desperate defence of Richmond. I think 
 the time is near when you must either attack Richmond or 
 give up the job, and come to the defence of Washington. Let 
 me hear from you instantly. 
 
 A. Ln^coLN". 
 
 One little exhibition of promptitude, followed by suc- 
 cess, is to be credited to General McClellan about this 
 time. He sent General Fitz John Porter to operate 
 against a part of the rebel force which threatened Gene- 
 ral McDowell near Hanover Court House. Porter 
 drove the enemy from his position. Of this creditable 
 but comparatively small affair General McClellan made 
 so much as to elicit the following somewhat ironical 
 expression of gratitude from the long-suffering, good- 
 natured President. 
 
 Washington, 3fay 28, 1862, 
 
 I am very glad of General F. J. Porter's victory ; still, if it 
 was a total rout of the enemy, I am puzzled to know why the 
 Richmond and Frederic'ksburg Railroad was not seized again, 
 as you say you have all the railroads but the Richmond and 
 Fredericksburg. I am puzzled to see how, lacking that, you 
 cm have any, except the scrap from Richmond to West Point. 
 The scrap of the Virginia Central, from Richmond to Hanover 
 Junction, without more, is simply nothing. That the whole 
 of the enemy is concentrating on Richmond, I think, cannot be 
 
THE martyr's monument. 113 
 
 certainly known to you or me. Saxton, at Harper's Ferry 
 informs us that large forces, supposed to be Jackson's and 
 Ewell's, forced his advance from Charlestown to-day. General 
 King telegraphs us from Fredericksburg that contrabands give 
 certain information that fifteen hundred left Hanover Junction 
 Monday morning to reinforce Jackson. I am painfully im- 
 pressed with the importance of the struggle before you, and shall 
 aid you all I can consistently with my view of the due regard 
 to all points. 
 
 A. Lencoln. 
 
 Major-General McClellan. 
 
 THE CAMERON AND CUMMINGS AFFAIR. 
 
 On the. 30th of April, 1862, the House of Represen- 
 tatives passed a vote of censure upon Simon Cameron, 
 Mr. Lincoln's first Secretary of War, (who had then 
 been succeeded by Mr. Stanton.) for employing a Mr. 
 Alexander Cummings of Philadelphia, then residing in 
 New York, to purchase with public money placed at his un- 
 restrained disposal, supplies for troops a.nd armicd vessels. 
 The action of the House brought out the following very 
 interesting and honorable Message from Mr. Lincoln. 
 Mr. Cummings was much blamed and ridiculed in con- 
 nection with this affair, but very unjustly. It proved 
 that he committed no error whatever, except some trifling 
 mistakes due to inexperience ; and the President assumed 
 the responsibility of the whole affair. 
 
 To tlie Senate and House of Representatives^ — The insurrection 
 which is yet existing in the United States, and aims at the 
 overthrow of the Federal Constitution and the Union, was 
 clandestinely jDrepared during the winter of 1860 and 1861, 
 and assumed an open organization in the form of a treasonable 
 provisional government at Montgomeiy, Alabama, on the 
 eighteenth day of February, 1861. On the twelfth day of 
 
114 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 April, 1861, the insurgents committed the flagrant act of civil 
 war by the bombardment and capture of Fort Sumter, which 
 cut ofl:' the hope of immediate conciliation. Immediately after- 
 wards all the roads and avenues to tliis city were obstructed, 
 and the capital was put into the condition of a siege. The 
 mails in every direction were stopped and the lines of telegraph 
 cut off by the insurgents, and military and naval forces which 
 had been called out by the Government for the defence of 
 Washington were prevented from reaching the city by organized 
 and combined treasonable resistance in the State of Maryland. 
 There was no adequate and effective organization for the public 
 defence. Ccmgress had indefinitely adjourned. There was no 
 time to convene them. It became necessary for me to choose 
 whether, using only the existing means, agencies, and processes 
 which Congress had provided, I should let the government fall 
 into ruin, or whether, availing myself of the broader powers 
 conferred by the Constitution in cases of insurrection, I would 
 make an effort to save it, with all its blessings, for the present 
 age and for posterity. I thereupon summoned my constitutional 
 advisers, the heads of all the departments, to meet on Sunday, 
 the twentieth day of April, 1861, at the oflice of the Navy 
 Department, and then and there, with their unanimous concur- 
 rence, I directed that and armed revenue cutter should proceed 
 to sea to afford protection to the commercial marine, especially 
 to the California treasure-ships, then on their way to this coast. 
 I also directed the Commandant of the Navy Yard at Boston 
 to purchase or charter, and arm, as quickly as possible, five 
 steamships for purj^oses of public defence. I directed the 
 the Commandant of the Navy Yard at Philadelphia to purchase 
 or charter and arm an equal number for the same purpose. I 
 directed the Commandant at New York to purchase or charter, 
 and arm an equal number. I directed Commander Gillis to 
 purchase or charter, and arm and put to sea two other vessels. 
 Similar directions were given to Commodore Dupont, with a 
 view to the opening of passages by water to and from the 
 capital. I directed the several oflicers to take the advice and 
 obtain the efficient services in the matter of his Excellency 
 Edwin D. Morgan, the Governor of New York, or, in his absence, 
 
THE martyr's monument. 115 
 
 George D. Morgan, Wm. M. Evarts, E. M. Blatcliford, and 
 Mosss H. Grinnell, who were, by my directions, especially em- 
 powered by the Secretary of the Navy to act for his department 
 in that crisis, in matters pertaining to the forwarding of troops 
 and supplies for the public defence. 
 
 On the same occasion I directed that Governor Morgan and 
 Alexander Cummings, of the city of New York, should be author- 
 ized by the Secretary of War, Simon Cameron, to make all 
 necessary arrangements for the transportation of troops and mu- 
 nitions of war in aid and assistance of the officers of the army 
 of the United States, until communication by mails and tele- 
 graph should be completely re-established between the cities of 
 Washington and New York. No security was required to be 
 given by them, and either of them was authorized to act in case 
 of inability to consult with the other. On the same occasion I 
 authorized and directed the Secretary of the Treasury to ad- 
 vance, wdthout requiring security, two millions of dollars of 
 public money to John A. Dix, George Oi)dyke, and Richard M. 
 Blatchford, of New York, to be used by them in meeting such 
 requisitions as should be directly consequent upon the military 
 and naval measures for the defence and support of the Govern- 
 ment, requiring them only to act Avithout compensation, and to 
 report their transactions when duly called upon. The several 
 departments of the Government at that time contained so large 
 a number of disloyal persons that it would have been impossible 
 to provide safely through official agents only, for the perform- 
 ance of the duties thus confided to citizens favorably known for 
 their ability, loyalty, and patriotism. The several orders issued 
 upon these occurrences were transmitted by private messengers, 
 who pursued a circuitous way to the seaboard cities, inland 
 across the States of Pennsylvania and Ohio, and the northern 
 lakes. I believe that by these and other similar measures taken 
 in that crisis, some of which were without any authority of law, 
 the Government was saved from overthrow. I am not aware 
 that a dollar of the public funds thus confided without authority 
 of law, to unofficial persons, was either lost or wasted, although 
 apprehensions of such misdirections occurred to me as objec- 
 tions to these extraordinary proceedings, and were necessarily 
 
116 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 overruled. I recall these transactions now because my attention 
 has been directed to a resolution which was passed by the 
 House of Representatives on the thirtieth of last month, which 
 is in these words : 
 
 ^'■Besohed^ That Simon Cameron, late Secretary of War, by in- 
 trusting Alexander Cummings with the control of large sums ot 
 the public money, and authority to purchase military supplies 
 without restriction, without requiiing from him any guarantee 
 for the faithful performance of his duties, while the services ol 
 competent joublic officers were available, and by involving the 
 Government in a vast number of contracts with persons not 
 legitimately engaged in the business pertaining to the subject 
 matter of such contracts, especially in the purchase of arms for 
 future delivery, has adopted a policy highly injurious to the 
 public service, and deserves the censure of the House," 
 
 Congress will see that I should be wanting in candor and in 
 justice if I should leave the censure expressed in this resolution 
 to rest exclusively or chiefly upon Mr. Cameron. The same 
 sentiment is unanimously entertained by the heads of the de- 
 partments, who participated in the proceedings which the House 
 of Eepresentatives has censured. It is due to Mr. Cameron to 
 say that although he fully approved the proceedings, they were 
 not moved nor suggested -by himself, and that not only the 
 President, but all the other heads of departments were at least 
 equally responsible v/ith him for whatever error, wrong or fault 
 was committed in the premises. Abraham Lincoln. 
 
 GENERAL M'CLELLAN'S CHANGE OF BASE. 
 
 About the 25th of June, the rebels, apparently weary 
 of waiting for General McClellan to attack them, made 
 up their minds to attack him. This he discovered, and 
 the War Department had discovered it before liim. 
 Thej concentrated an overwhelming force upon his right 
 wing, just as he was about to withdraw it from Gaines' 
 Mill J drove it back, and followed it across the peninsula 
 
THE martyr's monument. 117 
 
 in that dreadful series of battles ending with a complete 
 defeat for them at Malvern Hill, -which the country re- 
 members so well under the name of the Seven Dajs' 
 Battles. The following four letters addressed to General 
 McClellan, tell the story of that movement almost as 
 well as a detailed description : 
 
 Wasiiixgton, June 26, 1S62. 
 
 Your three dispatches of yesterday in relation to the advance 
 of your picket lines, ending with the statement that you com- 
 pletely succeeded in making your point, are very gratifying. 
 The later one, suggesting the probability of your being over- 
 whelmed by 200,000 men, and talking of to whom the responsi- 
 bility will belong, pains me very much. I give you all I can, 
 and act on the presumption that you will do the best you can 
 with what you have ; while you continue, ungenerously I think, 
 to assume that I could give you more if I would. I have omit- 
 ted — I shall omit — no opportunity to send you reinforcements 
 whenever I can. A. Lestcoln. 
 
 Washington, June 28, 1862. 
 
 Save your army at all events. Will send reinforcements as 
 fast as we can. Of course they cannot reach you to-day, to-mor- 
 row, or next day. I have not said you were ungenerous for 
 saying you needed reinforcements ; I thought you were ungener- 
 ous in assuming that I did not send them as fast as I could. I 
 feel any misfortune to you and your army quite as keenly as 
 you feel it yourself. If you have had a drawn battle or a repulse, 
 it is the price we pay for the enemy not being in Washington. 
 We protected Washington, and the enemy concentrated on you. 
 Had we stripped Washington, he would have been upon us be- 
 fore the troops sent could have got to you. Less than a week 
 ago you notified us that reinforcements were leaving Richmond 
 to come in front of us. It is the nature of the case, and neither 
 you nor the Government is to blame. A. Lincdln. 
 
 Washington, Jidy 1, 1862,-3.30 p. m. 
 
 It is impossible to reinforce you for your present emergency. 
 K we had a million of men we could not get them to you in 
 
11.8 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 time. We have not the men to send. If you are not strong 
 enough to face the enemy, you must find a place of security, 
 and wait, rest, and repair. Maintain your ground if you can, 
 but save the army at all events, even if you fall back to Fort 
 Monroe. We still have strength enough in the country, and 
 will bring it out. A. Llncoln. 
 
 Major-General G. B. McClellan. 
 
 "Washington, July 2, 1862. 
 
 Your despatch of yesterday induces me to hope that your 
 army is having some rest. In this hope, allow me to reason 
 with you for a moment. When you ask for 50,000 men to be 
 promptly sent you, you surely labor under some gross mistake 
 of fact. Recently you sent papers showing your disposal of 
 forces made last spring for the defence of Washington, and ad- 
 vising a return to that plan. I find it included in and about 
 Washington 75,000 men. Now, please be assured that I have 
 not men enough to fill that very plan by 15,000. All of Gen- 
 eral Fremont's in the Valley, all of General Banks's, all of Gen- 
 eral McDowell's not with you, and all in Washington taken 
 together, do not exceed, if they reach, 60,000. With General 
 Wool and General Dix added to those mentioned, I have not 
 outside of your army, 75,000 men east of the mountains. Thus, 
 the idea of sending you 50,000, or any other considerable forces 
 promptly, is simply absurd. If in your frequent mention of 
 responsibility you have the impression that I blame you for not 
 doing more than you can, please be relieved of such impression. 
 I only beg, that in like manner, you will not ask impossibilities 
 of me. If you think you are not strong enough to take Rich- 
 mond just now, I do not ask you to try just now. Save the 
 army, material, and persojiTiel, and I will strengthen it for the 
 offensive again as fast as I can. The governors of eighteen 
 States oflFer me a new levy of 300,000, which I accept. 
 
 A. Lincoln. 
 
 War Department, Washington City, July 4, 1S62. 
 
 I understand your position as stated in your letter, and by 
 General Marcy. To reinforce you so as to enable you to resume 
 the offensive within a month, or even six weeks, is impossible. In 
 
119 
 
 addition to that arrived and now arriving from the Potomac (about 
 ten thousand men, I suppose), and about ten thousand, I nope, you 
 Tvill have from Bumside very soon, and about five thousand 
 from Hunter a little later, I do not see how I can send you 
 another man within a month. Under these circumstances, the 
 defensive, for the present, must be your only care. Save the 
 army, first, where you are, if you can ; and secondly, by remo- 
 val, if you must. You, on the ground, must be the judge as to 
 which you will attempt, and of the means for effecting it. I 
 but give it as my opinion, that with the aid of the gunboats 
 and the reinforcements mentioned above, you can hold your 
 present position ; provided, and so long as you can keep the 
 James River open below you. If you are not tolerably confi- 
 dent you can keep the James River open, you had better re- 
 move as soon as possible. I do not remember that you have 
 expressed any apprehension as to the danger of having your 
 communication cut on the river below you, yet I do not sup- 
 pose it can have escaped your attention. A. Lincoln. 
 
 P. S. — If at any time you feel able to take the ofiensiv, you 
 are not restrained from doing so. A. I-. 
 
 SLAVERY IN THE BORDER STATES. 
 
 Mr. Lincoln's message advocating the gradual emanci- 
 pation of slaves, with compensation to the owners, elicit/^d 
 no response from the leading men of the Border Slave 
 States. Impressed with the importance of this subject, 
 he therefore asked the Members of Congress from those 
 States to meet him at the White House, on the 12th of 
 July, and delivered to them the following 
 
 ADDRESS. 
 
 Qentlemen — After the adjournment of Congress, now near, I 
 shall have no opportunity of seeing you for several months. 
 Believing that you of the Border States hold more power for 
 good than any other equal number of members, I feel it a duty 
 which I cannot justifiably waive, to make this appeal to you. 
 
120 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 I intend no reproach or complaint wben I assure you that, in 
 my opinion, if you all had voted for the resolution in the grad- 
 ual emancipation Message of last March the war would now be 
 substantially ended. And the plan therein proposed is yet one 
 of the most potent and swift means of euding it. Let the 
 States which are in rebellion see definitely and certainly that in 
 no event will the States you represent ever join their proposed 
 Confederacy, and they cannot much longer maintain the contest. 
 But you cannot divest them of their hope to ultimately have 
 you with them as long as you show a determination to perpetu- 
 ate the institution within your own States. Beat them at elec- 
 tions, as you have overwhelmingly done, and, nothing daunted, 
 they still claim you as their own. You and I know what the 
 lever of their power is. Break that lever before their faces, and 
 they can shake you no more forever. 
 
 Most of you have treated me with kindness and consideration, 
 and I trust you will not now think I improperly touch what is 
 exclusively your own, when, for the sake of the whole country, 
 I ask. Can you, for your States, do better than to take the 
 course I urge ? Discarding punctilio and maxims adapted to 
 more manageable times, and looking only to the unprecedently 
 stem facts of our case, can you do better in any possible event ? 
 You prefer that the constitutional relation of the States to the 
 nation shall be practically restored without disturbance of the 
 institution : and if this were done, njy whole duty, in this re- 
 spect, under the Constitution and my oath of office, would be 
 performed. But it is not done, and we are trying to accomplish 
 it by war. The incidents of the war cannot be avoided. If the 
 war contiuues long, as it must if the object be not sooner at- 
 tained, the institution in your States will be extinguished by 
 mere friction and abrasion — by the mere incidents of the war. 
 It will be gone, and you will have nothing valuable in lieu of 
 it. Much of its value is gone already. How much better for 
 you and for your people to take the step which at once shortens 
 the war, and secures substantial compensation for that which is 
 sure to be wholly lost in any other event ! How much better 
 to thus save the money which else we sink forever in the war I 
 How much better to do it while we can, lest the war ere long 
 
THE martyr's monument. 121 
 
 render us pecuniarily unable to do it ! How much better for 
 you, as seller, and the nation, as buyer, to sell out and buy out 
 that without which the war never could have been, than to sink 
 both the thing to be sold and the price of it in cutting one 
 another's throats ! 
 
 I do not speak of emancipation at once, but of a decision at 
 once to emancipate gradually. Room in South America for 
 colonization can be obtained cheaply, and in abundance, and 
 when numbers shall be large enough to be company and encour- 
 agement for one another, the freed people will not be so reluc- 
 tant to go. 
 
 I am pressed with a difficulty not yet mentioned — one which 
 threatens division among those who, united, are none too strong. 
 An instance of it is known to you. General Hunter is an honest 
 man. He was, and I hope still is, my friend. I valued him 
 none the less for his agreeing with me in the general wish that 
 all men everywhere could be free. He proclaimed all men free 
 Mithin certain States, and I repudiated the proclamation. He 
 expected more good and less harm from the measure than I 
 could believe would follow. Yet, in repudiating it, I gave dis- 
 satisfaction, if not offence, to many whose support the country 
 can not afford to lose. And this is not the end of it. The 
 pressure in this direction is still upon me, and is increasing. 
 By conceding what I now ask you can relieve me, and much 
 more, can relieve the country in this important point. 
 
 Upon these considerations I have again begged your attention 
 to the Message of March last. Before leaving the Capital, con- 
 sider and discuss it among yourselves. You are patriots and 
 statesmen, and as such I pray you consider this proposition; 
 and at the least commend it to the consideration of your States 
 and people. As you would perpetuate popular government for 
 the best people in the world, I beseech you that you do in 
 nowise omit this. Our common country is in great peril, 
 demanding the loftiest views and boldest action to bring a 
 speedy relief. Once relieved, its form of government is saved 
 to the world ; its beloved history and cherished memories are 
 vindicated, and its happy future fully assured and rendered 
 inconceivably grand. To you, more than to any others, the priv- 
 
 6 
 
122 THE maktyr's monument. 
 
 ilege is given to assure that happiness and swell that grandeur 
 and to link your own names therewith forever. 
 
 THE CONFISCATION BILL. 
 
 On the same day of the delivery of the foregoing address 
 Mr. Lincoln sent the following Message to the House of 
 Representatives approving the Confiscation Bill which 
 had been passed by that body, except in one point, to which 
 he objected as being unconstitutional. 
 
 Felhw- Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives — 
 Considering the bill for " An act to suppress insurrection, to 
 punish treason and rebellion, to seize and confiscate the property 
 of rebels, and for other purposes," and the joint resolution 
 explanatory of said act as being substantially one, I have 
 approved and signed both. 
 
 Before I was informed of the resolution, I had prepared the 
 draft of a message, stating objections to the bill becoming a 
 law, a copy of which draft is herewith submitted. 
 
 Abraham Lincoln. 
 
 July 12, 1862. 
 
 [Gojpy.-\ 
 
 Fellow- Citizens of the House of Representatiues — I herewith 
 return to the honorable body, in which it originated, the bill 
 for an act entitled "An act to suppress treason and rebellion, 
 to seize and confiscate the property of rebels, and for other pur- 
 poses," together with my objections to its becoming a law. 
 
 There is much in the bill to which I perceive no objection. 
 It is wholly prospective; and it touches neither person nor 
 property of any loyal citizen, in which particular it is just and 
 proper. 
 
 The first and second sections provide for the conviction and 
 punishment of persons who shall be guilty of treason, and per- 
 sons who shall "incite, set on foot, assist, or engage in any 
 rebellion or insurrection against the authority of the United 
 States, or the laws thereof, or shall give aid or comfort thereto, 
 or shall engage in or give aid and comfort to any such existing 
 
THE martyr's MONUJ'ENT. 123 
 
 rebellion or insurrection." By fair construction, persons within 
 those sections are not punished without regular trials in duly 
 constituted courts, under the forms and all the substantial pro- 
 visions of law and the Constitution applicable to their several 
 cases. To this I jjerceive no objection ; especially as such per- 
 sons would be within the general pardoning power, and also 
 the special provision for jiardon and amnesty contained in this act. 
 
 It is also provided that the slaves of persons convicted under 
 these sections shall be free. I think there is an unfortunate 
 form of expression, rather than a substantial objection, in this. 
 It is startling to say that Congress can free a slave within a 
 State, and yet, if it were said the ownership of a slave had first 
 been transferred to the nation, and Congress had then liberated 
 him, the difficulty would at once vanish. And this is the real 
 case. The traitor against the General Government forfeits his 
 slave at least as justly as he does any other property; and he 
 forfeits both to the Government against which he offends. The 
 Government, so far as there can be ownership, thus owns the 
 forfeited slaves, and the question for Congress in regard to them 
 is, " Shall they be made free or sold to new masters ?" I per- 
 ceive no objection to Congress deciding in advance that they 
 shall be free. To the high honor of Kentucky, as I am informed, 
 she is the owner of some slaves by escheat^ and has sold none, 
 but liberated all. I hope the same is true of some other States. 
 Indeed, I do not believe it will be physically possible for the 
 General Government to return persons so circumstanced to 
 actual slavery. I believe there would be physical resistance to 
 it, which could neither be turned aside by argument nor driven 
 away by force. In this view I have no objection to this feature 
 of the bill. Another matter involved in these two sections, 
 and running through other parts of the act will be noticed 
 hereafter. 
 
 I perceive no objections to the third or fourth sections. 
 
 So far as I wish to notice the fifth and sixth sections, they 
 may be considered together. That the enforcement of these 
 sections would do no injustice to the persons embraced within 
 them is clear. That those who make a causeless war should be 
 compelled to pay the cost of it is too obviously just to be called 
 
124 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 in question. To give governmental protection to the property 
 of persons who have abandoned it, and gone on a crusade to 
 overthrow the same Government, is absurd, if considered in the 
 mere light of justice. The severest justice may not always be 
 the best policy. The principle of seizing and appropriatmg 
 the property of the person embraced within these sections is 
 certainly not very objectionable, but a justly discriminating 
 application of it would be very difficult, and, to a great extent, 
 impossible. And would it not be wise to place a power of 
 remission somewhere, so that these persons may know they 
 have something to loose by persisting and something to gain by 
 desisting ? I am not sure whether such j)ower of remission is 
 or is not in section thirteen. Without any special act of Con- 
 gTess, I think our military commanders, when, in military 
 phrase, " they are within the enemy's country," should, in 
 orderly manner, seize ahd use whatever of real or per'=<^nal 
 property may be necessary or convenient for their commands ; 
 at the same time preserving, in some way, the evidence of what 
 they do. 
 
 What I have said in regard to slaves, while commenting on 
 the first and second sections, is applicable to the ninth, with 
 the difference that no provision is made in the whole act for 
 determining whether a particular individual slave does or does 
 not fall within the classes defined in that section. He is to be 
 free upon certain conditions ; but whether those conditions do 
 or do not j^ertain to him, no mode of ascertaining is provided. 
 This could be easily supplied. 
 
 To the tenth section I make no objection. The oath therein 
 required seems to be proper, and the remainder of the section 
 is substantially identical -^Tlth a law already existing. 
 
 The eleventh section simply assumes to confer discretionary 
 power upon the Executive. Without the law, I have no hesi- 
 tation to go as far in the direction indicated as I may at any 
 time deem expedient. And I am ready to say now, I think 
 it is proper for our military commanders to employ, as laborers, 
 as many persons of African descent as can be used to advan- 
 tage. 
 
 The twelfth and thirteenth sections are something better than 
 
125 
 
 unobjectionable; and the fourteenth is entirely proper, if all 
 other parts of the act shall stand. 
 
 That to which I chiefly object pervades most part of the Act, 
 but more distinctly appears in the first, second, seventh and 
 eighth sections. It is the sum of those provisions which results 
 in the divesting of title forever. 
 
 For the causes of treason and ingredients of treason, not 
 amounting to the full crime, it declares forfeiture extending be- 
 yond the lives of the guilty parties ; whereas the Constitution 
 of the United States declares that " no attainder of treason shall 
 work corruption of blood or forfeiture except during the life 
 of the person attainted." True, there is to be no formal at- 
 tainder in this case ; still, I think, the greater punishment can- 
 not be constitutionally inflicted, in a different form, for the 
 same offence. 
 
 AVith great respect I am constrained to say I think this fea- 
 ture of the Act is unconstitutional. It would not be difficult 
 to modify it. 
 
 I may remark that the provision of the Constitution, put in 
 language borrowed from Great Britain, applies only in this 
 country, as I understand, to real or landed estate. 
 
 Again, this act, in rem, forfeits property for the ingredients 
 of treason without a conviction of the supposed criminal, or a 
 personal hearing given him in any proceeding. That we may 
 not touch property lying within our reach, because we cannot 
 give personal notice to an owner who is absent endeavoring to 
 destroy the Government, is certainly satisfactory. Still, the 
 owner may not be thus engaged ; and I think a reasonable time 
 should be provided for such parties to appear and have personal 
 hearings. Similar provisions are not uncommon in connection 
 with proceedings in rem. 
 
 For the reasons stated, I return the Bill to the House in which 
 it originated. 
 
 GENERAL M'CLELLAN AGAIN. 
 
 Here we have another of those gentle, but firm re- 
 proofs, which Mr. Lincoln was continually called upon to 
 administer to General McClellan. 
 
126 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 Executive Mansion, Washington, July 13, 1862. 
 
 My Bear Sir — I am told that over 160,000 men' have gone 
 with your army on the Peninsula. When I was T^th you the 
 other day, we made out 86,000 remaining, leaving 78,500 to be 
 accounted for. I believe 3,500 will cover all the killed, 
 wounded, missing, in all your battless and skirmishes, leaving 
 50,000 who have left otherwise. Not more than 5,000 of these 
 have died, leaving 45,000 of your army still alive, and not with it. 
 I believe half or two-thirds of them are fit for duty to-day. 
 Have you any more perfect knowledge of this than I have ? If 
 I am right, and you had these men with you, you could go into 
 Richmond in the next three days. How can they be got to you, 
 and how can they be prevented from getting away in such num- 
 bers for the future ? A. Lincoln. 
 
 COLONIZATION. 
 
 It was yet uncertain whether one result of the war 
 would be the setting free of all the slaves in the country ; 
 but it was plain enough that the number of free negroes 
 in the South would be enormously increased thereby. The 
 question as to the disposition to be made of these eman- 
 cipated slaves was one of much difficulty. Mr. Lincoln 
 bearing in mind the dislike of his own race to mingle with 
 the negro race socially and politically, favored the project 
 of a vast scheme of colonization. Tins he broached in 
 an address to a deputation of negroes whom he received 
 at the White House on the 14th of August, 1862. 
 
 ADDRESS. 
 
 Having all been seated, the President, after a few preliminary 
 observations, informed them that a sum of money had been ap- 
 propriated by Congress, and placed at his disposition, for the 
 purpose of aiding the colonization in some country, of the peo- 
 ple, or a portion of them, of African descent, thereby making 
 it his duty, as it had for a long time been his inclination, t ) 
 
127 
 
 favor that cause ; and "why, he asked, should the people of your 
 race be colonized, and where ? AYhy should they leave this 
 country ? This is, perhaps, the first question for proper con- 
 sideration. You and we are different races. We have between 
 us a broader difference than exists between almost any other two 
 races. "Whether it is right or wrong I need not discuss ; but 
 this physical difference is a great disadvantage to us both, as I 
 think. Your race suffer very greatly, many of them by living 
 among us, while ours suffer from your presence. In a word we 
 suffer on each side. If this is admitted, it affords a reason, at 
 least, why we should be separated. You here are freemen, I 
 suppose. 
 
 A voice — Yes, Sir. 
 
 The President — Perhaps you have long been free, or all your 
 lives. Your race are suffering, in my judgment, the greatest 
 wrong inflicted on any people. But even when you cease to be 
 slaves, you are yet far removed from being placed on an equali- 
 ty with the white race. You are cut off from many of the ad- 
 vantages which the other race enjoys. The aspiration of men 
 is to enjoy equality with the best when free, but on this broad 
 continent not a siagle man of your race is made the equal of a 
 single man of ours. Go where you are treated the best, and the 
 ban is still upon you. I do not propose to discuss this, but to 
 present it as a fact, with which we have to deal. I cannot alter 
 it if I would. It is a fact about which we all think and feel 
 alike, I and you. We look to our condition. Owing to the 
 existence of the two races on this continent, I need not recount 
 to you the effects upon white men, growing out of the institu- 
 tion of slavery. I believe in its general evil on the white race. 
 See our present condition — the country engaged in war ! our 
 white men cutting one another's throats — none knowing how 
 far it will extend — and then consider what we know to be the 
 truth. But for your race among us there could not be war, 
 although many men engaged on either side do not care for you 
 one way or the other. Nevertheless, I repeat, without the insti- 
 tution of slavery, and the colored race as a basis, the war could 
 not have an existence. It is better for us both, therefore, to be 
 separated. I know that there are free men among you who, 
 
128 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 even if they could better their condition, are not as much in- 
 clined to go out of the country as those who, being slaves, could 
 obtain their freedom on this condition. I suppose one of the 
 principal difficulties in the way of colonization is that the free 
 colored man cannot see that his comfort would be advanced by 
 it. You may believe that you can live in Washington, or else- 
 where in the United States, the remainder of your life ; perhaps 
 more so than you can in any foreign country, and hence you 
 may come to the conclusion that you have nothing to do with 
 the idea of going to a foreign country. This (I speak in no 
 imkind sense) is an extremely selfish view of the case. But you 
 ought to do something to help those who are not so fortunate 
 as yourselves. There is an unwillingness on the part of our peo- 
 ple, harsh as it may be, for you free colored people to remain with 
 us. Now if you could give a start to the white people you would 
 open a wide door for many to be made free. If we deal with 
 those who are not free at the beginning, and whose intellects are 
 clouded by slavery, we have very poor material to start with. K 
 intelligent colored men, such as are before me, would move in 
 this matter, much might be accomplished. It is exceedingly 
 important that we have men at the beginning capable of think- 
 ing as white men, and not those who have been systematically 
 oppressed. There is much to encourage you. For the sake of 
 your race you should sacrifice something of your present com- 
 fort for the purpose of being as grand in that respect as the 
 white people. It is a cheering thought throughout life, that 
 something can be done to ameliorate the condition of those who 
 have been subject to the hard usages of the world. It is diflS- 
 cult to make a man miserable while he feels he is worthy of 
 himself and claims kindred to the great God who made him. 
 In the American Revolutionary War sacrifices were made by 
 men engaged in it, but they were cheered by the future. Gen- 
 eral Washington himself endured greater physical hardships than 
 if he had remained a British subject, yet he was a happy man 
 because he was engaged in benefiting his race ; in doing some- 
 thing for the children of his neighbors, having none of his own. 
 The colony of Liberia has been in existence a long time. In 
 a certain sense, it is a success. The old President of Liberia, 
 
129 
 
 Roberts, lias just been with me for the first time I ever saw 
 him. He says they have within the bounds of that colony 
 between three and four hundred thousand people, or more than 
 in some of our old States, such as Rhode Island or Delaware, 
 or in some of our newer States, and less than in some of our 
 larger ones. They are not all American colonists or their 
 descendants. Something less than 12,000 have been sent thither 
 from this country. Many of the original settlers have died, yet, 
 like people elsewhere, their ofispring outnumber those deceased. 
 The question is, if the colored people are persuaded to go any- 
 where, why not there ? One reason for un-vvillingness to do so 
 is, that some of you would rather remain within reach of the 
 country of your nativity. I do not know how much attach- 
 ment you may have toward our race. It does not strike me that 
 you have the greatest reason to love them. But still you are 
 attached to them at all events. The place I am thinking about 
 having for a colony is in Central America. It is nearer to us 
 than Liberia — not much more than one-fourth as far as Liberia, 
 and within seven days' run by steamers. Unlike Liberia it is a 
 great line of travel — it is a highway. The country is a very 
 excellent one for any people, and with great natural resources 
 and advantages, and especially because of the similarity of cli- 
 mate with your native soil, thus being suited to your physical 
 condition. The j)aii:icular place I have in view, is to be a great 
 highway from the Atlantic or Caribbean Sea to the Pacific 
 Ocean, and this particular place has all the advantages for a 
 colony. On both sides there are harbors among the finest in the 
 world. Again, there is evidence of very rich coal mines. A 
 certain amount of coal is valuable in any countrj^, and there 
 may be more than enough for the wants of any country. Why 
 I attach so much importance to coal is, it will afibrd an oppor- 
 tunity to the inhabitants for immediate employment till they 
 get ready to settle permanently in their homes. If you take 
 colonists where there is no good landing, there is a bad show ; 
 and so where there is nothing to cultivate, and of which to 
 make a farm. But if something is started so that you can get 
 your daily bread as soon as you reach there, it is a great advan- 
 tage. Coal land is the best thing I know of with which to com- 
 
 6* 
 
130 
 
 mence an enterprise. To return — you have been talked to 
 upon this subject, and told that a speculation is intended by 
 gentlemen who have an interest in the country, including the 
 coal mines. We have been mistaken all our lives if we do not 
 know whites, as well as blacks, look to their self-interest. 
 Unless among those deficient of intellect, everybody you trade 
 with makes something. You meet with these things here and 
 everywhere. If such persons have what will be an advantage 
 to them, the question is, whether it can be made of advantage 
 to you ? You are • intelligent and know that success does not 
 as much depend on external help as on self-reliance. Much, 
 therefore, depends upon yourselves. As to the coal mines, I 
 think I see the means available for your self-reliance. I shall, 
 if I get a sufficient number of you engaged, have provision 
 made that you shall not be wronged. If you will engage in the 
 enterprise I will spend some of the money intrusted to me. I 
 am not sure you will succeed. The Government may lose the 
 money, but we can not succeed unless we try ; but we think 
 with care we can succeed. The political afiairs in Central 
 America are not in quite as satisfactory condition as I wish. 
 There are contending factions in that quarter ; but it is true, 
 all the factions are agreed alike on the subject of colonization, 
 and want it, and are more generous than we are here. To your 
 colored race they have no objection. Besides, I would endeavor 
 to have you made equals, and have the best assurance that you 
 should be the equals of the best. The practical tiling I want 
 to ascertain is, whether I can get a number of able-bodied men, 
 with their wives and children, who are willing to go when I 
 present evidence of encouragement and protection. Could I 
 get a hundred tolerably intelligent men, with their wives and 
 children, and able to " cut their own fodder," so to speak ? 
 Can I have fifty ? If I could find twenty-five able-bodied men, 
 with a mixture of women and children — good things in the 
 family relation, I think — I could make a successful commence- 
 ment. I want you to let me know whether this can be done or 
 not. This is the practical part of my wish to see you. These 
 are subjects of very great importance — worthy of a month's 
 study of a speech delivered in an hour. I ask you, then, to 
 
131 
 
 consider seriously, not pertaining to yourselves merely, nor for 
 your race and ours for the present time, but as one of the things, 
 if successfully managed, for the good of mankind — not confined 
 to the present generation, l3ut as 
 
 " From age to age descends the lay 
 To millions yet to be, 
 Till far its echoes roll away ' 
 
 Into eternity." 
 
 The above is merely given as the substance of the President's 
 remarks. 
 
 The chairman of the delegation briefly replied, that " they 
 would hold a consultation, and in a short time give an answer." 
 The President said, " Take your full time — no hurry at all." 
 
 The delegation then withdrew. 
 
 THE CLAMORS FOR EMANCIPATION. 
 
 There were some persons who seemed to think that Mr. 
 Lincoln was elected not constitutional President of the 
 United Scates, but President of an enormous Anti-Slaverj 
 Society. Prominent among these was the eminent and 
 estimable philanthropist who had made the Neiv York 
 Tribune a power in the land, through the columns of 
 which journal he addressed a letter to the President, on 
 the 19th of August, 1862, urging upon him with great ear- 
 nestness, and with all his wonted vigor of style, a policy 
 of unreserved emancipation. To that letter Mr. Lincoln 
 made the following clear and calm reply : 
 
 ExECCTiTE Mansion, Washington, A^lgu8t 22, 1862. 
 
 H<m. Horace Greeley — Dear Sir — I have just read yours of 
 the 19th instant, addressed to myself through the New York 
 Tribune. 
 
 If there be in it any statements or assumptions of fact which I 
 may know to be erroneous, I do not now and here controvert 
 them. 
 
132 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 If there be any inferences whicli I may believe to be falsely 
 drawn, I do not now and liere argue against tliem. 
 
 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 — if I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it 
 — and if I could do it by freeing some and leaving others alone, 
 I would also do that. 
 
 What I do about slavery and the colored race, I do because I 
 believe it heljDS to save this Union, and what I forbear, I forbear 
 because I do not believe it would help to save the Union. 
 
 I shall do less whenever I shall believe what I am doing hurts 
 the cause, and I shall do more whenever I believe doing more 
 will help the cause. 
 
 I shall try to correct errors when shown to be errors, and I 
 shall adopt new views so fast as they shall appear to be true views. 
 
 I have here stated my purpose according to my views of 
 official duty, and I intend no modification of my oft-expressed 
 personal wish that all men everywhere could be free. 
 
 Yours, A. Lincoln. 
 
 Such appeals as that to which Mr. Lincoln replied in 
 the foregoing letter, became more frequent, taking in 
 some instances almost the shape of demands ; and on the 
 13th of September, the President formally received a 
 deputation from the various religious denominations of 
 
THE martyr's monument. 133 
 
 Chicago, who presented a memorial asking immediate and 
 unconditional emancipation, to which he made the follow- 
 ing response : 
 
 The subject presented in tlie memorial is one upon which I 
 have thought much for weeks past, and I may even say for 
 months. I am approached with the most opposite opinions and 
 advice, and that by religious men, who are equally certain that 
 they represent the Divine will. I am sure that either the one 
 or the other class is mistaken in that belief, and perhaps in some 
 respects both. I hoi3e it will not be irreverent for me to say that 
 if it is probable that God would reveal his will to others, on 'a 
 point so connected with ray duty, it might be supposed he 
 would reveal it directly to me ; for, unless I am more deceived 
 in myself than I often am, it is my earnest desire to know the 
 will of Providence in this matter. And if I can learn what it 
 is I will do it ! These are not, however, the days of miracles, 
 and I suppose it will be granted that I am not to expect a di- 
 rect revelation. I must study the plain physical facts of the 
 case, ascertain what is possible, and learn what appears to be 
 wise and right. 
 
 The subject is difficult, and good men do not agree. For in- 
 stance, the other day, four gentlemen of standing and intelli- 
 gence from New York called as a delegation on business con- 
 nected with the war ; but before leaving two of them earnestly 
 besought me to proclaim general emancipation, upon which the 
 other two at once attacked them. You know, also, that the last 
 session of Congress had a decided majority of anti-slavery men, 
 yet they could not unite on this jjolicy. And the same is true 
 of the religious people. Why, the rebel soldiers are praying 
 with a great deal more earnestness, I fear, than our own troops, 
 and expecting God to favor their side : for one of our soldiers, 
 who had been taken prisoner, told Senator Wilson a few days 
 since, that he met nothing so discouraging as the evident sin- 
 cerity of those he was among, in their prayers. But we will talk 
 over the merits of the case. 
 
 What good would a proclamation of emancipation from me 
 do, especially as we are now situated ? I do not want to issue 
 
134 
 
 a document that the whole world will see must necessarily be 
 inoperative, like the Pope's bull against the comet! Would 
 my word free the slaves, when I cannot even enforce the Consti- 
 tution in the rebel States ? Is there a single court, or magis- 
 trate, or individual that would be influenced by it there ? And 
 what reason is there to think it would have any greater effect 
 upon the slaves than the late law of Congress, which I approved, 
 and which offers protection and freedom to the slaves of rebel 
 masters who come within our lines ? Yet I cannot learn that 
 the law has caused a single slave to come over to us. And sup- 
 pose they could be induced by a proclamation of freedom from 
 me to throw themselves upon us, what should we do with them? 
 How can we feed and care for such a multitude ? General Butler 
 wrote me a few days since that he was issuing more rations to 
 the slaves who have rushed to him than to all the white troops 
 under his command. They eat, and that is all ; though it is 
 true General Butler is feeding the whites also by the thousand ; 
 for it nearly amounts to a famine there. If, now, the pressure 
 of the war should call off our forces from New Orleans to defend 
 some other point, what is to prevent the masters from reducing 
 the blacks to slavery again ; for I am told that whenever the 
 rebels take any black prisoners, free or slave, they immediately 
 auction them off I They did so with those they took from a 
 boat that was aground in the Tennessee river a few days ago. 
 And then I am very ungenerously attacked for it ! For instance, 
 when, after the late battles at and near Bull Run, an expedition 
 went out from Washington, under a flag of truce, to bury the 
 dead and bring in the wounded, and the rebels seized the blacks 
 who went along to help, and sent them into slavery, Horace 
 Greeley said in his paper that the Government would probably 
 do nothing about it. What could I do ? 
 
 Now, then, tell me, if you please, what possible result of good 
 would follow the issuing of such a proclamation as you desire ? 
 Understand, I raise no objections against it on leg^l or constitu- 
 tional grounds, for, as commander-in-chief of the army and 
 navy, in time of war I suppose I have a right to take any mea- 
 sure which may best subdue the enemy, nor do I urge objections 
 of a moral nature, in view of possible consequences of insurrec- 
 
THE martye's monument. 135 
 
 tion and massacre at the South. I view this matter as a practi- 
 cal war measure, to be decided on according to the advantages 
 or disadvantages it may offer to the suj^pression of the rebellion. 
 
 I admit that slavery is at the root of the rebellion, or at least 
 its sine qua non. The ambition of politicians may have insti- 
 gated them to act, but they would have been impotent without 
 slavery as their instrument. I will also concede that emancipa- 
 tion would help us in Europe, and convince them that we are 
 incited by something more than ambition. I grant, further, that 
 it would help somewhat at the North, though not so much, I 
 fear, as you and those you represent imagine. Still, some ad- 
 ditional strength would be added in that way to the war, and 
 then, unquestionably, it would weaken the rebels by drawing 
 off their laborers, which is of great importance ; but I am not 
 so sure we could do much with the blacks. If we were to arm 
 them, I fear that in a few weeks the arms would be in the hands 
 of the rebels ; and, indeed, thus far, we have not had arms 
 enough to equip our white troops. I will mention another 
 thing, though it meet only your scorn and contempt. There 
 are 50,000 bayonets in the Union army from the border slave 
 States. It would be a serious matter if, in consequence of a 
 proclamation such as you desire, they should go over to the 
 rebels. I do not think they all would — not so many, indeed, as 
 a year ago, or as six months ago — ^not so many to-day as yester- 
 day. Every day increases their Union feeling. They are also 
 getting their pride enlisted, and want to beat the rebels. Let 
 me say one thing more : I think you should admit that we 
 already have an important principle to rally and unite the peo- 
 ple, in the fact that constitutional government is at stake. This 
 is a fundamental idea going down about as deep as any thing. 
 
 Do not misunderstand me because I have mentioned these 
 objections. They indicate the difficulties that have thus far 
 prevented my action in some such way as you desire, I have 
 not decided against a proclamation of liberty to the slaves, but 
 hold the matter under advisement. And I can assure you that 
 the subject is on my mind, by day and night, more than any 
 other. Whatever shall appear to be God's will I will do. I 
 trust that in the freedom with which I have canvassed your 
 views I have not in any respect injured your feelings. 
 
136 THE maetyr's monument. 
 
 EMANCIPATION DECIDED UPON. 
 
 Being convinced that a policy of emancipation was 
 right in itself and that the time had arrived when it 
 would receive that degree of public approval without 
 which, right or wrong, it would have been in vain, the 
 President issued on the 22d of September the following 
 
 PRELIMINARY PROCLAMATION OF EMANCIPATION. 
 
 I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States of 
 America and Commander-in-Chief of the army and navy there- 
 of, do hereby proclaim and declare that hereafter, as heretofore, 
 the war will be prosecuted for the object of practically restoring 
 the constitutional relation between the United States and each 
 of the States, and the people thereof, in which States that 
 relation is or may be suspended or disturbed. 
 
 That it is my purpose, upon the next meeting of Congress, 
 to again recommend the adoption of a practical measure 
 tendering pecuniary aid to the free acceptance or rejection of 
 all Slave States so-called, the people whereof may not then be 
 in rebellion against the United States, and which States may 
 then have voluntarily adopted, or thereafter may voluntarily 
 adopt, immediate or gradual abolishment of slavery within 
 their respective limits ; and that the effort to colonize persons 
 of African descent, with their consent, upon this continent or 
 elsewhere, with the previously obtained consent of the govern- 
 ments 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 forever free ; and the 
 Executive Government of the United States, including the 
 military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain 
 the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress 
 such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for 
 their actual freedom. 
 
THE martyr's monument. 13T 
 
 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 peoj)le thereof, shall on that day be in good faith 
 represented in the Congress of the United States, by members 
 chosen thereto at elections wherein a majority of the qualified 
 voters of such State shall have participated, shall, in the 
 absence of strong countervailing testimony, be deemed conclu- 
 sive evidence that such State, and the people thereof, are not 
 then in rebellion against the United States. 
 
 That attention is hereby called to an act of Congress entitled 
 " An Act to make an additional Article of War,'' approved 
 March 13th, 1863, and which act as is in the words and figures 
 following : 
 
 Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Bepresentatites of the 
 United States of America in Congress assemNed, That hereafter 
 the following shall be promulgated as an additional article of 
 war for the government of the army of the United States, and 
 shall be obeyed and observed as such : 
 
 Article. — All officers or persons in the military or naval 
 service of the United States are prohibited from employing any 
 of the forces under their respective commands for the purpose 
 of returning fugitives from service or labor who may have 
 escaped from any persons to whom such service or labor is 
 claimed to be due ; and any officer who shall be found guilty 
 by a court-martial of violating this article shall be dismissed 
 from the service. 
 
 Sec. 2. And be it further enacted^ That this act shall take 
 effect from and after its j)assage. 
 
 Also, to the ninth and tenth sections of an act entitled " An 
 Act to suppress Insurrection, to punish Treason and Eebellion, 
 to seize and confiscate Property of Rebels, and for other j)ur- 
 poses," approved July 16, 1862, and which sections are in the 
 words and figures following : 
 
 Sec. 9. And le it further enacted, That all slaves of persons 
 
138 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 who shall hereafter be engaged in rebellion against the Govern- 
 ment of the United States, or who shall in any way give aid or 
 comfort thereto, escaping from such persons and taking refuge 
 within the lines of the army ; and all slaves captured from such 
 persons, or deserted by them and coming under the control of 
 the Government of the United States ; and all slaves of such 
 persons found on [or] being within any place occupied by rebel 
 forces and afterwards occupied by forces of the United States, 
 shall be deemed captives of war, and shall be forever free of 
 their servitude, and not again held as slaves. 
 
 Sec. 10. Aiid le it further enacted, That no slave escaping 
 into any State, Teriitoiy, 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 said fugitive shall first 
 make oath that the person to whom the labor or service of such 
 fugitive is alleged to be due is his lawfhl 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 m the military or naval service of the United States 
 shall, under any pretence whatever, assume to decide on the 
 validity of the claim of any person to the service or labor of 
 any other person, or surrender up any such person to the claim- 
 ant, on pain of being dismissed from the service. 
 
 And I do hereby enjoin upon and order all persons engaged 
 in the military and naval service of the United States to observe, 
 obey, and enforce, within their respective spheres of service, 
 the act and sections above recited. 
 
 And the Executive will in due time recommend that all 
 citizens of the United States who shall have remained loyal 
 thereto throughout the rebellion, shall (upon the restoration of 
 the constitutional relation between the United States and their 
 respective States and people, if 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. 
 
THE martyr's monument. 139 
 
 Done at the city of Washington, this tenth clay of April, in the 
 year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty- 
 [l. s.] two, and of the indejoendence of the United States the 
 eighty-seventh. Abraham Lincoln. 
 
 By the President : 
 Wm. 11. Se-ward, Secretary of State. 
 
 This proclamatioD caused a very profound sensation 
 throughout the country. On the evening of the 24th 
 of September a large body of people assembled before 
 the White House with music. The President came out 
 to them and made the following speech. It is manifest, 
 even more than by words, how great was his sense of 
 responsibility in taking this step, and with what anxiety 
 he watched for its effect upon the country. 
 
 Felhio- Citizens — I appear before you to do little more than to 
 acknowledge the courtesy you pay me, and to thank you for it. 
 I have not been distinctly informed why it is that on this occa- 
 sion you appear to do me this honor, though I suppose it is 
 because of the Proclamation. AYhat I did, I did after a very- 
 full deliberation, and under a very heavy and solemn sense of 
 resj)onsibility. I can only trust in God I have made no mis- 
 take. I shall make no attempt on this occasion to sustain what 
 I have done or said by any comment. It is now for the country 
 and the world to pass judgment, and, may be, take action upon 
 it. I will say no more upon this subject. In my position I am 
 environed with difficulties. Yet they are scarcely so great as 
 the difficulties of those who, upon the battle-field, are endeav- 
 oring to purchase with their blood and their lives, the future 
 happiness and prosperity of this country. Let us never forget 
 them. On the 14th and 17th days of this present month, there 
 have been battles bravely, skillfully, and successfully fought. 
 We do not yet know the particulars. Let us be sure that, 
 in giving praise to certain individuals, we do no injustice to 
 others. I only ask you at the conclusion of these few remarks, 
 to give three hearty cheers to all good and brave officers and 
 men who fought those successful battles. 
 
140 
 
 SUSPENSION OF THE WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS. 
 
 Early in the rebellion it had been found necessary by 
 the President, in pursuance of the clause in the Constitu- 
 tion providing for such action, to suspend the privalege 
 of the writ of habeas corpus in a few isolated instances, 
 by orders issued to military officers. But the following 
 is the first proclamation ordering such suspension in re- 
 gard to all persons in military custody : 
 
 PROCLAMATION. 
 
 Whereas, it has been necessary to call into service, not only 
 volunteers, but also portions of the militia of the States by 
 draft, in order to suppress the insurrection existing in the 
 United States, and disloyal persons are not adequately re- 
 strained by the ordinary processes of law from hindering this 
 measure, and from giving aid and comfort in various ways to 
 the insurrection, 
 
 Now, therefore, be it ordered — 
 
 Fh'st, That during the existing insurrection, and as a neces- 
 sary measure for suppressing the same, all rebels and insur- 
 gents, their aiders and abettors, within the United States, and 
 all persons discouraging volunteer enlistments, resisting military 
 drafts, or guilty of any disloyal practice affording aid and com- 
 fort to the rebels against the authority of the United States, 
 shall be subject to martial law, and liable to trial and punish- 
 ment by court-martial or military commission. 
 
 Second^ That the writ of habeas corjms 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, mili- 
 tary prison, or other place of confinement, by any military au- 
 thority, or by the sentence of any court-martial or military 
 commission. 
 
 In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal, and 
 caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. 
 
THE martyr's monument. 141 
 
 Done at the city of "Washington, this twenty-fourth day of 
 September, in the year of our Lord one thousand 
 [l. s.] eight hundred and sixty-two, and of the independ- 
 ence of the United States the eighty-seventh. 
 
 Abraham Luscoln. 
 By the President : 
 
 William H. Szwaed, Secretary of State. 
 
 GENERAL M'CLELLAN AGAIN. 
 
 On the 6th of October, after a visit made by the Pres- 
 ident to the Army of the Potomac, General McClellan 
 received an order through General Halleck, then gen- 
 eral-in-chief, to cross the Potomac immediately and give 
 battle or drive the enemy southward. But the com- 
 mander was not yet ready and went into correspondence 
 about supplies and reinforcements. Meantime the rebel 
 General of cavalry, Stuart, rode round and round him, 
 going into Pennsylvania, and setting him openly at 
 naught. Upon this, Mr. Lincoln addressed him the fol- 
 lowing letter, which elicited only replies, the nature of 
 which is clearly enough shown by the President's brief 
 dispatches which are appended to it. 
 
 Executive Mansion, Washington, Oct. 13, 1S62. 
 
 My Dear Sir — You remember my speaking to you of what I 
 called your overcautiousness. Are you not overcautious when 
 you assume that you can not do what the enemy is constantly 
 doing ? Should you not claim to be at least his equal in prowess, 
 and act upon the claim ? 
 
 As I understand, you telegraphed General Halleck that you 
 can not subsist your army at Winchester, imless the railroad 
 from Harper's Ferry to that point be put in working order. 
 But the enemy does now subsist his army at Winchester, at a 
 distance nearly twice as great from railroad transportation as 
 you would have to do without the railroad last named. He 
 
142 
 
 now wagons from Culpepper Conrt-House, whicli is just about 
 twice as far as you would liave to do from Harper's Ferry. He 
 is certainly not more than half as well provided with wagons 
 as you are. I certainly should be pleased for you to have the 
 advantage of the railroad from Harper's FeiTy to Winchester ; 
 but it wastes all the remainder of autumn to give it to you, and, 
 in fact, ignores the question of time, which can not and must 
 not be ignored. 
 
 Again, one of the standard maxims of war, as you know, is, 
 " to operate upon the enemy's communications as much as pos- 
 sible without exposing your own." You seem to act as if this 
 applies against you, but can not apply in your favor. Change 
 positions with the enemy, and think you not he would break 
 your communication with Richmond within the next twenty- 
 four hours ? You dread his going into Pennsylvania. But if 
 he does so in full force, he gives up his communications to you 
 absolutely, and you have nothing to do but to follow and ruin 
 him ; if he does so with less than full force, fall upon and beat 
 what is left behind all the easier. 
 
 Exclusive of the water line, you are now nearer Richmond 
 than the enemy is by the route that you can and he must take^ 
 Why can you not reach there before him, unless you admit that 
 he is more than your equal on a march ? His route is the arc 
 of a circle, while yours is the chord. The roads are as good on 
 yours as on his. 
 
 You know I desired, but did not order you, to cross the Poto- 
 mac below instead of above the Shenandoah and Blue Ridge. My 
 idea was, that this would at once menace the enemy's communi- 
 cations, which I would seize if he would permit. If he should 
 move northward, I would follow him 'closely, holding his com- 
 munications. If he should prevent our seizing his communi- 
 cations, and move toward Richmond, I would press closely to 
 him, fight him if a favorable opportunity should present, and 
 at least try to beat him to Richmond on the inside track. I say 
 " try ; " if we never try, we shall never succeed. If he make a 
 stand at Winchester, moving neither north nor south, I would 
 fight him there, on the idea that if we cannot beat him when 
 he bears the wastage of coming to us, we never can when we 
 
THE martyr's monument. 143 
 
 bear the wastage of going to him. This proposition is a simple 
 truth, and is too important to be lost sight of for a moment. 
 In coming to us, he tenders us an advantage which we should 
 not waive. We should not so operate as to merely drive him 
 away. As we must beat him somewhere, or fail finally, we can 
 do it, if at all, easier near to us than far away. If we cannot 
 beat the enemy where he now is, we never can, he again being 
 within the intrencliments of Richmond. Recurring to the idea 
 of going to Richmond on the inside track, the facility of sup- 
 plying from the side away from the enemy is remarkable, as it 
 were, by the difierent spokes of a wheel, extending from the 
 hub toward the rim, and this whether you move directly by the 
 chord, or on the inside arc, hugging the Blue Ridge more 
 closely. The chord-line, as you see, carries you by Aldie, Hay- 
 market, and Fredericksburg, and you see how turnpikes, rail- 
 roads, and finally the Potomac by Aquia Creek, meet you at all 
 points from Washington. The same, only the lines lengthened 
 a little, if you press closer to the Blue Ridge part of the way. 
 The gaps through the Blue Ridge I understand to be about the 
 following distances from Hai-per's Feri-y, to wit ; Vestal's, five 
 miles ; Gregory's, thirteen ; Snicker's, eighteen ; Ashby's, 
 twenty-eight ; Manassas, thirty-eight ; Chester, forty-five ; and 
 Thornton's, fifty-three. I should think it preferable to take the 
 route nearest the enemy, disabling him to make an important 
 move without your knowledge, and compelling him to keep his 
 forces together for dread of you. The gaps would enable you 
 to attack if you should wish. For a great part of the way 
 you would be practically between the enemy and both Washing- 
 ton and Richmond, enabling us to spare you the greatest num- 
 ber of troops from here. When, at length, running to 
 Richmond ahead of h.im enables him to move this way, if he 
 does so, turn and attack him in the rear. But I think he 
 should be engaged long before such point is reached. It is all 
 easy if our troops march as well as the enemy, and it is unmanly 
 to say they cannot do it. This letter is in no sense an order. 
 
 Yours, truly, 
 
 Abraham Llncoln. 
 
 Major-Gcneral McClellan. 
 
144 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 War Departmknt, "Washington, Oct. 25, 1862. 
 
 I have just read your dispatch about sore-tongue and fatigued 
 horses. Will you pardon me for asking what the horses of 
 your army have done since the battle of Antietam that fatigues 
 anything? Abkaham Lincoln. 
 
 ExEctmvE Mansion, ) 
 Washington, Oct. 26, 1862. J 
 
 Yours in reply to mine about horses received. Of course 
 you know the facts better than I. Still, two considerations 
 remain: Stuart's cavalry outmarched ours, having certainly 
 done more marked service on the Peninsula and everywhere 
 since. Secondly : will not a movement of our army be a relief 
 to the cavalry, compelling the enemy to concentrate instead of 
 " foraging " in squads everywhere ? But I am so rejoiced to 
 learn from your dispatch to General Halleck that you began 
 crossing the river this morning. Abraham Lincoln. 
 
 Executive Mansion, ) 
 Washington, Oct. 26, 1862. ) 
 
 Yours of yesterday received. Most certainly I intend no 
 injustice to any, and if I have done any I deeply regret it. To 
 be told, after more than five weeks' total inaction of the army, 
 and during which period we had sent to that army every fresh 
 horse we possibly could, amounting in the whole to 7,918, that 
 the cavalry horses were too much fatigued to move, presented 
 a very cheerless, almost hopeless, prospect for the future, and 
 it may have forced something of impatience into my dispatches. 
 K not recruited and rested then, when could they ever be ? I 
 suppose the river is rising, and I am glad to believe you are 
 crossing. A. Lincoln. 
 
 Executive Mansion, ) 
 Washington, Oct. 27, 1862. f 
 
 Your dispatch of 3 p.m. to-day, in regard to filling up old 
 regiments with drafted men, is received, and the request therein 
 shall be complied with as far as practicable. And now I ask a 
 distinct answer to the question, " Is it your purpose not to go 
 into action again till the men now being drafted in the States 
 are incorporated in the old regiments ? " A. Lincoln. 
 
THE martyr's monument. 145 
 
 DEFENCE OF GENERAL M'CLELLAN. 
 
 Sorely tried as President Lincoln was by General 
 McClellan, he yet sustained him to the best of his ability 
 and with great magnanimity as long as he was kept in 
 command. On the 6th of August a war meeting was 
 held in Washington, at which Mr. Lincoln was present, 
 and delivered the following brief address. It was just 
 after General M'Clellan's retreat across the Peninsula, 
 when popular feeling was turning strongly against him. 
 Whoever will bear in mind the correspondence which 
 took place about that time, and which was not published 
 until long after will fin4 no trace of it in this generous 
 defence. 
 
 Felhw- Citizens — I believe there is no precedent for my ap- 
 pearing before yon on this occasion, but it is also true that there 
 is no precedent for your being here yourselves, and I offer, in 
 justification of myself and of you, that, upon examination, I 
 have found nothing in the Constitution against it. I, however, 
 have an impression that there are younger gentlemen who will 
 entertain you better, and better address your understanding 
 than I will or could, and therefore I propose but to detain you 
 a moment longer. 
 
 I am very little inclined on any occasion to say anything 
 unless I hope to produce some good by it. The only thing I 
 think of just now not likely to be better said by some one else, 
 is a matter in which we have heard some other persons blamed 
 for what I did myself. There has been a very wide-spread at- 
 tempt to have a quarrel between General McClellan and the 
 Secretary of War. Now, I occupy a position that enables me 
 to observe, that these two gentlemen are not nearly so deep in 
 the quarrel as some pretending to be their friends. General 
 McClellan's attitude is such that, in the very selfishness of his 
 nature, he cannot but wish to be successful, and I hope he will 
 — and the Secretary of War is in precisely the same situation. 
 If the military commanders in the field cannot be successful, not 
 
146 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 only the Secretary of War, but myself, for the time being the 
 master of them both, cannot but be failures. I know General 
 McClellan wishes to be successful, and I know he does not wish 
 it any more than the Secretary of War for him, and both of 
 them together no more than I wish it. Sometimes we have a 
 dispute about how many men General McClellan has had, and 
 those who would disparage him say that }ie had a very large 
 number, and those who would disparage the Secretary of 
 War insist that General McClellan has had a very small number, 
 The basis for this is, there is always a wide difference, and on 
 this occasion, perhaps a wider one than usual, between the 
 grand total on McClellan's rolls and the men actually fit for 
 duty ; and those who would disparage him talk of the grand 
 total on paper, and those who would disparage the Secretary of 
 War talk of those at present fit for duty. General McClellan 
 lias sometimes asked for things that the Secretary of War did 
 not give him. General McClellan is not to blame for asking 
 what he wanted and needed, and the Secretary of War is not to 
 blame for not giving when he had none to give. And I say 
 here, as far as I know, the Secretary of War has withheld no 
 one thing at any time in my power to give him. I have no ac- 
 cusation against him. I believe he is a brave and able man, 
 and I stand here, as justice requires me to do, to take upon my- 
 self what has been charged on the Secretary of War, as with- 
 holding from him. 
 
 I have talked longer than I expected to do, and now I avail 
 myself of my privilege of saying no more. 
 
 OBSERVANCE OF SUNDAY. 
 
 A needless amount of labor on the one hand, and of 
 noisy hilarity upon the other, upon Sunday, having been 
 noticed in the army, Mr. Lincoln issued the following cir- 
 cular-letter upon that subject : 
 
 Executive Mansion, Washington, November 16, 1862. 
 
 The President, commander-in-chief of the army and navy, 
 desires and enjoins the orderly observance of the Sabbath by the 
 
THE martyr's monument. 147 
 
 officers and men in the military and naval service. The imjDor- 
 tance for man and beast of the prescribed weekly rest, the 
 sacred rights of Christian soldiers and sailors, a becoming 
 deference to the best sentiment of a Christian people, and a due 
 regard for the Divine will, demand that Sunday labor in the 
 army and navy be reduced to the measure of strict necessity. 
 
 The discipline and character of the national forces should not 
 suffer, nor the cause they defend be imperiled by the profanation 
 of the day or name of the Most High. " At this time of public 
 distress," adopting the words of Washington in 1776, "men 
 may find enough to do in the service of God and their country, 
 without abandoning themselves to vice and immorality." The 
 first general order issued by the Father of his Country, after 
 the Declaration of Independence, indicates the spirit in which 
 our institutions were founded, and should ever be defended. 
 "The general hopes and trusts that every officer and man will 
 endeavor to live and act as becomes a Christian soldier defend- 
 ing the dearest rights and libei-ties of his country." 
 
 A. Lincoln. 
 
 ELECTIONS IN LOUISIANA. 
 
 About this time there was an effort making to get up 
 some sort of make-shift representation of Louisiana *in 
 Congress. How wrongful was the often repeated charge 
 that Mr. Lincoln endeavored to secure support for his 
 administration and a reelection for himself by irregular 
 and violent means of conducting elections, and how 
 opposed he was in feeling, as well as in policy to any such 
 methods, are strikingly shown in the following letter : 
 
 ExECTiTivE Mansion, Washington, November 21, 1862. 
 Bear Sir— Dr. Kennedy, bearer of this, has some apprehension 
 that Federal officers, not citizens of Louisiana, may be set up 
 as candidates for Congress in that State. Li my view there 
 could be no possible object in such an election. We do not 
 particularly need members of Congress from those States to en- 
 
148 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 able us to get along with legislation here. What we do want 
 is the conclusive evidence that respectable citizens of Louisiana 
 are willing to be members of Congress and to swear support to 
 the Constitution, and that other respectable citizens there are 
 willing to vote for them and send them. To send a jDarcel of 
 Northern men here as representatives, elected as would be un- 
 derstood (and perhaps really so), at the point of the bayonet, 
 would be disgraceful and outrageous ; and were I a member of 
 Congress here, I would vote against admitting any such man to 
 a seat. Yours, very truly, A. Lincoln. 
 
 Hon. G. F. SnEPLEY. 
 
 MESSAGE TO CONGRESS, DEC. Ist, 1862. 
 
 What had been the recent experience of the country, 
 and what was its internal condition and its relations with 
 foreign powers, are very fully and lucidly set forth in 
 Mr. Lincoln's Message to Congress at the opening of its 
 session of 1862-3, which follows : 
 
 Fellow- Citizens of the Senate and House of Hepresentatives — Since 
 your last annual assembling, another year of health and bounti- 
 ful harvests has passed, and while it has not pleased the Al- 
 mighty to bless us with a return of peace, we can but press on, 
 guided by the best light He gives us, trusting that, in his own 
 good time and wise way, all will be well. 
 
 The correspondence, touching foreign affairs, which has taken 
 place during the last year, is herewith submitted, in virtual 
 compliance mth a request to that effect made by the House of 
 Kepresentatives near the close of the last session of Congress. 
 If the condition of our relations with other nations is less 
 gratifying than it has usually been at former periods, it is cer- 
 tainly more satisfactory than a nation so unhappily distracted 
 as we are might reasonably have apprehended. In the month 
 of June last there were some grounds to expect tUat the mari- 
 time Powers which, at the beginning of our domestic difficul- 
 ties, so unwisely and so unnecessarily, as we think, recognized 
 the insurgents as a belligerent, would soon recede from that po- 
 
THE martyr's monument. 149 
 
 sition, which has proved only less injurious to themselves than 
 to our country. But the temporary reverses which afterward 
 befell the National arms, and which were exaggerated by our 
 own disloyal citizens abroad, have hitherto delayed that act of 
 simple justice. 
 
 The civil war which has so radical^ changed for the moment 
 the occupations and habits of the American people, has neces- 
 sarily disturbed the social condition, and affected very deeply 
 the prosperity of the nations with which we have carried on a 
 commerce that has been steadily increasing throughout a period 
 of half a century. It has, at the same time, excited political 
 ambitions and apprehensions which have produced a profound 
 agitation throughout the civilized world. In this unusual agi- 
 tation we have forborne from taking part in any controversy 
 between foreign states, and between parties or factions in such 
 states. We have attempted no i^roiDagandism, and acknowledged 
 no revolution. But we have left to every nation the exclusive 
 conduct and management of its own affairs. Our struggle has 
 been, of course, contemplated by foreign nations with reference 
 less to its own merits, than to its supposed and often exaggera- 
 ted effects, and consequences resulting to those nations them- 
 selves. Nevertheless, complaint on the part of this Government, 
 even if it were just, would certainly be unwise. 
 
 The treaty with Great Britain for the suppression of the slave 
 trade has been put into ojDeration with a good ]Drospect of com- 
 plete success. It is an occasion of special pleasure to acknowl- 
 edge that the execution of it on the part of Her Majesty's 
 Government, has been marked with a jealous respect for the 
 authority of the United States and the rights of their moral 
 and loyal citizens. 
 
 The convention with Hanover for the abolition of the stade 
 dues has been carried into full effect, under the act of Congress 
 for that purpose. 
 
 A blockade of three thousand miles of seacoast could not be 
 established and vigorously enforced, in a season of great couj- 
 mercial activity like the present, mthout committing occasional 
 mistakes, and inflicting unintentional injuries upon foreign na- 
 tions and their subjects. 
 
150 
 
 A civil war occurring in a country where foreigners reside 
 and carry on trade under treaty stipulations, is necessarily fruit- 
 ful of complaints of the violation of neutral rights. All such 
 collisions tend to excite misapprehensions, and possibly to pro- 
 duce mutual reclamations between nations which have a com- 
 mon interest in preserving peace and friendship. In clear cases 
 of these kinds I have, so far as possible, heard and redressed 
 complaints which have been presented by friendly Powers. 
 There is still, however, a large and augmenting number of 
 doubtful cases, upon which the Government is unable to agree 
 with the Governments whose jDrotection is demanded by the 
 claimants. There are, moreover, many cases in which the Uni- 
 ted States, or their citizens, suffer wrongs from the naval or 
 military authorities of foreign nations, which the Governments 
 of these states are not at once prepared to redress. I have pro- 
 posed to some of the foreig-n states thus interested, mutual con- 
 ventions to examine and adjust such complaints. This ^d reposi- 
 tion has been made especially to Great Britain, to France, to 
 Spain, and to Prussia. In each case it has been kindly received, 
 but has not yet been formally adopted. 
 
 I deem it my duty to recommend an appropriation in behalt 
 of the owners of the Norwegian bark Admiral P. Tordenskiold, 
 which vessel was, in May, 1861, prevented by the commander 
 of the blockading force off Charleston from leaving that port 
 with cargo, notwithstanding a similar privilege had, shortly 
 before, been granted to an English vessel. I have directed the 
 Secretary of State to cause the papers in the case to be com- 
 municated to the proper committees. 
 
 Applications have been made to me by many free Americans 
 of African descent to favor their emigration, with a view to such 
 colonization as was contemj)lated in recent acts of Congress. 
 Other parties, at home and abroad — some from interested mo- 
 tives, others upon patriotic considerations, and still others in- 
 fluenced by philanthropic sentiments — have suggested similar 
 measures ; while, on the other hand, several of the Spanish- 
 American Eepublics have protested against the sending of such 
 colonies to their respective territories. Under these circum- 
 stances I have declined to move any such colony to any state 
 
THE martyr's monument. 151 
 
 without first obtaining the consent of its Government, with an 
 agreement on its part to receive and protect such emigrants in 
 all the rights of freemen ; and I have at the same time offered 
 to the several states situated within the tropics, or having colo- 
 nies there, to negotiate with them, subject to the advice and 
 consent of the Senate, to favor the voluntary emigration of per- 
 sons of that class to their respective territories, U23on conditions 
 th^t shall be equal, just, and humane. Liberia and Hayti are, as 
 yet, the only countries to which colonists of African descent 
 from here could go with certainty of being received and adopted 
 as citizens; and I regret to say such jDcrsons, contemplating 
 colonization, do not seem so willing to migrate to those coun- 
 tries as to some others, nor so williag as I think their interest 
 demands. I believe, however, opinion among them in this re- 
 spect is improving ; and that ere long there will be an aug- 
 mented and considerable migration to both these countries from 
 the United States. 
 
 The new commercial treaty between the United States and 
 the Sultan of Turkey has been carried into execution. 
 
 A commercial and consular treaty has been negotiated, subject 
 to the Senate's consent, with Liberia ; and a similar negotiation 
 is now pending with the Republic of Hayti. A considerable 
 improvement of the national commerce is expected to result 
 from these measures. 
 
 Our relations with Great Britain, France, Spain, Portugal, 
 Russia, Prussia, Denmark, Sweden, Austria, the Netherlands, 
 Italy, Rome, and the other EarojDean states, remain undisturbed. 
 Very favorable relations also continue to be maintained with 
 Turkey, Morocco, China, and Japan. 
 
 During the last year there has not only been no change of our 
 previous relations with the Independent States of our own con- 
 tinent, but more friendly sentiments than have heretofore existed 
 are believed to be entertained by these neighbors, whose safety 
 and progress are so intimately connected with our own. This 
 statement especially applies to Mexico, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, 
 Honduras, Peru, and Chili. 
 
 The commission under the convention with the Republic of 
 New Grenada closed its session without having audited and 
 
152 THE MARTYR'S MONUMENT. 
 
 passed upon all the claims wliicli were submitted to it. A 
 proposition is pending to revive the convention, that it be able 
 to do more complete justice. The joint commission between 
 the United States and the Republic of Costa Rica has completed 
 its labors and submitted its report. 
 
 I have favored the project for connecting the United States 
 with Europe by an Atlantic telegraph, and a similar project to 
 extend the telegraph from San Francisco to connect by a Pacific 
 telegraph with the line which is being extended across the Rus- 
 sian Empire. 
 
 The Tenitories of the United States, with unimportant excep- 
 tions, have remained undisturbed by the civil war ; and they 
 are exhibiting such evidence of prosi>eiity as justifies an expec- 
 tation that some of them will soon be in a condition to be 
 organized as States, and be constitutionally admitted into the 
 Federal Union. 
 
 The immense mineral resources of some of those Ten-itories 
 ought to be developed as rapidly as possible. Every step in 
 that direction would have a tendency to improve the revenues 
 of the Government and diminish the burdens of the people. It 
 is worthy of your serious consideration whether some extraordi- 
 nary measures to promote that end cannot be adopted. The 
 means which suggests itself as most likely to be effective, is a 
 scientific exploration of the mineral regions in those Territories, 
 with a view to the publication of its results at home and in for- 
 eign countries — results which cannot fail to be auspicious. 
 
 The condition of the finances will claim your most diligent 
 consideration. The vast expenditures incident to the military 
 and naval operations required for the supiDression of the rebel- 
 lion have been hitherto met with a promptitude and certainty 
 imusual in similar circumstances; and the public credit has 
 been fully maintained. The continuance of the Vvar, however, 
 and the increased disbursements made necessary by the aug- 
 mented forces now in the field, demand your best reflections as 
 to the best modes of providing the necessary revenue, without 
 injury to business, and with the least possible burdens upon 
 labor. 
 
 The susi^ension of specie payments by the banks, soon after 
 
153 
 
 the commencement of your last session, made large issues of 
 United States notes unavoidable. In no other way could the 
 payment of the troops and the satisfaction of other just de- 
 mands, be so economically or so well provided for. The judi- 
 cious legislation of Congress, securing the receivability of these 
 notes for loans and internal duties, and making them a legal 
 tender for other debts, has made them a universal currency, and 
 has satisfied, partially at least, and for the time, the long felt 
 want of an uniform circulating medium, saving thereby to the 
 people immense sums in discounts and exchanges. 
 
 A return to specie payments, however, at the earliest period 
 comj)atible with due regard to all interests concerned, should 
 ever be kept in view. Fluctuations in the value of currency are 
 always injurious, and to reduce these fluctuations to the lowest 
 possible point will always be a leading purpose in wise legisla- 
 tion. Convertibility, prompt and certaiu convertibility into 
 coin, is generally acknowledged to be the best and surest safe- 
 guard against them ; and it is extremely doubtful whether a 
 circulation of 'United States notes, payable in coin, and suffici- 
 ently large for the wants of the peoj)le, can be permanently, use- 
 fully, and safely maintained. 
 
 Is there, then, any other mode in which the necessary provision 
 for the public wants can be made, and the great advantages of 
 a safe and uniform currency secured ? 
 
 I know of none which promises so certain results, and is at 
 the same time so unobjectionable as the organization of banking 
 associations, under a general act of Congress, well guarded in. 
 its provisions. To such associations the Government might 
 furnish circulating notes, on the security of United States bonds 
 dej^osited in the Treasury. These notes, prepared under the 
 supervision of proper officers, being uniform in appearance and 
 security, and convertible always into coin, would at once pro- 
 tect labor against the evils of a vicious currency, and facilitate 
 comm^erce by cheap and safe exchanges. 
 
 A moderate reservation from the interest on the bonds would 
 compensate the United States for the preparation and distribu- 
 tion of the notes, and a general supervision of the system, and 
 would lighten the burden of that part of the public debt 
 
 •7* 
 
154 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 employed as securities. The public credit, moreover, would be 
 greatly iuiproved, and the negotiation of new loans greatly facil- 
 itated by the steady market demand for Government bonds 
 which the adoption of the proposed system would create. 
 
 It is an additional recommendation of the measure, of con- 
 siderable weight, in my judgment, that it would reconcile as 
 far as possible all existing interests, by the opportunity offered 
 to existing institutions to reorganize under the act, substitut- 
 ing only the secured uniform national circulation for the local 
 and various circulation, secured and unsecured, now issued by 
 them. 
 
 The receipts into the Treasury, from all sources, including 
 loans, and balance from the preceding year, for the fiscal year 
 ending on the 30th of June, 1863, were $583,885,247 60, of 
 which sum $49,056,397 63 were derived from customs ; $1,795,- 
 331 73 from the direct tax ; from public lands, $152,203 77 ; 
 from miscellaneous sources, $931,787 64 ; from loans in all forius, 
 $529,692,460 50. The remainder, $2,257,065 80, was the bal- 
 ance from last year. 
 
 The disbursements during the same j)eriod were for Congres- 
 sional, Executive, and Judicial purposes, $5,939,009 29 ; for for- 
 eign intercourse, $1,339,710 35; for miscellaneous expenses, 
 including the mints, loans, i^ost-office deficiencies, collection of 
 revenue, and other like charges, $14,129,771 50; for expenses 
 under the Interior Department, $3,102,985 52 ; under the War 
 Department, $394,368,407 36 ; under the Navy Department, 
 $42,674,569 69 ; for interest on the public debt, $13,190,324 45 ; 
 and for payment of public debt, including reimbursement of 
 temj)orary loan, and redemptions, $96,096,922 09 ; making an 
 aggregate of $570,841,700 25, and leaving a balance in the 
 Treasury on the 1st day of July, 1862, of $13,043,546 81. 
 
 It should be observed that the sum of $96,096,922 09, ex- 
 pended for reimbursements and redemption of public debt, 
 being included also in the loans made, may be proi^erly de- 
 ducted, both from receipts and expenditures, leading the actual 
 receipts for the year, $487,788,324 97, and the expenditures, 
 $474,744,778.16. 
 
 Other information on the subject of the finances will be found 
 
THE martyr's monument. 155 
 
 in the report of the Secretary of the Treasury, to whose state- 
 ments and views I invite your most candid and considerate 
 attention. 
 
 The reports of the Secretaries of War and of the Navy are 
 herewith transmitted. These reports, though lengthy, are 
 scarcely more than brief abstracts of the very numerous and 
 extensive transactions and operations conducted through those 
 Departments. Nor could I give a summary of them here, 
 upon any princiiDle which would admit of its being much shorter 
 than the reports themselves. I therefore content myself with 
 laying the reports before you, and asking your attention to 
 them. 
 
 It gives me pleasure to report a decided improvement in the 
 financial condition of the Post-Ofiice Department, as compared 
 with several preceding years. The receipts for the fiscal year 
 1861 amounted to $8,349,296 40, which embraced the revenue 
 from all the States of the Union for three-quarters of that year. 
 Notwithstanding the cessation of revenue from the so-called 
 seceded States during the last fiscal year, the increase of the 
 correspondence of the loyal States has been sufficient to pro- 
 duce a revenue during the same year of $8,299,820 90, being 
 only $50,000 less than was derived from all the States of the 
 Union during the previous year. The expenditures show a 
 still more favorable result. The amount expended in 1861 was 
 "$13,006,759 11. For the last year the amount has been reduced 
 to $11,125,364 13, showing a decrease of about $2,481,000 in 
 the expenditures as compared with the preceding year, and 
 about $3,750,000 as compared with the fiscal year 1860. The 
 deficiency in the Department for the previous year was $4,551,- 
 966 98. For the last fiscal year it was reduced to $2,112,814 57. 
 These favorable results are in part owing to the cessation of 
 mail service in the insurrectionary States, and in part to a care- 
 ful re\dew of all expenditures in that Department in the inter- 
 est of economy. The efficiency of the postal service, it is 
 believed, has also been much improved. The Postmaster-Gen- 
 eral has also opened a correspondence, through the Department 
 of State, yvith foreign governments, proposing a convention of 
 postal representatives for the purpose of simjplifying the rates 
 
156 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 of foreign postage, and to expedite the foreign mails. This 
 proposition, equally important to our adopted citizens and to 
 the commercial interests of this country, has been favorably 
 entertained and agreed to by all the governments from whom 
 replies have been received. 
 
 I ask the attention of Congress to the suggestions of the Post- 
 master-General in his report respecting the further legislation 
 required, in his opinion, for the benefit of the postal service. 
 . The Secretary of the Interior reports as follows in regard to 
 the public lands : 
 
 " The public lands have ceased to be a source of revenue. 
 From the 1st July, 1861, to the 30th September, 1862, the en- 
 tire cash receipts from the sale of lands were $137,476 26 — a 
 sum much less than the expenses of our land system during the 
 same period. The homestead law^, ^vhich will take efi'ect on the 
 1st of January next, offers such inducements to settlers that 
 sales for cash cannot be expected, to an extent sufficient to meet 
 the expense of the General Land Office, and the cost of survey- 
 ing and bringing the land into market." 
 
 The discrepancy between the sum here stated as arising from 
 the sales of the public lauds, and the sum derived from the same 
 source as reported from the Treasury Department, arises, I un- 
 derstand, from the fact that the i^eriods of time, though appa- 
 rently, were not really coincident at the beginning-point — the 
 Treasury report including a considerable sum now which had 
 previously been reported from the Interior — sufficiently large 
 to greatly overreach the sum derived from the three months 
 now reported upon by the Interior, and not by the Treasury. 
 
 The Indian tribes upon our frontiers have, during the past year, 
 manifested a spirit of insubordination, and, at several points, 
 have engaged in open hostilities against the white settlements 
 in their vicinity. The tribes occuiDying the Indian country 
 south of Kansas renounced their allegiance to the United States, 
 and entered into treaties with the insurgents. Those who re- 
 mained loyal to the United States were driven from the country. 
 The chief of the Cherokees has visited this city for the pui-pose 
 of restoring the former relations of the tribe with the United 
 States. He alleges that they were constrained, by superior 
 
THE maetyr's monument. 157 
 
 force, to enter into treaties vath the insurgents, and that the 
 United States neglected to furnish the protection which their 
 treaty stipulations required. 
 
 In the month of August last, the Sioux Indians in Minnesota, 
 attacked the settlements in their vicinity with extreme ferocity, 
 killing, indiscriminately, men, women, and children. This at- 
 tack was wholly unexpected, and therefore no means of defence' 
 had been provided. It is estimated that not less than eight 
 hundred persons were killed by the Indians, and a large amount- 
 of property was destroyed. How this outbreak was- induced is 
 not definitely known, and suspicions, which may be unjust, need 
 not to be stated. Information was received by the Indian Bu- 
 reau, from difiierent sources, about the time hostilities were 
 commenced, that a simultaneous attack was to be made upon 
 the white settlements l)y all the tribes between the Mississippi 
 River and the Rocky Mountains. The State of Minnesota has 
 suffered great injury from this Indian war. A large portion of 
 her territory has been depopulated, and a severe loss has been 
 sustained by the destruction of i^roperty. The people of that 
 State manifest much anxiety for the removal of the tribes beyond 
 the limits of the State, as a guarantee against future hostilities. 
 The Commissioner of Indian Affairs will furnish full details. I 
 submit for your especial consideration, w^hether our Indian sys- 
 tem shall not be remodeled. Many wise and good men have 
 impressed me with the belief that this can be profitably done. 
 
 I submit a statement of the proceedings of commissioners, 
 which shows the progress that has been made in the enterprise 
 of constructing the Pacific railroad. And this suggests the ear- 
 liest completion of this road, and also the favorable action of 
 Congress upon the projects nov\r pending before them for en- 
 larging the capacities of the great canals in New York and Illi- 
 nois, as being of vital and rapidly increasing importance to the 
 whole nation, and especially to the vast interior region herein- 
 after to be noticed at some greater length. I purpose having 
 prepared and laid before you at an early day some interesting 
 and valuable statistical information upon this subject. The 
 military and commercial imijortance of enlarging the Rlinois 
 and Michigan canal, and improving the Illinois River, is pre- 
 
158 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 sented in the report of Col. Webster to the Secretary of War, 
 and now transmitted to Congress. I respectfully ask attention 
 to it. 
 
 To carry out the provisions of the act of Congress of the 15th 
 of May last, I have caused the Department of Agriculture of the 
 United States to be organized. 
 
 The commissioner informs me that within the period of a few 
 months this department has established an extensive system of 
 correspondence and exchanges, both at home and abroad, which 
 promises to effect highly beneficial results in the development 
 of a correct knowledge of recent improvements in agriculture, 
 in the introduction of new products, and in the collection of 
 the agricultural statistics of the difi"erent States. Also that it 
 will soon be prepared to distribute largely seeds, cereals, plants 
 and cuttings, and has already published and liberally diffused 
 much valuable information in anticipation of a more elaborate 
 report, which will in due time be furnished, embracing some 
 valuable tests in chemical science now in progress in the lab- 
 oratory. 
 
 The creation of this department was for the more immediate 
 benefit of a large class of our most valuable fellow-citizens ; and 
 I trust that the liberal basis upon which it has been organized 
 will not only meet your approbation, but that it will realize, at 
 no distant day, all the fondest anticipations of its most san- 
 guine friends, and become the fruitful source of advantage to 
 all our people. 
 
 On the 22d day of September last, a proclamation was issued 
 by the Executive, a copy of which is herewith submitted. 
 
 In accordance with the purpose expressed in the second par- 
 agraph of that paper, I now respectfully call your attention to 
 what may be called " comj)ensated emancipation." 
 
 A nation may be said to consist of its territory, its people, 
 and its laws. The territory is the only part which i»of certain 
 durability. " One generation passeth away, and another gener- 
 ation Cometh, but the earth abideth forever." It is of the first 
 importance to duly consider and estimate this ever-enduring 
 part. That portion of the earth's surface which is owned and 
 inhabited by the people of the United States, is well adapted to 
 
THE martyr's monument. 159 
 
 the home of one national family ; and it is not well adapted for 
 two or more. Its vast extent, and ita variety of climate and 
 productions, are of advantage in this age for one people, what- 
 ever they might have been in former ages. Steam, telegraphs 
 and intelligence have brought these to be an advantageous com- 
 bination for one united people. 
 
 In the Inaugural Address I briefly pointed out the total in- 
 adequacy of disunion as a remedy for the diflferenes between the 
 people of the two sections. I did so in language which I can 
 not improve, and which, therefore, I beg to repeat : 
 
 " One section of our country believes slavery is right, and 
 ought to be extended, while the other believes it is wrong, and 
 ought not to be extended. This is the only substantial dispute. 
 The fugitive slave-clause of the Constitution, and the law for the 
 suppression of the foreign slave-trade, are each as well enforced, 
 perhaps, as any law can ever be in a community where the 
 moral sense of the people imperfectly supports the law itself. 
 The great body of the people abide by the dry legal obligation 
 in both cases, and a few break over in each. This, I think, can 
 not be i^erfectly cured ; and it would be worse, in both cases, 
 after the separation of the sections than before. The foreign 
 slave-trade, now imperfectly suppressed, would be ultimately 
 revived without restriction in one section; while fugitive slaves, 
 now only partially surrendered, would not be surrendered at all 
 by the other. 
 
 " Physically sx)eaking, we can not separate. We can not re- 
 move our respective sections from each other, nor build an im- 
 passable wall between them. A husband and wife may be di- 
 vorced, and go out of the presence and beyond the reach of 
 each other ; but the different parts of our country can not do 
 this. They can not but remain face to face ; and intercourse, 
 either amicable or hostile, must continue between them. Is it 
 possible, 4hen, to make that intercourse more advantageous or 
 more satisfactory after separation than before? Can aliens 
 make treaties easier than friends can make laws ? Can treaties 
 be more faithfully enforced between aliens than laws can among 
 friends ? Suppose you go to war, you can not fight always ; and 
 when, after much loss on both sides, and no gain on either, you 
 
160 THE MARTYR'S MONUMENT. 
 
 cease fighting, the identical old questions, as to terms of inter- 
 course, are again upon you." 
 
 There is no line, straight or crooked, suitable for a national 
 boundary, upon which to divide. Trace through, from east to 
 west, upon the line between the free and slave country, and we 
 shall find a little more than one-third of its length are rivers, 
 easy to be crossed, and populated, or soon to be populated, 
 thickly upon both sides ; while nearly all its remaining length 
 are merely surveyors' lines, over which people may walk back 
 and forth without any consciousness of their presence. No 
 part of this line can be made any more difiicult to pass by 
 writing it down on paper or parchment as a national boundary. 
 The fact of separation, if it comes, gives up, on the part of the 
 seceding sectiopB, the fugitive-slave clause, along with all other 
 constitutional obligations upon the section seceded from, while 
 I should expect no treaty stipulation would ever be made to 
 take its place. 
 
 But there is another difficulty. The great interior region, 
 bounded east by the AUeghanies, north by the British domin- 
 ions, west by the Rocky Mountains, and south by the line along 
 which the culture of com and cotton meets, and which includes 
 part of Virginia, part of Tennessee, all of Kentucky, Ohio, 
 Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Missouii, 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. Once half as populous as Massa- 
 chusetts already is, it would have more than seventy-five millions 
 of people. ^ A glance at the map shows that, territorially speak- 
 ing, it is the great body of the Republic. The other parts are 
 but marginal borders to it, the magnificent region sloping west 
 from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific being the deepest, and 
 also the richest in undeveloped resources. In the production 
 of provisions, grains, grasses, and all which proceed from them, 
 this great interior region is naturally one of the most important 
 of the world. Ascertain from the statistics the small propor- 
 
THE martyr's monument. 161 
 
 tion of the region ■which has as yet been brought into cultiva- 
 tion, and also the large and rapidly increasing amount of its 
 products, and we shall be overwhelmed with the magnitude of 
 the prospect presented. And yet this region has no seacoast — 
 touches no ocean anywhere. As part of one nation, its people 
 now find, and may forever find, their way to Europe by New 
 York, to South America and Africa by New Orleans, and to Asia 
 by San Francisco. But separate our common country into two 
 nations, as designed by the present rebellion, and every man of 
 this great interior region is thereby cut off from some one or 
 more of these outlets, not perhaps by a physical barrier, but by 
 embarrassing and onerous trade regulations. 
 
 And this is true, wherever a dividing or boundary line may 
 be fixed. Place it between the now free and slave country, or 
 , place it south of Kentucky, or north of Ohio, and still the 
 truth remains that none south of it can trade to any port or 
 place north of it, and none north of it can trade to any port or 
 place south of it except upon terms dictated by a government 
 foreign to them. These outlets, east, west, and south, are 
 indispensable to the well-being of the people inhabiting and to 
 inhabit this vast interior region. Which of the three may be 
 the best is no proper question. All are better than either, and 
 all of right belong to that people and to their successors forever. 
 True to themselves, they will not ask where a line of separa- 
 tion shall be, but will vow rather that there shall be no such 
 line. Nor are the marginal regions less interested in these 
 communications to and through them to the great outside 
 world. They too, and each of thcEji, must have access to this 
 Egypt of the West, without paying toll at the crossing of any 
 national boundary. 
 
 Our national strife spiings not from our permanent part ; not 
 from the land we inhabit; not from our national homestead. 
 There is no possible severing of this but would multiply and 
 not mitigate evils among us. In all its adaptations and apti- 
 tudes it demands union and abhors separation. In fact, it 
 would ere long force reunion, however much of blood and 
 treasure the separation might have cost. 
 
 Our strife pertains to ourselves — to the passing generations 
 
162 
 
 of men ; and it can, without convulsion, be hushed forever with 
 the passing of one generation. 
 
 In this view, I recommend the adoption of the following 
 resolution and articles amendatory to the Constitution of the 
 United States : 
 
 Besohed ly the Senate and House of Bepresentatwes of the 
 United States of America in Congress assemUed (two-thirds of 
 both Houses concurring), That the following articles be pro- 
 posed to the Legislatures (or Conventions) of the several States, 
 as amendments to the Constitution of the United States, all or 
 any of which articles, when ratified by three-fourths of the said 
 Legislatures (or Conventions), to be valid as part or parts of the 
 said Constitution, viz : 
 
 Article. — Every State, wherein Slavery now exists, which* 
 shall abolish the same therein at any time or times before the 
 first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand and 
 nine hundred, shall receive compensation from the United 
 States as follows, to wit : 
 
 The President of the United States shall deliver to every such 
 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 installments, or in one parcel, at the comple- 
 tion 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 
 slaveiy therein, shall refund to the United States the bonds 
 BO received, or the value thereof, and all interest paid thereon. 
 
 Article. — All slaves who shall have enjoyed actual freedom 
 by the chances of the war, at any time before the end of the 
 rebellion, shall be forever free ; but all OT\Tiers 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 
 
THE martyr's monument. 163 
 
 slavery, but in such way that no slave shall be twice accounted 
 for. 
 
 Article. — Congress may appropriate money, and othei-wise 
 provide for colonizing free colored persons, with their own 
 consent, at any place or places without the United States. 
 
 I beg indulgence to discuss these proposed articles at some 
 lengtt. Without slavery the rebellion could never have existed ; 
 without slavery it could not continue. 
 
 Among the friends of the Union there is great diversity of 
 ^sentiment and of policy in regard to slavery, and the African 
 race amongst us. Some would perpetuate slavery ; some would 
 abolish it suddenly, and without compensation ; some would 
 abolish it gradually, and with compensation ; some would 
 remove the freed people from us, and some would retain them 
 with us : and there are yet other minor diversities. Because of 
 these diversities we waste much strength among ourselves. By 
 mutual concession we should harmonize and act together. This 
 would be compromise ; but it would be compromise among the 
 friends and not the enemies of the Union. These articles are 
 intended to embody a j)lau of such mutual concessions. If the 
 plan shall be adopted, it is assumed that emancipation will fol- 
 low in at least several of the States. 
 
 As LO the first article, the main points are : first, the emanci- 
 pation , secondly, the length of time for consummating it — 
 thirty-seven years ; and, thirdly, the compensation. 
 
 The emancipation will be unsatisfactory to the advocates of 
 perpetual slavery ; but the length of time should greatly miti- 
 gate their dissatisfaction. The time spares both races from the 
 evils of sudden derangement — in fact, from the necessity of any 
 derangement ; while most of those whose habitual course of 
 thought will be disturbed by the measure will have passed away 
 before its consummation. They will never see it. Another 
 class will hail the prospect of emancipation, but T\dll deprecate 
 the length of time. They will feel that it gives too little to the 
 now living slaves. But it really gives them much. It saves 
 them from the vagrant destitution which must largely attend 
 immediate emancipation in localities where their numbers ^are 
 
164 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 very great ; and it gives the inspiring assurance that their pos- 
 terity shall be free forever. The plan leaves to each State 
 choosing to act under it, to abolish slavery now, or at the end 
 of the century, or at any intermediate time, or by degrees, ex- 
 tending over the whole or any part of the i^eriod ; and it obliges 
 no two States to proceed alike. It also provides for compensa- 
 tion, and generally the mode ot making it. This, it would 
 seem, must further mitigate the dissatisfaction of those who 
 favor perpetual slavery, and especially of those who are to re- 
 ceive the compensation. Doubless some of those who are to 
 pay and not receive will object. Yet the measure is both just 
 and economical. In a certain sense the liberation of slaves is 
 the destruction of property — property acquired by descent or 
 by purchase, the same as any other property. It is no less true 
 for having been often said, that the people of the South are not 
 more responsible for the original introduction of this property 
 than are the people of the North ; and when it is remembered 
 how unhesitatingly we all use cotton and sugar, and share the 
 profits of dealing in them, it may not be quite safe to say that 
 the South has been more responsible than the North for its con- 
 tinuance. If, then, for a common object this property is to be 
 sacrificed, is it not just that it be done at a common charge ? 
 
 And if with less money, or money more easily paid, we can 
 preserve the benefits of the Union by this means than we can 
 by the war alone, is it not also economical to do it ? Let us 
 consider it, then. Let us ascertain the sum we have expended 
 in the war since compensated emancipation was proposed last 
 March, and consider whether, if that measure had been promptly 
 accepted by even some of the Slave States, the same sum would 
 not have done more to close the war than has been otherwise 
 done. If so, the measure would save money, and, in that viev/, 
 would be a prudent and economical measure. Certainly it is 
 not so easy to pay something as it is to pay nothing ; but it is 
 easier to pay a large sum than it is to pay a larger one. And 
 it is easier to pay any sum v/hen we are able than it is to pay it 
 before we are able. The war requires large sums, and requires 
 them at once. The aggregate sum necessary for compensated 
 emancipation of course would be large. But it would require 
 
THE martyr's monument. 165 
 
 no ready cash, nor the bonds even, any faster than emancipa- 
 tion progresses. This might not, and probably would not, 
 close before the end of the thirty-seven years. At that time we 
 shall probably have a hundred millions of people to share the 
 burden, instead of thirty-one millions, as novr. And not only 
 so, but the increase of our population may be expected to con- 
 tinue for a long time after that period as rapidly as before ; be- 
 cause our territory Avill not have become full. I do not state 
 this inconsiderately. 
 
 At the same ratio of increase which we have maintained, on 
 an average, from our first national census, in 1790, until that of 
 1860, we should, in 1900, have a population of 103,208,415. 
 And why may we not continue that ratio — far beyond that 
 period ? Our abundant room — our broad national homestead 
 is our ample resource. Were our territory as limited as are the 
 British Isles, very certainly our population could not expand as 
 stated. Instead of receiving the foreign born as now, we should 
 be compelled to send part of the native bom away. But such is 
 not our condition. We have two millions nine hundred and sixty- 
 three thousand square miles. Europe has three millions and 
 eight hundred thousand, with a population averaging seventy- 
 three and one-third persons to the square mile. Why may not 
 our country at some time average as many ? Is it less fertile ? 
 Has it more waste surface, by mountains, rivers, lakes, deserts 
 or other causes ? Is it inferior to Europe in any natural advan- 
 tage ? If then we are, at some time, to be as populous as Eu- 
 rope, how soon ? As to when this may be, we can judge by the 
 j)ast and the present ; as to when it will be, if ever, depends 
 much on whether we maintain the Union. Several of our 
 States are already above the average of Europe — seventy-three 
 and a third to the square mile. Massachusetts 15/; Rhode 
 Island 133 ; Connecticut 99 ; New York and New Jersey, each 
 80. Also two other great States, Pennsylvania and Ohio, are 
 not far below, the former having 63 and the latter 59. The 
 States already above the European average, except New York, 
 have increased in as rapid a ratio, since passing that point, as ever 
 before ; while no one of them is equal to some other parts of our 
 countiy in natural capacity for sustaining a dense population. 
 
166 
 
 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 Taking the nation in the aggregate, and we find its population 
 and ratio of increase, for the several decennial periods, to be 
 as follows : 
 
 1799.... 3,939,827 
 
 1800 5,305,937 35.02 per cent, ratio of increase. 
 
 1810.... 7,239,814 36.45 " " 
 
 1820.... 9,638,131 33.13 " " 
 
 1830.... 12,866,020 33.49 " " 
 
 1840.... 17,069,453 32.67 " " 
 
 1850.... 23,191,876 35.87 " " 
 
 I860.... 31,443,790 35.58 " " 
 
 This shows an average decennial increase in 34.60 per cent, in 
 population through the seventy years, from our first to our last 
 census yet taken. It is seen that the ratio of increase, at r>o one 
 of these two periods, is either two per cent, below or two per 
 cent, above the average ; thus showing how inflexible, and con- 
 sequently how reliable, the law of increase in our case is. A.S- 
 suming that it will continue, it gives the following results • 
 
 1870 42,323,341 
 
 1880 56,966,216 
 
 1890 76,677,872 
 
 1900 103,208,415 
 
 1910 138,918,526 
 
 1920 186,984,335 
 
 1930 251,680,914 
 
 These figures show that our country may be as populous as 
 Europe now is at some j)oint between 1920 and 1930 — say about 
 1925 — our territory, at seventy-three and a third persons to the 
 square mile, being of capacity to contain 217,186,000. 
 
 And we will reach this, too, if we do not ourselves relinquish 
 the chance, by the folly and evils of disunion, or by long and 
 exhausting wars springing from the only great element of na- 
 tional discord among us. While it cannot be foreseen exactly 
 how much one huge example of secession, breeding lesser one? 
 
MONUMENT. 167 
 
 indefinitely, would retard population, civilization, and prosper- 
 ity, no one can doubt that the extent of it would be very great 
 and injurious. 
 
 The proposed emancipation would shorten the war, perpetu- 
 ate peace, insure this increase of jDopulation, and proportion- 
 ately the wealth of the country. With these we should pay all 
 the emancipation would cost, together with our other debt, 
 easier than we should pay our other debt without it. If we 
 had allowed our old national debt to run at six per cent, per 
 annum, simple interest, from the end of our Revolutionary 
 struggle until to-day, without paying anything on either prmci- 
 pal or interest, each man of us would owe less upon that debt 
 now than each man owed upon it then ; and this because our 
 increase of men, through the whole period, has been greater 
 than six per cent. ; has run faster than the interest uj)on the 
 debt. Thus, time alone relieves a debtor nation, so long as its 
 population increases faster than unpaid interest accumulates on 
 its debt. 
 
 This fact would be no excuse for delaying payment of what 
 is justly due ; but it shows the great imjDortance of time in this 
 connection — the great advantage of a policy by which we shall 
 not have to pay until we number a hrmdred millions, what, by 
 a different policy, we would have to pay now, when we number 
 but thirty-one millions. In a word, it shows that a dollar will 
 be much harder to pay for the war than will be a dollar for 
 the emancipation on the proposed plan. And then the latter 
 will cost no blood, no precious life. It will be a saving of both. 
 
 As to the second article, I think it would be impracticable to 
 return to bondage the class of persons therein contemplated. 
 Some of them, doubtless, in the property sense, belong to loyal 
 owners ; and hence provision is made in this article for com- 
 pensating such. 
 
 The third article relates to the future of the freed people. 
 It does not oblige, but merely authorizes Congress to aid in 
 colonizing such as may consent. This ought not to be regarded 
 as objectionable on the one hand or on the other, in so much as 
 it comes to nothing unless by the mutual consent of the people 
 
168 THE martyr's monument. ' 
 
 \ 
 to be deported, and the American voters through their repre- ; 
 sentatives in Congress. 
 
 I can not make it better known than it already is that I < 
 strongly favor colonization. And yet I wish to say there is 
 an objection urged against free colored persons remaining intt! 
 the country which is largely imaginary, if not sometimes mali- 
 cious. 
 
 It is insisted that their presence would injure and displace 
 white labor and white laborers. If there ever could be a proper 
 time for mere catch arguments, that time surely is not now. 
 In times like the present men should utter nothing for which 
 they would not willingly be responsible through time and in 
 eternity. Is it true, then, that colored people can displace any 
 more white labor by being free than by remaining slaves ? If they 
 stay in their old places they jostle no white laborers ; if they 
 leave their old places they leave them open to white laborers. 
 Logically there is neither more nor less of it. Emancipation 
 even without deportation, would probably enhance the wages 
 of white labor, and, very surely, would not reduce them. Thus 
 the customary amount of labor would still have to be performed 
 — the freed people would surely not do more than their old 
 proportion of it, and very probably for a time would do less, 
 leaving an increased part to white laborers, bringing their 
 labor into greater demand, and consequently enhancing the 
 wages of it. With deportation, even to a limited extent, 
 enhanced wages to white labor is mathematically certain. Labor 
 is like any other commodity in the market — increase the demand 
 for it and you increase the price of it. Reduce the supply of 
 black labor, by colonizing the black laborer out of the country, 
 and by precisely so much you increase the demand for and 
 wages of white labor. 
 
 But it is dreaded that the freed people will swarm forth and 
 cover the whole land ! Are they not already in the land ? Will 
 liberation make them any more numerous ? Equally distributed 
 among the whites of the whole country, there would be but 
 one colored to seven whites. Could the one, in any way, greatly 
 disturb the seven ? There are many communities now having 
 more than one free colored person to seven whites ; and this, 
 
169 
 
 without any apparent consciousness of evil from it. The Dis- 
 trict of Columbia and the States of Maryland and Delaware 
 are all in this condition. The District has more than one free 
 colored to six whites ; and yet, in its frequent petitions to Con- 
 gress, I believe it has never presented the presence of free col- 
 ored persons as one of its grievances. But why should eman- 
 cipation South send the freed people North ? People of any 
 color seldom run unless there be something to run from. Here- 
 tofore colored people, to some extent, have fled North from 
 bondage; and now, perhaps, from bondage and destitution* 
 But if gradual emancipation and deportation be adopted they 
 will have neither to flee from. Their old masters will give 
 them wages, at least until new laborers can be procured, and the 
 freed men in turn will gladly give their labor for the wages till 
 new homes can be found for them in congenial climes, and with 
 people of their own blood and race. This proposition can be 
 trusted on the mutual interests involved, xind in any event, 
 can not the North decide for itself whether to receive them ? 
 
 Again, as practice proves more than theory, in any case, has 
 there been any irruption of colored people northward because 
 of the abolishment of slavery in this District last spring ? 
 
 What I have said of the proportion of free colored persons 
 to the whites in the District is from the census of 1860, having 
 no reference to persons called contrabands, nor to those made 
 free by the act of Congress, abolishing slavery here. 
 
 The plan consisting of these articles is recommended, not but 
 that a restoration of national authority would be accepted with- 
 out its adoption. 
 
 Nor -wall the war, nor proceedings under the proclamation of 
 September 23, 1862, be stayed because of the recommendation 
 of this plan. Its timely adoption, I doubt not, would bring 
 restoration, and thereby stay both. 
 
 And, notwithstanding this plan, the recommendation that 
 Congress provide by law for compensating any State which 
 may adopt emancipation before this plan shall have been acted 
 upon, is hereby earnestly renewed. Such would be only 
 an advanced part of the plan^ and the same arguments apply 
 to both. 
 
170 THE MARTYRS MONUMENT. 
 
 This plan is recommended as a means not in exclusion of, 
 but additional to, all others for restoring and preserving the 
 national authority throughout the Union. The subject is 
 presented exclusively in its economical aspect. The plan 
 would, I am confident, secure peace more speedily, and main- 
 tain it more permanently, than can be done by force alone ; 
 while all it would cost, considering amounts, and manner of 
 payment, and times of payment, would be easier paid than 
 will be the additional cost of the war, if we solely rely upon 
 force. It is much — very much — that it would cost no blood 
 at all. 
 
 The plan is proposed as permanent constitutional law. It 
 can not become such, without the concurrence of, first, two- 
 thirds of Congress, and afterward three-fourths of the States. 
 The requisite three-fourths of the States will necessarily include 
 seven of the Slave States, Their concurrence, if obtained, will 
 give assurance of their severally adopting emancipation, at no 
 very distant day, upon the new constitutional terms. This 
 assurance would end the struggle now, and save the Union 
 forever. 
 
 I do not forget the gravity which should characterize a paper 
 addressed to the Congress of the nation by the Chief Magis- 
 trate of the nation. Nor do I forget that some of you are my 
 seniors ; nor that many of you have more experience than I in 
 the conduct of public afiairs. Yet I trust that, in view of the 
 great responsibility resting upon me, you will perceive no want 
 of respect to yourselves in any undue earnestness I may seem 
 to display. 
 
 Is it doubted, then, that the plan I propose, if adopted, would 
 shorten the war, and thus lessen its expenditure of money and 
 of blood? Is it doubted that it would restore the national 
 authority and national prosperity, and perpetuate both indefi- 
 nitely ? Is it doubted that we here — Congress and Executive — 
 can secure its adoption ? Will not the good people respond to 
 a united and earnest appeal from us ? Can we, can they, by 
 any other means, so certainly or so speedily assure these vital 
 objects? We can succeed only by concert. It is not "can 
 any of us imagine better?" but "can we all do better?" 
 
THE martyr's monument. 171 
 
 Object whatsoever is possible, still the question recurs, " can we 
 do better ?" The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to 
 the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, 
 and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we 
 must think anew, and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves, 
 and then we shall save our country. 
 
 Fellow-citizens, we cannot escape history. We of this Con- 
 gress and this Administration will be remembered in spite of 
 ourselves. No personal significance or insignificance can spare 
 one or another of us. The fiery trial through which we j)ass 
 will light us down in honor or dishonor to the latest generation. 
 We say that we are for the Union. The world will not forget that 
 we say this. We know how to save the Union. The world 
 knows we do know how to save it. We — even we here — hold 
 the power and bear the responsibility. In giving freedom to 
 the slave we assure freedom to the free — honorable alike in what 
 we give and what we preserve. We shall nobly save or meanly 
 lose the last best hope of earth. Other means may succeed, 
 this could not, cannot fail. The way is plain, peaceful, gener- 
 ous, just — a way, which, if followed, the world will forever ap- 
 plaud and God must forever bless. Abraham Lincoln. 
 
 I>ecember 1, 1862. 
 
 TO FERNANDO WOOD ON THE WAR. 
 
 Prominent among the apostles of Peace and the advo- 
 cates of a cessation of the war upon the rebels by the 
 Government, was Mr. Fernando Wood, formerly Major 
 of New York. To one of his letters, urging his views on 
 that subject, the President made the following conclusive 
 reply. History, to which Mr. Lincoln was willing to 
 leave his treatment of this question, has already justified it : 
 
 Executive Mansion, Washengton, December 12, 1862. 
 
 Hon. Fernando Wood — My Dear Sir — Your letter of the 8th, 
 with the accompanying note of same date, was received yester- 
 day. 
 
 The most important paragraph in the letter, as I consider, is 
 
172 
 
 in these words : " On the 25th of November last I was advised 
 by an authority which I deemed likely to be well informed, as 
 well as reliable and truthful, that the Southern States would 
 send representatives to the next Congress, provided that a full 
 and general amnesty should permit them to do so. No guaran- 
 tee or terms were asked for other than.the amnesty referred to." 
 
 I strongly suspect your information will prove to be ground- 
 less ; nevertheless, T thank you for communicating it to me. 
 Understanding the phrase in the paragraph above quoted — " the 
 Southern States would send representatives to the next Con- 
 gress" — to be substantially the same as that " the people of the 
 Southern States would cease resistance, and would reinaugurate, 
 submit to, and maintain the national authority within the limits 
 of such States, under the Constitution of the United States," I 
 say that in such case the war would cease on the part of the 
 United States ; and that if within a reasonable time " a full and 
 general amnesty" were necessary to such end, it would not be 
 withheld. 
 
 I do not think it would be jaroper now to communicate this, 
 formally, or informally, to the i^eople of the Southern States. 
 My belief is that they already know it ; and when they choose, it 
 ever, they can communicate with me unequivocally. Nor do I 
 think it proper now to suspend military oi3erations to try any 
 experiment of negotiation. 
 
 I should nevertheless receive, with great pleasure, the exact 
 information you now have, and also such other as you may in 
 any way obtain. Such information might be more valuable be- 
 fore the 1st of January than afterward. 
 
 While there is nothing in this letter which I shall dread to 
 see in history, it is, perhaps, better for the present that its 
 existence should not become public. I therefore have to request 
 that you will regard it as confidential. 
 
 Your obedient servant, A. Lincoln. 
 
 MESSAGE ON THE FINANCES. 
 
 One of the most important measures of this session 
 of Congress was the passage of an act authorizing the 
 
THE martyr's monument. 173 
 
 issue of $100,000,000, in Treasury notes, the main pur- 
 pose of which was the payment of tlie army and navy. 
 President Lincoln promptly affixed his signature to the 
 bill; but he returned it accompanied by the following 
 message, in which he set forth views of the financial con- 
 dition of the country, the wisdom of which after-expe- 
 rience fully sustained : 
 
 MESSAGE. 
 
 To the Senate and House of Representatixes : 
 
 I have signed the joint resolution to provide for the imme- 
 diate payment of the army and navy of the United States, passed 
 by the House of Representatives on the 14th, and by the Senate 
 on the loth inst. The joint resolution is a simple authority, 
 amounting, however, under the existing circumstances, to a di- 
 rection to the Secretarj^ of the Treasuiy to make an additional 
 issue of $100,000,000 in United States notes, if so much money 
 is needed, for the payment of the army and navy. My approval 
 is given in order that every possible facility may be afforded for 
 the prompt discharge of all arrears of pay due to our soldiers and 
 our sailors. 
 
 While giving this approval, however, I think it my duty to 
 express my sincere regret that it has been found necessary to 
 authorize so large an additional issue of United States notes, 
 w^hen this circulation, and that of the suspended banks together, 
 have become already so redundant as to increase prices beyond 
 real values, thereby augmenting the cost of li\T.ng, to the iujury 
 of labor, and the cost of supplies, to the injury of the whole 
 country. It seems very plain that continued issues of United 
 States notes, without any check to the issues of suspended 
 banks, and without adequate provision for the raising of money 
 by loans, and for funding the issues, so as to keep them within 
 due limits, must soon produce disastrous consequences; and 
 this matter api^ears to me so important that I feel bound to 
 avail myself of this occasion to ask the special attention of 
 Congress to it. 
 
174 
 
 That Congress has power to regulate the currency of the 
 country can hardly admit of doubt, and that a judicious meas- 
 ure to prevent the deterioration of this currency, by a reason- 
 able taxation of bank circulation, or otherwise, is needed, seems 
 equally clear. Independently of this general consideration, it 
 would be unjust to the people at large to exempt banks enjoy- 
 ing the special privilege of circulation, from their just propor- 
 tion of the public burdens. 
 
 In order to raise money by way of loans most easily and 
 cheaply, it is clearly necessary to give every possible support to 
 the public credit. To that end, a uniform currency, in which 
 taxes, subscriptions, loans, and all other ordinary j)ublic dues 
 may be paid, is almost if not quite indispensable. Such a cur- 
 rency can be furnished by banking associations ' authorized un- 
 der a general act of Congress, as suggested in my message at the 
 beginning of the present session. The securing of this circula- 
 tion by the pledge of the United States bonds, as herein sug- 
 gested, would still further facilitate loans, by increasing the 
 present and causing a future demand for such bonds. 
 
 In view of the actual financial embarrassments of the Govern- 
 ment, and of the greater embarrassment sure to come if the 
 necessary means of relief be not afforded, I feel that I should 
 not perform my duty by a simple announcement of my aj^proval 
 of the joint resolution, which proposes relief only by increasing 
 the circulation, without expressing my earnest desire that meas- 
 ures, such in substance as that I have just referred to, may re- 
 ceive the early sanction of Congress. By such measures, in my 
 opinion, will payment be most certainly secured, not only to the 
 army and navy, but to all honest creditors of the Government, 
 and satisfactory provisions made for future demands on the 
 Treasury. Abraham Lincoln. 
 
 PROCLAMATION OF EMANCIPATION. 
 
 The first day of the year 1863 was signalized by the 
 issuing of a Proclamation of Emancipation according to the 
 President's promise in his preliminary proclamation. It 
 
THE martyr's monument. 175 
 
 not onlj declared the persons mentioned in it free, but 
 announced that they would be received into the service 
 of the Government. 
 
 proclamation. 
 
 Wliereas, on the 22d day of September, in the year of our 
 Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, a proclama- 
 tion was issued by the President of the United States, contain- 
 ing, among other things, the following, to wit : 
 
 That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one 
 thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as 
 slaves within any States or designated part of a State, the peo- 
 ple whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, 
 shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free ; and the Execu- 
 tive Government of the United States, including the military 
 and naval authority thereof, T\dll 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 elforts 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 rebel- 
 lion against the United States ; and the fact that any State, or 
 the people thereof shall on that day be in good faith represented 
 in the Congress of the United States, by members chosen thereto 
 at elections wherein a majority of the qualified voters of such 
 State shall have participated, shall, in the absence of strong 
 countervailing testimony, be deemed conclusive evidence that 
 such State, and the people thereof, are not then in rebellion 
 against the United States. 
 
 Now, therefore, I Abraham Lhtcoln, President of the United 
 States, by virtue of the power in me vested as Commander-in- 
 Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States in time of 
 actual armed rebellion against the authority and Government 
 of the United States, and as a fit and necessary war measure for 
 suppressing said rebellion, do, on this fij-st day of January, in 
 the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty- 
 
176 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 three, and in accordance witli my purpose so to do, publicly 
 proclaimed for the full period of one hundred days, from the 
 day fii*st above mentioned, order and designate, as the States 
 and parts of States wherein the people thereof respectively are 
 this day in rebellion against the United States, the following, 
 to wit : 
 
 Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana (except the parishes of St. Ber- 
 nard, Plaquemines, Jefferson, St. John, St. Charles, St. James, 
 Ascension, Assumption, Terre Bonne, Lafourche, St. Marie, St. 
 Martin and Orleans, including the city of New Orleans), Missis- 
 sippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Caro- 
 lina, and Virginia (except the forty-eight counties designated as 
 West Virginia^ and also the counties of Berkely, Accomac, 
 Northampton, Elizabeth City, York, Princess Anne, and Nor- 
 folk, including the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth), and 
 which excepted parts are for the present left precisely as if this 
 proclamation were not issued. 
 
 And by virtue of the power and for the purpose aforesaid, I 
 do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said 
 designated States and parts of States are and henceforward shall 
 be free; and that the Executive Government of the United 
 States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will 
 recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons. 
 
 And I hereby enjoin upon the x^eople so declared to be free to 
 abstain from all violence, unless in necessary self-defence ; and 
 I recommend to them that, in all cases when allowed, they labor 
 faithfully for reasonable wages. 
 
 And I further declare and make known that such persons, of 
 suitable condition, will be received into the armed service of 
 the United States to garrison forts, positions, stations, and other 
 places, and to man vessels of all sorts in said service. 
 
 And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice 
 warranted by the Constitution upon military necessity, I invoke 
 the considerate judgment of mankind, and the gracious favor 
 of Almighty God. 
 
 In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my name, and 
 caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. 
 
THE martyr's monument. 177 
 
 Done at the city of Washington, this first day of January, in the 
 
 year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty- 
 
 [l. s.] three, and of the independence of the United States the 
 
 eighty- seventh. Abraham Lincoln. 
 
 By the President : 
 
 Wm. H. Skward, Secretary of State. 
 
 letters to BRITISH WORKINGMEN. 
 
 The workingmen in some of the large cities of Great 
 Britain showed themselves almost from the beginning of 
 the rebellion friendly to the cause of the Republic, al- 
 though they suffered from the consequences of the war. 
 In two of these cities — Manchester and London — at large 
 meetings they adopted addresses which were sent to Mr. 
 Lincoln, and to these he made the following replies : 
 
 Executive Mansion, Washington, Jan. 19, 1863. 
 
 To the Workingmen of Manchester : — I have the honor to ac- 
 knowledge the receipt of the address and resolutions which 
 you sent me on the eve of the new year. When I came on the 
 4th of March, 1861, through a free and constitutional election, 
 to preside in the Government of the United States, the country 
 was found at the verge of civil war. Whatever might have 
 been the cause, or whosesoever the fault, one duty, paramount 
 to all others, was before me, namely, to maintain and preserve 
 at once the Constitution and the integrity of the Federal 
 Republic. A conscientious purpose to perform this duty, is 
 the key to all the measures of administration which have been, 
 and to all which will hereafter be pursued. Under our frame 
 of government and my oflBcial oath, I could not depart from 
 this purpose if I would. It is not always in the power of gov- 
 ernments to enlarge or restrict the scope of moral results which 
 follow the policies that they may deem it necessary, for the 
 public safety, from time to time to adopt. 
 
 I have understood well that the duty of self-preservation rests 
 solely with the American people. But I have at the same time 
 
178 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 « 
 
 been aware that favor or disfavor of foreign nations might have 
 a material influence in enlarging or prolonging the struggle 
 vdth disloyal men in which the country is engaged. A fair 
 examination of history has served to authorize a belief that the 
 past actions and influences of the United States, were generally 
 regarded as having been beneficial toward mankind. I have, 
 therefore, reckoned upon the forbearance of nations. Circum- 
 stances — to some of which you kindly allude — induced me 
 especially to expect that if justice and good faith should be 
 practised by the United States, they would encounter no hostile 
 influence on the part of Great Britain. It is now a pleasant 
 duty to acknowledge the demonstration you have given of your 
 desire that a spirit of amity and peace toward this country may 
 prevail in the councils of your Queen, who is respected and 
 esteemed in your own country only more than she is by the 
 kindred nation which has its home on this side of the Atlantic. 
 I know, and deeply deplore the sufierings which the working- 
 men at Manchester, and in all Europe, are called to endure in 
 this crisis. It has been often and studiously represented that 
 the attempt to overthrow this Government, which was built 
 upon the foundation cff human rights, and to substitute for it 
 one which should rest exclusively on the basis of human slavery, 
 was likely to obtain the favor of Europe. Tlirough the action 
 of our disloyal citizens, the workingracn of Europe have been 
 subjected to severe trials, for the purjDose of forcing their sanc- 
 tion to that attempt. Under the circumstances, I cannot but 
 regard your decisive utterances upon the question as an instance 
 of sublime Christian heroism, which has not been surpassed in 
 any age or in any country. It is indeed an energetic and 
 reinspiring assurance of the inherent power of truth, and of the 
 ultimate and universal triumph of justice, humanity, and free- 
 dom. I do not doubt that the sentiments you have expressed 
 will be sustained by your great nation, and on the other hand, 
 I have no hesitation in assuring you that they will excite admira- 
 tion, esteem, and the most reciprocal feelings of friendship 
 among the American people. I hail this interchange of senti- 
 ment, therefore, as an augury that whatever else may happen, 
 whatever misfortune may befall your country or my own, the 
 
THE martyr's monument. 179 
 
 peace and friendship which now exist between the two nations 
 will be, as it shall be my desire to make them, perpetual. 
 
 AbRAHA3I LrNCOLN. 
 
 ExECTTTivE Mansion, "Washixgton, Feb. 2, 1863. 
 
 To the WorMngmen of London : — I have received the New 
 Year's Address which you have sent me, with a sincere appre- 
 ciation of the exalted and humane sentiments by which it was 
 inspired. 
 
 As these sentiments are manifestly the enduring support of 
 the free institutions of England, so I am sure also that they 
 constitute the only reliable basis for free institutions through- 
 out the world. 
 
 The resources, advantages, and powers of the American peo- 
 ple are very great, and they have consequently succeeded to 
 equally great responsibilities. It seems to have devolved upon 
 them to test whether a government established on the princi- 
 ples of human freedom, can be maintained against an effort to 
 build one upon the exclusive foundation of human bondage. 
 They will rejoice with me in the new evidences which your 
 proceedings furnish, that the magnanimity they are exhibiting 
 is justly estimated by the true friends of freedom and humanity 
 in foreign countries. 
 
 Accept my best wishes for your individual welfare, and for 
 the welfare and haj)piness of the whole British people. 
 
 Abraham Lincoln. 
 
 THE CHRISTIAN COMMISSION 
 
 received from the President the following characteristic 
 approval of its benevolent organization : 
 
 Executive Mansion, Washington, February 22, 1S63. 
 
 Re'o. Alexander Reed — My Bear Sir — Your note, by which you, 
 as General Superintendent of the U. S. Christian Commission, 
 invite me to preside at a meeting to be held this day, at the hall 
 of the House of Representatives in this city, is received. 
 
 While, for reasons which I deem sufficient, I must decline to 
 
180 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 preside, I cannot withliold my approval of the meeting, and its 
 worthy objects. Whatever shall be, sincerely and in God's 
 name, devised for the good of the soldiers and seamen in their 
 hard spheres of duty, can scarcely fail to be blessed. A.nd what- 
 ever shall tend to turn our thoughts from the unreasoning and 
 uncharitable passions, prejudices, and jealousies incident to a 
 great national trouble such as ours, and to fix them on the vast 
 and long-enduring consequences, for weal or for woe, which are 
 to result from the struggle, and especially to strengthen our reli- 
 ance on the Supreme Being for the final triumph of the right, 
 cannot but be well for us all. 
 
 The birthday of Washington and the Christian Sabbath coin- 
 ciding this year, and suggesting together the highest interests 
 of this life and of that to come, is most proioitious for the 
 meeting proposed. 
 
 Your obedient servant, A. Lincoln. 
 
 HALF-MADE CITIZENS OF FOREIGN BIRTH. 
 
 The endeavor of many aliens who wished to obtain the 
 advantage of citizenship of the Republic without in- 
 curring its responsibilities, were met by Mr. Lincoln in 
 the following 
 
 PROCLAMATION. 
 
 Washington, May 8, 1863. 
 
 By the President of the United States of America, a Prodamon 
 tion — Whereas, The Congress of the United States, at its last 
 session, enacted a law, entitled "An act for enrolling and calling 
 out the national forces, and for other purposes," which was ap- 
 proved on the 3d day of March last ; and 
 
 Whereas, It is recited in the said act that there now exists in 
 the United States an insurrection and rebellion against the au- 
 thority thereof, and it is, under the Constitution of the United 
 States, the duty of the Government to suppress insubordination 
 and rebellion, to guarantee to each State a republican form of 
 government, and to preserve the public tranquillity ; and 
 
THE martyr's monument. 181 
 
 WJiereas, For these liigli jDurposes, a military force is indis- 
 pensable, to raise and support which all persons ought willingly 
 to contribute ; and 
 
 Whereas^ No service can be more praiseworthy and honorable 
 than that which is rendered for the maintenance of the Consti- 
 tution and the Union, and the consequent preservation of free 
 government; and 
 
 Whereas^ For the reasons thus recited it was enacted by the 
 said statute that all able-bodied male citizens of the United 
 States, and persons of foreign birth who shall have declared 
 on oath their intentions to become citizens under and in pursu- 
 ance of the laws thereof, between the ages of twenty and forty- 
 five years, with certain exemptions not necessary to be here 
 mentioned, are declared to constitute the national forces, and 
 shall be liable to perform military duty in the scvice of the 
 United States, when called out by the President foi* that pur- 
 pose ; and 
 
 Whereas, It is claimed, on and in behalf of persons r>f foreign 
 birth, within the ages specified in said act, who have heretofore 
 declared on oath their intention to become citizens under and 
 in pursuance to the laws of the United States, and who have 
 not exercised the right of suflfrage or any other political fran- 
 chise under the laws of the United States, or of any of the States 
 thereof, that they are not absolutely precluded by their afore- 
 said declaration of intention from renouncing their purpose to 
 become citizens ; and that, on the contrary, such persons, under 
 treaties and the law of nations, retain a right to renounce that 
 purpose, and to forego the privilege of citizenship and residence 
 within the United States, under the obligations imposed by the 
 aforesaid act of Congress: 
 
 Now, therefore, to avoid all misapprehensions concerning the 
 liability of persons concerned to perform the service required by 
 such enactment, and to give it full effect, I do hereby order and 
 proclaim that no plea of alienage will be received, or allowed 
 to exempt from the obligations imposed by the aforesaid act of 
 Congress any person of foreign birth who shall have declared 
 on oath his intention to become a citizen of the United States 
 under the laws thereof, and who shall be found within the Uni 
 
182 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 ted States at any time duiing the continuance of tlie present 
 insurrection and rebellion, at or after the expiration of the pe- 
 riod of sixty-five days from the date of this proclamation ; nor 
 shall any such plea of alienage be allowed in favor of any such 
 person who has so, as aforesaid, declared his intention to be- 
 come a citizen of the United States, and shall have exercised at 
 any time the right of suffrage, or any other political franchise 
 within the United States, under the laws thereof, or under the 
 laws of any of the several States. 
 
 In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused 
 the seal of the United States to be affixed. 
 
 Done at the city of Washington this 8th day of May, in the 
 [l. s.] year of our Lord 1863, and of the independence of 
 the United States the eighty-seventh. 
 By the President : Abraham Lincoln. 
 
 Wm. H. Seward, Secretary of State. 
 
 THE UNCONDITIONAL EMANCIPATIONISTS IN MISSOURI. 
 
 In Missouri there was a division of opinion among the 
 loyal men upon the subject of slavery. One party was for 
 doing it away instantly and completely, and without regard 
 to consequences ; the other for gradual emancipation. Gen. 
 Curtia, in command of that district, was of the former 
 party ; and Governor Gamble, being of the latter, would 
 not turn over the militia of the State to General Curtis. 
 This state of things produced a disgraceful feud, which 
 disgusted the country and worried the President for a 
 long time. He finally, in May of this year, removed 
 General Curtis, and to a remonstrance thereupon, sent 
 the following reply, which showed how he could "put 
 down his foot" when occasion required: 
 
 Your dispatch of to-day is just received. It is very painful 
 to me that you, in Missouri, cannot, or will not, settle your fac- 
 tional quarrel among yourselves. I have been tormented with 
 
THE martyr's monument. 183 
 
 it beyond endurance, for months, by both sides. Neither side 
 pays the least respect to my appeals to your reason. I am now 
 compelled to take hold of the case. A. Lincoln. 
 
 General Curtis was superseded by General Schofield, 
 to whom Mr. Lincoln addressed the following letter : 
 
 Executive Mansion, Washington, May 27, 1863. 
 General J. M. Schofield — Dear Sir — Having removed General 
 Curtis and assigned you to the command of the Dei)aii;ment of 
 the Missouri, I think it may be of some advantage to me to state 
 to you why I did it. I did not remove General Curtis because 
 of my full conviction that he had done wrong by commission or 
 omission. I did it because of a conviction in my mind that the 
 Union men of Missouri, constituting, when united, a vast ma- 
 jority of the people, have entered into a pestilent, factious 
 quarrel, among themselves. General Curtis, perhaps not of 
 choice, being the head of one faction, and Governor Gamble that 
 of the other. After months of labor to reconcile the difficulty, it 
 seemed to grow worse and worse, until I felt it my duty to break 
 it up somehow, and as I could not remove Governor Gamble I had 
 to remove General Curtis. Now that you are in the position, I 
 wish you to undo nothing merely because General Curtis or 
 Governor Gamble did it, but to exercise your own judgment, 
 and do right for the public interest. Let your military measures 
 be strong enough to rejiel the invaders and keep the peace, and 
 not so strong as to unnecessarily harass and persecute the peo- 
 ple. It is a difficult role, and so much greater will be the honor 
 if you perform it well. If both factions or neither shall abuse 
 you, you will probably be about right. Beware of being assailed 
 by one and praised by the other. 
 
 Yours truly, A. Lincolk". 
 
 At this action the Germans of St. Louis thought proper 
 to take umbrage ; and they also thought it proper to de- 
 pute one of their number to wait upon the President 
 with their remonstrances, not only against his course in 
 this matter, but in many others, demanding, among other 
 
184 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 things, some changes in the Cabinet and the removal of 
 General Halleck from his position of commander-in-chief. 
 What sort of reception these foreign gentlemen met with 
 from Mr. Lincoln, is very vividly set forth in the follow- 
 ing report of the interview of the President with their 
 deputy, made by himself: 
 
 Messrs. Emile Pretorious, Theodore Olshausen, B. E. Bornbaur^ 
 etc. — GentUmen — During a professional visit to Washington city, 
 I presented to the President of the United States, in compliance 
 with your instructions, a copy of the resolutions adopted in 
 mass meeting at St. Louis, on the 10th of May, 1863, and I re- 
 quested a reply to the suggestions therein contained. The 
 President, after a careful and loud reading of the whole report 
 of proceedings, saw proper to enter into a conversation of two 
 hours' duration, in the course of which most of the topics em- 
 braced in the resolutions and other subjects were discussed. 
 
 As my share in the conversation is of secondary importance, 
 I propose to omit it entirely in this report, and, avoiding details, 
 to communicate to you the substance of noteworthy remarks 
 made by the President. 
 
 1. The President said that it may be a misfortune for the 
 nation that he was elected President. But, having been elected 
 by the people, he meant to be President, and perform his duty 
 according to Ms best understanding, if he had to die for it. No 
 General will be removed, nor will any change in the Cabinet be 
 made, to suit the views or wishes of any particular party, faction, 
 or set of men. General Halleck is not guilty of the charges 
 made against him, most of which arise from misapprehension or 
 ignorance of those who prefer them. 
 
 2. The President said that it was a mistake to suppose that 
 Generals John C. Fremont, B. F. Butler, and F. Sigel are " sys- 
 tematically kept out of command," as stated in the fourth reso- 
 lution ; that, on the contrary, he fully appreciated the merits of 
 the gentlemen named; that by their own actions they had 
 placed themselves in the positions which they occupied ; that 
 he was not only willing, but anxious to place them again in com- 
 
THE martyr's monument. 185 
 
 mand as soon as he could find spheres of action for them, -with- 
 out doing injustice to others, but that at present he " had more 
 pegs than holes to put them in." 
 
 3. As to the want of unity, the President, without admitting 
 such to be the case, intimated that each member of the Cabinet 
 was responsible mainly for the manner of conducting the affairs 
 of his particular department ; that there was no centralization 
 of responsibility for the action of the Cabinet anywhere, except 
 in the President himself. 
 
 4. The dissensions between Union men in Missouri are due 
 solely to a factious spirit which is exceedingly reprehensible. 
 The two parties " ought to have their heads knocked together." 
 " Either would rather see the defeat of their adversary than 
 that of Jefferson Davis." To this spirit of faction is to be as- 
 cribed the failure of the Legislature to elect Senators and the 
 defeat of the Missouri Aid Bill in Congress, the passage of 
 which the President strongly desired. 
 
 The President said that the Union men in Missouri who are 
 in favor of gradual emancipation represented his views better 
 than those who are in favor of immediate erruindpatioji. In 
 explanation of his views on this subject, the President said that 
 in his si3eeches he had frequently used as an illustration the 
 case of a man who had an excrescence on the back of his neck, 
 the removal of which, in one ojjeration, would result in the death 
 of the patient, while " tinkering it off by degrees" would pre- 
 serve life. Although sorely tempted, I did not reply with the 
 illustration of the dog whose tail was amputated by inches, but 
 confined myself to arguments. The President announced clearly 
 that^ as far as Tie was at present advised, the Radicals in Missouri 
 had no right to consider themselves the exponents of his mews on the 
 8vl}ject of eynancipation in that State. 
 
 5. General Curtis was not relieved on account of any wrong 
 act or great mistake committed by him. The System of Pro- 
 vost-Marshals, established by him throughout the State, gave 
 rise to violent complaint. That the President had thought at 
 one time to appoint General Fremont in his place; that at 
 another time he thought of appointing General McDowell, 
 whom he characterised as a good and loyal though very unfor- 
 
186 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 tunate soldier ; and that, at last, General Schofield was appointed, 
 with a view, if possible, to reconcile and satisfy the two factions 
 in Missouri. He has instructions not to interfere with either 
 party, but to confine himself to his military duties. I assure 
 you, gentlemen, that our side was as fully presented as the occa- 
 sion permitted. At the close of the conversation, the President 
 remarked that there was evidently a " serious misunderstand- 
 ing" springing up between him and the Germans of St. Louis, 
 which he would like to see removed. Observing to him that 
 the difference of opinion related to facts, men^ and measures j 1 
 withdrew. I am, very respectfully, etc., 
 
 James Taussig. 
 
 THE VALLANDIGHAM CASE. 
 
 Among the most active supporters that the rebellion 
 found in the Free States, was the Hon. C. C. Vallandigham, 
 Member of the House from Ohio, who opposed all meas- 
 ures for the prosecution of the war, denounced Mr. 
 Lincoln's Government as endeavorinor to establish a des- 
 potism, and advocated the calling in of a foreign govern- 
 ment to settle the dispute between the rebels and the 
 National Government. Finally -it was at a public meet- 
 ing at Mount Vernon, Ohio — he proclaimed his intention 
 of disobeying an order issued by General Burnside, in 
 command of the Department, and called upon the people 
 to set it at naught and resist its execution. For this he 
 was arrested by General Burnside, and, after vain appli- 
 cations to the Circuit Court for a writ of habeas corpus^ 
 tried by a military commission, found guilty, and sen- 
 tenced to close confinement in Fort Warren. This sen- 
 tence the President commuted to banishment within the 
 rebel lines, which was immediately carried into effect. 
 
 These occurrences were seized upon by the sympathis- 
 
THE martyr's monument, 187 
 
 ers with the rebels, who held meetings at various places 
 over the country to denounce w^hat one of the most dis- 
 tinguished of their number, Governor Seymour, of New 
 York, called the establishment of military despotism. 
 These words he used in a letter addressed to the oro:aniz- 
 ers of one of the meetings in question, which was held in 
 Albany, on the 16th of May. The resolutions of this 
 meeting were transmitted to the President by Mr. Eras- 
 tus Corning, the chairman, to whom Mr. Lincoln sent 
 the following reply : 
 
 Executive Mansion, Washington, June 13, 1S63. 
 
 Hon. Erastus CoRNiNa and others : 
 
 Gentlemen — Your letter of May 19, inclosiiig the resolutions 
 of a jDublic meeting held at Albany, N. Y., on the 16th of the 
 same month, was received several days ago. 
 
 The resolutions, as I understand them, are resolvable into two 
 propositions — first, the expression of a purpose to sustain the 
 cause of the Union, to secure peace through victory, and to 
 support the Administration in every constitutional and lawful 
 measure to suppress the rebellion ; and, secondly, a declaration 
 of censure upon the Administration for supposed unconstitu- 
 tional action, such as the making of militaiy arrests. And 
 from the two propositions a third is deduced, which is, that the 
 gentlemen composing the meeting are resolved on doing their 
 part to maintain our common Government and country, despite 
 the folly or wickedness, as they may conceive, of any Adminis- 
 tration, This position is eminently patriotic, and as such I 
 thank the meeting and congratulate the nation for it. My 
 own purpose is the same, so that the meeting and myself have 
 a common object, and can have no difference, except in the 
 choice of means or measures for effecting that object. 
 
 And here I ought to close this paper, and would close it, if 
 there were no apprehensions that more injurious consequences 
 than any merely personal to myself might follow the censures 
 systematically cast upon me for doing what, in my view of duty, 
 
188 THE 
 
 I could not forbear. The resolutions promise to support me 
 in everj^ constitutional and lawful measure to suppress the 
 rebellion, and I have not knowingly employed, nor shall know- 
 ingly employ, any other. But the meeting, by their resolutions, 
 assert and argue that certain military arrests, and proceedings 
 following them, for which I am ultimately responsible, are 
 unconstitutional. I think they are not. The resolutions quote 
 from the Constitution the definition of treason, and also the 
 limiting safeguards and guarantees therein provided for the 
 citizen on trial for treason, and on his being held to answer for 
 capital or otherwise infamous crime, and, in criminal prosecu- 
 tions, his right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury. 
 They proceed to resolve, " that these safeguards of the rights of 
 the citizen against the pretensions of arbitrary power were 
 Intended more espcGially for his protection in times of civil 
 commotion." 
 
 And, apparently to demonstrate the proposition, the resolu- 
 tions proceed : " They were secured substantially to the English 
 peoi)le after years of protracted civil war, and were adopted 
 into our Constitution at the dose of the Revolution." Would 
 not the demonstration have been better if it could have been 
 truly said that these safeguards had been adopted and applied 
 during the civil wars and during our Revolution, instead of after 
 the one and at the close of the other ? I, too, am devotedly for 
 them after civil war, and lefore civil war, and at all times, " ex- 
 cept when, in cases of rebellion or invasion, the public safety 
 may require" their suspension. The resolutions proceed to tell 
 us that these safeguards " have stood the test of seventy-six 
 years of trial, under our republican system, under circumstances 
 which show that, while they constitute the foundation of all 
 free government, they are the elements of the enduring sta- 
 bility of the Republic." No one denies that they have so 
 stood the test up to the beginning of the present rebellion, if 
 we except a certain occurrence at New Orleans ; nor does any 
 one question that they will stand the same test much longer 
 after the rebellion closes. But these provisions of the Consti- 
 tution have no apjilication to the case we have in hand, because 
 the arrests complained of were not made for treason — that is, 
 
THE martyr's monument. 189 
 
 not for the treason defined in the Constitution, and upon con- 
 viction of "which the punishment is death — ^nor yet were they 
 made to hold persons to answer for any capital or otherwise in- 
 famous crimes ; nor were the proceedings following, in any con- 
 stitutional or legal sense, " criminal prosecutions." The arrests 
 were made on totally diflferent grounds, and the proceedings 
 following accorded with the grounds of the arrest. Let us con- 
 sider the real case with which we are dealing, and apply to it 
 the parts of the Constitution plainly made for such cases. 
 
 Prior to my installation here, it had been inculcated that any 
 State had a lawful right to secede from the national Union, and 
 that it would be expedient to exercise the right whenever the 
 devotees of the doctrine should fail to elect a President to their 
 own liking. I was elected contrary to their liking, and accord- 
 ingly, so far as it was legally possible, they had taken seven 
 States out of the Union, had seized many of the United States 
 forts, and fired upon the United States flag, all before I was in- 
 augurated, and, of course, before I had done any official act 
 whatever. The rebellion thus began soon ran into the present 
 civil war ; and, in certain respects, it began on very unequal 
 terms between the parties. The insurgents had been preparing 
 for it for more than thii-ty years, while the Government had 
 taken no steps to resist them. The former had carefully con- 
 sidered all the means which could be turned to their account. 
 It undoubtedly was a well-pondered reliance with them that, in 
 their own unrestricted efibrts to destroy Union, Constitution, 
 and law altogether, the Government would, in great degree, be 
 restrained by the same Constitution and law from arresting their 
 progress. Their sympathizers pervaded all departments of the 
 Government, and nearly all communities of the people. From 
 this material, under cover of "liberty of speech," "liberty of 
 the press," and " habeas corpus," they hoped to keep on foot 
 among us a most efl3.cient corps of spies, informers, suppliers, 
 and aiders and abettors of their cause in a thousand ways. 
 They knew that in times such as they were inaugurating, by 
 the Constitution itself, the " habeas corpus" might be suspended; 
 but they also knew they had friends who would make a ques- 
 tion as to who was to suspend it ; meanwhile, their spies and 
 
190 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 others might remain at large to help on their cause. Or if, as 
 has happened, the Executive should suspend the writ, without 
 ruinous waste of time, instances of arresting innocent persons 
 might occur, as are always likely to occur in such cases, and 
 then a clamor could be raised in regard to this which might be, 
 at least, of some service to the insurgent cause. It needed no 
 very keen perception to discover this part of the enemy's pro- 
 gramme, so soon as, by open hostilities, their machinery was 
 put fairly in motion. Yet, thoroughly imbued with a reverence 
 for the guaranteed rights of individuals, I was slow to adopt the 
 strong measures which by degrees I have been forced to regard 
 as being within the exceptions of the Constitution, and as indis- 
 pensable to the public safety. Nothing is better known to his- 
 tory than that courts of justice are utterly incomj^etent in such 
 cases. Civil couils are organized chiefly for trials of individ- 
 uals, or, at most, a few individuals acting in concert, and this 
 in quiet times, and on charges of crimes well defined in the 
 law. Even in times of peace, bands of horse-thieves and rob- 
 bers frequently grow too numerous and powerful for the ordi- 
 nary courts of justice. But what comparison, in numbers, have 
 such bands ever borne to the insurgent sympathizers even in 
 many of the loyal States ? Again, a jury too frequently has at 
 least one member more ready to hang the panel than to hang 
 the traitor. And yet, again, he who dissuades one man from 
 volunteering, or induces one soldier to desert, weakens the 
 Union cause as much as he who kills a Union soldier in battle. 
 Yet this dissuasion or inducement may be so conducted as to be 
 no defined crime of which any civil court would take cognizance. 
 Ours is a case of rebellion— so called by the resolution before 
 me — in fact, a clear, flagrant, and gigantic case of rebellion ; 
 and the provision of the Constitution that " the privilege of the 
 writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended unless when, in 
 cases o^ rebellion or invasion, the public safety may require it," 
 is the provision which specially applies to our present case. 
 This provision plainly attests the understanding of those who 
 made the Constitution, that ordinary courts of justice are inade- 
 quate to "cases of rebellion"— attests their purpose that, in 
 such cases, men may be held in custody whom the courts, acting 
 
THE martyr's monument. 191 
 
 on ordinary rules, would discharge. Haleas corpus does not dis- 
 cbarge men who are proved to be guilty of defined crime ; and its 
 suspension is allowed by the Constitution on purpose that men 
 may be arrested and held who cannot be proved to be guilty of 
 defined crime, " when, in cases of rebellion or invasion, the public 
 safety may require it." This is precisely our present case — a case 
 of rebellion, wherein the public safety does require the suspension. 
 Indeed, arrests by process of courts, and arrests in cases of rebellion, 
 do not proceed altogether upon the same basis. The former is 
 directed at the small percentage of ordinary and continuous per- 
 l^etration of crime ; while the latter is directed at sudden and 
 extensive uprisings against the government, which at most will 
 succeed or fail in no great length of time. In the latter case 
 arrests are made, not so much for what has been done as for 
 what probably would be done. The latter is more for the pre- 
 ventive and less for the vindictive than the former. In such 
 cases the purposes of men are much more easily understood 
 than in cases of ordinai*y crime. The man who stands by and 
 says nothing when the peril of his government is discussed, 
 cannot be misunderstood. If not hindered, he is sure to help 
 the enemy ; much more, if he talks ambiguously — talks for his 
 country witli " buts," and "ifs" and " ands." Of how little 
 value the constitutional provisions I have quoted will be ren- 
 dered, if arrests shall never be made until defined crimes shall 
 have been committed, may be illustrated by a few notable ex- 
 amples. Gen. John C. Breckinridge, Gen. Robert E. Lee, Gen. 
 Joseph E. Johnston, Gen. John B. Magruder, Gen. Wm. B. Pres- 
 ton, Gen. Simon B. Buckner, and Commodore Franklin Buchanan, 
 now occupying the very highest places in the rebel war service, 
 were all within the power of the Government since the rebellion 
 began, and were nearly as well known to be traitors then as 
 now. Unquestionably, if we had seized and held them, the 
 insurgent cause would be much weaker. But no one of them 
 had then committed any crime defined in the law. Every one 
 of them, if arrested, would have been discharged on Jicibeas cor- 
 ptis, were the wiit allowed to operate. In view of these and 
 similar cases, I think the time not unlikely to come when I shall 
 be blamed for having made too few arrests rather than too many. 
 
192 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 By the third resolution, the meeting indicate their opinion 
 that military arrests may be constitutional in localities where 
 rebellion actually exists, but that such arrests are unconstitutional 
 in localities where rebellion or insurrection does not actually exist. 
 They insist that such arrests shall not be made " outside of the 
 lines of necessaiy military occupation and the scenes of insurrec- 
 tion." Inasmuch, however, as the Constitution itself makes no 
 such distinction, I am unable to believe that there is any such con- 
 stitutional distinction. I concede that the class of arrests com- 
 plained of can be constitutional only when, in cases of rebellion 
 or invasion, the public safety may require them : and I insist 
 that in such cases they are constitutional wlierever the public 
 safety does require them ; as well in places to which they may 
 prevent the rebellion extending as in those where it may be 
 already prevailing ; as well where they may restrain mischiev- 
 ous interference with the raising and supplying of armies to 
 suppress the rebellion, as where the rebellion may actually be ; 
 as well where they may restrain the enticing men out of the 
 army, as where they would prevent mutiny in the army ; 
 equally constitutional at all places where they will conduce to 
 the public safety, as against the dangers of rebellion or invasion. 
 Take the particular case mentioned by the meeting. It is asserted, 
 in substance, that Mr. Vallandigham was, by a military comman- 
 der, seized and tried " for no other reason than words addressed 
 to a public meeting, in criticism of the course of the Admin- 
 istration, and in condemnation of the military orders of the 
 general." Now, if there be no mistake about this; if this 
 assertion is the truth and the whole truth ; if there was no other 
 reason for the arrest, then I concede that the arrest was wrong. 
 But the arrest, as I understand, was made for a very different 
 reason. Mr. Vallandigham avows his hostility to the war on 
 the part of the Union ; and his arrest was made because he was 
 laboring, with some effect, to prevent the raising of troops ; 
 to encourage desertions from the army ; and to leave the rebel- 
 lion without an adequate military force to suppress it. He was 
 not arrested because he was damaging the political prospects 
 of the Administration, or the personal interests of the com- 
 manding general, but because he was damaging the army, upon 
 
193 
 
 the existence and vigor of which the life of the nation depends. 
 He was warring upon the military, and this gave the military 
 constitutional jurisdiction to lay hands upon him. If Mr. Val- 
 landigham was not damaging the military power of the country, 
 then this arrest was made on mistake of fact, which I would be 
 glad to correct on reasonably satisfactoiy evidence. 
 
 I understand the meeting, whose resolutions I am consider- 
 ing, to be in favor of suppressing the rebellion by military force 
 by annies. Long experience has shown that armies cannot be 
 maintained unless desertions shall be punished by the severe 
 penalty of death. The case requires, and the law and the Consti- 
 tution sanctions, this punishment. Must I shoot a simple- 
 minded soldier boy who deserts, while I must not touch a hair of 
 a wily agitator who induces him to desert ? This is none the 
 less injurious when effected by getting a father, or brother, or 
 friend, into a public meeting, and there working upon his feel- 
 ings till he is persuaded to write the soldier boy that he is 
 fighting in a bad cause, for a wicked Administration of a con- 
 temptible Government, too weak to arrest and punish him if he 
 shall desert. I think that in such a case to silence the agitator 
 and save the boy is not only constitutioual, but withal a great 
 mercy. 
 
 If I be wrong on this question of constitutional power, my 
 error lies in believing that certain proceedings are constitutional 
 when, in cases of rebellion or invasion, the public safety requires 
 them, which would not be constitutional when, in the absence 
 of rebellion or invasion, the public safety does not require them ; 
 in other words, that the Constitution is not, in its application, 
 in all respects the same, in cases of rebellion or invasion involv- 
 ing the public safety, as it is in time of profound peace and 
 public security. The Constitution itself makes the distinction ; 
 and I can no more be persuaded that the Government can con- 
 stitutionally take no strong measures in time of rebellion, 
 because it can be shown that the same could not be lawfully 
 taken in time of peace, than I can be persuaded that a particu- 
 lar drug is not good medicine for a sick man, because it can be 
 shown not to be good food for a well one. Nor am I able to 
 appreciate the danger apprehended by the meeting that the 
 
 9 
 
194 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 American people will, by means of military arrests during the 
 rebellion, lose the right of public discussion, the liberty of 
 speecli and the press, the law of evidence, trial by jury, and 
 Mbeas corpus, throughout the indefinite peaceful future, which 
 I trust lies before them, any more than I am able to believe that 
 a man could contract so strong an appetite for emetics duiing 
 temporary illness as to persist in feeding upon them during the 
 remainder of his healthful life. 
 
 In giving the resolutions that earnest consideration which 
 you request of me, I cannot overlook the fact that the meeting 
 speak as " Democrats." Nor can I, with full respect for their 
 known intelligence, and the fairly presumed deliberation with 
 which they j)repared their resolutions, be permitted to suppose 
 that this occurred by accident, or in any way other than that 
 they ijrefeiTed to designate themselves "Democrats" rather 
 than " American citizens." 
 
 In this time of national peril, I would have preferred to meet 
 you on a level one step higher than any party platform ; because 
 I am sure that, from such more elevated position, we could do 
 better battle for the country we all love than we possibly can 
 from those lower ones where, from the force of habit, the pre- 
 judices of the past, and selfish hoi^es of the future, we are sure 
 to expend much of our ingenuity and strength in. finding fault 
 with and aiming blows at each other. But, since you have de- 
 nied me this, I will yet be thankful, for the country's sake, that 
 not all Democrats have done so. He on whose discretionary 
 judgment Mr. Vallandigham was arrested and tried is a Demo- 
 crat, having no old party affinity with me ; and the judge who 
 rejected the constitutional view expressed in these resolutions, 
 by refusing to discharge Mr. Vallandigham on habeas corpus, is 
 a Democrat of better days than these, having received his judi- 
 cial mantle at the hands of President Jackson. And still more, 
 of all those Democrats who are nobly exposing their lives and 
 shedding their blood on the battle-field, I have learned that 
 many approve the course taken with Mr. Vallandigham, while 
 I have not heard of a single one condemning it. I cannot as- 
 sert that there are none such. And the name of Jackson recalls 
 an incident of pertinent history : After the battle of New Or- 
 
THE martyr's monument. 195 
 
 leans, and while the fact that the treaty of f>eace had been con- 
 cluded was Vv-ell known in the city, ])ut before official knowledge 
 of it had arrived, General Jackson still maintained martial or 
 militaiT law. Now that it could be said the war was oyer, the 
 clamor against martial law, which had existed from the first, 
 grew more furious. Among other things, a Mr, Louiallier pub- 
 lished a denunciatory newspaper article. General Jackson 
 arrested him. A lawyer by the name of Morrel procured the 
 United States Judge Hall to issue a writ of habeas corjms to re- 
 lieve Mr. Louiallier. General Jackson arrested both the lawyer 
 and the judge. A Mr. Hollander ventured to say of some part 
 of the matter that "it was a dirty trick." General Jackson ar- 
 rested him. "When the officer undertook to serve the writ of 
 Jiadeas corpus, General Jackson took it from him, and sent him 
 away with a coj^y. Holding the judge in custody a few days, 
 the General sent him beyond the limits of his encampment, and 
 set him at liberty, with an order to remain till the ratification 
 of peace should be regularly announced, or until the British 
 should have left the Southern coast. A day or two more 
 elapsed, the ratification of a treaty of jjeace was regularly an- 
 nounced, and the judge and others- were fully liberated. A few 
 days more, and the judge called General Jackson into court and 
 fined him $1,000 for having arrested him and the others named. 
 The General paid the fine, and there the matter rested for nearly 
 thirty years, when Congress refonded princij)al and interest. 
 The late Senator Douglas, then in the House of Representatives, 
 took a leading part in the debates, in which the constitutional 
 question was much discussed. I am not prepared to say whom 
 the journals would show to have voted for the measure. 
 
 It may be remarked : First, that we had the same Constitu- 
 tion then as now ; secondly, that we then had a case of invasion, 
 and now we have a case of rebellion ; and, thirdly, that the per- 
 manent nght of the people to public discussion, the liberty of 
 speech and of the press, the trial by jury, the law of evidence, 
 and the habeas corpus, suffered no detriment whatever by that 
 conduct of General Jackson, or its subsequent approval by the 
 American Congress. 
 
 And yet, let me say that, in my own discretion, I do not know 
 
196 
 
 whether 1 would have ordered the arrest of Mr. Vallandigham. 
 While I cannot shift the responsibility from myself, I hold that, 
 as a general rule, the commander in the field is the better judge 
 of the necessity in any particular case. Of course I must prac- 
 tise a general directory and revisory power in the matter. 
 
 One of the resolutions exj)resses the opinion of the meeting 
 that arbitrary arrests will have the effect to divide and distract 
 those who should be united in suppressing the rebellion, and I 
 am specifically called on to discharge Mr. Vallandigham. I re- 
 gard this as, at least, a fair appeal to me on the expediency of 
 exercising a constitutional power which I think exists. In 
 response to such appeal, I have to say, it gave me pain when I 
 learned that Mr. Vallandigham had been arrested — ^that is, I was 
 pained that there should have seemed to be a necessity for arrest- 
 ing him — and that it will afford me great pleasure to discharge 
 him so soon as I can, by any means, believe the public safety 
 will not suffer by it. I further say that, as the war j)rogresses, 
 it appears to me, opinion and action, which were in great con- 
 fusion at first, take shape and fall into more regular channels, 
 so that the necessity for strong dealing with them gradually 
 decreases. I have every reason to desire that it should cease 
 altogether ; and far from the least is my regard for the opinions 
 and wishes of those who, like the meeting at Albany, declare 
 their purpose to sustain the Government in every constitutional 
 and lawful measure to suppress the rebellion. Still, I must 
 continue to do so much as may seem to be required by the 
 public safety. A. Lincoln. 
 
 Erroneously supposing that the people of Ohio sympa- 
 thized with Mr. Vallandigham, and wishing to take ad- 
 vantage of his eclat as a political martyr, the Democratic 
 Convention held at Columbus, June 11, 1863, nominated 
 him as Governor of the State, and sent a committee to 
 Washington to wait on the President, present the resolu- 
 tions of the Convention, and demand the immediate recall 
 of Mr. Vallandigham. To this committee Mr. Lincoln 
 addressed the followinor letter : 
 
THE martyr's monument. 197 
 
 "Washington, D. C, June 29. 1863. 
 
 Messrs. M. Bwchard^ David A. Houck^ George Bliss, T. W. Eart- 
 hy, W. J. G(yrd<m, John O'Neill, G. A. White, W. E. Viiik, 
 Alexander Long, J. W. White, George E. Pendleton, George L. 
 Converse, Hanzo P. Noble, James B. Morris, W. A. Hutchins, 
 Adner L. Backus, J, F, McKinney, P. G. Be Blond, Louis 
 Schaefer. 
 
 Gentlemen — The resolutions of the Ohio Democratic State 
 Convention, which you present me, together with your intro- 
 ductory and closing remarks, being in position and argument 
 mainly the same as the resolutions of the Democratic meeting at 
 Albany, New York, I refer you to my response to the latter as 
 meeting most of the points in the former. 
 
 This response you evidently used in preparing your remarks, 
 and I desire no more than that it be used with accuracy. 
 In a single reading of your remarks, I only discover one 
 inaccuracy in matter which I suppose you took from that 
 paper. It is where yoa say, " The undersigned are unable to 
 agree with you in the opinion you have expressed that the Con- 
 stitution is different in time of insurrection or invasion from what 
 it is in time of peace and public security." 
 
 A recurrence to the paper will show you that I have not 
 expressed the opinion you suppose. I expressed the opinion 
 that the Constitution is different in its application in cases of 
 rebellion or invasion, involving the public safety, from what it 
 is in times of profound paace and public security ; and this 
 opinion I adhere to, simply because by the Constitution itself 
 things may be done in the one case which may not be done in 
 the other. 
 
 I dislike to waste a word on a merely personal point, but I 
 must respectfully assure you that you will find yourselves at 
 fault should you ever seek for evidence to prove your assump- 
 tion that I " opposed in discussions before the people the j)olicy 
 of the Mexican war." 
 
 You say: "Expunge from the Constitution this limitation 
 upon the power of Congress to suspend the writ of habeas cor- 
 pus, and yet the other guarantees of personal liberty would 
 remain unchanged." Doubtless, if this clause of the Constitu- 
 
198 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 tion, improperly called, as I tliink, a limitation upon the power 
 of Congress, were expunged, the other guarantees would remain 
 the same ; but the question is, not how those guarantees would 
 stand with that clause out of the Constitution, but how they 
 stand with that clause remaining in it, in case of rebellion or 
 invasion, invohdng the public safety. If the liberty could be 
 indulged in expunging that clause, letter and spirit, I really 
 think the constitutional argument would be with you. 
 
 My general view on this question was stated in the Albany 
 response, and hence I do not state it now. I only add that, as 
 seems to me, the benefit of the writ of habeas corpus is the great 
 means through which the guarantees of personal liberty are 
 conserved and made available in the last resort ; and corrobo- 
 rative of this view is the fact that Mr. Vallandigham, in the 
 very case in question, under the advice of able lawyers, saw not 
 where else to go but to the habeas corpus. But by the Constitu- 
 tion the benefit of the writ of habeas corpus itself may be sus- 
 pended, w^hen, in case of rebellion or invasion, the public safety 
 may require it. 
 
 You ask, in substance, whether I really claim that I may over- 
 ride all the guaranteed rights of individuals, on the plea of 
 conserving the jDublic safety — when I may choose to say the 
 public safety requires it. This question divested of the phrase- 
 ology calculated to represent me as struggling for an arbitrary 
 personal prerogative, is either simply a question icho shall 
 decide, or an affirmation that nobody shall decide, what the 
 public safety does require in cases of rebellion or invasion. 
 The Constitution contemplates the question as likely to occur 
 for decision, but it does not expressly declare v/no is to decide 
 it. By necessary implication, when rebellion or invasion comes, 
 the decision is to be made from time to time ; and I think the 
 man w^hom, for the time, the people have, under the Constitu- 
 tion, made the commander-in-chief of their army and navy, is 
 the man who holds the power and bears the responsibility of 
 making it. If he uses the power justly, the same people will 
 probably justify him ; if he abuses it, he is in their hands to be 
 dealt with by all the modes they have reserved to themselves in 
 the Constitution. 
 
199 
 
 The earnestness with which you insist that persons can only, 
 in times of rebellion, be lawfully dealt with in accordance with 
 the rules for criminal trials and punishments in times of j)eace, 
 induce me to add a word to what I said on that point in the 
 Albany response. You claim that men may, if they choose, 
 embarrass those whose duty it is to combat a giant rebellion, 
 and then be dealt with only in turn as if there were no rebel- 
 lion. The Constitution itself rejects this view. The military- 
 arrests and detentions which have been made, including those 
 of Mr. Yallandigham, which are not different in principle from 
 the other, have been for prevention, and not ior punishment — as 
 injunctions to stay injury, as proceedings to keep the peace — 
 and hence, like proceedings in such cases, and for like rea- 
 sons, they have not been accompanied with indictments, or trial 
 by juries, nor in a single case by any punishment whatever beyond 
 what is purely incidental to the prevention. The original sen- 
 tence of imprisonment in Mr, Vallandigham's case was to pre- 
 vent injury to the military service only, and the modification of 
 it was made as a less disagreable mode to him of securing the 
 same prevention. 
 
 I am unable to perceive an insult to Ohio in the case of Mr. 
 Vallandigham. Quite surely nothing of this sort was or is 
 intended. I was wholly unaware that Mr. Vallandigham was, 
 at the time of his arrest, a candidate for the Democratic nomi- 
 nation of governor, until so informed by your reading to me 
 the re-.olutions of the convention. I am grateful to the State 
 of Ohio for many things, especially for the brave soldiers and 
 officers she has given in the present national trial to the armies 
 of the Union. 
 
 You claim, as I understand, that according to my own posi- 
 tion in the Albany response, Mr. Vallandigham should be 
 released ; and this because, as you claim, he has not damaged 
 the military service by discouraging enlistments, encouraging 
 desertions, or otherwise ; and that if he had, he should have 
 been turned over to the civil authorities under the recent acts 
 of Congress. I certainly do not Tcnow that Mr. Vallandigham 
 has specifically and by direct language advised against enlist- 
 ments and in favor of desertions, and resistance to drafting. 
 
200 
 
 We all know that combinations, anned in some instances, to 
 resist the arrest of deserters, began several months ago ; that 
 more recently the like has appeared in resistance to the enrol- 
 ment preparatory to a draft ; and that quite a number of assas- 
 sinations have occurred from the same animus. These had to 
 be met by military force, and this again has led to bloodshed 
 and death. And now, under a sense of responsibility more 
 weighty and enduring than any which is merely official, I sol- 
 emnly declare my belief that this hindrance to the military, 
 including the maiming and murder, is due to the cause in which 
 Mr. Vallandigham has been engaged, in a greater degree than 
 to any other cause ; and it is due to him personally in a greater 
 degree than to any other man. 
 
 These things have been notorious, known to all, and of course 
 known to Mr. Vallandigham. Perhaps I would not be wrong 
 to say they originated with his especial friends and adherents. 
 With perfect knowledge of them he has frequently, if not con- 
 stantly, made speeches in Congress and before popular assem- 
 blies ; and if it can be shown that, with these things staring 
 him in the face he has ever uttered a word of rebuke or coun- 
 sel against them, it will be a fact greatly in his favor with me, 
 and of which, as yet, I am totally ignorant. When it is known 
 that the whole burden of his speeches has been to stir up men 
 against the prosecution of the war, and that in the midst of 
 resistance to it he has not been known in any instance to 
 counsel against such resistance, it is next to impossible to repel 
 the inference that he has counseled directly in favor of it. 
 
 With all this before their eyes the convention you represent 
 have nominated Mr. Vallandigham for governor of Ohio, and 
 both they and you have declared the purpose to sustain the 
 national Union by all constitutional means, but, of course, they 
 and you, in common, reserve to yourselves to decide what are 
 constitutional means, and, unlike the Albany meeting, you omit 
 to state or intimate that, in your opinion, an army is a constitu- 
 tional means of saving the Union against a rebellion, or even to 
 intimate that you are conscious of an existing rebellion being 
 in progress with the avowed object of destroying that very 
 Union. At the same time, your nominee for governor, in whose 
 
THE martyr's monument. 201 
 
 behalf you appeal, is known to you, and to the Tvorld, to declare 
 agamst the use of an army to suppress the rebellion. Your 
 own attitude, therefore, encourages desertion, resistance to the 
 draft, and the like, because it teaches those who incline to 
 desert and to escape the draft to believe it is your purpose to 
 protect them, and to hojDC that you will become strong enough 
 to do so. 
 
 After a short personal intercourse ^dth you, gentlemen of the 
 committee, I cannot say I think you desire this effect to follow 
 your attitude ; but I assure you that both friends and enemies 
 of the Union look upon it in this light. It is a substantial hope, 
 and by consequence, a real strength to the enemy. If it is a 
 false hope, and one which you would willingly dispel, I will 
 make the way exceedingly easy. I send you duplicates of this 
 letter, in order that you, or a majority, may, if you choose, 
 endorse your names upon one of them, and return it, thus 
 endorsed, to me, with the understanding that those signing are 
 thereby committed to the following proi)ositions, and to nothing 
 else : 
 
 1. That there is now rebellion in the United States, the object 
 and tendency of which is to destroy the national Union ; and 
 that, in your opinion, an army and navy are constitutional 
 means for suppressing that rebellion. 
 
 2. That no one of you -will do anything which, in his own 
 Judgment, will tend to hinder the increase, or favor the 
 decrease, or lessen the efficiency of the army and navy, while 
 engaged in the effort to suppress that rebellion ; and — 
 
 3. That each of you will, in his sphere, do all he can to have 
 the officers, soldiers, and seamen of the army and navy, while 
 engaged in the effort to suppress the rebellion, paid, fed, clad, 
 and otherwise well i^rovided for and supported. 
 
 And with the further understanding that upon receiving the 
 letter and names thus endorsed, I will cause them to be pub- 
 lished, which publication shall be, within itself, a revocation of 
 the order in relation to Mr. Vallandigham. 
 
 It will not escape observation that I consent to the release of 
 Mr. Vallandigham upon terms not embracing any pledge from 
 him or from others as to what he will or will not do. I do this 
 
202 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 because he is not present to speak for himself, or to authorize 
 others to speak for him ; and hence I shall expect that, on 
 returning, he would not put himself practically in antagonism 
 with the position of his friends. But I do it chiefly because I 
 thereby prevail on other influential gentlemen of Ohio to so 
 define their position as to be of immense value to the army — 
 thus more than compensating for the consequences of any mis- 
 take in allowing Mr. Vallandigham to return, so that, on the 
 whole, the public safety will not have sufiered by it. Still, in 
 regard to Mr. Vallandigham and all others, I must hereafter, as 
 heretofore, do so much as the public service may seem to require. 
 I have the honor to be respectfully, yours, etc., 
 
 A. Lincoln. 
 
 The reader need hardlj be reminded that the President 
 was heartily sustained in his action in this matter, not 
 only by the country at large, but especially by Ohio, 
 where Mr. Vallandigham, in spite of his "martyrdom," 
 was defeated by an overwhelming majority. 
 
 GETTYSBURG AND VICKSBURG. 
 
 The important defeat of the rebels, under General Lee, 
 by General Meade at Gettysburg on July 2d and 3d, of 
 this year, and the hardly less important capture of Vicks- 
 burg, with General Pemberton's army, on the 4th, did 
 much to sustain and cheer the country in its trials. On 
 the 7th, the President was waited on, at the White House, 
 by a large crowd of people, with music, and made to 
 them the following speech : 
 
 Felloic- Citizens — I am very glad indeed to see you to-night, and 
 yet I will not say I thank you for this call, but I do most sincerely 
 thank Almighty God for the occasion on which you have called. 
 (Cheers.) How long ago is it — eighty odd years — since on the 
 4th of July, for the first time in the history of the world, a 
 
THE martyr's monument. 203 
 
 nation, by its representatives, assembled and declared, as a self- 
 evident truth, that "all men are created equal?" (Cheers.) 
 That was the birthday of the United States of America. Since 
 then the 4th of July has had several very peculiar recognitions. 
 The two most distinguished men in the framing and support of 
 the Declaration were Thomas Jefferson and John Adams — the 
 one having penned it, and the other sustained it the most forcibly 
 in debate — the only two of the fifty-five who sustained it being 
 elected President of the United States. Precisely fifty years 
 after they put their hands to the paper, it pleased Almighty God 
 to take both from this stage of action. This was, indeed, an 
 extraordinary and remarkable event in our history. Another 
 President, five years after, was called from this stage of existence 
 on the same day and month of the year ; and now, in this last 4th 
 of July just passed, when we have a gigantic rebellion, at the 
 bottom of which is an effort to overthrow the principles that 
 all men were created equal, we have the surrender of a most 
 powerful position and army on that very day. (Cheers.) And 
 not only so, but in a succession of battles in Pennsylvania, near 
 to us, through three days, so rapidly fought that they might be 
 called one great battle on the 1st, 2d, and 3d of the month of 
 July ; and on the 4th, the cohorts of those who opposed the 
 declaration that all men are created equal, " turned tail" and 
 ran. (Long continued cheers.) Gentlemen, this is a glorious 
 theme, and the occasion for a speech ; but 1 am not prepared 
 to make one worthy of the occasion. I would like to speak in 
 terms of praise, due to the many brave officers and soldiers who 
 have fought in the cause of the Union and liberties of their 
 country from the beginning of the war. There are trying occa- 
 sions not only in success, but for the want of success. I dislike 
 to mention the name of one single officer, lest I might do wrong 
 to those I might forget. Recent events bring up glorious names 
 and particularly prominent ones ; but these I will not mention. 
 Having said this much, I will now take the music. 
 
 Mr. Lincoln did not, however, confine his acknowledg- 
 ments of the great services then rendered to the country 
 to public speeches or formal communications. He wrote 
 
204 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 kind personal letters to the commanders. The following, 
 which he addressed to General Grant, contains a frank 
 confession of erroneous judgment on the part of the 
 President : 
 
 Executive Mansion, Washington, July 13, 1S63. 
 
 Ma^or- General Grant — My Dear General — I do not remember 
 that you and I ever met personally. I write this now as a grate- 
 ful acknowledgment for the almost inestimable services you 
 have done the country. I write to say a word further. When 
 you first reached the vicinity of Yicksburg, I thought you 
 should do what you finally did — march the troops across the 
 neck, run the batteries with the transports, and thus go below ; 
 and I never had any faith, except a general hope that you knew 
 better than I, that the Yazoo Pass expedition, and the like, 
 could succeed. When you got below, and took Port Gibson, 
 Grand Gulf, and vicinity, I thought you should go down the 
 river, and join General Banks, and when you turned northward, 
 east of the Big Black, I feared it was a mistake. I now wish to 
 make the personal acknowledgment, that you were right and I 
 was wrong. Yours, truly, A. Lincoln. 
 
 The proclamation which the President issued upon oc- 
 casion of these victories is worthy of perusal on account 
 of the truly grateful spirit with which it is imbued, and 
 the appearance of that tenderness of heart and forgiving 
 disposition which were such marked traits in Mr. Lincoln's 
 character. 
 
 PROCLAMATION. 
 
 It has pleased Almighty God to hearken to the supplications 
 and prayers of an afflicted people, and to vouchsafe to the Army 
 and the Navy of the United States, on the land and on the sea, 
 victories so signal and so eflFective as to furnish reasonable 
 grounds for augmented confidence that the Union of these 
 States will be maintained, their Constitution preserved, and 
 their peace and prosperity permanently secured ; but these vie 
 
205 
 
 tories have been accorded, not without sacrifice of life, limb, 
 and liberty, incurred, by brave, patriotic, and loyal citizens. 
 Domestic affliction, in every part of the country, follows in the 
 train of these fearful bereavements. It is meet and right to 
 recognize and confess the presence of the Almighty Father, and 
 the power of his hand equally in thesetriumj)hs and these sorrows. 
 
 Now, therefore, be it known, that I do set apart Thursday, 
 the sixth day of August next, to be observed as a day for Na- 
 tional Thanksgiving, praise, and prayer ; and I invite the peo- 
 ple of the United States to assemble on that occasion in their 
 customary places of worship, and in the form approved by their 
 own conscience, render the homage due to the Divine Majesty, 
 for the wonderful things He has done in the nation's behalf, 
 and invoke the influence of His Holy Spirit, to subdue the an- 
 ger which has produced, and so long sustained a needless and 
 cruel rebellion ; to change the hearts of the insurgents ; to guide 
 the counsels of the Government with wisdom adequate to so 
 great a national emergency, and to visit with tender care, and 
 consolation, throughout the length and breadth of our land, all 
 those who, through the vicissitudes of marches, voyages, bat- 
 tles, and sieges, have been brought to suffer in mind, body, or 
 estate, and finally, to lead the whole nation through paths of 
 repentance and submission to the Divine will, back to the per- 
 fect enjoyment of union and fraternal peace. 
 
 In mtness 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 15th day of July, in the 
 year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and 
 [l. s.] sixty-three, and of the independence of the United 
 States of America the eighty-eighth. 
 
 Abraham Lincoln. 
 
 By the President : 
 
 William H. Sewaed, Secretary of State. 
 
 PROTECTION TO NEGRO SOLDIERS. 
 
 Although the rebels had from the beginning of the war 
 made such use of their slaves in their armies as seemed 
 good to them, thej became furious "when the Governnvint 
 
206 
 
 proposed to put negroes actually into the ranks. They 
 denounced this as a savage attempt to excite a servile in- 
 surrection, and they declared that negro soldiers, if taken 
 prisoners, should not be regarded as ordinary prisoners 
 of war, but be handed over to the local authorities of the 
 State in which they were captured. This w^as only anoth- 
 er way of saying that they should be put to death under 
 the " black laws" of the Slave States. They carried out 
 this threat in many instances ; and in many more they 
 slaughtered upon the field negro soldiers who had surren- 
 dered. Slow to anger, and shrinking with horror from 
 bloody retaliation. President Lincoln, however, at last 
 was driven to issue upon this subject the following order : 
 
 War Depaktment, Adjutant-General's Office, ) 
 Washington, Juty 31, 1863. f 
 
 General Order No. 252. — The following order of tlie President 
 is published for the information and government of all concerned : 
 
 Executive Mansion, ) 
 Washington, July 30. ) 
 
 It is the duty of every Government to give protection to its 
 citizens, of whatever class, color or condition, and especially 
 those who are duly organized as soldiers in the public service. 
 The law of nations and the usages and customs of war, as car- 
 ried on by civilized powers, permit no distinction as to color in 
 the treatment of prisoners of war as public enemies. To sell 
 or enslave any captured person on account of his color, and for 
 no offence against the laws of war, is a relapse into barbarism 
 and a crime against the civilization of the age. The Govern- 
 ment of the United States will give the same protection to all 
 its soldiers, and if the enemy shall sell or enslave any one 
 because of his color, the offence shall be punished by retaliation 
 upon the enemy's prisoners in our possession. It is, therefore, 
 ordered that for every soldier of 'the United States killed in 
 violation of the laws of war, a rebel soldier shall be executed, 
 and for every one enslaved by the enemy or sold into slavery, a 
 rebel soldier shall be placed at hard labor on the public works, 
 
THE martyr's monument. 207 
 
 and continued at such labor until the other shall be released and 
 
 receive the treatment due to a prisoner of war. 
 
 Abraham Lincoln. 
 By order of the Secretary of War. 
 
 E. D. TowNSEND, Assistmit Adjutant-General. 
 
 THE ANTI-DRAFT RIOTS — GOVERNOR SEYMOUR. 
 
 A law was passed by Congress providing that the ranks 
 of the array should be filled by a draft. This was in 
 accordance with a suggestion made by General McClellan, 
 August 20th, 1861, when he Avas in command of the 
 Army of the Potomac. The unscrupulous among the 
 opponents of Mr. Lincoln's Administration, and the de- 
 fenders of the rebellion generally in the Free States 
 endeavored for months to stir up the people in resistance 
 to this law. A provision of the law by which any drafted 
 man might be furnished at his choice with a substitute by 
 paying §300 to the Government, was particularly used 
 as a means of exciting animosity, on the ground that it 
 was directed against the poor who could not command 
 that sum, while it favored the rich who could. The 
 World, a daily journal of New York, which, according 
 to evidence produced in a court of law, had been offered 
 for sale, with the services of its editor, Mr. M. Marble, 
 both to the supporters of the war and to its opponents, 
 and which, having been purchased by the latter, was chiefly 
 known by its active encouragement of the rebellion, having 
 even gone so far as to declare that it had "always main- 
 tained" that the President " had no right to complain of 
 the action of the Slave States," and that the people of 
 New York '-no more lived under the Constitution than 
 the people now in Georgia," and having counseled its 
 readers to provide themselves with arms, and keep in 
 
208 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 " every family" a '' good rifled musket, a few pounds of 
 powder, and a hundred or so of shot," to " defend their 
 homes and personal liberties from invasion from any 
 quarter" — meaning, of course, from Canada — distin- 
 guished itself by its efforts to provoke active ill-feeling 
 upon this subject. These efforts, directed by the malig- 
 nant, and inflaming the thoughtless and the ignorant, 
 were followed by events equally disastrous and sig- 
 nificant. It would be superfluous to mention more in 
 detail the Irish Anti-Draft Riots of July, 1863, in 
 which New York, in the absence of its militia regiments, 
 was for three days disgraced by scenes of blood, arson, and 
 plunder. The riots were subdued by the vigorous action 
 of the Metropolitan Police force, aided by a few troops 
 brought up from the forts in the harbor, and order was 
 secured by the arrival of some regiments from the array 
 in the field, and the return of some of the militia. The 
 draft, of course, was ordered to go on as soon as tran- 
 quillity was restored, all the more in consequence of the 
 riots. But Horatio Seymour, then Governor of New 
 York, who on more than one occasion seemed to be re- 
 garded by the rioters as their particular friend, thought, 
 it would appear, that this assertion of its authority and 
 this execution of an Act of Congress in the face of 
 threatened violence was unbecoming, or at least impolitic, 
 and he applied by letter to the President to have the 
 draft postponed until the constitutionality of the law 
 could be decided by the judicial tribunals. To this the 
 President replied by the following letter. 
 
 Executive Mansion, Washington, August 7, 1863. 
 
 His Excellency Horatio Seymour^ Governor of New TorTc^ Albany^ 
 N. T. —Your communication of the 3d inst. lias been received and 
 
THE martyr's monument. 209 
 
 attentively coDsidered. I can not consent to suspend the draft 
 in New York, as you request, because, among other reasons, 
 TESTE is too important. By the figures you send, which I pre- 
 sume are correct, the twelve districts represented fall in two 
 classes of eight and four respectively. 
 
 The disparity of the quotas for the draft in these two classes 
 is certainly very striking, being the difference between an aver- 
 age of 2,200 in one class, and 4,864 in the other. Assuming 
 that the districts are equal, one to another, in entire population, 
 as required by the plan on which they were made, this disparity 
 is such as to require attention. Much of it, however, I suppose 
 will be accounted for by the fact that so many more persons fit 
 for soldiers are in the city than in the country, who have too 
 recently arrived from other parts of the United States and from 
 Europe to be either included in the census of 1860, or to have 
 voted in 1862. Still, making due allowance for this, I am yet 
 unwilling to stand upon it as an entirely sufficient explanation 
 of the great disparity. I shall direct the draft to proceed in all 
 the districts, drawing, however, at first, from each of the four 
 districts — to wit, the Second, Fourth, Sixth and Eighth— only 
 2,200, being the average quota of the other class. After this 
 drawing, these four districts, and also the Seventeenth and 
 Twenty-ninth, shall be carefully reenrolled ; and, if you please, 
 agents of yours may witness every step of the process. Any 
 deficiency which may appear by the new enrolment will be sup- 
 plied by a special draft for that object, allowing due credit for 
 volunteers who may be obtained from these districts respectively 
 during the interval ; and at all points, so far as consistent with 
 practical convenience, due credits shall be given for volunteers, 
 and your excellency shall be notified of the time fixed for com- 
 mencing a draft in each district. 
 
 I do not object to abide a decision of the United States Su- 
 preme Court, or of the judges thereof, on the constitutionality 
 of the draft law. In fact I should be willing to facilitate the 
 obtaining of it. But I can not consent to lose the time while it 
 is being obtained. We are contending with an enemy who, as 
 I understand, drives every able-bodied man he can reach into 
 his ranks, very much as a butcher drives bullocks into a slaugh- 
 
210 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 ter-pen. No time is wasted, no argument is used. This pro- 
 duces an army which will soon turn upon our now victorious 
 soldiers already in the field, if they shall not be sustained by 
 recruits as they should be. It produces an army with a rapidity 
 not to be matched on our side, if we first waste time to reex- 
 periment with the volunteer system, already deemed by Con- 
 gress, and palpably, in fact, so far exhausted as to be inadequate ; 
 and then more time to obtain a court decision as to whether a 
 law is constitutional which requires a part of those not now in 
 the service to go to the aid of those v,'ho are already in it ; and 
 still more time to determine with absolute certainty that we get 
 those who are to go in the precisely legal proportion to those 
 who are not to go. My purpose is to be in my action just and 
 constitutional, and yet practical, in performing the important 
 duty with which I am charged, of maintaining the unity and 
 the free principles of Qur common country. Your obedient 
 servant, A. Lincoln. 
 
 Governor Seymour returned to the charge in another 
 letter, reasserting the injustice of the law, and supporting 
 his position by an opinion prepared by Nelson J. Water- 
 bury, then Judge Advocate of New York. To this let- 
 ter Mr. Lincoln replied as follows : 
 
 Executive Mansion, Washington, A^cgu8t 11, 1863. 
 
 His Excellency Horatio Seymour^ Oovern(y)' of New York : — 
 Yours of the 8th, with Judge- Advocate General Waterbury's 
 report, was received to-day. 
 
 Asking you to remember that I consider time as being very 
 important, both to the general cause of the country and to the 
 soldiers in the field, I beg to remind you that I waited, at your 
 request, from the 1st until the 6th inst. to receive your commu- 
 cation dated the 3d. In view of its great length, and the 
 known time and apparent care taken in its preparation, I did 
 not doubt that it contained your full case as you desired to 
 present it. It contained the figures for twelve districts, omit- 
 
THE martyr's monument. 211 
 
 ting the other nineteen, as I sujDposed, because you found noth- 
 ing to complain of as to them. I answered accordingly. In 
 doing so I laid down the principle to which I purpose adhering, 
 which is to proceed with the draft, at the same time employing 
 infallible means to avoid any great wrong. With the commu- 
 nication received to-day you send figures for twenty-eight dis- 
 tricts, including the twelve sent before, and still omitting three, 
 for which I suppose the enrolments are not yet received. In 
 looking over the fuller list of twenty -eight districts, I find that 
 the quotas for sixteen of them are above 2,000 and below 2,700, 
 while of the rest, six are above 2,700, and six are below 2,000. 
 Applying the principle to these new facts, the Fifth and Seventh 
 Districts must be added to the four in which the quotas have 
 already been reduced to 2,200 for the first draft ; and with these 
 four others must be added to those to be reenrolled. The cor- 
 rect case will then stand : the quotas of the Second, Fourth, 
 Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Districts fixed at 2,200 for the 
 first draft. The Provost-Marshal General informs me that the 
 drawing is already completed in the Sixteenth, Seventeenth, 
 Eighteenth, Twenty-second, Twenty-fourth, Twenty-sixth, Twen- 
 ty-seventh, Twenty-Eighth, Twenty-ninth, and Thirtieth Dis- 
 tricts. In the others, except the three outstanding, the draw- 
 ing will be made upon the quotas as now fixed. After the first 
 draft, the Second, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, Six- 
 teenth, Seventeenth, Twenty-first, Twenty-fifth, Twenty-ninth, 
 and Thirty-first will be enrolled for the purpose and in the man- 
 ner stated in my letter of the 7th inst. The same principle will 
 be applied to the now outstanding districts when they shall 
 come in. No part of my former letter is repudiated by reason 
 of not being restated in this, or for any other cause. 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 A. Lincoln. 
 
 The draft was resumed on the 19th of August, and 
 completed without further opposition. 
 
212 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 "unconditional union men. 
 
 About the beginning of the second year of the rebel- 
 lion certain men, hearty supporters of the war for its sup- 
 pression, and hitherto of the policy of the Administra- 
 tion, began to talk of "unconditional loyalty," and to 
 style themselves " Unconditional Union Men." Mr. Lin- 
 coln thought that he discovered that their unconditional 
 loyalty meant loyalty on condition that slavery was imme- 
 diately and entirely abolished, and the ranks of the army 
 recruited from the negroes ; and although his hatred of 
 slavery was no less than theirs, he thought that their pur- 
 poses were unwise, and their professions somewhat incon- 
 sistent with their demands. In August they held a Con- 
 vention at Springfield, Illinois, and invited the Presi- 
 dent to be present. He declined the invitation in the 
 following letter : 
 
 ExEOUTivK Mansion, Washington, August 26, 1863. 
 
 Eon. James M. Conkling — Dear Sir — Your letter inviting me 
 to attend a mass meeting of tlie Unconditional Union men, to be 
 held at the capital of Illinois, on the 3d day of September, has 
 been received. It would be very agreeable for me thus to meet 
 my old friends at my own home ; but I cannot just now be ab- 
 sent from here so long as a visit there would require. 
 
 The meeting is to be of all those who maintain unconditional 
 devotion to the Union ; and I am sure that my old political 
 friends will thank me for tendering, as I do, the nation's grati- 
 tude to those other noble men whom no partisan malice or par- 
 tisan 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 con- 
 ceivable ways : First — to suppress the Rebellion by force of 
 arms. This I am trying to do. Are you for it ? If you are, so 
 far we are agreed. If you are not for it, a second way is to give 
 
213 
 
 up the Union. I am against this. Are you for it ? If you are 
 you should say so plainly. If you are not for/ore^, nor yet for 
 dissolution^ there onh^ remains some imaginable compromise. 
 
 I do not believe that any compromise embracing the mainte- 
 nance 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 from the North 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 compromise to which the control- 
 lers 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 lib- 
 erated from the domination of that army by the success of our 
 own army. Now, allow me to assure you that no word or inti- 
 mation from that rebel army, or from any of the men control- 
 ling it, in relation to any peace compromise, has 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 hereafter come, it shall not be 
 rejected and kept a secret from you. I freely acknowledge my- 
 self to be the servant of the people, according to the bond of 
 service, the United States Constitution; and that, as such, I am 
 responsible to them. 
 
 But, to be plain. You are dissatisfied with me about the 
 negro. Quite likely there is a difference of opinion between 
 you and myself upon that subject. I certainly wish that all 
 
214 THE maktyr's monument. 
 
 men could be free, while you, I suppose, do not. Yet, 1 have 
 neither adopted nor proposed any measure which is not con- 
 sistent with even your views, provided that you are for the 
 Union. I suggested compensated emancipation ; to which you 
 replied you wished not be taxed to buy negroes. But I had not 
 asked you to be taxed to buy negroes, except in such way as to 
 save you from greater taxation to save the Union, exclusively by 
 other means. 
 
 You dislike the Emancipation Proclamation, and perhaps 
 would have it retracted. You say it is miconstitutional. 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. 
 K 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 favor- 
 ably for the Union. Why better aj'ter the retraction than l)efore 
 the issue ? There was more than a year and a half of trial to 
 suppress the Rebellion before the Proclamation was issued, the 
 last one hundred days of which passed under an explicit notice 
 that it was coming, unless averted by those in revolt returning 
 to their allegiance. The war has certainly progressed as favor- 
 ably for us since the issue of the Proclamation as before. 
 
 I know, as fully as one can know the opinions of others, that 
 some of the commanders of our armies in the field, who have 
 given us our most imjDortant victories, believe the emancipation 
 policy and the use of colored troops constitute the heaviest 
 
THE martyr's monument. 215 
 
 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 any affinity with what is called " Abolitionism," 
 or with '' Rej^ublican 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 emancipa- 
 tion 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 Proclamation 
 on purjDose to aid you in saving the Union. Whenever you 
 shall have conquered all resistance to the Union, if I shall urge 
 you to continue fighting, it will be an apt time then for you to 
 declare you will not fight to free negroes. I thought that in 
 your struggle for the Union, to whatever extent the negroes 
 should cease helping the enemy, to that extent it weakened the 
 enemy in his resistance to you. Do you think differently ? I 
 thought that whatever negroes can be got to do as soldiers, 
 leaves just so much less for white soldiers to do in saving the 
 Union. Does it appear otherwise to you ? But negroes, like 
 other people, act upon motives. Why should they do anything 
 for us if we will do nothing for them ? If they stake their 
 lives for us they must be prompted by the strongest motive, 
 even the promise of freedom. And the promise, being made, 
 must be kept. 
 
 The signs look better. The Father of Waters again goes 
 un vexed to the sea. Thanks to the great Northwest for it ; nor 
 yet wholly to them. Three hundred miles up they met New 
 England, Empire, Keystone, and Jersey, hewing their way right 
 and left. The sunny South, too, in more colors than one, also 
 lent a 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 honorable 
 part in it. And while those who have cleared the great river 
 may well be proud, even that is not all. It is hard to say that 
 
216 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 anything has been more bravely and well done than at Antie- 
 tam, Murfreesboro, Gettysburg, and on many fields of less note. 
 Kor 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 
 Republic — 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 appeal from the 
 ballot to the bullet, and that they who take such appeal are 
 sure to lose their case and pay the cost. And there will be 
 some black men who can remember that with silent tongue, and 
 clinched 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 hin- 
 der 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. 
 
 HABEAS CORPUS. 
 
 It was pretended by those who wished to embarrass 
 the Government that although Congress had authorized 
 the suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas 
 corpus^ that suspension could only take place legally in 
 those military districts in which it had been formally 
 proclaimed. To meet these cavils Mr. Lincoln issued the 
 following proclamation that the privilege in question was 
 suspended throughout the United States in all cases 
 ejGfected by the existing rebellion. 
 
THE martyr's monument. 217 
 
 PROCLAMATION. 
 
 Whereas^ The Constitution of the United States has ordained 
 that '' The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be 
 suspended, unless, when in cases of rebellion or invasion, the 
 public safety may require it ; and, whereas, a rebellion was ex- 
 isting on the 3d day of March, 1863, which rebellion is still 
 existing; and, whereas, by a statute which was approved on 
 that day, it was enacted by the Senate and House of Represen- 
 tatives of the United States, in Congress assembled, that during 
 the present insurrection the President of the United States, 
 whenever, in his judgment, the public safety may require, is 
 authorized to suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus 
 in any case throughout the United States, or any part thereof; 
 and, whereas, in the judgment of the President the public safety 
 does require that the privilege of the said writ shall now be 
 suspended throughout the United States in cases where, by the 
 authority of the President of the United States, military, naval 
 and civil officers of the United States, or any of them, hold 
 persons under their command or in their custody, either as 
 prisoners of war, spies, or aiders or abettors of the enemy, or 
 officers, soldiers, or seamen enrolled, drafted or mustered, or 
 enlisted in, or belonging to the land or naval forces of the 
 United States, or as deserters therefrom, or otherwise amenable 
 to military law, or to the rules and articles of war, or the rules 
 and regulations prescribed for the military or naval services by 
 the authority of the President of the United States, or for 
 resisting the draft, or for any other offence against the military 
 or naval service ; now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, Presi- 
 dent of the United States, do hereby proclaim and make known 
 to all whom it may concern, that the jDrivilege of the writ of 
 liabeoA corpus is suspended throughout the United States, in the 
 several cases before mentioned, and that this suspension will 
 continue throughout the duration of the said rebellion, or until 
 this Proclamation shall, by a subsequent one, to be issued by 
 the President of the United States, be modified and revoked. 
 And I do hereby require all magistrates, attorneys, and other 
 civil officers within the United States, and all officers and others 
 
 10 
 
218 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 in the military and naval services of the United States, to take 
 distinct notice of this suspension and give it full effect, and all 
 citizens of the United States to conduct and govern themselves 
 accordingly, and in conformity with the Constitution of the 
 United States, and the laws of Congress in such cases made 
 and provided. 
 
 In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused 
 the seal of the United States to be aflBxed, this fifteenth day of 
 September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred 
 and sixty-three, and of the independence of the United States 
 of America the eighty-eighth. 
 
 Abraham Lincoln. 
 
 By the President : 
 
 Wm. H. Seward, Secretary of State. 
 
 THANKSGHVING. 
 
 To observers not fully informed, or who saw only what 
 they wished to see, the rebellion seemed as formidable as 
 ever. But very important progress had been made in its 
 suppression, and the country north of the Potomac had 
 begun to recover its prosperity, while the fear of foreign 
 intervention had passed away. In thankful acknowledg- 
 ment of these blessings the President issued the following 
 
 PROCLAMATION. 
 
 The year that is drawing towards its close has been filled with 
 the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these 
 bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to 
 forget the source from which they come, others have been added 
 which are of so extraordinary a nature that they cannot fail to 
 penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensi- 
 ble to the ever watchful 23rovidence of Almighty God, In the 
 midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, 
 which has sometimes seemed to invite and provoke the aggres- 
 sions of foreign states, peace has been preserved with all nations, 
 
THE martyr's monument. 219 
 
 order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and 
 obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere, except in the 
 theatre of military conflict, while that theatre has been greatly 
 contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. 
 The needful diversion of wealth and strength from the fields ot 
 peaceful industry to the national defence, have not arrested the 
 plough, the shuttle, or the ship. The axe has enlarged the borders 
 of our settlements, and the mines as well of iron and coal as of the 
 precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than here- 
 tofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the 
 waste that has been made in the camp, the siege, and the battle- 
 field ; and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of aug- 
 mented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect a continuance 
 of years, Tvith large increase of freedom. 
 
 No human counsel hath devised, nor hath any mortal hand 
 worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of 
 the Most High God, who, wliile 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 ot 
 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 dis- 
 obedience, commend to his tender care all those who have become 
 widows, orphans, mourners, or sufierers in the lamentable civil 
 strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently im- 
 plore the interposition of the Almighty hand to heal the wounds 
 of the nation, and to restore it, as soon as may be consistent with 
 the divine purposes, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, 
 tranquillity, and union. 
 
 In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and 
 caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. 
 
220 
 
 Done at the city of Washington, this third day of October, in 
 [l. s.] the year of our Lord, 1863, and of the independence 
 of the United States the eighty-eighth. 
 
 Abraham Lincoln. 
 By the President : 
 
 Wm. H. Skward, Secretary of State. 
 
 THE GETTYSBURG CEMETERY. 
 
 General Meade's victory at Gettysburg had done away 
 all fear of a serious invasion of the Free States. The 
 importance of the victory gained by those bloody three- 
 days' battles, made some commemoration of it highly 
 proper ; and it was very fitly determined that a monu- 
 ment should be erected in a cemetery at Gettysburg, in 
 which all the soldiers who fell in those battles should be 
 interred. Mr. Lincoln was present at the dedication of 
 that cemetery on the 19th of November, 1863, and made 
 the following brief, but now world-renowned 
 
 SPEECH. 
 
 Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth upon 
 this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated 
 to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are 
 engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any 
 nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure. We are 
 met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to 
 dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting-j)lace 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 can- 
 not hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who 
 struggled here, have consecrated it far above our power to add 
 or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember, 
 what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. 
 
THE martyr's monument. 221 
 
 It is for us, the living, rather to be dedicated here to the 
 unfinished work whicli they who fought here have thus far so 
 nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to 
 the great task remaining before us, that from these honored 
 dead we take increased devotion to 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 
 government of the people, by the people, and for the people, 
 shall not perish from the earth. 
 
 THE VICTORY OF CHATTANOOGA. 
 
 The long struggle for the possession of East Tennessee, 
 the key of the country southward, was brought to a close 
 by General Grant's great victory at Chattanooga, after 
 which the rebellion settled steadily downward to its final 
 ruin. Of this victory the President made the following 
 announcement, accompanied by a recommendation of 
 thanksgiving : 
 
 Executive Mansion, Washington, D. C, Deceniber 7, 1863. 
 
 Reliable information being received that the insurgent force 
 is retreating from East Tennessee, under circumstances render- 
 ing it probable that the Union forces can not hereafter be dis- 
 lodged from that important position ; and esteeming this to be 
 of high national consequence, I recommend that all loyal 
 people do, on receipt of this information, assemble at their 
 places of worship, and render special homage and gratitude to 
 Almighty God for this great advancement of the national cause. 
 
 A. LmcoLN. 
 
 THE MISSOURI FEUD. 
 
 The conflict between the self-styled Unconditional 
 Union party and those who really were loyal to the repub- 
 
222 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 lie without condition, continued, and in fact became more 
 and more bitter. The former party complained that 
 General Schofield and Governor Gamble were really 
 friends of the rebels in that district. How truly they 
 were so, with the support of the Government, will appear 
 from the following : 
 
 INSTRUCTONS TO GENERAL SCHOFIELD. 
 
 Executive Mansion, Washington, D. C, October 1, 1863. 
 
 General John M. Schofield — There is no organized military 
 force in avowed opposition to the General Government now in 
 Missouri, and if any shall reappear, your duty in regard to it 
 will be too plain to requii'e any special instruction. Still, the 
 condition of things, both there and elsewhere, is such as to 
 render it indispensable to maintain, for a time, the United 
 States military establishment in that State, as well as to rely 
 upon it for a fair contribution of support to that establishment 
 generally. Your immediate duty in regard to Missouri now^ is 
 to advance the efficiency of that establishment, and to so use it, 
 as far as practicable, to compel the excited people there to let 
 one another alone. 
 
 Under your recent order, which I have approved, you will 
 only arrest individuals, and suppress assemblies or newspapers, 
 when they may be working palpable injury to the military in 
 your charge ; and in no other case will you interfere with the 
 expression of opinion in any form, or allow it to be interfered 
 with violently by others. In this you have a discretion to exer- 
 cise with great caution, calmness, and forbearance. 
 
 With the matter of removing the inhabitants of certain coun- 
 ties en masse, and of removing certain individuals from time to 
 time, who are supposed to be mischievous, I am not now inter- 
 fering, but am leaving to your own discretion. 
 
 Nor am I interfering with what may still seem to you to be 
 necessary restrictions upon trade and intercourse. I think 
 proper, however, to enjoin upon you the following : Allow no 
 part of the military under your command to be engaged in either 
 
THE martyr's monument. 223 
 
 returning fugitive slaves, or in forcing or enticing slaves from 
 their homes; and, so far as f>racticable, enforce the same for- 
 bearance among the people. 
 
 Report to me your opinion upon the availability for good 
 of the enrolled militia of the State. Allow no one to enlist 
 colored troops, except upon orders from you, or from here 
 through you. 
 
 Allow no one to assume the functions of confiscating property, 
 under the law of Congress, or otherwise, except upon orders 
 from here. 
 
 At elections see that those, and only those, are allowed to 
 vote, who are entitled to do so by the laws of Missouri, 
 including as those laws the restrictions laid by the Missouri 
 Convention upon those who may have participated in the 
 rebellion. 
 
 So far as practicable, you will, by means of your military 
 force, expel guerrillas, marauders, and murderers, and all who 
 are known to harbor, aid, or abet them. But in like manner 
 you -yAT^ll repress assumptions of unauthorized individuals to 
 perform the same service, because under pretence of doing this 
 they become marauders and murderers themselves. 
 
 To now restore peace, let the military obey orders ; and those 
 not of the military leave each other alone, thus not breaking the 
 peace themselves. 
 
 In giving the above directions, it is not intended to restrain 
 you in other expedient and necessary matters not falling within 
 their range. Your obedient servant, 
 
 A. Lincoln. 
 
 The unconditional anti-slavery party, however, were 
 not to be thus satisfied. They were formidable in num- 
 bers, and bold in action. They held a convention at the 
 capital of the State, and sent a delegation consisting of 
 one from each county of the State to make certain de- 
 mands of the President. They also attempted with 
 some success to organize a support of their views and 
 measures throuo^hout the Free States. To the address of 
 
224 
 
 the committee of delegates Mr. Lincoln made the follow- 
 ing reply: 
 
 Executive Mansion, "Washington, Oct. 5, 1865. 
 
 non. Charles Drake and others, Committee — Gentlemen — ^Your 
 original address, presented on the 30tli ult., and the four sup- 
 plementary ones presented on the Ed inst., have been carefully 
 considered. I hope you will regard the other duties claiming 
 my attention, together with the great length and importance of 
 these documents, as constituting a sufficient apology for my not 
 having responded sooner. 
 
 These papers, framed for a common object, consist of the 
 things demanded, and the reasons for demanding them. 
 
 The things demanded are : 
 
 First — That General Schofield shall be relieved, and Grcnerai 
 Butler be appointed as Commander of the Military Department 
 of Missouri ; 
 
 Second — That the system of enrolled militia in Mssouri may 
 be broken up, and National forces be substituted for it; and 
 
 Third — That at elections, persons may be allowed to vote who 
 are not entitled by law to do so. 
 
 Among the reasons given, enough of suffering and wrong to 
 TJnion men, is certainly, and I suppose truly, stated. Yet the 
 whole case, as presented, fails to convince me that General Scho- 
 field, or the enrolled militia, is responsible for that suffering 
 and wrong. The whole can be explained on a more charitable, 
 and, as I think, a more rational hypothesis. 
 
 We are in civil war. In such cases there always is a main 
 question ; but in this case that question is a perplexing com- 
 pound — Union and Slavery. It thus becomes a question not of 
 two sides merely, but of at least four sides, even among those 
 who are for the Union, saying nothing of those who are against 
 it. Thus, those who are for the Union icith, but not witlwut 
 slavery — ^those for it witliout but not with — those for it with or 
 without, but prefer it with, and those for it with or without but 
 prefer it without. 
 
 Among these, again, is a subdivision of those who are for 
 gradual, but not for immediate, and those who are for immediate^ 
 but not for gradual extinction of slavery. 
 
THE martyr's monument. 225 
 
 It is easy to conceive that all these shades of opinion and 
 even more, may be sincerely entertained by honest and truthful 
 men. Yet, all being for the Union, by reason of these differen- 
 ces each will prefer a different way of sustaining the Union. 
 At once, sincerity is questioned, and motives are assailed. Ac- 
 tual war coming, blood grows hot, and blood is spilled- 
 Thought is forced from old channels into confusion. Deception 
 breeds and thrives. Confidence dies, and universal suspicion 
 reigns. Each man feels an impulse to kill his neighbor, lest he 
 be killed by him. Revenge and retaliation follow. And all 
 this, as before said, may be among honest men only. But this 
 is not all. Every foul bird comes abroad, and every dirty rep- 
 tile rises up. These add crime to confusion. Strong measures 
 deemed indispensable but harsh at best, such men make Aorse 
 by maladministration. Murders for old grudges, and murders 
 for iDelf proceed under any cloak that will best serve for the 
 occasion. 
 
 These causes amply account for what has occurred in Missouri, 
 without ascribing it to the weakness or wickedness of any gen- 
 eral. The newspaper files, those chroniclers of current events, 
 will show that the evils now comjilained of, were quite as prev- 
 alent under Fremont, Hunter, Halleck, and Curtis, as under 
 Schofield. If the former had greater force opposed to them, 
 they also had greater force with which to meet it. When the 
 organized rebel army left the State, the main Federal force had 
 to go also, leaving the Department commander at home, rela- 
 tively no stronger than before. Without disparaging any, I 
 afl^m with confidence, that no commander of that Department 
 has, in proportion to his means, done better than General Scho- 
 field. 
 
 The first specific charge against General Schofield is, that the 
 enrolled militia was placed under his command, whereas it had 
 not been placed under the command of General Curtis. The 
 fact is, I believe, true ; but you do not point out, nor can I con- 
 ceive how that did, or could, injure loyal men or the Union 
 cause. 
 
 You charge that General Curtis being superseded by General 
 Schofield, Franklin A. Dick was superseded by James O. Broad 
 
226 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 head as Provost-Marslial General. No very specific showing is 
 made as to how this did or could injure the Union cause. It 
 recalls, however, the condition of things, as presented to mc, 
 which led to a change of commander of that Department. 
 
 To restrain contraband intelligence and trade, a system of 
 searches, seizures, permits and passes, had been introduced, I 
 think, by General Fremont. When General Halleck came, he 
 found and continued the system, and added an order, appli- 
 cable to some parts of the State, to levy and collect contri- 
 butions from noted rebels, to comj^ensate losses, and relieve des- 
 titution caused by the rebellion. The action of General Fremont 
 and General Halleck, as stated, constituted a sort of system 
 which General Curtis found in full operation when he took 
 command of the Department. That there was a necessity for 
 something of the sort was clear ; but that it could only be jus- 
 tified by stern necessity, and that it was liable to great abuse in 
 administration, was equally clear. Agents to execute it, con- 
 trary to the great prayer, w^ere led into temptation. Some 
 might, while others would not resist that temptation. It was 
 not possible to hold any to a very strict accountability; and 
 those yielding to the temptation, would sell permits and passes 
 to those who would pay most, and most readily for them ; and 
 would seize property and collect levies in the aptest way to 
 fill their own pockets. Money being the object, the man hav- 
 ing money, whether loyal or disloyal, would be a victim. This 
 practice doubtless existed to some extent, and it was a real 
 additional evil, that it could be, and was plausibly charged to 
 exist in greater extent than it did. 
 
 When General Curtis took command of the Department, Mr. 
 Dick, against whom I never knew anything to allege, had gen- 
 eral charge of this system. A controversy in regard to it rap- 
 idly grew into almost unmanageable proportions. One side 
 ignored the necessity and magnified the evils of the system, while 
 the other ignored the evils and magnified the necessity ; and 
 each bitterly assailed the other. I could not fail to see that the 
 controversy enlarged in the same proportion as the professed 
 Union men there distinctly took sides in two opposing political 
 parties. I exhausted my wits, and very nearly my patience 
 
22T 
 
 also, in efforts to convince both that the evils they charged on 
 each other were inherent in the case, and could not be cured by 
 giving either party a victory over the other. 
 
 Plainly, the irritating system was not to be perpetual ; and it 
 was plausibly urged that it could be modified at once with advan- 
 tage. The case could scarcely be worse, and whether it could be 
 made better could only be detennined by a trial. In this view, 
 and not to ban, or brand General Curtis, or to give a victory to 
 any party, I made the change of commander for the Department. 
 I now learn that soon after this change Mr. Dick was removed, 
 and that Mr. Brodhead, a gentleman of no less good character, 
 was put in the place. The mere fact of this change is more 
 distinctly complained of than is any conduct of the new officer, 
 or other consequence of the change. 
 
 I gave the new commander no instructions as to the adminis- 
 tration of the system mentioned, beyond what is contained in 
 the private letter afterward surreptitiously published, in which 
 I directed him to act solely for the public good, and independ- 
 ently of both parties. Neither anything you have presented 
 me, nor anything I have otherwise learned, has convinced me 
 that he has been unfaithful to this charge. 
 
 Imbecility is urged as one cause for removing General Scho- 
 field, and the late massacre at Lawrence, Kansas, is pressed as 
 evidence of that imbecility. To my mind that fact scarcely 
 tends to prove the proposition. That massacre is only an ex- 
 ample of what Grierson, John Morgan, and many others, might 
 have repeatedly done on their respective raids, had they chosen 
 to incur the personal hazard, and possessed the fiendish hearta 
 to do it. 
 
 The charge is made that General Schofield, on purpose to 
 protect the Lawrence murderers, would not allow them to be 
 pursued into jMissouri. While no punishment could be too 
 sudden or too severe for those murderers, I am well satisfied 
 that the preventing of the threatened remedial raid into JMis- 
 souri was the only way to avoid an indiscriminate massacre 
 there, including probably more innocent than guilty. Instead 
 of condemning, I therefore approve what I understand General 
 Schofield did in that respect. 
 
228 THE martyr's monument 
 
 Tlie charge that General Schofield had lonrposely withheld 
 protection from loyal jDeople, and purposely facilitated the 
 objects of the disloyal, are altogether beyond my power of be- 
 lief. I do not arraign the veracity of gentlemen as to the facts 
 complained of; but I do more than question the judgment 
 which would infer that these facts occurred in accordance with 
 the purjioses of General Schofield. 
 
 "With my present views, I must decline to remove General 
 Schofield. In this I decide nothing against General Butler. I 
 sincerely wish it were convenient to assign him a suitable com- 
 mand. 
 
 In order to meet some existing evils, I have addressed a letter 
 of instruction to General Schofield, a copy of which I inclose 
 to you. As to the " Enrolled Militia," I shall endeavor to 
 ascertain, better than I now know, what is its exact value. Let 
 me say now, however, that your proposal to substitute national 
 force for the " Enrolled Militia," implies that, in your judgment, 
 the latter is doing something which needs to be done ; and if 
 so, the proposition to throw that force away, and to supply its 
 place by bringing other forces from the field where they are 
 urgently needed, seems to me very extraordinary. Whence 
 shall they come? Shall they be withdrawn from Banks, or' 
 Grant, or Steele, or Rosecrans ? 
 
 Few things have been so grateful to my anxious feelings, as 
 when, in June last, the local force in Missouri aided General 
 Schofield to so promptly send a large general force to the relief 
 of General Grant, then investing Vicksburg, and menaced from 
 without by General Johnston. Was this all wrong ? Should 
 the " enrolled militia" then have been broken up, and General 
 Heron kept from Grant to police Missouri ? So far from finding 
 cause to object, I confess to a sympathy for whatever relieves 
 our general force in Missouri, and allows it to serve elsewhere. 
 
 I therefore, as at present advised, cannot attempt the des- 
 truction of the enrolled militia of Missouri. I may add, that 
 the force being under the national military control, it is also 
 within the proclamation with regard to the habeas corims. 
 
 I concur in the propriety of your request in regard to elections, 
 and have, as you see, directed General Schofield accordingly. 
 
THE martyr's monument. 229 
 
 I do not feel justified to enter upon the broad field you present 
 in regard to the political differences between Radicals and 
 Conservatives. From time to time I have done and said what 
 ai3peared to me proj^er to do and say. The public knows it 
 well. It obliges nobody to follow me, and I trust it obliges me 
 to follow nobody. The Radicals and Conservatives each agree 
 with me in some things and disagree in others. I could wish 
 both to agree with me in all things ; for then they would agree 
 with each other, and w^ould be too strong for any foe from any 
 quarter. They, however, choose to do otherw^ise, and I do not 
 question their right. I, too, shall do what seems to be my duty. 
 I hold whoever commands in Missouri or elsewhere responsible 
 to me, and not to either Radicals or Conservatives. It is my 
 duty to hear all ; but, at last, I must, within my sphere, judge 
 what to do and what to forbear. 
 
 Your obedient servant, A. LhsCGLn. 
 
 THE CONGRESSIONAL SESSION OF 1863-4. 
 
 Congress assembled in regular session on the 7th of 
 December, 1863, and received from the President the 
 following 
 
 MESSAGE. 
 
 Fellow- Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives: — 
 Another year of health and of suflSciently abundant harvests 
 has passed. For these, and especially for the improved condi- 
 tion of our national affairs, our renewed and - profoundest 
 gratitude to God is due. We remain in peace and friendship 
 with foreign Powders. The efforts of disloyal citizens of the 
 United States to involve us in foreign wars to aid an inexcusa- 
 ble insurrection have been unavailing. Her Britannic Majesty's 
 Government, as was justly exjDected, have exercised their 
 authority to prevent the departure of new hostile expeditions 
 from British ports. 
 
 The Emperor of France has, by a like proceeding, promptly 
 vindicated the neutrality which he proclaimed at the beginni agr 
 of the contest. 
 
230 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 Questions of great intricacy and importance have arisen out 
 of the blockade, and other belligerent operations between the 
 Government and several of the maritime Powers, but they 
 have been discussed, and, as far as was possible, accommodated 
 in a spirit of frankness, justice, and mutual good- will. 
 
 It is especially gratifying that our prize courts, by the im- 
 partiality of their adjudications, have commanded the respect 
 and confidence of maritime Powers. 
 
 The supplemental treaty between the United States and Great 
 Britain for the suppression of the African Slave-trade, made on 
 the 17th day of February last, has been duly ratified and car- 
 ried into execution. It is believed that so far as American 
 ports and American citizens are concerned, that inhuman and 
 odious traffic has been brought to an end. 
 
 Incidents occurring in the progress of our civil war have 
 forced upon my attention the uncertain state of international 
 questions touching the rights of foreigners in this country and 
 of United States citizens abroad. 
 
 In regard to some governments, these rights are at least 
 partially defined by treaties. In no instance, however, is it 
 expressly stipulated that in the event of civil war a foreigner 
 residing in this country, within the lines of the insurgents, is 
 to be exempted from the rule which classes him as a belligerent, 
 in whose behalf the government of his country cannot expect 
 any privileges or immunities distinct from that character. I 
 regret to say, however, that such claims have been put forward, 
 and, in some instances, in behalf of foreigners who have lived 
 in the United States the greater part of their lives. 
 
 There is reason to believe that many persons born in foreign 
 countries, who have declared their intention to become citizens, 
 or who have been fully naturalized, have evaded the military 
 duty required of them by denying the fact, and thereby throw- 
 ing upon the Government the burden of proof It has been 
 found difficult or impracticable to obtain this proof, from the 
 want of guides to the proper sources of information. These 
 might be supplied by requiring Clerks of Courts, where decla- 
 rations of intention may be made, or naturalizations effected, to 
 
THE martyr's monument. 231 
 
 send periodically lists of the names of the persons naturalized 
 or declaring their intention to become citizens, to the Secretary 
 of the Interior, in whose Department those names might be 
 arranged and printed for general information. There is also 
 reason to believe that foreigners frequently become citizens of 
 the United States for the sole purpose of evading duties im- 
 posed by the laws of their native countries, to which, on 
 becoming naturalized here, they at once repair, and though 
 never returning to the United States, they still claim the inter- 
 position of this Government as citizens. 
 
 Many altercations and great prejudices have heretofore arisen 
 out of this abuse. It is, therefore, submitted to your serious 
 consideration. It might be advisable to fix a limit beyond 
 which no citizen of the United States residing abroad may claim 
 the interposition of his Government. 
 
 The right of suffrage has often been assumed and exercised 
 by aliens under pretences of naturalization, which they have 
 disavowed when drafted into the military service. 
 
 Our ministers abroad have been faithful in defending Amer- 
 ican rights. In protecting commercial interests, our consuls 
 have necessarily had to encounter increased labels and respon- 
 sibilities grooving out of the war. These they have, for the 
 most part, met and discharged with zeal and efficiency. This 
 acknowledgment justly includes those consuls who, residing in 
 Morocco, Egypt, Turkey, Japan, China, and other Oriental 
 countries, are charged with complex functions and extraordi- 
 nary powers. 
 
 The condition of the several organized territories is generally 
 satisfactory, although Indian distubances in New Mexico have 
 not been entirely suppressed. 
 
 The mineral resources of Colorado, Nevada, Idaho, New Mex- 
 ico, and Arizona, are proving far richer than has been hereto- 
 fore understood. I lay before you a communication on this 
 subject from the Goveraor of New Mexico. I again submit to 
 your consideration the expediency of establishing a system for 
 the encouragement of emigration. Although this source of na- 
 tional wealth and strength is again flowing with greater freedom 
 than for several years before the insurrection occurred, there is 
 
232 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 still a great deficiency of laborers in every field of industry, 
 especially in agriculture and in our mines, as well of iron and 
 coal as of tlie precious metals. While the demand for labor is 
 thus increased here, tens of thousands of persons, destitute of 
 remunerative occupation, are thronging our foreign consulates, 
 and offering to emigrate to the United States, if essential, but 
 very cheap assistance can be afforded them. It is easy to see 
 that under the sharp discipline of civil war the nation is begin- 
 ning a new life. This noble effort demands the aid, and ought 
 to receive the attention and support of the Government. 
 
 Injuries unforeseen by the Grovernment, and unintended, may 
 in some cases have been inflicted on the subjects or citizens of 
 foreign countries, both at sea and on land, by persons in the 
 service of the United States. As this Government expects re- 
 dress from other Powers when similar injuries are inflicted by 
 persons in their service upon citizens of the United States, we 
 must be prepared to do justice to foreigners. If the existing 
 judicial tribunals are inadequate to this jourpose, a special 
 Court may be authorized, with power to hear and decide such 
 claims of the character referred to as may have arisen under 
 treaties and ^he public law. Conventions for adjusting thq 
 claims by joint commission have been proposed to some Gov- 
 ernments, but no definite answer to the proposition has yet 
 been received from any. 
 
 In the course of the session I shall probably have occasion to 
 request you to provide indemnification to claimants where de- 
 crees of restitution have been rendered, and damages awarded 
 by Admiralty Courts, and in other cases, where this Govern- 
 ment may be acknowledged to be liable in principle, and where 
 the amount of that liability has been ascertained by an informal 
 arbitration, the proper officers of the Treasury have deemed 
 themselves required by the law of the United States upon the 
 subject, to demand a tax upon the incomes of foreign consuls in 
 this country. While such a demand may not, in strictness, be in 
 derogation of public law, or perhaps of any existing treaty between 
 the United States and a foreign country, the expediency of so 
 far modifying the act as to exemiDt from tax the income of such 
 consuls as are no'^ ..luzens of the United States, derived from 
 
THE martyr's monument. 233 
 
 the emoluments of their office, or from property not situate in 
 the United States, is submitted to your serious consideration. 
 I make this suggestion upon the ground that a comity which 
 ought to be reciprocated exempts our consuls in all other coun- 
 tries from taxation to the extent thus indicated. The United 
 States, I think, ought not to be exceptionally illiberal to inter- 
 national trade and commerce. 
 
 The operations of the treasury during the last year have been 
 successfully conducted. The enactment by Congress of a Na- 
 tional Banking Law has proved a valuable support of the pub- 
 lic credit, and the general legislation in relation to loans has 
 fully answered the expectation of its favorers. Some amend- 
 ment may be required to perfect existing laws, but no change in 
 their j^rinciples or general scope is believed to be needed. Since 
 these measures have been in operation, all demands on the Treas- 
 urj^, includuig the pay of the Army and Navj^, have been 
 promptly met and fully satisfied. No considerable body of 
 troops, it is believed, were ever more amply provided and more 
 liberally and punctually paid ; and, it may be added, that by 
 no people were the burthens incident to a great war more cheer- 
 fully borne. 
 
 The receipts during the year, from all sources, including 
 loans and the balance in the Treasury at its commencement, 
 were $901,125,674 86, and the aggregate disbursements $895,- 
 796,630 65, leaving a balance on the 1st of July, 1863, of $5,329,- 
 044 21. Of the receipts, there were derived from Customs, 
 $69,059,642 40 ; from Internal Revenue, $37,640,787 95 ; from 
 direct tax, $1,485,103 61 ; from lands, $167,617 17 ; from mis- 
 cellaneous sources, $3,046,615 35 ; and from loans, $776,682,- 
 361 57, making the aggregate, $901,125,674 86. Of the dis- 
 bursements there were for the civil service, $23,253,922 08 ; for 
 pensions and Indians, $4,216,520 79; for interest on public 
 debt, $24,729,846 51 ; for the War Department, $590,298,600 83 ; 
 for the Navy Department, $63,211,105 27; for payment of 
 funded and temporary debt, $181,086,635 07, making the 
 aggregate $895,796,630 65, and leaving the balance of 
 $5,329,044 21. 
 
 But the payment of the funded and .temporary debt, having 
 
234 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 been made from moneys borrowed during the year, must be 
 regarded as merely nominal payments, and the moneys bor- 
 rowed to make them as merely nominal receipts; and their 
 amount, $181,086,535 07, should therefore be deducted both 
 from receipts and disbursements. This being done, there remains 
 as actual receipts, $720,039,039 79, and the actual disburse- 
 ments, $714,709,995 58, leaving the balance as already stated. 
 
 The actual receipts and disbursements for the first quarter, 
 and the estimated receipts and disbursements for the remaining 
 three quarters of the current fiscal year, 1864, will be shown in 
 detail by the report of the Secretary of the Treasury, to which 
 I invite your attention. 
 
 It is sufficient to say here, that it is not believed that actual 
 results will exhibit a state of the finances less favorable to the 
 country than the estimates of that officer heretofore submitted, 
 while it is confidently expected that, at the close of the year, 
 both disbursements and debt will be found very considerably 
 less than has been anticipated. 
 
 The report of the Secretary of War is a document of great 
 interest. It consists of: 
 
 First. — The military operations of the year detailed in the 
 report of the General-in-Chief. 
 
 Second. — The organization of colored persons into the war 
 service. 
 
 Third. — The exchange of prisoners fully set forth in the let* 
 ter of General Hitchcock. 
 
 Fourth. — The operations under the act for enrolling and call- 
 ing out the National forces, detailed in the report of the Provost- 
 Marshal General. 
 
 Fifth. — The organization of the Invalid Corps. And — 
 
 Sixth. — The operations of the several departments of the 
 Quartermaster-General, Commissary-General, Paymaster-Gen- 
 eral, Chief of Engineers, Chief of Ordnance, and Surgeon-Gen- 
 eral. It has appeared impossible to make a valuable summary 
 of this report, except such as would be too extended for this 
 place, and hence I content myself by asking your careful atten- 
 tion to the report itself. The duties devolving on the naval 
 branch of the service, during the year, and throughout the 
 
THE martyr's monument. 235 
 
 wTiole of this unhappy contest, have been discharged with 
 fidelity and eminent success. The extensive blockade has been 
 constantly increasing in efficiency, as the navy has expanded, 
 yet on so long a line it has, so far, been impossible entirely to sup- 
 press illicit trade. From returns received at the Navy Department, 
 it appears that more than one thousand vessels have been cap- 
 tured since the blockade was instituted, and that the value of 
 prizes already sent in for adjudication, amounts to over thirteen 
 millions of dollars. 
 
 The naval force of the United States consists at this time of 
 five hundred and eighty-eight vessels completed and in course 
 of completion, and of these seventy-five are iron-clad or 
 armored steamers. The events of the war give an increased 
 interest and imi3ortance to the navy, which will probably extend 
 beyond the war itself. The armored vessels in our navy, com- 
 pleted and in service, or which are under contract and ap- 
 proaching completion, are believed to exceed in number those 
 of any other Power ; but while these may be relied upon for 
 harbor defence and coast service, others of greater strength and 
 capacity will be. necessary for cruising purposes, and to main- 
 tain our rightful position on the ocean. 
 
 The change that has taken place in naval vessels and naval 
 warfare since the introduction of steam as a motive power for 
 ships of war, demands either a corresponding change in some 
 of our existing navy-yards, or the establishment of new ones, 
 for the construction and necessary rejjair of modern naval ves- 
 sels. No inconsiderable embarrassment, delay, and public injury 
 have been experienced from the want of such governmental 
 establishments. 
 
 The necessity of such a navy-yard, so furnished, at some 
 suitable place upon the Atlantic seaboard, has, on repeated 
 occasions, been brought to the attention of Congress by the 
 Navy Department, and is again presented in the report of the 
 Secretary, which accompanies this communication. I think it 
 my duty to invite your special attention to this subject, and 
 also to that of establishing a yard and depot for naval pur- 
 poses upon one of the western rivers. A naval force has been 
 created upon these interior waters, and under many disadvan- 
 
236 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 tages, within a little more than two years, exceeding in number 
 the whole naval force of the country at the commencement of 
 the present Administration. Satisfactory and important as have 
 been the perfomiaiices of the heroic men of the navy at this 
 interesting period, they are scarcely more wonderful than the 
 success of our mechanics and artisans in the production of war- 
 vessels, which has created a new form of naval power. 
 
 Our country has advantages superior to any other nation in 
 our resources of iron and timber, with inexhaustible quantities 
 of fuel in the immediate vicinity of both, and all available and 
 in close j)roximity to navigable waters. AYithout the advantage 
 of public works, the resources of the nation have been devel- 
 oped, and its power displayed, in the construction of a navy of 
 such riiagnitude, which has at the very period of its creation 
 rendered signal service to the Union. 
 
 The increase of the numljer of seamen in the public service 
 from 7,500 men m the Spring of 1861, to about 34,000 at the 
 present time, has been accomplished without sj^ecial legislation 
 or extraordinary bounties to promote that increase. It has 
 been found, however, that the operation of the draft, with the 
 high bounties paid for army recruits, is beginning to affect 
 injuriously the naval service, and will, if not corrected, be likely 
 to impair its efficiency by detaching seamen from their proj)er 
 vocation, and inducing them to enter the army. I therefore 
 respectfully suggest that Congress might aid both the army and 
 naval service by a definite provision on this subject, which would 
 at the same time be equitable to the communities more esj)e- 
 cially interested. 
 
 I commend to your consideration the suggestions of the Sec- 
 retary of the Navy, in regard to the policy of fostering and 
 training seamen, and also the education of officers and engi- 
 neers for the naval service. The Naval Academy has rendered 
 signal service in preparing midshipmen for the highly responsi- 
 ble duties which in after life they will be required to jperform. 
 In order that the country should not be deprived of the proper 
 quota of educated officers, for which legal provision has been 
 made at the naval school, the vacancies caused by the neglect 
 or omission to make nominations from the States in insurrec- 
 
THE martyr's monument. 237 
 
 tion, have been filled by the Secretary of the Navy, Thd 
 school is now more full and complete than at any former 
 period, and in every respect entitled to the favorable considera- 
 tion of Congress. 
 
 ******** 
 The quantity of land disposed of during the last, and first 
 quarter of the present, fiscal years, was three millions, eight hun- 
 dred and forty-one thousand, five hundred and forty-nine acres, 
 of which one hundred and sixty-one thousand, nine hundred 
 and eleven acres were sold for cash. One million, four hundred 
 and fifty-six thousand, five hundred and fourteen acres, were 
 taken up under the Homestead Law, and the residue disposed 
 of under laws granting lands for military bounties, for railroad 
 and other j)urposes. It also appears that the sale of public 
 lands is largely on the increase. 
 
 It has long been a cherished opinion of some of our wisest 
 statesmen that the people of the United States had a higher 
 and more enduring interest in the early settlement and substan- 
 tial cultivation of the jjublic lands than in the amount of direct 
 revenue to be derived from the sale of them. This opinion has 
 had a controlling influence in shaping legislation upon the sub- 
 ject of our national domain. I may cite, as evidence of this, 
 the liberal measures adopted in reference to actual settlers, the 
 grant to the States of the overflowed lands within their limits, 
 m order to their being reclaimed and rendered fit for culti- 
 vation, the grants to railroad companies of alternate sections 
 of land upon the contemplated lines of their roads, which, 
 when completed, will so largely multiply the facilities for 
 reaching our distant possessions. This policy has received 
 its most signal and beneficent illustration in the recent enact- 
 ment granting homesteads to actual settlers. Since the first 
 day of January last the before mentioned quantity of one 
 million, four hundred and fifty-six thousand, five hundred 
 and fourteen acres of land have been taken up under its 
 provisions. This fact, and the amount of sales, furnish grati- 
 fying evidence of increasing settlement upon the public lands, 
 notwithstanding the great struggle in which the energies of 
 the nation have been engaged, and which has required so large 
 
238 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 ,a withdrawal of our citizens from their accustomed pursuits. 
 I cordially concur in the recommendation of the Secretary of 
 the Interior, suggesting a modification of the act in favor of 
 those engaged in the military and naval service of the United 
 States. 
 
 I doubt not that Congress will cheerfully adopt such measures 
 as will, without essentially changing the general features of the 
 system, secure to the greatest practical extent its benefits to 
 those who have left their homes in defence of the country in this 
 arduous crisis. 
 
 I invite your attention to the views of the Secretary as to the 
 propriety of raising, by appropriate legislation, a revenue from 
 the mineral lands of the United States. The measures provided 
 at your last session for the removal of certain Indian tribes have 
 been carried into effect. Sundry treaties have been negotiated, 
 which will, in due time, be submitted for the constitutional 
 action of the Senate. They contain stipulations for extinguish- 
 ing the possessory rights of the Indians to large and valuable 
 tracts of lands. It is hoped that the effect of these treaties will 
 result in the establishment of permanent friendly relations with 
 such of these tribes as have been brought into frequent and 
 bloody collision with our outlying settlements and emigrants. 
 Sound policy, and our imperative duty to these wards of the 
 Government, demand our anxious and constant attention to 
 their material well-being, to their progress in the arts of civili- 
 zation, and above all, to that moral training which, under the 
 blessing of Divine Providence, will confer upon them the elevated 
 and sanctifying influences, the hopes and consolations of the 
 Christian faith. I suggested, in my last Annual Message, the 
 propriety of remodeling our Indian system. Subsequent events 
 have satisfied me of its necessity. The details set forth in the 
 report of the Secretary evince the urgent need for immediate 
 legislative action. 
 
 I commend the benevolent institutions, established or patron- 
 ized by the Government in this District, to your generous and 
 fostering care. 
 
 The attention of Congress, during the last session, was engaged 
 to some extent with a proposition for enlarging the water coi^ 
 
THE martyr's monument. 239 
 
 munication between the Mississippi River and the northeastern 
 seaboard, which proposition, however, failed for the time. Since 
 then, upon a call of the greatest respectability, a Convention has 
 been held at Chicago upon the same subject, a summary of 
 whose views is contained in a memorial address to the President 
 and Congress, and which I now have the honor to lay before 
 you. That the interest is one which will ere long force its own 
 way I do not entertain a doubt, while it is submitted entirely to 
 your wisdom as to what can be done now. Augmented interest 
 is given to this subject by the actual commencement of work 
 upon the Pacific railroad, under auspices so favorable to rapid 
 progress and completion. The enlarged navigation becomes a 
 palpable need to the great road, 
 
 I transmit the second annual report of the Commissioners ol 
 the Department of Agriculture, asking your attention to the 
 developments in that vital interest of the nation. 
 
 When Congress assembled a year ago, the war had already 
 lasted nearly twenty months, and there had been many conflicts 
 on both land and sea, with varying results ; the rebellion had 
 been pressed back into reduced limits ; yet the tone of public 
 feeling and opinion, at home and abroad, was not satisfactory. 
 With other signs, the popular elections, then just past, indicated 
 uneasiness among ourselves, while, amid much that was cold 
 and menacing, the kindest words coming from Europe were 
 uttered in accents of pity that we were too blind to surrender a 
 hopeless cause. Our commerce was suffering greatly by a few 
 vessels built upon and furnished from foreign shores, and we 
 were threatened with such additions from the same quarters as 
 would sweep our trade from the seas and raise our blockade. 
 We had failed to elicit from European governments anything 
 hopeful upon this subject. 
 
 The preliminary Emancipation Proclamation issued in Sep- 
 tember, was running its assigned period to the beginning of the 
 new year. A month later, the final proclamation came, includ- 
 ing the announcement that colored men of suitable condition 
 would be received in the war service. The policy of emanci- 
 pation and of employing black soldiers gave to the future a new 
 aspect, about which hope, and fear, and doubt, contended in un- 
 
240 THE 
 
 certain conflict. According to onr political system, as a matter 
 of civil administration, the Government had no lawful power to 
 ejQfect 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, was followed by dark and doubtful days. 
 
 Eleven months having now passed, we are permitted to take 
 another view. The rebel borders are pressed still further back, 
 and by the complete opening of the Mississijjpi, the country 
 dominated by the rebellion is divided into distinct parts with 
 no practical communication between them. Tennessee and 
 Arkansas have been substantially cleared of insurgent control, 
 and influential citizens in each — owners of slaves and advocates 
 of slavery at the beginning of the rebellion — now declare openly 
 for emancipation in their respective States. Of those States not 
 included in the Emancipation Proclamation, Maryland and 
 Missouri, neither of which, three years ago, would tolerate any 
 restraint upon the extension of slavery into new Territories, only 
 dispute now as to the best mode of removing it within their 
 own limits. 
 
 Of those who were slaves at the beginning of the rebellion, 
 full one hundred thousand are now in the United States military 
 service, about one-half of which number actually bear arms in 
 the ranks — thus giving the double advantage of taking so much 
 labor from the insurgent cause and supplying the places which 
 otherwise must be filled with so many white men. So far as 
 tested, it is difiicult to say they are not as good soldiers as any. 
 No servile insurrection or tendency to violence or cruelty has 
 marked the measures of emancipation and arming the blacks. 
 These measures have been much discussed in foreign countries, 
 and cotemporary 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 oflSlcial duty it is to bear the country through 
 this great trial. Thus we have the new reckonfng. The 
 
THE martyr's monument. 241 
 
 crisis which threatened to divide the friends of the Union is 
 past- 
 Looking now to the present and future, and with a reference 
 to a resumption of the national authority in the States wherein 
 that authority has been suspended, I have thought fit to issue a 
 proclamation — a copy of which is herewith transmitted. On 
 examination of this proclamarion, 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 withdraw the pardon at his own abso- 
 lute 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 Govern- 
 ment shall be in the mode prescribed 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 protected against invasion and domestic violence. 
 
 The constitutional obligation of the United States to guaran- 
 tee 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 contemplates a case wherein the element within a 
 State favorable to Republican government in the Union may be 
 too feeble for an opposite and hostile element external to or 
 even within the State, and such are precisely the cases with 
 which we are now dealing. 
 
 An attempt to guarantee and protect a revived State Govern- 
 ment, 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 elements, so as to build only from the 
 sound ; and that test is a sufllciently 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 th^ 
 11 
 
242 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 political body, an oath of allegiance to the Constitution of the 
 United States and to the Union under it, why also to the laws 
 and proclamations in regard to slavery ? 
 
 Those laws and proclamations were enacted and put forth for 
 the purpose of aiding in the suppression of the rebellion. To 
 give them their fullest effect there had to be a pledge for their 
 maintenance. In my judgment they have aided and will further 
 aid the cause for which they were intended. 
 
 To now abandon them would be not only to relinquish a lever 
 of power, but would also be a cruel and an astounding breach 
 of faith. 
 
 I may add, at this point, that while I remain in my present 
 position, I shall not attempt to retract or modify the Emancipa- 
 tion Proclamation, nor shall I return to slavery any person who 
 is free by the terms of that proclamation, or by any of the acts 
 of Congress. 
 
 For these and other reasons, it is thought best that support 
 of these measures shall be included in the oath, and it is be- 
 lieved that the Executive may lawfully claim it in return for 
 pardon and restoration of forfeited rights, which he has a clear 
 constitutional power to withhold altogether or grant upon the 
 terms which he shall deem wisest for the public interest. It 
 should be observed, also, that this part of the oath is subject to 
 the modifying and abrogating power of legislation and supreme 
 judicial decision. 
 
 The proposed acquiescence of the National Executive in any 
 reasonable temporary State arrangement for the freed people, is 
 made with the view of possibly modifying the confusion and 
 destitution which must at best attend all classes by a total rev- 
 olution of labor throughout whole States. It is hoped that the 
 already deeply afflicted people in those States may be somewhat 
 more ready to give up the cause of their affliction, if, to this 
 extent, this vital matter be left to themselves, while no power of 
 the National Executive to prevent an abuse is abridged by the 
 proposition. 
 
 The suggestion in the proclamation as to maintaining the 
 political frame-work of the States on what is called reconstruc- 
 tion, is made in the hope that it may do good, without danger 
 
THE martyr's monument. 243 
 
 of harm. It will save labor, and avoid great confusion. But 
 why any j)roclamation now upon this subject ? This question 
 is beset with the conflicting views that the step might be de- 
 layed too long, or be taken too soon. In some States the 
 elements for resumption seem ready for action but remain inac- 
 tive, 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 proc- 
 lamation a plan is presented which may be accepted by them as 
 a rallying point — and which they are assured in advance will 
 not be rejected here. This may bring them to act sooner than 
 they otherwise would. 
 
 The objection to a premature presentation of a plan by the 
 National Executive consists in the danger of committals on 
 points which could be more safely left to further developments. 
 Care has been taken to so shape the document as to avoid em- 
 barrassments 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 Emancipation Proc- 
 lamation are matters of profound gratulation. And while I do 
 not repeat in detail w^hat I have heretofore so earnestly urged 
 upon this subject, my general views and feelings remain un- 
 changed ; and I trust that Congress will omit no fair oppor- 
 tunity of aiding these important steps to the great consumma- 
 tion. 
 
 In the midst of other cares, however important, we must not 
 lose sight of the fact that the war power is still our main reli- 
 ance. To that power alone can we look for a time, to give con- 
 fidence to the people in the contested regions, that the insur- 
 gent 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 
 
244 
 
 harder part so nobly and well. And it may be esteemed for- 
 tunate that in giving the greatest efficiency to these indispensa- 
 ble arms, we do also honorably recognize the gallant men, from 
 commander to sentinel, who compose them, and to whom, more 
 than to others, the world must stand indebted for the home of 
 freedom, disenthralled, regenerated, enlarged and perpetuated. 
 (Signed) Abraham LmcoLN. 
 
 December 8, 1863. 
 
 To the Message was appended the following 
 
 PROCLAMATION. 
 
 Whereas^ In and by the Constitution of the United States, it 
 is provided that the President shall have power to grant re- 
 prieves and pardons for offences against the United States, ex- 
 cept in cases of impeachment — and, whereas, a rebellion now 
 exists, whereby the loyal State Governments of several States 
 have for a long time been subverted, and many persons have 
 committed and are now guilty of treason against the United 
 States; and 
 
 Whereas^ With reference to said rebellion and treason, laws 
 have been enacted by Congress, declaring forfeitures and confis- 
 cation of property and liberation of slaves, all upon terms and 
 conditions therein stated, and also declaring that the President 
 was thereby authorized at any time thereafter, by proclamation, 
 to extend to persons who may have participated in the existing 
 rebellion in any State or part thereof, pardon and amnesty, with 
 such exceptions and at such times and on such conditions as he 
 may deem expedient for the public welfare ; and 
 
 Whereas, The Congressional declaration for limited and con- 
 ditional pardon accords with the well established judicial expo- 
 sition of the pardoning power ; and 
 
 Whereas^ With reference to the said rebellion, the President 
 of the United States has issued several proclamations with pro- 
 visions in regard to the liberation of slaves ; and 
 
 Whereas, It is now desired by some f)ersons heretofore en- 
 gaged in said rebellion to resume their allegiance to the United 
 States, and to reinaugurate loyal State Governments within and 
 for their respective States ; therefore 
 
THE martyr's monument. 245 
 
 I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, do 
 proclaim, declare, and make known to all persons who have 
 directly or by implication jDarticipated in the existing rebellion, 
 except as herein after excepted, that a full pardon is hereby 
 granted to them and each of them, with restoration of all rights 
 of property, except as to slaves, and in property cases where 
 rights of third parties shall have intei*vened, and upon the con- 
 dition that every such person shall take and subscribe an oath 
 and thenceforward keep and maintain said oath inviolate, an 
 oath which shall be registered for permanent preservation, and 
 shall be of the tenor and effect following, to wit : 
 
 " I, , do solemnly swear, in the presence of 
 
 Almighty God, that I will henceforth faithfully support, pro- 
 tect, and defend the Constitution of the United States and the 
 Union of the States thereunder ; and that I will in like manner 
 abide by and faithfully support all acts of Congress passed 
 duiing the existing rebellion with reference to slaves, so long 
 and so far as not repealed, modified, or held void by Congress 
 or by decisions of the Supreme Court ; and that I will in like 
 manner abide by and faithfully support all ^jroclamations of the 
 President made during the existing rebellion having reference to 
 slaves, so long and so far as not modified or declared void by 
 decision of the Supreme Court. So help me God." 
 
 The persons excepted from the benefits of the foregoing pro- 
 visions are : All who are, or shall have been civil or diplomatic 
 officers or agents of the so-called Confederate Government ; all 
 "who have left judicial stations under the United States to aid 
 the rebellion ; all who are or shall have been military or naval 
 officers of said so-called Confederate Government, above the 
 rank of Colonel in the army, or of Lieutenant in the na^'y ; all 
 who left seats in the United States Congress to aid the rebel- 
 lion ; all who resigned commissions in the army or navy of the 
 United States, and afterward aided the rel^ellion ; and all w^lio 
 have engaged in any way in treating colored persons, or white 
 persons in charge of such, otherwise than lawfully as prisoners 
 of war, and which persons may have been found in the United 
 States service as soldiers, seamen, or any other capncity ; and I 
 do further proclaim, declare, and make known that, whenever, 
 
246 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 ill VLny of the States of Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, 
 Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, and 
 North Carolina, a number of persons not less than one-tenth in 
 number of the votes cast in such States at the Presidential 
 election of the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred 
 and sixty, each having taken the oath aforesaid, and not having 
 since violated it, and being a qualified voter by the election law 
 of the State existing immediately before the so-called act of 
 Secession, and excluding all others, shall re-establish a State 
 Government which shall be Republican, and in no wise contra- 
 vening said oath, such shall be recognized as the true govern- 
 ment of the State, and the State shall receive thereunder the 
 benefits of the constitutional provision, which declares that 
 
 "The United States shall guarantee to every State in this 
 Union a Republican form of government, and shall protect each 
 of them against invasion, and on application of the Legislature, 
 or the Executive, when the Legislature cannot be convened, 
 against domestic violence." 
 
 And I do further proclaim, declare, and make known, that 
 any provision which may be adopted by such State Government 
 in relation to the freed people of such State, which shall 
 recognize and declare their permanent freedom, provide for 
 their education, and which may yet be consistent, as a tempo- 
 rary arrangement, with their present condition as a laboring, 
 landless, and homeless class, will not be objected to by the 
 National Executive. 
 
 And it is suggested as not improper, that, in constructing a 
 loyal State Government in any State, the name of the State, the 
 boundary, the subdivisions, the Constitution, and the general 
 code of laws, as before the rebellion, be maintained, subject 
 only to the modifications made necessary by the conditions 
 herein before stated, and such others, if any, not contravening 
 said conditions, and which may be deemed expedient by those 
 framing the new State Government. To avoid misunderstand- 
 ing, it may be proper to say that this proclamation, so far as it 
 relates to State Government, has no reference to States wherein 
 loyal State Governments have all the while been maintained ; 
 and for the same reason it may be proper to further say, that 
 
TCHE martyr's monument. 247 
 
 whether members sent to Congress from any State shall be admit- 
 ted to seats, constitutionally rests exclusively with the respective 
 Houses, and not to any extent with the Executive. And still 
 further, that this proclamation is intended to present the people 
 of the States wherein the national authority has been suspended, 
 and loyal State Governments have been subverted, a mode in 
 and by which the national authority and loyal State Gov- 
 ernments may be re-established within said States, or in any 
 of them. And, while the mode presented is the best the 
 Executive can suggest with his present impressions, it must 
 not be understood that no other possible mode would be 
 acceptable. 
 
 Given under my hand at the city of Washington, the eighth day 
 of December, a.d. one thousand eight hundred and sixty- 
 three, and of the independence of the United States of Amer- 
 ica the eighty-eighth. 
 
 By the President : Abbaham Lincoln. 
 
 Wm. H. Seward, Secretary of State. 
 
 RESTRAINTS UPON THE CLERGY. 
 
 Clergymen and the representatives of clergymen, many 
 on one side, and some on the other, complained of the 
 restraints which, owing to the condition of the country, 
 were placed upon them, sometimes by the Government, 
 sometimes by the local authorities, and often by the very 
 people to whom they sought to minister. The following 
 letter, in reply to an appeal for the exercise of the Pres- 
 ident's authority to restore the Rev. Dr. McPheeters, of 
 St. Louis, to the pulpit, from which he had been excluded 
 by General Curtis for teaching disloyalty, shows that Mr. 
 Lincoln insisted only that clergymen, like all other citi- 
 zens, should not use their influence for the support of the 
 rebellion and the consequent destruction of the Gov- 
 ernment. 
 
248 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 Executive Mansion, Washington, Dec. 28, 1863. 
 
 I have just looked over a petition signed by some three dozen 
 citizens of St. Louis, and their accompanying letters, one by 
 yourself, one by a Mr. Nathan Ranney, and one by a Mr. John 
 D. Coalter, the whole relating to the Rev. Dr. McPheeters. The 
 petition prays, in the name of justice and mercy, that I will 
 restore Dr. McPheeters to all his ecclesiastical rights. 
 
 This gives no intimation as to what ecclesiastical rights are 
 withdrawn. Your letter states that Provost-Marshal Dick, 
 about a ago, ordered the arrest of Dr. McPheeters, Pastor of 
 the Vine Street Church, prohibited him from oflSciating, and 
 placed the management of affairs of the church out of the 
 control of the chosen trustees; and near the close you state 
 that a certain course " would insure his release." Mr. Ranney 's 
 letter says : " Dr. Samuel McPheeters is enjoying all the rights 
 of a civilian, but cannot preach the gospel ! " Mr. Coalter, in 
 his letter, asks : " Is it not a strange illustration of the condi- 
 tion of things, that the question who shall be allowed to preach 
 in a church in St. Louis shall be decided by the President of 
 the United States ? " 
 
 Now, all this sounds very strangely ; and, withal, a little as 
 if you gentlemen, making the application, do not understand 
 the case alike ; one affirming that his doctor is enjoying all the 
 rights of a civilian, and another pointing out to me what will 
 secure his release I On the 2d of January last, I wrote to Grene- 
 ral Curtis in relation to Mr. Dick's order upon Dr. McPheeters ; 
 and, as I suppose the doctor is enjoying all the rights of a 
 civilian, I only quote that part of my letter which relates to 
 the church. It was as follows: "But I must add that the 
 United States Government must not, as by this order, under- 
 take to run the churches. When an individual, in a church or 
 out of it, becomes dangerous to the public interest, he must be 
 checked ; but the churches, as such, must take care of them- 
 selves. It will not do for the United States to appoint trustees, 
 supervisors, or other agents for the churches." 
 
 This letter going to General Curtis, then in command, I sup- 
 posed, of course, it was obeyed, especially as I heard no further 
 complaint from Doctor McPheeters or his friends for nearly an 
 
THE martyr's monument. 249 
 
 entire year. I have never interferred, nor thought of interfer- 
 ing, as to vrho shall or shall not preach in any church; nor 
 have I knowingly or believingly tolerated any one else to inter- 
 fere by my authority. If any one is so interfering by color of 
 my authority, I would like to have it specifically made known 
 Jto me. 
 
 If, after all, what is now sought, is to have me put Doctor 
 McPheeters back over the heads of a majority of his own con- 
 gregation, that too, will be declined. I will not have control 
 of any church or any side. A. Lincoln. 
 
 EFFECT OP SO-CALLED SECESSION. 
 
 In the following letter addressed by Mr. Lincoln to 
 the editors of the North Amei^ican Review he gives his 
 views upon the effect of secession ordinances upon State 
 governments and individual citizens. 
 
 Executive Mansion, Washington, Jan. 16, 1864. 
 
 Messrs. Crosby <& Nichols : — Gentlemen — The number for this 
 month and year of the North American Review was duly received, 
 and for which please accept my thanks. Of course I am not 
 the most impartial judge ; yet, with due allowance for this, I 
 venture to hope that the article entitled ' The President's Policy,' 
 will be of value to the country. I fear I am not worthy of all 
 which is therein kindly said of me personally. 
 
 " The sentence of twelve lines, commencing at the top of 
 page 252, I could wish to'be not exactly what it is. In what 
 is there expressed the writer has not correctly understood me. 
 I have never had a theory that secession could absolve States or 
 people from their obligations. Precisely the contrary is asserted 
 ill the inaugural address ; and it was because of my belief in 
 the continuation of those obligations that I was 23uzzled for a 
 time, as to denying the legal rights of those citizens who re- 
 mained individually innocent of treason or rebellion. But I 
 mean no more now than to merely call attention to this point. 
 Yours respectfully, A. Lincoln." 
 
 11* 
 
250 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 REORGANIZATION IN ARKANSAS. 
 
 In spite of the position of Arkansas, lying as it does 
 west of the Mississippi and between Texas and Missouri, 
 there was from the beginning not only a strong Union 
 party in that State, but it was bolder and more outspol^en 
 and active than was the case under similar circumstances 
 in the eastern Slave States. In the w^inter of 1863-4 
 efforts were made by the loyal men of the State to 
 reorganize its government and bring it again under the 
 national authority. These efforts elicited the following 
 letters from Mr. Lincoln : 
 
 ExECUTivB Mansion, Washington, Jan. 20, 1864. 
 Ma^or- General Steele — Sundry citizens of the State of Arkan- 
 sas petition me that an election may be held in that State, at 
 which to elect a governor ; that it be assumed at that election 
 and thenceforward, that the Constitution and laws of the State, 
 as before the rebellion, are in full force, except that the ConstL 
 tution is so modified as to declare that there shall be neither 
 slavery nor involuntary servitude, except in the punishment of 
 crimes whereof the party shall have been duly convicted ; that 
 the General Assembly may make such provisions for the freed 
 people as shall recognize and declare their permanent freedom, 
 and provide for their education, and which may yet be con- 
 strued as a temporary arrangement suitable to their condition 
 as a laboring, landless, and homeless class; that said election 
 shall be held on the 28th of March, 1864, at all the usual places 
 of the State, or all such as voters may attend for that purpose; 
 that the voters attending at 8 o'clock in the morning of said 
 day may choose judges and clerks of election for such purpose; 
 that all persons qualified by said Constitution and laws, and 
 taking tha oath presented in the President's proclamation ot 
 December 8, 1863, either before or at the election, and none 
 others, may be voters ; that each set of judges and clerks may 
 
 make returns directly, to you on or before the — th day of 
 
 next ; that in all other respects said election may be conducted 
 
THE martyr's monument. 251 
 
 according to said Constitution and laws; that on receipt of 
 said returns, when. 5,406 votes shall have been cast, you can 
 receive said votes and ascertain all who shall thereby appear to 
 
 have been elected ; that on the — th day of next, all 
 
 persons so appearing to have been elected, who shall appear 
 before you at Little Rock, and take the oath, to be by you 
 severally administered, to support the Constitution of the 
 United States, and said modified Constitution of the State of 
 Arkansas, may be declared by you qualified and empowered to 
 immediately enter upon the duties of the offices to which they 
 shall have been respectively elected. 
 
 You will please order an election to take place on the 28th 
 of March, 1864, and returns to be made in fifteen days there- 
 after. A. Lincoln. 
 
 To William Fishback. — Wlien I fixed a plan for an election in 
 Arkansas, I did it in ignorance that your convention was at the 
 same work. Since I learned the latter fact, I have been con- 
 stantly trying to yield my plan to theirs. I have sent two let- 
 ters to General Steele, and three or four dispatches to you and 
 others, saying that he (General Steele) must be master, but that 
 it will probably be best for him to keep the convention on its 
 own plan. Some single mind must be master, else there will be 
 no agreement on anything; and General Steele, commanding 
 the military and being on the ground, is the best man to be that 
 master. Even now citizens are telegraphing me to postpone 
 the election to a later day than either fixed by the convention 
 or me. This discord must be silenced. A. Lincoln. 
 
 THE SANITARY AND CHRISTIAN COMMISSIONS. 
 
 The following letters may well be grouped together 
 here without regard to that chronological order which has 
 been preserved elsewhere throughout this volume. They 
 express the feelings with which Mr. Lincoln regarded the 
 efforts made by those who were cooperating with the San- 
 itary and Christian Commissions. 
 
252 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 AT THE FAIR IN WASHINGTON IN AID OF THE SANITARY 
 COMMISSION, MARCH 16, 1864. 
 
 Ladies and Omtlemm : — I appear to say but a word. This 
 extraordinary war in whicli we are engaged falls heavily upon 
 all classes of people, but the most heavily upon the soldier. 
 For it has been said, all that a man hath will he give for his 
 life; and while all contribute of their substance, the soldier 
 puts his life at stake, and often yields it up in his country's 
 cause. The highest merit, then, is due to the soldier. 
 
 In this extraordinary war, extraordinary developments have 
 manifested themselves, such as have not been seen in former 
 wars J and among these manifestations nothing has been more 
 remarkable than these fairs for the relief of suffering soldiers 
 and their families. And the chief agents in these fairs are the 
 women of America. 
 
 I am not accustomed to the use of language of eulogy ; I have 
 never studied the art of paying compliments to women ; but I 
 must say, that if all that has been said by orators and poets 
 since the creation of the world in praise of women were applied 
 to the women of America, it would not do them justice for their 
 conduct during this war. I will close by saying, God bless the 
 women of America ! 
 
 COMMISSION, APRIL 18, 1864. 
 
 Ladies and Gentlemen : — Calling to mind that we are iji Bal- 
 timore, we cannot fail to note that the w^orld moves. Looking 
 upon these many people assembled here to serve, as they best 
 may, the soldiers of the Union, it occurs at once that three years 
 ago the same soldiers could not so much as pass through Balti- 
 more. The change from then till now is both great and grati- 
 fying. Blessings on the brave men who have wrought the 
 change, and the fair women who strive to reward them for it. 
 
 But Baltimore suggests more than could happen within Bal- 
 timore. The change within Baltimore is part only of a far wider 
 change. When the war began, three years ago, neither party, 
 
THE martyr's monument. 253 
 
 nor any man, expected it would last till now. Each looked for 
 the end, in some way, long ere to-day. Neither did any antici- 
 pate that domestic slavery would be much affected by the war. 
 But here we are ; the war has not ended, and slavery has been 
 much affected — how much needs not now to be recounted. So 
 
 r 
 
 true it is that man proposes and God disposes. 
 
 But we can see the past, though we may not claim to have 
 directed it ; and seeing it, in this case, we feel more hopeful and 
 confident for the future. 
 
 The world has never had a good definition of the word lib- 
 erty, and the American people, just now, are much in want of 
 one. We all declare for liberty ; but in using the same word 
 we do not all mean the same thing. With some the word liberty 
 may mean for each man to do as he pleases with himself, and 
 the product of his labor ; while with others the same word may 
 mean for some men to do as they please with other men, and the 
 product of other men's labor. Here are two, not only difierent, 
 but incompatible things, called by the same name, liberty. 
 And it follows that each of the things is, by the resj)ective par- 
 ties, called by two different and incompatible names — liberty 
 and tyranny. 
 
 The shepherd drives the wolf from the sheep's throat, for 
 which the sheei^ thanks the shepherd as a liherator., while the 
 wolf denounces him for the same act, as the destroyer of liberty, 
 especially as the sheep was a black one. Plainly, the sheep and 
 the wolf are not agreed upon a definition of the word liberty i 
 and precisely the same difierence prevails to-day among us hu- 
 man creatures, even in the North, and all professing to love lib- 
 erty. Hence we behold the process by which thousands are daily 
 passing from under the yoke of bondage hailed by some as the 
 advance of liberty, and bewailed by others as the destruction of 
 all liberty. Recently, as it seems, the people of Maryland have 
 been doing something to define liberty; and thanks to them 
 that, in what they have done, the wolf's dictionary has been 
 repudiated. 
 
 It is not very becoming for one in my position to make 
 speeches at great length; but there is another subject upon 
 which I feel that I ought to say a word. A painful rumor, 
 
254 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 true, I fear, has reached us of the massacre, by the rebel forces 
 at Fort Pillow, in the west end of Tennessee, on the Mississippi 
 River, of some three hundred colored soldiers and white officers, 
 who had just been overpowered by their assailants. There 
 seems to be some anxiety in the public mind whether the Gov- 
 ernment is doing its duty to the colored soldier, and to the ser- 
 vice at this point. At the beginning of the war, and for some 
 time, the use of colored troops was not contemplated ; and how 
 the change of purpose was wrought I will not now take time to 
 explain. Upon a clear conviction of duty, I resolved to turn 
 that element of strength to account ; and I am responsible for it 
 to the American people, to the Christian world, to history, and 
 on my final account to God. Having determined to use the 
 negro as a soldier, there is no way but to give him all the pro- 
 tection given to any other soldier. The difficulty is not in stat- 
 ing the principle, but in practically applying it. It is a mistake 
 to suppose the Government is indiflferent to this matter, or is 
 not doing the best it can in regard to it. We do not to-day 
 Tcnow that a colored soldier, or white officer commanding colored 
 soldiers has been massacred by the rebels when made a prisoner. 
 We fear it, believe it, I may say, but we do not hnow it. To 
 take the life of one of their prisoners on the assumption that 
 they murder ours-, when it is short of certainty that they do 
 murder ours, might be too serious, too cruel a mistake. We 
 are having the Fort Pillow affair thoroughly investigated ; and 
 such investigation will probably show conclusively how the 
 truth is. If, after all that has been said, it shall turn out that 
 there has been no massacre at Fort Pillow, it will be almost safe 
 to say there has been none, and will be none elsewhere. If there 
 has been the massacre of three hundred there, or even the tenth 
 part of three hundred, it will be conclusively proven ; and being 
 so proven, the retribution shall as surely come. It will be a 
 matter of grave consideration in what exact course to apply the 
 retribution ; but in the supposed case it must come. 
 
 THE WORKINGMEN'S ASSOCIATION OF NEW YORK. 
 
 This Association elected Mr. Lincoln one of its hon- 
 orary members, and on the 21st of March, 1864, a com- 
 
255 
 
 mittee of the Association presented to him an address 
 setting forth the objects of the association, and requesting 
 him to accept the membership. He replied as follows : 
 
 OentUmen of the Committee — The nonorary membersliip in 
 your association, as generously tendered, is gratefully accepted. 
 
 You comprehend, as your addi-ess shows, that the existing 
 rebellion means more and tends to do more than the perpetua- 
 ation of African slavery — that it is, in fact, a war upon the 
 rights of all working people. Partly to show that this view had 
 not escaped my attention, and partly that I cannot better express 
 myself, I read a passage from the message to Congress in De- 
 cember, 1861 : 
 
 " It continues to develop that the insurrection is largely, if 
 not exclusively, a war upon the first principle of popular gov- 
 ernment, the rights of the people. Conclusive evidence of this 
 is found in the most grave and maturely considered public doc- 
 uments, as well as in the general tone of the insurgents. In 
 those documents we find the abridgment of the existing right 
 of suffrage, and the denial to the people of all right to partici- 
 pate in the selection of public officers, except the legislative, 
 boldly advocated, with labored argument to prove that large 
 control of the people in government is the source of all political 
 evil. Monarchy itself is sometimes hinted at as a possible refuge 
 from the power of the people. 
 
 "In my present position I could scarcely be justified were I 
 to omit raising a warning voice against this aj^p roach of return- 
 ing despotism. 
 
 " It is not needed, nor fitting here, that a general argument 
 should be made in favor of popular institutions ; but there is 
 one point with its connections, not so hackneyed as most others, 
 to which I ask a brief attention. It is the effort to place capital 
 on an equal footing, if not above lobar, in the structure of gov- 
 ernment. It is assumed that labor is available only in coimec- 
 tion with capital ; that nobody labors unless somebody else, 
 owning capital, somehow by the use of it induces him to labor. 
 This assumed, it is next considered whether it is best that cap- 
 ital shall hire laborers, and thus induce them to work by their 
 
256 THE 
 
 own consent, or hiy them, and drive them to it without their 
 consent. Having proceeded so far, it is naturally concluded 
 that all laborers are either hired laborers, or what we call slaves. 
 And, further, it is assumed that whoever is once a hired laborer, 
 is fixed in that condition for life. Now there is no such rela- 
 tion between capital and labor as assumed, nor is there any such 
 thing as a free man being fixed for life in the condition of a hired 
 laborer. Both these assumptions are false, and all inferences 
 from them are groundless. 
 
 " Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is 
 only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor 
 had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital, and de- 
 serves much the higher consideration. Capital has its rights, 
 which are as worthy of protection as any other rights., Nor is 
 it denied that there is, and probably always will be, a relation 
 between capital and labor ; producing mutual benefits. The 
 error is in assuming that the whole labor of a community exists 
 within that relation. A few men own capital, and that few 
 avoid labor themselves, and, with their capital, hire or buy 
 another few to labor for them. A large majority belong to nei- 
 ther class — neither work for others, nor have others working for 
 them. In most of the Southern States a majority of the whole 
 people of all colors are neither slaves nor masters ; while in the 
 Northern, a large majority are neither hirers nor hired. Men 
 with their families — wives, sons, and daughters — work for them- 
 selves, on their farms, in their houses, and in their shops, taking 
 the whole product to themselves, and asking no favors of cap- 
 ital on the one hand nor of hired laborers or slaves on the other. 
 It is not forgotten that a considerable number of persons mingle 
 their own labor with capital ; that is, they labor with their own 
 hands, and also buy or hire others to labor for them, but this is 
 only a mixed and not a distinct class. No principle stated is 
 disturbed by the existence of this mixed class. 
 
 " Again, as has already been said, there is not, of necessity, 
 any such thing as the free hired laborer being fixed to that con- 
 dition for life. Many independent men everywhere in these 
 States, a few years back in their lives were hired laborers. The 
 prudent penniless beginner in the world labors for wages awhile, 
 
THE martyr's monument. 257 
 
 saves a surplus with whicli to buy tools or land for himself, 
 then labors on his own account another while, and at length 
 hires another new beginner to help him. This is the just and 
 generous and prosperous system which opens the way to all — 
 gives hope to all, and consequent energy and j)rogress, and im- 
 provement of condition to all. No men living are more worthy 
 to be trusted than those who toil up from poverty — none less 
 inclined to touch or take aught which they have not honestly 
 earned. Let them beware of surrendering a political power 
 they already possess, and which, if surrendered, will surely be 
 used to close the door of advancement against such as they, and 
 to fix new disabilities and burdens upon them, till all of liberty 
 shall be lost." 
 
 The views then expressed remain unchanged, nor have I much 
 to add. None are so deeply interested to resist the present re- 
 bellion as the working people. Let them beware of prejudices, 
 working division and hostility among themselves. The most 
 notable feature of a disturbance in your city last summer was 
 the hanging of some working people by other working people. 
 It should never be so. The strongest bond of human sympathy, 
 outside of the family relation, should be one uniting all working 
 people, of all nations and tongues, and kindreds. Nor should 
 this lead to a war upon property or the owners of projDcrty. 
 Property is the fruit of labor ; property is desirable ; is a posi- 
 tive good in the world. That some should be rich shows that 
 others may become rich, and, hence, is just encouragement to 
 industry and enterprise. Let not him who is houseless pull 
 down the house of another, but let him labor diligently and 
 build one for himself, thus by example assuring that his own 
 shall be safe from violence when built. 
 
 DEFINING THE AMNESTY PROCLAMATION. 
 
 The Proclamation of Amnesty, issued in December, 
 1863, was scouted by the defenders and apoh)gists of the 
 rebellion as adapted only to irritate the insurgents and 
 stimulate them to prolong resistance. But early in 1864 
 
258 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 the waning of confidence in the so-called Confederacy 
 began to be manifested on the part of prisoners taken by 
 the national forces. Many of these claimed the benefits 
 of the amnesty, and wished to return to their allegiance 
 as a mode of relieving themselves of the consequences 
 of capture. These unreasonable expectations called out 
 the following 
 
 PROCLAMATION. 
 
 Whereas^ it has become necessaiy to define the cases in which 
 insargent enemies are entitled to the benefits of the Proclama- 
 tion of the President of the United States, which was made on 
 the 8th day of December, 1863, and the manner in which they 
 shall proceed to avail themselves of these benefits ; and whereas 
 the objects of that proclamation were to suppress the insurrec- 
 tion and to restore the authority of the United States ; and 
 whereas the amnesty therein proposed by the President was 
 offered with reference to these objects alone ; 
 
 Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the 
 United states, do hereby proclaim and declare that the said 
 proclamation does not apply to the cases of joersons who, at the 
 time when they seek to obtain the benefits thereof by taking 
 the oath thereby prescribed, are in military, naval or civil con- 
 finement 0/ custody, or under bonds, or on parole of the civil, 
 military oi naval authorities or agents of the United States, as 
 prisoners ot war, or persons detained for offences of any kiad, 
 either befoie or after conviction ; and that on the contrary it 
 does apply only to those persons who, being yet at large, and 
 free from any arrest, confinement, or duress, shall voluntarily 
 come forward and take the said oath, with the purpose of re- 
 storing peace and establishing the national authority. 
 
 Persons excluded from the amnesty offered in the said pro- 
 clamation may apply to the President for clemency, like all other 
 offenders, and their api>lication will receive due consideration. 
 
 I do further declare and proclaim that the oath presented in 
 the aforesaid proclamation of the 8th of December, 1863, may 
 be taken and subscribed before any commissioned oflScer, civil, 
 
THE martyr's monument. 259 
 
 military or naval, in the service of the United States, or any- 
 civil or military officer of a State or Territory not in insurrec- 
 tion, who, by the laws thereof, may be qualified for administer- 
 ing oaths. 
 
 All officers who receive such oaths are hereby authorized to 
 give certificates thereof to the persons respectively by whom 
 they are made, and such officers are hereby required to transmit 
 the original records of such oaths at as early a day as may be 
 convenient, to the Department of State, where they will be de- 
 posited, and remain in the archives of the Government. 
 
 The Secretary of State will keep a registry thereof, and will, 
 on application, in proper cases, issue certificates of such records 
 in the customary form of official certificates. 
 
 In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused 
 the seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at 
 the City of Washington, this 26th day of March, in the 
 [l. s.] year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and 
 sixty-three, and of the independence of the United 
 States of America the eighty-eighth. 
 By the President : Abraham Lincoln. 
 
 William H. Sewaed, Secretary of State. 
 
 POLICY WITH REGARD TO SLAVERY. 
 
 Mr. Lincoln, in various speeches and documents which 
 are to be found in their places in this volume, set forth 
 his views as to his duty, and his consequent policy, in 
 regard to slavery. None of these, however, seem to be 
 so complete an expression, both of his feeling and his 
 purposes upon this subject, as that contained in the fol- 
 lowing letter. It was addressed to Mr. A. G. Hodges, 
 who, in company with Governor Bramlette of Kentucky, 
 and some other gentlemen from that State, had waited 
 upon the President in regard to a modification of the 
 draft. In the course of their interview, a conversation 
 
260 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 had taken place upon Mr. Lincoln's policy in regard to 
 slavery, which he thought was misapprehended in Ken- 
 tucky, and which he explained in the terms re-collected 
 in this letter : 
 
 Executive Mansion, Washington, April 4, 1864. 
 
 A. G. Hodges, Esq., Franlcfort, Ky. — My Dea/r 8ir — You ask 
 me to put in writing the substance of wliat I verbally said the 
 other day, in your presence, to Governor Bramlette and Senator 
 Dixon. It was about as follows : 
 
 " 1 am naturally anti-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 oflScially upon this judg- 
 ment and feeling. It was in the oath I took, that I would, to 
 the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Consti- 
 tution of the United States. I could not take the office without 
 taking the oath. Nor was it my view that I might take an oath to 
 get power, and break the oath in using the power. I understood, 
 too, that in ordinary civil administration this oath even forbade 
 me to practically indulge my primary abstract judgment on the 
 moral question of slavery. I had publicly declared this many 
 times, and in many ways. And I aver that, to this day, I have 
 done no official act in mere deference to my abstract judgment 
 and feeling on slavery. I did understand, however, that my 
 oath to preserve the Constitution to the best of my ability, im- 
 posed upon me the duty of preserving, by every indispensable 
 means, that government — that nation, of which that Constitu- 
 tion was the organic law. Was it possible to lose the nation 
 and yet preserve the Constitution ? By general law, life ana 
 limb must be protected ; yet often a limb must be amj)utated 
 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 becoming indispensable to the preservation of the 
 Constitution, through the preservation of the nation. Right or 
 wrong, I assumed this ground, and now avow it. I could not 
 feel that, to the best of my ability, I had even tried to preserve 
 the Constitution, if, to save slavery, or any miuor matter, I 
 
THE martyr's monument. 261 
 
 should permit the wi-eck of government, country, and Constitu- 
 tion, 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 dicPnot yet think it an indis- 
 pensable necessity. 'V\Tien, still later, General Hunter attempted 
 military emancipation, I again forbade it, because I did not yet 
 think the indispensable necessity had come. When, in March, 
 and May, and July, 1862^ I made earnest and successive appeals 
 to the border States to favor compensated emancipation, I 
 believed the indispensable necessity for military emancipation 
 and arming the blacks Tvould come, unless averted by that 
 measure. They declined the f)roposition, and I was, in my best 
 judgment, diiven to the alternative of either surrendering the 
 Union, and with it, the Constitution, or of laying strong hand 
 upon the colored element. I chose the latter. In choosing it, 
 I hoped for greater gain than loss, but of this I was not entirely 
 confident. More than a year of trial now shows no loss by it in 
 our foreign relations, none in our home popular sentiment, none 
 in our white military force, no loss by it anyhow, or anywhere. 
 On the contrary, it shows a gain of quite a hundred and thirty 
 thousand soldiers, seamen, and laborers. These are palpable 
 facts, about which, as facts, there can be no caviling. We 
 have the men ; and we could not have had them without the 
 measure. 
 
 " And now let any Union man who complains of the measure, 
 test himself by writing down in one line, that he is for subduing 
 the rebellion by force of arms ; and in the next, that he is for 
 taking a hundred and thirty thousand men from the Union side, 
 and placing them where they would be best for the measure he 
 condemns. If he cannot face his case so stated, it is only 
 because he cannot face the truth." 
 
 I add a word wliich 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 
 
262 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 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. 
 
 GENERAL GRANT. 
 
 Mr. Lincoln expressed his high appreciation of General 
 Grant, and his estimation of the difficulties he had before 
 him, in the following letter addressed to the managers of 
 a meeting in New York, held directly after that eminent 
 soldier's opening of the long campaign which ended in 
 the capture of Richmond and the crushing of the rebel- 
 lion : 
 
 ExECTJTiYE Mansion, Washington, June 3, 1864. 
 
 Hon. F. A. GonMing^ and others — Oentlemen — Your letter in- 
 viting me to be present at a mass meeting of the loyal citizens, 
 to be held at New York on the 4th inst., for the purpose of ex- 
 pressing gratitude to Lieutenant-General Grant for his signal 
 services, was received yesterday. It is impossible for me to 
 attend. I approve, nevertheless, whatever may tend to strengthen 
 and sustain General Grant and the noble armies now under his 
 direction. My previous high estimate of General Grant has 
 been maintained and heightened by what has occurred in the 
 remarkable campaign he is now conducting ; while the magni- 
 tude and difficulty of the task before him does not prove less 
 than I expected. He and his brave soldiers are now in the 
 midst of their great trial, and I trust that, at your meeting, you 
 will so shape your good words that they may turn to men and 
 guns moving to his and their support. 
 
 Yours truly, A. Lincoln, 
 
THE martyr's monument. 263 
 
 CONaRESSIONAL SESSION OF 1864-5. 
 
 Congress met in regular session on the 7th of Decem- 
 ber, 1864, and received from the President the following 
 Message, in which the passages chiefly worthy of note are 
 those referring to the Constitutional Amendment abolish- 
 ing slavery, to the futility of any attempt to negotiate 
 with " the insurgent leaders," and to the development of 
 the resources and the increase in the power of the country 
 in the midst of the vast and long continued civil war. 
 
 Fellow- Citizens of the Senate and House of Rep'esentatives — 
 Again the blessings of health and abundant harvests claim our 
 profoundest gratitude to Almighty God. 
 
 The condition of our foreign affairs is reasonably satisfactory. 
 
 Mexico continues to be a theatre of ci\i.l war. While our 
 political relations w^th that country have undergone no change, 
 we have at the same time strictly maintained neutrality between 
 the belligerents. 
 
 At the request of the States of Costa Rica and Nicaragua, a 
 competent engineer has been authorized to make a survey of the 
 River San Juan and the port of San Juan. It is a source of 
 much satisfaction that the difficulties, which for a moment 
 excited some political apprehension and caused a closing of the 
 inter-oceanic transit route, have been amicably adjusted, and 
 that there is a good prospect that the route will soon be re- 
 opened, with an increase of capacity and adaptation. We 
 could not exaggerate either the commercial or the political 
 importance of that great improvement. It would be doing 
 injustice to an important South American State, not to acknowl 
 edge the directness, frankness, and cordiality with which the 
 States of Colombia have entered into intimate relations with 
 this Government. A claims-convention has been constituted to 
 complete the unfinished work of the one which closed its ses- 
 sion in 1861. 
 
 The new liberal Constitution of Venezuela having gone into 
 cflfect with the universal acquiescence of the people, the govern- 
 
264 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 ment under it has been recognized, and diplomatic intercourse 
 with it has been opened in a cordial and friendly spirit. 
 
 The long deferred Aves Island claim has been satisfactorily 
 paid and discharged. Mutual payments have been made of 
 the claims awarded by the late Joint Commission for the settle- 
 ment of claims between the United States and Peru. An ear- 
 nest and cordial friendship continues to exist between the two 
 countries ; and such efforts as were in my power have been used 
 to remove misunderstanding and avert a threatened war 
 between Peru and Spain. Our relations are of the most friendly 
 nature with Chili, the Argentine Republic, Bolivia, Costa Rica, 
 Paraguay, San Salvador and Hayti. During the past year no 
 differences of any kind have arisen with any of these Repub- 
 lics. And, on the other hand, their sympathies with the United 
 States are constantly expressed with cordiality and earnestness. 
 
 The claim arising from the seizure of the cargo of the brig 
 Macedonian, in 1821, has been paid in full by the Government 
 of Chili. 
 
 Civil war continues in the Spanish part of San Domingo, 
 apparently without prospect of an early close. 
 
 Official correspondence has been freely opened with Liberia, 
 and it gives us a pleasing view of social and political progress 
 in that Republic. It may be expected to derive new vigor from 
 American influence, improved by the rapid disappearance of 
 slavery in the United States. 
 
 I solicit your authority to furnish to the Republic a gunboat 
 at a moderate cost, to be reimbursed to the United States by 
 installments. Such a vessel is needed for the safety of that 
 State against the native African races, and in Liberian hands it 
 would be more effective in arresting the African slave-trade, 
 than a squadron in our own hands. The possession of the least 
 organized naval force would stimulate a generous ambition in 
 the Republic, and the confidence which we should manifest by 
 fumishiQg it would win forbearance and favor toward the colony 
 from all civilized nations. 
 
 The proposed overland telegraph between America and 
 Europe by the way of Behring's Straits and Asiatic Russia, 
 which was sanctioned by Congress at the last session, has been 
 
THE martyr's monument. 265 
 
 undertaken under very favorable circumstances by an associa- 
 tion of American citizens, witli the cordial good-will and sup- 
 port as well of this Government as of those of Great Britain and 
 Russia. Assurances have been received from most of the South 
 American States of their high appreciation of the enterprise 
 and their readiness to co-operate in constructing lines tributary 
 to that world-encircling communication. 
 
 I learn with much satisfaction that the noble design of a tele- 
 graphic communication between the Eastern Coast of America 
 and Great Britain has been renewed, with full expectation of 
 its early accomplishment. Thus it is hoped that with the 
 return of domestic peace, the country will be able to resume 
 with energy and advantage her former high career of commerce 
 and civilization. 
 
 Our very popular and estimable representative in Egypt died 
 in April last. An unpleasant altercation which arose between 
 the temporary incumbent of the office and the Government of 
 the Pacha, resulted in a suspension of intercourse. The evil 
 was promptly corrected on the arrival of the successor in the 
 consulate and our relations with Egypt, as well as our relations 
 with the Barbary Powers, are entirely satisfactory. 
 
 The rebellion, which has so long been flagrant in China, has 
 at last been suppressed, with the co-operating good olfices of 
 this Government, and of the other Western commercial States. 
 The judicial consular establishment has become very difficult 
 and onerous, and it will need legislative organization to adapt 
 it to the extension of our commerce, and to the more intimate 
 intercourse which has been instituted with the government and 
 people of that vast empire. China seems to be accepting, with 
 hearty good will, the conventional laws which regulate com- 
 merce and social intercourse among Western nations. 
 
 Owing to the peculiar situation of Japan and the anomalous 
 form of its government, the action of that empire in perfonning 
 treaty stipulations is inconstant and capricious. Nevertheless, 
 good progress has been effected by the Western Powers, moving 
 with enlightened concert. Our own pecuniary claims have 
 been allowed, or put in course of settlement, and the inland 
 sea has been reopened to commerce. There is reason also to 
 
266 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 believe tliat these proceedings have increased rather than dimin- 
 ished the friendship of Japan toward the United States. 
 
 The ports of Norfolk, Femandina and Pensacola have been 
 opened by proclamation. It is hoped that foreign merchants 
 will now consider whether it is not safer and more profit- 
 able to themselves, as well as just to the United States, to resort 
 to them and other open ports, than it is to pursue, through 
 many hazards and at vast cost, a contraband trade with other 
 ports which are closed, if not by actual military operation, at 
 least by a lawful and effective blockade. 
 
 For myself, I have no doubt of the power and duty of the 
 Executive, under the law of nations, to exclude enemies of the 
 human race from an asylum in the United States. If Congress 
 should think that proceedings in such cases lack the authority 
 of law, or ought to be further regulated by it, I recommend 
 that provision be made for effectually preventing foreign slave- 
 traders from acquiring domicile and facilities for their criminal 
 occupation in our country. 
 
 It is possible that if it were a new and open question, the 
 Maritime Powers, with the light they now enjoy, would not 
 concede the privileges of a naval belligerent to the insurgents 
 of the United States, destitute as they are and always have 
 been, equally of ships and of ports and harbors. Disloyal 
 emissaries have been neither less assiduous nor more successful 
 during the last year than they were before that time in their 
 efforts, under favor of that privilege, to embroil our country in 
 foreign wars. The desire and determination of the Maritime 
 States to defeat that design are believed to be as sincere as, and 
 cannot be more earnest than our own. Nevertheless unforeseen 
 political difficulties have arisen, especially in Brazilian and 
 British ports and on the Northern boundary of the United 
 States, which have required and are likely to continue to 
 require the practice of constant vigilance and a just and con- 
 ciliatory spirit on the part of the United States, as well as of 
 the nations concerned and their governments. Commissioners 
 have been appointed under the treaty with Great Britain on 
 the adjustment of the claims of the Hudson Bay and Puget's 
 Sound Agricultural Companies in Oregon, and are now pro- 
 ceeding to the execution of the trust assigned to them. 
 
THE martyr's monument. 267 
 
 In view of the insecurity of life in the region adjacent to the 
 Canadian border, by recent assaults and depredations committed 
 by inimical and desperate persons, who are harbored there, it 
 has been thought proper to give notice that after the expiration 
 of six months, the period conditionally stipulated in the exist- 
 ing arrangements with Great Britain, the United States must 
 hold themselves at liberty to increase their naval armament 
 upon the Lakes, if they shall find that proceeding necessary. 
 The condition of the border will necessarily come into consider- 
 ation in connection with the question of continuing or modify- 
 ing the rights of transit from Canada through the United States, 
 as well as the regulation of imports, which were temporarily 
 established by the Reciprocity Treaty of the 5th June, 1854. 
 I desire, however, to be understood while making this state- 
 ment, that the colonial authorities are not deemed to be inten- 
 tionally unjust or unfriendly toward the United States, but on 
 the contrary, there is every reason to expect that with the 
 approval of the Imperial Government they will take the neces- 
 sary measure to prevent new incursions across the border. 
 
 The act passed at the last session for the encouragement of 
 emigration has, as far as was possible, been put into operation. 
 It seems to need amendment, which will enable the ofiicers of 
 the Government to prevent the practice of frauds against the 
 immigrants while on their way, and on their arrival in the ports, 
 so as to secure them here a free choice of avocations and places 
 of settlement. A liberal disposition toward this great national 
 policy is manifested by most of the European States, and 
 ought to be reciprocated on our part, by gi^^ng the immigrants 
 effective national protection. I regard our emigrants as one of 
 the principal replenishing streams which are appointed by 
 Providence to repair the ravages of internal war and its wastes 
 of national strength and health. All that is necessaiy is to 
 secure the flow of that stream in its present fulness, and to that 
 end the Government must in every way make it manifest that 
 it neither needs nor designs to impose involuntary military 
 service upon those who come from other lands to cast their lot 
 in our country. 
 
 The financial affairs of the Government have been successfully 
 
268 THE makttr's monument. 
 
 administered during tlie last year. The legislation of the last 
 session of Congress has beneficially affected the revenue. Al- 
 though sufiicient time has not yet elapsed to experience the 
 full effect of several of the provisions of the acts of Congress 
 imposing increased taxation, the receipts during the year, from 
 all sources, upon the basis of warrants signed by the Secretary 
 of the Treasury, including loans, and the balance in the Trea- 
 sury on the 1st day of July, 1863, were $1,394,796,007 62, and 
 the aggregate disbursements upon the same basis, were $1,298,- 
 056,101 89, leaving a balance in the Treasury, as shown by war- 
 rants, of $96,739,905 73, Deduct from these amounts the 
 amount of the principal of the public debt redeemed and the 
 amount of issues in substitution therefor, and the actual cash 
 operations of the Treasury were : Receipts, $884,076,646 77 ; 
 disbursements, $865,234,087 86, which leaves a cash balance in 
 the Treasury of $18,842,558 71. Of the receipts, there were 
 derived from customs, $102,316,152 99 : from lands, $388,333 29 ; 
 from direct taxes, $475,648 96; from internal revenue, $109,- 
 741,134 10; from miscellaneous sources, $47,511,448 10; and 
 from loans applied to actual expenditures, including former 
 balance, $623,443,929 13. There were disbursed for the civil 
 service, $27,505,599 46 ; for pensions and Indians, $7,517,930 97; 
 for the War Department, $60,791,842 97; for the Navy Depart- 
 ment, $85,733,292 79 ; for interest of the public debt, $53,685,- 
 421 69, making an aggregate of $865,234,087 86, and leaving a 
 balance in the Treasury of $18,842,558 71, as before stated. 
 
 For the actual receipts and disbursements for the first quar- 
 ter, and the estimated receipts and disbursements for the three 
 remaining quarters of the current fiscal year, and the general 
 operations of the Treasury in detail, I refer you.to the report 
 of the Secretary of the Treasury. I concur with him in the 
 opinion that the proportion of the moneys required to meet the 
 expenses consequent upon the war, derived from taxation, 
 should be still further increased ; and I earnestly invite your 
 attention to this subject to the end that there may be such 
 additional legislation as shall be required to meet the just 
 expectations of the Secretary. The public debt on the 1st day 
 of July last, as appears by the books of the Treasury, amounted 
 
THE martyr's monument. 269 
 
 to one billion, seven hundred and forty thousand million, six 
 hundred and ninety thousand, four hundred and eighty-nine 
 dollars and forty-nine cents. Probably should the war continue 
 for another year, that amount may be increased by not far from 
 five hundred millions. Held, as it is for the most part by our 
 own people, it has become a substantial branch of national 
 though private property. For obvious reasons the more nearly 
 this property can be distributed among all the people the bet- 
 ter. To favor such general distribution, greater inducements to 
 become o^\Tiers might perhaps, with good effect and without 
 injury, be presented to persons of limited means. With this 
 view, I suggest whether it might not be both expedient and 
 competent for Congress to provide that a lunited amount of 
 some future issue of public securities might be held by any 
 bona fide jjurchaser exempt from taxation and from seizure for 
 debt under such restrictions and limitations as might be neces- 
 sary to guard against abuse of so important a privilege. This 
 would enable i^rudent persons to set aside a small annuity 
 against a possible day of want. Privileges like these would 
 render the possession of such securities to the amount limited 
 most desirable to any person of small means, who might be able 
 to save enough for the jiurpose. The great advantage of citi- 
 zens being creditors, as well as debtors, with relation to the 
 public debt, is obvious. Men readily perceive that they cannot 
 be much oppressed by a debt which they owe themselves. The 
 public debt on the 1st day of July last, although somewhat ex- 
 ceeding the estimate of the Secretary of the Treasury made to 
 Congress at the commencement of the last session, falls short 
 of the estimate of that officer made in the preceding December, 
 as to its probable amount at the beguming of this year, by the 
 sum of $3,995,079 33. This fact exhibits a satisfactory condi- 
 tion and conduct of the oiDerations of the Treasury. 
 
 The National Banking system is proving to be acceptable to 
 capitalists and to the people. On the 25th day of November, 
 584 National Banks had been organized, a considerable number 
 of which were conversions from State banks. Changes from 
 the State system to the National system are rapidly taking 
 place, and it is hoped that very soon there will be in the United 
 
270 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 states, no banks of issue not authorized by Congress, and no 
 bank-note circulation not secured by the Government ; that the 
 Government and the people will derive general benefit from this 
 change in the banking systems of the country can hardly be 
 questioned. The National system will create a reliable and per- 
 manent influence in support of the national credit and protect 
 the people against losses in the use of paper money. Whether 
 or not any further legislation is advisable for the suppression of 
 State bank issues, it will be for Congress to determine. It seems 
 quite clear that the Treasury cannot be satisfactorily conducted 
 unless the Government can exercise a restraining power over the 
 bank-note circulation of the country. 
 
 The report of the Secretary of War and the accompanying 
 documents will detail the campaigns of the armies in the field, 
 since the date of the last Annual Message, and also the opera- 
 tions of the several administrative bureaux of the War Depart- 
 ment during the last year. It will also specify the measures 
 deemed essential for the national defence, and to keep up and 
 supply the requisite military force. The report of the Secretary 
 of the Navy presents a comprehensive and satisfactory exhibit 
 of the afi"airs of that department and of the naval service. It is 
 a subject of congratulation and laudable pride to our country- 
 men that a navy of such proportions has been organized in so 
 brief a period, and conducted with so much efficiency and suc- 
 cess. 
 
 The general exhibit of the navy, including vessels under con- 
 struction on the 1st of December, 1864, shows a total of 671 
 vessels, carrying 4,610 guns, and 510,396 tons, being an actual 
 increase during the year, over and above all losses by shipwreck 
 or in battle, of 83 vessels, 167 guns, and 42,427 tons. The to- 
 tal number of men at this time in the naval service, including 
 officers, is about 51,000. There have been captured by the 
 navy, during the year, 324 vessels, and the whole number of 
 naval captures since hostilities commenced is 1,379, of which 
 267 are steamers. The gross receipts arising from the sale of 
 condemned prize property thus far reported amounts to $14,- 
 396,250 51. A large amount of such proceeds is still under ad- 
 judication, and yet to be reported. The total expenditure of 
 
THE martyr's monument. 271 
 
 the Navy Department, of every description, including the cost 
 of the immense squadrons that have been called into existence 
 from the 4th of March, 1861, to the 1st of November, 1864, are 
 $238,647,262 35. Your favorable consideration is invited to the 
 various recommendations of the Secretary of the Navy, es- 
 pecially in regard to a navy-yard and suitable establishment for 
 the construction and repair of iron vessels, and the machinery 
 and armature of our ships, to which reference was made in my 
 last Annual Message. 
 
 Your attention is also invited to the views expressed in the 
 report in relation to the legislation of Congress at its last session, 
 in respect to prizes on our inland waters. I cordially concur in 
 the recommendation of the Secretary as to the propriety of cre- 
 ating the new rank of Vice-Admiral in our naval service. 
 
 Your attention is invited to the report of the Postmaster-Gen- 
 eral for a detailed account of the operations and financial con- 
 dition of the Post-office Department. The postal revenue for 
 the year ending June 30, 1854, amounted to $12,468,253 78, and 
 the expenditures to $12,644,786 20 ; the excess of expenditures 
 over receipts being $206,652 42. 
 
 The views presented by the Postmaster-General on the subject 
 of special grants by the Government in aid of the establish- 
 ment of new lines of ocean mail steamships, and the policy he 
 recommends for the develojiment of increased commercial inter- 
 course with adjacent and neighboring countries, should receive 
 the careful consideration of Congress. 
 
 It is of noteworthy interest that the steady expansion of pop- 
 ulation, improvement and governmental institutions over the 
 new and unoccupied portions of our country, have scarcely been 
 checked, much less impeded or destroyed, by our great civil 
 war, which, at first glance, would seem to have absorbed almost 
 the entire energies of the nation. 
 
 The organization and admission of the State of Nevada has 
 been completed, in conformity with law, and thus our excel- 
 lent system is firmly established in the mountains which once 
 seemed a barren and uninhabitable waste, between the Atlantic 
 States and those which have grown up on the coast of the Pa- 
 cific Ocean. 
 
272 ' THE martyr's monument. ♦ 
 
 The territories of the Union are generally in a condition of 
 prosperity and rapid growth. Idaho and Montana, by reason 
 of their great distance, and the interruption of communication 
 with them by Indian hostilities, have been only partially organ- 
 ized ; but it is imderstood that these difficulties are about to dis- 
 appear, which will permit their governments, like those of the 
 others, to go into speedy and full operation.' As intimately 
 connected with and promotive of this material growth of the 
 nation, I ask the attention of Congress to the valuable informa- 
 tion and important recommendations relating to the public 
 lands, Indian affairs, the Pacific railroads, and mineral discov- 
 eries contained in the report of the Secretary of the Interior, 
 which is herewith transmitted, and which report also embraces 
 the subjects of patents, pensions, and other topics of public in- 
 terest pertaining to his Department. The quantity of public 
 land disposed of during the five quarters ending on the thirtieth 
 of September last, was 4,221,342 acres, of which 1,538,614 acres 
 were entered under the homestead law. The remainder was 
 located with militaiy land warrants, agricultural scrip, certified 
 to States for railroads, and sold for cash. The cash received 
 from sales and location fees was $1,019,446. The income from 
 sales during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1864, was $678,007 
 21, against $136,077 95 received during the preceding year. 
 The aggregate number of acres surveyed during the year has 
 been equal to the quantity disposed of, and there is open to set- 
 tlement about 133,000,000 acres of surveyed land. 
 
 The great entei*prise of connecting the Atlantic with the Pa- 
 cific States, by railways and telegraph lines, has been entered 
 upon with a vigor that gives assurance of success, notwithstand- 
 ing the embarrassments arising from the prevailing high prices 
 of materials and labor. The route of the main line of the road 
 has been definitely located for one hundred miles westward from 
 the central point at Omaha City, Nebraska, and a preliminary 
 location of the Pacific Eailroad of California has been made 
 from Sacramento, eastward, to the great bend of the Mucker 
 Eiver in Nevada. Numerous discoveries of gold, silver and cin- 
 nabar mines have been added to the many heretofore known, 
 and the country occujDied by the Sierra Nevada and Kocky 
 
THE martyr's monument. 273 
 
 Mountains and the subordinate ranges now teems "witli enter- 
 prising labor, wMch is richly remunerative. 
 
 It is believed that the product of the mines of precious metals in 
 that region has, during the year, reached, if not exceeded, $100,- 
 000,000 in value. It was recommended in my last Annual Message 
 that our Indian system be remodeled. Congress at its last session, 
 acting upon the recommendation, did provide for reorganizing 
 the system in California, and it is believed that imder the pres- 
 ent organization the management of the Indians there will be 
 attended with reasonable success. Much yet remains to be done 
 to provide for the proper government of the Indians in other 
 parts of the country, to render it secure for the advancing set- 
 tler, and to provide for the welfare of the nation. The Secre- 
 tary reiterates his recommendations, and to them the attention 
 of Congress is invited. 
 
 The liberal provisions made by Congress for paying pensions 
 to invalid soldiers and sailors of the Republic, and to the 
 widows, orphans, and dependent mothers of those who have 
 fallen in battle or died of disease contracted, or of wounds 
 received in the service of their country, have been diligently 
 administered. 
 
 There have been added to the pension rolls during the year 
 ending the 30th day of June last, the names of 16,770 invalid 
 soldiers, and of 271 disabled seamen, making the present num- 
 ber of army invalid pensioners 23,767, and of navy invalid pen- 
 sioners 712. Of widows, orphans, and mothers, 22,198 have 
 been placed on the Army Pension Rolls, and 248 on the Navy 
 Rolls. The present number of army pensioners of this class is 
 25,443, and of navy pensioners, 793. At the beginning of the 
 year the number of Revolutionary pensioners was 1,430. Only 
 twelve of them were soldiers, of whom seven have since died. 
 The remainder are those who, under the law, receive pensions 
 because of relationship to Revolutionary soldiers. During the 
 year ending the 30th of June, 1864, $4,504,616 92 have been 
 paid to pensioners of all classes. 
 
 I cheerfully commend to your continued patronage the benev- 
 olent institutions of the District of Columbia, which have hith- 
 erto been established or fostered by Congress, and respectfully 
 
274 
 
 refer for information concerning them, and in relation to the 
 Washington Aqueduct, the Capitol, and other matters of local 
 interest, to the rej)ort of the Secretary. 
 
 The Agricultural Department, under the supervision of its 
 present energetic and faithful head, is rapidly commending it- 
 self to the great and vital interest it was created to advance. 
 It is peculiarly the People's Department, in which they feel 
 rnort) directly concerned than in any other. I commend it to 
 the continued attention and fostering care of Congress. 
 
 The war continues. Since the last Annual Message all the 
 important lines and positions then occupied by our forces have 
 been maintained, and our armies have steadily advanced, thus 
 liberatiiig the regions left in the rear, so that Missouri, Kentucky, 
 Tennessee, and parts of other States have again produced rea- 
 sonably lair crops. 
 
 The must remarkable feature in the military operations of the 
 year, is General Sherman's attempted march of three hundred 
 miles directly through an insurgent region. It tends to show a 
 great increase of our relative strength, that our General-in-Chief 
 should feel able to confront and hold in check every active force 
 of the enemy, and yet to detach a well appointed large army to 
 move on such an expedition. The result not yet being known, 
 conjecture in regard to it cannot here be indulged. 
 
 Important movements have also occurred during the year to 
 the effect of moulding society for durability in the Union. 
 Although short of complete success, it is much in the right 
 direction that 12,000 citizens in each of the States of Arkansas 
 and Louisiana have organized loyal State Governments with 
 free constitutions, and are earnestly struggling to maintain 
 and administer them. The movement in the same direction, 
 more extensive, though less definite, in Missouri, Kentucky, 
 and Tennessee should not be overlooked. But Maryland pre- 
 sents the example of complete success. Maryland is secure to 
 Liberty and Union for all the future. The genius of rebellion 
 will no more claim Maryland. Like another foul spirit being 
 driven out, it may seek to tear her, but it will woo her no 
 more. 
 
 At the last session of Congress a proposed amendment of the 
 
THE martyr's monument. 275 
 
 Constitution, abolishing slavery throughout the United States, 
 passed the Senate, but failed for lack of the requisite two- 
 thirds vote in the House of Representatives. Although the 
 present is the same Congress, and nearly the same members, and 
 without questioning the wisdom or patriotism of those who 
 stood in opposition, I venture to recommend the reconsidera- 
 tion and passage of the measure at the present session. Of 
 course, the abstract question is not changed, but an intervening 
 election shows almost certainly that the next Congress will pass 
 the measure if this does not. Hence there is only a question 
 of time as to when the proposed amendment will go to the 
 States for their action, and as it is to go, at all events may we 
 not agree that the sooner the better. It is not claimed th-at the 
 election has imposed a duty on members to change their views 
 or their votes any further than as an additional element to be 
 considered. Their judgment may be affected by it. It is the 
 voice of the people now for the first time heard upon the ques- 
 tion. In a great national crisis like ours, unanimity of action 
 among those seeking a common end is very desirable, almost 
 indispensable, and yet no approach to such unanimity is attain- 
 able unless some deference shall be paid to the will of the ma- 
 jority. In this case the common end is' the maintenance of the 
 Union, and among the means to secure that end, such will, 
 through the election, is most clearly declared in favor of such 
 constitutional amendment. The most reliable indication of 
 public purpose in this country is derived through our popular 
 elections. Judging by the recent canvass and its result, the 
 purpose of the people within the loyal States, to maintain the 
 integrity of the Union, was never more firm nor more nearly 
 unanimous than now. The extraordinary calmness and good 
 order with which the millions of voters met and mingled at the 
 polls, give strong assurance of this. Not only all those who 
 supported the Union ticket (so called), but a great majority of 
 the opposing party also may be fairly claimed to entertain and 
 to be actuated by the same purpose. It is an unanswerable 
 argument to this effect, that no candidate for any office whatever, 
 high or low, has ventured to seek votes on the avowal that he 
 was for giving up the Union. There has been much impugn- 
 
2T6 THE maetyr's monument. 
 
 ing of motives and much heated controversy as to the proper 
 means and best mode of advancing the Union cause, but in the 
 distinct issue of Union or no Union, the politicians have shown 
 their instinctive knowledge that there is no diversity among the 
 people. In affording the people the fair opportunity of show- 
 ing one to another, and to the world, this firmness and unanim- 
 ity of purpose, the election has been of vast value to the 
 national cause. The election has exhibited another fact not 
 less valuable to be known — the fact that we do not approach 
 exhaustion in the most important branch of national resources : 
 that of living men. While it is melancholy to reflect that the 
 war has filled so many graves and caused mourning to so many 
 hearts, it is some relief to know that, copipared with the sur- 
 viving, the fallen have been so few. While corps, and divisions, 
 and regiments have formed, and fought, and dwmdled, and 
 gone out of existence, a great majority of the men who com- 
 posed them are still living. The same is true of the naval ser- 
 vice. The election returns prove this. So many voters could 
 not else be found. The States regularly holding elections both 
 now and four years ago, to wit : California, Connecticut, Dela- 
 ware, Illinois, Indiana, low^a, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massa- 
 chusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, N^w Hampshire, New 
 Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, 
 Vermont, West Virginia, and Wisconsin, cast 3,982,011 votes 
 now, against 3,870,222 cast then, showing an aggregate now of 
 3,982,011, to which is to be added 33,762 cast now in the new 
 States of Kansas and Nevada, which States did not vote in 1860 
 — ^thus swelling the aggregate to 4,015,773, and the net increase 
 during the three years and a half of war to 145,551. * * * 
 To this, again, should be' added the number of all soldiers 
 in the field from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Jersey, 
 Delaware, Indiana, Illinois and California, who, by the laws 
 of those States, could not vote away from their homes, and 
 which number can not be less than 90,000. Nor yet is this 
 all. The number in organized territories is triple now what 
 it was four years ago ; while thousands, white and black, join 
 us as the national arms press back the insurgent lines — so 
 much is shown affirmatively and negatively by the election. 
 
THE martyr's monument. 277 
 
 It is not material to inquire how the increase has been pro- 
 duced, or to show that it would have been greater but for the 
 war, which is probably true; the important fact remains 
 demonstrated that we have more men now than we had 
 when the war began; that we are not exhausted nor in 
 process of exhaustion ; that we are gaining strength, and may, 
 if need be, maintain the contest indefinitely. This as to men. 
 
 Material resources are now more complete and abundant than 
 ever. The national resources, then, are unexhausted, and, as 
 we believe, inexhaustible. The public purpose to re-establish 
 and maintain the national authority is unchanged, and, as we 
 believe, unchangeable. The manner of continuing the effort 
 remains to choose. On careful consideration of all the evi- 
 dence accessible, it seems to me that no attempt at negotiation 
 with the insurgent leader could result in any good. He would 
 accept of nothing short of the severance of the Union. His 
 declarations to this effect are explicit and oft-repeated. He 
 does not attempt to deceive us. He affords us no excuse to 
 deceive ourselves. "We can not voluntarily yield it. Between 
 him and us the issue is distinct, simple, and inflexible. It is 
 an issue which can only be tried by war, and decided by victoiy. 
 If we yield we are beaten. If the Southern people fail him he 
 is beaten ; either way it would be the victory and defeat follow- 
 ing war. What is true, however, of him who heads the insur- 
 gent cause, is not necessarily true of those who follow. Al- 
 though he can not re-accept the Union, they can. Some of 
 them we know already desire peace and re-union. The number 
 of such may increase. They can at any moment have peace 
 simply by laying down their arms and submitting to the 
 national authority under the Constitution. After so much the 
 Government could not, if it would, maintain war against them. 
 The loyal people would not sustain or allow it. If questions 
 should remain we would adjust them by the peaceful means of 
 legislation, conference, courts and votes. Operating only in 
 constitutional and lawful channels, some certain and other pos- 
 sible questions are and would be beyond the Executive power 
 to adjust, as, for instance, the admission of members into Con- 
 gress, and whatever might require the appropriation of money. 
 
278 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 The Executive power itself would be greatly diminislied by the 
 cessation of actual war. Pardons and remissions of forfeiture, 
 however, would still be within Executive control. In what 
 spirit and temper this control would be exercised, can be fairly 
 judged of by the past. A year ago general pardon and 
 amnesty, upon specified terms, were ofiered to all except certain 
 designated classes, and it was at the same time made known 
 that the excepted classes were still within contemplation of 
 special clemency. During the year many availed themselves of 
 the general provision, and many more would, only that the 
 signs of bad faith in some led to such precautionary measures 
 as rendered the practical process less easy and certain. Dur- 
 ing the same time, also, special pardons have been granted to 
 individuals of excepted classes, and no voluntary application 
 has been denied. 
 
 Thus practically the door has been for a full year open to all, 
 except such as were not in condition to make free choice ; that 
 is, such as were in custody or under constraint. It is still so 
 open to all, but the time may come, probably will come, when 
 public duty shall demand that it be closed, and that in lieu, 
 more vigorous measures than heretofore shall be adopted. 
 
 In presenting the abandonment of armed resistance to the 
 national authority on the part of the insurgents, as the only in- 
 dispensable condition to ending the war on the part of the Gov- 
 ernment, I retract nothing heretofore said as to slavery. I re- 
 peat the declaration made a year ago, and that while I remain 
 in i«y present position I sjiall not attempt to retract or modify 
 the Emancipation Proclamation. Nor shall I return to slavery 
 any person who is free by the terms of that proclamation, or by 
 any of the acts of Congress. If the people should, by whatever 
 mode or means, make it an Executive duty to reenslave such 
 persons, another, and not I, must be their instrimient to per- 
 form it. 
 
 Ik stating a single condition of peace, I mean simply to say 
 that the war will cease on the part of the Government whenever 
 it shdll have ceased on the part of those who began it. 
 
 (Signed) Abbaham Lincoln. 
 
THE martyr's monument. 279 
 
 SECOND INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 
 
 At the Presidential election of 1864, Mr. Lincoln was 
 reelected bj a majority so large and so widely diffused as 
 to be the most remarkable approval of the course of any 
 administration since the reelection of Mr, Jefferson in 
 1801. Even the reelection of General Jackson was not 
 equal to it in this respect. On the 4th of March, 1865, 
 Mr. Lincoln took his second oath of office, and delivered 
 the following Inaugural Address ; the solemnity, the 
 piety, and the almost tender loving-kindness of which was 
 at once remarked throughout this country and Europe. 
 
 Fellow-Gountrymen — At this second appearing to take the 
 oath of the Presidential office, there is less occasion for an ex- 
 tended address than there was at the first. Then a statement 
 somewhat in detail of a course to be pursued seemed very fit- 
 ting and proper. Now, at the expiration of four years, during 
 which public declarations have been constantly called forth on 
 every point and phase of the great contest which still absorbs 
 the attention and engrosses the energies of the nation, little that 
 is new could be presented. 
 
 The jDrogress of our arms, upon which all else chiefly depends 
 is as well known to the public as to myself, and it is, I trust, 
 reasonably satisfactory and encouraging to all. With high hope 
 for the future, no prediction in regard to it is ventured. 
 
 On the occasion corresponding to this four years ago, all 
 thoughts were anxiously directed to an impending civil war. 
 All dreaded it ; all sought to avoid it. While the ianugural 
 address was being delivered from this place, devoted altogetlier 
 to saving the Union without war, insurgent agents were in the 
 city seeking to destroy it without war — seeking to dissolve the 
 Union and divide the effects by negotiation. Both parties 
 deprecated war, but one of them would make war rather than 
 let the nation survive, and the other would accept war rather 
 than let it perish, and the war came. 
 
 One-eighth of the whole population were colored slaves, not 
 
280 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 distributed generally over the Union, but localized in the South- 
 ern part of it. These slaves constituted a peculiar and power- 
 ful interest. All knew that this interest was somehow the cause 
 of the war. To strengthen, j)erpetuate and extend this interest, 
 was the object for which the insurgents would rend the Union 
 even by war, while the Government 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 before 
 the conflict itself should cease. Each looked for an easier tri- 
 umph, and a result less fundamental and astounding. 
 
 Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God, and each 
 mvokes his 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 purposes. " Woe unto the world 
 because of oflfences, for it must needs be that offences come : 
 but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh." If we 
 shall suppose that American slavery is one of these offences, 
 which in the providence of God must needs come, but which 
 having continued through his appointed time, He now wills to 
 remove, and that He gives to both North and South this terrible 
 war as the woe due to those by whom the offence came, shall we 
 discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which 
 the believers in a living God always ascribe to Him ? Fondly 
 do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of 
 war may soon 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 with another 
 drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago ; 
 so, still it must be said, " The judgments of the Lord are true 
 and righteous altogether." 
 
 With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness 
 in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to 
 
THE martyr's monument. 281 
 
 finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to 
 care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow 
 and orphans, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and 
 a lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations. 
 
 NEGROES IN THE REBEL ARMIES. 
 
 On the 19th of March, 1865, there was a large gather- 
 ing of people in front of the National Hotel at Washing- 
 ton, on occasion of the presentation of a rebel flag, 
 captured at Anderson bj the 140th Indiana regiment. 
 After a speech by Governor Morton, of Indiana, the 
 President addressed the assembly substantially as follows, 
 directing his remarks chiefly to the subject of the then 
 recently proposed arming of their negroes by the rebels. 
 Mr. Lincoln's speech on this occasion was a striking 
 exhibition of that combination of humor and sagacity 
 which was one of the characteristic traits of his mind, 
 and which enabled him to " put things" in such a clear, 
 convincing, and attractive way before the public : 
 
 Fellow-citizens — It will be but a very few words that I shall 
 undertake to say. I was born in Kentucky, raised in Indiana, 
 and lived in Illinois, [laughter,] and now I am here, where it is 
 my business to care equally for the good people of all the States. 
 I am glad to see an Indiana regiment on this day able to present 
 the captured flag to the Governor of Indiana. I am not dis- 
 posed in saying this to make a distinction between the States, 
 for all have done equally well. There are but few views or 
 aspects of this great war upon which I have not said or written 
 something whereby my own opinions might be known. But 
 there is one — the recent attempt of our erring brethren, as they 
 are sometimes called, to employ the negro to fight for them. I 
 have neither written or made a speech on that subject, because 
 that was their business, not mine ; and if I had a wish upon the 
 subject, I had not the power to introduce it or make it effective. 
 
282 
 
 The great question witli them was whether the negro, being put 
 into the army, will fight for them. I do not know, and there- 
 fore cannot decide. They ought to know better than I. I have, 
 in my lifetime, heard many arguments why the negroes ought 
 to be slaves ; but if they fight for those who keep them in 
 slavery, it will be a better argument than any I have yet heard. 
 [Laughter and applause.] He who will fight for that ought to 
 be a slave. [Applause.] They have concluded, at last, to take 
 one out of four of the slaves, and put them in the army ; and 
 that one out of the four who will fight to keep the others in 
 slavery ought to be a slave himself, unless he is killed in a fight. 
 [Applause.] While I have often said that all men ought to be 
 free, yet I would allow those colored persons to be slaves who 
 want to be ; and next to them those white people who argue in 
 favor of making other people slaves. [Apj)lause.] I am in 
 favor of giving an appointment to such white men to try it on 
 for these slaves. I will say one thing in regard to the negroes 
 being employed to fight for them. I do know he cannot fight 
 and stay at home and make bread too. And as one is about as 
 important as the other to them, I don't care which they do. I 
 am rather in favor of having them try them as soldiers. They 
 lack one vote of doing that, and I wish I could send my vote 
 over the river, so that I might cast it in favor of allowing the 
 negro to fight. [Applause.] But they cannot fight and work 
 both. We must now see the bottom of the enemy's resources. 
 They will stand out as long as they can, and if the negro will 
 fight for them, they must allow him to fight. They have drawn 
 upon their last branch of resources, and we can now see the 
 bottom. I am glad to see the end so near at hand. [Applause.] 
 I have said now more than I intended, and will therefore bid 
 you good bye. 
 
 -THE QUESTION 
 OF REORGANIZATION. 
 
 At last came the inevitable conclusion — Grant's crown- 
 ing victory — the capture of Richmond, the surrender of 
 General Lee's army at Appomattox Court House, and the 
 
THE martyr's monument. 283 
 
 grand crash of the rebellion. On the evening of the 11th 
 of April, there were wide-spread rejoicings at Washino-- 
 ton, illuminations and bonfires. The citizens assembled 
 in large numbers before the White House, and the Presi- 
 dent made to them the following speech. He took the 
 opportunity to set forth his views upon the reorganization 
 of society in the so-called seceded States, and the re- 
 establishment in them of the national authority. As his 
 manner was he did not underrate the difficulty of the 
 task ; but he pointed out the simplest and directest means 
 of its accomplishment : 
 
 We meet this evening, not in sorrow, but in gladness of heart. 
 The evacuation of Petersburgh and Richmond, and the surren- 
 der of the principal insurgent army, give hopes of a righteous 
 and speedy peace, whose joyous expression cannot be restrained. 
 In the midst of this, however, he from whom all blessings flow 
 must not be forgotten. A call for a national thanksgiving is 
 being prepared, and will be duly promulgated. Nor must 
 those whose harder part gives us the cause of rejoicing be over- 
 looked. Their honors must not be parceled out with others. 
 I myself was near the front, and had the high pleasure of trans- 
 mitting much of the good news to you. But no part of the 
 honor for plan or execution is mine. To General Grant, his 
 skillful officers, and brave men, 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 — 
 reconstruction, which has had a large share of thought from 
 the first — ^is pressed much more closely upon our attention. It 
 is fraught with great difficulty. Unlike a war between inde- 
 pendent nations, there is no authorized organ for us to treat 
 with. No one man has authority to give up the rebellion for 
 any other man. We must simply begin with and mould from 
 disorganized and discordant elements. Nor is it a small addi- 
 tional embarrassment that we, the loyal people, differ among 
 ourselves as to the mode, manner, and measure of reconstruc- 
 
284 
 
 tion. As a* general rule, I abstain from reading the reports 
 of attacks upon myself, wisMng not to be provoked by that to 
 which I cannot properly offer an answer. In spite of this pre- 
 caution, however, it comes to my knowledge that I am much 
 censured for some supposed agency in setting up and seeking 
 to sustain the new St.ate Government of Louisiana. In this I 
 have done just so much and no more than the public knows. 
 In the Annual Message of December, 1863, and the accompany- 
 ing proclamation, I presented 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 acceptable ; and I also distinctly 
 protested that the Executive claimed no right to say when or 
 whether members should be admitted to seats in Congress from 
 such States. This plan was, in advance, submitted to the then 
 Cabinet, and aj^proved by every member of it. 
 
 One of them suggested that I should then and in that connec- 
 tion, apply the Emancipation Proclamation to the theretofore 
 excepted parts of Virginia and Louisiana, that I should drop 
 the suggestion about apprenticeship for freed people, and that 
 I should omit the protest against my own pov.'er in regard to 
 the admission of members of Congress. But even he approved 
 every part and parcel of the plan which has since been em- 
 ployed or touched by the action of Louisiana. The new con- 
 stitution of Louisiana, declaring emancipation for the whole 
 State, practically applies the proclamation to the part previously 
 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 un- 
 til after the news reached Washington that the people of Louisi- 
 ana had begun to move in accordance with it. From about 
 July, 1862, I had corresponded with different persons supposed 
 to be interested in seeking a reconstruction of a State Govern- 
 
THE martyr's monument. 285 
 
 ment for Louisiana. When the Message of 1863, with the plan 
 before mentioned, reached New-Orleans, General Banks wrote 
 me that he was confident that the people, with his military co- 
 operation, would 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 out, as before stated. But as bad promises are better broken 
 than kept, I shall treat this as a bad promise and break it when- 
 ever I shall be convinced that keeping it is adverse to the pub- 
 lic interest, but I have not yet been so convinced. 
 
 I have been shown a letter on tliis subject, supposed to be an 
 able one, in which the writer expresses regret that my mind has 
 not seemed to be definitely fixed on the question, whether the 
 seceded States, so called, are in the Union or out of it. It 
 would, perhaps, add astonishment to his regret were he to 
 learn that since I have found professed Union men endeavoring 
 to answer that question I have purposely forborne any public 
 expression upon it. As appears to me, that question has not 
 been, nor yet is a practically material one, and that any discus- 
 sion of it while it thus remains practically immaterial, could 
 have no eflfect other than the mischievous one of dividing our 
 friends. As yet, whatever it may become, that question is bad 
 as the basis of a controversy, and good for nothing at all — a 
 merely pernicious abstraction. We all agree that the seceded 
 States, so called, are out of their proper practical relation with 
 the Union, and that the sole object of the Government, civil and 
 military, in regard to these States, is to again get them into their 
 proper practical relation. I believe that it is not only possible^ 
 but, in fact, easier, to do this without deciding, or even consid- 
 ering, whether these States have ever been out of the Union, 
 than with it. Finding themselves safely at home, it would be 
 utterly immaterial whether they had been abroad. Let us all 
 join in doing the acts necessary to restore the f)roper practical 
 relations between those States and the nation, and each forever 
 after innocently indulge his own opinion whether in doing the 
 acts he brought the States from without into the Union, or only 
 gave them proper assistance, they never having been out of it. 
 
286 
 
 The amount of constituency, so to speak, on whicli the Louisiana 
 Government rests, would be more satisfactory to all if it con- 
 tained 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 fran- 
 chise is not given to the colored man. I would myself prefer 
 that it 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 and disperse ? Can 
 Louisiana be brought into proper practical relation with the 
 Union sooner by sustaining or by discarding her new State Gov- 
 ernment ? Some twelve thousand voters in the heretofore slave 
 State of Louisiana have sworn allegiance to the Union, assumed 
 to be the rightful political power of the State, held elections, 
 organized a State Government, adopted a Free State constitu- 
 tion, giving the benefit of public schools eq^^ally to black and 
 white, and empowering the Legislature to confer the elective 
 franchise upon the colored man. This Legislature has already 
 voted to ratify the constitutional amendment recently passed by 
 Congress, abolishing slavery throughout the nation. These 
 twelve thousand persons are thus fully committed to the Union 
 and to perpetuate freedom in the State ; committed to the very 
 things, and nearly all things, the nation wants, and they ask the 
 nation's recognition and its assistance to make good this com- 
 mittal. 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, held 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 
 and how. If this course, discouraging and paralyzing both 
 white and black, has any tendency to bring Louisiana into 
 proper practical relations with the Union, I have so far been 
 unable to perceive it. If, on the contrary, we recognize and 
 sustain the new government of Louisiana, the converse of all 
 this is made true. We encourage the hearts and nerve the arms 
 
THE martyr's monument. 287 
 
 of 12,000 to adhere to their work, and argue for it, and proselyte 
 for it, and fight for it, and feed it, and grow it, and ripen it to 
 a complete success. The colored man, too, in seeing all united 
 for him, is inspired with vigilance, and energy, and daring to 
 the same end. Grant that he desires the elective franchise, will 
 he not obtain it sooner by saving the already advanced steps 
 toward it, than by running backward over them? Concede- 
 that the new Government of Louisiana is to what it should be 
 as the egg is to the fowl, we shall sooner have the fowl by hatch- 
 ing the egg, than by smashing it. [Laughter.] Again, if we 
 reject Louisiana we also reject one vote in favor of the proposed 
 amendment to the national constitution. To meet this proposi- 
 tion it has been argued that no more than three-fourths of those 
 States which have not attempted secession are necessary to val- 
 idly ratify the amendment. I do not commit myself against this 
 further than to say that such a ratification would be questiona- 
 ble, and sure to be persistently questioned, while a ratification 
 by three-fourths of all the States would be unquestioned and 
 unquestionable. I repeat the question. Can Louisiana be 
 brought into proper practical relation with the Union sooner by 
 sustaining, or by discarding her new State Government ? What 
 has been said of Louisiana will apply to other States. And yet 
 so great peculiarities pertain to each State, and such important 
 and sudden changes occur in the same State, and withal so new 
 and unprecedented is the whole case, that no exclusive and in- 
 flexible plan can safely be prescribed as to details and collater- 
 als. Such exclusive and inflexible plan would surely become a 
 ne\7, entanglement. Important principles may and must be in- 
 flexible. In the present situation, as the phrase goes, it may be 
 my duty to make some new announcement to the people of the 
 South. I am considering and shall not fail to act when satisfied 
 that action will be proper. 
 
 NO MORE " so-called" NEUTRALITY. 
 
 The people of this country can never forget how, as 
 soon as there appeared to be any chance of a severance 
 and consequent destruction of the Republic, the Govern- 
 
288 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 ment of Great Britain, followed by that of France, instead * 
 of simply remaining neutral, and doing nothing to aid 
 either the rebels or the Government, issued a proclama- 
 tion of neutrality, the effect of which was to degrade a 
 friendly nation, with whom those countries were on terms 
 of equal intercourse, and to which they were bound by 
 treaties recognizing its absolute sovereignty throughout 
 its territory, to the level of a rebel power, of a few weeks' 
 growth, which was endeavoring to destroy that sover- 
 eignty and divide that territory. Galling as this was to 
 the national pride — and no one felt it more so than Mr. 
 Lincoln — he yet wisely bore it without such official 
 manifestation of resentment as would have provoked 
 measures that must have multiplied the difficulties of the 
 Government, and increased the sufferings and sacrifices 
 of the people. He saw that if the nation maintained 
 itself, this effort against its prosperity and power would 
 only recoil against those who made it ; and he so shaped 
 the course of his Administration toward the great foreign 
 powers that, without admitting the right or the propriety 
 of their action, or sacrificing the dignity of the country, 
 he could yet bend the warlike energies of the nation to 
 one purpose, sure that if that were attained all else would 
 be added to it. But, knowing how sensitive the people 
 were upon this point, and being himself no less so than 
 any of his countrymen, he, on the next day but one 
 after the reception of the news of General Lee's surren- 
 der, April 11th, issued the following proclamation, in 
 which he announced to foreign powers that if they con- 
 tinued any longer to place the national vessels of this 
 Republic on the same footing with rebel cruisers, their own 
 vessels would be reduced to the same level in our ports : 
 
THE martyr's monument. 289 
 
 PROCLAMATION. 
 
 Wliereas, for some time past, vessels of war of tlie United 
 States have been refused, in certain ports, privileges and immu- 
 nities to Tvhicli they were entitled by treaty, public law, or the 
 comity of nations, at the same time that vessels of war of the 
 country wherein the said privileges and immunities have been 
 withheld, have enjoyed them fully and uninterruptedly in the 
 ports of the United States, which condition of things has not 
 always been forcibly resisted by the United States ; although, 
 on the other hand, they have not failed to protest against and 
 declare their dissatisfaction with the same. In the view of the 
 United States, no condition any longer exists which can be 
 claimed to justify the denial to them by any one of said nations 
 of the customary naval rights, such as has heretofore been so 
 unnecessarily persisted in ; now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincobi, 
 President of the United States, do hereby make known that, if, 
 after a reasonable time shall have elapsed for the intelligence of 
 this proclamation to have reached any foreign country in whose 
 ports the said privileges and immunities shall have been refused, 
 as aforesaid', they shall continue to be so refused, then and thence- 
 forth the same privileges and immunities shall be refused to the 
 vessels of war of the country in the ports of the United States, 
 and this refusal shall continue until tke war vessels of the United 
 States shall have been placed upon an entire equality, in the 
 foreign ports aforesaid, with similar vessels of other countries. 
 The United States, whatever claim or pretence may have existed 
 heretofore, are now at least entitled to claim and concede an 
 entire and friendly equality of rights and hospitalities with all 
 maritime nations. ^ 
 
 In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused 
 the seal of the United States to be affixed. 
 
 Done at the city of Washington, this eleventh day of April, 
 in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred 
 
 [l. s.] and sixty-five, and of the independence of the United 
 States of America the eighty-ninth. 
 
 Abraham Lincoln. 
 By the President : 
 Wm. H. Skwakd, Secretary of State. 
 
 13 
 
290 THE maktyr's monument. 
 
 RECEPTION OF THE BRITISH MINISTER. 
 
 Three days after issuing the foregoing proclamation 
 Mr. Lincoln was no more. No public act or speech 
 of his marked the brief interval. But on the very eve 
 of his violent death he wrote one paper which exhibited 
 the candor, the wisdom, and the kindness of his soul in a 
 notable manner, and which showed that the proclamation 
 which was the last to which he signed his name was insti- 
 gated by no petty spite, no desire to humiliate, no wish 
 to provoke hostile feeling. Lord Lyons had resigned, 
 and Sir Frederick Bruce had been sent to represent the 
 British Government at Washington. He was about to 
 present his credentials; his reception for the purpose 
 of presenting his letters was to have taken place on 
 Saturday, April 15th, and Mr. Lincoln, having received 
 an intimation of what Sir Frederick would say on that 
 occasion, wrote out on the afternoon of the 14th his pro- 
 posed reply. He never made it. The British minister 
 did not present his credentials until some days after Mr. 
 Lincoln's death. The speech which the President made 
 in reply impressed the whole country and Europe by 
 its dignity, its good sense, its candor, and its generosity. 
 There is the highest authority for saying that this speech 
 is the one written by Mr. Lincoln, and that being found 
 in his portfolio, it was wisely adopted, with its writer's 
 policy, by Mr. Johnson, and read to the British minister 
 by a Secretary. Thus Mr. Lincoln actually stretched out 
 his hand from beyond the grave to guide the course of the 
 Republic which he had done so much to save, and by his 
 services to which he earned his crown of martyrdom. 
 The reply in question here follows : 
 
THE martyr's monument. 291 
 
 / 
 
 Sir Frederick A. W. Bruce— Sir ;— The cordial and friendly 
 sentiments which you have expressed on the part of Her Britan- 
 nic Majesty give me great pleasure. Great Britain and the United 
 States, by the extended and varied forms of commerce between 
 them, the contiguity of positions of their possessions, and the 
 similarity of their language and laws, are drawn into contrast 
 and intimate intercourse at the same time. They are from the 
 same causes exposed to frequent occasions of misunderstanding, 
 only to be averted by mutual forbearance. So eagerly are the 
 people of the two countries engaged throughout almost the whole 
 world in the pursuit of similar commercial enterprises, accom- 
 panied by natural rivalries and jealousies, that at first sight it 
 would almost seem that the two Governments must be enemies, 
 or at best, cold and calculating friends. So devoted are the 
 two nations throughout all their domain, and even in their most 
 remote territorial and colonial possessions, to the jDrinciples of 
 civil rights and constitutional liberty, that, on the other hand, 
 the superficial observer might erroneously count upon a contin- 
 ued concert of action and sympathy, amounting to an alliance 
 between them. Each is charged with the development of the 
 progress and liberty of a considerable portion of the human 
 race. Each, in its sphere, is subject to difficulties and trials, 
 not participated in by the other. The interest of civilization 
 and of humanity require that the two should be friends. I have 
 always known and accepted it as a fact, honorable to both coun- 
 tries, that the Queen of England is a sincere and honest well- 
 wisher to. the United States. I have been equally frank and 
 ex|3licit in the opinion that the friendship of the United States 
 toward Great Britain is enjoined by all the considerations 
 of interest and of sentiment afiecting the character of both. 
 You will therefore be accepted as a minister friendly and well- 
 disposed to the maintenance of peace and the honor of both 
 countries. You will find myself and all my associates acting in 
 accordance with the same enlightened policy and consistent 
 sentiments ; and so I am sure that it will not occur in your case 
 that either yourself or this Government will ever have cause to 
 regret that such an important relationship existed at such a 
 crisis. V 
 
292 THE martyr's monument. 
 
 A few hours after writing this brief speech, Abraham 
 Lincoln received the bullet of his assassin, and never 
 spoke again. His last act was an endeavor to soothe the 
 resentment of his countrymen against a nation whose 
 governing classes had seized a time of sore trial to treat 
 this country with arrogant contempt, and to impress upon 
 tliat nation the necessity of mutual respect and mutual 
 forbearance if they desired the continuation of friendly 
 relations between the two countries. The reader of the 
 foregoing pages will already have thought that such wag 
 a fitting close of Mr. Lincoln's career. We mourn him, 
 but it is for ourselves we sorrow, not for him ; for he had 
 fulfilled a great destiny and grandly absolved himself 
 from his solemn duties. It was from a full and rounded 
 life that the martyr to his country and to freedom was 
 suddenly called away, leaving behind him the priceless 
 memory of a Government conducted in the spirit of his 
 own noble words, "With malice toward none, with char- 
 ity to all, with firmness in the right as God shall give 
 us to know the right." This land must indeed be looked 
 upon as blessed above all others if we see soon again an- 
 other President so wise, so just, so gentle, and so good. 
 
INDEX 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Abolition of Slavery, Proclamation Proposing 100 
 
 Abolition of Slavery in District of Columbia, Message on 105 
 
 Adams, Minister, Instructions to 53 
 
 Advance, Order for Naval and Military 94 
 
 Albany, Speech in the Assembly Hall at 23 
 
 Aliens, Proclamation with regard to 180 
 
 Aliens, Rights of 230 
 
 Amnesty, Proclamation of 241 
 
 Amnesty, Defining Proclamation of 258 
 
 Arbitrary An'ests 96 
 
 Arkansas, Reorganization in 250 
 
 Army Orders 94, 95 
 
 Blockade, Proclamation of 51 
 
 Border States, Slavery in 119 
 
 British Minister, Reply to 291 
 
 >Buffalo, Speech at 21 
 
 Call for 75,000 Men 50 
 
 Cameron and Cummings Affair, Message about 113 
 
 Canada Message 267 
 
 Chicago, Address to Deputation on Emancipation from 133 
 
 Christian Commission, Letter to Superintendent of 179 
 
 Cincinnati, Speech at.. 16 
 
 Clergy, Restraints upon 248 
 
 Columbus, Speech at 17 
 
 Constitution, Amendment of, Abolishing Slavery 275 
 
 Confiscation 88 
 
 Confiscation Bill, Message to Congress approving of 122 
 
 Colonization 88 
 
 " Address to Deputation of Negroes about 126 
 
294 INDEX. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Cooper Institute, Speech at, April, 1860 3-9 
 
 Curtis, General 226 
 
 Deserters 193 
 
 District of Columbia, Abolition in 105 
 
 Emancipation, Letter to Fremont on 75 
 
 " Address to Committee from Congress on 119 
 
 " Address to Deputation from Chicago on 133 
 
 " Preliminary Proclamation of. 136 
 
 Emancipation, Compensated 158 
 
 " Proclamation 175 
 
 " Letter to Mr. Conkling about 212 
 
 " in Border States 240 
 
 Emigration 267 
 
 Finances, Message to Congress on the 173 
 
 Finance, Message, 1863-4 233 
 
 " " 1864-5 268 
 
 Foreign Eelations, Message, 1862 151 
 
 Foreign Policy 53 
 
 Foreign Ports, Proclamation regarding United States Vessels in. . 289 
 
 Fort Pillow 254 
 
 Fremont, on Emancipation Order, Letter to 75 
 
 Fremont, General 226 
 
 Gettysburg and Vicksburg, Speech at Washington about. 202" 
 
 Gettysburg, Speech at Dedication of Cemetery at 220 
 
 Grant, Gen., Letter of Acknowledgment on Capture of Yicksburg. 204 
 
 Grant, Letter to New York Committee about 262 
 
 Greeley, Horace, Letter to 131 
 
 Great Issue, The 2 
 
 Habeas Corpus, Proclamation suspending Writ of 140 
 
 " " Proclamation with regard to 217 
 
 Halleck, General 226 
 
 Harrisburg, Speech at the Capitol in 34 
 
 Heintzelman, Letter to General McCIellan about 109 
 
 Hunter, Letter of Instructions to General 76 
 
 " Declaration of Freedom 106 
 
 " Proclamation disclaiming the Order of. 106 
 
INDEX. 295 
 
 PAGF 
 
 Illinois, Parting Speech at 13 
 
 Inaugural Address, First 37 
 
 " " Second 279 
 
 Indianapolis, Speeches at 14 
 
 Jackson, Goneral, Habeas Corpus 195 
 
 Kentucky, Reply to Governor Magoffin, of 73 
 
 " Letter to Mr, Hodges, on Slavery Policy 260 
 
 Keyes, Letter to McClellan about 109 
 
 London, Letter to Working Men of 179 
 
 Manchester, England, Letter to "Working Men of 17*7 
 
 Maryland, Mr. Seward's Reply to Governor of 53 
 
 " Arbitrary Arrests in 96 
 
 McClellan, Appointment of 91 
 
 " Letter on the Plan of Campaign against Richmond to. . 95 
 
 " Letter to 102 
 
 " Letter urging an Advance 102 
 
 " Letter referring to Reorganization of Army Corps. . . . 108 
 
 " Reply about McDowell's Command to 110 
 
 " Letter about McDowell joining Banks Ill 
 
 " Dispatch about Defeat of Banks to 112 
 
 " Letter about Fitz John Porter's Victory 112 
 
 " Letters regarding Change of Base Ill, 118 
 
 " Letter regarding the Number of effective Men in the 
 
 Army 126 
 
 " Letter about crossing the Potomac to 141 
 
 " Dispatches referring to Horses and Advance on Richmond 144 
 
 ** Defence of, to the Citizens of "Washington 145 
 
 McDoweU 103 
 
 " Letter to McClellan about the Command of. 110 
 
 McPheeters, Rev. Dr., Letter about 248 
 
 Message to Congress, July 4, 1861 57 
 
 Message to Congress, Regular Session, 1861-62 77 
 
 Message proposing Gradual Abolition of Slavery 100 
 
 Message on Abolition of Slavery in District of Columbia 105 
 
 Message to Congress approving Confiscation Bill 122 
 
 Message to Congress, Dec. 1, 1862 148 
 
296 INDEX. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Message to Congress on the Finances 1'73 
 
 Message to Congress, 1863-4 229 
 
 Message to Congress, 1864-5 263 
 
 Military Courts 85 
 
 Missouri, Dispatch to Grovernor Gamble 182 
 
 Missouri Delegation, Letter of Reply to Charles Drake 224 
 
 Missouri, Letter of Instructions to General Schofield 222 
 
 Morrill Tarriff 20 
 
 National Loan 80 
 
 Negroes in Rebel Armies 281 
 
 Neutrality, No more 288 
 
 Newark, Speech at 2=8 
 
 New York, Speech at the Astor House 24 
 
 New York, Reply of Mr. Lincoln to Mr. Fernando "Wood 21 
 
 Nomination, Reply to Committee announcing 11 
 
 Nomination to the Presidency, Acceptance of 12 
 
 Peace, Message 278 
 
 Philadelphia, Speech to the People of 31 
 
 " Speech in Independence Hall 32 
 
 Pittsburg, Speech at 19 
 
 Pittsburg Landing, Thanksgiving for Victory of 104 
 
 Prisoners of State, Executive Order about 9t 
 
 Proclamation, Fall of Sumter 49 
 
 " Blockade 51 
 
 " AboUtion of Slavery 100, 136, 115 
 
 " Aliens 180 
 
 " Amnesty 244, 258 
 
 " Foreign Ports, United States Vessels in 289 
 
 " Habeas Corpus 140, 217 
 
 " Hunter 106 
 
 " Thanksgiving 104, 204, 218, 221 
 
 Reconstruction 245 
 
 Reinforcing Forts 59 
 
 Reorganization, Speech after Fall of Richmond on 283 
 
 Sanitary Commission, Address at "Washington Fair, for 252 
 
 " " Speech at Baltimore Fair for 252 
 
INDEX. 297 
 
 PAGi; 
 
 Schofield, Letter of Instructions to General 1S?>, 222 
 
 " Letter about relieving General 224 
 
 Secession, Letter to North American Review on 249 
 
 Seward, Reply to Governor of Maryland 53 
 
 Seymour, Governor, and the Anti-Draft Riots 207 
 
 Sherman's March, Message 274 
 
 Slavery, Gradual Abolition of 100 
 
 " Policy in regard to 260 
 
 Steele, General, Letter about Reorganization in Arkansas to 250 
 
 Steubenville, Speech at 18 
 
 Sumner, General, Letter to McClellan about 109 
 
 Sumter, Fort 58 
 
 Sunday, Letter as to Observance of 146 
 
 Taussig, Letter from Mr. James 184 
 
 Thanksgiving Proclamation 104 
 
 Thanksgiving Proclamation, Victories of Gettysburg and Yicksburg 204 
 
 Thanksgiving Proclamation 218 
 
 Thanksgiving for Victory at Chattanooga 221 
 
 Trenton, Speech in the Senate Chamber at 28 
 
 " Speech in the House of Assembly at 30 
 
 (Jnconditional Emancipationists , 182 
 
 Unconditional Union Men 212 
 
 Utica, Address to the People of 23 
 
 Vallandigham, Letter to Mr. Erastus Corning about 187 
 
 " Letter to the Committee demanding the Recall of. . 197 
 Virginia Convention, Reply to Committee of the 47 
 
 "Washington, Speech to Mayor and Common Council on Arrival at. 36 
 
 " Address to Citizens of 139 
 
 Wood, Fernando, Address to Mr. Lincoln iu New York 26 
 
 " " Letter with regard to Amnesty to 171 
 
 Wool, General 103 
 
 Workingmen's Association of New York, Reply to 255 
 
 "World, Newspaper, of NewYork, defends Action of the Slave States 206 
 
 " advisea its Readers to arm themselves 207 
 
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