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YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY
CHARLES H. HAMILL
Yale 1890
MEMORIAL FUND
Gift of
MRS. HAMILL
'^.
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,.i/'r££ tBHTU fRI/ir/,lFE BliAHRnr.Z C^FUSLLSBEK^- su N7¥i'-^S~im.aV£r,FBL± El^&RAVEB BY JOiOf ^LARTAIH
ABmAIHAlI 3LIM(D®asro
16™ PRESIDENT nP THE UlIITEIl aTAlTES ,
THE
LIFE AND TIMES
OF
ABRAHAM LINCOLN,
SIXTEENTH
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
INCLUDING HIS
SPEECHES, MESSAGES, INAQGUEAIS, PROCLAMATIONS, ETC., ETC.
BT
L. P. BEOCKETT, Jyl.D.
AUTHOR OF "OUR GREAT CAPTAINS," " HISTOET OF THE CIVIL WAR IK THE
UNITED STATES ; PHILANTHROPIC RESULTS OF THE WAR," ETC., ETC.
PHILADELPHIA:
BRADLEY & CO., 66 K FOUETH STEBET,
ROCHESTER, N. Y:-^'R. H. CURRAN.
JONES BROTHEKS & CO., CINCINNATI AND PHILADELPHIA.
P. R. RANDALL, CHICAGO, ILL.
1865.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1865, by
BRADLEY & CO.,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, in and
for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
S. A. GEORSE,
STERBOTYPBB. ELECTJIOTTFBR AND PRIlfTBS.
Ui N. SEVENTH STREET, FHILASELPHU.
PREFACE.
"The Life and Times of Abraham Lustgoln!" and
why, pray, add another to the many memoirs of him already
published ?
Because, dear reader, there was need of just one more. Lis
ten, and we will prove it. The memoirs and biographies of
our late President, which have already appeared, are, some ©f
them, from able pens, and clearly and fairly accomplish the
object for which they were written. Without exception, we
believe, they belong to the class of campaign biographies;
some written before his first, others during the canvass which
preceded his second, election. Their principal object was, of
course, political. They have not, we think, dealt in misrepre
sentation ; there was no need of that. But they have presented
him as a fit and proper candidate for the office of President of
the United States, and for this purpose they have dwelt largely
upon his previous political career in Congress ; in the Senatorial
canvass; in the closing portion of Mr. Buchanan's presidency;
and some of them on the stupendous events of the four years of
his first administration, and the policy he pursued during that
long period of darkness and gloom. This is all right and ad
mirable in its way, and were there any question of a campaign
life of the Good President, were he still with us, and still a candi
date for the highest honors a grateful people could bestow, we
should say at once, "that which is written is sufficient; we can
add nothing to a record so pure and honorable."
But this is not the time for a campaign life of Abraham (9)
10 PREFACE.
Lincoln. He whom he served with singleness of heart here,
hath called him up higher, and henceforth his place is with
the glorified, whose brows are illumined with the pure and
holy light which proceeds from the throne of God.
We could not if we would, and we would not if we could,
attempt a political life of him whose loss we, as well as the
nation, most deeply mourn. We have no fondness for the de
vious track of party politics, no desire to pander to so grovel
ling and base-born an ambition. But we have loved Abraham
Lincoln as a child might love a father ; we have confided in
him, have trusted his sagacity, have honored his patriotism,
have admired that sterling common sense which led him to
judge so wisely, to act so honorably and justly, and to meet
questions of such difficulty with such a wise and clear dis
crimination. We desired to prepare this life of him, that we might exhibit
him as he appeared and was, in all the relations of life, a man
of the people, hardy, laborious, and self-reliant — a self-made
man in the best sense of that title — studious, desirous ever to
make up the deficiencies of education entailed by a frontier
life, and of a rare teachable spirit ; an honest, frank, manly man,
one in whom his neigh,bors and friends could trust most im
plicitly; a pattern man in his fidelity to truth and principle and
right. We have sought also to delineate him in his domestic
and social relations, as a dutiful son, a kind and tender hus
band, a loving father, a genial and social friend, with a keen
sense of humor, great conversational powers, and a fascinating
way which, though his form was ungainly, won him the love
of all who were thrown in his society. And it has been our
aim also to depict him as he appeared in public life, a clear
and lucid speaker, a skilful debater, who won the hearts of his
audience to his own side, not by trick or subterfuge, but by his
apt and effective way of " putting things ;" clinching a point
often by a telling illustration, which, however homely it .might
be, was never out of place ; a statesman whose enlarged per-
PREFACE. 11
ceptions and breadth of view took in all the bearings of the
great questions which have agitated the pniblic mind in the
last five years ; a man who, acting slowly, with calmness and
great deliberation, never made a mistake in regard to a prin
ciple, and never indulged a thought of self, but always sought
liis country's good; a chief magistrate, who though reviled
reviled not again, but with an almost angelic patience, sought
to do good to those who despitefully used him ; a diplomatist
who believed that truth, honesty and frankness were better
weapons for managing the intricate questions of our foreign
policy, than deceit, duplicity, and " paltering in a double sense."
And if some " good angel will guide our pencil while we draw,"
we would portray him also, as the Christian, in public and
private life, seeking counsel from above, and amid all his weighty
cares and his wearying burdens, looking to God for guidance,
and devoutly acknowledging his indebtedness to him for every
blessing. Having thus shown his character as it was in life,
we would also venture, though with eyes bedimmed with tears,
to draw aside the veil, and describe how the demon slavery,
possessing the heart and firing the brain of the wretched assas
sin, led him to commit a deed which shall consign him to eternal
infaijiy ; and how, all over our land, and throughout Christen
dom, at the tidings of his death, a wail of anguish went up to
heaven from millions of stricken hearts, who had recognized in
him the second founder of the Eepublic, the Emancipator, the
one historic name which shall go down to posterity, linked in
our country's history, with that of Washington.
With such a plirpose, we submit that there are ample reasons,
as there is abundant room, for a new memoir of our martyred
President Abraham Lincoln.
CONTENTS.
INTRODUCTORT CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER I.
ABEAHAM LINCOLN'S BOTHfOD IN KENTUOKT.
His Ancestry — Their Residence in Pennsylvania and Tirginia — ^His
Grandfather moves over into Kentucky — Is killed by an Indian —
His widow settles in Washington County — His son, Thomas
Lincoln, marries and locates near Hodgenville — Birth of Abraham
Lincoln — ^La Rue County — His Early Life and Training in Ken
tucky — Removal of the Family to Indiana 27
CHAPTER II.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S THIRTEEN TEARS IN INDIANA.
Removal of the Lincoln Family to Spencer county, Indiana — Abra
ham as a Farm Boy — As a Marksman — The Death of his Mother —
The second Marriage of his Father— ^Abraham's Education — His
own Account, when President, of his Education — His love of
Books — The Story of the Damaged Book — His Voyage to New
Orleans as a Flatboatman — ^Description of Early Times and Scenes
in Indiana 30
CHAPTER IIL
LINCOLN IN ILLINOIS, AS A EAIL-SPLITTEH, A CLEEK, AND A VOLUNTEER.
Removal of the Family to Dlinois — ^Abraham figures as a Rail-Splitter
— ^As a Hunter — Another Removal of his Father — Abraham com
mences Life on his own Account — Makes a trip to New Orleans —
Becomes a Clerk in a Country Store — Is elected a Captain of a
Volunteer Company and serves in the Black Hawk War — Anecdote
concerning his temperate Habits — His own humorous Accoimt of
his Services in this War — His Character as a Soldier 51
(13)
14 CONXENTS.
CHAPTER IV.
ME. LINCOLN AS A POLITICIAN.
He becomes a candidate for the Legislature, but is defeated— Becomes
a storekeeper and postmaster — Commences the study of law —
Studies and practices surveying— Is elected to the Legislature-
Re-elected for a second term — Defines his position on the subject of
domestic slavery — Is elected for a third and fourth time, to the
Legislature — Is admitted to the practice of law — His character
istics as a lawyer — Thrilling incident of his law practice — His
associates of the Springfield Bar — Enters warmly into the Presi
dential Canvass of 1840 — Accepts, in 1842, the Whig nomination
for Congress — Establishes his fiome at Springfield — His marriage. 70
CHAPTER V.
ME. LINCOLN IN CONGRESS AND " ON THE STUMP."
Is sent to Congress in 1847— His record while there — Resumes the
practice of Law — Enters warmly into the campaign of 1854 —
Measures swords with Douglas — Engages in the Presidential cam
paign of 1858— Is nominated for United States Senator — The cele
brated debates between Lincoln and Douglas — His tribute to the
Declaration of Independence — Pen-portraits of Mr. Lincoln, during
his campaign— Story, relating 'to the Harper's Ferry Invasion-
Story of his duel with Hardin— Goes to Ohio, to aid in the canvass
there— Extracts from his speeches— Gives a helping hand to the
canvass in the Eastern States— His great Cooper Institute Speech
—Touching Scene in New York 91
CHAPTER VI.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S NOMINATION AND ELECTION TO THE PRESIDENCY OP THB
UNITED STATES.
His nomination by the Republican National Convention-Exciting
Scenes-How he received the News— Its Official Announcement to
him— His Letter of Acceptance— The Composition of the Parties
and the Canvass of 1860— He is elected President of the United
States— Campaign Song, " Abe of the West" 15g
CONTENTS. 15
CHAPTER VIL
THE GATHERING STORM IN THE SOUTHERN POLITICAL HORIZON.
Traitorous movements in the South — Duplicity of Southern men in
the Cabinet — Imbecility or complicity of President Buchanan —
Secession of South Carolina — The Montgomery (Ala.) Convention
— Formation of the new Confederacy — Election of Davis as its
Head— Policy of the Confederacy towards the United States —
Opinions of the Rebel Leaders — Resignation of Southern men from
the United States Cabinet and Congress— Course of Events at the
North — The Crittenden Compromise — Resolutions of the House —
The Peace Convention, and its Resolutions 179
CHAPTER VIII.
MR. Lincoln's inaugural tour to Washington.
His farewell at Springfield, 111. — Addresses at Toledo, Indianapolis,
Cincinnati, Steubenville, Pittsburg, Cleveland, Syracuse, Utica,
Albany, Poughkeepsie — His grand reception at New York City —
Arrives at Newark, N. J. — Trenton — Is received at Philadelphia —
Visits, and helps to raise a flag, on " Independence HaU" — Stops at
Harrisburg — Makes a sudden appearance in Washington — Escapes
a plot for his Assassination — Is welcomed by the city authorities
of Washington, and addresses them 199
CHAPTER IX.
PEOM THE INAUGURATION TO THB EXTRA SESSION OP CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1861.
The Inaugural Address — ^Mr. Lincoln's first Cabinet — Changes in the
Departments — Difficulties which surrounded the New Administrar
tion — The attack on Fort Sumter — Its efi'ect. North and South —
The President's Proclamation — The Northern States rally to the
aid of the Government — The troubles at Baltimore — Mr. Lincoln's
answer to the Committee of the Virginia Convention — Prepara
tions for War — Foreign Policy of the Administration 234
16 CONTENTS.
CHAPTER X.
the extra session op CONGRESS, AND THE FIRST UNPOLDINGS OP THI
POLICY OP EMANCIPATION.
The Extra Sessiot jf Congress— Mr. Lincoln's first Annual Message
—He is strongly sustained by the action of Congress, and the
sentiment of the people— The disastrous Battle of Bull Run, July
21st, 1861— General McClellan succeeds General Scott in command
of the National armies— General Butler's theory and practice in
regard to fugitive slaves applying for protection— He decides them
to be " contraband of war" — His view indorsed by Government —
Fremont issues an Emancipation Proclamation — It is vetoed by
the President — The Trent affair, and its results 271
CHAPTER XI.
THE EMANCIPATION ACT.
The public mind is gradually prepared for Emancipation — The Presi
dent's Message favoring gradual Emancipation — The Abolition' of
Slavery in the District of Columbia — General Hunter's Emancipa
tion Order, and its revocation by the President — Conference with
the Border States Senators — Orders from the President, through
the War Department, relative to Slavery — Letter from the Secretary
of War to General Butler — Confiscation Bill — Greeley's Letter to
the President — The President's Reply — His reply to a Memorial
from the Clergymen of Chicago — Letters of Charles Sumner and
Owen Lovejoy — The Emancipation Proclamation — Suspension of
the Habeas Corpus — Proclamation of Freedom, January 1st, 1863
—Mr. Carpenter's "Inside History" of the Emancipation Pro
clamation — Reminiscences by the Rev. M. D. Conway 292
CHAPTER XII.
the shlitary operations op the YEAR 1862.
Operations in the West and Southwest— Battle of Mill Spring,
Ky.— The Burnside Expedition— Capture of Forts Donelson and
Henry— Surrender of Nashville, Tenn.— Capture of Fort Pulaski—
The Rebels Driven from Missouri— Capture of Island No. 10— Of
Forts Pillow and Randolph, on the Mississippi— Surrender of
Memphis— The Battle of Pittsburg Landing— Proclamation for a
CONTENTS. 17
day of National Thanksgiving — Capture of New Orleans — Invasion
of Kentucky— Battle of Corinth — Battle of Murfreesboro, and Ten
nessee freed from Rebel rule — Operations in Eastern Virginia —
The President issues an Order for a general advance of the
national forces— General McClellan's hesitancy and delay — Re
iterated orders to move — Letter from the President — The advance
on Yorktown — Battle of Williamsburg — More delay, more Letters
and Orders — ^Delay, delay, delay — Orders, and excuses ad infinitum
et ad nauseam — The Seven Days' Battles — The close of the
Peninsula Campaign — Pope placed in command of Army of Vir
ginia — He is defeated — McClellan reinstated, and commences
another advance on Richmond — The old story of delay — The
Battle of Antietam — McClellan relieved from command — The
President's defence of McClellan — The President's opinion of
McClellan — The Routine of Mr. Lincoln's daily life at this period.. 345
CHAPTER XIII.
the political and military events of the year 1863.
Second Session of the Thirty-seventh Congress — The Annual Mes
sage — Work done by Congress — The President's Message on the
Financial Bill — ^His policy indorsed by the popular elections in some
of the New England States — A Letter from the Workingmen of
Manchester (England), and the President's reply — His'letter to the
State Convention at Springfield, 111. — Proclamation of Pardon and
Amnesty — Annual Message of December, 1863 — The Military
Events of 1863 — The situation at the opening of the year — Suc
cesses in the West — In the East, General Burnside is relieved by
General Hooker, who fights Lee at ChancellorsviUe — The Battle of
Gettysburg, Pa. — The President's Despatch — His Speech at the
Consecration of the National Cemetery at Gettysburg — Great Re
joicings — Mr. Lincoln's Speech at Washington — His Letter to
General Grant — His Proclamation of Thanksgiving, Prayer and
Praise— Military successes in Teimessee — Proclamations — Sketch
of Events arising from Arbitrary Arrests and the Suppression of
the 'Writ of Habeas Corpus — Its Suspension in May, 1861 — The
Attorney-General furnishes an opinion on it — Arrest of the Mary
land Legislature — Executive Orders in relation to State prisoners —
Proclamation of September, 1862 — Factious oppfsition of Hon.
C. L. Vallandigham — He is arrested, tried, and sent into Reheldom,
by order of the President — Great Excitement following— Mr. Lin-
18 CONTENTS.
coin's Letter to Hon. Brastus Corning and others— Mr. Lincoln's
reply to the Committee of the Democratic State Convention— Pro
clamation of September, 1863-The Draft is commenced-Riots in
New York city— 27!e Missouri Imbroglio— Commences in 1861—
The President at last " takes hold of it," in 1863— Letter to General
Schofield— His reply to a German Fremont Committee— His reply
to a Committee from the Mass Convention of September, 1863—
Instructions to General Sc'ho&eld— Foreign Affairs— Vrench propo
sition for a mediation in American Affairs— It is declined by the
United States— The President's reply— The Correspondence be
tween Hon. Fernando Wood and Mr. Lincoln on the subject of a
Conference with Rebel authorities 399
CHAPTER XIV.
THB TEAR 1863, AND MR. LINCOLN'S RENOMINATION FOR THE PRESIDENCY.
Two Drafts ordered — The appointment of General U. S. Grant as
Lieutenant-General — His Programme of Military Operations —
Mr. Lincoln's remarks at the Patent Office Pair, in Washington —
His address to the Working-men's Democratic Republican Associa
tion of New York — His letter to the Christian Commission — His
speech at the U. S. Sanitary Commission Fair, at Baltimore —
Political events ; Mr. Lincoln is renominated for the Presidency —
Platform of the Republican Party — His reception of the news of
his Nomination — General McClellan nominated by the Demo
cratic Party, and General Fremont by the Radicals — President
Lincoln's Address at the Philadelphia Sanitary Fair — Military
events ; a gloomy battle-summer ; final successes ; a change of
popular feeling, and a day of Thanksgiving appointed — The attempt'
of the Rebels to open Negotiations for Peace — It is " squashed" by
the President's note, "To whom it may Concern" — The Presiden
tial election of 1864^Mr. Lincoln is elected— His speech upon
being notified thereof. 528
CHAPTER XV.
FROM MR. Lincoln's ee-election to the conclusion of the war.
The Annual Message of 1864-5— The Fortress Monroe Peace Nego-
tiations-j-Mr. Lincoln's and :Mr. Seward's accounts ofthe Conference
—The account given by one of the Rebel Commissioners, Hon.
CONTENTS. 1&
Alexander S. Stephens, Vice President of the Confederacy — ^Mr.
Lincoln's Inauguration, March 4th, 1865 — His second Inaugural
Address — Military Events — ^Sherman's March to Savannah —
Thomas's defeat of Hood — The Expeditions against Wilmington —
Operations of the Army of the Potomac against Richmond and
Petersburg — Capture of these Cities — Lee's fiight, pursuit, and
defeat — He surrenders to General Grant — Sherman's March
through the Caroliaas — He receives Johnston's surrender — Col
lapse of -the Rebellion — The President visits the Army — Is present
at the fall of Richmond — Enters that City — Returns to Wash
ington — His last Speech to the People, on occasion of the public
rejoicings at Washington 560
CHAPTER XVI.
THE ASSASSINATION AND ITS EFFECTS UPON THB COUNTRY.
Threats of Assassination — Details of the arrangements made by the
Conspirators — Booth's strange conduct and excited manner on the
day of the Assassination — President Lincoln's last hours among
his family and friends — Goes to the theatre — The Deed — State
ments of Major Bathbone, Miss Harris and others — The Death-bed
scene — The attack on Secretary Seward — The news in Washing
ton — Its effects on the Nation — The Editorial of the New York
'World — Public emotion in New York and elsewhere — Eev. Dr.
Bellows' discourse — Remarks of the Roman Catholic Archbishop —
Rev. H. W. Beecher's discourse — The effect of the news upon
Europe — ^The reception in London — The scene of its announcement
in the Liverpool Exchange— Official condolences — Letter from the
French Government — Tribute of the Italian Chamber of Deputies
Belgium joins in the general grief — A commemorative service in
Berlin 603
CHAPTER XVII.
THE FUNERAL OBSEQUIES.
The Body of Mr. Lincoln lies in State in the White House — It rests
in the National Capitol — Mourning throughout the land — The
Funeral Cortege commences its route to Springfield, 111. — Scenes
by the way — At Baltimore— At Philadelphia — At Newark and
Jersey City — It reaches New York — The Farewell Procession —
To Albany — From there to Buffalo — At Cleveland — At Columbus
20 CONTENTS.
—At Chicago— It reaches Springfield, 111.— The final rites and
sepulture— The Assassin and his end— The fate of the other con
spirators—Punch's Tribute to Lincoln's Memory 664
CHAPTER XVIII.
REMINISCENCES AND ANECDOTES OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN.
Mr. Lincoln's Christian Experiences, and Christian Sentiments —
His firmness — The Pardoning Power — Mr. Lincoln's love of
Homer — His Memory— His aptness of Expression — The Eman
cipation Proclamation — His " Little Story," at the Peace Con
ference — His Justification of the Amnesty Proclamation — He
loses his temper for once — His relations with the People — His
tenderness of heart — His faithful admonition — Mr. Lincoln "Pokes"
on Kentucky neutrality — Reminiscences of President Lincoln by
an old associate and friend — His simplicity and artlessnesss of
character — His native dignity — His desire for knowledge^His
modesty— His personal fearlessness of danger — His kindness of
heart — His honesty — Incidents of his visit to the Army of the
Potomac — Absence of mind — He watches events — He remembers
his friends — His little stories — His power of memory — His literary
tastes and habits 680
CLOSING CHAPTER.
ESTIMATE OP ME. LINCOLN'S LIFE, CHARACTER, AND WORKS 729
THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
The prominent feature of Abraham Lincoln's life is
the fact, that, from first to last, he was a truly repre
sentative Man of the People. In whatever position of
private Hfe or of pubHc trust he was placed, whether in
the frontier cabin, the modest law ofiice at Springfield,
the Halls of Legislation, or the Presidential chair at
Washington, he always maintained the same truthful
and noble character, winning the confidence of the
people, and eliciting from all who came in contact with
him a degree of personal affection and enthusiasm which
has been given to no other American statesman of our
day, unless it be to Henry Clay, whom he so highly
respected, and, in no slight degree, resembled. The
world, ^indeed, has seen many men, who, by the grace
of their manners, the force of their intellect, or the
splendor of their achievements, have obtained a strong
hold upon the popular heart; yet the homage univer
sally accorded to them was the result rather of a certaiii
fascination than of sincere affection. France had her
Napoleon, who rose from the people, and adroitly used
that' fact to subserve his personal ambition ; yet he waa
(21)
22 THE LIFE OF AEEAHA3I LINCOLX.
not o/them, although he enjoyed their idolatry. Their
national pride was gratified by the dazzHng success of
one, who, soaring from their own level, had proven him
self equal in abilities to the proudest monarchs, the
ablest generals, and the most finished statesmen of his
time. But the calmer judgment of history, sifting the
real from the unreal, will record that the Emperor loved
his people, if love it can be called, from motives of self-
interest. Even our o-wn illustrious Washington, the very Polai
Star of American patriotism, honored with an ever in
creasing fame throughout both continents, represented,
in his day, the higher intellectual and social phase of
American society, rather than those humbler circles of
thought and action in which the masses move and have
their being. The influence of gentle blood, the advan
tages of education, wealth and position, which moulded
his earlier Hfe, conspired to make him the representative
of the aristocratic class. And though the purity of his
personal and public life, his unswer-ving patriotism, and
the power of his well-balanced intellect, gained for bim
the sincerest affection of his countrymen, that affection
ever was, and ever wiU be, mingled with a species of
awe, which seemed to set him apart from ordinary
mortals. But Lincoln, while living, and yet more truly since
his death, holds a not inferior place in the hearts of his
countrymen. It has been happily said of him, that
" what Robert Burns has proverbially been to the people
of his native land, and, to a certain extent, of aU lands,
as a bard, Abraham Lincoln seems to have become to
us as a statesman and a patriot, by his intimate relar
INTRODUCTORT CHAPTER. 2o
tions alike with the humbler and the higher walks of
Hfe." By the unstudied and truthful exercise of the
native talents with which God endowed him, and under
circumstances comparatively unfavorable, he was raised,
apparently by the continued and universal suffrage of
his fellow-citizens, from a place of humble obscurity to a
position and a fame equalled only by that of Washing
ton. And the secret of his success was simply this, that
he never, for one moment in all his varied experiences,
forgot that he was of the people ; never, in a single in
stance, neglected their interests. The people, also, fully
comprehended him. They remembered that his ex
periences, whether of gladness or of sorrow, had been
the same as theirs ; that the great principles of justice
and humanity underlying their o-wn- happiness, rights
and feelings, were deeply enshrined within his heart.
They knew, too, that unstained by temptation and un-
swerved by success, he would always be, as he always
had been, the champion and defender of their interests.
His identity with the people was such, and such only,
as common toils, experiences and emotions could have
produced. And in- that identity of interest, feehng and
purpose, was his power — a power which, from the be
ginning of his career to the latest hour of his life, was
never weakened by the blasts of partisan detraction, or
by any demerit of his own.
In person, also, as in principle, he was a truly repre
sentative American. His gaunt and bony form, firmly
knit by the labor of a frontier Hfe, was, to the people, a
constant reminder that his earHer years had been spent
amid scenes and trials with which they were themselves
familiar. His features were plain and homely, but they
24 the life op ABEAHAM UNCOLN.
were illumined by thoughtfiil eyes, tenderly described
by one who knew him well, as " the kindest eyes that
were ever placed in mortal head ;" and the habitual sad
ness of his countenance revealed the man of strong emo
tions, of earnest purpose, of infinite depth of feeling.
His language was always simple, clear and unequivocal ;
his style of argument familiar, logical, and generally
pointed with a quaint illustration, an apt story, or an
easy play of humor. His manner was such as might
have been expected of the man, cordial, off-hand, yet
having an innate refinement which placed others at
their ease, and so harmonized and softened his angular
ities, as to in-vBst with a certain dignity the harsher out
lines of his tall and ungainly figure. He had, also, a
straightforward way of handling subjects the most com
plicated and the most important ; not with a self-con
ceited fiippancy, but with a sort of every-day-affair ease
and simplicity of treatment which seemed suddenly to
divest them of all extraneous matters, and to leave them
so clearly defined in all their relations, as to excite our
surprise and admiration. Indeed, the rare art of "put
ting things," was possessed by this honest man in an
eminent degree. The numerous perplexing questions
which were constantly being developed by the progress
of the war, were treated by this IlHnois lawyer with a
freedom and fearlessness which could only have pro
ceeded from a con-vdction that principles were always tJie
same, whatever might be the magnitude of the case in
question. In short, amid the herculean responsibiHties of a four
years' war, such, for extent and principles involved, as
the world had never b^ore seen ; amid questions, civil,
INTRODUCTORT CHAPTER. 25
nuHtary, and pohtical ; amid defeats and party clamor ;
amid a multitude of counsellors and varying counsels ;
amid the plottings of pohtical generals and the blunders
of incompetent commanders, " Honest Abe" was always
"master of the position." Purity of intention, direct
ness of purpose, patience and firmness, in every situa
tion and in every emergency, ever marked his course of
action. No pubHc man, under the pressure of great re
sponsibiHties, adhered more strictly to Col. Crockett's
well-known rule of "Be sure you're right, and then go
ahead ;" and those familiar phrases which were so often
on his Hps, " We must keep pegging away," and, " I
have put my foot down," expressed the patient deter
mination of a loyal but sorely tried heart. There was
no Jacksonian swagger of " By the Eternal !" but there
was an ever present sense of his accountability to God
for his acts, and a practical reHance upon His arm of
strength in all that he did, which peculiarly character
ized President Lincoln. " Pray for me that I may re
ceive the Di-nne assistance, "without which I cannot
succeed, but with which, success is certain," were his
words of farewell to the assembled friends and neigh
bors who bade him God speed when he left his Spring
field home to enter upon the duties of , the Presidential
chair. And again, four, years later, in his second in
augural speech, which now seems to us as one of his last
utterances, he thus speaks to a great people, whose sor
rows he had borne, and whose- success was at hand:
^'With malice towards none, with charity for all, with
firmness in the right, as Ood gives us to see the right, let
tos finish the work we are in, to hind up the nations
wownds, to care for him who shall liave borne the battle.
26 THE LIFE OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
and for his widow and his mplmns, to do all which may
achieve and cherish ajust and a lasting peace among our
selves and with all nations."
Such, then, was Abraham Lincoln, the natural out
growth of free institutions. Indeed, such a character as
his could not have been developed amid the deeply
worn grooves and the limited influences of European
society. It was as pecuHarly American in all its fear
tures, as are our great mountains, prairies and water
courses; natural in gro-wth, untrammelled in action,
easy of adaptation to every varying circumstance of life,
fearless in its courage, persistent in its purpose. If
there is any truth in the theory that the mental charac
teristics of men are fashioned by the scenery amidst
which they are reared, then must his Hfe and character
be taken as tjrpical of our American genius and institu
tions. It was this man, so true, so self-poised, so honest — tp
whom, amid aU his weighty responsibiHties, no fault is
imputed, except that of too much kindness — -whose life
we now purpose to write.
HIS BOTHOOD IN KENTUCKT. 27
CHAPTER L
ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S BOYHOOD IN KENTUCKT.
His Ancestry. — Their Residence in Pennsylvania and Virginia. — His
Grandfather moves over into Kentucky. — Is killed by an Indian. — His
Widow settles in Washington County. — His son, Thomas Lincoln,
marries and locates near Hodgenville. — Birth of Abraham Lincoln. —
La Rue County. — His Early Life and Training in Kentucky. — Removal
of the Family to Indiana.
The ancestors of Abraham Lincoln were English, and
of Quaker stock, — although the characteristic traits of
that sect seem gradually to have disappeared under the
stern discipline of the frontier life which fell to the Iqt of
the earHer generations in this new country. We first find
definite traces of them in Berks county, Pennsylvania,
although it, probably, was not the place of their original
settlement in America; and they may have been a
branch of the family that settled, at an earlier date, in
the Old Plymouth Colony. Indeed, tradition affirms
that the Pennsylvania branch was transplanted from
Hingham, Mass., and was derived from a common stock
-with Col. Bep-jamin Lincoln, of Revolutionary fame.
There is, at least, a noticeable coincidence in the general
prevalence among each American branch of Scriptural
names — the Benjamin, Levi, and Ezra of the Massa
chusetts family, having their counterpart in the Abra
ham, Thomas and Josiah of the Virginia and Kentucky
race — a peculiarity to have been equally expected among
sober Quakers and zealous Puritans.
28 THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM UNCOLN.
"Old Berks," first settled in 1731, was not long the
home of the Lincoln family, who eeem to have emi
grated before its organization as a county, in 1752, to
what is now known as Rockingham county, Virginia. ^
Rockingham, now esteemed one of the most produc
tive counties of the State of Virginia, was at that re
mote period in the very heart of the wilderness; a
section, which, intersected by the beautiful valley of
the Shenandoah, invited, by its natural resources, the
advances of that civilization that even then looked
hopefully forward toward the setting sun. And a,
branch of the family, it is said, yet remains there, en
joying the benefits of the land which their ancestors
selected and reclaimed with sturdy toil from its original
wildness. The Lincolns, however, were evidently of the stern
old pioneer 8toc]\, which God seems to send into the
world to break a way for the advance of a superior
civilization ; men vrho naturally court the adventure,
the danger and the hardship of a frontier life, and who,
having wrested a home from the wild elements of nature,
straightway lose the desire of possession, and willingly
relinquish all which they have gained for the sake of
new excitements.
Abraham Lincoln, the grandfi\ther of our subject, was
of this class — a frontiersman, in the truest sense, whose
rough but healthful life had been spent in felling the
woods, in clearing the land which formed his homestead
in the Shenandoah Valley — that valley since rendered so
memorable in the war which his grandson has conducted
in behalf of the Union and Universal Liberty — in hun1>
ing the abundant game, and in the hazards of an un-
*^ HIS BOTHOOD IN KENTUCKT. 29
certain war -with lurking savages. It is not surprising,
then, that, to a man of such training and disposition,
the glo-wing descriptions which, from about 1769 to
1780, began to spread throughout the older settlements
concerning the incredible richness and beauty of the
then recently-explored Kentucky Valley, should have
possessed an irresistible charm ! Perhaps, also, the setr
tlements around him had already begun to be too far
advanced for the highest enjoyment of his characteristic
mode of life; for such men, when they begin to hear- the
axes of neighbors echoing around them, and from their
cabin-doors can see the blue smoke curling upwards from
other chimnies than their o-wn, are apt to feel the need
of "more elbow-room," and to take up their line of
march for " solitudes more profound."
We must, also, in this case, take into consideration
the fact that the first explorer of this Kentucky para
dise, Daniel Boone, whose very name suggests a whole
world of romantic adventure, was a neighbor of the Lin
colns — having removed, when quite a lad, among the
earHer emigrants from Eastern Pennsylvania to Berks
county. Here he must have been a contemporary resi
dent, and perhaps an acquaintance, in those familiar
times when every one knew every one else in the same
county. At all events, the Berks county people watched
with eager interest and sympathy the adventurous ca
reer of Boone ; and his achievements undoubtedly sug
gested new attractions to the more active and daring
spirits among his boyhood companions, whose ideal of
manhood he so nearly approached.
At this date, and for ten or twelve years later, the
present State of Kentucky fonned a part of the old
2Q THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
commonwealth of Virginia, and was a common territory
and place of meeting for the Indian tribes both of the
north and south. This " dark and bloody ground," as
it has been most appropriately called, was already fa
mous as the scene of many exciting adventures and
deadly conflicts between the white man and the red
skin ; and Boone, Harrod, Floyd, and other brave spirits
were stiH in the midst of the great struggles which have
imperishably associated their names "with the history of
the country. Thitherward, from the borders of the
surrounding Colonies, from every direction, and from
hundreds of miles distance, the tide of emigration had
now begun. The emigrants were from that hardy class
of frontiersmen most inured to the toils which awaited
them in the new Kentucky forests ; and they pressed
forward fearless of the dangers which surrounded their
pathway. Among them was Abraham Lincoln, who,
about 1780, established a home for his small family
somewhere on Floyd's creek, and probably near its
mouth, in what is now Bullitt county. Here, amid in
credible hardships and dangers, the jelation of which
seem to us, in these days, like the mutterings of a far-off"
troubled dream, he erected his rude dwelling and made
a beginning in his new pioneer labors. But, the hopes
which led to this change of his home were destined
never to be fulfilled. His cabin, isolated from its neigh
bors by a distance of several miles, was a dangerous
dweUing in a region infested by roving savages, whose
blind instinct of revenge was perpetually searching for
a pale-face victim on whom to sate its fury. And, while at
work, one day, at a distance from his home, the skulk
ing Indian crept upon him. unawares, and his scalped
HIS BOTHOOD IN KENTUCKT. 31
and lifeless body was found by his family on the follow
ing moming. This took place in the year 1784, or very
near that time, when he was probably not more than
thirty-five years of age. His suddenly-bereaved widow,
with three sons and two daughters left to her protection
and care, and with but slender means for their support,
soon removed to Washington county, in the same State,
where she reared her children, all of whom reached
mature age. The daughters, in due time, were mar
ried, and the three sons, Thomas, Mordecai, and Josiah,
all remained in Kentucky until after they attained their
majority. Thomas Lincoln, one of these sons, and the parent of
the illustrious President, was born in 1778, and was but
six years old at the time of his father's untimely death.
Of his early life, we kave no knowledge except what we
may learn by inference from the general lot of his class,
and of the habits and modes of living then prevalent
among the hardy pioneers of Kentucky. These back
woodsmen had an unceasing round of toil, with no im
mediate reward but a bare subsistence, from year to
year, and the cheering promise of "better days in
store." And, although more comfortable days, and a
much improved condition of things, had come before
Thomas Lincoln arrived at maturity, yet his boyhood
must have had a full share of the trials and penury in
cident to the lot of the first generation of Kentuckians,
with few other enjoyments than the occasional " shoot
ing match" or " wedding frolic." He belonged to the
generation which was cotemporary with the independent
existence of the nation, and which largely partook of
the exultant spirit of self-confidence then prevalent
32 THE LIFE OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
throughout the land. And, as he grew to manhood,
the currents of emigration mto the State had enlarged
and accelerated, until, in 1800, when he had attained
the age of twenty-two, its population numbered two
hundred and twenty thousand, and the -wilderness be
gan to blossom as the rose. Rapid, however as was
this growth, there still was ample unoccupied space
within the limits of the new State for those whose free
spirit rejoiced in the "trackless woods," and craved the
excitement and the loneHness of a home in the wil
derness. In 1806, Thomas Lincoln, being then twenty-eight
years of age, was married to Nancy Hanks, a native
of Virginia — of his own station in life — and, as there is
reason to beHeve, possessed of rare qualities of mind
and heart; but dying at an early age, and ha-sdng, from
the time of her marriage, passed her days upon the
obscure frontiers, few recollections of her are now acces
sible. The young couple were plain people, members of the
Baptist church, and about equally educated. The wife
could read, but not write; while her husband could
manage his o-wn name as a penman, but, it is said, in a
style more perplexing than readable. Nevertheless, he
could fully appreciate the value of a better education
than he himself possessed, and was not devoid of that
truly democratic reverence which can bow before supe
rior mental attainments in others. He was, besides, an
industrious, cheerful, kind-hearted man. His wife was
a woman of excellent judgment, sound sense, and pro
verbial piety ; an excellent helpmeet for a backwoods
man of Thomas Lincoln's stamp, and a mother whose
HIS BOTHOOD IN KEISTUCKT. 33
piety and affection must have been of inestimable value
iv the shaping and directing of her children's destinies.
' Abraham Lincoln was born of these parents on the
12th day of February, 1809. The place where they at
this time resided, is in what is now La Rue county,
about a mile and a half from Hodgen-ville, the county
seat, and seven miles from EHzabethtown, laid off
several years previously, and the county seat of Hardin
county. One sister, two years his senior, who grew up
to womanhood, married, and died while young ; and a
brother, two years younger than himself, who died
in early childhood, and whose now unmarked grave,
Mr. Lincoln remembers to have visited along with
his mother before leaving Kentucky, were the only
children of Thomas Lincoln, either by this or by a sub
sequent marriage. Abraham has thus, for a long tiine,
been the sole immediate representative of this hardy
and energetic race.
La Rue county, so named from an early settler, John
La Rue, was set off" and separately organized in 1843,
the portion containing Mr. Lincoln's birthplace having
been, up to that date,, included in Hardin county. It is
a rich grazing country in its more rolHng or hilly parts,
and the level surface produces good crops of corn and
tobacco. Hodgenville, near which Mr. Lincoln was
bom, is a pleasantly situated town on Nolin creek, and
a place of considerable business. About a mile above
this town, on the creek, is a mound, or knoll, thirty
feet above the banks of the stream, containing two acres
of level ground, at the top of which there is now a
house. Some of the early pioneers encamped on this
knoll; and but a short distance from it a fort was
34 THE LIFE OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
erected by PhUip Phillips, an emigrant from PennsyL '
vania, about 1780 or 1781, near the time Mr. Lincoln's
ancestor arrived from Virginia. John La Rue came from
the latter State, with a company of emigrants, who
settled about the same time, at Phillips' Fort. Robert
Hodgen, La Rue's brother-in-law, purchased and occupied
the land on which HodgenviUe is built. Both of these
pioneers were men of sterling integrity, high moral
worth, and consistent and zealous members of the
Baptist church; and one of their associates, Benjamin
Lynn, was a minister of the same persuasion. Such
were the influences under which, more than twenty
years before Thomas Lincoln settled there, this Httie
colony had been founded, and which went far to give
the community its permanent character.
It is needless to rehearse the kind of life in which
Abraham Lincoln was here trained. The picture is
similar in all such settlements. In his case, there
was indeed the advantage of a generation or two of
progress, since his grandfather had hazarded and lost
his life in the then sHghtly broken wilderness. The
State now numbered about four ' hundred thousand
inhabitants, and had all the benefits of an efficient local
administration, the want of which had greatly increased
the dangers and difficulties of the first settlers. Henry
Clay, it may here be appropriately mentioned, had
already, though little more than thirty years of age, begun
his brilliant political career, having then served for
a year or two in the United States Senate.
Yet, with all these changes, the humble laborers,
settled near "Hodgen's Mills," on Nolin creek, had
no other lot but incessant toil, and a constant struggle
HIS BOTHOOD IN KENTUCKT. 35
with nature in the stiU imperfectly reclaimed wilds, for
a plain subsistence. Here the boy spent the first years
of his chUdhood. Before the date of his earliest distinct
recoUections, however, he removed with his father to a
place six miles distant from Hodgenville, which was ere
long surrendered, as we shall presently see, for a home
in . the far-off" wilderness, and for frontier Hfe, in its
fullest and most significant meaning.
Abraham Lincoln's Kentucky life, then, extended
only through a period of about seven years, terminating
with the autumn of 1816. And if, as has been asserted
by some phUosophic minds, the experiences and instruc
tions of the first seven years of every person's existence,
do more to mould and determine his subsequent general
character, then we must regard Mr. Lincoln as a Ken-
tuckian (of the generation next succeeding that of
Clay), by his early impressions and discipline, no less
than by birth.
These were the days, it must be remembered, when
common schools were unkno-wn. Yet education was not
undervalued or neglected among these rude foresters;
nor did young Lincoln, limited as were his opportunities,
grow up an UHterate boy. Itinerant, but competent
teachers were accustomed to offer their services, and
opened private schools in the new settlements, being
supported by tuition fees, or a subscription.
During his boyhood in Kentucky, Abraham Lincoln
attended at different times at least two schools of this
description, of which he had clear recollections. One
of these was kept by Zachariah Riney, who although
himself an ardent Roman Catholic, made no proselyting
eff'orts in his school, and when any Httie rehgious cere-
3(3 ¦ THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
monies, perhaps mere catechising and the like, were to
be gone through with, aU the Protestant chUdren, of
whom, it is needless to say that young "Abe" was one,
were aUowed to retire. Riney was probably in some
way connected with the movements of the " Trappists,"
who came to Kentucky ui the autumn of 1805, and
founded an estabUshment (afterward abandoned) on Pot
tinger's creek. They were active m promoting educa-'
tion, especially among the poorer classes, and had a
school for boys under their immediate supervision.
This, however, had been abandoned before the date of
Lincoln's first school-days, and it is not improbable that
the private schools under Catholic teachers were an off
shoot of the original system adopted by the Trappists,
who subsequently removed to Illinois.
Another teacher, on whose instruction the boy after
ward attended, while Hving in Kentucky, was named
Caleb Hazel. His was also a neighborhood school, sus
tained by private patronage.
With the aid of these two schools, and such assistance
as he received from his- parents at home, he had become
able to read well, though without having made any
great literary progress, at the age of seven. That he
was neither a dull or inapt scholar, is manifest from his
subsequent attainments. With the allurements of the
rifle and the wild game which abounded in the country,
however, and with his meagre advantages in regard to
books, it is probable that his perceptive faculties and
muscular powers were more fully developed than his
scholastic talents.
It is worthy of remark, also, that while he lived in
Kentucky, he never saw even the exterior of what was
HIS BOTHOOD IN KENTUCKT. 37
properly a. church edifice; and the few religious services
which he had an opportunity to attend, were held
either in humble private dwelHngs, or in some log
school-house. Another change of home, however, awaited our young
hero. His father, perhaps from the old restless spirit
of adventure, but more probably because he found life
in a slave State a most unsatisfactory one for himself,
and presenting only the prospect of a hopeless struggle
in the future for his children, determined upon removal
to the wUds of Indiana, where free labor would have no
competition with slave labor, and the poor white man
might reasonably hope that, in time, his chUdren could
take an honorable position, won by industry and-carefiil
economy. So, ha-vdng sold his Kentucky farm, as the story goes,
for ten barrels of whiskey (forty gallons each) valued
at two, hundred and eighty dollars, besides twenty
doUars in money,* and ha-v^ing made a trial trip to
Indiana to select a location to his liking, which he
found in what is now Spencer county, he made his
preparations tp remove his family to their new home.
* Although this story has been discredited by some, yet as such trans
actions in the disposal of real estate were not uncommon at that period,
we see no reason to doubt it, nor to consider it as prejudicial to Thomas
Lincoln's character; for it must be remembered that those days were -not
the days of temperance and " Total Abstinence." ,
38 THE LITE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN,
CHAPTER II.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S THIRTEEN TEARS IN INDIANA.
Removal of the Lincoln Family to Spencer county, Indiana.— Abraham as
a Farm Boy.— As a Marksman.— The Death of his Mother.— The
second Marriage of his Father. — Abraham's Education.— His own
Account, when President, of his Education. — His Love of Books.—
The Story of the Damaged Book.— His Voyage to New Orleans as a
Flatboatman.^Description of Early Times and Scenes in Indiana.
Earlt in the autumn of 1816, the Lincoln family,
bidding adieu to their old Kentucky home, commenced
a long and wearisome journey toward the forests of
southern Indiana. The plain wagon, with its simple
covering, contained the "household goods," and shel-
¦tered the wife and daughter, while the father and his
son, who was now in his ninth year, walked beside the
horse which steadily drew the family conveyance, or
took care that the indispensable cow kept pace to the
music of the jolting wheels. Arriving at the proper
landing on the banks of the Ohio, the little caravan was
embarked upon a flatboat, and floated across the stream,
now swelled to fair proportions by the autumn rains.
Finally reaching the Indiana side, the adventurers
landed at or near the mouth of Anderson's creek, now
the boundary between the counties of Perry and Spen
cer, about one hundred and forty miles below LouisviUe,
by the river, and sixty above Evans ville. In a direct
line across the country from their former residence, the
ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S THIRTEEN TEARS IN INDIANA. 39
distance is perhaps hardly one hundred miles, yet the
journey had occupied them a whole week.
The place where Mr. Lincoln settled at the end of his
journey, was near the present town of Gentryville, some
distance back from the Ohio river, and was, under the
earUest organization, in Perry county. Two years later,
however, Spencer county was formed, embracing all that
part of Perry west of Anderson's creek, and including
the place of Mr. Lincoln's location.
Here, then, his emigrant wagon paused; and soon,
with the help of his youthful son, a log cabin was built,
which was to be their rough but comfortable home for
many coming years.
This done, and a shelter provided for their cattle, the
next work was to clear an opening in the forest, upon
which to raise a crop of grain for their sustenance dur
ing the next season. Hard work had now begun in
good earnest for the young Kentuckian, and the reali
ties of genuine pioneer life were to be brought home to
his comprehension in a very practical manner. /
Indiana, at this date, was still a Territory^ having
been originally united under the same government with
Illinois, after the admission of Ohio as a ,State, "the
first-bom ofthe great Northwest," in 1802. A separate
territorial organization was made for each in 1809. In
June, 1816, pursuant to a Congressional "enabling act,"
a Convention had been held which adopted a State Con
stitution, preparatory to admission into the Union, and
under this Constitution, a month or two after Thomas
Lincoln's arrival, in December, 1816, Indiana became,
by act of Congress, a sovereign State. Its population,
at this time, was about sixty-five thousand, distributed
40 THE LIFE OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
chiefly south of a straight line drawn from Vincennes,
on the Wabash, to La-wrenceburg, on the Ohio.
" The next thirteen years Abraham Lincoln spent
here, in southern Indiana, near the Ohio, nearly mid
way between Louisville and Evansville. He was now
old enough to begin to take an active .part in the farm
labors of his father, and he manfuUy performed his
share of hard work. He learned to use the axe and to
hold the plow. He became inured to all the duties of
seed-time and harvest. On many a day, during every
one of those thirteen years, this Kentucky boy might
have been seen, with a long ' gad' in his hand, driving
his father's team in the field, or from the woods with a
heavy draught, or on the rough path to the mill, the
store, or the river landing ; very probably at times, in
the language of the Hot)sier bard, descriptive of such
pioneer workers in general :
" ' sans shoes or socks on.
With snake-pole and a yoke of oxen.'
"A vigorous constitution, and a cheerful, unrepining
disposition, made all his labors comparatively Hght.
To such a one, this sort of life has in it much of
pleasant excitement to compensate for its hardships.
He learned to derive enjoyment from the severest lot.
The ' dignity of labor,' which is with demagogues such
hollow cant, became to him a true and appreciable
reahty." Thus, by hardy ou1>door labor and exercise
he laid the foundation of that iron constitution which
proved such a blessing throughout his whole life, en
abling hun to endure fatigue and care to which an
ordinary frame would have succumbed.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S THIRTEEN TEARS IN INDIANA. 41
About this time, also, he took a start as a hunter,
which was never much improved afterward. One day,
toward the close of his eighth year, while his father
happened to be absent, a fiock of wild turkeys ap
proached the cabin, and Abraham, standing mside, took
aim with a rifie through a crevice of the log-house, and
succeeded in kUling one of the fowls. This was his
first shot at H-ving game, and, according to his own
account, he has never since pulled a trigger on larger ;
but we can imagine, and participate in, the pride with
which he exhibited his trophy to his delighted parents.
In the autumn of 1818, Abraham had the misfortune
to lose his excellent mother. She was a truly noble
woman, as her son's life attested. From her came that
deep and abiding reverence for holy things — that pro
found trust in Providence and faith in the triumph of
truth — and that gentleness and amiability of temper
which, in the lofty station of Chief Magistrate, he dis
played so strikingly during years of most appalling
responsibility. From her he derived the spirit of humor
and the desire to see others happy, which afterward
formed so prominent a trait in his character. Though
uneducated in books, she was wise in the -wisdom of
experience and truth, and was to her son a faithful
mentor as well as a good mother. He never ceased to
moum her loss, and ever cherished her memory with
the tenderest affection and respect. A year after her
death, his father married Mrs. SaUy Johnson, at EHza
bethtown, Kentucky, a widow, with three chUdren by
her first marriage. She proved a good and kind mother
to Abraham, and has Hved to see him occupying the
chief position iu the land, and in the hearts of his
^2 THE LIFE OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
countrymen. There were no chUdren by this second
marriage. Here, during his residence in EvansviUe, Mr. Lincoln's
education may properly be said to have commenced. It
is true that the schools of his neighborhood were of the
same class, and little better than those in Kentucky,
yet, aided by what he had already acquired, he managed
to increase his slender stock of learning. His teachers,
while here, were Andrew Crawford, Sweeney, and
Afcel W. Dorsey, the latter of whom has lived to see
his whilom pupil a giant leader among the people.
Abraham had achieved the art of reading before his
own mother's death; and, subsequently, by the assist
ance of a young man of the neighborhood, had learned
to write, an accomplishment which some of the friendly
neighbors thought unnecessary, but his father quietly
persisted, and the boy was set do-wn as a prodigy when
he wrote to an old friend of his mother's, a travelling
preacher, and begged him to come and preach a sermon
over his mother's grave. Three months after. Parson
Elkins came, . and friends assembled, a year after her
death, to pay a last tribute of respect to one universally
beloved and respected. Her son's share in securing the
presence of the clergyman was not unmentioned, and
Abraham soon found himself called upon to -write
letters for his neighbors.
So, when Mr. Crawford came into the vicinity, and at
the solicitation of the people of the settlement, opened
a school in his own cabin, Abraham's father embraced
the opportunity to send him, in order that he might add
some knowledge of arithmetic to his reading and writing.
With buckskin clothes, a raccoon skin cap, and an old
ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S THIRTEEN TEARS IN INDIANA. 43
arithmetic which had been somewhere found for him, he
commenced his studies in the "higher branches." His
progress Avas rapid, and his perseverance and faithfulness
won the interest and esteem of his teacher.
Probably the most interesting period in the biography
of a great man — ^be he student, statesman or soldier — ia
when the desire of honor first touches his heart>strings,
and when the first Httie " sip" at the fountain of know-
lege, has developed a thirst which would drink deeply
and forever. For it is at this critical moment — that of
the charming, yet dangerous first draught — that we
seem to behold the germ, the incipient da-wn, as it were,
of those after-deeds which are to shed lustre upon the
man's life, and upon the world in which he lives and
acts. Our curiosity is awakened to learn what were his
first loves in the way of books, human characters, and
the -visible objects of the natural universe. For know
ing these, it is a pleasure to look back upon and compare
them -with our o-wn experiences, or with the similar
characteristics of those who have been numbered among
the world's great men.
In spite, however, of his father's care to give him
every facility for the acquirement of an education which
was within his reach, as well as of his own assiduity
and thirst for knowledge, little Abraham's opportunities
must have been extremely limited, for he was accus
tomed to say, in after life, that he thought the aggregate
of all his schooling did not amount to one year. He
was never in a college or academy as a student, and
never inside a college or academy till since he had a law-
license ; and what he had in the way of education, was
picked up in his own way. After he was twenty-three.
44 THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
and had separated from his father, he studied EngHsh
grammar, imperfectly, of course, but so as to speak and
write as weU as he did. He studied, and nearly
mastered, the six books of EucUd after he arrived at
manhood. In this connection we may be permitted to quote the
following interesting narrative concerning Mr. Lincoln's
education and early experiences, as eUcited from him by
the Rev. J. P. Gulliver, during a lengthy personal inter
view. It is especially valuable as throwing more Hght
upon the President's peculiar mental constitution than
we have found elsewhere : —
" 'I -want very mucli to know, Mr. Lincoln, liow you got this
unusual po-wer of "putting things." It must have been a
matter of education. No man has it by nature alone. What
has your education been?'
" ' Well, as to education, the ne-wspapers are correct — I never
¦went to school more than twelve months in my life. But, as
you say, this must be a product of culture in some form. I
have been putting ¦ the question you ask me, to myself, while
you have been talking. I can say this, that among my earliest
recollections, I remember how, when a mere child, I used to
get irritated when anybody talked to me in a way I could not
understand. I don't think I ever got angry at any thing else in
my life. But that always disturbed my temper, and has ever
since. I can remember going to my little bed-room, after
hearing the neighbors talk, of an evening, with my father, and
spending no small part of the night walking up and down, and
trying to make out what was the exact meaning of some of
their, to me, dark sayings. I could not sleep, though I often
tried to, when I got on such a hunt after an idea, until I had
caught it ; and when I thought I had got it, I was not satisfied
until I had repeated it over and over, until I had put it in
ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S THIRTEEN TEARS IN INDIANA. .45
language plain enough, as I thought, for any boy I knew
to comprehend. This was a kind of passion with me, and it
has since stuck by me, for I am never easy now, when I am
handling a thought, till I have bounded it north and bounded
it south, and bounded it east and bounded it west. Perhaps
that accounts for the characteristic you observe in my speeches,
though I never put the things together before.'
" ' Mr. Lincoln, I thank you for this. It is the most splendid
educational fact I ever happened upon. This is genius, with all
¦its impulsive, inspiring, dominating power over the mind of its
possessor, developed by education into talent, with its unifor
mity, its permanence, and its disciplined strength, always ready,
always available, never capricious — the highest possession of
the human intellect. But let me ask, did you not have a law
education ? How did you prepare for your profession ?'
" ' Oh, yes. I " read law," as the phrase is ; that is, I became
a lawyer's clerk in Springfield, and copied tedious documents,
and picked up what I could of law in the intervals of other
work. But your question reminds me of a bit of education I
had, which I am bound in honesty to mention. In the course
of my law-reading, I constantly came upon the word demon
strate. I thought, at first, that I understood its meaning, but
soon became satisfied that I did not. I said to myself, "what
do I do when I demonstrate, more than when I reason or prove ?
How does demonstration differ from any other proof? I con
sulted Webster's Dictionary. That told of "certain proof,"
" proof beyond the possibility of doubt ;" but I could form no
idea what sort of proof that was. I thought a great many
things were proved beyond a possibility of doubt, without
recourse to any such extraordinary process of reasoning as I
understood " demonstration" to be. I consulted all the diction-
aries and books of reference I could find, but with no better
results. You might as well have defined blue to a blind man.
At last I said, " Lincoln, you can never make a lawyer if you
do not understand what demonstrate means," , and I left my
46 THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
situation in Springfield, went home to my father's house, and
stayed there till I could give any propositions in the six books
of Euclid at sight. I then found out what "demonstrate"
means, and went back to my law studies.'
" I could not refrain from saying, in my admiration of such
a development of character and genius combined, ' Mr. Lincoln,
your success is no longer a marvel. It is the legitimate result
of adequate causes. You deserve it all, and a great deal more.
If you will permit me I would like to use this fact publicly.
It will be most valuable in inciting our young men to that
patient classical and mathematical culture which most minds
absolutely require. No man can talk well unless he is able,
first of all, to define to himself what he is talking about.
Euclid, well studied, would free the world of half its calaraities,
by banishing half the nonsense which now deludes and curses
it. I have often thought that Euclid would be one of the best
books to put on the catalogue of the Tract Society, if they
could only get people to read it. It would be a means of
grace.' "'I think so,' said he, laughing; 'I vote for Euclid.' "
Books of course, were his great delight, and the pro
curing of a sufficient number of them to employ his
mind, one of his principal anxieties. In this his father
did much to aid him, and whenever he heard of any
particular volume which he thought desirable, or for
which Abraham asked, he always endeavored to obtain
it for the use of his son. His teacher, Mr. Crawford,
also frequently loaned him books which he could not
otherwise have procured.
In this way he became aquainted with Bunyan's
PUgrim's Progress, ^sop's Fables,* a Life of Henry
* May we not presume this selection to be an indication of that love
for anecdote which has made our Chief Magistrate so distinguished as a
relater of pithy stories.
ABRAHAM Lincoln's thirteen tears in Indiana. 47
Clay,* and Weems' LU"e of Washmgton. The "hatchet"
story of Washington, which has probably done more to
make boys truthful, than a hundred solemn exhorta
tions, made a strong impression upon Abraham, and
was undoubtedly, one of those unseen, gentle influences
which helped to form his character for integrity and
honesty. Its effect may be ttaced in the following
story, which bids fair to become as never-failing an
accompaniment to a Life of Lincoln, as the hatchet
story is to that of Washington.
Mr. Crawford had lent him a copy of Ramsey's Lif
of Washington, the only copy known to be in existence
in the neighborhood. Before he had finished reading
the book, it was left one night, by a not unnatural over
sight, in a -window, and the next morning it was found
to be soaked through with water. The wind had
changed, the rain had beaten in through a crack in the
logs, and the book was ruined. How could he face the
o-wner under such circumstances ? He had no money to
off'er as a return, but he took the book, went directly to
Mr. Cra-wford, showed him the irreparable injury, and
frankly and honestly off'ered to work for him until he
should be satisfied.
" Well, Abe," said Crawford, " as it's you I won't be
hard on you ; come over and pull fodder for me for two
days, and we will call our accounts even !"
The offer was accepted, and the engagement literally
fulfiUed. The book was of course -worth the labor, and there is
* This fact may be significant when we reflect that Mr. Lincoln always
remained an admirer of Mr. Clay, and that he was afterward a " Clay
Whig."
4g THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
therefore nothing to be admired in the way of gen
erosity. But the honorable part of the incident Hes in
the quick acknowledgment of the injury Abraham had
caused to the book, and the eagerness he displayed to
furnish its owner an equivalent for its value. It was
simply characteristic of the honorable conscientiousness,
integrity and industry which so distinguished him in
after-life. At the age of nineteen, Abraham, then a fuU-gro-wn,
active and intelligent young man, was permitted to see
more of the world, and made a trip down the Ohio and
Mississippi rivers, to New Orleans, as one of the hands
on a flatboat. The excursion, while it gratified the love
of adventure natural to his years, undoubtedly added to
his stock of useful information, and served in no sHght
degree to develop that spirit of intelligent observation
and self-reliance which contributed so much to his sub
sequent success in Hfe.
In concluding this sketch of the thirteen important
years spent by Mr. Lincoln as an Indianian, we cannot
refrain from presenting to our readers the following
graphic personal recollections of a distinguished la-wyer*
who emigrated to that State about the same time, inas
much as they will naturally aid in conveying a correct
impression of those times, as well as of the circum
stances with which Lincoln's youth was surrounded.
" Indiana was born in the year 1816, with some sixty-five
thousand inhabitants — only about forty years ago. A few
counties only were then organized. The whole middle, north
* Early Indian Trials and Sketches. Reminiscences, by Hon. 0. H.
Smith, page 285.
THIRTEEN TEARS IN INDIANA. 49
and northwest portions of the State were an unbroken wilder
ness, in the possession of the Indians. Well do I remember
when there were but two families settled west of the White
water Valley — one at Flat Rock above where Rushville now
stands, and the other on Brandywine, near where Greenfield
was afterwards located. When I first visited the ground on
which Indianapolis now stands, the whole country, east to
Whitewater and west to the Wabash, was a dense unbroken
forest. There were no public roads, no bridges over any of
the streams. The traveler had literally to swim his way. No
cultivated farms, no houses to shelter or feed the weary traveler
or his jaded horse. The courts, years afterward, were held in
log huts, and the juries sat under the shade of the forest trees.
I was Circuit Prosecuting Attorney at the time of the trials at
the falls of Fall creek, where Pendleton now stands. Four of
the prisoners were con-victed of murder, and three of them
hung, for killing Indians. The court was held in a double log-
cabin, the grand -jury sat upon a log in the woods, and the fore
man signed the bills of indictment which I had prepared upon
his knee ; there was not a petit-juror that had shoes on — all
wore moccasins, and were belted around the waist, and carried
side knives used by the hunter. The products of the country
consisted of peltries, the wild game killed in the forest by the
Indian hunters, the fish caught in the interior lakes, rivers, and
creeks, the pawpaw, wild plum, haws, small berries gathered
by the squaws in the woods. The travel was confined to the
single horse and his rider, the commerce to the pack-saddle,
and the navigation to the Indian canoe. Many a time and oft
have I crossed our swollen streams, by day and by night, some
times swimming my horse and at others paddling the rude bark
canoe of the Indian. Such is. a mere sketch of our State when
I traversed its wilds, and I am not one of its first settlers."
Amid such scenes, and in this rough but natural state
of society, young Lincoln reached the verge of man-
50 THE LIFE OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
hood, with a strong and muscular frame, a rugged con
stitution, a frank and courteous heart and demeanor,
and a character conspicuous for honesty and energy.
Indeed, if we may believe the statements of those who
knew him at this early period, this stalwart stripling,
who, even then, stood nearly six feet and four inches
high, was no less remarkable for his mental and moral
characteristics than for his physical proportions. Al
ready, albeit unknown to himself and unsuspected by
others, the training of that rough experience through
which he was passing, was insensibly, but no less surely,
moulding both body and mind into perfect fitness for the
high and noble destiny which awaited him in the future.
God had set him apart for a special work upon this
earth — a work full of importance, not to himself alone,
but to his country, to humanity itself — and, looking at
his now perfectly completed life, we can see how, step
by step, every phase of his varied experience was made
subservient to his proper preparation for that work.
LINCOLN IN ILLINOIS. 51
CHAPTER IIL
LINCOLN IN ILLINOIS, AS A RAIL-SPLITTER, A CLERK, AND
A VOLUNTEER.
Removal of the Family to IlUnois. — Abraham figures as a Rail-Splitter. —
As a Hunter. — Another Removal of his Father. — Abraham commences
Life on his own Account.^Makes a Trip to New Orleans. — Becomes a
Clerk in a Country Store. — Is elected Captain of a "V^olunteer Company
and serves in the Black Hawk War. — Anecdote concerning his tem
perate Habits. — His own humorous Account of his Services in this
"War. — His Character as a Soldier.
Public attention in the western and southern country
now began to be attracted, more decidedly than before,
to the vast resources and fertile "bottom lands" of
Illinois. This State, organized as a Territory in 1809,
and admitted into the Union nine years later, in 1818,
had, even as late as 1820, only a population of fifty-five
thousand two hundred and eleven ; and this was almost
exclusively located south of the National Road, which
crosses the Kaskaskia river at VandaUa, extending
nearly due west to Alton. Notwithstanding the severe
labors of opening the forests on the rich western soil,
and the long period that must necessarily elapse before
the perfect subjugation of the land into cultivated farms,
there seems to have been a general avoidance, even to
comparatively a late period, of the open prairie, which
is now thought to off'er such pre-eminent facilities for
cultivation, with almost immediate repayment for the
toU bestowed. The settlers who had gone into Illinois,
r^-l -THE LIFE OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
evidently placed a low estimate upon the prairie lands,
and always settled on the banks of some stream, on
which there was plenty of timber, seeking the forest by
preference for their homes. The open character of the
country undoubtedly repelled emigration, and caused it
to be concentrated on the chief streams, for a long time,
until at last it commenced in earnest.
The earliest waves of this emigration, as in the case
of Indiana, came from Virginia and Kentucky, so that
the character of its society and legislation was strongly
colored by the southern element. While there was still
discernible a lurking attachment to the pecuUar institu
tions of the States on the other side of the Ohio river,
the general tenor of public sentiment and action was as
j)ositive and distinct as were the opinions of the north
ern settlers of these new commonwealths. Tet the
views of slavery at that time prevalent in southern
Indiana and IlHnois, were not much diverse from those
which were entertained in the communities from which
these settlers had come. Slavery was regarded as an
evil to be rid of; and to make sure of this, those who
were not already too much entangled with it, left in
large numbers for a region which, by request of Virginia
herself, the donor, was "forever" protected from the
inroads of this moral and social mischief.
From 1820 to 1830, however, there was a marked
extension of settlements northward, toward the centre
of the State, and along the Mississippi to Galena, where
the mines were beginning to be worked. The rivers
along which the principal settlements had been made,
aside from the great boundary rivers, the Mississippi,
the Ohio, and the Wabash, were the Kaskaskia, the
LINCOLN IN ILLINOIS. 5.3
Embarras, and the Sangamon, together with their
branches. A few settlements, also, had been in the
Rock river country, and in the range of Peoria, — and
the population thus distributed had now (1830) reached
one hundred and fifty-seven thousand four hundred and
forty-five. The brothers of Thomas Lincoln had pre-vdously re
moved to a more northern direction in Indiana than
that which he had occupied, both settling in the Blue
river country — Mordecai in Hancock county, where
he soon after died, and Josiah m Harrison county.
Whether their example had its infiuence upon Thomas,
or whether the nomadic spirit which was a part of his
character reasserted its sway over him, we do not know;
but whatever may have been the cause, immediate or
remote, he left Indiana in the spring of 1830, to seek
another place of abode in the State of Illinois. In ad
dition to his o-wn family, he was accompanied by those
of the two daughters and sons-in-law of his second wife.
The journey, which occupied fifteen days, was accom
plished by ox-teams. Abraham at this time was twenty-
one years of age.
Mr. Lincoln "had seen the growth of Kentucky from
almost the very start to a population of nearly seven
hundred thousand, and he had lived in Indiana from
the time its inhabitants numbered only sixty-five thou
sand until they had reached nearly three hundred and
fifty thousand. As he first set his foot within the limits
of Illinois, its vast territory had comparatively but just
begun to be occupied — scarcely at all, as we have seen,
except in the extreme southern portion, and here almost
exclusively along the principal streams. In a country
54 THE LIFE OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
80 poorly supplied with wood and water as Illinois, such
sites would naturally be the first to be taken up, and,
with a prairie addition, suited the tastes even of those
to whom the level open country was forbiddiiig in ap
pearance. " Mr. Lincoln pushed forward to the central part of
the State where such locations were still abundant. A
more beautiful country than that of the Sangamon val
ley could not easily have been anywhere discovered by
an explorer. It was not strange that the report of such
lands, if he heard it in his southern Indiana home,
should have attracted even so far one who was bred to
pioneer life and inherited a migratory disposition. He
first settled on the Sangamon 'bottom, in Macon
county. " Passing over the Illinois Central railroad, as you
approach Decatur, the county-seat of Macon, from the
south, a slightly-broken country is reached two or three
miles from that place, and presently the North Fork of
the Sangamon, over which you pass, a mile from the
to-wn. This stream fiows westwardly, uniting with the
South Fork, near Jamestown, ten miles from Springfield.
Following do-wn this North Fork for a distance of about
ten miles from Decatur, you come to the immediate
vicinity of the first residence of Abraham Lincoln (with
his father's family) in Illinois."
During the first season of their abode in the new State
Abraham continued to help his father in the farm work ;
and one of the first duties which presented itself was
the necessity of fencing a field on the rich bottom-lands
which had been selected for cultivation. For this pur
pose, with the help of one laborer, Abraham Lincoln at
LINCOLN IN ILLINOIS. 55
this time spHt three thousand rails — a task indicative
of his energy and perseverance no less than of his great
physical strength and endurance. The hand who as
sisted him in the exploit, named John Hanks, a distant
relative of his mother, is yet li-nng, and bears unquali
fied testimony to the earnest strength with which the
maul and the wedge were wielded by the future Presi
dent. These raUs afterward became the theme of joke,
song and story. During the Presidential campaign of
1860, Mr. Lincoln was accidentally present at the sit
ting of the Republican State Convention at Decatur —
near his old Sangamon home — and was received with
the greatest enthusiasm. He had scarcely taken his
seat when Mr. Oglesby, of Decatur, announced to the
delegates that an old Democrat of Macon county, who
had gro-wn gray in the service of that party, desired to
make a contribution to the Convention, and the offer
being accepted, forthwith two old-time fence-rails, deco
rated with flags and streamers, were borne through the
crowd into the Convention, bearing the inscription :
ABRAHAM LINCOLN,
THE EAIl CANDIDATE
FOR PRESIDENT IN I860.
Two Rails from a lot of three thousand made in 1830
by John Hanks and Abe. Lincoln — -whose Father was
the first pioneer of Macon County.
The eff'ect was electrical. One spontaneous burst of
applause went up from all parts of the "wigwam,"
which grew more and more deafening as it was pro
longed, and which did not wholly subside for ten or
5Q THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
fifteen minutes after. The cheers upon cheers which
rent the air could have been heard all over the adjacent
country. Of course " Old Abe" was called out, and
made an explanation of the matter. He stated that,
some thirty years ago, then just emigrating to the State,
he stopped with his mother's family, for one season, in
what is now Macon county ; that he built a cabin, split
rails, and cultivated a small farm down on the Sanga
mon river, some six or eight miles from Decatur. These
rails, he was informed, were taken from that fence; but,
whether they were or not, he had mauled many and
much betterones since he had grown to manhood. His
remarks were received with applause, and " the rails"
were thenceforth in demand in every State of the Union
in which industry is honored, where they Avere borne in
processions of the people, and hailed by hundreds of
thousands as a symbol of triumph, and as a glorious
vindication of freedom and of the rights and dignity of
free labor.
To return, however, to the settlers on the Sangamon.
Having buUt their cabin and fenced their farm, they
broke the ground, and raised a crop of' sod-corn on it
the first year, the sons-in-law, meantime, having settled
at other places in the country. A hard siege of fever
and ague afflicted the new settlers before the close of
the first autumn, which so greatly discouraged them
that they determined to seek a more congenial location.
They remamed, however, through the succeeding winter,
which was the season of the " deep snow" of Illinois.
For three weeks, or more, the snow was three feet deep
upon a level, and the weather intensely cold. There
was great consequent suffering entaUod upon beasts as
LINCOLN IN ILLINOIS. 57
well as men — aU being totally unprepared for such
extraordinary severity of climate. Our pioneers were
fortunate in having a sufl&cient supply of corn, but they
had laid up an insufficient quantity of meat, and the
deep snow seriously interfered with their dependence
upon their rifles. Abraham, however, willingly braved
any and every hardship to relieve their household
wants, and by his untiring exertions, managed to fur
nish enough game to keep the family in food, though he
was not a first-rate hunter, his love for books having
early overcome the fondness and enthusiasm with
which he had at fiorst adopted the rifle.
" We seldom went hunting together," writes one
of his early associates on this subject. "Abe was not
a noted hunter, as the time spent by other boys in such
amusements, was improved by him in the perusal of
some good book."
Discouraged by the sickness and the severe winter
which had befallen them during the ' first year, the
family remained here no longer than the spring of
1831 — ^mo-ving into Coles county, some sixty or seventy
miles to the eastward, on the upper waters of the
Kaskaskia and Embarras. There the father rested, at
length, from his wanderings, and there he died, at
a ripe old age, on the 17th of January, 1851, in his
seventy-third year. Abraham, however, did not accom
pany his father and family in this, their last removal ;
but, being now of age, assumed for the first time, his
independence, and commenced Hfe on his own account.
During the preceding winter, young Lincoln, together
with his step-mother's son, John D. Johnston, and his
former fellow-laborer, John Hanks (yet residing in
58 THE LIFE OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
Macon county), had engaged themselves to one Dennis
Offult, to aid him in a flat-boat trip from Beardstown,
Illinois, to New Orleans, — agreeing to meet with him at
Sprmgfield as soon as the snow should disappear. But
when the snow melted (in the early part of March,
1831), the country was so flooded as to make travelUng
by land impracticable, so they purchased a large canoe,
in which they came down the Sangamon river. On
reaching the place of rendezvous, they found that Offult
had been disappointed by a person, on whom he had
relied to furnish him a boat on the IlHnois river. Ac
cordingly, the three adventurers hired themselves to
their employer, at the rate of twelve dollars per month
each; and then all hands set to work, getting out
timber and building a boat, at old Sangamon town, on
the Sangamon river, seven miles northwest of Spring
field. In this boat they made a successful voyage to
New Orleans and back, substantially on the terms of
the original contract.
It has been said, by his friends, that Mr. Lincoln fre
quently referred with much pleasant humor, to this
early experience, relating some of its incidents in such
a manner as to afford abundant amusement to his
auditors. In truth, he was a youth who could adapt
himself to this or any other honest work, which his
circumstances required of him, with a cheerfulness and
alacrity — a certain practical humor — rarely equaled.
To him the hardest labor was mere pastime; and his
manly presence, to other laborers, was a constant inspi
ration and a charm which Ughtened their burdens.
It was midsummer when the young flat-boatman
returned from this trip, his second and last in that
LINCOLN IN ILLINOIS. 59
capacity. Offult, the manager of the expedition, under
took to establish himself in business at New Salem,
twenty miles below Springfield, in Menard county —
where he opened a store, and, also, a flouring mill.
Having taken a Uking to young Lincoln during their
flat-boat enterprise, he was naturally anxious to secure
his services in the new business, in which he was about
to embark. Having no other immediate employment in
view, and being entirely dependent upon his own exer
tions for a Hving, Abraham accepted the offer, and
entered upon the duties of a clerk — attending to both
branches of his employer's business — which it is almost
needless to say, were faithfully and cheerfully performed.
While acting- in this capacity, he made many acquaint
ances and friends, and won the reject and confidence
of all with whom he had business dealings — and it was
during this period of his life that he came to be fami
liarly known as " Honest Abe."
"An honest man's the noblest work of God," is the
oft-quoted remark of the poet, and truly this appellation,
which has so closely adhered to Abraham Lincoln from
that day to the latest hour of his life, is a richer tribute
of praise, a more enduring coronet of glory to his many
virtues, than is often vouchsafed to thoSe of more kingly
lineage, or more exalted station.
Offult's business, however, did not prove very success
ful, and Lincoln's clerkship, in a little less than a year,
was abruptly terminated (in 1832) by the outbreak of
the " Black Hawk war."
During the previous spring (1831) the noted Black
Hawk, of the Sac tribe of Indians, repudiating the
treaty of 1804, by which they had been removed beyond
60 THE LIFE OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
the Mississippi, made an attempt to repossess his old
hunting-grounds, and to establish himself where the
principal village of his nation before had been, in the
Rock-river country. The Indians began to commit
depredations upon the property of the white settlers,
destroying their crops, pulling down their fences, dri-^ng
off' and slaughtering their cattle, and ordering the
settlers themselves to leave, on penalty of massacre if
they remained.
In response to the representations of Governor
Reynolds, to whom the settlers applied for protection.
General Gaines, commanding the United States forces
in that quarter, took prompt and decisive measures
to expel the invaders from the State. With a few
companies of regular soldiers, he at once took up his
position at Rock Island, and at his call, several hundred
volunteers assembled from the northern and central
parts of the State, upon the proclamation of Governor
Reynolds, joined him a month later. This little army,
distributed into two regiments, an additional battaUon,
and a spy battalion, was the most formidable miUtary
force yet seen in the new State. The expected battle did
not take place, the Indians having suddenly and stealth
ily retired again, across the river. And shortly after,
apparently intimidated by the threats and firm attitude
of General Gaines, the wily Black Hawk sued for peace,,
and a treaty was entered into, by which he agreed that
he and his tribe should ever after remain on the west
side of the river, unless by permission of the general
Government, or of the Governor of the State of Illinois.
In express violation, however, of this second deliberate
engagement, Black Hawk and his followers began, early
LINCOLN IN ILLINOIS. 61
in the spring of 1832, as we have seen, to make prepa
rations for another invasion. Whatever may be said
of the wrongs infiicted on the savage tribes, by the
white race, it is certain that the bad faith shown in this
case, and the repeated violation of deliberate and volun
tary agreements, was wholly without justification or
_ excuse. No provocation or plausible pretext -had
arisen after the treaty of the previous June ; yet Black
Hawk was under the misguided influence and false
representations of the " Prophet," who persuaded him
to believe that even the British (to whom Black Hawk
had always been a fast friend), as well as the Ottawas,
Chippewas, Winnebagoes, and Pottawatomies, would
aid them in regaining their -vdllage and the adjoining
lands. Under thife delusion, to which the wiser Keokuk
refused to become a dupe, though earnestly in-vited
to join them. Black Hawk proceeded to gather as strong
a force as possible. First establishing his headquarters
at the old site of Fort Madison, west of the Mississippi;,
he proceeded, with his women and children, property
and camp equipage, and a strong force of armed war
riors, to the mouth of Rock river ; •where, in the early
part of AprU, 1832, the whole party crossed to the east
side of the Mississippi, with the avowed purpose of
ascending the Rock river to the Winnebago territory.
An order from General Atkinson, of Rock Island, which
overtook him on his route, ordering him to return
beyond the Mississippi, was defiantly disregarded.
The danger now seemed imminent; volunteer com
panies were immediately formed in those States most
exposed to the foe, and among others, a company
was raised in Menard county, in the formation of
62 THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
which, Abraham Lincoln was conspicuously active.
From New Salem, Clary's Grove, and the vicinity,
an efficient force was gathered, and when organized,
their choice fell on Lincoln for captain. This, the first
promotion which he had ever received by the suff'rages
of his fellows, could not have been otherwise than
flattering to his unaspiring and modest nature, and.
may be regarded as a pleasing evidence of the estima
tion in whicii he was held by his friends and neighbors.
He was wont .to say that no success in life ever gave
him such unalloyed satisfaction as this.
An anecdote is current of our subject, pertaining to
this era of his life, which is not unworthy of repetition.
" Soon after the election of the company of&cers, a friend of
Captain Lincoln's had vaunted the newly-elected commander
as the strongest man in Illinois, when a stranger, who was
listening, expressed a doubt as to the truth of the assertion,
at the same "tiine mentioning another individual whom he
Considered as the stouter man. The friend of the newly-elected
captain at length proposed a small wager, which ivas accepted,
that his champion could lift a barrel of whiskey, holding forty
gallons, and drink out of the bung-hole.
" The interested parties proceeded to Captain Abe, who was
nothing averse to making the experiment for the gratification
of his friend. A barrel of whiskey containing the necessary
amount of gallons was accordingly procured, when the test was
performed with readiness and apparent ease. As another man
might have raised a six-gallon demijohn, the barrel was lifted,
and the requisite mouthful extracted from the bung-hole, to
the astonishment of the incredulous stranger.
" 'The bet is mine,' cried the athlete's admirer, as the former
replaced the barrel on the floor ; ' but that is the first dram of
whiskey I ever saw you' swallow, Abe.'
LINCOLN IN ILLINOIS. 63
"The captain immediately spirted the cheek full of whiskey
upon the floor, with the exclamation :
" ' And I haven't swallowed tliat, you see.'
" His friend burst out laughing at this demonstration of the
incorrigible teetotaler. And this same friend, long afterward,
writes :
'"That was the only drink of intoxicating liquor I ever
knew him to take, and that he spirted out on the floor.'
"Whether true or not, this little anecdote, so far as it
concerns the whiskey, is in keeping with the temperate habits
-which have since distinguished him."
His company rendezvoused at Beardstown. Here
eighteen hundred men were speedily assembled and
organized into four regiments, with an additional spy
battaUon. General Samuel Whiteside was in command.
General James D. Henry was placed at the head of the
spy battaUon. Lea-ying Beardsto-wn on the 27th of
April, they marched to the mouth of Rock river, and
after marching fifty miles along its course, reached the
Prophet's -vdllage, which they left in flames, and then
pushed rapidly forward to Dixon's Ferry, forty miles
beyond, where the enemy was supposed to be. On the
¦way, they received additional reinforcements, and on
the 12th of May their advance met the foe. The
skirmish which ensued, rapidly developed into an en
gagement which occupied some five hundred men on
each side, and which resulted in the complete rout of
the whites, knovra to this day, as " Stillman's defeat."
A projected renewal of the conflict on the foUo-wing
momuig, was frustrated by the sudden disappearance of
the -wily savages.
A councU of war resulted in a decision to renew the
64 THE LIFE OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
conflict early next morning. The great battle which
Captain Lincoln and his fellow-volunteers had come
so far to participate in, seemed now on the point of
becoming a reality. And notwithstanding their prema
ture advance from Prophetstown had left them without
the nece'ssary supplies, and subjected them to many
privations, they made up for the absence of their regular
pro-visions as best they might, and were ready, with the
dawn, for the day's undertaking. But their enemy did
not await their coming. Arrived at the scene of yester
day's skirmish and flight, they found not a straggler of
all the . savage forces. They had gone further up the
river, and partly dispersed, to commit depredations in
the surrounding country.
General Whiteside having made this energetic attempt
to fall in with the enemy and give him battle, and
having buried his dead, returned to camp, where he was
shortly joined by General Atkinson, with troops and
supplies, increasing the number of the army to two
thousand five hundred, and a few weeks more would
have enabled this force to bring the war to a successful
termination. This desirable consummation of their labors, however,
was frustrated by the impatience of the volunteer force,
whose term of service had expired, to return to their
homes. The hardships of the campaign, in their
opinion, far exceeded the glory which they had hoped
to win, and their disappointment made them clamorous
for their discharge. They were, therefore, marched to
Ottawa, and mustered out ofthe service on the 27th and
28th of May. This sudden disbanding, without a battle,
and with no results accompUshed, was somewhat chafing
LINCOLN IN ILLINOIS. 65
to the young captain from Menard county. While
others murmured and dropped out of what seemed to be
an unprofitable warfare, he remained true and persistent
to his convictions of duty ; as eager for the fray, and as
ambitious to perform every item of a soldier's labor as
he was at the outset. His imagination had not, as in
the case of others, dra-wn too bright a picture of camp
life, and he was, consequently, not as much disap
pointed as they, whUe his characteristic hearty earnest
ness in his work imparted cheerfulness to others, and
challenged their respect.
We are not surprised to learn, therefore, that when
Governor Reynolds — ^who had already issued a call for
two thousand new volunteers — asked for the formation
of a volunteer regiment from those just discharged.
Captain Abraham Lhicoln was among the first to enroll
himself as a private, as did also General Whiteside.
Indeed, in calling for this regiment. Governor Reynolds
is understood to have acted upon the expressed sug
gestions of Lincoln and others, who were still ready to
bear their part of the campaign to its close. So nobly
true was Lincoln, even in his youth, to a stern sense of
duty, and so earnest, in his wish to accompHsh whatever
he undertook.
Before the arrival of the new levies, a skUmishing
fight with the Indians was had at Burr Oak Grove, on
the 18th of June, in which the enemy was defeated
with considerable loss. Meanwhile the Indian atrocities
continued, rendering an efficient prosecution of the war,
to its termination, indispensable.
The Winnebagoes and Pottawatomies also evinced a
hostile disposition toward the whites, and an inclination
5
66 THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
to join the movement of Black Hawk. Accordingly,
with the appearance of the new levies, which had been
di-vided into three regiments, and their junction with the
regular and volunteer forces already in the field, the
whole number of volunteers alone being thirty-two hun
dred, the army was placed in a formidable and effective
attitude for offensive warfare, and finally made a forward
movement. A severe action at Kellogg's Grove, in the
Indian country, on the 25th of June, resulted in the
retreat of the enemy, with much loss. Black Hawk
then withdrew his forces to a fortified position, at the
Four Lakes, the present site of Madison, Wisconsin,
where he awaited the issue of a general engagement.
On the part of the American commanders, the cam
paign was carried forward with all the celerity possible ;
but they were in a strange country, in which, for lack of
correct information, they were obUged to advance slowly
and cautiously. Meanwhile, the new volunteers had
many of them become discontented. Nearly two months
had now elapsed since the opening of the campaign,
and its purpose seemed as Temote from accompUshment
as ever. Their numbers had become reduced, in fact,
one-half. Wearisome marches, and stUl more wearisome
delays, privations and exposure, had deprived the ser-vice
of whatever romance it may have originally possessed.
They were fretfully sickened of duty, home-sick, and
eager to escape from the restraints of military life.
This state of feeling, of course, hampered the action of
those in command, and had its eff'ect in determining
the result of the campaign. Lincoln was not of this
class. As on his previous campaign, he accepted what-
ev^er befell him in the line of his duty, -without com-
LINCOLN IN ILLINOIS. 67
plaint or murmuring. It was not destined, however,
that he should be actively engaged in any encounter
more serious than those already mentioned. The forces
were di-vided and dispersed in different directions for
the purpose of obtaining supplies, and while thus
di-vided, that portion of the army with which Lincoln
was not connected, coming upon Black Hawk and his
warriors near the present city of Madison, signally
defeated and routed him, dri-ving him down the Wis
consin to the Mississippi, where, -four days later, the
battle of Bad-ax closed the war, with the capture of the
chief and his warriors. The fates were against our hero,
for his di-vision took no part in either of these battles,
and before the last term of enlistment had expired the
contest was at an end.
We cannot better close our brief sketch of Mr. Liii-
coln's military career, than by presenting _ his own
humorous and characteristic reference to it in a Con
gressiqnal speech delivered during the canvass of 1848.
Sarcastically commenting on the efforts of General
Cass's biographers to render him conspicuous as a mili
tary hero, he said :
" By the way, Mr. Speaker, did you know I am., a
military hero ? Yes, sir, in the days of the Black Hawk
war, I fought, bled, and came away! Speaking of
General Cass's career reminds me of my own. I was
not at Stillman's defeat, but I was about as near it as
Cass to Hull's surrender ; and like him, I saw the place
very soon afterward. It is quite certain I did not break
vaj sword, for I had none to break ; but I bent a musket
pretty badly on one occasion. If Cass broke his sword,
the idea is, he broke it in despera|ion. I bent the mus-
68 THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
ket by accident. If General Cass went in advance of
me in picking whortleberries, I guess I surpassed him
in charges upon the wild onions. If he saw any Hve.
fighting Indians, it was more than I did — but I had a
good many bloody struggles with the musquitoes ; and
although I never fainted from loss of blood, I can truly
say I was often very hungry.
" Mr. Speaker, if I should ever conclude to doff" what^
ever our Democratic friends may suppose there is of
black-cockade Federalism about me, and, thereupon,
they should take me up as their candidate for the
Presidency, I protest they shall not make fun of me as
they have of General Cass, by attempting to -write me
into a military hero."
But, although thus humorously deprecating his own
services, it will not be disputed that Mr. Lincoln, at the
age of t-wenty-three, faithfully acted his part as a sol
dier, with an energy and perseverance, in the face of
peculiar hardship, which rebuked the lukewarmn^ss and
discontent of many older men -with whom he was asso
ciated. Though he never set up any claim for a heroism
which opportunity was never afforded him to exhibit,
he believed that he did his duty, and such also was the
opinion of others. In his brief career of three months'
ser-vice he acquired the reputation of a favorite in the
army — an efficient officer — and a brave, patient, and
reliable soldier.
These early miUtary experiences undoubtedly had no
small influence in developing that paternal interest in
the personal welfare of the private soldier and saUor,,
and that intense care for their comfort and individual
rights, which so emjpently characterized him in later
LINCOLN IN ILLINOIS. 69
years, when, as President of a great republic, he was
commander-in-chief of its army and navy.
The feeling which enabled him to sympathize so freely
and kindly with the little trials of these humble servants
of the country — ^which made him always as easy of
access to the simple private as to the Major-General —
which led him so frequently, amid his all-engrossing
cares, to visit the hospitals where these brave fellows
lay wounded and weary with patient waiting ; which,
in short, seem'ed to make " his brave boys in blue" as
near and dear to his great heart as if, almost they were
his own sons — this feeUng, the outgushing of his exceed-
ing\ kindness of disposition, was, no doubt, intensified
by the remembrance of what he himself had experi
enced while a frontier volunteer in the old "Black
Hawk War."
70 THE LIFE OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
CHAPTER IV.
MR. LINCOLN AS A POLITICIAN.
He becomes a candidate for the Legislature, but is defeated. — Becomes a
storekeeper, and postmaster. — Commences the study of law. — Studies
and practices surveying. — Is elected to the Legislature. — Ee-elected for
a second term. — Defines his position on the subject of domestic slavery.—
Is elected for a third and fourth time, to the Legislature. — Is admitted
to the practice of law. — His characteristics as a lawyer. — Thrilling
incident of his law practice. — His associates of the Springfield Bar. —
Enters warmly into the Presidential canvass of 1840. — Accepts, in
1842, the "Whig nomination for Congress. — Establishes his home at
Springfield. — His marriage.
Mr. Lincoln had now reached a point in his history,
when he was about to enter upon a new and diff'erent
walk of life, from any which he had ever before tried ;
and one in which, as a professional man and a states
man, he was destined to attain a success and an emi
nence, which has since rendered his name world-
renowned in the history of his country, and in the
interests of humanity. The whole varied experience
of his previous life had been a course of unconscious
training for the conspicuous part which, in the provi
dence of God, he was to assume in pubUc aff'airs. His
rough experiences had taught him much of the world,
of men aud their motives, and he had, also, gained some
true knowledge of himself The stern discipline of
those youthful years of toil and penury, so cheerfully
and manfully met, was about to prove " its own exceed-
MR. LINCOLN AS A POLITICIAN. 71
ing great reward" to him. And, though his fortune was
yet to be " wooed and won," with severe and persistent
labor, yet, from this time forward, his future gradually
assumed a more genial phase. He had come home
from the war with no definite business to resort to, and
still -under the necessity of immediately devoting his
energies to self-support. His military campaign had
infused a greater degree of self-confidence within him,
than he had previously possessed, and, chosen as captain
above a hundred of his fellows, it would be strange,
indeed, if the youth did not have some aspirations
for distinction in life. He had, in his peculiar way,
strongly attached his associates to him, and had won, to
a remarkable degree, for so young a man, the entire
confidence and respect of the community amongst whom
he Hved.
"Proof of this is afforded by the fact that he became,
on returning home, a candidate for representative in the
State Legislature, the election of which was close at
hand. A youth of twenty-three, and not generally
known throughout the country, or able, in the brief
time allowed, to make himself so, it may have an
appearance of presumption for him to have allowed the
use of his name as a candidate. He was not elected,
certainly, and could hardly have thought such an event
possible ; yet the noticeable fact remains that he received
so wonderful a vote in his o-wn precinct, where he was
best if not almost exclusively kno-wn, as may almost be
said to have made his fortune. His precmct (he had
'now settled in Sangamon county) was strongly for
Jackson, whUe Lincoln had, from the start, warmly
espoused the cause of Henry Clay. The State election
72 THE LIFE OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
occurred in August, and the Presidential election two or
three months later, the same season. Political feeling
ran high, at this the second election (as it proved)
of Jackson. Notwithstanding this, such was the popu
larity which young Lincoln had brought home -with him
from the war, thaf out of the two hundred and eighty-
four votes cast in his precinct, two hundred and seventy-
seven — the entire vote wanting seven — were cast for
him; there being, in all, eight aspirants for the legis
lative distinction. Yet, a little later in the same canvass.
General Jackson received a majority of one hundred
and fifty-five for the Presidency, from the very same
men, over Mr. Clay, whose cause Lincoln was known to
favor. So marked an indication as this of his personal
power to dt%w votes, made him a political celebrity
at once, and in future elections it became a point with
aspirants to seek to combine his strength in their favor,
by placing Lincoln's name on their ticket, to secure his
battaUon of voters. When two years later, he was
elected to the Legislature for the first time, his majority
ranged about two hundred votes higher than the rest of
the ticket on which he ran."
This, his first pohtical contest, -wa^ the only one
in which he was ever defeated in a direct issue before
the people; and, although a defeat, may well be re
garded as a remarkable and auspicious beginning of his
pubUc career. At this period of his Hfe, as ever after,
he seems to have been influenced by no spirit of dema-
gogism or desire of personal advancement, for the Whig
party, at this time, constituted a very small, indeed, an
almost hopeless, minority in the pubhc councUs of
the St^te of IlHnois, which t-wice had given overwhelm-
MR. LINCOLN AS A POLITICIAN. 73
ing majorities for the election of Andrew Jackson to the
Presidency. Here, then, in the Democratic party, was an oppor
tunity for a young man of talent and popularity to
make rapid advance in poUtical honors. Abraham
Lincohi, however, was not the one to be, for a single
moment, influenced by such motives. Warmly he
espoused, and sturdily labored for the then weaker
cause, because he beheved it to be the people's cause.
Henry Clay was his model, as statesman and poH-
tician, and always continued such while any issues were
left to contend for of the celebrated system of the great
Kentuckian. Mr. Lincoln was now desirous of studying law, but
his limited education and lack of pecuniary means pre
vented him from immediately carrying out his wishes.
Presently a man offered to sell, and did sell, to him and
a partner as poor as himself, an old stock of goods upon
credit — and with these they opened a store, which
he used to say was the store — ^but it was unsuccessful,
and after a while ''winked out." During this period,
also, he held the appointment of postmaster at New
Salem, an office which hardly compensated him for the
trouble it gave him.
Nothing daunted by this tum of ill-luck, he directed
his attention to law, and borrowing a few books from a
neighbor, which he took from the office in the evening
and returned in the morning, he leamed the rudiments
of the profession in which he has since bcQome so
distinguished. He also pursued other branches of study
with equal diligence, and made himself somewhat pro
ficient in grammar ; while his better opportunities gave
74 . THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
him the means of far more extensive reading than
he had hitherto enjoyed. It was his custom to -write
out an epitome of every book he read — a process which
served to impress the contents more indeUbly on his
ihemory, as well as to give him skUl in composition.*
He improved every opportunity to cultivate his in
tellect, often studying his law-books far into the night
by the reflection of the log-fire in his farm-home on the
prairies. He was early distinguished for a disputational
turn of mind, and many are the intellectual triumphs
of his in the country or village lyceum, related by old
settlers who remember him as he then appeared. His
strong, natural, direct, and irresistible logic, marked
him then, as it has ever since, as an intellectual king.
While thus pursuing his law studies he made the ac
quaintance of John Calhoun, since President of the
Lecompton (Kansas) Constitutional Convention, who
proposed to him to learn the art of surveying. Lincohi
followed the suggestion, procured a compass and chain,
studied Flint and Gibson a little — frequently went with
Mr. Calhoun to the "field — and, in a short time, set up
for a surveyor on his own account. This, fortunately
for him, was at a time when the mania for speculation
in western lands was beginning to spread over the coun
try, and towns and cities without number were laid out
in all directions : innumerable fortunes being made — in
anticipation — by the purchase of lots in all sorts of
imaginary cities, during the four or five years preceding
the memorable crisis and crash of 1837. It was during
* In this connection, the reader is referred to Mr. Lincohi's o-vm state
ment of his early education, previously given in Chapter II., page 52.
MR. LINCOLN AS A POLITICIAN. 70
the year pre-vious to that consummation, that this busi
ness had reached its height in Illinois, and for a whUe
afforded him much profitable employment. But, when
the bubble burst, the young surveyor found "' his occu-.
pation gone," and his instruments were shortly after
sacrificed at auction. Thenceforth he confined himself
exclusively to the profession of the law.
In 1834, his political life commenced in earnest, by
his election to the State Legislature, of which he was,
with one exception, the youngest member.
" He had not yet acquired position as a lawyer, or
even been admitted to the bar — and had his reputation
to make, no less as a politician and orator. At this
time he was very plain in his costume, as well as rather
uncourtly in his address and general appearance.' His
clothing was of homely Kentucky jean, and the first
impression made by his tall lank figure upon .those who
saw him, was not specially prepossessing. He had not
outgro-wn his hard backwoods experience, and showed
no inclination to disguise or to cast behind him, the
honest and manly, though unpolished characteristics of
his earHer days. Never was a man further removed
from aU snobbish affectation. As little was there, also,
of the demagogue art of assuming an uncouthness or
rusticity of manner and outward habit, with the mis
taken notion of thus securing particular favor as " one
of the masses." He chose to appear then, as he has at
all times since, precisely what he was. His deportment
was unassuming, though -without any awkwardness of
reserve. "During this, his first session in the Legislature, he was
taking lessons, as became his youth and inexperience,
76 THE LIFE OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
and preparing himself for the future by close observation
and attention to business, rather than by a prominent
participation in debate. He seldom or never took the
floor to speak, although before the close of this and the
succeeding special session of the same Legislature, he
had shown, as previously in every other capacity in
which he was engaged, qualities that clearly pointed to
him as fitted to act a leading part." ' ¦
In the organization of the Legislature, Lincohi was
assigned the second place on the Committee on Public
Accounts and Expenditures, an honor especially flatter
ing, as the power was entirely in the hands of the Dem
ocrats. It was during this session that- Lincoln first
became acquainted with Stephen A. Douglas, who had
then recently come from his native State, Vermont, and
commencing as a school-teacher, had devoted his time
to the study of law and local politics, untU, in less than
a year from his entrance into Illinois, he had, by an
adroit movement, secured the position of State's attor
ney for the first judicial district. Young Douglas, at
this time, was as thin ui flesh as he was short in
stature, and, as Mr. Lincoln once remarked, "was
physically the least man he ever saw." Little did the
two men then realize what a position they were, ere
long, to assume toward one another and toward their
country. Douglas, Hke Lincoln, was the sole architect
of his own fortunes ; the good State of lUinois cradled
them both in their humble estate, and gave them, as
her o-wn, io a career of pohtical glory now become his
torical. In 1836, Mr. Lincoln was elected for a second term
as one of the seven representatives from Sangamon
MR. LINCOLN AS A POLITICIAN. 77
^county, and was again assigned a place upon the Com
mittee of Finances. At the two sessions of this Legis
lature, in 18r36 and '37, he came forward more promi
nently in debate, gradually became recognized as the
leading man on the Whig side, and, as he had been
from the outset of his political career, the staunch and
able advocate of a healthy, but judiciously-guarded
poUcy of internal improvements. He held it to be the
duty of government to extend its fostering aid, in every
constitutional way, and to a reasonable extent, to what
ever enterprise of public utiUty required such assistance,
in order to the fullest development of the natural re
sources, and to the most rapid healthful growth of the
State. During this part of his career as a politician, it is
interesting to notice the care which he took, even when
a young man, to avoid identifying- himself with the
theoretical Abolitionists of the day, and to place him
self on the record as a firm lover of liberty for all men
when time and circumstances should favor emanci
pation. During the spring of 1837, resolutions of a pro-
slavery character had been adopted by a Democratic
majority of the Illinois Legislature, and the attempt, of
course, was made to affix the stigma of Abolitionists to
all those who refused assent to these extreme views.
At that time, the public sentiment of the north was not
aroused on the subject, as it became a few years later,
in consequence of pro-slavery aggressions. Yet Mr.
Lincoln refused to vote for these resolutions, and in
order to extricate himself from the false position in
which the opposition sought to place him, he and Daniel
78 THE LIFE OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
Stone, his colleague from Sangamon county, availed
themselves of their constitutional pri-vilege to give their
views on the subject in a clear and manly "protest.
March 3d, 1837. — The foUo-wing protest was pre
sented to the House, which was read and ordered to be
spread on the journals, to wit :
'¦' Resolutions upon the subject of domestic slavery having
passed both branches of the General Assembly, at its present
session, the undersigned hereby protest against the passage
of the same.
" They believe that the institution of slavery is founded on
both injustice and bad policy ; but that the promulgation of
abolition doctrines tends rather to increase than abate its evils.
" They believe that the Congress of the United States has
no power, under the Constitution, to interfere with the institu
tion of slavery in the different States.
" They believe that the Congress of the United States has
the power, under the Constitution, to abolish slavery in the
District of Columbia ; but that the power ought not to be ex
ercised, unless at the request of the people of said District.
." The difi'erence between these opinions and those contained
in the said resolutions, is their reason for entering this protest.
"(Signed) "Dan Stone,
"A. Lincoln,
"Representatives from the County of Sangamon."
In 1838, Mr. Lincoln was for the third time elected
a Representative in the Legislature, for the two years
ensuing ; and so well recognized was his position in his
party, that by general consent he received the Whig
vote for the speakership — ^which he failed to get only
after a very close contest, his opponent having a ma-
MR. LINCOLN AS A POLITICIAN. 79
jority of one over all others, two Whigs (including
Mr. Lincoln) and two Democrats having scattered their
votes. Aside from financial questions, there were but
few matters of any general interest before the Legisla
ture. This session of 1838-9 was the last held at
Vandalia. A special session in 1839 inaugurated the
new State-house at Springfield. The great contest of
1840 was already casting its shadow before, and began
chiefly to engross the attention of persons in poUtical
life. Whig candidates for electors were nominated in
November of this year, and discussions commenced in
earnest. Mr. Lincohi, who was deemed one of the
strongest champions of the cause before the people, was
repeatedly caUed on to encounter the foremost advocates
of the Democratic party — as no man in Illinois, it was
now manifest, could do more successfully.
Again, for the fourth time in succession, Mr. Lincoln
was elected to the Legislature in 1840 — the last election
to that position which he would consent to accept from
his strongly-attached constituents of Sangamon county.
There was but one session during the two years for
which this Legislature was chosen. "Mr. Lincoln, as in
the last, was the acknowledged Whig leader, and the
candidate of his party for speaker. First elected at
twenty-fi^e, he had continued in office without inter
ruption so long as his inclination allowed, and until, by
his uniform courtesy and kindness of manners, his
marked abUity, and his straight-forward integrity, he
had won an en-viable repute throughout the State, and
was -virtually, when but a little past thirty, placed at
the head of his party in Illinois.
"Begun in comparative obscurity, and without any
80 THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
adventitious aids in its progress, this period of his life,
at its termination, had brought him to a position where
he was secure in the confidence of the people, and pre
pared, in due time, to enter upon a more enlarged and
brUliant career as a national statesman. His fame as a
close and convincing debater was established. His na
tive talent as an orator had at once been demonstrated
and disciplined. His zeal and earnestness in behalf of
a party whose principles he believed to be right, had
rallied strong troops of political friends about him,
while his unfeigned modesty and his unpretending and
simple bearing, in marked contrast with that of so
many imperious leaders, had won him general and last
ing esteem. He preferred no claim as a partizan, and
showed no overweening anxiety to advance himself, but
was always a disinterested and generous co-worker with
his associates, only ready to accept the post of honor
and of responsibility, when it was clearly their will
and satisfactory to the people whose interests were in
volved. At the close of this period, with scarcely any
consciousness of the . fact himself, and -with no. noisy
demonstrations or flashy ostentation in his behalf from
his friends, he was really one of the foremost political
men in the State. A keen observer might even then
have predicted a great future for the ' SangaHion chief,'
as people have been wont to call him ; and only such
an observer, perhaps, would then have adequately esti
mated his real power as a natural orator, a sagacious
statesman, and a gallant tribune of the people."
During the period of his service in the Legislature,
Mr. Lincoln was steadily engaged in mastering the
profession of law. It was true, that he was compelled
MR. LINCOLN AS A POLITICIAN. 81
to prosecute his studies, somewhat at disadvantage, both
from the necessity of supporting himself meanwhile by
his own labor, and the time and attention which his
position obliged him to give to politics. But nothing
could prevent the consummation of his purpose, and
having completed the preliminary ' studies, he was ad
mitted to practice in 1836. He was what is called in
the west "a rising man" — and he commenced practice
with a reputation which speedily brought him plenty of
business, and placed him in the front rank of his pro
fession. He displayed remarkable ability as an advo
cate in jury trials, and a ready perception and sound
judgment of the turning legal points of a case. Many
of his law arguments were master pieces of logical reas
oning. His forensic efforts all bore the stamp of mascu
line common sense ; and he ha~d a natural, easy mode
of illustration, that made the most abstruse subjects
appear plain. Indeed clear, practical sense, and skill in
homely or humorous illustration, were the especially
noticeable traits in his arguments. The graces of a
polished rhetoric he certainly had not, nor did he aim
to acquire them. His style of expression and the cast
of his thought were his own, having all the native force
of a genuine originality.
The following, incident of his law practice, of which
the narration is believed to be substantially accurate, is
from the pen of one who professes to write from per
sonal knowlege. It is given in this connection, as at
once illustrating the earlier struggles of Mr. Lincoln in
acquiring his profession, the character of his forensic
efforts, and the generous gratitude and disinterestedness
of his nature :
6
82 THE 'LIFE OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
"Having chosen the law as his future calling, he devoted
himself assiduously to its mastery, contending at every step
with adverse fortune. During this period of study, he for some
time found a home under the hospitable roof of one Arm-
.strong, a farmer, who lived in a log house some eight miles
from the village of Petersburg, in Menard county. Here,
young Lincoln would master his lessons by the firelight of the
cabin, and then walk to town for the purpose of recitation.
This man Armstrong was himself poor, but he saw the genius
struggling in the young student, and opened to him his rude
home, and bid him welcome to his coarse fare. How Lincoln
graduated with promise — how he has more than fulfilled that
promise — how honorably he acquitted himself, alike on the
battle-field, in defending our border settlements against the
ravages of savage foes, and in the halls of our national Legis
lature, are matters of history, and need no repetition here.
But one little incident, of a more private nature, standing as it
does as a sort of sequel to some things already alluded to, I
deem worthy of record.
" Some few years since, the oldest son of Mr. Lincoln's old
friend Armstrong, the chief support of his widowed mother —
the good old man having some time previously passed from
earth — was arrested on the charge of murder. A yoang man
had been killed during a riotous melee, in the night-time, at a
camp-meeting, and one of his associates stated that the death-
wound was inflicted by young Armstrong. A preliminary
examination was gone into, at which the accuser testified so
positively, that there seemed no doubt of the guilt of the
prisoner, and therefore he was held for trial. As is too often
the case, the bloody act caused an undue degree of excitement
in the public mind. Every improper incident in the life of the
prisoner — each act which bore the least semblance of rowdyism
— each schoolboy quarrel — was suddenly remembered and
magnified, until they pictured a most horrible hue. As these
rumors spread abroad they were received as gospel truth, and
MR. LINCOLN AS A POLITICIAN. 83
a feverish desire for vengeance seized upon the infatuated
populace, whilst only prison bars prevented a horrible death
at the hands of a mob. The events were heralded in the
county papers, painted in highest colors, accompanied by re
joicing over the certainty of punishment being meted out to
the guilty party. The prisoner, overwhelmed by the circum
stances under which he found himself placed, fell into a melan
choly condition bordering on- despair, and the widowed
mother, looking through her tears, saw no cause for hope from
earthly aid. •
"At this juncture, the widow received a letter from Mr.
Lincoln, volunteering his services in an effort to save the
youth from the impending stroke. Gladly^was his aid ac
cepted, although it seemed impossible for even his sagacity to
prevail in such a desperate case ; but the heart of the attorney
was in his work, and he set about it with a will that knew no
such word as fail. Feeling that the poisoned condition of the
public mind was such as to preclude the possibility of impanel
ling an impartial jury in the court having jurisdiction, he pro
cured a change of venue and a postponement of the trial. He
then went studiously to work unravelling the history of the
case, and satisfied himself that his client was the victim of
malice, and that the statements of the accuser were a tissue of
falsehoods. " When the trial was called on, the prisoner, pale and
emaciated, -with hopelessness written on every feature, and
accompanied by his half-hoping, half-despairing mother — '
whose only hope was in a mother's belief of her son's inno
cence, in the justice of the Grod she worshipped, and in the
noble counsel, who, without hope of fee or reward upon earth,
had undertaken the cause — took his seat in the prisoners' box,
and with a ' stony firmness' listened to the reading of the iu
dictment. Lincoln sat quietly by, whilst the large auditory
looked on him as though wondering what he could say in
defence of one whose guilt they regarded as certain. The ex-
84 THE LIFE OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN
amination of the witnesses for the State was begun, and a well-
arranged mass of evidence, circumstantial and positive, was
introduced, which seemed to impale the prisoner beyond the
possibity of extrication. The counsel for the defence pro
pounded but few questions, and those of a character which
ftxoited no uneasiness on the part of the prosecutor — merely,
in most cases, requiring the main witnesses to be definite as to
the time and place. When -the evidence of the prosecution
was ended, Lincoln introduced a few witnesses to remove some
erroneoils impressions in regard to the previous character of
his client, who, though somewhat rowdyish, had never been
known to commit a -vicious act ; and to show that a greater
degree of ill-fefting existed between the accuser and. the
accused, than the accuser and the deceased.
" The prosecutor felt that the case was a clear one, and his
opening speech was brief and formal. Lincoln . arose, while a
deathly silence pervaded the vast audience, and in a clear and
moderate tone began his argument. Slowly and carefully he
reviewed the testimony, pointing out the hitherto unobserved
discrepancies in the statements of the principal witness. That
which had seemed plain and plausible he made to appear
crooked as a serpent's path. The witness had stated that the
affair took place at a certain hour in the evening, and that, by
the aid of the brightly shining moon, he saw the prisoner inflict
the death-blow with a slung-shot. Mr. Lincoln showed that at
the hour referred to the moon had not yet appeared above the
horizon, and consequently the whole tale was a fabrication.
"An almost instantaneous change seemed to have been
wrought in the minds of his auditors, and the verdict of 'not
guilty' was at the end of every tongue. But the advocate was
not content with- this intellectual achievement. His whole
being had for months been bound up in this work of gratitude
and mercy, and as the lava of the overcharged crater bursts
from its imprisonment, so great thoughts and burning words
leaped forth from the soul of the eloquent Lincoln. He drew
MR. LINCOLN AS A POLITICIAN. 85
a picture of the perjurer so horrid and ghastly, that the accuser
could sit' under it no longer, but reeled and staggered from the
court-room, whilst the audience fancied they could see the
brand upon his brow. Then in words of thrilling pathos
Lincoln appealed to the jurors as fathers of some who might
become fatherless, and as husbands of wives who might be
widowed, to yield to no previous impressions, no ill-founded
prejudice, but to do his client justice ; and as he alluded to the
debt of gratitude which he owed the boy's sire, tears were seen
to fall from many eyes unused to weep.
"It was near night when he concluded, by saying that if jus
tice was done — as he believed it would be — before the sun
should set, it would shine upon his client a free man. The jury
retired, and the court adjourned for the day. Half an hour
had not elapsed, when, as the officers of the court and the
volunteer attorney sat at the tea-table of their hotel, a mes
senger announced that the jury had returned jto their seats.
All repaired immediately to the court-house, and whilst the
prisoner was being brought from the jail, the court-room was
filled to overflowing with citizens from the town. When the
prisoner and his mother entered, silence reigned as completely
as though the house were empty. The foreman of the jury, ia
answer to the usual inquiry from *the court, delivered the
verdict of ' Not Guilty !' The widow dropped into the arms of
her son, who lifted her up and told her to look upon him as
before, free and innocent. Then, with the words, ' Where is
Mr. Lincoln ?' he rushed across the room and grasped the hand
of his deliverer, whilst his heart was too full for utterance.
Lincoln turned his eyes towards the west, where the sun still
lingered in view, and then, turning to the youth, said, 'It is
not yet sundown and you are free.' I confess that my cheeks
were not wholly unwet by tears, and I turned from the
affecting scene. As I cast a glance behind, I saw Abraham
Lincoln obeying the Divine injunction by comforting the
widowed and fatherless."
86 THE LIFE OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
Several of his associates in practice at the Springfield
bar, were remarkable men. Says a -writer, famUiar
with the persons and incidents of that gathering of
great and pecuUar men who made the Illinois capital
the arena of their combats :
' It would be hard to find in any backwoods town, at the
period of which I have been speaking, a coterie of equal ability
and equal possibilities with those who plead, and wrangled, and
electioneered together in Springfield. Logan, one of the finest
examples of the purely legal mind that the west has ever
produced; M'Dougal, who afterward sought El Dorado ; Bissell,
and Shields, and Baker, brothers in arms and in council, the
flower of the western chivalry, and the brightest examples of
western oratory ; Trumbull then, as now, with a mind pre-
'eminently cool, crystalline, sagacious ; Douglas, heart of oak
and brain of fire, of energy and undaunted courage unparal
leled, ambition insatiate and aspiration unsleeping ; Lincoln
then, as afterward, thoughtful, and honest, and brave, conscious
of great capabilities, and quietly sure of the future, before all
his peers in a broad humanity, and in that prophetic life of
spirit that saw the triumph of principles then dimly discovered
in the contest that was td come."
Truly a singular gathering of great souls — each one
of whom was destined to occupy prominent positions in
their country's history.
His interest in the exciting and important poUtical
events of the day — his steadily-increasing conception of
their importance not only to his own community, but to
the country — ere long drew him into the vortex of
politics. During the Presidential canvass of 1844,
he " stumped" the State of IlHnois, as well as a large
portion of Indiana, for Henry Clay, with unwearying
enthusiasm.
MR. LINCOLN AS A POLITICIAN. 87
In this election, the tariff" question being the main
subject at issue — Mr. Lincoln's name headed the Whig
electoral ticket, as opp<^ed to John Calhoun's on the
Democratic side, the latter being then regarded as the
ablest debater of his party in the State. They "stumped"
the State together, usually making speeches, on alter
nate days at each place, to large audiences. In these
poUtical " sparring matches," Mr. Lincoln manifested a
surprising acquaintance -with the principles, workings,
and results of the protective system.
The canvass proved how thoroughly he had studied
the question in all its bearings — how exhaustively he
had read history and political economy. He demon
strated not only his own native strength as a debater,
but his accomplishments as a well-read student and
statesman. " He spoke with that directness and pre
cision which ever are most forcible in popular address.
His manner was famiUar, as if talking to a large circle
of friends — a feature of his oratory which became one
of his pubUc characteristics. This very familiarity of
his discourse, the homeliness of his illustrations, the
quiet good humor of his temper, and the seemingly
inexhaustible fund of anecdote and story ever ready at
his command — all served to divest his speeches of the
acknowledged constituents of the oration, and to invest •
them with something of the characteristics of the
harangue ; yet his simple words were weighty with an
eloquence which swayed not only the hearts, but the
judgments of his hearers, and few men ever left an
audience under greater weight of obligation for truths
spoken and principles enunciated. He came out of that
88 THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
first canvass the conceded champion* of the Whig party
and policy in the State."
The disastrous result of that canvass, to the success
of Mr. Clay, was felt by Lincom even more keenly than
if it had been a mere personal reverse.
Two years later, in 1846, Mr. Lincoln was induced
to accept the Whig nomination for Congress in the
Sangamon district. The annexation of Texas had, in
the meantime, been consummated, and the Mexican war
was in progress. The Whig tariff of 1842 had just
been repealed.
The Springfield district had given Mr. Clay a majority
of nine hundred and fourteen in 1844, on the most
thorough canvass. It gave Mr. Lincoln a majority of
one thousand five hundred and eleven, whicii was
entirely unprecedented, and has been unequaled by that
given there for any opposition candidate, for any office
since. The nearest approach was in 1848, when
General Taylor, on a much fuller vote than that of
1846, and recei-ving the votes of numerous returned
Mexican volunteers, of Democratic faith, and who had
served under him in Mexico, obtained a majority of
one thousand five hundred and one. In the same year
(1848) Mr. Logan, the popular Whig candidate, was
beaten by Col. Thomas L. Harris, Democrat, by one
hundred and six majority. There was no good reason
* During this campaign, at a Convention held at 'Vandalia, the old
capital of the State of Illinois, an old man carried a banner -with this
device : "ABEAHAM LINCOLN, President in 1860."
This is a well attested/ac<, but what was the prophet's name we haye
not been able to learn.
MR. LINCOLN AS A POLITICIAN. 89
to doubt, in advance, that Mr. Lincoln would have been
elected by a handsome majority, had he consented to
run for another term, nor has it been questionable, since
the result became known, that the strong personal popu
larity of Mr. Lincoln would have saved the district. It
was redeemed by Richard Yates in 1850, who carried
his election by less than half the majority (seven
hundred and fifty-four) which Mr. Lincoln had received
in 1846. Under all the circumstances, therefore, the
vote for Mr. Lincoln was a remarkable one, showing
that he possessed a rare degree of strength with the
people. His earnest sincerity of manner always strongly
impressed those whom he addressed. They knew him
to be a man of strong moral convictions, and there was
a universal confidence in his personal integrity, such as
is rarely extended tb men so prominent in political life.
The longer he was tried as a pubUc servant, the more he
secured the affection of his constituents. A popularity
thus thoroughly grounded, was not to be destroyed by
the breezes of momentary passion or prejudice, or mate
rially aff"ected by any idle fickleness of the populace.
In his case it grew and intensified to the very hour
of his sudden death.
On becoming well established in his profession, Mr.
Lincoln fixed his permanent residence at Springfield,
the county seat of Sangamon, and the capital of the
State. This was on the 15th of April, 1837, and
five years later, November 4th, 1842, he was married to
Mary, daughter of the Hon. Robert S. Todd, of Lexing
ton, Kentucky. In the selection of his wife, Mr.
Lincoln was as fortunate as in the other events of his
life; her accomplished manners and social tastes ren-
90 THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
dered her a general favorite, while she was as well
calculated to secure the happiness and comfort of his
modest home at Springfield, as, subsequently, to preside
with graceful ease, over the hospitaUties of the " White
House" at Washington.
It may be proper to add here, that Mrs. Lincoln is a
Presbyterian by education and profession, and that her
husband, though not a member, was a liberal supporter
of the church to which she belongs. It should further
be stated that the Sunday-school, and other benevolent
enterprises associated with these church relations, always
found in him a constant friend.
In this quiet domestic happiness, and in the active
practice of his profession, with its round of ordinary
duties, and with its exceptional cases of a more general
pubhc interest, Mr. Lincoln disappeared for the time
from political Hfe. Its peculiar excitements, indeed,
were not foreign to his nature, nor could the people, and
the party of which he was so commanding a leader,
long consent to his retirement. Yet such was his
prudent purpose — now especially, with a family to care
for;* and to this he adhered, with only occasional
exceptions, until, four years after Ms marriage, he was
elected to Congress.
* The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln, were Eobert Lincoln,
born in 1843, and now a captain on General Grant's staff; a second son,
born in 1846, and William, born in 1850, both of whom are dead; and
Thaddeus, born in 1853, who stands beside his illustrious father in the
last photograph taken of the President.
IN CONGRESS AND "ON THE STUMP." 91
CHAPTER V.
MR. LINCOLN IN CONGRESS AND " ON THE STUMP."
Is sent to Congress in 1847. — His record while there. — Eesumes the
practice of Law. — Enters warmly into the campaign of 1854. — Measures
swords with Douglas. — Engages in the Presidential campaign of 1858. —
Is nominated for United States Senator.. — The celebrated debates
between Lincoln and Douglas. — His tribute to the Declaration of Inde
pendence. — Pen-portraits of Mr. Lincoln, during his campaign. — Story,
relating to the Harper's Perry Invasion. — Story of his duel with
Hardin. — Goes to Ohio, to aid in the canvass there. — Extracts from his
speeches. — Gives a helping hand to the canvass in the Eastern States. — ¦
His great Cooper Institute Speech. — Touching Scene in New York.
A MAN of family, a recognized leader in the ranks of
the Whig party, a successful lawyer, and one whose
popularity was daily increasing, it is not a matter of
wonder that, in 1848, Mr. Lincoln's' fellow-citizens
should have deemed him an appropriate man to repre
sent them in the national Congress.
Accordingly, he was returned for the central district
of Illinois,^n the fall of 1846, and took his seat in the
House of Representatives at Washington, on the 6th
day -of December, 1847, the opening of the thirtieth
Congress. He was the only representative from his State who
had been elected under the Whig standard — his six
colleagues being all Democrats.
Mr. Winthrop, of Massachusetts, was elected Speaker
of the House. This House was replete with the best
92 THE LIFE OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
talent of the acountry ; and it proved to be one of the
most agitated and agitating sessions ever convened in
Washington. Enrolled with Mr. Lincoln, as Whigs,
were such names as Collamer, Tallmage, IngersoU,
Botts, Clingman, Stephens, Toombs, and Thompson;
while, opposed to him in politics, were others, not less
distinguished, of whom we may mention WUmot, Bocock,
Rhett, Linn Boyd, and Andrew Johnson — the latter
afterward his associate and coadjutor in the great work
of restoring the Union. Such conspicuous lights as
Webster, Calhoun, Dayton, Davis, Dix, Dickinson,
Hale, Bell, Crittenden, and Corwin, constituted a
senatorial galaxy which seldom has been outshone.
Mr. Lincoln entered into his new duties with character
istic energy, voting on every question, and speaking
wherever there seemed to be necessity, -with a directness
which gave abundant evidence that he fully compre
hended the issues of the day.
His Congressional record throughout, was that of a
Whig of those days, his votes on aU leading national
subjects, being invariably what those of Clay, Webster
or Corwin would have been, had they occupied his
place. Mr. Giddings having presented a memorial (December
21st, 1847) from certain citizens of the *District of
Columbia, asking for the repeal of all laws upholding
the slave trade in the District, a motion was made to
lay it on the table, when Mr. Lincoln voted in the
negative. Although he went with the majority of the Whig
party in opposing the declaration of war with Mexico,
he invariably supported, with his vote, any biU or reso-
IN CONGRESS AND "ON THE STUMP." 93
lution having for its object the sustenance of the health,
comfort and honor of our soldiers engaged in the -vsar.
On the 22d of December he introduced, with one of his
characteristically humorous and logical speeches in their
favor, a series of resolutions, keenly criticising the
motives which had superinduced the war. In later
years, it was charged against Mr. Lincoln by his political
enemies, that he lacked genuine patriotism, inasmuch
as he had voted against the Mexican war. This charge
was sharply and clearly made by Judge Douglas at the
first of their joint discussions, in the senatorial contest
of 1858. Mr. Lincoln replied : " I was an old Whig,
and whenever the Democratic party tried to get me
to vote that the war had been righte&itshj begun by the
President, I would not do it. '^¦- * * But, when he,
[Judge Douglas], by a general charge conveys the idea
that I withheld supplies from the soldiers who were
fighting in the Mexican war, or did any thing else
to hinder the soldiers, he is, to say the least, grossly and
altogether mistaken, as a consultation of the records
will prove to him." This explicit denial of the falsity
of this charge, bears the impress of its own veracity.
He showed, in fact, on this point the same clearness
and directness, the same keen eye for the important
point in a controversy, and the same tenacity in holding
it fast and thwarting his opponent's utmost efforts to
obscure it and cover it up, to draw attention to other
points and raise false issues, which were the marked
characteristics of his great controversy with Judge
Douglas at a subsequent period of their pohtical history.
He saw that the strength of the position of the
administration before the people in reference to ihe
94 THE LIFE OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
beginning of the war, was in the point, which they lost
no opportunity of reiterating, viz.,. that Mexico had shed
the blood of our citizens on our own soil. This position
he believed to be false, and he accordingly attacked
it m a resolution requesting the President to give
the House information on that point ; which President
Polk would have found as difficult to dodge as Douglas
found it to dodge the questions which Mr. Lincoln pro
posed to him.
" On the right of petition," says Mr. Raymond, " Mr. Lmcoln,
Q! course, held the right side, voting repeatedly against laymg
on the table without consideration, petitions in favor of the
abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia, and against
the slave trade.
" On the question of abolishing slavery in the District, he
took rather a prominent part. A Mr. Gott had introduced
a resolution directing the committee for the District to introduce
a bill abolishing the slave trade in the District. To this Mr.
Lincoln moved an amendment instructing them to introduce a
bill for the abolition, not of the slave trade, but of slavery
within the District. The bill which he proposed, prevented
any slave from ever being brought into the District, except in
the case of ofiicers of 'the Government of the United States,
who might bring the necessary servants for themselves and
their families while in the District on public business. It pre
vented any one then resident within the District, or thereafter
born within the District, from being held in slavery without
the District. It declared that all children of slave mothers
born in the District after January 1, 1850, should be free, but
should be reasonably supported and educated by the owners of
their mothers, and that any owner of slaves in the District
might be paid their value from the treasury, and the slaves
should thereupon be free ; and it provided, also, for the sub-
IN CONGRESS AND "ON THE STUMP." 95
mission of the act to the people of the District for their accept
ance or rejection.
" The question of the Territories came up in many ways.
The Wilmot proviso had made its appearance in the previous
session, in tlje August before ; but it was repeatedly before this
Congress also, when efforts were made to apply it to the terri
tory which we procured from Mexico, and to Oregon. On all
occasions, when it was before the House, it was supported by
Mr. Lincoln ; and he stated, during his contest with Judge
Douglas, that he had voted for it, 'in one way and anothei
about forty times.' He thus showed himself, in 1847, the same
friend of freedom for the Territories which he was afterward
during the heats of the Kansas struggle.
" Another instance in which the slavery question was before
the House, was in the famous Pacheco case. The ground taken
by the majority, was that slaves were regarded as property by
the Constitution, and, when taken for public service, should be
paid for as property. The principle involved in the bill was,
therefore, the same which the slaveholders have soxight in so
many ways to maintain. As they sought, afterward, to have it
established by a decision of the Supreme Court, so, now, they
sought to have it recognized hy Congress. Mr. Lincoln opposed
it in Congress as heartily as he afterward opposed it when
it took the more covert but no less dangerous shape of a
judicial dictum.
" On other questions which came before Congress, Mr. Lincoln,
being a Whig, took the ground which was held by the great
body of his party. He believed in the right of Congress
to make appropriations for the improvement of rivers and
harbors. He was in favor of giving the public lands, not
to speculators, but to actual occupants and cultivators, at as low
rates as possible ; he was in favor of a protective tariff) and of
abolishing the franking privilege."
In short, all his acts, during this his first Congres
sional term, show a purpose to do his duty to his
96 THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
country, and to his immediate constituents, without fear
or favor.
Ll the Whig National Convention of 1848, to which
Mr. Lincoln was a delegate, he earnestly advocated the
nomination of General Zachary Taylor as tSe nominee
for the Presidency, and during the ensuing canvass,
he "stumped" the States of Indiana and Illinois, for
his favorite candidate. In the latter State, the Democ
racy, under the leadership of Douglas, made a desperate
and successful fight to save their noihinee. General Cass.
In his speech before the House, July 27, 1848, after
alluding to the objections made against General Taylor
as a mere military hero, he retorted -with effect, by citing
the attempt to make out a military record 'for General
Cass; and referring, in a bantering way, to his own
services in the Black Hawk war, as already quoted.
He then "walked into" General Cass, in a mingled
strain of argument, and good-natured sarcasm, which
was exceedingly effective, as will be easily compre
hended from the following brief extracts :
AN OBEDIENT DEMOCRAT.
" These extracts show that, in 1846, General Cass was for the
Proviso at ones; that in March, 1847, he was still for it, but noi
just then; and that in December, 1847, he was against it
altogether. This is a true index to the whole man. When the
question was raised in 1846, he was in a blustering hurry
to take ground for it. He sought to be in advance, and
to avoid the uninteresting position of a mere follower ; but
soon he began to see glimpses of the great Democratic ox-gad
waving in his face, and to hear indistinctly, a voice saying,
' back,' ' back, sir,' ' back a little.' He shakes his head and bats
his eyes, and blunders back to his position of March, 1847 j
IN CONGRESS AND "ON THE STUMP." 97
but still the gad waves, and the voice grows more distinct, and
sharper still — 'back, sir!' 'back, I say!' 'further. back!' and
back he goes to the position of December, 1847 ; at which the
gad is still, and the voice soothingly says — ' So !' ' Stand still
at that.'
" Have no fears, gentlemen, of your candidate ; he exactl}'-
suits you, and we congratulate you upon it. However much
you may be distressed about our candidate, you have all cause
to be contented and happy with your own. If elected, he may
not maintain all, or even any of his positions previously taken?;
but he win be sure to do whatever the party exigency, for the
time being, may require ; and that is precisely what you want.
He and Van Buren are the same ' manner of men ;' and like
Yan Buren, he will never desert you till you -first desert Mm."
After referring at some length to " extra charges" of
General Cass upon the Treasury, Mr. Lincoln con
tinued : WONDERFUL PHYSICAL CAPACITIES.
" But I have introduced General Cass's accounts here, chiefly
to show the wonderful physical capacities of the man. They
show that he not only did the labor of several men at the same
Ume, but that he often did it at several places, many hundred
miles apart, at the same time. And at eating, too, his capacities
are shown to be quite as wonderful. From October, 1821, to
May, 1822, he ate ten rations a day in Michigan, ten rations a
day here, in Washington, and nearly five dollars' worth a day
besides, partly on the road between the two places. And then
there is an important discovery in his example — the art ot
being paid for what one eats, instead of having to pay for it.
Hereafter, if any nice young man shall owe a bill which he
cannot pay in any other way, he can just board it out. Mr.
Speaker, we have all heard of the animal standing in doubt
7
98 THE LIFE OP ABRAHA.M LINCOLN.
between two stacks of hay, and starving to death ; the like of
that would- never happen to General Cass. Place the stacks a
thousand, miles apart, he would stand stock-still, midway
between them, and eat them both at once ; and the green grass
along the line would be apt to suffer some too, at the same
time. By all means, make him President, gentlemen. He
will feed you bounteously — if— if there is any left after he
shall have helped himscE"
» After the session closed, Mr. Lincoln made a visit to
New England, where he delivered some effective cam
paign speeches, which were enthusiastically received by
large audiences, and will be remembered by thousands.
His time, however, was chiefly given, during the Con
gressional recess, to the canvass in the west, where,
through the personal strength of Mr. Cass as a north
western man, the contest was more severe and exciting
than in any other part of the country. The final tri
umph of General Taylor, over all the odds against him,
did much to counterbalance, in Mr. Lincoln's mind, the
disheartening defeat of four years previous. As before
stated, he had declined to be a candidate for re-election
to Congress, yet he had the satisfaction of aiding to
secure, in his own district, a majority of fifteen hundred
for the Whig Presidential candidate.
Mr. Lincoln again took his seat in the House in De
cember, on the reassembling of the thirtieth Congress
for its second session. Coming between the Presidential
election, which had effected a political revolution, and
the inauguration of the new government, this session
was a quiet one, passing away without any very im
portant measures of general legislation being acted upon.
A calm had followed the recent storms. The
IN CONGRESS AND " ON THE STUMP." 99
indeed, certain movements in regard to slavery and the
slave trade in the District of Columbia, which produced
some temporary excitement, but resulted in no serious
commotion. With the termination of the thirtieth Congress, by
constitutional limitation, on the fourth of March, 1849,
Mr. Lincoln's career as a Congressman came to a close,
and he retired .once more to private Hfe, renewing the
professional practice which had been temporarily inter
rupted by his^ pubUc emplojonent. He had the satis
faction of knowing that the duties of his responsible
position had been discharged with assiduity and fearless
adherence to his con-victions of right, under whatever
circumstances. Scarcely a list of Yeas and Nays can
be found, for either session, which does not contain his
name; nor was he ever conveniently absent on any
critical vote. He never shrank from any responsibility
which his sense of justice impelled him to take. And
though one of the youngest and most inexperienced
members of an uncommonly able and brilliant Congress,
he would long have been remembered, even without the
more recent events which have naturally followed upon
his previous career, as standing among the first in rank
among the distinguished statesmen of the thirtieth
Congress. For the five years succeeding the canvass of 1848,
Mr. Lincoln took no prominent part in politics, but re
mained at home in the diUgent and successful practice
of his profession. We may be sure, however, that he
watched closely the course of public events. He had
fought slavery often enough to know what it was, and
what the animus of its supporters was ; nor is it likely
100 THE LIFE OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
that he was taken very much by surprise when the
Nebraska bill was introduced, and the proposition was
made by Stephen A. Douglas to repeal that very Mis
souri Compromise which he had declared to be "a
sacred thing, which no ruthless hand would ever be
reckless enough to disturb."
The passage of the Nebraska bill. May 22d, 1854,
gave new and increased force to the popular feeling in
favor of freedom which the proposition to repeal the
Missouri Compromise had already excited, and promptly
the friends of freedom rallied round her banner, to meet
the conflict which was now closely impending, forced
upon the people by the grasping ambition of the slave
holders. The pohtical campaign of that year in Illinois
was one of the severest ever kno-wn, and was intensified
by the fact that a United States Senator was to be
chosen by the Legislature then to be elected, to fill the
place of Shields, who had voted with Douglas in favor
of the Nebraska bill.
Mr. Lincoln took a prominent part in this campaign;
and the cro-wning victory which gave Illinois her first
Republican Legislature, and made Lyman Trumbull her
United States Senator, was conceded to have been
mainly due to his extraordinary efforts. He met Judge
Douglas before the people on two occasions, the only
ones when the Judge would consent to such a meeting.
The first and greatest debate came off" at Springfield,
during the progress of the State Fair in October.
The State Fair had been in progress two days, and
the capital was full of all manner of men. Hundreds
of politicians had met at Springfield, expecting a tour
nament of an unusual character. Several speeches were
IN CONGRESS AND " ON THE STUMP." 101
made before, and several after the passage between
Lincoln and Douglas, but that was justly held to be the
event of the season.
Mr. Lincoln opened the discussion, and in his clear
and eloquent, yet homely way, exposed the tergiversa
tions of which his opponent had been guilty, and the
fallacy of his pretexts for his present course.
Mr. Douglas had always claimed to have voted for
the repeal of the Missouri Compromise because he sus
tained the " great principle" of popular sovereignty, and
desired that the inhabitants of Kansas and Nebraska
should govern themselves, as they were well able to do.
The fallacy of drawing from these premises the conclu
sion that they therefore should have the right to estab
lish slavery there, was most clearly and conclusively
exposed by Mr. Lincoln, so that no one could thereafter
be misled by it, unless he was a -willing dupe of pro-
slavery sophistry.
" My distinguished friend," said he, " says it is an
insult to the emigrants of Kansas and Nebraska to sup
pose that they are not able to govern themselves. We
must not slur over an argument of this kind because it
happens to tickle the ear. It must be met and an
swered. I admit that the emigrant to Kansas and
Nebraska is competent to govern himself, but I deny his
right to govern any other person without that persons
consent." The two opponents met again at Peoria, and we
believe it is universally admitted that on both of these
occasions Mr. Lincoln had decidedly the advantage.
Nor did* he confine his labors to the upper portion of
IlHnois, but he carried the war into the central portions
102 THE LIFE OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
of the State, and he illuminated the precincts of be
nighted "Egypt." Here the population was largely
composed of emigrants from slave States — Kentucky,
Tennessee, Virginia and North Carolma — and he urged
upon them the slavery issue with all the vigor of his
understanding, and all the arts of his true eloquence.
The political feeling of the State was completely revo
lutionized. For the first tune in her history a freedom-
loving majority ruled her legislative halls, and opposed
the retrogressive policy of the Democratic administration
at Washington. The election for United States Senator
came on, and the anti-Nebraska Democrats united on
Mr. Trumbull, the opposition invariably casting their
votes for Lincoln. Mr. Lincoln, fearing that the anti-
Nebraska democrats, though averse to Mr. Douglas,-
would relinquish Judge Trumbull for some third candi
date of less decided anti-slavery vievvs, readily sacrificed
his own interests, and by personal persuasion induced
his own supporters to vote for Trumbull, who was thus
elected. Some of Mr. Lincoln's friends, on the floor of the
Legislature, wept like children, when constramed by
Mr. Lincoln's personal appeals to desert him and unite
on Trumbull. It is proper to say, in this connection,
that between Trumbull and Lincoln the most cordial
relations have always existed, and that the feeling of
envy or rivalry is not to be found in the breast of
either. In 1854, the anti-Nebraska (afterward Republican)
party offered to Mr. Lincoln the nomination for Gov
ernor. He decUned, saying, " No, I am not the man :
BisseU wiU make a better Governor than I, and you
IN CONGRESS AND " ON THE STUMP." 103
can elect him, on account of his Democratic antece
dents." The pressure of the contest betAveen Slavery and
Freedom at length organized the Republican party, and,
at its first national Convention, which met at Phila
delphia, June 17th, 1856, the name of Abraham Lincoln
was conspicuous before the convention for the Vice
Presidency, standing second to Mr. Dayton on the in
formal ballot, and receiving one hundred votes. The
choice of that convention ha-ving settled upon John C.
Fremont and William L. Dayton for its candidates, Mr.
Lincoln took an active part in the ensuing canvass.
The Republican electoral ticket of IlUnois was headed
by his name, although eventually the Democracy carried
tke State by a pluraUty vote.
The great senatorial contest which took place in the
summer of 1858, fully established Mr. Lincoln's reputa^
tion as an able debator, an eloquent orator, and a -wise
poHtician. On the 4th of March, 1857, Mr. Buchanan had taken
his seat in the Presidential chair, the struggle between
Freedom and Slavery for the possession of Kansas being
then at its height. A few days after his inauguration,
the Supreme Court rendered the Dred Scott decision,
which was thought by the friends of Slavery to insure
their victol'y, by its holding the Missouri Compromise
to -be unconstitutional, because the Constitution itself
carried Slavery over all the Territories of the United
States. In spite of this decision, the friends of Freedom
in Kansas maintained their ground. The slaveholders,
however, pushed forward their schemes, and in Novem
ber, 1857, their constitutional Convention, held at
104 THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
Lecompton, adopted the infamous Lecompton Constitu
tion. The trick by which they submitted to the popular
vote only a schedule on the slavery question, instead of
the whole Constitution, compelling every voter, however
he voted upon this schedule, to vote for their Constitu
tion, which fixed slavery upon the State just as surely
whether the schedule was adopted or not, will be well
remembered, as well as the feehng which so villainous
a scheme excited throughout the north. Judge Douglas
had sustained the Dred Scott decision, but he could not
sustain this attempt to force upon the people of Kansas
a constitution against their will. He declared that he
did not care himself whether the people " voted the
slavery clause up or down," but he thought they ought
to have the chance to vote for or against the Constit#-
tion itself
By this refusal to support the Lecompton fraud, he,
of course, earned for himself the enmity of the Adminis
tration ; but his strength, both in and out of IlHnois,
was still enormous. Indeed, his defection from the
then openly-avowed pro-slavery poHcy of his party, had
won for him the approval of many Republicans, so that
he was, in reality, stronger than ever. Of course, under
these circumstances, it required a man of no ordinary
ability to contest the State of lUuiois with the " Little
Giant." It was then that Mr. Lincoln stood forth in
the opinion of his party and of the lovers of freedom of
Illinois, as pre-eminently the man to become their
cliampio:^. He accordingly received the nomination for
United States Senator from the Republican State Con
vention, which met at Springfield, June 2d, 1858.
The speech of Mr. Lincoln to the Convention which
IN CONGRESS AND " ON THE STUMP.'" 105
had nominated him, was the beginning of the cam
paign. Its opening sentences contained those celebrated
words, which have been often quoted both by friends
and enemies : ' "A house divided against itself cannot
stand. I believe this Oovernment cannot endure perma
nently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union
to be dissolved — I do not expect the house to fall, but I do
expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one
thing or all the other." Little idea could he have had
then how near the time was when the country should
be united upon this point. Still less could he have
dreamed through what convulsions it was to pass before
it should reach that wished-for position : — into what an
abyss of madness and crime the advocates of Slavery
would plunge in their efforts to "push it forward till it
should become aUke lawful in all the states, old as well
as new — North as well as South." But there seemed
to him to be manifest indications of their design, and he
devoted his speech to showing forth the machinery
which they had now almost completed, for the attain
ment of their purpose ; it only needing that the Supreme
Court should say that the Constitution carried slavery
over the States, as they had already in the Dred Scott
decision declared that it was carried over the Territories.
He closed his speech -with a sharp attack upon Douglas,
as being a party to this plan to legaUze slavery over
the continent. It was plain from the first that the
struggle would take the shape of a personal contest
between the two men. Each recognized the other as
the embodiment of principles to which he was in deadly
hostility. • Douglas was the champion of all sympathizers
106 THE LIFE OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
with and advocates of slavery at the North. Lincoln
glowed with, love of freedom and humanity. The pro
jected tournament of debate between the rival candi
dates -was opened by Mr. Lincoln, in a brief note, under
the date of July 24th, requesting an arrangement
" to divide time, and address the same audiences during
the present canvass." Douglas accepted the challenge —
although rather with apparent unwillingness. The
terms were agreed upon, and the places and days of
meeting specified.
It will be impossible to give any thing more than a
brief synopsis of these celebrated debates. It was the
general verdict of the press and of the country, that,
in every encounter, Mr. Lincoln held his ground firmly
against his talented opponent ; and it is very probable that
the majority a,ccorded to the former the meed of victory.
On the evening before the debate which took place at
Freeport, Mr. Lincoln was in company with a few
friends, when it was remarked by some of them, that
if he cornered Douglas on the question of the Dred
Scott decision, his opponent (Douglas) would surely
" take the bull by the horns, and assert his squatter
sovereignty in defiance of that decision, and that will
make him Senator." " That may be," repHed Lincoln,
"but, if he takes that shoot, he never can be President."
Was there not something Hke a prophecy in this
careless rejoinder ?
Judah Benjamin, of Louisiana, one of the ablest of
southern Senators — afterwards Secretary of State in
Jefferson Davis's cabinet^— complimented Mr. Lincoln
very highly, in the course of a speech wherein he had
occasion to review this celebrated series of debates.
IN CONGRESS AND "ON THE STUMP." 107
Speaking of the queries propounded by Douglas to his
opponent, and the answers they eUcited, Mr. Benjamin
observed : *
" It is impossible, Mr. President, however we may differ in
opinion with the man, not to admire the perfect candor and
fiankness with which these answers were given; no equivoca
tion — no evasion."
The seven joint debates were held as follows: — at
Ottawa on August 21st; at Freeport on August 27th;
at Jonesboro' on September 15th ; at Charleston on Sep-*
tember 18th ; at Galesburg on October 7th ; at Quincy
on October 13th; at Alton on October 15th:
" These seven tournaments," says Mr. Eaymond, " raised the
greatest excitement throughout the State. They were held in
all quarters of the State, from Freeport in the north to Jones
boro' in the extreme south. Everywhere the different parties
turned out to do honor to their champions. Processions and
cavalcades, bands of music and cannon-firing, made every day
a day of exciteraent. But far greater was the excitement of
such oratorical contests between two such skilled debaters,
before mixed audiences of friends and foes, to rejoice over
every keen thrust at the adversary ; to be cast down by each
failure to parry the thrust so aimed. We cannot pretend to
give more than the barest sketch of these great efforts of Mr.
Lincoln. They are and always will be, to those who are in
terested in the history of the slavery contest, most valuable
and important documents.
"In the first speech at Ottawa, besides defending himself
from some points which Douglas had made against him, and
among others, explaining and enlarging upon that passage from
his Springfield speech, of 'A house divided against itself,' he
took up the charge which he had also made in that speech of
the conspiracy to extend slavery o.ver the northern States, and
108 THE LIFE OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
pressed it home, citing as proof of its existence a speech which
Douglas himself had made on the Lecompton bill, in which he
had substantially made the same charge upon Buchanan and
others. He then sho-w#d ^gain that all that was necessary for
the accomplishment of the scheme was a decision of the Su
preme Court that no State could exclude slavery, as the court
had already decided that no Territory could exclude it, and the
acquiescence of the people in such a decision ; and he told the
people that Douglas was doing all in his power to bring about
such acquiescence in advance, by declaring that the true posi
tion was not to care whether slavery " was voted down or up,"
and by announcing himself in favor of the Dred Scott deci
sion, not because it was right, but because a decision of the
court is to him a ' Thus saith the Lord,' and thus committing
himself to the next decision just as firmly as to this. He
closed his speech with the following eloquent words : ' Henry
Clay, my beau ideal of a statesman — the man for whom I
fought all my humble life — ^once said of a class of men who
would repress all tendencies to liberty and ultimate emancipa
tion, that they must, if they would do this, go back to the era
of Independence and muzzle the cannon which thunders its
annual joyous return ; they must blow out the moral lights
around us ; they must penetrate the human soul and eradicate '
there the love of liberty ; and then, and not till then, could
they perpetuate slavery in this country. To my thinking.
Judge Douglas is, by his example and vast influence, doing
that very thing in this community, when he says that the
negro has nothing in the Declaration of Independence. Henry
Cla,y plainly understood the contrary. Judge Douglas is
going back to the era of our Eevolution, and to the extent of
his ability muzzling the cannon which thunders its annual
joyous return. When he invites any people, willing to have
slavery,, to establish it, he is blowing out the moral lights
around us. When he says he ' cares not whether slavery ia
voted downor up' — that it is a sacred right of self-government,
IN CONGRESS AND "ON THE STUMP." 109
he is, in my judgment, penetrating the human soul and eradi
cating the light of reason and the love of liberty in this Ame
rican people. And when, by all these means and appliance's,
he shall succeed in bringing public sentiment to an exact
accordance with his own views — when these vast assemblages
shall echo back all these sentiments, when they shall come to
repeat his views and to avow his principles, and to say all that
he says on these mighty questions — then it needs only the
formality of the second Dred Scott decision, which he endorses
in advance, to make slavery alike lawful in all the States — ¦
old as well as new, north as well as south.
" In the second debate at Freeport, Mr. Lincoln gave- catego
rical answers to seven questions which Douglas had proposed
to him, and in his turn put four questions to Douglas, to
which he got but evasive replies. He also pressed home upon
his opponent a charge of quoting resolutions as being adopted
at a Eepublican State Convention, which were never so
adopted, and again called Douglas's attention to the conspiracy
to nationalize slavery, and he showed that his pretended desire
to leave the people of a Territory free to establish slavery or
oxclude it, was really only a desire to allow them to establish
it, as was sho"wn by his voting against Mr. Chase's amendment
to the ISTebraska bill, which gave them leave to exclude it.
In the third debate at Jonesboro, Mr. Lincoln showed that
Douglas and his friends were trying to change the position of
the country on the slavery question from what it was when
the Constitution was adopted, and that the disturbance of the
country had arisen from this pernicious effort. He then cited
from Democratic speeches and platforms of former days to
show that they occupied then the very opposite ground on the
question from that which was taken now, and showed up the
evasive character of Douglas's answers to the questions which
he had proposed, especially the subterfuge of 'unfriendly
legislation' which he had set forth as the' means by which the
110 THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
people of a Territory could exclude slavery from its limits in
spite of the Dred Scott decision.
"When Mr. Lincolji was preparing these questions for
Douglas, he was urged by some of his friends not to corner
him on that point, because he would surely stand by his doc
trine of squatter sovereignty in defiance of the Dred Scott
decision, 'and that,' said they, 'will make him Senator.' 'That
maybe,' said Mr. Lincoln, with a twinkle in his eye, 'but if
he takes that shoot he never can be President.'
" Mr. Lincoln's sagacity did not fail him here. This position
which Douglas took of ' unfriendly legislation,' was a stumb
ling block which he was never able to get over ; and if the
contest between them had brought out no other good result,
the compelling Douglas to take this ground was an immense
success. " The fourth speech, at Charleston, was devoted by Mr. Lin
coln to enlarging upon the evidence of a charge previously
made by Judge Trumbull upon , Douglas of being himself
responsible for a clause in the Kansas bill which would have
deprived the people of Kansas of the right to vote upon their
own constitution — a charge which Douglas could never try to
answer without losing his temper.
"In the fifth debate, Mr. Lincoln answered the charge that
the Eepublican party was sectional ; and after again exploding
the fraudulent resolutions and giving strong proof that Dou
glas himself was a party to the fraud, and again showing that
Douglas had failed to answer his question about the acceptance
of the new Dred Scott decision, which, he said, was just as
sure to be made as to-morrow is to come, if the Democratic
party shall be sustained' in the elections, he discussed the
acquisition of further territory and the importance of deciding
upon any such acquisitioH, by the effect which it would have
upon the slavery question among ourselves.
"In the next debate, at Quincy, besides making some per
sonal points as to the mode in which Douglas had conducted
IN CONGRESS AND "ON THE STUMP." Ill
the pre-vious discussions, he stated clearly and briefly what
were the principles of the Eepublican party, what they pro
posed to do, and what they did not propose to do. He said
that they looked upon slavery as ' a moral, a social, and a polit
ical wrong,' and they 'proposed a course of conduct which
should trea,t it as a wrong ;' did not propose to ' disturb it in
the States,' but did propose to ' restrict it to its present limits ;"
did not propose to decide that Dred Scott was free, but did not
believe that the decision in that case was a political rule bind
ing the voters, the Congress, or the President, and proposed
' so resisting it as to have it reversed if possible, and a new
judicial rule established on the subject.'
" Mr. Lincoln's last speech, at Alton, was a very full anu
conclusive argument of the whole slavery question. He
showed that the present Democratic doctrines were not those
held at the time of the Eevolution in reference to slavery;
showed how the agitation of the country had come from the
attempt to set slavery upon a different footing, and showed
the dangers to the country of this attempt. He brought the
whole controversy down to the vital question whether slavery
is wrong or not, and demonstrated that the present Democratic
sentiment was that it was not wrong, and that Douglas and
those who sympathized with him did not desire or expect ever
to see the country freed from this gigantic evil.
"It must not be supposed that these seven debates were all
of Mr. Lincoln's appearances before the people during the
campaign. He made some fifty other speeches all over the
State, and everywhere his strong arguments, his forcible lan
guage, and his homely way of presenting the great issues, so
as to bring them home to the hearts of the people, had a pow
erful effect. The whole State fairly boiled with the excite
ment of the contest. Nor this alon^, for all over the country
the eyes of the people were turned to Illinois as the great
battle-ground, and the earnest wishes of almost all who loved
freedom followed Mr. Lincoln throughout all the heated
112 THE LIFE OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
struggle. He had, however, other opposition besides that of
his political opponents. The action of Judge Douglas on the
Lecompton constitution, and the bitter hostility of the southern
wing of the Democratic party towards him, had led very many
Eepublicans, and some of high consideration and influence in
other States, to favor his return to the Senate. They deemed
this due to the zeal and efficiency with which he had resisted
the attempt to force slavery 'into Kansas against the will of the
people, and as important in encouraging other Democratic
leaders to imitate the example of Douglas in throwing off the
yoke of the slaveholding aristocracy. This feeling proved to be
of a good deal of weight against Mr. Lincoln in. the canvas.
" Then, again, the State had been so unfairly districted, that
the odds were very heavily against the 'Eepublicans, and thus
it came about that although on the popular vote Douglas was
beaten by more than five thousand votes, he vras enabled to
carry off the substantial prize of victory by his majority in
the Legislature. The popular vote was for Lincoln, by more
than four thousand majority over Douglas. But the vote for
Senator being cast by the Legislature, Mr. Douglas was elected,
his supporters having a majority of eight on joint ballot.
Notwithstanding the result, the endeavors of Mr. Lincoln
during the debate had caused an immense increase in the
Eepublican vote ; and his party had no reason to regret that
their choice of a leader had fallen upon him. We say the
' substantial prize of victory,' and so it was thought to be at
the time. But later events showed that the battle which was
then fought was after all but the precursor of the Presidential
contest, and that it secured to Mr. Lincoln the victory in that
more important struggle."
During this campaign, Mr. Lincoln paid the following
glowing tribute to the Declaration of Independence :
" These communities, (the thirteen colonies,) by their repre-
sensatives in the old Independence Hall, said to the world of
IN CONGRESS AND "ON THE STUMP." 113
men, ' We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are
born equal ; that they are endowed by their Creator with in
alienable rights ; that among these are life, liberty, and the pur
suit of happiness.' This was their majestic interpretation of the
economy of the universe. This was their lofty and wise, and
noble understanding of the justice of the Creator to His
creatures. Yes, gentlemen, to all His creatures, to the whole
great family of man. In their enlightened belief, nothing
stamped with the Di-vine image and likeness was sent into the
world to be trodden on, and degraded, and imbruted by its
fellows. They grasped not only the race of men then li-ving,
but they reached forward and seized upon the furthest pos
terity. They created a beacon to guide their children and
their children's children, and the countless myriads who should
inhabit the earth in other ages. Wise statesmen as they were,
they knew the tendency of prosperity to breed tyrants, and
so they established these great self evident truths that when, in
the distant future, some man, some faction, some interest,
should set up the doctrine that none but rich men, or none but
white men, or none but Anglo-Saxon white men, were en
titled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, their pos
terity might look up a^ain to the Declaration of Independence,
and take courage to renew the battle which their fathers began,
so that truth, and justice, ?nd mercy, and all the humane and
Christian virtues might not be extinguished from the land ; so
that no man would hereafter dare to -limit and circiim scribe
the great principles on which the temple of liberty was being
built. "Now, my countrymen, if. you have been taught doctrines
conflicting with the great landmarks of the Declaration of In
dependence ; if you have listened to suggestions which would
take away from its grandeur, and mutilate the fair symmetry
of its proportions ; if you have been inclined to believe that all
men are not created equal in those inalienable rights enu
merated by our chart of liberty, let me entreat you to come
8
114 THE T.IFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
back — return to the fountain whose waters spring close by the
blood of the Eevolution. Think nothing of me, take no
thought for the political fate of any man whomsoever, but
come back to the truths that are in the Declaration of Inde
pendence. ' You may do any thing with me you choose, if you will but
heed these sacred principles. You raay not only defeat me
for the Senate, but you may take me and put me to death.
While pretending no indifference to earthly honors, I do claim
to be actuated in this contest by something higher' than an
anxiety for office. I charge you to drop every paltry and in
significant thought for any man's success. It is nothing ; I am
nothing ; Judge Douglas is nothing. But do not destroy that
immortal emblem of humanity — the Declaration of American
Independence." As we have already stated, the exciting struggle was
watched with intense interest, not only by the members
of the respective political parties of which the two
orators were recognized leaders and champions, but by
that portion of the different communities of the Union
who do not generally trouble their" minds with pohtical
contests. Copious extracts from the speeches of both
Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Douglas were published in the
journals of the day, and criticisms of the orators and
their discussions appeared in the leading magazines and
newspapers. From some of the latter we select the following as
showing in what estimation the talents and ability of
the honorable subject of our sketch were held at the
time of which we now more particularly speak, and to
give our readers, who have not had the opportunity to
see Mr. Lincoln, an idea of his personal appearance.
One writer gives the following pen-portrait :
IN CONGRESS AND " ON THE STUMP." 115
Mr. Lincoln stands six feet and four inches high in his
stockings. His frame is not muscular, but gaunt and wiry ;
his arms are long, but not unreasonably so for a person of
his height ; his lower limbs are not disproportioned to his
body. In walking, his gait, though firm, is never brisk. He
steps slowly and deliberately, almost always with his head in
clined forward, and his hands clasped behind his back. In
matters of dress he is by no means precise. Always clean, he
is never fashionable ; he is careless, but not slovenly. In
manner he is remarkably cordial, and, at the same time, simple.
His politeness is always sincere, but never elaborate and op
pressive. A warm shake of the hand, and a warmer smile of
recognition, are his methods of greeting his friends. At rest,
his features, though those of a man of mark, are not such as
belong to a handsome man ; but when his fine dark gray eyes
are lighted up by any emotion, and his features begin their
play, he would be chosen from among a crowd as one who
had in him not only the kindly sentiments which women love,
but the hea-vier metal of which full-grown men and Presidents
are made. His hair is black, and though thin is wiry. His
head sits well on his shoulders, but beyond that it defies de
scription. It nearer resembles that of Clay than that of Web
ster ; but it is unlike either. It is very large, and, phrenologi-
cally, well proportioned, betokening power in all its develop
ments. A slightly Eoman nose, a wide-cut mouth, and a dark
complexion, with the appearance of having been weather-
beaten, complete the description.
"In his personal habits, Mr. Lincoln is as simple as a child.
He loves a good dinner, and eats with the appetite which goes
with a great brain; but his food is plain and nutritious. He
never drinks intoxicating liquors of any sort, not even a glass
of wine. He is not addicted to tobacco in any of its shapes.
He never was accused of a licentious act in all his life. He
never uses profane language.
"A friend says that once, when in a towering rage, in conse-
116 THE LIFE OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
quence of the efforts of certain parties to perpetrate a fraud on
the State, he was heard to say : ' They sha'n't do it, d— n 'em !'
but beyond an expression of that kind, his bitterest feelings
never carry him. He never. gambles; we doubt If he ever in
dulges in any games of chance. He is particularly cautious
about incurring pecuniary obligations for any purpose what
ever, and in debt, he is never content until the score is dis
charged. We presume he owes no man a dollar. He never
speculates. The rage for the sudden acquisition of wealth
never took hold of him. His gains from his profession have
been moderate, but sufiicient for his purposes. While others
have dreamed of gold, he has been in pursuit of knowledge.
In all his dealings he has the reputation of being generous but
exact, and, above all, religiously honest. He would be a bold
man who would say that Abraham Lincoln ever wronged any
one out of a cent, or ever spent a dollar that he had not
honestly earned. His struggles in early life have made him
careful of money ; but his generosity with his own is proverbial.
He is a regular attendant . upon religious worship, and though
not a communicant, is a pew-holder and liberal supporter of
the Presbyterian Church, in Springfield, to which Mrs. Lincoln-
belongs. He is a scrupulous teller of the truth — too exact in
his notions to suit the atmosphere of Washington, as it now is.
His enemies may say that he tells Black Eepublican lies ; but
no man ever charged that, in a professional capacity, or as a
citizen dealing with his neighbors, he would depart from the
scriptural command. At home, he lives like' a gentleman of
modest means and simple tastes. A good-sized house of wood,
simply but tastefully furnished, surrounded by trees and
flowers, is his own, and there he lives, at peace with himself, the
idol of his family, and for his honesty, ability and patriotism,
the admiration of his countr3'men."
Another person gives the subjoined sketch of him :
"In personal appearance, Mr. Lincoln, or, as he is more
IN CONGRESS AND "ON THE STUMP." 117
familiarly termed among those who know him best, 'Old
Uncle Abe,' is long, lean, and wiry. In motion he has a great
deal of the elasticity and awkwardness which indicate the
rough training of his early life, and his conversation savors
strongly of western idioms and pronunciation. His height is
six feet four inches. His complexion is about that of an octo
roon ; his face, without being by any means beautiful, is genial-
looking, and good humor seems to lurk in every corner of its
innumerable angles. He has dark hair tinged with gray, a
good forehead, small eyes, a long penetrating nose, with nos
trils such as Napoleon always liked to find in his best generals,
because they indicated a long head and clear thoughts ; and a
mouth which, aside from being of magnificent proportions, is
probably the most expressive feature of his face.
'As a speaker he is ready, precise, and fluent. His manner
before a popular assembly is as he pleases to make it, being
either superlatively ludicrous, or very impressive. He employs
but little gesticulation, but when he desires to make a point,
produces a shrug of his shoulders, an elevation of his eyebrows,
a depression of his mouth, and a general malformation of coun
tenance so comically awkward that it never fails to 'bring
down the house.' His enunciation is slow and emphatic; and
his voice, though sharp and powerful, at times has a frequent
tendency to dwindle into a shrill and unpleasant sound ; but, as
before stated, the peculiar characteristic of his delivery is the
remarkable mobility of his features, the frequent contortions
of which excite, a merriment his words could not produce."
A third says :
"'In perhaps the severest test that could have been applied
to any man's temper — -his political contest with Senator
Douglas in 1858 — Mr. Lincoln not only proved himself an able
speaker and a good tactician, but demonstrated that it is pos
sible to carry on the fiercest political warfare without once
descending to rude personality and course denunciation. We
118 THE LIFE OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
have it on the authority of a gentleman who followed Abraham
Lincoln throughout the whole of that campaign, that in spite
of all the temptations to an opposite course to which he was
continuously exposed, no personalities against his opponent, no
vituperation or coarseness, ever defiled his lips. His kind and
genial nature lifted him above a resort to any such weapons
of political warfare, and it was the commonly-expressed regret
of fiercer natures that he treated his opponent too courteously
and urbanely. Vulgar personalities and vituperation are the
last thing that can be truthfully charged against Abraham
Lincoln. His heart is too genial, his good sense too strong,
and his innate self-respect too predominant to permit him to
indulge in them. His nobility of nature — and we may use the
term advisedly — has been as manifest throughout his whole
career as his temperate habits, his self-reliance, and his mental
and intellectual power."
And a fourth, a distinguished scholar, after listening
to a speech delivered at Galesburgh, thus wrote :
" The men are entirely dissimilar. Mr. Douglas is a thick
set, finely-built, courageous man, and has an air of self-confi
dence that does not a little to inspire his supporters with hope.
Mr. Lincoln is a tall, lank man, awkward, apparently diffident,
and when not speaking has neither firmness in his countenance
nor fire in his eye.
" Mr. Lincoln has a rich, silvery voice, enunciates with great
distinctness, and has a fine command of language. He com
menced by a review of the points Mr. Douglas had made. In
this he showed great tact, and his retorts, though gentlemanly,
were sharp, and reached to the core the subject in dispute.
While he gave but little time to the work of review, we did not
feel that any thing was omitted which deserved attention."
The most graphic description of Mr. Lincoln, as he
appeared during this canvass, is given by Mr. Albert
IN CONGRESS AND " ON THE STUMP." 119
D. Richardson, the well-known Tribune correspondent,
in his book entitled "The Field, the Dungeon, the
Escape :"
"During the great canvass for the United States Senate
between Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Douglas," says Mr. Eicbardson,
" the right of Congress to exclude slavery from the territories
was the chief point in dispute. Kansas was the only region to
which it had any practical application ; and we, who were re
siding there, read the debates with peculiar interest.
" No such war of intellects, on the rostrum, was ever wit
nessed in America. Entirely without general culture, more
ignorant of books than any other public man of his day,
Douglas was christened the Little Giant by the unerring popu
lar instinct. He who without the learning of the schools, and
-without preparation, could cope with Webster, Seward, and
Sumner, surely deserved that appellation. He despised study.
Eising after one of Mr. Sumner's most scholarly and elaborate
speeches, he said : ' Mr. President, this is very elegant and
able, but we all know perfectly well that the Massachusetts
Senator has been rehearsing it every night fof a month, before
a looking-glass, with a negro holding a candle.'
" Douglas was beyond all cotemporaries a man of the people,
and the people loved him. Lincoln, too, was distinctively of
the masses; but he represented their sober second thought,
their higher aspirations, their better possibilities. Douglas
embodied their average impulses, both good and bad. Better
than any one else he knew the residents of the Northwest
down to their minutest sympathies and prejudices. Upon the
stump, his fluency, his hard common sense, and his wonderful
voice, which could thunder like the cataract or whisper with
the breeze, enabled him to sway them at his will.
" Hitherto invincible at home, he found a foeman worthy of
his steel. All over the country people began to ask about this
'Honest Abe Lincoln,' whoso inexhaustible anecdotes were so
120 THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
droll yet so exactly to the point ; whose logic was so irresisti-
hle ; whose modesty, fairness and personal integrity won golden
opinions from his political enemies; who, without 'trimming,'
enjoyed the support of the many-headed Opposition in Illinois,
from the Abolition Owen Lovejoys of the northern counties,
down to the 'Conservative' old Whigs of the Egyptian dis
tricts, who still believed in the divinity of slavery.
" Those who did not witness it will never comprehend the
universal and intense horror at every thing looking toward
'negro equality' which then prevailed in southern Illinois.
Eepublican politicians succumbed to it. In their journals and
platforms they sometimes said distinctly : ' We care nothing for
the ne2;ro. We advocate his exclusion from our State. We
oppose slavery in the territories only because it is a curse to
the white man.' Mr. Lincoln never descended to .this level.
In his plain, moderate, conciliatory way, he would urge upon
his simple auditors that this matter has a right and a wrong-
that the great declaration of their fathers meant something.
And — always his strong point — he would put this so clearly
to the common apprehension, and so touch the people's moral
sense, that his opponents found their old cries of 'Abolitionist'
and 'Negro-worshipper' hollow and powerless.
" His defeat, by a very slight majority, proved victory in dis
guise. The debates gave him national reputation. Eepubli
can Executive Committees in other States issued verbatim
reports of the speeches of both Douglas and Lincoln bound up
together in the order of their delivery. They printed them
just as they stood, without one word of comment, as the most
convincing plea for their cause. Earely, if ever, has any
man received so high a compliment as was thus paid to Mr.
Lincoln. " In Kansas his stories began to stick like chestnut burrs in
the popular ear^ — to pass from mouth to mouth, and from cabin
to cabin. The young lawyers, physicians, and other politicians
who swarm in the new country, began to quote from his argu-
121
ments in their public speeches, and to regard him as the
special charapion of their political faith.
" Late in the autumn of 1859, he visited the territory for the
first and last time. With the Hon. Marcus J. Parrot, then
Delegate in Congress, and. the Hon. A. Carter Wilder, present
Eepresentative, I went to Troy, in Doniphan county, to hear
him. In the imaginative language of the frontier, Troy
was a 'town' — possibly a city. But, save a shabby frame
court-house, a tavern, and a few shanties, its urban glories were
-visible only to the eye of faith. It was intensely cold. The
sweeping prairie wind rocked the crazy buildings, and cut the
faces of travellers like a knife. Mr. Wilder froze his hand
during our ride, and Mr. Lincoln's party arrived wrapped in
buffalo rojpes.
"Not more than forty people assembled in that little, bare-
walled court-house. There was none of the magnetism of a
multitude to inspire the long, angular, ungainly orator, who
rose up behind a rough table. With little gesticulation, and
that little ungraceful, he began, not to declaim, but to talk.
In a conversational tone, he argued the question erf" slavery in
the territories, in the language of an average Ohio or New
York farraer. I thought, 'If the Illinoisans consider this a
great man, their ideas must be very peculiar.'
" But in ten or fifteen minutes I was unconsciously and irre
sistibly drawn by the clearness and closeness of his argument.
Link after link it was forged and welded like a blacksmith's
chain. He made few assertions, but merely asked questions :
' Is not this true ? If you admit that fact, is not this induction
correct?' Give him his premises, and his conclusion were in
evitable as death.
"His fairness and candor were very noticeable. He ridi
culed nothing, burlesqued nothing, misrepresented nothing.
So far from distorting the views held by Mr Douglas and his
adherents, he stated them with more strength probably than
any one of their advocates could have done. Then, very
122 THE LIFE OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
modestly and courteously, he inquired into their soundness.
He was too kind for bitterness and too great for vituperation.
"His anecdotes, of course, were felicitous and illustrative.
He delineated the tortuous windings of the Democracy upon
the slavery question, from Thomas Jefferson down to Franklin
Pierce. Whenever he heard a man avow his determination to
adhere unswervingly to the principles of the Democratic party
it reminded him, he said, of a ' little incident' in Illinois. A
lad, plowing upon the prairie;, asked his father in what direc--
tion he should strike a new furrow. The parent replied, ' Steer
for that yoke of oxen, standing at the further end of the field.'
The father went away, and the lad obeyed. But just as he
started, the oxen started also. He kept steering for them ; and
they continued to walk. He followed them entirely around
the field, and came back to the starting point, having furrowed
a circle instead of a line.
" The address lasted for an hour and three quarters. Neither
rhetorical, graceful, nor eloquent, it was still very fascinating.
The people of the frontier believe profoundly in fair play, and
in hearing both sides. So they now called for an aged ex-
Kentuckian, who was the heaviest slaveholder in the Territory.
Eesponding, he thus prefaced his remarks : ' I have heard,
during my life, all the ablest public speakers — all the eminent
statesmen of the past and the present generation. And while
I dissent utterly from the doctrines of this address, and shall
endeavor to refute some of them, candor compels me to say
that it is the most able and the most logical speech I ever lis
tened to.' "
A good story is told of Mr. Lincoln in connection
with the Harper's Ferry affair. It is said tHat when he
first heard of the Harper's Ferry invasion, he remarked,
that it was " a shocking and lamentable occurrence ;"
but foreseeing the capital which the Democracy would
make out of it, he added, " I do not think the Democ-
IN CONGRESS AND "ON THE STUMP." 123
racy can cross the river of their difficulties at Harper's
Ferry." We subjoin another amusing one from a Chicago
journal :
"A great deal of fun was had by the jokers in Springfield,
about an affair in which, long time ago, our good friend
Lincoln, the candidate for the Presidency was engaged. A
young lady of that city, now the wife of a distinguished states
man, wrote a paragraph in a burlesque vein, for the Sangamon
Journal, in which General Shields was good humoredly ridi
culed for his connection with some public measure. The
General was greatly incensed, and demanded of the editor the
name of the offending party. ' Old Sim' put him off with
a request of twenty-four hours to consider the matter, and
shortly afterward meeting Lincoln, told him his perplexity.
'Tell him I wrote it,' said Lincoln; and tell him he did. After
a deal of diplomacy to get a retraction of the offensive parts of
the paragraph in question. Shields sent a challenge, which
Lincoln accepted, named broadswords as the weapons, and
an unfrequented, well-wooded island in the Mississippi, just
below Alton, as the place. ' Old Abe' was first on the ground,
and when Shields arrived, he found his antagonist, his sword
in one hand and a hatchet in the other, with his coat off,
clearing away the underbrush ! Before the preliminary arrange
ments were completed, John J. Hardin, who, somehow, had got
wind of what was afloat, appeared on the scene, called them both
d d fools, and by his arguments, addressed to their common
sense, and by his ridicule of the figure that they, two well-grown,
bearded men, were making there, each with a frog-sticker in his
hand, broke up the fight. We do not know how General Shields
feels, but we have heard of Lincoln's saying, that the acceptance
of the challenge was thfe meanest thing he ever did in his life.
Hardin — than whom a braver man never stood — never came
out of that terrible charge at Buena Vista, t > which he led the
Second Eegiment of Illinois Volunteers. If the events of his
124 THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
life passed in quick review before his mind, as he lay wounded
and dying in that fatal ravine, we doubt not this act of his, by
which he prevented two really brave men from engaging in
fatal strife, was not the least of the consolations of that bitter
hour." Admiration of the manly bearing and gallant conduct
of Mr. Lincoln, throughout this campaign, which had
early assumed a national importance, led to the spon
taneous suggestion of his name, in various parts of the
country, as a candidate for the Presidency. From the
beginning to the end of the contest, he had proved him
self an able statesman, an effective orator, a true
gentleman, and an honest man. While, therefore,
Douglas was returned to the Senate, there was a general
presentiment that a juster verdict was yet to be had,
and that Mr. Lincoln and his cause would be ultimately
vindicated before the people. That time was to come,
even sooner, perhaps, than his friends, in their moment-
ai"}^ despondency, had expected, and from that hour to the
present, the fame of Abraham Lincoln has been enlarg
ing and ripening, and admiration of his noble character
lias become still more deeply fixed in the popular heart.
During the year following this great contest with
Douglas, Mr. Lincoln again gave himself almost ex
clusively to professional life. During the autumn, how
ever, of 1859, when Mr. Douglas, visited Ohio, and
endeavored to rally the Democracy of that State, an
earnest invitation Avas sent to Mr. Lincoln to assist the
Republicans in their canvass. In compliance with this
Macedonian appeal for help, he dehvered two most
eff'ective speeches in Ohio, one at Columbus, and the
other at Cincinnati. The following extracts from the
IN CONGRESS AND "ON THE STUMP." ^ 125
latter speech (September 17th) are interesting as ex
pressing his convictions concerning the great issues of
the day, and as characteristic of his familiar style of
public address. SHOOTING O-VER THE LINE.
" It has occurred to me here to-night, that if I ever do shoot
over at the people on the other side of the line in a slave State,
and purpose to do so, keeping my skin safe, that I have now
about the best chance I shall ever have. [Laughter and
applause.] I should not wonder if there are some Kentuckians
about this audience ; we are close to Kentucky ; and whether
that be so or not, we are on elevated' ground, and by speaking
distinctly, I should not wonder if some of the Kentuckians
should hear me on the other side of the river. [Laughter.]
For that reason I propose to address a portion of what I have
to. say to the Kentuckians.
" I say, then, in the first place, to the Kentuckians, that 'I am
what they call, as I understand it, a 'Black Eepublican.'
[Applause and laughter.] I think that slavery is wrong,
morally, socially and politically. I desire that it should be no
further spread in these United States, and I should not object
if it should gradually terminate in the whole Union. [Ap
plause.] While I say this for myself, I say to you, Ken
tuckians, that I understand that you differ radically with me
upon this proposition; that you believe slavery is a good
thing ; that slavery is right ; that it ought to be extended and
perpetuated in this Union. Now, there being this broad difi'er
ence between us, I do not pretend in addressing myself to you,
Kentuckians, to attempt proselyting you at all ; that would be
a vain efibrt. I do not enter upon it. I only propose to try
to show you that you ought to nominate for the next Presi
dency, at Charleston, my distinguished friend, Judge Douglas.
[Applause.] In whatever there is a difference between you
126 THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
and him, I understand he is as sincerely for you, and more
wisely for you, than you are for. yourselves. [Applause.] I
will try to demonstrate that proposition. Understand, now,
I say that I believe he is as sincerely for you, and more wisely
for you, than you are for yourselves."
Mr. Lincoln then went on to show that Douglas was
constantly endeavoring to "mould the public opinion
of the North to the ends" desired by the South ; that
he differed only from the South so far as was necessary
to retain any hold upon his own section ; that, not
daring to maintain that slavery was right, he professes
an indifference whether it was "voted up or voted
down" — thus indirectly advancing the opinion that it
was not wrong ; and that he had taken a step in ad
vance, by doing what would not have been thought of
by any man five years ago ; by denying that the
Declaration of Independence asserts any principle in
tended to be applicable to black men, or that properly
includes them. The tendency of this charge was " to
bring the public mind to the conclusion that when men
are spoken of, the negro is not meant ; that when ne
groes are spoken of, brutes alone are contemplated."
Of the certainty of a speedy Republican triumph in
the nation, and of its results, Mr. Lincoln said :
WHAT THE OPPOSITION MEAN TO DO.
" I will tell you, so far as I am authorized to speak for the
Opposition, what we mean to do with you. We mean to treat
you, as nearly as we possibly can, as Washington, Jefferson,
and Madison treated you. [Cheers.] We mean to leave you
alone, and in no way to interfere with your institution ; to abide
by all and every compromise of the constitution — and, in a
IN CONGRESS AND "ON THE STUMP." 127
word, coming back to the original proposition, to treat you, so
far as degenerated men (if we have degenerated) may, imitating
the examples of those noble fathers, Washington, Jefferson, and
Madison. [Applause.] We mean to remember that you are as
good as we ; that there is no difference between us other than
the difference of circumstances. We mean to recognize and
bear in mind always that you have as good hearts in your
bosoms as other people, or as we claim to have, and treat you
accordingly. We mean to marry your girls when we have a
chance — the white ones I mean — [Laughter] — and I have the
honor to inform you that I once did get a chance in that way.
[A voice, 'Good for you,' and applause.]"
PLAIN QUESTIONS TO THE DISUNION DEMOCRACY.
" I have told you what we mean to do. I want to know,
now, when that thing takes place, what you mean to do. I
often hear it intimated that you mean to divide the Union
whenever a Eepublican, or any thing like it, is elected Presi
dent of the United States. [A voice, ' That is so.'] ' That is
so,' one of them says. I wonder if he is a Kentuckian ? [A
voice, ' He is a Douglas man.'] Well, then, I want to know
what you are going to do with your half of it ? [Applause
and laughter.] Are you going to split the Ohio down through,
and push your half off a-piece ? or are you going to keep it
right alongside of us outrageous fellows ? Or, are you going
to build up a wall someway between your country and ours,
by which that movable property of yours can't come over here
any more, and you lose it? Do you think you can better your
selves on that subject, by leaving us here under no obligation
whatever to return those specimens of your movable property
that come hither ? You have divided the Union because we
would not do right with you, as you think, upon that subject.
When we cease to be under obligations to do any thing • for
you, how much better off do you think you -will be ? Will
you make war upon us, and kiU us all ? Why, gentlemen, I
128 THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
think you are as gallant and as brave men as live ; that you
can fight as bravely in a good cause, man for man, as any other
people living ; that you have shown yourselves capable of this
upon various occasions ; but, man for man, you are not better
than we are, and there are not so many of you as there are of
us. [Loud cheering.] You will never make much of a hand
at whipping us. If we were fewer in numbers than you, I
think that you could whip us ; if we were equal, it would likely
be a drawn battle ; but being inferior in numbers, you will
make nothing by attempting to master us."
WHAT REPUBLICANS MUST DO.
" I say that we must not interfere with the institution of
slavery in the States where it exists, because the Constitution
forbids it, and the general welfare does not require us to do so.
We must not withhold an eflicient fugitive slave law, becausfe
the Constitution requires us, as I understand it, not to withhold
such a law, but we must prevent the outspreading of the insti
tution, because neither the Constitution nor .the general welfare
requires us to extend it. We must prevent the revival of the
African slave trade, and the enacting by Congress of a Terri
torial slave code. We must prevent each of these things being
done by either congresses or courts. The people or these
United States are the rightful masters of both con
gresses AND courts [applause], not to overthrow the Consti
tution, but to overthrow the men -who pervert that Constitution,
[Applause.]" From a chapter of Personal Reminiscences of Mr.
Lincoln, by the Rev. M. D. Conway, lately published in
the Fortnightly Revieio, of London, we extract the fol
lowing graphic description of this Cincinnati speech :
"It was during this memorable political struggle, which
presently led the champions to address public meetings far
beyond the limits of their State, that I first saw and heard
IN CONGRESS AND " ON THE STUMP." 129
Abraham Lincoln. It was at Cincinnati, in the State of Ohio,
an important point as being at the very centre of the country,
and on the line separating the free from the slave States.
Apross the Ohio river, narrower than the Thames, rise the
hills of Kentucky, and one may (or could) stand in the streets
of Cincinnati and see slaves at their work. From tho towns
of Newport and Covington, on the Kentucky side, hundreds
of persons were in the habit of coming to the political meet
ings of the city, or to witness the performances of their favorite
actors, among whom may have been Wilkes Booth. To the
great delight of- the Kentuckians, and of the Democracy,
so-called, Mr. Douglas had delivered a public address there
advocating what he used to call his ' gur-reat per-rinciple' that
the newborn Territories should be aMowed to arrange their
o-wn institutions — and especially to introduce or exclude
slavery — as freely as full-grown States. Mr. Lincoln was soon
after invited to the city. The meeting was in a large public
square, and two or three thousands of persons 'we're present,
possibly more, to hear this new man. Party feeling was run
ning very high, and there were adverse parties in the crowd
who had come with the intention of disturbing the meeting
Mr. Lincoln appeared on a balcony in the clear moonlight, and
without paying the slighest attention to the perturbations of
the multitude, began his address. I had at fir.st paused on the
skirts of the crowd, meaning to leave soon ; but an indefinable
something in the tones of the man's voice induced me to go
closer. Surely if there were to be chosen a figure-head for
America it must be this ! There was something undeniably
grotesque about the face, and yet not a coarse line; it was
battered and bronzed, but the light of an eye, both gentle and
fiery, kept it from being hard. The nose was a good strong
buttress — such as Bonaparte would have valued — to a solid
brow; and the forehead rose to its greatest height in the
region assigned to the benevolent and the conscientious organs,
declining along those of firmness and self-esteem into what I
9
130 THE LIFE OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
should call a decidedly feeble occiput. But never was there
a case in 'which the sage's request — ' Speak, that I may see
you' — had more need to be repeated ; for a voice more flexi
ble, more attuned to every kind of expression, and to caAy
truth in every tone, was never allotted to mortal. Although
he seemed to me oddly different from any other man whom I
had seen, he seemed also related to them all, and to have
lineaments characteristic of every section of the country ; and
this is why I thought he might well be taken as its figure
head. His manner of speaking in public was simple, direct,
and almost religious; he was occasionally humorous, but
rarely told anecdotes as he did in private conversation ; and
there was no sarcasm, no sho-wing of the teeth. I had not lis
tened to him long, on tlie occasion to which I refer, before I
perceived that there was a certain artistic ability in him as a
public speaker, which his audience would least recognize when
it was most employed. Early in the address some adverse
allusion to slavery brought a surge of hisses, but when it
broke at his feet, there was the play of a faint smile on his
face as he gathered from it the important knowledge of the
exact proportion of Kentucky which he had to deal with on the
occasion. I have often wondered that Mr. Lincoln's power as
an orator — surpassed as it is by that of only one other
Amarican — is so little known or thought of in Europe ; and I
have even found the impression that he was, as a speaker,
awkward, heavy and ungrammatical. It is a singular misjudg-
ment. For terse, well-pronounced, clear speech ; for a careful
and easy selection of the fit word for the right place; for
perfect tones; for quiet, chaste, and dignified manner — it
would be hard to find the late President's superior. In those
days it was, when slavery was concerned, ' a kind of good deed
to say well,' and sufficiently proved the man who, when the
public meeting must give way to the camp,
' With his deed did crown,
His -word upon you.'
IN CONGRESS AND "ON THE STUMP." 131
"He had said, with an emphasis which made the proposition
seem novel, ' Slavery is wrong !' — then came the hiss. After a
moment's pause he continued — each word driven through and
clenched — ¦' I acknowledge that you must maintain your oppo
sition just there, if at all. But I find that every man comes
into the world with a mouth to be fed, and a back to be clothed ;
that each has also two hands ; and I infer that those hands were
meant to feed that mouth and to clothe that back. And I warn
you, Kentuckians, that -whatever institution would fetter those
hands from so doing, violates that justice which is the only
political wisdom, and is sure to crumble around those who seek
to uphold it. . This is the constant testimony of the men w ho
founded this Eepublic. It was this that made Jefferson tremble
for his country, when he remembered that God is just ; and
this that made your own great statesman, Henry Clay, pray
that his tongue might cleave to the roof of his mouth ere it
voted to carry slavery into any Territory where it did not exist.
Your hisses will not blow down the walls of Justice. Slavery
is wrong. The denial of that truth has brought on the angry
conflict of brother with brother ; it has kindled the fires of
ci-vil war in Kansas ; it has raised the portents that overhang
the future of our nation. And be you sure, that no compro
mise, no political arrangement with slavery, will ever last, which
does not deal with it as A great wrong.' The Kentuckians
had no sibilant arguments to bring forward now. How much
more serious Mr. Lincoln was than -jhe mass of his party in
these views, may be estimated by the fact, that when his
speeches, with those of Judge Douglas, were afterwards col
lected for circulation as a campaign document, it was thought
prudent to omit the above passage, which I noted down at the
time, and probably others of similar import."
In the spring of 1860, Mr. Lincoln yielded to the
calls which came to him from the East, for his presence
and aid in the exciting pohtical canvasses there going
132 THE LIFE OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
on. He spoke at -various places in Connecticut, Ne-vv
Hampshire, and Rhode Island, and also in New York
city, to very large audiences, and was everywhere
warmly welcomed. Perhaps one of the greatest
speeches of his life, was that delivered by him at the
Caoper Institute, in New York, on the 27th of Feb
ruary, 1860. A crowded audience was present, which
received Mr. Lincoln with enthusiastic demonstrations.
William Cullen Bryant presided, and introduced the
speaker in terms of high compliment to the West, and
to the "eminent citizen" of that section, whose political
labors in 1856 and '58 were appropriately eulogized.
THE COOPER INSTITUTE SPEECH.
"Mr. President AND Fellow-citizens of New York:—
The facts with which I shall deal this evening are mainly old
and familiar; nor is there any thing new in the general use I
shall make of them. If there shall be any novelty, it will be
in the mode of presenting the facts, and the inferences and
observations following that presentation.
" In his speech last autumn, at Columbus, Ohio^ as reported
in The New York Times, Senator Douglas said :
"'Our fathers, when they framed the Government under
which we live, understood this question jiist as Avell, and even
better than we do now.'
"I fully indorse this, and I adopt it as a text for this dis
course. I so adopt it because it furnishes a precise and agreed
starting point for the discussion bet-w^en Eepublicans and that
wing of the Democracy headed by Senator Douglas. It simply
leaves the inquiry : ' What was the understanding those fathers
had of the questions mentioned ?'
" What is the frame of Government under which we live ?
"The answer must be: 'The Constitution of the United
IN CONGRESS AND "ON THE STUMP." . 133
States.' That Constitution consists of the original, framed in
1787 (and under which the present Government first went into
operation), and twelve subsequently framed amendments, the
first ten of which were framed in 1789.
"Who were our fathers that framed the Constitution? I
suppose the 'thirty-nine' who signed the original instrument
may be fairly called our fathers who framed that part of tha
present Government. It is almost exactly true to say they
framed it, and it is altogether true to say they fairly represented
the opinion and sentiment of the whole nation at that time.
Their names being familiar to nearly all, and accessible to
quite all, need not now be repeated.
"I take these 'thirty-nine,' for the present, as being 'our
fathers who framed the Government under which we live.'
" What is the question which, according to the text, those
fathers understood just as well, and even better than we do
now? " It is this : Does the proper division of local from Federal
authority, or any thing in the Constitution, forbid our Federal
Government control as to slavery in our Federal Territories ?
" Upon this, Douglas holds the af&rmative, and Eepublicans
the negative. The af&rmative and denial form an issue ; and
this issue — this question — is precisely what the text declares
our fathers understaod better than we
" Let us now inquire whether the ' thirty-nine,' or any of
them, ever acted upon this question ; and if they did, how they
acted upon it — how they expressed that better understanding.
" In 1784 — three years before the Constitution — the United
States then owning the Northwestern Territory, and no other —
the Congress of the Confederation had before them the question
of prohibiting slavery in that Territory ; and four of the ' thirty-
nine' who afterward fram'ed the Constitution were in that Con
gress, and voted on that question. Of these, Eoger Sherman,
Thomas Mifflin, and Hugh Williamson voted for the pro
hibition — thus showing that, in their understanding, no line
134 . THE LIFE OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
dividing local from federal authority, nor any thing else, prop
erly forbade the Federal Government to control as to slavery
in federal territory. The other of the four — James McHenry —
voted against the prohibition, showing that, for some cause, he
thought it improper to vote for it.
" In 1787, still before the Constitution, but while the Con
vention was in session framing it, and while the Northwestern
Territory still was the only Territory owned by the United
States — the same question of prohibiting slavery in the Territory
again came before the Congress of the Confederation ; and three
more of the ' thirty-nine' who afterward signed the Constitution,
were in that Congress, and voted on the question. They were
William Blount, William Few, and Abraham Baldwin ; and
they all voted for the prohibition — thus showing that, in their
understanding, no line dividing local from Federal authority,
nor any thing else, properly forbids the Federal Government to
control as to slavery in Federal territory. This time the pro
hibition became a law, being part of what is now well known
as the Ordinance of '87.
" The question of federal control of slavery in the Territories,
seems not to have been directly before the Convention which
framed the original Constitution ; and hence it is not recorded
that the ' thirty-nine,' or any of them, while engaged on that
instrument, expressed any opinion on that precise question.
" In 1789, by the first Congress which sat under the Con
stitution, an act was passed to enforce the Ordinance of '87
including the prohibition of slavery in the Northwestern Terri
tory. The bill for this act was reported by one of the ' thirty-
nine,' Thomas Fitzsimmons, then a member of the House of
Eepresentatives • from Pennsylvania. It went through all its
stages without a word of opposition, and finally passed both
branches without yeas and nays, which is equivalent to an
tmanimous passage. In this Congress there were sixteen of
the ' thirty-nine' fathers who framed the original Constitution.
They were John Langdon, Nicholas Gilman, Wm. S. Johnson,
LK CONGRESS AND "ON THE STUMP. 135
Eoger Sherman, Eobert Morris, Thos. Fitzsimmons, William
Few, Abraham Baldwin, Eufus King, William Patterson,
George Clymer, Eichard Bassett, George Eead, Pierce Butler,
Daniel Carrol, James Madison.
" This shows that, in their understanding, no line dividing
local from federal authority, nor any thing in the Constitution,
properly forbade Congress to prohibit slavery in the Federal
territory ; else both their fidelity to correct principle, and their
oath to support the Constitution, would have constrained them
to oppose the prohibition.
"Again, George Washington, another of the 'thirty-nine,
was then President of the United States, and, as such, approved
and signed the bill, thus completing its validity as a law, and
thus showing that, in his understanding, no line dividing local
from Federal authority, nor any thing in the Constitution, for
bade the Federal Government to control as to slavery in Federal
territory. "No great while after the adoption of the original Constitu
tion, North Carolina ceded to the Federal Government the
country now constituting the State of Tennessee ; and a few
years later Georgia ceded that which now constitutes the States
of Mississippi and Alabama. In both deeds of cession it was
made a condition by the ceding States that the Federal Gov
ernment should not prohibit slavery in the ceded country.
Besides this, slavery was then actually in the ceded country.
Under these circumstances,- Congress, on taking charge of these
countries did not absolutely prohibit slavery within them. But
they did interfere with it— take control of it — even there, to a
certain extent. In 1798, Congress organized the Territory of
Mississippi. In the act of organization they prohibited the
bringing of slaves into the Territory, from any place without the
United States, by fine and giving freedom to slaves so brought.
This act passed both branches of Congress without yeas and
nays. In. that Congress were three of the 'thirty-nine' who
framed the original Constitution. They were John Langdon,
136 THE LIFE OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
George Eead, and Abraham Baldwin. They all, probably
voted for it. Certainly they would have placed their opposi
tion to it upon record, if, in their understanding, any line
dividing local from Federal .authority, or any thing in the Con
stitution, probable forbade the Federal Government to control
as to slavery in Federal territory. .,
"In 1803, the Federal Government purchased the Louisiana
country. Our former territorial acquisitions came from certain
of our own States ; but this Louisiana country was acquired
from a foreign nation. In 1804, Congress gave a territorial
organization to tha,t part of it which now constitutes the StatS
of Louisiana. New Orleans, lying within that part, was an old
and comparatively large city^ There were other considerable
towns and settlements, and slavery was extensively and thor
oughly intermingled with the people. Congress did not, in
the Territorial Act, prohibit slavery ; but- they -did interfere
with it — take control of it — in a more marked and extensive
way than they did in the case of Mississippi. The substance
of the provision therein made, in relation to slaves, was :
" First. That no slave should be imported into the Territory
from foreign parts.
" Second. That no slave should be carried into it who had
been imported into the United States since the first day of
May, 1798.
" Third. That no slave should be carried into it, except by
the owner, and for his own use as a settler ; the penalty in aU
the cases being a fine upon the violator of the law, and freedom
to the slave.
" This act also was passed without yeas and nays. In the
Congress which passed it, there were two of the ' thirty -nine.'
They were Abraham Baldwin and Jonathan Dayton. As
stated in the case of Mississippi, it is probable they both voted
for it. They would not have allowed it to pass without re
cording their opposition to it, if, in their understanding, it
IN CONGRESS AND "ON THE STUMP." " 137
violated either the line proper dividing local from Federal
authority or any provision of the Constitution.
"In 1819-20, came and passed the Missouri question. Many
votes were taken, by yeas and nays, in both branches of Con
gress, upon the various phases of the general question. Two
of the 'thirty-nine' — Eufus King and Charles Pincknej'- — were
members of that Congress. Mr. King steadily voted foi sla
very prohibition and against all compromises, while Mr. Pin,.k-
ney as steadily voted against slavery prohibition and against
aU. compromises. By this Mr. King showed that, in his under
standing, no line dividing local from Federal authority, nor any
thing in the Constitution, was violated by Congress prohibiting
slavery in Federal territory ; while Mr. Pinckney, by his votes,
showed that in his understanding there was some sufficient
reason for opposing such prohibition in that case.
" The cases I have mentioned are the only acts of the ' thirty-
nine,' or of any of them, upon the direct issue, which I have
been able to discover.
" To enumerate the persons who thus acted, as being four in
1784, three in 1787, seventeen in 1789, three in 1798, two i^i
1804, and two in 1819-20 — there would be thirty-one of them.
But this would be counting John Langdon, Eoger Sherman,
William Few, Eufus King, and George Eead, each twice, and
Abraham Baldwin four times. The true number of those of
the 'thirty-nine whom I have shown to have acted upon the
question, which, by the text they understood better than we,
is twenty-three, leaving sixteen not shown to have acted upon
it in any way.
"Here, then, we have twenty-three out of our 'thirty-nine'
fathers who framed the government under which we live, who
have, upon their official responsibility and their corporal oaths,
acted upon the very 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 'thirty-nine'
— so acting upon it as to make them guilty of gross political
138 • THE LIFE OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
impropriety, and wilful perjury, if, in their understanding, any
proper division between local and Federal authority, or any
thing in the Constitution they had made themselves, and sworn
to support, forbade the Federal Government to control as, to
slavery in the Federal Territories. Thus the twenty-one acted ;
and as actions speak louder than words, so actions under such
responsibility speak still louder.
" Two of the twenty-three voted against Congressional pro
hibition of slavery in the Federal Territories, in the instances
in which they acted upon the question. But for what reasons
they so voted is not known. They may have done so because
they thought a proper division of local from Federal authority,
or some provision or principle of the Constitution, stood in
the way ; or they may, without any such question, have voted
against the prohibition, on what appeared to them to be suffi
cient grounds of expediency. No one who has sworn to
support the Constitution, can conscientiously vote for what he
understands to be an unconstitutional measure, however ex
pedient he may think it; but one may and ought to vote
against a measure which he deems constitutional, if, at the
same- time, he deems . it inexpedient. It, therefore, would be
unsafe to set down even the two who voted against the prohi
bition, as having done so because, in their understanding, any
proper division of local from Federal authority, or any thing
in the Constitution, forbade the Federal Goverment to control
as to slavery in Federal territory.
"The remaining sixteen of the 'thirty-nine,' so far as I have
discovered, have left no record of their understanding upon
the direct question of Federal control of slavery in the Federal
territory. But there is much reason to believe that their
understanding upon that question would not have appeared
different from that of their twenty -three compeers, had it been
manifested at all.
"For the purpose of adhering rigidly to the texS, I have
purposely admitted whatever understanding may have been
IN CONGRESS AND "ON THE STUMP." * 139
manifested, by any person, however distinguished, other than
the ' thirty -nine' fathers who framed the original Constitution ;
and, for the same reason, I have also omitted whatever under
standing may have been manifested by any of the ' thirty-nine'
even, on any other phase of the general question of slavery.
K we should look into their acts and declarations on those
other phases, as the foreigji slave-trade, and the morality and
•policy of slavery generally, it would appear to us that on the
direct question of Federal control of slavery in Federal Terri
tories, the sixteen, if they had acted at all, would probably
have acted just as the twenty-three did. Among that sixteen
were several of the most noted anti-slavei'y men of those times
— as Dr. Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, and Gouverneur Morris
— while there was not one now known to have been otherwise,
unless it may be John Eutledge, of South Carolina.
"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 sla
very in the Federal Territories, while all the rest probably had
the same understanding. Such, unquestionably, was the under
standing of our fathers who framed the original Constitution ;
and the text affirms that they understood the question better
than we.
"But, so far, I have been considering the understanding of
the question manifested by the framers of the original Consti-
ution. In and by the original instrument, a mode was pro
vided for amending it; and, as I have already stated, the
present frame of government under which we live consists
of that original, and twelve amendatory articles framed and
adopted since. Those who now insist that Federal control of
slavery in Federal Territories violates the Constitution, point
ns to the pro-visions which they suppose it thus violates ; and,
as I understand, they all fix upon provisions in these amenda-
140 • THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
tory articles, and not in the original instrument. The Supreme
Court, in the Dred Scott case; plant themselves upon the fifth
amendment, which provides that ' no person shall be deprived
of property without due process of law ;' while Senator Doug
las and his peculiar adherents plant themselves upon the tenth
amendment, providing that 'the powers not granted by the
Constitution are reserved to the Stages respectively, and to the
people.' " Now, it so happens that these amendments were framed by
the first Congress which sat under the Constitution— the iden
tical Congress which pkssed the act already mentioned, enforc
ing the prohibition of slavery in the Northwestern Territory.
Not only was it the same Congress, but they were the identical,
same individual men who, at the same session, and at the same
time within the session, had under consideration, and in pro
gress toward maturity, these constitutional amendments, and
this act prohibiting slavery in all the territory the nation then
owned. The Constitijtional amendments were introduced
before, and passed after'the act enforcing the Ordinance of '87;
so that during the whole pendency of the act to enforce the
Ordinance, the constitutional amendments were also pending.
"That Congress, consisting in all of seventy-six members
including sixteen of the framers of the original Constitution,
as before stated, were pre-eminently our fathers who framed
that part of the government under which we live, which is
now claimed as forbidding the Federal Government to control
slavery in the Federal Territories.
" Is it not a little presumptuous in any one at this day to
affirm that the two things whicb that Congress deliberately
framed, and carried to maturity at the same time, are abso
lutely inconsistent with each other ? And does not such affir
mation become impudently absurd when coupled with the other
af&rmation, from the same mouth, that those who did the two
things alleged to be inconsistent understood whether they
141
really were inconsistent better than we — better than he who
affirms that they are inconsistent ?
" It is surely safe to assume that the ' thirty -nine' framers of
the original Constitution, and the seventy-six members of the
Congress which framed the amendments thereto, taken together,
do certainly include those who may be fairly called cur
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 division of local from Federal :authority, or any
part of the Constitution, forbade the Federal Governhient to
control as to slavery in the Federal Territories. I go a step
further. I defy any one to show that any living man in the
whole world ever did, prior to the beginning of the present
century (and I might almost say prior to the beginning of the
last half of the present century), declare ,that, in his understand
ing, any proper division of local from Federal avithority, 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 whic'n we live,' but -jvith 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. '
"Now, and here, let me guard a little against being misunder
stood. I do not mean to say we are bound to follow implicitly
in whatever our fathers^ did. To do so, would be to discard all
the lights of current experience — to reject all progress — all
improvement. What I do say is, that if we would supplant
the opinions and policy of our fathers in any case, we should
do so upon evidence so conclusive, and •argument so clear, that
even their great authority, fairly considered and weighed, can
not stand ; and most surely not in a case whereof we ourselves
declare they understood tl|^ question better than we.
" If any man, at this day, sincerely believes that a pioper
142 THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
division of local from Federal authority, or any part of the
Constitution, forbids the Federal Government to control as to
slavery in the Federal Territories, he is right to say so, and to
enforce his position by all truthful evidence and fair argument
which he can. But he has no right to mislead others, who
have less access to history and less leisure to study it, into the
false belief that ' our fathers, who framed the go-vernment under
which we live,' were of the same opinion — thus substituting
falsehood and deception for truthful evidence and fair argu
ment. If any man, at this day, sincerely believes ' our fathers,
who framed the government under which we live,' used
and applied principles, in other cases, which ought to have led
them to understand that a proper division of local from Federal
authority, or some part of the Constitution, forbids the Federal
Government to control as to slavery in the Federal Territories,
he is right to say so. But he should, at the same time, brave
the responsibility of declaring that, in his opinion, he under
stands their principles better than they did themselves ; and
especially should he not shirk that responsibility by asserting
that they ' understood the question just as well, and even better
than we do now.'
" But enough. Let all who believe that ' our fathers, who
framed the government under which we live, understood this
question just as well, and eyen better than we do now,' speak
as they spoke, and act as they acted \ipon it. This is all
Eepublicans ask, all Eepublicans desire, in relation to slavery.
As those fathers marked it, so let it be .again marked, as
an evil not to be extended, but to be tolerated and protected
only because of and so far as its actual presence among us
makes that toleration and protection a necessity. Let all the
guarantees those fathers gave it, be, not grudgingly, but 'fully
and fairly maintained. For this Eepublicans contend, and with
this, so far as I know or believe, they will be content.
"And now, if they would listej^as I suppose they will
not — ^I would address a few words to the Southern people.
IN CONGRESS AND "ON THE STUMP." 143
"I would say to them: You consider yourselves a reasonable
and a just people; and I consider that, in the general qualities
of reason and justice, you are not inferior to any other people.
Still, when you speak of us Eepublicans, you do so only
to denounce us as reptiles, or, at the best, as no better than
outlaws. You will grant a hearing to pirates or murderers,
but nothing like it to 'Black Eepublicans.' In all your
contentions with one another, each of you deems an uncon
ditional condemnation of 'Black Eepublicanism' as the first
thing to be attended to. Indeed, such condemnation of us
seems to be an indispensable prerequisite — license, so to
speak — among you to be admitted or permitted to speak at all
"Now can you, or not, be prevailed upon to pause an^.
to consider whether this is quite just to us, or even to your
selves ?
"Bring forward your charges. and specifications, and then be
patient long enough to hear us deny or justify
" You say we are sectional. We deny it. That makes an
issue; and the burden of proof is upon you. You produce
your proof; and what is it? Why, that oiir party has no
existence in your section — gets no votes in your section. The
fact is substantially true ; but does it prove the issue ? If it
does, then, in case we should, without change of principle,
begin to get votes in your section, we should thereby cease to
be sectional. You cannot escape this conclusion ; and yet, are
you willing to abide by it ? If you are, you will probably
soon find that we have ceased to be sectional, for we shall get
votes in your section this very year. You will then begin to
discover, as the truth plainly is, that your proof does not touch
the issue. The fact that we get no votes in your section
is a fact of your making, . and not of ours. And if there
be fault in that fact, that fault is primarily yours, and remains
so until you show that we repel you by some wrong principle
or practice. If we do repel you by any wrong principle
or practice, the fault is ours ; but- this brings us to where you
144 THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
ought to have started — to the 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 it as if it were possible that
something may be said on our side. Do you accept the
challenge ? 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 vour condemnation without a moment's con
sideration. "Some of you delight to flaunt in our faces the warning
against sectional parties given by Washington in his Farewell
Address. Less than eight 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
]-)olicy of the government upon that subject, up to and at the
very moment ho penned Jhat. warning; and about one year
after he penned it he wrote Lafayette that he considered that
prohibition a wise measure, expressing, in the same connection,
his hope that we should 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
Washington himself speak, would he cast the blame of that
sectionalism upon us, who sustain his policy, or upon you, who
repudiate it ? We respect that warning of Washington, and
we commend it to you, together -with his example pointing to
the right application of it.
"But you say you are conservative — eminently conserva-
IN CONGRESS AND " ON THE STUMP." 145
tive — while we are revolutionary, destructive, or something of
the sort. What is conservatism ? Is it not adherence to the
old and tried against the new and untried ? We stick to,
contend for, the identical old policy on the point in controversy
which was adopted by our fathers who framed the government
under which we live ; while you, with one accord, reject, and
scout, and spit upon that old policy, and insist upon substitu
ting something new. True, you disagree among yourselves
as to what that substitute shall be. You have considerable
variety of new propositions and plans, but you are unanimous
in rejecting and denouncing the old policy of the fathers.
Some of you are for reviving the foreign slave trade ; some for
a Congressional slave code for the Territories; some for
Congress forbidding the Territories to prohibit slavery within
their limits ; some for maintaining slavery in the Territories
through the Judiciary ; some for the ' gur-reat pur-rinciple'
that, ' if one man would enslave another, no third man should
object,' fantastically called 'Popular Sovereignty;' but never a
man among you in favor of Federal prohibition of slavery in
Federal Territories, according to the practice of our fathers
who framed the government under which we live. Not one
of all your various plans can show a precedent or an advocate
in the century within which our government originated. Con
sider, then, whether your claim of conservatism for yourselves ,
and your charge of destructiveness against us, are based on the
most clear and stable foundations.
"Again you say we have made the slavery question more
prominent than it formerly was. We deny it. We admit that
it ia more prominent, but we deny that we made it so. It was
not we, but ypu, who discarded the old policy of the fathers,
We resisted, and still resist, your innovation; and thence
comes the greater promineiice of the question. Would you
have that question reduced to its, former proportions ? Go
back to that old policy. What has, beea -wiU be again, under
10
146 THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM tiNCOLN.
the same conditions. If yoti would have the peace of the old
times, re-adopt the precepts and policy of the old times.
"You charge that we stir up insurrections among your
slaves. We deny it. And what is your proof? Harper's
Ferry ! John Brown ! John Brown was no Eepublican ; and
you have failed to implicate a single Eepublican in his Harper's
Ferry enterprise. If any member of our party is guilty in that
matter, you know it, or you do not know it. If you. do know
it, you are inexcusable to not designate the man, and prove the
fact. If you do not know it, you are 'inexcusable to assert it
and especially to persist in the assertion after you have tried
.Tind failed to make the proof You need not be tQld that per
sisting in a charge which one does not know to be true is
simply malicious slander.
" Some of you admit that ¦ no Eepublican designedly aided
or encouraged the Harper's Ferry affair ; but still insist that
our doctrines and declarations necessarily lead to such results.
We do not believe it. We know we hold to no doctrine, and
make no declarations which were not held to and made by our
fathers who framed the government under which we live.
You never deal fairly by us in relation to this affair. When
it occurred, some important State elections were near at hand,
and you were in evident glee with the belief that, by charging
the blame upon us, you could get an advantage of us in those
elections. The elections came and your expectations were not
quite fulfilled. Every Eepubbcan man knew that, as to him
self, at least, your charge was a slander, and he was not much
inclined by it to cast his vote in your favor. Eepublican doc
trines and declarations are accompanied with a continual pro
test against any interference whatever with your slaves, or with
you about your slaves. Surely, this does not encourage them
to revolt. True, we do, in common with our fathers who
framed the government under which we live, declare our
belief that slavery is wrong ; but the slaves do not hear us
declare even this. For any thing we say or do, the slaves
IN CONGRESS AND " ON THE STUMP." 147
would scarcely know there is a Eepublican party. I believe
they would not, in fact, generally know it but for your mis
representation of us in their hearing. In your political con
tests among yourselves, each faction charges the other with
sympathy Avith Black Eepublicanism ; and then, to give point
to the charge, defines Black Eepublicanism to simply be in
surrection, blood and thunder among the slaves.
"Slave insurrections are no more common now than they
were before the Eepublican party was organized. What in
duced the Southampton insurrection, twenty-eight years ago,
in which at least three times as many lives were lost as at
Harper's Ferry ! You can scarcely stretch your very elastic
fancy to the conclusion that Southampton was got up by Black
Eepublicanism. In the present state of things in the United
States, I do not think a general, or even a very extensive
slave insurrection, is possible. The indispensable concert of
action cannot be attained. The slaves have no means of rapid
communication ; nor can incendiary free men, black or white.
Supply it. The explosive materials are everywhere in parcels ;
but there neither are, nor can be supplied, the indispensable
connecting trains.
"Much is said by southern people about the affection of
slaves for their masters and mistresses ; and a part of it, at
least, is true. A plot for an uprising could scarcely be devised
ahd communicated to twenty individuals before some one of
them, to save the life of a favorite master or mistress, would
divulge it. This is the rule ; and the slave revolution in Hayti
was not an exception to it, but a case occurring under peculiar '
circumstances. The gunpowder-plot of British history,, though
not connected with the slaves, was more in point. In that
case, only about twenty were admitted to the secret ; and yet
one of them, in his anxiety to save a friend, betrayed the plot
to that friend, and, by consequence, averted the calamity.
Occasional poisonings from the kitchen, and open . or stealthy.
assassinations in the field, and local revolts extending to a
148 THE LIFE OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
score or so, will continue to occur as the natural results of
slavery ; but no general insurrection of slaves, as I think, can
happen in this country for a long time. Whoever much
fears, or much hopes, for such an event, will be alike disap
pointed. " In the language of Mr. Jefferson, uttered many years age,
' 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 place be, pari
pastu, 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 up.'
" 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
slaveholding States only.
"The Federal Government, however, as we insist, has the
power 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 in
surrection. 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 igno
rance, 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 alid emperors. An
¦ enthusiast broods over the oppression of a people till he
fancies himself commissioned by Heaven to liberate them. He
ventures the attempt, which ends in little else than his own
execution. Orsini's attempt on Louis Napdleon, and John
Brown's attempt at Harper'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.
IN CONGRESS AND "ON THE STUMP." 149
"And how much would it avail you, if you could, by the
use of John Brown, Helper's book, and the like, break up the
Eepublican organization? Human action can be modified to
some extent, but human nature cannot be changed. There is
a judgment and a feeling against slavery in this nation, which
cast at least a million and a-half of votes. You cannot destroy
that judgment and feeling — that sentiment — by breaking up
the political organization which rallies around it. You can
scarcely scatter and disperse an army which has been formed
into order in the face of your heaviest fire ; but if you could,
how much would you gain by forcing the sentitaent which
created it out of the peaceful channel of the ballot-box, into
some other channel ? What would' that other channel prob
ably be ? Would the number of John Browns be lessened or
enlarged by the operation.
" But you will break up the Union rather than submit to a
denial of your Constitutional rights.
" That has a somewhat reckless sound ; but it would be pal
Hated, if not fully justified, were we proposing, by the mere
force of numbers, to deprive you of some right plainly written
down in the Constitution. But we are proposing no such
thing. " When you make these declarations, you have a specific and
well-understood allusion to an assumed constitutional right of |
yours, to take slaves into the Federal Territories, and hold
them there as property. But no such right is specifically
written in the Constitution. That instrument is literally silent
about any such right. We, on the contrary, deny that such
a right has any existence in the Constitution, even by im
plication. " Your purpose, then, plainly stated, is, that you will destroy
the Government, unless you be allowed to construe and enforce
the Constitution as you please, on all points in dispute between
you and us. You will rule or ruin in all events.
" This, plainly stated, is your language to us. Perhaps you
150 THE LIFE OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
will say the Supreme Court has decided the disputed constitu
tional question in your favor. Not quite so. But waiving the
lawyer's distinction between dictum and decision, the courts
have decided the question for you in a sort of way. The courts
have substantially said, it is. your constitutional right to take
slaves into the Federal Territories, and to hold them there as
property. " When I say the decision was made in a sort of way, I mean
it was made in a divided court by a bare majority of the
judges, and they not quite agreeing with one another in the
reasons for ' making it ; that it is so made as that its avowed
supporters disagree with one another about its meaning, and
that it was mainly based upon a mistaken statement of fact —
the stateraent in the opinion that 'the right of property in a
slave is distinctly and expressly affirmed in the Constitution.'
"An inspection of the Constitution will show that the right
of property in a slave is not distinctly and expressly affirmed
in it. Bear in mind- the Judges do not pledge their judicial
opinion that such right is impliedly affirmed in the Constitution;
but they pledge their veracity that it is distinctly and expressly
affirmed there — ' distinctly' that is, not mingled with any thing
else — 'expressly' that is, in words meaning just that, without
the aid of any inference, and susceptible of no other meaning.
"If they had only pledged their judicial opinion that such
right is affirmed in the instrument by implication, it would be
open to others to show that neither the word 'slave' nor ' slavery'
is to be found in the Constitution, nor Ijae word 'property'
even, in any connection with language alluding to the things
slave, or slavery, and that wherever in that instrument the
slave is alluded to, he is called a 'person;' and wherever his
master's legal right in relation to him is alluded to, it is spoken
of as ' service or labor due,' as a ' debt' payable in service or
labor. Also, it would be open to show, by contemporaneous
history, that this mode of alluding to slaves and slavery,
instead of speaking of them, was employed on purpose to ex-
IN CONGRESS AND " ON THE STUMP." 151
elude from the Constitution the idea that there could be property
in man.
" To show all this is easy and certain.
" When this obvious mistake of the Judges shall be brought
to their notice, is it not reasonable to expect that they will
withdraw the mistaken statement, and reconsider the conclu
sion based upon it ?
'''And then it is to be remembered that ' our fathers, who
framed the government under which we live' — the men who
made the Constitution — decided this same constitutional ques
tion in our favor, long ago — decided it without a division
among themselves, when making the decision ; without division
among themselves about the meaning of it after it was made,
and so far as any evidence is left, without basing it upon any
mistaken statement of facts.
" Under all these circumstances, do you really feel yourselves
justified to break up this government, unless such a court
decision as yours is, shall be at once submitted to, as a conclu
sive and final rule of political action.
" But you will not abide the election of a Eepublican Presi
dent. In that supposed event, you say, you will destroy the
Union ; and then, you say, the great crime of having destroyed
it will be upon us !
" That is cool. A highwayman holds a pistol to my ear, and
mutters through his teeth, ' Stand and deliver, or I shall kill
you, and then you will be a murderer !'
" To be sure, wlmt the robber demanded of me — my money
¦ — was my own ; and I had a clear right to keep it ; but it was
no more my own than my vote is my own ; and threat of death
to me, to extort my money, and threat of destruction to the
Union, to extort my vote, can scarcely be distinguished in
principle. "A few words now to Eepublicans. It is exceedingly desira
ble that all parts of this great confederacy shall be at peace,
and in harmony, one with another. Let us Eepublicans do our
152 THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
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
present complaints against us, the Territories are scarcely
mentioned. Invasions and insurrections are the rage now
Will it satisfy them if, in the future, we have nothing to do
with invasions and insurrections ? We know it will not. We
so know because we know we never had any thing to do with
invasions and insurrections ; and yet this total abstaining does
not exempt us from the charge and the denunciation.
" The question recurs, what v/ill satisfy them ? Simply this
We must not only let them alone, but we must, somehow, con
vince them that we do let them alone. This, we know by ex
perience, is no easy task. We have been so trying to convince
them from the very beginning of our organization, but with no
success. In all our platforms and speeches we have constantly
protested our purpose to let thera 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 urrong, and join them in calling it right. And this
must be done thoroughly — done in acts as well as in words
Silence will not be tolerated — we must place ourselves avow
edly with them. Douglas's new sedition law must be enacted
and enforced, suppressing all declarations that slavery is
wrong, whether made in politics, in presses, in pulpits, or in
private. We must arrest and return their fugitive slaves with
IN CONGRESS AND "ON THE STUMP." 153
greedy pleasure. We must pull down our Free-State Consti
tutions. 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.
" I am quite aware they do not state their case precisely in
this way. Most of them would probably say to us, ' Let us
alone, do nothing to us, and say what you please about
slavery.' But we do let them alone — have never disturbed
them — so that, a-fter all, it is what we say, which dissatisfies
them. They will continue to accuse us of doing, until we
cease saying.
" I am also aware they have not, as yet, in terms demanded
the overthrow of our Free-State Constitutions. Yet those
Constitutions declare the wrong of slavery, with raore solemn
emphasis, than do ' all other sayings against it ; and when all
these other sayings shall have been silenced, the overthrow of
these Constitutions will be demanded, and nothing be left to
resist the demand. It is nothing to the contrary, that they do
not demand the whole of this just now. Demanding what
they do, and for the reason they do, they can voluntarily stop
nowhere short of this consummation. Holding, as they do,
that slavery is morally right, and socially elevating, they can-.
not cease to deraand a full national recognition of it, as a legal
right; and a social blessing.
"Nor can we justifiably withhold this, on any ground save
our con-viction 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 right,
we cannot justly object to its nationality — its universality ; if i
is wrong, they cannot justly insist upon its extension — its
enlargement. 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 precise fact upon which depends the
whole controversy. Thinking it right, as they do, they are
154 THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
not to blame for desiring its full recognition, as being right ;
but, thinking it wrong, as we do, can we yield to them ? Can
we cast our votes -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 due 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, fearless and effectively. Let us be diverted by none ' of
those sophistical contrivances wherewith we are so indus
triously 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 a policy of ' don't care' on a question about
which all true men do care — such as Union appeals, beseech
ing true Union men to yield to Disunionists, reversing the
Divine rule, and calling, not the sinners, but the righteous to
repentance — such as invocations to Washington, imploring
men to unsay what Washington said, and undo what Washing
ton did.
"Neitlier let us be slandered from our duty hy false accusations
against us, nat frightened from it hy menaces of destruction to tlie
Government, nor of dungeons to ourselves. Let us have faith that
right maJces might, and in that faith, let us, to the end, dare to do
our duty, as we understand it."
This, the last of the great speeches of Mr. Lincoln,
of which there is any complete report, is beUeved to
have contributed, more than any thing else, to Mr.
Lincoln's success in the East, during the ensuing Presi
dential campaign. It forms a brilliant close to this
IN CONGRESS AND "ON THE STUMP." 155
period of his life, and a fitting prelude to that on which
he was about to enter.
It was during this visit to New York that the follow
ing incident occurred, as related by a teacher m the
Five-Points House of Industry, in that city :
" Our Sunday-school in the Five-Points was assembled, one
Sabbath morning, a few months since, when I noticed a tall,
and reraarkable-looking man enter the room and take a seat
among us. He listened with fixed attention to our exercises,
and his countenance manifested such genuine interest, that I
approached him and suggested that he might be willing to say
something to the children. He accepted the invitation with
evident pleasure, and coming forward began a. simple address,
which at once fascinated every little hearer, and hushed the
room into silence. His language was strikingly beautiful, and
his tones musical with intensest feeling. The little faces
around would droop into sad conviction as he uttered sen
tences of warning, and would brighten into sunshine as he
spoke cheerful words of promise. Once or twice he atterapted
to close his reraarks^ but the imperative shout of 'Go on!'
'Oh, do go on!' would corapel him to resume. As I looked
upon the gaunt and sinewy frame of the stranger, and marked
his powerful head and determined features, now touched into
softness by the impressions of the moment, I felt an irrepressi
ble curiosity to learn something more about him, and when he
was quietly leaving the room, I begged to know his name.
He courteously replied, ' It is Abra'm Lincoln, from Illinois I' "
156 THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
CHAPTER VI.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S NOMINATION AND ELECTION TO THE
PRESIDENCY OF THE UNITED STATES.
His nomination by the Republican National Convention. — Exciting
Scenes. — How he received the News.— Its Official Announcement to
him, — His Letter of Acceptance. — The composition of the Parties, and
the Canvass of I860.— He is elected President of the United States.—
Campaign Song, -'Abe of the "West."
On the 16th of May, 1860, the EepubUcan National
Convention assembled at Chicago, in an immense
building erected for the purpose, and called " The
Wigwam." There were four hundred and sixty-five
delegates, and the city was filled to overflowing with
earnest men, who had come there to press the claims
of their favorite candidates ; while the halls and cor
ridors of the hotels swarmed and buzzed with an eager
crowd. Excitement was on every face, politics on
every tongue.
Long before the hour for opening, the concourse of
people assembled around the doors numbered many
thousands more than could gain admittance to the
building. As soon as the doors were opened the entire
body of the Wigwam was soHdly packed with men,
and the seats in the galleries were equaUy closely
packed with ladies. The interior of the hall being
handsomely decorated with evergreens, statuary, and
flowers, presented a striking appearance. There were
NOMINATED AND ELECTED PRESIDENT. 157
not less than ten thousand persons m the buUding,
while vast throngs blocked the entrance, and filled the
grounds around, unable to obtain admission.
The opening day, (the 16th,) was taken up with
the organization of the Convention, the Hon. George
Ashmun, of Massachusetts, being appointed President;
and vice-presidents and secretaries being selected from
every State represented in the Convention. The
next da}-, (the 17th,) the Convention again assem
bled at ten o'clock, and, upon the adoption of rules,
it was agreed that a majority should nominate the
candidates. The committee on resolutions then reported the fol
lowing platform, which was adopted Avith enthusiasm,
the immense multitude of spectators rising to their feet,
with cheer upon cheer of applause.
THE PLATFORM OF THE EEPUBLICAN PART-i'.
''Resolved; That we, the delegated representatives of the Ee
publican electors of the United States in Convention assemblad,
in the discharge of the duty we owe to our constituents and
our country, unite in the following declarations.
"First. — That the history of the nation during the last four
years has fully established the propriety and necessity of the
organization and perpetuation of the Eepublican party, and
that the causes which called it into existence are permanent in
their nature, and now, more than ever before, demand its
peaceful and constitutional triumph.
"Second. — That the maintenance of the principles proraul
gated in the Declaration of Independence, and embodied in the
Federal Constitution, is essential to the preservation of our
r^abliean institiitions ; that the Federal Constitution, the'
rights of the States, and the Union of the States, must and
^hall be preserved ; and that we reassert ' these truths to be
158 THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
self-evident, that all men are created equal ; that they are en
dowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights ; that
among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among
men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the
governed.' "Third. — That to the Union of the States -this nation owes
its unprecedented increase in population ; its surprising de
velopment of material resources; its rapid augmentation of
wealth ; its happiness at home, and its honor abroad ; and we
hold in abhorrence all schemes for disunion, come ' from what
ever source they may; and we congratulate the country that
no Eepublican member of Congress has uttered or counte
nanced a threat of disunion, so often made by Democratic
members uf Congress without rebuke, and with applause from
their political associates ; and we denounce those threats of
disunion, in case of a popular overthrow of their ascendency, as
denying the vital principles of a free government, and as an
avowal of contemjolated treason, which it is the iraperative
duty of an indignant people strongly to rebuke and forever
silence. ¦"Fourth. — That the maintenance inviolate of the rights of the
States, and especially the right of each State to order and
control its own domestic institutions, according to its own
judgment exclusively, is essential to that balance of power on
which the perfection and endurance of our political faith
depends, and we denounce the lawless invasion by armed
force of any State or Territory, no matter under what pretext,
as among the gravest of crimes.
"Fifth. — That the present Democratic administration has far
exceeded our worst apprehensions in its measureless subser
viency to the exactions of a sectional interest, as is especially
evident in its desperate exertions to force the infamous Le
compton Constitution upon the protesting people of Kansas —
in construing the personal relation between master and servant
NOMINATED AND ELECTED PRESIDENT. 159
to involve an unqualified property in persons— in its attempted
enforcement everywhere, on land and sea, through the interven
tion of Congress and the Federal courts, of the extreme pre
tensions of a purely local interest, and in its general and
unvarying abuse of the power intrusted to it by a confiding
people. "Sixth. — That the people justly view with alarm the reck
less extravagance which pervades every department of the
Federal Government; that a return to rigid economy and
accountability is indispensable to arrest the systera of plunder
of the public treasury by favored partisans ; while the recent
startling developments of fraud and corruption at the Federal
metropolis, show that an entire change of administration is
imperatively demanded.
"Seventh. — That the new dogma that the Constitution, of its
own force, carries slavery into any or all the territories of the
United States, is a dangerous political heresy, at variance with
the explicit provisions of that instrument itself, with cotempo-
raneous expositions and with legislative and judicial precedent,
is revolutionary in its tendency, and subversive of the peace
and harmony of the country.
"Eighth. — That the normal condition of all the territories of
the United States is that of freedom ; that as our republican
fathers, when they had abolished slavery in all our national
territory, ordained that no person should be deprived of life,
liberty, or property, without the process of law, it becoraes our
duty, by legislation, whenever such legislation is necessary, to
maintain this provision of the Constitution against all attempts
to violate it; and we deny the authority of Congress, of a ter
ritorial legislature, or of any individuals, to give legal existence
to slavery in any Territory of the United States.
"Ninth. — That we brand the recent re-opening of the
-African slave trade, under the cover of our national flag,
aided by perversions of judicial power, as a crime against
humanity, a burning shame to our country and age ; and we
160 THE LIFE OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
call upon Congress to take prompt and efiicie-.it measures for
the total and final suppression of that execrable traffic.
" Tenth. — That in the recent vetoes by their Federal gover
nors, of the acts of the Legislatures of Kansas and Nebraska,
prohibiting slavery in those Territories, we find a practical
illustration of the boasted Democratic principle of non-inter
vention and popular sovereignty, embodied in the Kansas and
Nebraska bill, and ,a denunciation of the deception and fraud
involved therein.
"Eleventh. — That Kansas should of right be immediately
admitted as a State, binder the constitution recently formed
and adopted by her people and accepted by the House of
Eepresentatives. " Twelfth. — That while providing revenue for the support of
the General Government by duties upon iraposts, sound policy
requires such an adjustment of these iraposts as to encourage
the development of the industrial interest of the whole country,
and we commend that policy of national exchanges which
secures to the working man liberal wages, to ao-riculture re-
munerating prices, to mechanics and manufacturers an adequate
reward for their skill, labor, and enterprise, and to the nation
commercial prosperity and independence.
" Thirteenth. — That we protest against any sale or alienation
to others of the public lands held by actual settlers, and
against any view of the free homestead policy which regards
the settlers as paupers or supplicants for public bounty ; and
we demand the passage by Congress of the complete and
satisfactory homestead measure which has already passed the
House. " Fourteenth. — That the Eepublican party is opposed to any
change in our naturalization laws, or any State legislation
by which the rights of citizenship hitherto accorded to immi
grants from foreign lands shall be abridged or impaired ; and
in favor of giving a full and efficient protection to the rights
NOMINATED AND ELECTED PRESIDENT. 161
of all classes of citizens, whether native or naturalized, both
at home and abroad.
"Fifteenth. — That appropriations by Congress for river and
harbor improveraents, of a national character, required for the
accommodation and security of an existing commerce, are
authorized by the Constitution and justified by an obligation
of the government to protect the lives and property of its
citizens. " Sixteenth. — That a railroad to the Pacific' Ocean is impera
tively demanded by the interests of the whole country ; that
the Federal Government ought to render iraraediate and
eflicient aid in its construction, and that, as preliminary thereto,
a daily overland mail should be promptly established.
" Seventeenth. — Finally, having thus set forth our distinctive
principles and views, we invite the co-operation of all citizens,
however differing on other questions, who substantially agree
-with us in their alfirmance and support."
"A scene of the wildest excitement," says a specta
tor, "followed the adoption of this platform, the
immense multitude rising and giving round after round
of applause ; ten thousand voices swelled into a roar
so deafening that, for several minutes, every attempt
to restore order was hopelessly vain. The multitude
outside took up and re-echoed the cheers, making the
scene of enthusiasm and excitement unparalleled in
any simUar gathering."
All this was flashed by telegraph, through the
length and breadth of the whole Union, and on the
morrow, (the 18th,) the people all over the land stood
breathless and expectant, watching for the "coming
man." The wigwam was closely packed for a full
hour before the Convention assembled, and the excite
ment became intense as the time for balloting ap-
11
162 THE LIFE OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
proached. The Illinoisans had turned out in gTeat
numbers, zealous for Lincoln, and though the other
States, near and far, had sent many men who were
equally zealous for Mr. Seward, it was quite clear that
Mr. Lincoln's supporters were in the majority in the
audience. A crowd, numbering its thousands, had
been outside the building since nine o'clock, anxiously
awaiting intelligence from the inside. Arrangements
Jiad been made for passing the result of the ballots up
from the platform to the roof of the building, and
through tbe skylight, men being stationed above to
convey speedily the intelligence to the multitude in the
streets. A large procession, formed by the various delegations,
marched to the hall, preceded by bands of music, and
as it appeared upon the platform tbe several distin
guished men were greeted with rounds of applause by
the audience.
The Convention then proceeded to ballot for a candi
date for President of the United States. Seven names
were formally presented in the following order :
WUliam H. Seward, of New York ; Abraham Lincoln,
of Illinois ; William L. Dayton, of New Jersey ; Simon
Cameron, of Pennsylvania; Salmon P. Chase, of Ohio;
Edward Bates, of Missouri; and John McLean, of Ohio.
The first two of these names, in particular, were
greeted with loud and long-continued applause, and it
siDon become apparent that the chief contest was to
be between the experienced and polished statesman of
New York, and the homely, clear-headed pioneer of the
west. The first baUot gave Mr. Seward one hundred and
NOMINATED AND ELECTED PRESIDENT. 163
seventy-three and one-half votes to one hundred and
two for Mr. Lincoln, the rest being scattered, On the
second ballot the first indication of the result was fell,
when the chairman of the Vermont delegation, which
had been divided on the previous ballot, announced
when the name of that State was called, that "Vermont
casts her ten votes for the young giant of the west,
Abraham Lincoln." On the second ballot, Mr. Seward
had one hundred and eighty-four and one-half to one
hundred and eighty-one for Mr. Lincoln, and on the third
ballot Mr. Lincoln received two hundred and thirty
votes, being within one and one-half of a majority.
The vote was not announced, but so many everywhere
had kept the count that it was known throughout the
Convention at once. Mr. Carlin, of Ohio, rose and
announced a change in the vote of the Ohio delegation
of four votes in favor of Mr. Lincoln, whereupon the
Convention boUed over into a state of the wildest ex
citement. Mr. Andrews, of Massachusetts, then rose and corrected
the vote of Massachusetts, by changing four votes, and
gi-ving them to Lincoln, thus nominating him by two
and a half majority.
The Convention hereupon became still more wUdly
excited. A large portion of the delegates, who had kept tally,
at once said the struggle was decided, and half the Con
vention rose, cheering, shouting, and waving hats. The
cheers of the audience -within were answered by those
of a yet larger crowd without, to whom the result -w;as
announced. Cannon roared, bands played, banners
waved, and the excited Eepublicans of Chicago cheered
164 THE LITE OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
themselves hoarse. It was long before the Convention
could calm itself enough to proceed to business.
Then, as the choice became certain. State after State
struggled to be next in succession to change votes for
Lincoln. The whole number of votes cast at the next
ballot was four hundred and sixty-six, of which two
hundred and thirty-four were necessary to a choice.
Three hundred and fifty four were cast for Abraham
Lincoln, who was, thereupon, declared duly nomi
nated. When the loud applause with which the nomination
was greeted had somewhat subsided, Mr. Wilham
Evarts, of New York city, came forward and moved
that the nomination be made unanimous. The motion
was seconded by Mr. Andrews, of Massachusetts ; and
the nomination was, accordingly, concurred in with
unanimity. The excitement, consequent upon the nomination,
spread from the Convention to the audience -within the
building, and from them, like wildfire, to the crowds
•without, to whom the result had been announced. At
the close of Mr. Evarts' remarks, a life-size portrait of Mr.
Lincoln had been displayed from the platform, which was
greeted with bursts of uncontrollable applause. The
building shook with the shouts of the dehghted thou
sands beneath its roof, and, with cheer upon cheer, the
multitude in the streets caught up the glad acclaim;
while, amid the boom of artillery salutes, the undula
tion of banners, and the joyful strains of music, the
intelligence of the people's choice flashed over the wires
from Maine to Kansas, and from the Lakes to the Gulf.
The Convention completed their work the same after-
NOMINATED AND ELECTED PRESIDENT. 165
noon, by the nomination of the Hon. Hannibal Hamlin,
of Maine, for Vice President.
A pleasant anecdote is related of the manner in which
Mr. Lincoln received his nomination.
" He was at Springfield during the sitting of the Convention ;
and, ha-ring left the telegraphic ofiice after learning the result
of the first two ballots, was quietly conversing with some
friends in the of&ce of the State Journal, while the casting of
the third ballot was in progress. In a little time, the result
was received at the telegraph of&ce. The superintendent, who
was present, hastily wrote tipon a scrap of paper : ' Mr. Lincoln,
you are nominated on the third ballot ;' which he immediately
sent, by a boy, to Mr. Lincoln. A shout of applause greeted
the message throughout the office of the Journal, but Mr.
Lincoln received it in silence. Then he put the paper- in his
pocket, arose, and said quietly, before he left the room : ' There
is a little woman down at our house would like to hear this.
I'll go down and tell her.' This was his excuse for retiring to
the privacy of his own room, where he might commune with
himself alone."
The committee appointed by the National Convention
to wait upon Mr. Lincoln, and inform him of his nomi
nation, immediately performed their duty. A corre
spondent of the Chicago Journal gives the subjoined
graphic account of the visit of the committee :
" The excursion train bearing the committee appointed by
the National Convention at Chicago to wait on Mr. Lincoln and
notify him of his nomination, consisting of the President of the
Convention, the Hon. Geo. Ashmun of Massachusetts, and the
chairmen of the different State delegations, arrived at Springfield,
Friday evening, at seven o'clock-
166 THE LIFE OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
"A great crowd was awaiting them at the depot, and greeted
their coming with enthusiastic shouts. From the depot they
marched to the hotel, accompanied by the crowd, and two or
three bands discoursing stirring music. The appearance and
names of the more distinguished delegates were received with
vociferous applause, especially the venerable and famous
Francis P. Blair of Maryland, the Hon. E. D. Morgan, Governor
of New York, and Governor Boutwell of Massachusetts.
" When they arrived at the hotel, the crowd, still increasing,
deployed oif to the State House square, to give vent to their
enthusiasm in almost continual cheers, and listen to fervent
speeches. " Having partaken of a bountiful supper, the delegates pro
ceeded quietly, by such streets as would escape the crowd, to
the residence of Mr. Lincoln. Quite a number of outsiders
were along, among whom were half a dozen editors, including
the Hon. Henry J. Eaymond, of The New York Times.
"Among the delegates composing the committee were many
of the most distinguished men in that great Convention, such
as Mr. Evarts, of New York, the accomplished and eloquent
spokesman of the delegation from the Empire State, and friend
of Mr. Seward ; Judge Kelley of Pennsylvania, whose tall form
and sonorous eloquence excited so much attention ; Mr. Andrews
of Massachusetts, the round-faced, handsome man, who made
such a beautiful and telling speech on behalf of the old Bay
State, in seconding the motion to make Lincoln's nomination
unanimous; Mr. Simmons, the gray-headed United States
Senator from Ehode Island ; Mr. Ashmun, the President of the
Convention, so long the bosom friend and ardent admirer of
Daniel Webster, and the leader of the Massachusetts Whigs ;
the veteran Blair, and his gallant sons, Frank P. and Mont
gomery ; brave old Blakie, of Kentucky; Gallagher, the literary
man of Ohio; burly, loud-voiced Carter of Ohio, who announced
the four votes that gave Lincoln the nomination, and others
that I have not time to mention.
NOMINATED AND ELECTED PRESIDENT. 167
" In a few minutes (it now being about 8 P. M.), they were
at Lincoln's house — an elegant two-story dwelling, fronting
west, of pleasing exterior, with a neat and roomy appearance,
situated in the quiet part of the town, surrounded with shrub
bery. As they were passing in at the gate and up the steps;
two handsome lads of eight or ten years, met them with a
courteous 'Good-evening, gentlemen.'
" 'Are you Mr. Lincoln's son ?' said Mr. Evarts of New York.
'Yes, sir,' said the boy. 'Then llt's shake hands;' and they
began greeting him so warmly as to excite the younger one's
attention, who had stood silently by the opposite gatepost, and
he sang out, ' I'm a Lincoln, too ;' whereupon several delegates,
amid much laughter, saluted the young Lincoln.
" Having all collected in the large north parlor, Mr. Ashmun
addressed Mr. Lincoln, who stood at the east end of the room,
as follows :
'"I have, sir, the honor, in behalf of the gentlemen who are
present, a committee appointed by the Eepublican Convention,
recently assembled at Chicago, to discharge a most pleasant
duty. We have corae, sir, under a vote of instructions to that
committee, to notify you that you have been selected by the
Convention of the Eepublicans at Chicago, for President of the
United States. They instruct us, sir, to notify you of that
selection, and that comraittee deera it not only respectful
to yourself, but appropriate to the important matter which they
have in hand, that they should come in person, and present to
you the authentic evidence of the action of that Convention ;
and, sir, without any phrase which shall either be considered
personally plauditory to yourself, or which shall have any
reference to the principles involved in the questions which are
connected with your nomination, I desire to present to you the
letter which has been prepared, and which informs you of the
nomination, and with it the platform, resolutions, and senti
ments, which the Convention adopted. Sir, at your convenience.
168 THE LIFE OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
we shall be glad to receive from you such a response as it may
be your pleasure to give us.'
" Mr. Lincoln listened with a countenance grave and earnest,
almost to sternness, regarding Mr. Ashraun with the profoundest
attention, and at the conclusion of that gentleman's remarks,
after an impressive pause, he replied in a clear but subdued
voice, with that perfect enunciation, which always marks hi3
utterance, and a dignified sincerity of raanner suited to the man
and the occasion, in the following words :
" ' Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Committee : I
tender to you, and through you to the Eepublican National
Convention, and all the people represented in it, my profoundest
thanks for the high honor done me, which you now formally
announce. Deeply, and even painfully sensible of the great
responsibility which is inseparable from this high honor — a
responsibility which I could almost wish had fallen upon some
one of the far more eminent men and experienced statesmen
whose distinguished naraes were before the Convention, I shall,
by your leave, consider more fully the resolutions of the Con
vention, denominated the platform, and without unnecessary or
unreasonable delay, respond to you, Mr. Chairraan, 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.'
" Mr. Ashmun then introduced the delegates personally to
Mr. Lincoln, who shook them heartily by the hand. Governor
Morgan, Mr. Blair, Senator Simmons, Mr. Welles, and Mr. Fogg
of Connecticut, were first introduced ; then came hearty old
Mr. Blakie, of Kentucky, Lincoln's native State ; and, of course,
they had tc corapare notes, inquire up old neighbors, and, if
the tirae had allowed, they would soon have started to tracing
out the old pioneer farailies. Major Ben. Eggleston, of Cin
cinnati, was next, and his greeting and reception were equally
NOMINATED AND ELECTED PRESIDENT. 169
hearty. Tall Judge Kelley, of Pennsylvania, was then presented
by Mr. Ashmun to Mr. Lincoln. As they shook hands, each
eyed the other's ample proportions, with genuine admiration —
Lincoln, for once, standing erect as an Indian during this even
ing, and showing his tall form in its full dignity.
"'What's your height?' inquired Lincoln.
"' Six feet three ; what is yours, Mr. Lincoln?' said Judge
Kelley, in his round, deliberate tone.
'"Six feet four,' replied Lincoln.
"'Then,' said Judge Kelley, 'Pennsylvania bows to Illinois.
My dear man, for years my heart has been aching for a Presi
dent that I could look up to, and I've found him at last, in the
land where we thought there were none but little giants.''*
" Mr. Evarts, of New York, expressed very gracefully his
gratification at raeeting Mr. Lincoln, whom he had heard at
Cooper Institute, but where, on account of the pressure and
crowd, he had to go away without an introduction.
"Mr. Andrews, of Massachusetts, said, 'We claim j^ou, Mr.
Lincoln, as coming from Massachusetts, because all the old
Lincoln name are from Plymouth Colony.'
" '.We'll consider it so this evening,' said Lincoln.
" Various others were presented, when Mr. Ashmun asked
them to come up and introduce themselves.
"'Come up, gentlemen,' said Mr. Judd, 'it's nobody but Old
Abe Lincoln.' The greatest good feeling prevailed. As the
delegates fell back, each congratulated the other that they had
got just the sort of man. A neatly-dressed New Englander
remarked to us, ' I was afraid I should meet a gigantic rail-
splitter, -with the manners of a flatboatman, and the ugliest face
in creation ; and he's a complete gentleman.'
" Mrs. Lincoln received the delegates in the south parlor,
where they were severally conducted after their official duty
* Judge Douglas, the Democratic nominee for President, -was familiarly
Known as " The Little Giant."
170 THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
was performed. It will, no doubt, be a gratification to those
who have not seen this amiable and accomplished lady, to know
that she adorns a drawing-room, presides over a table, does the
honors on an occasion like the present, or will do the honors
at the White House, with appropriate grace. She is a daughter
of Dr. Todd, formerly of Kentucky, and long one of the promi
nent citizens of Springfield. She is one of three sisters, noted
for their beauty and accoraplishraents. One of them is now
the wife of Ninian W. Edwards, Esq., son of old Governor
Edwards. Mrs. Lincoln is now apparently about thirty-five
years of age, is a very handsome woman, with a vivacious and
graceful manner ; is an interesting, and often sparkling talker.
Standing by her almost gigantic husband, she appears petite,
but is really about the avera^ge height of ladies. They have
three sons, two of them already mentioned, and an older one —
a young man of sixteen or eighteen years, now at Harvard
College, Massachusetts.
" Mr. Lincoln bore himself during the evening with dignity
and ease. His kindly and sincere manner, frank and honest
expression, unaffected, pleasant conversation, soon made every
one feel at ease, and rendered the hour and a half which they
spent with him one of great pleasure to the delegates. He was
dressed with perfect neatness, almost elegance — though, as all
Illinoisans know, he usually is as plain in his attire as he is
modest and unassuming in deportment. He stood erect, dis
playing to excellent advantage his tall and manly figure.
" It is needless to say that the people of Springfield were
delirious with joy and enthusiasm that evening. As the dele
gates returned to the hotel — the sky blazing with rockets,
cannon roaring at intervals, bonfires blazing at the street-
corners, long rows of buildings brilliantly illuminated, the
State House overflowing with shouting people, speakers awa
kening new enthusiasm — one of the New England delegates
remarked that there were more enthusiasna and skyrockets
than he ever saw in a town of that size before."
NOMINATED AND ELECTED PRESIDENT. 171
A correspondent of the New York Evening Post,
described this visit to Mr. Lincoln in the following
manner :
"It had been reported by some of Mr. Lincoln's political
enemies, that he was a man who lived in the ' lowest hoosier
style,' and I thought I wotild see for myself. Accordinglv, as
soon as the business of the Convention was closed, I took the
• cars for Springfield. I found Mr. Lincoln living in a handsorae
but not pretentious double two-story frame house, having a
wide hall running through the centre, with parlors on both
sides, neatly but not ostentatiously furnished. It was just such
a dwelling as a majority of the well-to-do residents of these
fine western towns occupy. Every thing about it had a look
of comfort and independence. The library, I remarked in
passing particularly, and I was pleased to see long rows of
books, which told of the scholarly tastes and culture of the
family. "Lincoln received us with great, and, to me, surprising ur
banity. I had seen him before in New York, and brought
with me an impression of his awkward and ungainly manner ;
but in his own house, where he doubtless feels himself freer
than in the strange New York circles, he had thrown this off,
and appeared easy, if not graceful. He is, as you know, a tall
lank man, with a long neck, and his ordinary movements are
unusually angular, even out west. As soon, however, as he,
gets interested in conversation, his face lights up, and his atti
tudes and gestures assume a certain dignity and irapressivenes.
His conversation is fluent, agreeable, and polite. You see at
once from it that he is a man of decided and original character.
His views are all his own — such as he has worked out from a
patient and varied scrutiny of life, and not such as he has
leamed from others. Yet he cannot be called opinionated. He
listens to others like one eager to learn, and his replies evince
at the same time both modesty and self-reliance. I should say
that sound common-sense was the principal quality of his mind.
172 THE LIFE OF ABRxiHAM LINCOLN.
although at times a striking phrase or word reveals a peculiar
vein of thought. He tells a story well, with a strong idiomatic
smack, and seems to relish humor, both in himself and others.
Our conversation was raainly political, but of a general nature.
One thing Mr. Lincoln remarked which I will venture to repeat.
He said that in the coming Presidential canvass he was wholly
uncommitted to any cabals or cliques, and that he meant to
keep himself free from them, and from all pledges and pro
mises. " I had the pleasure, also, of a brief interview with Mrs.
Lincoln, and, in the circumstances of these persons, I trust I
am not trespassing on the sanctities of private life in saying a
word in regard to that lady. Whatever of awkwardness raay
be ascribed to her husband, there is none of it in her. On the
contrary, she is quite a pattern of lady-like courtesy and polish.
She converses with freedora and grace, and is thoroughly aw /ra'i
in all the little araenities of society. Mrs. Lincoln belongs, by
the mother's side, to the Preston faraily of Kentucky, has re
ceived a liberal and refined education, and, should she ever
reach it, will adorn the White House. She is, I am told, a
strict and consistent member of the Presbyterian church.
" Not a man of us who saw Mr. Lincoln but was impressed
by his ability and character. In illustration of the last, let me
mention one or two things, which your readers I thinlr will be
pleased to hear. Mr. Lincoln's early life, as you know, was
^passed in the roughest kind of experience on the frontier, and
among the roughest sort of people. Yet, I have been told, that
in the face of all these influences, he is a strictly temperate
man, never using wine or strong drink ; and, stranger still, he
does not 'twist the filthy weSd,' nor smoke, nor use profane
language of any kind. When we consider how common these
vices are all over our country, and particularly in the west, it
must be admitted that it exhibits no kttle strength of character
to have refrained frora thera.
" Mr. Lincoln is popular with his friends and neighbors ; the
NOMINATED AND ELECTED PRESIDENT. 173
habitual equity of his mind points him out as a peacemaker
and composer of difficulties ; his integrity is proverbial ; and
his legal abilities are regarded as of the highest order. The
soubriquet of ' Honest Old Abe,' has been won by years of
upright conduct, and is the popular homage to his probity.
He carries the marks of honesty in his face and entire de
portment. " I am the more convinced, by this personal intercourse with
Mr. Lincoln, that the action of our Convention was altogether
judicious and proper."
On the 23d, Mr. Lincoln formally replied to the
official annomicement of his nomination by the follow
ing brief letter : " Springfield, Illinois, May 23c/, 1860.
"Hon. George Ashmun, President of the Republican National
Convention :
"Sir: — I accept the nomination tendered me hy the Conven
tion over which you presided, and of which I am formally
apprised in the letter of yourself and others, acting as a
committee of the Convention for that purpose.
" The declaration of principles and sentiments, which accom
panies your letter, meets my approval ; and it shall be my care
not to violate or disregard it, in any part.
"Imploring the assistance of Divine Providence, and with
due regard to the viev/s and feelings of all who were repre
sented in the Convention ; to the rights of all the States and
Territories, and people of the nation ; to the inviolability of the
Constitution, and the perpetual union, harmony and prosperity
of all, I am most happy to cooperate for the practical success
of the jjrinciples declared by the Convention.
"Your obliged friend and fellow-citizen,
"Abraham Lincoln."
174 THE LIFE OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
To the western Republicans, the news of this nomi
nation was, generally, very acceptable. Not only did
they recognize in Abraham Lincoln a man of integrity
and simple virtue, but one in whom was embodied the
truly democratic element of free America, a freedom-
lover, a right-respecter, and a noble, talented statesman,
sprung from the very heart of the masses. Confident
of their man and devoted to the principles set forth in
the platform adopted l^y the Convention — tbey entered
tbe contest with a zeal and industry which were without
parallel in the liistory of the country.
But, in the Eastern States, there ^ivas at first, a feel
ing of surprise and disappointment, at the nomination
made at Chicago. Mr. Seward, then in the culmination
of his good fame, was the favorite of the East, and
when the new and comparatively unkno-\vn name of
Lincoln v.-as announced, they heard the result coldl}',
and with despondency. To them he was an almost
unknown, an unprepossessing man, apparently ill-fitted
for a crisis which they felt to be the gravest in American
history, and one demanding all the powers of the ablest
and most experienced statesman. They took him, as it
were, " on trust," on the recommendation of his
western friends. "But" as has been well said, "it
turned out not to be a chance. The profound good
opinion which the people of Illinois and of the West
had conceived of him, and which they had imparted
to their colleagues, that they also might justify them
selves to their constituents at home, was not rash,
though they did not begin to know the richness of his
worth." So the party took up the ticket -with zeal and the
NOMINATED AND ELECTED PRESIDENT. 175
country rang with the battle-cry of "Lincoln and
Hamlin." The Democratic party was rent in twain. Many of
its life-long supporters, alarmed at the violence of
the southern leaders, the imperiousness of their de
mands, and their manifest determination to drive
matters to the alternative of civU war, had rallied
around Judge Douglas, hoping that a moderate policy,
under a Democratic President, might mfluence a return
to calmness and reason, and ultimately to a compromise
between the extreme elements then agitating the
country. The Democratic Convention at Charleston,
S. C, was, however, broken up by tbe ultraism of the
South, and the delegates formed two different bodies,
with separate platforms and candidates. Stephen A.
Douglas was the nominee of the moderate or "anti-
slavery, total indiflference" party, with Herschell V.
Johnson as candidate for Vice President ; and John G.
Breckinridge, then actually Vice President of the United
States, was the Presidential candidate of the extreme
Southern men, with Mr. Lane, of Oregon. A fourth,
or "conservative Union" ticket was also presented to
the public, in the vain hope of healing dissension, with
the names of John Bell, of Tennessee, and Edward
Everett, of Massachusetts.
The country "stripped itself" promptly and zealously
to the work of canvass and election, with an interest
and deep feehng which it is impossible to describe.
The result, however, could not long be doubtful. The
Eepublicans were enthiusiastic, well organized, and hope
ful. The Democracy was a house divided against
itself, and consequently dispirited ; while the southern
176 THE LIFE OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
section absolutely courted a defeat, whose certainty
they had already planned, as a pretext for the secession
movement which they contemplated.
The result of the ensuing election, of November 6th,
186-0, was, that Mr. Lincoln received four hundred and
ninety-one thousdnd, two hundred and seventy-five ove'
Mr. Douglas; one million, eighteen thousand, four
hundred and ninety-nine over Mr. Breckinridge; and
one million, two hundred and seventy-five thousand,
eight hundred and twenty-one over Mr. Bell ; and the
electoral vote, subsequently proclaimed by Congress,
was — for Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois, one hundred
and eighty; for John C. Breckinridge, of Kentucky,
seventy-two ; for John Bell, of Tennessee, thirty-nine ;
for Stephen A. Douglas, of Illinois, twelve. The follow
ing States cast their electoral votes for Mr. Lincoln:
Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode
Island, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio,
Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota,
California — sixteen in number.
The votes of Maryland, Delaware, North Carolina,
South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Louisiana,
Mississippi, Arkansas and Texas, eleven States, were
cast for Breckinridge and Lane. The votes of Virginia,
Kentucky and Tennessee, were cast for Bell and Everett.
The electoral vote of Missouri was given for Douglas
and Johnson. The vote of New Jersey was divided,
four being given for Lincoln, and three for Douglas.
The aggregate popular vote for each of the Presi
dential candidates, at this election, was as follows : for
Mr. Lincoln, one million, eight hundred and sixty-
six thousand, four hundred and fifty-two; for Mr.
NOMINATED AND ELECTED PRESIDENT. 177
Douglas, one million, three hundred and seventy-five
thousand, ope hundred and fifty-seven ; for Mr. Breck
inridge, eight hundred and forty-seven thousand, nine
hundred and fifty-three ; and for Mr. Bell, five hundred
and ninety thousand, six hundred and thirty-one. . The
total vote for the two loyal candidates, was three
mUHon, two hundred and forty-one thousand, six hun
dred and nine.
Among the many stirring songs, which were at once
the effect and the stimulant of the popular enthusiasm
during the ensuing campaign, none were more popular
or meritorious than the foUo-wiilg, by William Henry
Burleigh, of New York :
" Up, again for the conflict ! our banner fling out.
And rally around it -with song and with shout !
Stout of heart, firm of hand, should the gallant boys be,
"Who bear to the battle the Flag of the Free !
Like our fathers, when Liberty called to the strife,
They should pledge to her cause fortune, honor, and life !
And follow wherever she beckons them on,
' Till Freedom exults in a victory won !
J Then fling out the banner, the old starry banner,
The battle-torn banner that beckons us on I
" They come from the hillside, they come from the glen —
From the streets thronged with traffic, and surging with men ;
From loom and from ledger, from workshop and farm,
The fearless of heart, and the mighty of arm.
As the mountain-born torrents exultingly leap,
"When their ice-fetters melt, to the breast of the deep ;
As the winds of the prairie, the waves of the sea.
They are coming — are coming — the Sons of the Free !
Then fling out the banner, the old starry banner,
The war-tattered banner, the Flag of the Free !
12
178 THE LIFE OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
'' Our Leader is one who, with conquerless will.
Has climbed from the base to the brow of the hill ;
Undaunted in peril, unwavering in strife.
He has fought a good fight in the Battle of Life.
And we trust him as one who, come woe or come weal.
Is as firm as the rock, and as true as the steel.
Eight loyal and brave, with no stain on his crest,
Then hurrah, boys, for honest ' Old Abe of the "West !'
And fling out your banner, the old starry banner,
The signal of triumph for ' Abe of the "West !'
" The "West, whose broad acres, from lake-shore to sea.
Now wait for the harvest and homes of the free !
Shall the dark tide of Slavery roll o'er the sod,
That Freedom makes bloom like the garden of God ?
The bread of our children be torn from their mouth.
To feed the fierce dragon that preys on the South ?
No, never ! the trust which our Washington laid
On us, for the Future, shall ne'er be betrayed !
Then fling out the banner, the old starry banner,
And on to the conflict with hearts undismayed !"
THE GATHERING STORM. 179
CHAPTER VII.
THE GATHERING STORM IN THE SOUTHERN POLITICAL
HORIZON.
Traitorous movements in the South. — Duplicity of Southern men in the
Cabinet. — Imbecility or complicity of President Buchanan. — Secession
of South Carolina. — The Montgomery (Ala.) Convention. — Formation
of the new Confederacy. — Election of Davis as its Head. — Policy of the
Confederacy towards the United States.^Opinions of the Eebel
Leaders. — Resignation of Southern men from the United States
Cabinet and Congress. — Course of events at the North. — The Critten
den Compromise. — Resolutions of the House. — The Peace Convention,
and its Resolutions.
Scarcely was the result of the popular vote made
kno-wn than various movements in the southern States
indicated a purpose of traitorous resistance, and it soon
became apparent that even members of the Government
under the Presidency of Mr. Buchanan, had officially
given it their sanction and aid. On the 29th of Octo
ber, General Scott sent to the President and John B.
Floyd, his Secretary of War, a letter expressing appre
hensions lest the southern people should seize sonle of
the Federal forts in the southern States, and advising
that they should be immediately garrisoned by way of
precaution. The Secretary of War, according to state
ments, subsequently made by one of his eulogists in
Virginia, "thwarted, objected, resisted, and forbade"
the adoption of those measures, which, according to the
same authority, if carried into execution, would have
180 THE LIFE OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
defeated the conspiracy, and rendered impossible the
formation of a Southern Confederacy. A subsequent
official report from the Ordnance Department, dated
January, 16, 1861, " shows that, during the year 1860,
and preyioiis to the Presidential election, one hundred
and fifteen thousand muskets had been removed from
northern armories and sent to southern arsenals, by a
single order of the Secretary of War, issued on the 30th
of December, 1859." The quotas of Government arms
for the southern States were, thus, not only filled by
the Secretary, with the full knowledge that they were
to be used against the laws and the Constitution, but
the perfidious official, anticipating the resolution, sent
two years' quotas where only one was due — thus strip
ping the arsenals, and depriving the northern States
of the material for arming their citizens to preserve the
Union. And, further to aid the plans of the conspirators, on
the 20th of November the Attorney-General, Hon. John
S. Black, in reply to inquiries of the President, gave
hun the official opinion that Congress had no right to
carry on war against any State, either to prevent a
threatened violation of the Constitution or to enforce
an acknowledgment that the Government of the United
States is supreme : a theory which it soon became
apparent that the President had adopted as the basis
and guide of his executive action.
MeanwhUe, southern men, members of Mr. Buchanan's
cabinet were, during these months, as they had been
previously, busy plundering the public treasury of
money and munitions of war, and in every way con
tributing to the future embarrassment of the country.
THE GATHERING STORM. 181
And the pitiable, weak-minded, terrified chief magis
trate, sat trembling in the gubernational chair, pleading
with traitors to wait until he should have resigned his
office, and declaring that he could see no constitutional
power in the Government to defend its laws, or vindicate
its authority. A nation's silent contempt had fallen
upon him, and there it will forever rest.
We quote from Mr. Raymond's admirable summary
of events :
' South Carolina took the lead in the secession movement.
Her Legislature assembled on the 4th of November, 1860, and
after castina; the electoral vote of the State for John C. Breck-
inridge to be President of the LTnited States, passed an act
the next day calling a State Convention to meet at Columbia
on the 17th of December. On the 10th, F. W. Pickens was
elected Governor, and, in his inaugural, declared the deter
mination of the State to secede, ou the ground, that, 'in the
recent election for President and Vice-President, the North
had carried the election upon principles that make it no longer
safe for us to rely upon the powers of the Federal Government
or the guarantees of the Federal corapact. This,' he added,
'is the great overt act of the people of the northern States,
who propose to inaugurate a chief magistrate not to preside
over the common interests or destinies of all the States alike,
but upon issues of malignant hostility and uncompromising
war to be waged upon the rights, the interests, and the peace
of half of the States of this Union.' The Convention met on
the 17th of December, and adjourned the next day to Charles
ton, on account of the prevalence of small pox at Columbia. ¦
On the 20th an ordinance was passed unanimously repealing
the ordinance adopted May 23, 1788, whereby the Constitu
tion of the United States was ratified, and 'dissolving the
union now subsisting between South Carolina and other States
under' the name of the United States of America ;' and on the'
182 THE LIFE, OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
24:th the Governor issued his proclamation, declaring the
State of South Carolina to be a 'separate, sovereign, free,
and independent State.'
"This was the first act of secession passed by any State.
The debates in the State Convention show clearly enough
that it was not taken under the impulse of resentment for any
sharp and remediless wrong, nor in apprehension that any such
wrong would be inflicted ; but in pursuance of a settled and
long-cherished purpose. In that debate Mr. Parker said that
the movement was 'no spasmodic effort — it had been grad
ually culminating for a long series of years.' Mr. Englis en
dorsed this remark, and added, 'Most of as have had this
matter under consideration for the last twenty years.' Mr.
L. M. Keitt said, ' I have been engaged in this movement ever
since I entered political life.' And Mr. Ehett, who had been
for raany years in the public service, declared that the ' seces
sion of South Carolina was not the event of a day. It is
not,' said he, ' any thing produced by Mr. Lincoln's election, or
by the non-execution of the Fugitive Slave Law. It is a
matter which has been gathering head for thirty years. The
election of Lincoln and Hamlin was the last straw on the back
of the camel. But it was not the only one. The back was
nearly broken before.' So far as South Carolina was concerned
there can be no doubt that her actions was decided by men
who had been plotting disunion for thirty years, not on ac
count of any wrongs her people had sustained at the hands of
the Federal Governraent, but from motives of personal and
sectional ambition, and for the purpose of establishing a gov
ernment which should be permanently and completely in the
interest of slavery.
"But the disclosures which have since been made, imperfect
comparatively as they are, prove clearly that the whole seces
sion movement was in the hands of a few conspirators, who
had their headquarters at the national Capital, and were them
selves closely connected with the Government of the United
THE GATHERING STORM. 183
States. A secret meeting of these men was held at Washing
ton on the night of* the 5th of January, 1861, at which, the
Senators from Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas,
Mississippi, and Florida were present. They decided, by-
resolutions, that each of the southern States should secede
from the Union as soon as possible ; that a Convention of
seceding States should be held at Montgomery, Alabaraa, not
later than the 15th of February; and that the Senators and
members of Congress from the southern States ought to
remain in their seats as long as possible, in order to defeat
measures that might be proposed at Washington hostile to
the secession movement. Davis of Mississippi, Slidell of
Louisiana, and Mallory of Florida, were appointed a committee
to carry these decisions into effect ; and, in pursuance of them,
Mississippi passed an ordinance of secession January 9th ;
Alabama and Florida, January llth ; Louisiana, January 26th,
and Texas, February 5th. All these acts, as well as all which
followed, were simply the execiition of the behests of this
secret conclave of conspirators who had resolved upon seces
sion. In all the Conventions of the seceding States, delegates
were appointed to meet at Montgomery. In not one of thera
was the question of secession submitted to a vote of the people-
although in sorae of them the Legislatures had expressly for
bidden them to pass any ordinance of secession without making
its validity depend on its ratification by the popular vote.
The Convention met at Montgomery on the 4th of February,
a,nd adopted a provisional constitution, to continue in opera-
ration for one year. Under this constitution Jefferson Davis
was elected President of the new Confederacy, and Alex. H.
Stephens, of Georgia, Vice-President. Both were inaugurated
on the 18th. In an address delivered on his arrival at Mont
gomery, Mr. Davis declared that ' the tirae for compromise has
now passed, and the South is determined to maintain her posi
tion, and make all who oppose her smell southern powder and
feel southern steel, if coercion is persisted in.' He felt sure of
184 THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
the result ; it might be they would ' have to encounter inconve
niences at the beginning,' but he had nO doubts of the final
issue. The first part of his anticipation has been fully
realized ; it remains to be seen whether the end will be as
peaceful and satisfactory as he predicted.
"The policy of the new Confederacy towards the United
States was soon ofiicially made known. The government de
cided t6 maintain the status quo until the expiration of Mr.
Buchanan's term, feeling assured that with his declared be
lief that it would be unconstitutional to coerce a State, they
need apprehend from his administration no active hostility to
their designs. They had sorae hope that, by the 4th of March,
their new Confederacy would be so far advanced that the new
Administration might waive its purpose of coercion; and they
deeraed it wise not to do any thing which should rashly forfeit
the favor and support of ' that very large portion of the North
whose raoral sense was on their side.' Nevertheless, they
entered upon prorapt and active preparations for war. Con
tracts were raade in various parts of the south for the manu
facture of powder, shell, cannon balls, and other munitions
of war. Eecruiting was set on foot in several of the States.
A plan was adopted for the organization of a regular army
of the Confederacy, and on the 6th of March, Congress passed
an act authorizing a military force of one hundred thousand
men." Thus was opened a ncAv chapter in the history of
America, and thus were taken the first steps towards
overthrowing the Government and Constitution of the
United States, and establishing a new nation, with a
new Constitution, resting upon new principles, and aim
ing at new results.
After the new Confederacy had been organized, Mr.
A. H. Stephens, its Vice President, made an elaborate
speech t,o the citizens of Savannah, which is the most
THE GATHERING STORM. 185
authoritative and explicit statement of the character and
objects of the new government which was ever made.
Mr. Stephens said :
" The new constitution has put at rest forever all agitating
questions relating to our peculiar institution's — African slavery
as it exists among us — the proper status of the negro in our
form of civilization. This was the immediate cause of the late
rupture and present revolution. Jefferson, in his forecast, had
anticipated this, as the ' rock upon which the old Union would
split.' He was right. What was conjecture with him is now
a realized fact. But whether he fully comprehended the great
truth upon which that rock stood and stands, may be doubted.
The prevailing ideas entertained by him and most of the leading
statesmen at the time of the forraation of the old Constitution
were, that the enslavement of the African was in violation of
laws of nature ; that it was wrong in principle, socially, morally,
and politically. It was an evil they knew not well how to deal
with ; but the general o|3inion of the men of that day was, that,
somehow or other, in the order of Providence, the institution
would be evanescent and pass away. This idea, though not
incorporated in the Constitution, was the prevailing idea at the
time. The Constitution, it is true, secured every essential
guarantee to the institution while it should last, and hence no
arguraent can be justly used against the constitutional guaran
tees thus secured, because of the common sentiment of the day.
Those ideas, however, were fundamentally wrong. They rested
upon the assuraption of the equality of races. This was an
error. It was a sandy foundation, and the idea of a govern
ment built upon it was wrong^when the storm came and¬the
wind blew, it fell.
"Our new Oovernment is founded upon exactly the opposite
ideas ; iis foundations are laid, its corner-stone rests zipon the great
truth that the negro is not equal io the white m.an; that slavery,
subordination io the superior race, is Ms natural and moral condi-
186 THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
tion. This, our neiu Government, is ihe first in ihe Msto'ry of the
world, based upon this gi-eat physical, philosophical, and moral truth.
This truth has been slow in the process of its development,
like all other truths in the various departments of science. It
is even so amongst us. Many who hear me, perhaps, can
recollect well that this truth was not generally admitted even
within their day. The errors* of the past generation still clung
to many as late as t-vtenty years ago. Those at the North who
still cling to these errors with a zeal above knowledge, we
justly denominate fanatics."
Such was the course of events in the southern States
during the three months succeeding the election of
I'resident Lincoln.
Let us now see what occurred at Washington, and in
the loyal States of the North, during the same period
Congress met on the 3d of December, and received a
message from President Buchanan, in which the discon
tent of the southern States was ascribed to the violent
agitation in tbe North against slaverj^, which had created
dissatisfaction among the slaves, and created apprehen
sions of servile insurrection.
Commencing with this absurd proposition, Buchanan
vindicated tbe hostile action of the South, assuming
that it was prompted by these apprehensions ; but went
on to show that there was no right on the part of any
State to secede from the Union, whUe at the same time
he contended that the general Government had no
right to make war on any State for the purpose of pre
venting it from seceding, and closed this portion of his
message by recommending an amendment of the Consti
tution which should explicitly recognize the right of
property in slaves, and provide for the protection of that
THE GATHERING STORM. 187
right in all the Territories of the United States. The
belief that the people of South Carolina would make an
attempt to seize one or more of the forts in the harbor
of Charleston, created considerable uneasiness at Wash
ington ; and on the 9th of December the Representatives
from that State wrote to the President expressmg their
"strong convictions" that no such attempt would be
made pre-^dous to the action of that State Convention,
"provided that no reinforcements should be sent into
those forts, and their relative military status shall
remain as at present." On the 10th of December,
Howell Cobb resigned his office as Secretary of the
Treasury, and on the 14th General Cass resigned his
office as Secretary of State. The latter resigned because
the President refused to reinforce the forts in the harbor
of Charleston. On the 20th, the State of South Caro
Una passed the ordinance of secession, and on the 26 th
Major Anderson transferred his garrison from Fort
Moultrie to Fort Sumter. On the 29th, John B. Floyd
resigned his office as Secretary of War, alleging that the
action of Major Anderson was in violation of pledges
given by the Government that the military status of the
forts at Charleston should remain unchanged, and that
the President had declined to allow him to issue an
order, for which he had applied on the 27th, to with
draw the garrison from the harbor of Charleston. On
the 29th of December, Messrs. Barnwell, Adams, and Orr
arrived at Washington, as Commissioners from the State
of South Carolina, and at once opened a correspondence
with President Buchanan, asking for the delivery of the
forts and other government property at Charleston to
the authorities of South Carolina. The President re-
188 THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
plied on the 20th, reviewing the whole question —
stating that in removing from Fort Moultrie Major
Anderson acted solely on his own responsibUity, and
that his first impulse on hearing of it was to order him
to return, but that the occupation of the fort by South
Carolina and the seizure of the arsenal at Charleston
had rendered this impossible. The Commissioners re
plied on the 1st of January, 1861, insisting that the
President had pledged himself to maintain the status
of affairs in Charleston harbor previous to the removal
of Major Anderson from Fort Moultrie, and calling on
him to redeem this pledge. This communication the
President returned.
On the Bth of January the President sent a message
to Congress, calling their attention to the condition of
public affairs, declaring that while he had no right to
make aggressive war upon any State, it was his right
and his duty to " use military force defensively against
those who resist the federal officers in the execution of
their legal functions, and against those who assail the
property- of the Federal Government;" — but throwing
the whole responsibility of meeting the extraordinary
emergencies of the occasion upon Congress. On the
same day Jacob Thompson, of Mississippi, resigned his
office as Secretary of the Interior, because the Star of
the West had been sent on the 5th, by order of the
Government, with suppHes for Fort Sumter, in violation,
as he alleged, of the decision of the Cabinet. On the
10th, P. F. Thomas, of Maryland, who had replaced
Howell Cobb as Secretary of the Treasury, resigned,
and was succeeded by General John A. Dix, of New
York.
THE GATHERING STORM. 189
The debates and the action of Congress throughout
the session related mainly to the questions at issue
between the two sections. The discussion opened on
the 3d of December as soon as the President's Message
had been read. The southern Senators generally treated
the election of the previous November as having been a
virtual decision against the equality and rights of the
slaveholding States. The Republican members dis
avowed this construction, and proclaimed their willing
ness to adopt any just and proper measures which would
quiet the apprehensions of the South, while they in
sisted that the authority of the Constitution should be
maintained, and the constitutional election of a President
should be respected. At the opening of the session, Mr.
Powell, of Kentucky, in the Senate, moved the reference
of that portion of the President's Message which related
to the sectional difficulties of the country, to a select
committee of thirteen. This resolution being adopted,
Mr. (Jrittenden introduced a series of joint resolutions,
afterwards known as the Crittenden Compromise — pro
posing to submit to the action of the people of the
several States the following amendment to the Consti
tution :
" 1. Prohibiting slavery in all the territory of the United
States north of 36° 30', and protecting it as property in> all
territory south of that line ; and admitting into the Union, with
or without slavery, as its Constitution might provide, any State
that might be formed out of such territory, whenever its popu
lation should be sufficient to entitle it to a member of Con
gress. " 2. Prohibiting Congress from abolishing slavery in places
under its exclusive jurisdiction, within slave States.
190 THE LIFE OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
" 8. Prohibiting Congress from abolishing slavery within the
District of Columbia, so long as slavery should exist in Vir
ginia or Maryland ; or without the consent of the inhabitants
or without just compensation to the owners.
"4. Prohibiting Congress frora hindering the transportation
of slaves from one State to another, or to a Territory in which
slavery is allowed.
" 5. Providing that where a fugitive slave is lost to his owner
by violent resistance to the execution of the process of the law
for his recovery, the United States shall pay to said owner his
full value, and may recover the same from the county in which
such rescue occurred.
" 6. These provisions were declared to be unchangeable by
any future amendment to the Constitution, as were also the
existing existing articles relating to the representation of slaves
and the surrender of fugitives"
Mr. Crittenden's resolutions also embodied certain
declarations in affirmance of the constitutionality and
binding force of the fugitive sla-ve law — recommendmg
the repeal by the States of all bills the effect of which
was to hinder the execution of that law — proposing to
amend it by equalizing its fees, and urging the effectual
execution of the law for the suppression of the African
slave trade.
These resolutions were referred to a committee of
thirteen, which, on the thirty-first of December, r(i-
ported that they " had not been able to agree upon any
general plan of adjustment." The whole subject was
discussed over and over again during the residue of the
session ; no final action being taken until the very day
of its close. Between the twenty-first of January and
the fourth of February, the representatives of Florida,
THE GATHERIffG STORM. 191
Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana, vacated
their seats in the Senate.
In the House of Representatives the debates took the
same general direction as in the Senate, and on the first
day of the session, a resolution was adopted, by a vote
of one hundred and forty-five to thirty-eight, to refer so
much of the President's message as related to the peril
ous condition of the country to a committee of one from
each State. In a few days the committee reported the
following series of resolutions, and recommended their
adoption :
Resolved by ihe Senate and Souse of Representatives of ihe
United States of America in Congress assembled. That all attempts
on the parts of the Legislatures of any of the States to obstruct
or hinder the recovery and surrender of fugitives frora service
or labor, are in derogation of the Constitution of the United
States, inconsistent with the coraity and good neighborhood
that should prevail araong the several States and dangerous to
the peace of the Union.
Resolved, That the several States be respectfully requested to
cause their statutes to be revised, with a view to ascertain if
any of them are in conflict with or tend to erabarrass or hinder
the execution of the laws of the United States, made in pur
suance of the second section of the fourth article of the Consti
tution of the United States, for the delivering up of persons
held to labor by the laws of any State, and escaping therefrom ;
and the Senate and House of Eepresentatives earnestly request
that all enactments having such tendency be forthwith repealed,
as required by a just sense of constitutional obligations, and
by a due regard for the peace of the Eepublic ; and the Presi
dent of the United States is requested to comraunicate these
resolutions to the Governors of the several States, with a re
quest that they will lay the same before the Legislatures thereof
respectively.
192 THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
Resolved, That we recognize slavery as now existing in fifteen
of the United States, by the usages and laws of those States ;
and we recognize no authority, legally or otherwise, outside of
a State where it so exists, to interfere with slaves or slavery in
such States, in disregard of the rights of their owners or the
peace of society.
Resolved, That we recognize the justice and propriety of a
faithful execution of the Constitution, and laws made in pur
suance thereof, .on the subject of fugitive slaves, or fugitives
from service or labor, and discountenance all mobs or hin
drances to the execution of such laws, and that citizens of
each State shall be entitled to all the privileges and immunities
of citizens in the several States.
Resolved, That we recognize no such conflicting elements in
its composition, or sufficient cause from any source, for a disso
lution of this government ; that -we were not sent here to
destroy, but to sustain and harmonize the institutions of the
country, and to see that equal justice is done to all parts of
the same ; and finally, to perpetuate its existence, on terms of
equality and justice to all the States.
Resolved, That a faithful observance, on the part of all the
States, of all their constitutional obligations to each other and
to the Federal Government, is essential to the peace of the
country. Resolved, That it is the duty of the Federal Government ta
enforce the federal laws, protect the federal property, and pre
serve the Union of these States.
Resolved, That each State be requested to revise its statutes,
and, if necessary, so to araend the same as to secure, without
legislation by Congress, to citizens of other States travelling
therein, the sarne protection as citizens of such State enjoy ;
and also to protect the citizens of other States travelling or
sojourning therein, against popular violence or illegal summ^ary
punishment, without trial in due form of law for imputed
crimes.
THE GATHERING STORM. 193
Resolved, That each State be also respectfully requested to
enact such laws as will prevent and punish any attempt what
ever in such State to recognize oj- set on foot the lawless inva
sion of any other State or Territory.
Resolved, That the President be requested to transmit copies
of the foregoing -resolutions to the Governors of the several
States, with a request that they be communicated to their re
spective Legislatures.
These resolutions were intended, and admirably cal
culated to calm the apprehensions of the people of the
slaveholding States as to any disposition on the part of
the Federal Government to interfere with slavery, or
withhold from them any of their constitutional rights;
and, in a House controlled by a large Republican ma
jority,. they were adopted by a vote of ayes one hundred
and thirty-six, noes fifty-three. Not content with this
effort to satisfy all just complaints on the part of the
southern States, the same committee reported the fol
io-wing resolution, recommending that
"No amendment shall be made to the Constitution which
will authorize or give to Congress the power to abolish or in
terfere, within any State, with the domestic institutions thereof,
including that of persons held to labor or service by the laws
of said State."
This resolution was adopted by a vote of one hundred
and thirty-three to sixty-five — more than tioo-thirds in
its favor. This closed the action of the House of Repre
sentatives, at this session, on this important subject,
though it had pre-viously adopted, by a unanimous vote,
the following declaratory resolution :
Reso.had, That neither the Federal Government nor the peo-
13
194 THE LIFE OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
pie, or the governments of the non-slaveholding States, have
the right to legislate upon or interfere with slavery in any of
the slaveholding States in the Union.
The action of the Senate was somewhat modified by
the intervening action of a Peace Conference, which
assembled at Washington on the 4th of February, in
pursuance of a recommendation of the State of Virginia,
embodied in resolutions adopted by the General Assem
bly of that State on the 19th of January. It consisted
of delegates, one hundred and thirty-three in number,
from twenty-one States — none of those which had sece
ded being represented. John Tyler, of Virginia, was
appointed president, and a committee, consisting of one
from each State, was appointed, with authority to
"report what they may deem right, necessary, and
proper to restore harmony and preserve the Union."
On the 15th of February the committee reported the
following preamble and resolutions :
To the Congress of ihe United States :
The Convention assembled upon the invitation of the State
of Virginia to adjust the unhappy differences which now dis
turb the peace of the Union and threaten its continuance, make
known to the Congress of the United States, that their body
convened in the city of Washington on the 4th instant, and
continued in session until the 27th.
There were in the body, when action was taken upon that
which is here submitted, one hundred and thirty-three com
missioners, representing the following States: Maine, New
Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Ehode Island, Connecti
cut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Mary
land, Virginia, North Carohna, Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri,
Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas.
THE GATHERING STORM. 195
They have approved what is here-with submitted, and re
spectfully request that your honorable body will submit it to
conventions in the States as an article of amendment to tb-j
Constitution of the United States.
Section 1. In all the present territory of the United States,
north of the parallel of thirty-six degrees and thirty minutes
of north latitude, involuntary servitude, except in punishment
of crime, is prohibited. In all the present territory south of
that line, the status of persons held to involuntary service or
labor, as it now exists, shall not be changed ; nor shall any law
be passed by Congress or the Territorial Legislature to hinder
or prevent the taking of such persons from any of the States
of this Union to said Territory, nor to impair the rights
arising from said relation ; but the same shall be subject to
judicial cognizance in the Federal Courts, according to the
course of the common law. When any Territory north or
south of said line, within such boundary as Congress may pre
scribe, shall contain a population equal to that required for a
member of Congress, it shall, if its form of government be re
publican, be admitted into the Union on an equal footing with
the original States, with or -without involuntary servitude a's
the constitution of such State may provide.
Section 2. No territory shall be acquired by the United
States, except by discovery, and for naval and coraraerclal
stations, depots, and transit routes, without the concurrence of
a majority of all the Senators from States which allow involun
tary servitude, and a majority of all the Senators from States
which prohibit that relation ; nor shall territory be acquired by
treaty, unless the votes of a majority of the Senators from each
class of States hereinbefore raentioned be cast as a part of the
two-thirds necessary to the ratification of such treaty.
Section 3. Neither the Constitution nor any amendment
thereof shall be construed to give Congress power to regulate,
abolish, or control, within any State, the relation established or
recognized by the laws thereof, touching persons held to labor
196 ¦ THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
or involuntary service therein, nor to interfere with or abolish
involuntary service in the District of Colurabia without the
consent of Maryland and without the consent of the owners, or
making the owners who do not consent just compensation; nor
the power to interfere with or prohibit Eepresentatives and
others from bringing with them to the District of Columbia,
retaining and taking away, persons so held to labor or service ;
nor the power to interfere with or abolish involuntary service
in places under the exclusive jurisdiction of the United States
within those States and Territories where the sarae is estab
lished or recognized; nor the power to prohibit the removal or
transportation of persons held to labor or involuntary service
in any State or Territory of the United States to any other
State or Territory thereof where it is established or recognized
by law or usage, and the right during transportation, by sea or
river, of touching at ports, shores, and of landing in case of
distress, shall exist ; but not the right of transit in or through
any State or Territory, or of sale or traf&c, against the law
thereof Nor shall Congress have power to authorize any
higher rate of taxation on persons held to labor or service
than on land.
Section 4. The third paragraph of the second section of the
fourth article of the Constitution shall not be construed to pre
vent any of the States, by appropriate legislation, and through
the action of their judicial and ministerial officers, from en
forcing the delivery of fugitives from labor to the person to
whom such service or labor is due.
Section 5. The foreign slave trade is hereby forever pro
hibited, and it shall be the duty of Congress to pass laws to
prevent the importation of slaves, coolies, or persons held to
service or labor, into the United States and the Territories,
from places beyond the limits thereof
Section 6. The first, third, and fifth sections, together with
this section of these amendments, and the third paragraph of
the second section of the Constitution, and the third paragraph
THE GATHERING STORM. 197
of the section of the fourth article thereof, shall not be amended
or abolished without the consent of all the States.
Section 7. Congress shall provide by law that the United
States shall pay to the owner the full value of his fugitive from
labor, in all cases where the marshal or other officer whose duty
it was to arrest such fugitive, was prevented from doing so by
violence or intimidation, from mobs or other riotous assem
blages ; or when, after arrest, such fugitive was rescued by like
violence or intimidation, and the owner thereby deprived of
the same ; and the acceptance of such payment shall preclude
the owner from further claim to such fugitive. Congress shall
provide by law for securing to the citizens of each State the
privileges and immunities of citizens in the several States.
The follo-wing resolution was also moved and adopted :
Resolved, As the sense of this Convention, that the highest
political duty of every citizen of the United States is his
allegiance to the Federal Government created by the Constitu
tion of the United States, and that no State of this Union has
any Constitutional right to secede therefrom, or to absolve the
citizens of such State from their allegiance to the government
of the United States.
On the second day of March these resolutions were
communicated to the Senate, and referred to a com
mittee, who, the next day, reported them back for
adoption — Messrs. Seward and Trumbull offering a mi
nority report, proposing the adoption of a resolution
calling on the Legislatures of the States to express their
wUl in regard to calling a Convention for amending the
Constitution. Then followed a series of amendments, resolutions,
and counter-resolutions, all of which were defeated, and
the peace resolutions were finally lost, in consequence
198 THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
of the withdrawal of Senators from the disaffected
States. The question being then taken on the House
resolution to amend the Constitution so as to prohibit
forever any amendment of the Constitution interfering
with slavery in any State, the resolution was adopted
by a two-thirds vote — ayes twenty-four, nays twelve.
This closed the action of Congress upon this impor
tant subject. " Strongly •Republican in both branches,
yet it had done every thing consistent with justice and
fidelity to the Constitution to disarm the apprehensions
of the southern States, and to remove all provocation
for their resistance to the incoming administration. It
had given the strongest possible pledge that it had no
intention of interfering -with slavery in any State by
amending the Constitution, so as to make such interfer
ence forever impossible. It had created governments
for three new Territories — Nevada, Dakotah, and Colo
rado — and passed no law excluding slavery from any
one of them. It had severely censured the legislation
of some of the northern States intended to hinder the
recovery of fugitives from labor; and in response to its
expressed wishes, Rhode Island repealed its laws of that
character — and Vermont, Maine, Massachusetts and
Wisconsin, had the subject under consideration, and
were ready to take similar action. Yet all this had no
effect whatever in changing or checking the secession
movement in the southern States."
LSTAUGURAL TOUR TO WASHINGTON. 199
CHAPTER VIII.
ME. Lincoln's inaugural tour to Washington.
His fare-well at Springfield, 111.— Addresses at Toledo, Indianapolis, Cin
cinnati, Steubenville, Pittsburg, Cleveland, Syracuse, Utica, Albany.
Poughkeepsie.— His grand reception at New York City. — Arrives at
Newark, N. J.— Trenton.— Is received at Philadelphia.— Visits, and
helps to raise a Flag on " Independence Hall." — Stops at Harrisburg. —
Makes a sudden appearance in Washington. — Escapes a plot for his
Assassination. — Is welcomed by the city authorities of Washington, and
addresses them.
Mr. Lincoln, during the period iijtervening between
his election and his assumption of office, maintained a
wise silence on the national affairs. He probably felt
that it was neither poHtic to commit himself by any
pubHc utterances, or becoming to take any step which
might be construed as interference with the duties and
responsibilities of those who still held the reins of gov
ernment. He could not, however, conceal from himself the for
midable nature of the task before him. To him, the
Presidential office presented no daily round of quiet
routine ; for in a few days the southern States, who had
taken part in the recent election, would have chosen
another President, whose authority they were prepared
to maintain by force of arms, against the authority
which had been vested in himself as the legitimate
head of the people.
•200 THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
But the time soon drew near when he was to enter
upon the high office to which he had been called by the
voice of the people. Accordingly, on the llth of Feb
ruary, 1861, he left his home in Springfield, IlHnois, ac
companied to the railroad depot by a large concourse of
his friends and neighbors, to whom he bade farewell in
the following touching words, which, read at the
present time, have a mournful interest :
" My Friends : No one not in my position can appreciate
the sadness I feel at this parting. To this people I owe all
that lam. Here I have lived more than a quarter of a century.
Here my children were born, and here one of thera 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 de
volved upon any other raan 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 in the same Almighty Being I place my reliance for
support ; and I hope you, my friends, will all pray that I may
receive that Divine assistance, without which I cannot succeed,
but with which success is certain. Again, I bid you all an
affectionate farewell."
At Toledo, he appeared upon the platform of the
cars, and in response to the applause which haUed his
appearance, said :
" I am leaving you on an errand of national importance, at
tended, as you are aware, with considerable difficulties. Let
us believe, as some poet has expressed it, ' Behind the cloud
the sun is still shining.' I bid you an affectionate farewell."
At Indianapolis he was welcomed by a salute of
INAUGURAL TOUR TO WASHINGTON. 201
thirty-four guns, was received by the Governor of the
State, and escorted by a procession of the members
of both Houses of the Legislature, the municipal author
ities, the military and firemen. On arriving at the
hotel, he responded to the hearty applause of the large
crowd assembled in the street, in a brief speech, in the
course of which he uttered these sentiments :
" To the salvation of the Union there needs but one single
thing, the hearts of a people like yours. [Applause.] Of 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.' [Eenewed applause.] 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 liberties of this
people shall be' lost, it is but little to any one man of fifty-two
years of age, but a great deal to the -thirty ^millions of people
who inhabit these United States, and to their posterity in all
coming time. It is your business to rise up and preserve the
Union and liberty for yourselves, and not for me."
In the evening the members of the Legislature waited
upon him in a body at his hotel, where one of their
number, in presence of a very large assemblage of the
citizens of the place, made a brief address of welcome
and congratulation, which Mr. Lincoln acknowledged in
. the following fitting terms :
[ "Fellow-Citizens of the State ofIndiajSta: I am here
to thank you rauch for this • magnificent welcome, and still
more for the generous support given by your State to that
202 THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
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 7aean
the same thing, while using the same word, it perhaps were as
well if they would keep silence.
"The words 'coercion' and 'invasion' are rauch 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 oi
those who use them. Let us get the exact definitions of these
words, not frora dictionaries, but from the men themselves, who
certainly deprecate the things they would represent by the use
of the word. AVhat, then, is ' coercion ?' What is ' invasion ?'
Would 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 Carolinaians were forced to sub
mit. But if the United States should merely hold and retake
its own forts and other property, and collect the duties on foreign
importations, or even withhold the mails from places where
they "were habitually violated, would any or all these things be
' invasion' or ' coercion ?' Do our professed lovers of the
Union, but who spitefully resolve that they will resist coercion
and invasion, understand that such things as these on the part
of the United States, would be coercion or invasion of a State ?
If so, their idea of means to preserve the object of their affec
tion would seem exceedingly thin and airy. If sick, the little
pills of the homceopathists would be much too large for it to
swallow. In their view, the Union, as a family relation, would
seem to be no regular raarriage, but a sort of 'free love' ar
rangeraent, to be maintained only on ' passional attraction.'
" By the way, in what consists the special sacredness of a '
State ? I speak not of the position assigned to a State in the
Union by the Constitution ; for .that, by the bond, we all recog-
nizu. That position, however, a State cannot carry out of the
INAUGURAL TOUR TO WASHINGTON. 203
Union 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 than itself If a State and a county, in a given case,
should be equal in extent of territory, and equal in number
of inhabitants — in what, as a matter of principle, is the State
better than the county ? Would an exchange of names be an
exchange of rights upon principle ? On what rightful principle
may a State, being not more than one-fiftieth part of the nation
in soil and population, break up the nation, and then coerce a
proportionally larger subdivision of itself, in the most arbitrary
way ? What mysterious right to play tyrant is conferred on
a district of country, with its people, by merely calling it a
State ?
" Fellow-citizens, I am not asserting any thing ; I am merely
asking questions for you to consider. And now, allow me to
bid you farewell."
On the morning of the twelfth, Mr. Lincoln arrived
at Cincinnati, having been greeted along the route by
the hearty applause of the thousands assembled at the
successive stations. His reception at Cincinnati was
overwhelming. Through streets so densely crowded
that it was with the utmost difficulty the procession
could secure a passage, Mr. Lincoln was escorted to the
Burnett House, which had been handsomely decorated
in honor of his visit. There he was welcomed by the
Mayor of the city in a few remarks, in response to
which he said :
' Mr. Mayor and Fellow-oitizens : — I have spoken but
once before this in Cincinnati. That was a year previous to the
late Presidential election. On that occasion, in a playful raanner,
but with sincere words, I addressed much of what I said to the
Kentuckians. I gave my opinion that we, as Eepublicans,
would ultimately beat them as Democrats ; but that they could
204 THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
postpone that result longer by nominating Senator Douglas for
the Presidency, 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 cold 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 with you. I will tell you, as far as I am authorized to
speak for the opposition, what we mean to do with you. We
mean to treat you, as near as we possibly can, as Washing
ton, Jefferson and Madison, treated you. We mean to leave
you alone, and 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, accord
ing to the example of those noble fathers, Washington, Jeffer
son and Madison. We mean to reraeraber that you are as
good as we ; that there is no difference between us, other than
the difference of circurastances. We mean to recognize and
bear in mind always that you have as good hearts in your
bosoms as other people, or as we claim to have, and treat you
accordingly.' " Fellow-citizens of Kentucky ! friends ! brethren, may I
call you in my new position ? I see no occasion, and feel no
inclination to retract a word of this. If it shall not be made
good, be assured the fault shall not be mine."
To the German Republican associations which called
upon him for an address of congratulation, he responded,
warmly endorsing the wisdom of the Homestead bill,
and speaking of the advantages offered by the soil and
institutions of the United States to foreigners who
might wish to make it their home. He left Cincinnati
on the morning of the 13th, accompanied b}' a commit-
INAUGURAL TOUR TO WASHINGTON. 205
tee of the Ohio Legislature, which had come from the
Capital to meet hitn. The party reached Columbus at
2 o'clock, and the President was escorted to the hall of
the Assembly, where he was formally welcomed by
the Lieutenan1>Governor on behalf of the Legislature
assembled in joint session, to whicii he made the follow
ing reply :
"Mr. President and Mr. Speaker, and Gentlemen of
THE General Assembly : — It is true, as has been said by the
President of the Senate, ¦ that very great responsibility rests
upon me in the position to which the votes of the American
people have called me. I am deeply sensible of that weighty
responsibility. I cannot but know what you all know, that
without a name, perhaps without a reason why I should have a
name, there has fallen upon rae a task such as did not rest even
upon the Father of his country, and so feeling, I cannot but
turn and look for the support without which it will be impossi
ble for me to perforra that great task. I turn, then, and
look to the great American people, and to that God who has
never forsaken thera.
" Allusion has been made to the interest felt in relation to
the policy of the new adrainistration. In this I have received
from some a degree of credit for having kept silence, and from
others some depreciation. I still think that I was right. In
the varying and repeatedly shifting scenes of the present, and
without a precedent which could enable me to judge by the
past, it has seemed fitting that before speaking upon the diffi
culties 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 con
soling circumstance that when we look out, there is nothing
206 THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
that really hurts anybody. We entertain different views upon
political questions, but nobody is suffering any thing. 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 extemporaneously, and will
now come to a close."
Both Houses then adjourned, and in the evenuig Mr.
Lincoln held a levee, which was very largely attended.
On the morning of the 14th, he left Columbus. At
SteubenvUle, on the route, in reply to an address, he
said :
" I fear the great confidence placed in my ability is unfounded.
Indeed, I ara sure it is. Encorapassed by vast difiiculties, as I
am, nothing shall be wanted on my part, if sustained by the
American people and God. I believe the devotion to the Con
stitution is equally great on both sides of the river. It is only
the different understanding of that instrument that causes
difficulties. The only dispute is, ' What are their rights ?' If
the majority should not rule, who should be the judge?
Where is such a judge to be found ? We should all be bound
by the majority of the American people — if not, then the
minority raust control. Would that be right ? Would it be
just or generous ? Asssuredly not."
He reiterated that the majority should rule: saying
that if he adopted a -wrong policy, the opportunity to
condemn him would occur tn four years' time. " Then
I can be turned out, and a better man with better
views put in my place."
At Pittsburg, on the 15th, he received a formal
welcome, to which he responded as follows :
INAUGURAL TOUR TO WASHINGTON. 207
" The condition of the country is an extraordinary one, and
fills the mind of every patriot with anxiety. It is my intention
to give this subject all the consideration I possibly can, before
specially deciding in regard to it, so that when I do speak, it'
may be as nearly right as possible. When I do speak, I hope I
may say nothing in opposition to the spirit of the Constitution,
contrary to the integrity of the Union, or which will prove
inimical to the liberties of the people or to the peace of the
whole country. And, furthermore, when the time arrives for
me to speak on this great subject, I hope I may say nothing to
disappoint the people generally throughout the country,
especially if the expectation has been based upon any thing
which I may have heretofore said.. Notwithstanding the
troubles across the river — (th§ speaker pointing southwardly
across the Monongahela, and smiling) — there is no crisis but an
artificial one. What is there now to warrant the condition of
affairs presented by our friends over the river ? Take even
their own view of the questions involved, and there is nothing
to justify the course they are pursuing. I repeat, then, there
is no crisis, excepting such a one as may be gotten up at any time
by turbulent men, aided by designing politicians. My advice
to thera, under such circumstances, is to keep cool. If the great
Araerican people only keep their teraper on both sides of the
line, the troubles will come to an end, and the question which
now distracts the country will be settled, just as surely as all
other difficulties of a like character which have originated in
this government haVe been adjusted. Let the people on both
sides keep their self-possession, and just as other clouds have
cleared away in due time, so will this great nation continue to
prosper as heretofore."
He then remarked at some length upon the tariff
question — a subject of peculiar interest to Pennsylva
nians, and fully endorsed the twelfth section of the
Chicago platform.
208 THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
Mr. Lincoln left Pittsburg immediately after the
delivery of this speech, being accompanied to the depot.
by an immense procession of the people ofthe city. The
train reached Cleveland at half past four in the after
noon, where he was received by a long procession, which
marched, amidst the roar of artillery, through the
principal streets to the Weddell House, where Mr.
Lincoln, in reply to an address of welcome from the
Mayor, made the following remarks :
" It is with you, the people, to advance the great cause of the
Union and the Constitution, and not with any one man. Tt
rests with you alone. This fact is strongly impressed on my
raind at present. In a coraraunity like this, whose appearance
testifies to their intelligence, I ara convinced that the cause of
liberty and the Union can never be in danger. Frequent
allusion is made to the exciteraent at present existing in our
national politics, and it is as well that I should also allude to it
here. I think that there is no occasion for any excitement.
The crisis, as it is called, is altogether an artificial crisis. In
all parts of the nation there are differences of opinion on
politics. There are differences of opinion even here. You did
not all vote for the person who now addresses you. What is
happening now will not hurt those who are further away from
here, Have they not all their rights now as they ever have
had? Do they not have their fugitive slaves returned .now as
ever ? Have they not the same Constitution that they have
lived under for seventy odd years ? Have they not a position
as citizens of this comraon country, and have we any power to
change that position? [Cries of 'No.'] What, then, is the
matter with them ? Why all this excitement ? Why aU these
complaints ? As I said before, this crisis is all artificial ! It
has no foundation in fact. It was not 'argued up,' as the
INAUGURAL TOUR TO WASHINGTON. 209
saying is, and cannot therefore be argued down. Let it alone,
and it wiU go down of itself"
He had one more word to say. He was given to
understand that this reception was tendered not only by
his own party supporters, but by men of all parties.
This is as it should be. If Judge Douglas had been
elected, and had been here, on his way to Washington,
as I am to-night, the Republicans should have joined
his supporters in welcoming him, just as his friends
have joined with mine to-night. If all do not join now
to save the good old ship of the Union on this voyage,
nobody "wiU have a chance to pUot her on another
voyage. He concluded by thanking all present for the
devotion they had sho-wn to the cause of the Union.
At Syracuse, where preparations had been made to
give him a formal reception, he made the following
remarks in reply to an address of welcome from the
Mayor :
" Ladies and Gentlemen : — I see you have erected a very
fine and handsome platform here for me, and I presume you
expected me to speak from it. If I should go upon it, you
would imagine that I was about to deliver you a much longer
speech than I am. I -wish you to understand that I mean
no discourtesy to you by thus declining. I intend discourtesy
to na one. But I wish you to understand that, though I am
unwilling to go upon this platform, you are not at liberty to
draw any inferences concerning any other platform with which
my name has been or is connected. [Laughter and applause.]
I wish you long life and prosperity individually, and pray that
with the perpetuity of those institutions under which we have
all so long lived and prospered, our happiness may be secured,
our future made brilliant, and the glorious destiny of our
country established forever. I bid you a kind farewell."
14
210 • the LIFE OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN,
At Utica, an immense and enthusiastic assemblage
of people from the surrounding country, had gathered
to see hun, but Mr. Lincoln contented himself by
saying : •
"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. [Laugh
ter and applause.]"
On his arrival at Albany, Mr. Lincoln was escorted to
the Hall of Assembly, and there received a formal
welcome from the Legislature, in reply to which, he
made the follo-wing address :
"Me. President and Gentlemen of the Legislature
OF the State of New York: — It is with feelings of great
diffidence, and I may say, feelings even of awe, perhaps
greater than I have recently experienced, that I meet you
here in this place. The history of this great State, the
renown of its great men, who have stood in this chamber,
and have spoken their thoughts, all crowd around my
fancy, and incline me to shrink from an attempt to address
you. Yet I have some confidence given me by the generous
manner in which you have invited me, and the still more
generous manner in which you have received me. ' You
have invited me and received me without distinction 'of party.
I could not for a moment suppose that this has been done in
any considerable degree with any reference to my personal
self. It is very much more grateful to me that this reception
and the invitation preceding it, were given to me as the repre
sentative of a free people, than it could possibly have been
were they but the evidence of devotion to me or to any one
INAUGURAL TOUR TO WASHINGTON. 211
man. It is true that, while I hold myself, without mock-
modesty, the humblest of all the individuals who have ever
been elected President of the United States, I yet have a more
difficult task to performt than any one of them has ever
encountered. You have here generously tendered me the
support, the united support, of the great Empire State. For
this, in behalf of the nation — in behalf of the present and of
the future of the nation — in behalf of the cause of civil liberty
in all time to come — I most gratefully thank you. I do not
propose now to enter upon any expressions as to the particular
line of pohcy to be adopted with reference to the difficulties
that stand before us in the opening of the incoming adminis
tration. • I deem that it is just to the country, to myself, to you,
that I should see every thing, hear every thing, and have every
hght that can possibly be brought within my reach, to aid me
before I shall speak officially, in order that, when I do speak,
I may have the best possible means of taking correct and true
grounds. For this reason, I do not now announce any thing
in the way of policy for the new administration. When the
time comes, according to the custom of the government, I shall
speak, and speak as well as I am able, for the good of the
present and of the future of this Country — for the good of the
North an^ of the South — for the good of one and of the
other, and of all sections of it. In the meantime, if we have
patience, if we maintain our equanimity, though some may
allow themselves to run off in a burst of passion, I still have
confidence that the Almighty Euler of the Universe, through
the instrumentaUty of this great and intelligent people, can and
will bring us through this difficulty, as he has heretofore
brought us through all preceding difficulties of the country.
Eelying npon this, and again thanking you, as I forever shall,
in my heart, for this generous reception you have given me, I
bid you farewell."
At Albany, he was met by a delegation froni the city
212 THE LIFE OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
authorities of New York, and on the 19th started for
that city.
At Poughkeepsie, where great, preparations had been
made for his reception, he responded thus to an address
from the Mayor :
"Fellow Citizens: — It is altogether impossible I should
make myself heard by any considerable portion of this vas*
assemblage ; but, although I appear before you mainly for the
purpose of seeing you, and to let you see, rather than hear me,
I cannot refjain from saying that I am highly gratified, — as
much here, indeed, under the circumstances, as I have been.
anywhere on my route, — to witness this noble demonstration —
made, not in honor of an individual, but of the man who
at this time humbly, but earnestly, represents the majesty
of the nation. This reception, like all others that have been
tendered to me, doubtless emanates from all the political
parties, and not from one alone. As such, I accept it the more
gratefully, Since it indicates an earnest desire on the part of the
whole people, without regard to political differences, to save —
not the country, because the country will save itself — but
to save the institutions of the country — those institutions under
which, in the last three quarters of a century, we h^ve gro-wn
to be a great, an intelligent, and a happy people — the greatest,
the raost intelligent, and the happiest people in the world.
These noble manifestations indicate, with unerring certainty,
that the whole people are willing to make common cause
for this object; that if, as it ever must be, some have been
successful in the recent election, and some have been beaten, —
if some are satisfied, and some are dissatisfied, the defeated
party are not in favor of sinking the ship, but are desirous
of running it through the tempest in safety, and willing, if
they think the people have committed an error in their verdict
now, to wait in the hope of reversing it, and setting it right
next time. I do not say that in the recent election the people
INAUGURAL TOUR TO WASHINGTON. 213
did the wisest thing that could have been done; indeed, I
do not think they did ; but I do say, that in accepting the
great trust committed to me, which I do with a determination
to endeavor to prove worthy of it, I must rely upon you, upon
the people of the whole country, for support ; and -with their
sustaining aid, even I, humble as I am, cannot fail to carry the
ship of State safely through the storm.
"I have now oaly to thank you warmly for your kind
attendance, and bid you all' an affectionate farewell."
At PeekskUl, in reply to a brief address from Judge
Nelson, he said :
" Ladies and Gentlemen : — I have but a moment to stand
before you, to listen to and return your kind greeting. I
thank you for this reception, and for the pleasant manner in
which it is tendered to me, by our mutual friend. I will say
in a single sentence, in regard to the difficulties that lie before
me and our beloved country, that if I can only be as generously
and unanimously sustained, as the demonstrations I have
witnessed indicate I shall be, I shall not fail; but without
your sustaining hands I am sure that neither I, nor any other
man, can hope to surmount these difficulties. I trust that
in the course I shall pursue, I shall be sustained not only
by the party that elected me, but by the patriotic people of the
whole country.
The President-elect reached New York at 3 o'clock,
and his reception there was one of the most interesting
demonstrations ever -witnessed in behalf of a single
indi-vidual. Work generally was suspended. By noon
the great thoroughfare of Broadway — do-wn which the
cortege would pass — became crowded vnth the outpour
ing multitude. Houses were lined with spectators;
the "Stars and Stripes" hung from a thousand windows,
214 THE LITE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
and floated from a thousand house-tops ; banners were
flung across the streets, bearing enlivening and patriotic
inscriptions; the shipping in the, harbor was decorated
in all its various colors;" handkerchiefs floated from
innumerable windows and doors, while beauty and
fashion shone out of casements like creations especially
ordered to grace that RepubUcan triumph. The crowd
on the streets numbered several hundred thousand; but,
so admirably were aU arrangements made by the excel
lent police of the city, that no accident or "row" occurred
to mar the quiet and pleasure of the afternoon. As the
Presidential carriage passed down the street, the huzzas
became deafening. The great lines of wa-ving flags and
handkerchiefs looked like ripples bursting and flying
before the ship's prow, and scintillating and eddying in
her wake. The President stood uncovered, bowing
to the people, and acknowledging the welcome extended
on every side. A reporter of one of the city journals
wrote of the demonstration :
" We but reflect the popular opinion, when we say that the
ovation was one of the grandest and most soul-stirring we have
ever witnessed. Though the President-elect was evidently
jaded, careworn, and oppressed with a weighty responsibility,
he was also firra, self-possessed, and appeared equal to the
stupendous task before him. He seemed to impress the people
with this con-viction, as he rode along, and a glimpse of his
plain, straight-forward, honest face, so full of deep, earnest
thought, of direct singleness of purpose, of thorough purity of
motive and patriotic impulse, so won upon the multitude, that
they burst into such spontaneous, irrepressible cheers, as
gladdened the heart and moistened the eye, and made every
body forget the turbulence and anarchy of secession, now
INAUGURAL TOUR TO WASHINGTON. 215
raging in the land, in their implicit confidence in the coming
man." In the evening, he received a welcome from the
various RepubUcan associations which had participated
in the election canvass, whom he thus addressed :
' Me. Chairman and Gentlemen : — I am rather an old man
to avail myself of such an excuse as- 1 am now about to do.
Yet the truth is so distinct, and presses itself so distinctly upon
me, that I cannot well avoid it — and that is, that I did not
understand when I was brought into this room that I was
brought here to make a speech. It was not intimated to me
that I was brought into the room where Daniel Webster and
Henry Clay had made speeches, and where, in my position, I
might be expected to do something like those men, or do some
thing worthy of myself Or my audience. I, therefore, will beg
you to make very great allowance for the circumstances in
which I have been by surprise brought before you. Now, I
have been in the habit of thinking and speaking sometimes
upon pohtical 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
election 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 any thing
else of the fact that I have been keeping silence. [Great
laughter, cries of ' Good,' and applause.] And now it seems to
me that the response you give to that remark ought to ju.stify
me in closing just here. [Great laughter.] I have liot kept
216 THE LIFE OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
silence since the Presidential election from any party wanton
ness, 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 peculiarly proper that I should do so until the time came
when, according to the custom of the country, I could speak
ofiicially. [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 suppose that, while the political drama
being enacted in this country, at this time, is rapidly shifting
its scenes — forbidding an anticipation, with any degree of cer
tainty, to-day, what we shall see to-morrow — it was pecuUarly
fitting that I should see it all, up to the last minute, before I
should take ground that I might be disposed (by the shffting
of the scenes afterwards) also to shift. [Applause.] I have
said several times, upon this journey, and I now repeat it to
you, that when the time 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 any thing in conflict with the Constitution ; in conflict
with the continued union of these States — [applause] — in con
flict with the perpetuation of the liberties of this people —
[applause] — or any thing 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 appears to be a difference of opinion between
you and me, and I really feel called upon to decide the question
myself [Applause, during which Mr. Lincoln descended from
the table.]"
INAUGURAL TOUR TO WASHINGTON. 217
On the morning of the 20th Mr. Lincoln proceeded to
the City Hall, where it had been arranged that he
should have an official reception. He was addressed by
Mayor Wood, a recognized Democrat of the strictest
"States rights" and pro-slavery sect — ^in an "official
welcome" as frigid as courtesy would permit. He
simply read his august guest a brief lecture on his duty
— presuming, with the usual impudence of Democrats
of the pro-slavery school, th'at a " Black Republican"
did not know what duty was. The President's reply
was couched in a dignity and good taste ^ite in con
trast -with the want of both in his host.
" Mr. Lincoln : As Mayor of New York, it becomes my duty
lo extend to yon an official welcome in behalf of the Corpora
tion. In doing so permit me to say, that this city has never
offered hospitality to a man clothed with more exalted powers,
or resting under graver responsibilities, than those which cir
cumstances 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 patriot
ism, and an elevated comprehension of the whole country and
its varied interests, opinions, and prejudices, to so conduct
public affairs as to bring it back again to its forraer harmo
nious, consolidated, and prosperous condition. If I lefer to
this topic, sir, it is because New York is deeply interested.
The present political divisions have sorely afflicted her people,
All her material interests are paralyzed. Her commercial
greatness is endangered. She is the child of the American
L nion. She has grown up under its material care, and been
fostered by its paternal bounty, and we fear that if the Union
dies, the present supremacy of New York may perish with it.
To you, therefore, chosen under the forms of the Constitution
as the head of the Confederacy, we look for a restoration of
218 , THE LIFE OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
fraternal relations between the States — only to be accomplished
by peaceful and conciliatory means, aided by the wisdom of
Almighty God."
To this address Mr. Lincoln made the following
reply :
" 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 remember that it is done by the people who do not, by a
large rdaj ority, agree with me in political sentiment. It is the
more gratefiff to me, because in this I see that for the great
principles of our government the people are pretty nearly or
quite unanimous. In regard to the difiiculties that confront us
at this time, and of which you have seen fit to speak so becom
ingly and so justly, I can only say that I agree with the senti
ments 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 bring me to consent — willingly to consent — to the
destruction of this Union, in 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 ship is safe with
the cargo, it shall not be abandoned. This Union shall never
be abandoned, unless the possibility of its existence shall cease
to exist without the necessity of throwing passengers and cargo
overboard. So long, then, as it is possible that the prosperity
and liberties of the people can be preserved within this Union,
it shall be my purpose at all times to preserve it. And now;
Mr. Mayor, renewing my thanks for this cordial reception,
allow me fo come to a close." [Applause.]
INAUGURAL TOUR TO WASHINGTON. 219
A public introduction followed. For two hours the
patient crowd passed the President, each person shaking
him by the hand in hurried salutation. Many had a
word to offer — to all of which the Chief Magistrate
repHed kindly. Returning to the "Astor," Mr. Lincoln
received the leading men of the city and State, as well
as those from aU parts of the country. The Vice-
President-elect, Mr. Hamlin, joined the President here.
During the evening, the opera was visited, and his
appearance in the stage-box was greeted by a perfect
storm of applause. The curtain lifted, and the chorus
came forward, whUe two celebrated singers sung the
" Star-Spangled Banner," to the chorus of which the
audience added its shouts of approval. "Hail Colum
bia" followed, -with equal popular furore. Un ballo in
Maschera was for a moment forgotten, and overwhelmed
in the crude lyric. At the end of the second act of
the opera the President and his escort returned to the
"Astor," where Mrs. Lincoln was holding a reception.
On the moming of Thursday, 'the twenty-first, Mr.
Lincoln left New York for PhUadelphia, and on reach
ing Jersey City, was met and welcomed^ on behalf of
the State, by the Hon. W. L. Dayton.
At Newark he was welcomed by the Mayor, to whona
e said:
"Mr. Mayor: — 1 thank you for this reception at the city of
Newark. With regard to the great work of which you speak,
I wUl 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 inteUigent people, no man can succeed
220 THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
in doing that, the importance of which we all comprehend.
Again thanking you for the reception you have given me, 1
will now bid you farewell, and proceed- upon my journey."
At Trenton he remained a few hours, and visited
both Houses of the Legislature. On being received in
the Senate, he thus addressed that body :
" Mk. President, and Gentlemen of the Senate of the
State of New Jersey: — I am grateful to you for the honora
ble reception -of which I have been the object. I cannot but •
remember the place that New Jersey holds in our early history.
In the early Eevolutionary struggle, few of the States among
the old thirteen had more of the battle-fields of the country
within their liraits than old New Jersey. May I be pardoned
if, upon this occasion, I mention, that away back in my child
hood, 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, 'Weems's lAfe 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 Hes
sians ; the great hardships endured at that time ; all fixed them
selves on my rnemory 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 recol
lect thinking then, boy even though I was, that there must
have been something more than common that these men strug
gled for. I am exceedingly anxious that that thing which they
struggled for — that something even more than national inde
pendence — that something, that held out a great promise to aU
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
INAUGURAL TOUR TO 'WASHINGTON. 221
happy indeed, if I shall be an humble instrument, in the hands
of the Almighty and of this his most chosen people, as the
chosen instrument, also in the hands of the Almighty, for per
petuating the object of that great struggle. You give me this
reception, as I understand, without distinction of party. I leam
that this body is composed of a majority of gentlemen who, in the
exercise of their best judgment in the choice of a Chief Mag
istrate, did not think I was the man. I understand, neverthe
less, that they come forward here to greet me as the constitu
tional President of the United States — as citizens of the United
States, to meet the man who, foi" the time being, is the repre
sentative man ofthe nation — ^united by a purpose to perpetuate
the Union and bberties 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."
Mr. Lincoln then passed to the Assembly Chamber,
where, in reply to the Speaker, he said :
"Mr. Speaker and Gentlemen : — I have just enjoyed the
honor of 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 th'e majesty of the people of the United States.
I appropriate to myself very little of the demonstrations of
respect with which I have been greeted. I think little- should
be given to any man, but that it should be a manifestation of
adherence to the Union and Jhe 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, there
fore, to be regarded by me'as expressing 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
222 THE LIFE OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
by our national affairs. Under these circumstances, you will
readily see why I should not speak in detaU of the course I shaU
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, tha 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 ou'r 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 necessary to put the foot down firmly. [Here the audi
ence broke out into cheers, so loud and long that for some mo
ments it was impossible to hear Mr. Lincoln's voice.] And if
I do my duty and do right, you wiU sustain me, -vrill you not ?
[Loud cheers, and cries of ' Yes, yes, we -mil !'] Eeceived, as
I am, by the members of a Legislature, the majority of whom
do not agree with me in political sentiments, I trust that I may
have their assistance in piloting the ship of State through this
voyage, surrounded by perils as it is ; for, if it should suffer
wreck now, there will be no pUot ever needed for another
voyage. Gentlemen, I have already spoken" longer than I in
tended, and must beg leave to stop here."
The procession then moved to the Trenton House,
where the President-elect made another speech to the
assembled crowd.
On his arrival in Philadelphia, he was received with
great enthusiasm, and the Mayor greeted him with an
address, to which he replied as follows :
" Mr. Mayor and Fellow-citizens of Philadelphia : — ^I
appear before you to make no lengthy speech, but to thank you
INAUGUEAL TOUE TO WASHINGTON. 223
for this reception. The reception you have given me to-night
is not to me, the man, the individual, but to the man who
temporarily represents, or should represent the majesty of the
nation. [Cheers.] It is true, as your worthy Mayor has said,
that there is anxiety amongst the citizens of the United States
at this time. I deem it a happy circumstance that this dis
satisfied position of our fellow-citizens does not point us to any
thing in which they are being injured, or about to be injured,
for which reason I have felt all the while justified in conclud
ing 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 panic 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 fulfil 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 plans now ; I shall speak officially
next Monday week, if ever. If I should not speak then, it
were useless for me tl' do so now. If I d^ 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,
harmony, and prosperity to the country, and tend to the per
petuity of the nation and the liberty of these States and these
people. Your worthy Mayor has 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 manu
facturers ; or, as it were, to bsten to those breathings rising
within the consecrated walls wherein the Constitution of the
United States, and I will add the Declaration of Independence,
were originally framed and adopted. [Enthusiastic applause.j
224 THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
I assure you and your Mayor that I had hoped on this occasion,
and upon all occasions during my life, that I shall do nothing
inconsistent with the teachings of these holy and most sacred
walls. I never asked any thing that does not breathe from
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."
On the next morning, Mr. Lincoln -visited " Indepen
dence Hall," for the purpose of raising the national flag
over it. Here he was received with a warm welcome,
and made the following address :
" I am filled with deep emotion at finding myself standing
here in this place, where were collected together the wisdom,
the patriotism, the devotion to principle, from which sprang the
institutions- under which we live. You have kindly suggested
to me that in my hands is the task of restoring peace to the
present distracted condition of the country. I can say in return,
sir, that all the political sentiments I entertain have been drawn,
so far as I have been able to draw than, from the sentiments
which originated in and were given to the world from this
hall. I have never had a feeling, politically, that did not
spring from the sentiments embodied in the Declaration of
Independence. I have often pondered over the dangers which
were incurred by the men who assembled here, and framed
and adopted that Declaration of Independence. I ha-ve pondered
over the toils that were endured by the officers and soldiers of
the army who achieved that independence. I have 'often
inquired of myself what great principle or idea it was that kept
this Confederacy so long together. It was not the mere matter
of the separation of the colonies from the mother land, but that
sentiment in the Declaration of Independence which gave
INAUGUEAL TOUR TO WASHINGTON. 225
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 promise 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 upon that basis ? If it can,
I -will consider myself one of the happiest 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 gi-ving up that principle, I was about to say I would
rather be assassinated upon this spot than surrender it.
[Applause.] Now, in my view of the present aspect of affairs,
there need be no bloodshed or war. There is no necessity for
it. r am not in favor of such a course, and I may say in
advance that there will be no bloodshed, unless it be forced
upon the government, and then it will be compelled to act in
self-defence. [Applause.]
" My friends, this is wholly an unexpected speech, and I did
not expect to be called upon to say a word when I came here.
*I supposed it was raerely to do something towards raising the
flag — I may, therefore, have said something indiscreet. [Cries
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."
The party then proceeded to a platform erected in
front of the State House, and the President-elect was
in-vited, in a brief address, to raise the flag. He re
sponded in a patriotic speech, announcing his cheerful
compliance with the request. He alluded to the original
flag of thirteen stars, saying that the number had in
creased as time rolled on and we became a happy,
powerful people, each star adding to its prosperity.
" The future," he added, "is in the hands of the people.
It is on such an occasion we can reason together and re-
15
226 THE LIFE OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
affirm our devotion to the country and the principles ofthe
Declaration of Independence. Let us make up our minds
that whenever we do put a new star upon our banner,
it shall be a fixed one, never to be dimmed by the
horrors of war, but brightened by the contentment and
prosperity of peace. Let us go on to extend the area of
our usefulness, and add star upon star untU their Hght
shaU shine over five hundred mUHons of free and happy
people." He then perfomied his part in the ceremony,
amidst a thundering discharge of artillery.
In the afternoon he left for Harrisburg, Pa. At that
place, Mr. Lincoln was escorted to the Legislature, and
was welcomed by the presiding officers of the two houses,
to whom he repHed as follows :
" I appear before you only for a yery few, brief remarks, in
response 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 appear 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
connected 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
gentlemen there, I was for the first time allowed the privilege
of standing in old Independence Hall [enthusiastic cheering],
to have a few words addressed to me there, and opening up to
me an opportunity of expressing, with much regret, that T had
not more time to express something of my own feelings, ex-
INAUGURAL TOUR TO WASHINGTON. 227
cited by the occasion, somewhat to harmonize and give shape
to the feelings that had been really the feelings of my whole
life. Besides this, our friends there had pro-vided a magnificent
flag of the country. They had arranged it 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 accident, in the light, glowing sunshine
of the morning. I could not help hoping that there was, in the
entire success of that beautiful ceremony, at least something of
an omen of whg,t 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 pro
vided the flag ; I had not made the arrangements for elevating
it to its place ; I had applied but a very small portion of my
feeble strength in raising it. In the whole transaction I was
in the hands of the people who had arranged it, and if I can
have the same generous co-operation of the people of the
nation, I think the flag of our country may yet be kept flaunt
ing gloriously. [Loud, enthusiastic, and continued cheers.] I
recur for a moment but to repeat some words uttered at the
hotel, in regard to what has been said about the military sup
port which the General Government 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.j WhUe I am exceedingly gratified to see the
manifestation upon your streets of your military force here
and exceedingly gratified at your promises here to, use that
force upon a proper emergency — while I make these acknowl
edgments, 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.j That it will never become
228 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
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.] Allu
sion 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
Comraonwealth 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 pleased to have an ex
pression from you, gentlemen of Pennsylvania, significant that
they are satisfactory to you. And now, gentlemen of the Gen
eral Asserably of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, allow
me to return you again my most sincere thanks."
After the delivery of this address, Mr. Lincoln devoted
some hours to the reception of visitors, and at six o'clock
retired to his room.
The next morning the whole country was fairly elec
trified by the announcement that he had arrived in
Washington — ^twelve hours sooner than he had origin
ally intended. His sudden departure, however, proved
to have been a measure of precaution for which events
subsequently disclosed afforded a full justification. For
some time previous to his departure from home, threats
had been current that he would never live to be in
augurated; and during his journey, an attempt was
made on the Toledo and Western Railroad, on the llth
of February, to throw from the track the train on
which he was journeying, and a hand grenade was
found secreted on the train in which he left Cincinnati.
INAUGUEAL TOUE TO WASHINGTON. 229
These and other circumstances led to an organized and
thorough investigation, under the direction of a police
detective, carried on with great skill and perseverance
at Baltimore, and which resulted in disclosing the fact
that a small gang of assassins had arranged to take his
Hfe during his passage through that city. General
Scott and Mr. Seward, having both been apprised of the
same fact through another source, sent Mr. F. W.
Seward as a special messenger to Philadelphia, to meet
the President-elect there, pre-vious to his departure
for Harrisburg, to give him notice of these circum
stances. Mr. Lincoln, however, did not deviate from
the programme he had marked out for himself, in con
sequence of these communications; except that, by the
ad-vice of friends, he anticipated by one train the time
he was expected to arrive in Washington. He reached
there on the morning of Saturday, the 23d.
The general scorn and laughter with which this
transit was greeted by rebel sjnnpathizers, and by the
enemies of the incoming Administration, were more
pretended than real. That it was a cloak to cover
their disappouitment, was rendered more probable by
the fact that, from that time, it became their standing
threat that the President-elect should never live to
be inaugurated.
Mr. Lincoln's sudden advent took all by surprise.
Preparations on a large scale had been made for his
reception; the addresses of congratulation had been
prepared; the military expected to act as his escort, the
two Houses of Congress were to have an early adjourn
ment, and the " coming man" was the absorbing topic
of general remark. But all these preconcerted arrange-
230 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
ments were frustrated, by his unexpected and un
heralded arrival in their midst.
" When it became known that he was in the city, his
hotel was thronged — all anxious for a word with hixn
who was to direct the destiny of the RepubUc for good
or e-vil. But he remained inaccessible to all -visitors.
At eleven o'clock, in company with Mr. Seward, he
called upon Mr. Buchanan. The surprise of the occu
pant of the White House was great; but, he gave
his successor a very cordial greeting. The Cabinet
being in session, Mr. Lincoln passed into its chamber, to
the astonishment and delight of its members. A call
was made upon General Scott, but the veteran was not
on duty. Thus, dispensing with all official fbrmaUty,
the RepubUcan President set a good example of repubr
Hcan simplicity of manners and kindness.
"During the remainder of the day he receivetj
visitors freely. All partisan feeling seemed to be for
gotten, and Democrats vied with Republicans in thei^:
really genial welcome. Only the extreme southern men
stood aloof; they had no word of felicitation for the
man who, it was felt, would rule -without fear, and
prove faithful to his oath to ' sustain the Constitution
and the laws,'
"In the evening, by appointment, Mr. Lincoln re
ceived the ' Peace Congress' members. The entire body
was presented to him, and a cordial hour passed in
an informal greeting. After the interview, the Presi
dent was called upon to confront the ladies of Washing
ton, who had congregated in the parlors of the hotel, to
be introduced to a man of whose ugliness of feature
and ungainliness of form they had heard so much.
INAUGURAL TOUE 10 WASHINGTON. 23^1
Mr. Lincoln received them in a manner at once graceful
and possessed. This closed his first day at the capitaL
Thereafter he was to enter upon the thorny field of
administration. A Cabinet was to be chosen. Ministers
to be selected, a settled poUcy to be drawn out of
that fearful distraction. The brief interval of ten days
prior to his inauguration, was to be the most trying of
his experience; for the claims of persons to posts
of honor — ^the rights of sections — ^the harmonization of
conflicting interests — the disposition of places demand
ing a pecuUar fitness — all were among those minor
annoyances of administration which rendered the yoke
any thing but easy to bear."
On Wednesday, the 27th, the Mayor and Commoa
CouncU of the city, waited upon Mr. Lincoln, and
tendered him a welcome. He replied to them as
foUows :
"Me. 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
polities has presented itself in this country, that I have said
any thing publicly within a region of country where the
institution of slavery exists, I will take this occasion to say,
that I think very much of the ill-feeling that has existed and
still exists, between the people in the sections &om which
I came, and the people here, is dependent upon a misunder
standing of one another. I therefore avail myself of this
opportunity to assure you, Mr. Mayor, and all the gentlemea
present, that I have not now, and never have had, any other
than as kindly feelings towards you as the people of my own
section. I have not now, and never have had, any disposition
to treat you in any respect otherwise than as my own neighbors.
I have not now any purpose to withhold from you any of th«
232 THE LIFE OP ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
benefits of the Constitution, under any circumstances, that
I would not feel myself constrained to withhold from my own
neighbors ; and I hope, in a word, that when we shall become
better acquainted, and I say it with great confidence, we shall
like each other the more. I thank you for the kindness of this
reception." On the following evening the RepubUcan Association
tendered him a delightful serenade, at the conclusion of
which, he made the foUo-wing remarks to the assembled
crowd :
" My Friends : — I suppose that I may take this as a compli
ment paid to me, and as such, please accept my thanks for it.
I have reached this city of Washington under circumstances
considerably differing from those under which any other man
has ever reached it. I am here for the purpose of taking
an official position amongst the people, almost all of whom
were politically opposed to me, and are yet opposed to me as I
suppose. I propose no lengthy address to you. •' I only propose
to say, as I did on yesterday, when your worthy Mayor and
Board of Aldermen called upon me, that I thought much of
the ill-feeling that has existed between you and the people of
your surroundings, and that people from amongst whom I
came, has depended, and now depends, upon a misunderstand
ing. "/ hope that, if things shall go along as prosperously as I
believe we all desire they may, I may have it in my power to
remove something of this misunderstanding ; that I may be enabled
to convince you, and the people of your section of the country, that
we regard you as in all things our equals, and in all things entitled
to the same respect and the same treatment that we claim for our
selves ; that we are in nowise disposed, if it were in our power, to
oppress you, to deprive you of any of your rights under the Con
stitution of the United States, or even narrowly to split hairs with
you in regard to those rights, but are determined to give you, as far
INAUGURAL TOUE TO WASHINGTON. 233
as lies in our hands, all your rights under the Constitution — not
grudgingly, but fully and fairly. I hope that, by thus dealing
with you, we will become better acquainted, and be better
friends. And now, my friends, -with these few reraarks, and
again returning my thanks for this compliment, and expressing
my desire to hear a^ little more of your good music, I bid you
good night."
This was the latest of Mr. Lincoln's pubUc utterances
pre-vious to his inauguration.
234 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
CHAPTER IX.
FEOM THE INAUGUEATION TO THE EXTEA SESSION OF CON-
GEESS, JULY 4, 1861.
The Inaugural Address. — Mr. Lincohi's first Cabinet. — Changes in tl e
Departments. — DifB culties which surrounded the new Administration. —
The attack on Fort Sumter. — Its effect. North and South. — The Presi
dent's Proclamation. — The Northern States rally to the aid of the
Government. — The troubles at Baltunore. — Mr. Lincoln's answer to
the Committee of the Yir^ginia Convention. — Preparations for "War. —
Foreign policy of the Administration.
On the 4th of March, 1861, Mr. Lincoln took the
oath and assumed the duties of the Presidential office —
duties which he had rightly characterized, on the eve of
his departure from his home at Springfield, as "greater
than had devolved upon any other man since the days
of Washington." The conspiracy, which for thirty
years had been sapping the virtue, and weakening the
strength of the Republic, was now ready to throw off
the mask, and to astonish the incredulous people of the
North, and of the world, with the full development of
a treason, such, as for extent, perfidy, and maUgnity,
has never before been equalled in history.
The administration of James Buchanan, -with its in
tensely southern sway in all branches of the National Go
vernment, was now at an end. During the four months
that had intervened , since the election of Mr. Lincoln,
not a moment had been lost by the leaders of the now
clearly developed scheme of revolt, in making energetic
APTEE THE INAUGUEATION. 235
preparation for its consummation. So weU had they
succeeded, by the aid of bold treason or of inert com
plicity at the national capital, that they felt assured of
the full attainment of their object, almost without the
hazard of a single campaign. While professing, how
ever, to beHeve in the right of peaceable secession, and
proclaiming their desire to be left unmolested in the
execution of their revolutionary purposes, the chief
conspirators were weU aware that this immunity could
only be gained by such use of the remaining days of .
the outgoing administration that the crisis should
already be passed^ or resistance to their treason be
utterly ineffectual, when the new administration should
begin, WhUe industriously collecting the materials of
war, they yet spared no efforts to bring about such
a state of things as should insure either peaceful sub
mission to their -wiU, or a sure vantage ground for
an appeal to arms.
In spite, however, of all that had been done by the
arch-conspirators, to " fire the Southern heart," to the
support of the proposed rebellion, "the people of the
slave-holding States were by no means a unit in its
support. Seven of those States, South Carolina, Georgia,
Alabama, Mississippi, Texas, Florida, and Louisiana,
had passed secession ordinances and united in the estab
Ushment of a hostile Confederacy ; but in nearly all of
them a considerable portion of the people were opposed
to the movement, whUe in all the remaining slavehold
ing States a very active canvass was carried on between
the Mends and the opponents of secession. In Mary
land, Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee especially, the
(jlpvenunent of the United States was vindicated, and its
236 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
authority sustained by men of pre-eminent abiUty and
of commanding reputation, and there seemed abundant
reason for hoping that, by the adoption of prudent
measures, the slaveholding section might be di-vided,
and the Border Slave States retained in the Union.
The authorities of the rebel Confederacy saw the impori>
ance of pushing the issue to an instant decision. Under
their directions nearly all the forts, arsenals, dock-yards,
custom-houses, etc., belonging to the United States,
within the limits of the seceded States, had been seized
and were held by representatives of the rebel govern
ment. The only forts in the South which remained in
possession of the Union, were Forts Pickens, Taylor,
and Jefferson, on the Florida coast, and Fort Sumter in
Charleston harbor, and preparations were far advanced
for the reduction and capture of these. Ofiicers of the
army and navy from the South had resigned their com
missions, and entered the rebel ser-vice. Civil officers
representing the United States within the limits of the
southern States, could no longer discharge their func
tions, and aU the powers of that Government were
practically paralyzed."
Such were the circumstances, then, under which Mr.
Lincoln entered upon the duties of his office. It was
his difficult task to -withhold the Border States from
jx)ining the new Confederacy; to allay the irritation
everjrw-here observable throughout both North and
South; to rally the loyal sentiment of both sections,
if it were possible, around himself, as preUminary to the
great work of restoring the national authority over the
length and breadth of the land.
The day of his inauguration was a beautiful one, and
APTEE THE INAUGUEATION. 237
despite the threats, so constantly reiterated for months
past, that Mr. Lincoln should never be" permitted to
occupy the Presidential chair, and desperate as had
been the plottings against his life, he appeared at
the east portico of the capitol, and received, at the
appointed time, the oath from the venerable Chief
Justice Taney. He then delivered the following :
INAUGUEAL ADDEESS.
" Fellow-citizens oe the United States : — In compliance
with a custom as old as the government itself, I appear before
you, to address you briefly, and to take, in your presence, the
oath prescribed by the Constitution of the United States to be
taken by the President before he enters on the execution of his
office. " I do not consider it necessary, at present, for me to discuss
those matters of administration about which there is no special
anxiety or excitement. Apprehension seems to exist among
the people of the southern States, that' by, the accession of a
Eepublican 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 raost
ample evidence to the contrary has all the while existed, and
been open to their inspection. It is found in nearly all the
published speeches of hira who now addresses you. I do but
quote from one of those speeches, when I declare that ' I have
no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institu
tion 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 the full
knowledge that I had made this and made many sirailar declara
tions, and had never recanted them. And, more than this, they
placed in the platform, for my acceptance, and as a law to them
selves and to me, the clear and emphatic resolution which I
now read :
238 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
" 'Resolved, That the maintenance in-violate of the rights of
the States, and especially the right of each State to order and
control its own domestic institutions, according to its o-wn
judgment exclusively, is essential to that balance of power on
which the perfection and endurance of our political fabric de
pend ; 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
press upon the public attention the most conclusive evidence
of which the case is susceptible, that the property, peace, and
security of no section are to be in anywise endangered by the
now incoming administration.
" I add, too, that all the protection which, consistently with
the Constitution and the laws, can be given, will be cheerfully
given to all the States when lawfully demanded, for whatever
cause, as cheerfully to one section as to another.
"There is much controversy about the delivering up of
fugitives from service, or labor. The clause I now read is
as plainly written in the 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 fugi
tive slaves ; and the intention of the lawgiver is the law.
"All members of Congress swear their support to the whole
Constitution — to this provision as well as any other. To the
proposition, then, that slaves whose cases come within the terms
of this clause ' shall be delivered up,' their oaths are unanimous.
Now, if they would make the effort in good temper, could they
not, with nearly equal unanimity, frame and pass a law by
means of which to keep good that unanimous oath?
APTEE THE INAUGUEATION. 239
'There is some dififerfence of opinion whether this clause
ehotild be enforced by national or by State authority; but
Burely that difference is not a very material one. If the slave
is to be surrendered, it can be of but little consequence to him
or to others by which authority it is done ; and should any
one, in any case, be content that this oath shall go unkept on
a merely unsubstantial controversy as to how it shall be kept?
"Again, in any law upon this subject, ought, not all the safe
guards of liberty known in the ci-rilized and humane jurispru
dence to be introduced, so that a free man be not in any case
surrendered as a slave ? And might it hot be well at the same
time to provide by law for the enforcement of that clause iul
the Constitution which guarantees that 'the citizens of each
State shall be entitled to all the 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 hypocritical rules ; and while I do nqi choose now to specify
particular acts of Congress as proper to"T)e 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 im
punity in having them held to be unconstitutional.
"It is seventy -two years since the first inauguration of a
President under our national Constitution. During that period
fifteen different and very distinguished citizens have in succes
sion 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 difficulties.
"A disruption of the Federal Union, heretofore only men
aced, is now formidably attempted. I hold that in the contem
plation of universal law and of the Constitution, the Union of
these State's is perpetual. Perpetuity is imphed, if not ex-
240 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
pressed, in the fundamental law of all national governments.
It is safe to assert that no government proper ever had a pro
vision in its organic law for its own termination. Continue to
execute all the express provisions of our national Constitution,
and the Union will endure forever, it being impossible to de
stroy it, except by some action not provided for in the instru
ment itself.
"Again, if the United States be not a government proper,
but an association of States in the nature of a contract merely,
can it, as a contract, be peaceably unmade by less than all the
parties who made it ? One party to a contract may violate it
— ^break it, so to speak — but does it not require all to lawfully
rescind it ? Descending from these general principles, we find
the proposition that in legal contemplation the Union is per
petual, confirmed by the history of the Union itself.
" The Union is much older than the Constitution. It was
formed, in fact, by the Articles of Association in 1774. It was
matured and continued in the Declaration of Independence in
1776. It was farther ¦-'ligatured, and the faith of all the then
thirteen States expressly plighted and engaged that it should
be perpetual, by the Articles of 'the 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 the destruction of the Union by one or by a
part only of the States be lawfully possible, the Union is less
than before, the Constitution ha-ving 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 tbat 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
APTEE THE INAUGUEATION. 241
ability, I shall take care, as the Constitution itself expressly
enjoins upon me, that the laws of the Union shall be faithfully
executed in all the States. Doing this, which I deem to be only a
simple duty on my part, I shall perfectly perform it, so far as
is practicable, imless my rightful masters, the American people,
shall withhold the requisition, 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 constitutionally
defend and maintain itself.
" In doing this there need be no bloodshed or violence., and
there shall be none unless it is forced upon the national au
thority. "The power confided to me will be used io hold, occupy, and
possess the property and places belonging to the government, and
collect the duties and imposts ; but beyond what may be neces
sary for these objects, there will be no invasion, no using of
force against or among the people any where.
" Where hostility to the United States shall be so great and
so universal as to prevent competent resident citizens from
holding the Federal offices, there will be no attempt to force
obnoxious strangers among the people that object. While the
strict legal right may exist of the government to enforce the
exercise of these offices, the attempt to do so would be so irri
tating, and so nearly impracticable withal, that I deem it better
to forego, for the time, the uses of such offices.
" The mails, unless repelled, will continue to be furnished in
all parts of the Union.
" So far as possible, the people everywhere shall have that
sense of perfect security which is most favorable to calm
thought and reflection.
" The course here indicated will be followed, unless current
events and experience shall show a modification or change to
be proper ; and in every case and exigency my best discretion
¦will be exercised according to the circumstances actually
16
242 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
existing, and with a view and 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 ueither 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, before entering upon so grave a matter as the destruc
tion of our national fabric, with all its benefits, its memories,
and its hopes ? Would it not be well to ascertain why we do
it ? Will you hazard so desperate a step, while any portion
of the certain 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 con
stitutional rights can be maintained. Is it true then, that any
right, plainly written in the Constitution, has been denied ? I
thmk not. Happily the human raind 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 ; it certainly would, if
such right were a vital one. But such is not our case.
"All the vital rights of minorities and of individuals are so
plainly assured to thera by affirmations and negations, guaran
tees and prohibitions in the Constitution, that controversies
never arise concerning them. But no organic law can ever be
framed with a provision specifically applicable to every question
which may occur in practical administration. No foresight
can anticipate, nor any document of reasonable length contain
express provisions for all possible questions. Shall fugitives
from labor be surrendered by national or by State authorities?
APTEE THE INAUGUEATION. 243
The Constitution does not expressly say. Must Congress pro
tect slavery in the Territories? The Constitution does not
expressly say. From questions of this class spring all our
constitutional controversies, and we divide upou* them into
majorities and minorities.
"If the minority will not acquiesce, the majority must, or the
government must cease. There is no alternative for continuing
the government but acquiescence on the one side or the other.
If a minority in such a case will secede rather than acquiesce,
they make a precedent which, in turn, will ruin and divide
them, for a minority of their own will secede from them when
ever a majority refuses to be controlled by such a minority.
For instance, why not any portion of a new confederacy, a year
or two hence, arbitrarily secede again, precisely as portions of
the present Union now claim to secede from it? All who
cherish disunion sentiments are now being educated to the
exact temper of doing this. Is there such perfect identity of
interests among the States to compose a new Union as to pro
duce harmony only, and prevent renewed secession ? Plainly,
the central idea of secession is the essence of anarchy.
"A majority held in restraint by constitutional check and
limitation, and always changing easily with deliberate changes
of popular opinions and sentiments, is the only true sovereign
of a free people. Whoever rejects it, does, of necessity, fly to
anarchy or to despotism. Unanimity is impossible ; the rule
of a majority, as a permanent arrangement, is wholly inad
missible. So that, rejecting the majority principle, anarchy or
despotism, in some form, is all that is left.
" I do not forget the position assumed by some, that 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 ofthe government; and
while it is obviously possible that such decision raay be
244 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
erroneous in any given case, still the evil effect following it,
being limited to that particular case, with the chance that it
may be overruled and never become a precedent for other
cases, can better be borne 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 the vital questions affecting the
whole people is to be irrevocably fixed by the decisions of the '
Supreme Court, the instant they are made, as in ordinary liti
gation between parties in personal actions, the people will have
ceased to be their own masters, unless ha-ving to that extent
practically resigned their government into the hands of that
eminent tribunal.
" Nor is there in this view any assault upon the court or the
Judges. It is a duty from which they may not shrink, to
decide cases properly brought before them ; and it is no fault
of theirs if others seek to turn their decisions to political pur
poses. 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 ; and this is the only substantial dis
pute ; and 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 coraraunity
where the moral sense of the people imperfectly supports the
law itself The great body of the people abide by the dry
legal obligation in both cases, and a few break over in each.
This, I think, cannot be perfectly cured, and it would be worse
in both cases after the separation of the sections than before.
The foreign slave trade, now imperfectly suppressed, would be
ultimately revived, without restriction, in one section ; while
fugitive slaves, now only partially surrendered, would not be
surrendered at all by the other.
" Physically speaking, we cannot separate ; we cannot remove
our respective sections from each other, nor build an impajaable
wall between them. A husband and wife may be divorced.
APTEE THE INAUGUEATION. 245
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. Is it possible, then, to
make that intercourse more advantageous or more satisfactory
after separation than before ? Can aliens make treaties easier
than friends can make laws ? Can treaties be more faithfully
enforced between aliens than laws can among friends ? Sup
pose you go to war, you cannot fight always ; and when, after
much loss on both sides, and no gain on either, you cease
fighting, the identical 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 ofthe existing
government, they can exercise their constitutional right of
amending, or their revolutionary right to dismember or over
throw it. I cannot be i'gnorant of the fact that many worthy
and patriotic citizens are desirous of ha-ving the national Con
stitution amended. While I make no recoramendation of
amendment, I fully recognize the full authority of the people
over the whole subject, to be exercised in either of the modes
prescribed in the instrument itself, and I should, under exist
ing circurastances, favor, rather than oppose a fair opportunity
being afforded the people to act upon it.
"I -will venture to add, that to me the convention mode
seems preferable, in that it allows amendments to originate
-with the people themselves, instead of only permitting them to
take or reject propositions originated by others not especially
chosen for the purpose, and which might not be precisely
such' as they would wish either to accept or refuse. I under
stand that a proposed amendment to the Constitution (which
amendment, however, I have not seen) has passed Congress, to
the effect that the Federal Government shall never interfere.
¦with the domestic institutions of States, including that of per
sons held to service. To avoid misconstruction of what I have
246 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
said/ I depart from my purpose not to speak of particular
amendments, so far as to say that, holding such a provision to
now be implied constitutional law, I have no objection to its
being raade express and irrevocable.
" The Chief Magistrate deri ves all his authority from the people,
and they have conferred none upon hira to fix the terms for the
separation of the States. The people themselves, also, can do this
if they choose, but the Executive, as such, has nothing to do
with it. His duty is to administer the present government as
it carne 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 Euler 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, the American people. By the frame of
the governraent under which we live, this same people have
wisely given their public servants but little power for mischief,
and have with equal wisdom provided for the return of that
little to their own hands at very short intervals. While the
people retain their virtue and vigilance, no administration, by
any extreme wickedness or folly, can very seriously injure the
government in the short space of four years.
" My countrymen, one and all, think calraly 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 tirae ; but no good object can be
frustrated by it.
" Such of you as are now dissatisfied, still have the old Con
stitution imimpaired, 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.
APTEE THE INAUGUEATION. 247
" If it were admitted that you who are dissatisfied hold the
right side in the dispute, there is still no single reason for pre
cipitate action. Intelligence, patriotisra, Christianity, and a firm
reliance on Him who has never yet forsaken this favored land,
are stUl corapetent to adjust, in the best way, all our present
difficulties. "In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrym,en, and not
in mine, is the momentous issue of civil waK The govern
ment -will not assail you.
"You can have no conflict without being yourselves the
aggressors. You have no oath registered in Heaven to destroy
the government; while I shall have the most solemn one
to ' preserve, protect, and defend' it.
" I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We
must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained
it must not break our bonds of affection.
" The mystic cords of memory, stretching frora every battle
field and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all
over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union,
when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels
of our nature."
This address was delivered in tones distinctly audible
to the vast throng who surrounded the President, and,
almost before the echo of his voice had faded from their
hearing, the telegraph and the printing press carried it
to the homes and the hearts of his countrymen in other
parts of the Union. To the people, it brought the
welcome assurance that imbecility, double-dealing and
treachery, no longer held sway over the nation ; that
the new President was determined to maintain the
national integrity; and that, while faithful to his
official oath, he would use every lawful and reasonable
means to avert the e-vils of domestic war. He had.
248 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
indeed, suggested the desirabihty of a national consti
tutional convention, with power to adjust all questions
at issue, even including peaceable separation, in a law
ful manner, by a change of the organic law ; and, whUe
demonstrating unanswerably the utter causelessness of
war, he had distinctly placed the whole responsibility
of its comme:pcement upon the conspirators themselves.
He laid down a line of policy which, if it had only
been met in a corresponding spirit on the other side,
would have averted disastrous years of bloodshed. In
thus announcing his views, he . also plainly indicated,
that the benefits secured by the Constitution to any
portion of the people could not be claimed by them
while trampling that instrument under foot, and as
plainly notified the malcontents that they need expect
no immunities, under the assurances given on this or
any other occasion, inconsistent with the changed con
dition of affairs, if they should madly appeal to arms.
The whole address, while breathing an earnest yearn
ing for an honorable peace, did not, however, Hke the
unfortunate message of his predecessor of the previous
December, base the desire on a confessed helplessness
of the government, or an indisposition to exert its
power of self-preservation. Men felt that a new poUti
cal era had dawned, and breathed more freely, even in
the face of the dangers which encompassed the re
public. They saw that Mr. Lincoln had carefully
studied the situation of affairs, and that he was pre
pared to bring all the powers of his sterling good sense
and comprehensive practical judgment to the mastery
of the problem to be solved by him as the head of the
nation. They fully appreciated the rare foresight and
APTEE THE INAUGUEATION. 249
•
skUl in briefly presenting the true questions at issue,
in their proper bearings, and the calm, candid appeal
to the nation, in aU its parts, in behalf of law, order
and peace, which made this the wisest utterance of the
time. It has been well said of the address, that "who
ever would acquaint himself with the inmost traits of
Mr. Lincoln's character, as a pubUc man, and at the
same time discover, in honest and plain words, a state
ment in advance of the fundamental principles by which
his administration was afterward guided, let him care
fully study this paper, every sentence of which is full
of meaning."
But, of course, in the southern and border States
there were thousands of scheming minds ready to mis
construe and misrepresent any inaugural address which
the new President might chance to present. Every
effort was therefore made to spread through the border
States the idea that the inaugural was intended as a
cov6rt declaration of war upon the southern States ;
and many of these efforts were more or less successful
in the accompUshment of their object.
The first act of Mr. Lincoln, of course, was to ap
point his cabinet, the construction of which had been
perhaps substantially settled in his o-wn mind before he
left lUinois. "The position occupied by Mr. Seward
before the country, was such as to leave no hesitation
as to the propriety of offering him the highest place of
honor under the Executive, as Secretary of State. This
position, was at an early day placed at Mr. Seward's
disposal. The ofiice of Attorney-General was, with like
promptitude, tendered to Judge Bates, of Missouri,
whose leading position as a southern statesman with
250 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
•
anti-slavery tendencies, of the Clay school, had caused
his name to be prominently and widely used in con
nection with the Presidency before the nomination for
that office, made at Chicago. Governor Chase, of Ohio,
who had recently been elected to a second term in the
Senate, after four years of useful and popular service in
the executive chair of his State, perhaps quite as early
occurred to the mind of Mr. Lincoln as a man specially
fitted to manage the finances of the nation through the
troublous times that were felt to be approaching. This
difficult post Mr. Chase surrendered his seat in the
Senate to accept. Mr. Cameron, of Pennsylvania, se
lected as Secretary of War, Mr. Welles, of Connecticut,
as Secretary of the Navy, and Mr. -Montgomery Blair,*
of Maryland, as Postmaster-General, were all leading
representatives of the Democratic element of the party
which had triumphed in the late election. Mr. Caleb B.
Smith, of" Indiana, a contemporary of Mr. Lincoln in
Congress, and for years one of the most distinguished
Whig politicians of the West, was tendered the place
of Secretary of the Interior, which he accepted."
The Senate having confirmed all these nominations,
* It is worthy of remark that John Bell, of Teimessee, who had re
ceived a large popular vote at the Presidential election, and whose
strength in the electoral college made him the third of four Presidential
nominees, was at this time in Washington, and his appointment to a
place in the cabinet, as a loyal border State man, was desired by many,
especially in the West. But Mr. Blair, an avowed anti-slavery man, and
one of the most radical of Eepublicans, was preferred to Mr. Bell, a zeal
ous partizan opponent, and one whose unreliable character, as developed
by his sudden defection to the rebel cause. President Lincoln was not
slow to perceive.
APTEE THE INAUGUEATION. 251
the gentlemen immediately entered upon the dischage
of their duties.
One of the first and most difficult duties of the new
President, was to institute a thorough " sifting out" of
all the disloyal or doubtful inen occupying responsible
positions. The departments and the city were filled
¦with sympathizers with the rebellion, whose intimate
knowledge of affairs enabled them to communicate
information of every movement inaugurated, and even
of the avowed purposes or plans of every high officer of
the government, ci-vil or military. Men who had
always been deemed trustworthy, were afterwards found
to have been in complicity with the traitors, and not a
few holding mihtary commissions, were regarded as
doubtful ; so that, for a time, it was uncertain how far
any one, with a few noble exceptions, in the responsible
places, in army or navy, could be relied on in the
emergencies which were constantly arising. And yet
no practical measures could well be adopted, until
the different branches of government were thoroughly
purged of treason. The President, however, fully
appreciate his surroundings, and knowing how rampant
the whole community was with disloyalty, how every
department was filled with spies in the service of the
-memy, and scarcely knowing whom to trust, or where
to lean for aid and counsel, wisely kept his own
counsel. Inexperienced as he was in military affairs, he had
the ready advice and faithful ser-vice of the illustrious
head of the army, Lieutenanl>General Scott. True
and loyal as that veteran general was, however, his
poUtical sympathies had never gone with the Repub-
252 TEE LIFE OP ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
Hcan party, while his Virginian birth and associations
led him to shrink from every appearance of attempted
coercion. It is no secret that General Scott openly and
earnestly advocated the evacuation of Fort Sumter — on
military, if not also on political grounds; and it is
believed that he converted nearly every cabinet minister
to his views.
The President, however, while adjusting his new
agencies, and learning the spirit of the men about him,
in the army and in the navy ; as well as awaiting, with
attentive eye, the developments of opinion and action,
in both sections, allowed the consideration of this
question to be continued, from day to day, without
indicating his purpose. The emissaries who waited here
on their false diplomatic mission were kept duly apprised,
through traitorous channels, of the opinions of General
Scott and the deliberations of the Cabinet; and they
constantly communicated with the leaders at home ; it
being deemed expedient to allow, during all this period,
free intercourse by maU and telegraph. The result was
a general impression at the South — for which no word
of the Chief Executive ever gave any warrant although
he obviously had no occasion to correct any^uch mis
conception — that Port Sumter was to be evacuated, and
that no attempt would be made to reinforce Fort
Pickens. On the 12th of March, Messrs. Forsyth, of Alabama,
and Crawford, of Georgia, appeared in Washington, as
commissioners from the self-styled " Confederacy^" and
requested an unofficial interview with the Secretary of
State. This, as well as a subsequent proposition on-
their part to negotiate for the adjustment of all questions
APTEE THE INAUGUEATION. 253
arising from the separation of the southern States, was
decUned by Mr. Seward, at the direction of the Presi
dent ; because it "could not be admitted that the States
referred to had, in law or fact, withdrawn from the
Federal Union, or that they could do so in any other
manner than -with the consent and concert of the people
of the United States, 'to be given through a national
convention to be assembled in conformity with the pro-
-visions of the Constitution of the United States." This
refusal was iinmediately made the pretext for precipi
tating the impending revolution by an act which, it was
believed, would unite all the southern States in support
of the Confederacy. On the day of its receipt, the Sth
of April, General Beauregard telegraphed from Charles
ton, S. C, to the rebel Secretary of War, at Mont
gomery, Alabama, that " an authorized messenger from
President Lincoln had just informed Governor Pickens
and himself, that provisions would be sent to Fort
Sumter peaceably, or otherwise, by force." He was
instructed to demand the surrender of the fort, which he
did on the llth, and was promptly informed, by Major
Anderson, then in command, that his " sense of honor
and his obligations to his government, prevented his com
pliance." On the night of the same day, Beauregard
-wrote to Major Anderson, by orders of his- government,
that if he "would state the time at which he would
evacuate Fort Sumter" (as it was known that it must
soon be evacuated for lack of provisions) "and will
agree that, in the meantime, you will not use your guns
against us unless ours shall be employed against Fort
Sumter, we will abstain from opening fire upon you."
At half-past two in the morning of the 12th, Major
254 THE LIFE OP ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
Anderson replied that he would evacuate the fort by
noon on the 15th, abiding, meantime, by the terms pro
posed, unless he should " receive, prior to that, control-
ing instructions from his government, or additional
supplies." But the impatience of the rebels could not
be restrained ; and, in reply to this note, he was notified
at half-past three, that their batteries would open upon
the fort in one hour from that time. This they did,
and after a bombardment of thirty-three hours, gallantly
sustained by Anderson and his Httie band of heroes,
only seventy in number — the fort was evacuated on
Sabbath morning, the 14th of April, 1861.
As the news of the attack on Sumter flashed over the
country, an intense and universal excitement was
aroused in both sections. Its effect was, in some
respects, precisely what had been anticipated by the
rebel leaders, and in other respects, it must have
seriously disappointed their hopes. The South, it is
needless to say, was intoxicated with exultation; the
southern heart was, at last, on 'fire, and the slight con
servative! element which had struggled against secession,
was immediately swept away. At the North, however,
incredulity was followed by a burst of indignation — all
party lines were, for the moment, broken do-wn, — and
the people, arising in the majesty of their strength,
rallied around the "Old Flag," in support of the "Con
stitution and the enforcement of the laws."
The President, regarding it as an armed attack upon
the government of the United States, in support of the
combination which had been organized into a Confede
racy to resist and destroy its authority, saw at once that
APTEE THE INAUGUEATION. 255
it could be met and defeated only by a force placed
in his hands for the mamtenance of that authority.
Whatever could be done to avert this final step,
had been patiently, kindly, sincerely done by Abraham
Lincoln. Truthful history wUl record this of him,
through all ages, to his lasting praise. No rough
passion, no fretful iiripatience, no revengeful impulse,
ever ruffled his spirit during all these days of suspense.
But the gauntlet was at length thrown down, and no
alternative was left but to meet force with force.
AU incredulity which may have- existed in northern
minds as to the actual commencement of hostilities, or
as to the purposes of the Executive in this momentous
juncture, were dispelled when the public journals of
Monday morning, April 15th, displayed conspicuously
the following
Peoclamation : — By the President of the United States.
" Wheeeas, The laws of the United States have been for
some time past, and now* are opposed, and the execution
thereof obstructed, in the States of South Carolina, Georgia,
Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas, by com
binations too powerful to be suppressed by the ordinary course
of judicial proceedings, or by the powers vested in the mar
shals by law : Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President
of the United States, in -virtue of the power in rae vested by
the Constitution and the laws, have thought fit to call forth,
and hereby do call forth, the militia of the several States of
the Union, to the aggregate number of seventy-five thousand,
in order to suppress said combinations, and to cause the laws to
be duly executed.
" The details . for this object will be iraraediately communi
cated to the State authorities through the War Department. I
256 THE LIFE OP ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
appeal to all loyal citizens to favor, facilitate and aid this effort
to raaintain the honor, the integrity, and the existence of our ¦
national Union, and the perpetuity of popular government, and
to redress wrongs already long enough endured. I deem it
proper to say that the first service assigned to the forces hereby
called forth, will probably be to repossess the forts, places, and
property which have been seized from the Union ; and in every
event the utmost care will be observed, consistently with the
objects aforesaid, to avoid any devastation, any destruction of
or interference with property, or any disturbance of peaceful
citizens of any part of the country ; and I hereby command
the persons composing the combinations aforesaid, to disperse
and retire peaceably to their respective abodes, within twenty
days from this date.
" Deeraing that the present condition of public affairs pre
sents an extraordinary occasion, I do hereby, in virtue of the
poAver in me vested by the Constitution, convene both houses
of Congress. The Senators and Eepresentatives are, therefore,
summoned to assemble at their respective chambers at twel-ve
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 public safety and interest may seera to demand.
" In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and
caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
"Done at the City of Washington, this fifteenth day of April,
in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and
sixty-one, and of the independence of the United States
the eighty-fifth. Abraham Lincoln.
" By the President :
" William H. Sewaed, Secretary of State."
Right promptly and gloriously did the people respond
to this proclamation. vScarcely a voice throughout the
North was raised against this measure, which was felt
to be so clearly an absolute necessity of self-defence on
APTEE THE INAUGUEATION. 257
the part of the government. From every northern
State, and from private persons as well as Legislatures,
came the offer of men, arms and money, in unstinted
profusion, for the defence and support of the govern
ment. Massachusetts was first in the field, and within
twenty-four hours after the issue of the proclamation,
her Sixth Regiment, fully equipped, was on the road to
the national capital; whUe, -within the next forty-eight
hours, two more regiments were made ready and de
parted to the same point. The Sixth, in its march
through Baltimore on the 19 th, was attacked by a mob
of secessionists, and several of its members were killed
or severely wounded. This added fuel to the excite
ment which already pervaded the country. The north
ern section of the Union felt outraged that troops should
be assailed and murdered on their way to protect the
capital ofthe nation. In Maryland, where the secession
party was strong, there was also great excitement ; and
the Governor of the State and the Mayor of Baltimore
united in urging, for prudential reasons, that no more
troops should be brought through that city. To their
representations the President made the following reply :
"Washington, April 29, 1861.
" GovEENOE Hicks and Matoe Beown :
"Gentlemen: Your letter by Messrs. Bond, Dobbin, and
Brune is received. I tender you both my sincere thanks for
your efforts to keep the peace in the trying situation in which
you are placed.
" For the future, troops must be brought here, but I make no
point of bringing them through Baltimore. Without any
military knowledge myself, of course I must leave details *to
General Scott. He hastily said this morning, in the presence
17
258 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
of these gentlemen, ' March them around Baltimore and not
through it.' I sincerely hope the General, on fuller reflection,
will consider this practical and proper, and that you will not
object to it. By this, a collision of the people of Baltimore
with the troops -will be avoided, unless they go out of their
way to seek it. I hope you will exert your influence to
prevent this.
" Now and ever I shall do all in my power for peace con
sistently with the maintenance of the government.
" Your obedient servant, A. Lincoln."
In response to a simUar request from Governor Hicks,
accompanied by a suggestion that the controversy
between the North and South might be referred to Lord
Lyons, the British Minister, for arbitration. President
Lincoln, through the Secretary of State, made the
following reply : " Depaetment of State, April 22c?, 1861.
"His Excellency Thos. H. Hicks, Governor of Maryland:
" SlE : I have had the honor to receive your communication
of this morning, in which you inform me that you have felt
it to be your duty to advise the President ofthe United States
to order elsewhere the troops then off Annapolis, and also that
no more may be sent through Maryland ; and that you have
further suggested that Lord Lyons be requested to act as
mediator between the contending parties in our country, to
prevent the effusion of blood.
" The President directs me to acknowledge the receipt of that
communication, and to assure you that he has weighed the
counsels it contains with the respect which he habitually
cherishes for the Chief Magistrates of the several States, and
especially for yourself He regrets, as deeply as any magistrate
or citizen of this country can, that demonstrations against the
safety of the United States, with very extensive preparations
APTEE the INAUGUEATION. 259
for the effasion of blood, have made it his duty to call out the
forces to which you allude.
"The force now sought to be brought through Maryland, is
intended for nothing but the defence of the capital. The
President has necessarily confided the choice of the national
highway which that force shall take in coming to this city to
the Lieutenant-General commanding the Army of the United
States, who like his only predecessor, is not less distinguished
for his humanity, than for his loyalty, patriotism, and dis
tinguished pubhc service.
" The President instructs me to add, that the national highway
thus selected by the Lieutenant-General has been chosen by
him, upon consultation with prorainent magistrates and citizens
of Maryland, as the one which, while a route is absolutely
necessary, is farthest removed from the populous cities of the
State, and -with the expectation that it would therefore be the
least objectionable one.
" The President cannot but remember that there has been a
time in the history of our country when a general of the
American Union, with forces designed for the defence of its
capital, was not unwelcome anywhere in the State of Maryland
and certainly not at Annapolis, then, as now, the capital of that
patriotic State, and then, also, one of the capitals of the Union.
" If eighty years could have obliterated all the other noble
sentiments of that age in Maryland, the President would be
hopeful, nevertheless, that there is one that would forever
remain there and everywhere. That sentiment is, that no
domestic contention whatever that may arise among the parties
of this republic, ought in any case to be referred to any
foreign arbitrament, least of all to the arbitrament of a European
monarchy. " I have the honor to be, with distinguished consideration,
your Excellency's most obedient servant, •
William H. Sewaed."
260 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
It was, however, subsequently agreed between General
Scott and the Maryland authorities that troops should
be forwarded by way of Annapolis, untU peace and
order were restored in Baltimore, when the regular use
of the highway through that city was resumed.
Such were the initial steps by which the government
sought to repel the attempt of the rebel Confederacy to
overthrow its authority by force of arms, and its action
was at that time wholly defensive. The declarations
of rebel officials, as well as the language of the southern
press, indicated very clearly their intention to push the
war into the North. Jefferson Davis had pledged him-'
seU", more than a month previous, that whenever the
war should open, the North and not the South should
be the field of battle. At a popular demonstration held
at Montgomery, Ala., on hearmg that fire had been
opened upon Sumter, L. P. Walker, the rebel Secretary
of War, had said, that while "no man could tell where
the war would end, he would prophesy that the flag
which now flaunts the breeze here, -would ^a^ over the
dome of the old capitol at Washington before the first of
May," and that it "might float eventually over FaneuU
Hall itself." The rebel government had gone forward
-with great vigor to make good these predictions. Vol
unteers were summoned to the field. Besides garrisoning
the fortresses in their possession along the southern
coast, a force of nearly twenty^ thousand men was
pushed rapidly forward to Virginia. A loan of eight
millions of dollars was raised, and Davis issued a procla
mation offering letters of marque to all persons who
might desire to aid the rebel government and enrich
themselves by depredations upon the rich and extended
APTEE THE INAUGUEATION. 261
commerce of the United States. The South thus
plunged openly and boldly into a war of aggression ; and
the President, in strict conformity with the declaration
of his inaugural, put the government upon the defensive,
and limited the military operations of the moment to
the protection of the capital.
The week following the President's proclamation was
crowded with important events. Public meetings were
held all through the loyal States, and the response to the
call for troops was hearty and universal. The spirit
already roused throughout the country was greatly inten
sified by the attempts of the secession mob in Baltimore to
prevent the passage of the Massachusetts Sixth through
that city. EnHstments followed with such rapidity that
it was soon only a question whose services should be
declined,' of the tens of thousands offering themselves.
" The city of Washington, an object of threatened
attack, and thronged with people, who either openly
proclaimed their hostility to the government, or were
of doubtful fidelity, was full of excitement — liable
at any moment to an emeute or to an irruption of rebel
troops already in the field in Virginia. Alexandria was-
in their possession, or easily accessible at any moment
from Richmond. Rumors were current of an immediate
intention on the part of the Confederate leaders to
occupy Arlington Heights, completely commanding the
city, whUe as yet only a few companies of the regular
ser-vice, -with two or three light field batteries, were in
Washington for its defence. To these were added a
few hundred volunteer militia, made up chiefly of
transient sojourners at the capital. A few dragoons,
¦with a detachment of artillery, guarded the Long
262 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
Bridge, and the Navy Yard and other portions ofthe
city had a small guard of extemporized infantry. There
was also a single company of sappers and miners, under
Lieutenant (now General) Weitzel. Thus passed an
anxious week, while every exertion was made by the
government and its loyal supporters to assemble an
adequate defensive force. How easily the place might
have been taken, -with not one of the present numerous
and strong fortifications, with no army but half a
dozen scattered companies of infantry, cavalry and
artiUery, and with so large a number within ready to
rise and give active welcome to the assailing force they
so eagerly expected, need not here be discussed. From
one extremity of the country to the other, the danger
was seen and felt. The few days needful, fortunately
were gained."
Harper's Ferry, threatened by the ¦ rebel enemy, was
abandoned by the small United States force there, after
destroying the arsenal and other important government
property ; and almost simultaneously, two New England
regiments, despatched by wise forethought, arrived at
Fortress Monroe, and secured a permanent occupation
of that strong position in the Old' Dominion, which had
now become (without waiting for the consummation of
the farce of a popular vote under duress) the eighth
State of the rebel Confederacy.
The route by Annapolis was opened by General
Butler and his Massachusetts force, and on the 25th of
April troops from the North began to pour into Wash
ington, relieving all immediate anxiety. The people
had nobly responded. The "great uprising" was an
assured event.
.APTEE THE INAUGUEATION. 263
The foremost purpose of government was strictly a
defensive one. To protect the capital first of all — for
in the flush of triumph over the reduction of Fort
Sumter, the determination to take Washington was
boldly avowed, alike by the rebel Secretary of War and
by the organs of public opinion everywhere in the
insurrectionary States — was the object aimed at by the
President, and energetically undertaken by General
Scott. Secondary to this, and a labor for the future,
was the reoccupation and repossession of Federal forts
and Federal property already seized by the rebels, and
the retention of such as were threatened, as distinctly
promised by the President in his inaugural address —
forcibly now, since the peaceable alternative was no
longer possible. The blockade by sea, and a defensive
campaign by land, were immediate steps recommended
by the General-in-Chief, and adopted by the Adminis
tration. On the 27th, the following new military departments
were announced, under command of able generals :
1. The Department of Washington, including the
District of Columbia and the adjacent country, and the
State of Maryland as far as Bladensburgh, inclusive;
under the command of General J. K. F. Mansfield —
headquarters at Washington. 2. The Department of
Annapolis, including the country for twenty miles on
each side of the railroad from Annapolis to the city of
Washington, as far as Bladensburgh ; under the com
mand of General B. F. Butler — ^headquarters at An
napolis. 3. The Department of Pennsylvania, includ
ing that State, the State of Delaware, and- all of the
State of Maryland not embraced within the depart-
264 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
ments first named; under command of General Robert
Patterson — headquarters at Philadelphia. This organ
ization of departments indicates the field of contem
plated military operations in the East. The Depart
ment of Washington extended no further southward
than the old limits of the District of Columbia, an
extension into Virginia only for the obvious purpose of
including Alexandria and Arlington Heights, as essential
to the defences of the capital.
To these departments were added a fourth, on the
10th day of May, including the States of Ohio, Indiana,
and Illinois, under the command of General George B.
McClellan — headquarters at Cincinnati; a department
manifestly organized with a view to the maintenance of
a defensive line, on the Ohio river, from Wheeling to
Cairo. It is especially worthy of note, that Mr. Lincoln,
with a magnanimity which saw only an endangered
country, and which desired only its safety, had placed
at the head of three of these important departments
three of his most decided political opponents — Patterson,
Butler, and McCleUan.
The State of Virginia, which had hitherto hung back
from fully committing herself to the cause of secession,
was now " goaded" by a demand from Governor Pickens
of South Carolina, as to what course she intended to
take in the war they had just commenced, and in which
they were determined to triumph or perish. Thus
urged, the State Convention sent a committee to Wash
ington to inquire of the President what his intentions
were towards the southern States. To this inquiry Mr.
Lincoln returned the following reply :
APTEE TflE INAUGUEATION. 265
"To Hon. Messes. Peeston, Stuaet, and Eandolph:
" Gentlemen : 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 uncertainty
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 coraraerclal
interests of the country, tends to keep up an excitement which
is unfavorable to the adjustment of the pending diffici^ities, and.
threatens a disturbance of the public peace ; therefore,
" 'Resolved, That a committee of three delegates be appointed
to wait on the President of the United States, present to him
this preamble, and 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 ha-ving as yet seen occasion to change, it is now my piir-
pose to pursue the course marked out in the inaugural address,
I commend a careful consideration of the whole document as
the best expression 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 belong
ing 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 any-
-W-here.' 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 carae into
my hands. But if, as now appears to be true, in pursuit of a
purpose to drive the United States authority from these places,
266 the life of abeaham Lincoln.
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 hns been
assaulted, as is reported, I shall, perhaps, cause the United
States mails to be withdrawn from all the States which claim
to have seceded, believing that the cornmencement of actual
war against the government justifies and possibly demands it.
I scarcely need to say that I consider the military posts and
property sfluated -within the States which claim to have seceded,
as yet belonging to the government of the United States as
much as they did before the supposed secession. Whatever
else I may do for the purpose, I shall not attempt to collect
the duties and imposts by any armed 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. Frora 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 raay be regarded as a modification.
" Abeaham Lincoln."
On the seventeenth, the State of Virginia seceded, by
a vote of eighty-eight to fifty-five ; and on the twenty-
first of May, the capital of the rebel government was
transferred to Richmond. Virginia having thus been
carried out of the Union, about this time, by fraud, ter
rorism and violence, other slave States followed her
example ; and hence, on the 27th of April, the block
ade of rebel ports was extended, by proclamation, to
Virginia and North Carolina. The rebel authorities,
however, were not as successful in their strenuous en
deavors to secure the adhesion of Maryland, Kentucky,
APTEE THE tNAUGUEATION. 267
Tennessee and Missouri to the Confederacy — all of
which but Tennessee, were, by the wise forbearance
of the President's earHer measures, held aloof from
active participation in the secession movement.
North and South now devoted the months of May
and June to active and vigorous preparations for the
ine-vitable conflict awaiting them. In the rebel States
over one hundred thousand troops had been raised, and
a large portion of them had been massed near the north-
em border. Meanwhile, the government of the United
States, on the 20th of April, seized all the despatches
which had accumulated in the telegraph offices during
the preceding year, for the purpose of detecting move
ments in aid of the conspiracy. The ports of North
, Carolina and Virginia were -included within the block'
ade established along the southern coast, and on the
third of May the President issued a proclamation call
ing into the ser-vice of the United States forty-two
thousand and thirty-four volunteers for three years, and
ordering an addition of twenty-two thousand one hun
dred and fourteen, officers and men, to the regular army,
and eighteen, thousand seamen to the navy. On the
sixteenth, by another proclamation, he directed the
commander of the United States forces in Florida to
" permit no person to exercise any office or authority
upon the islands of Key West, the Tortugas, and Santa
Rosa, which may be inconsistent with the laws and
Constitution of the United States — authorizing him, at
the same time, if he shall find it necessary, to suspend
the writ of habeas corpus, and to remove from the
vicinity of the United States fortresses all dangerous or
suspected persons."
268 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
It would be idle to attempt a succinct narration,
within the limits of this volume, of the multitude of
orders, proclamations, etc., which followed each other
in rapid succession after the commencement of hostili
ties. We must confine our record to a synopsis, if we
would keep our subject of biography in view.
One of the first duties of the new administration, was
to define the position to be taken by the government of
the United States towards foreign nations in view of
the rebellion. The attitude which the President de
cided to assume, is very distinctly set forth in the letter
of instructions prepared by the Secretary of State for
Mr. Adams, on the eve of his departure for the court of
St. James, and dated AprU 10, in the following terms :
" Before considering the arguments you are to use, it is im
portant to indicate those which you are not to employ in exe
cuting that raission.
"First. The President has noticed, as the whole American
people have, with rauch eraotion, the expression of good-will
and friendship towards the United States, and of concern for
their present embarrassments, which have been made, on apt
occasions, by her Majesty and her ministers. You will make
due acknowledgraent for these manifestations, but at the same
time you will not rely on any raere sympathies or national
kindness. You will raake no admission of weakness in our
Constitution, or of apprehension on the part of the govern
ment. 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 suggestions of compromise by
this government, under foreign auspices, with its discontented
citizens. If, as the President does not at all apprehend, you
APTEE THE INAUGUEATION. 269
shall unhappily find her Majesty's government tolerating the
application of the so-called seceding States, or wavering about
it, you will not leave them to suppose for a moment that they
can grant that application and remain the friends of the United
States. You may even assure them promptly, in that case, that if
they determine to recognize, they may at the same time prepare to
enter inio alliance with the enemies of this republic. You alone
will represent .your couniry at London, and you will represent the
whole of ii there. When you are asked to divide thai duty with
others, diplomatic relations between the government of Great Britain
and ihis government will he suspended, and will remain so until
it shall he seen which of the two is most strongly intrenched in the
confidence of their respective nations and of mankind.
"You wiU. not be allowed, however, even if you were dis
posed, as the President is sure you will not be, to rest your
opposition to the apphcation 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 opposing raoral principles which raay be sup
posed to lie at the foundation of the controversy between those
States and the Federal Union.
"You wiU. indulge in no expressions of harshness or disre
spect, or even impatience, concerning the seceding States, their
agents, or their people. But you will, on the contrary, all the
while remeraber that those States are now, as they always here
tofore have been, and, notwithstanding their temporary self-
delusion, they must always continue to be, equal and honored
members of this Federal Union, and that their citizens through
out all political misunderstandings and alienations, still are and
always raiist be, our kindred and countryraen. In short, all
your arguments must belong to one of three classes, namely:
First. Arguments drawn from the principles of public law and
natural justice, which regulate the intercourse of equal States..
Secondly. Arguments which concern equally the honor, welfare,
270 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN,
and happiness of the discontented States, and the honor, wel
fare, 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."
Previously, however, to the arrival of Mr. Adams at
London, the British and French governments, acting in
concert, had determined to recognize the rebels as a
belligerent power; and on the 15th of June, their
representatives at Washington requested an inter-view
with the Secretary of State, to communicate to him the
fact of this decision. This document, although sub
mitted to his private perusal, Mr. Seward declined
altogether to hear, or to receive officially. Mr. Adams
was instructed to protest against this recognition of the
South as belligerents, and in all diplomatic intercourse
with foreign governments, from that time to the present,
the action of the seceding States was treated as rebel
lion, purely domestic in its character, upon the nature
or merits of which it would be unbecoming in us to hold
any discussion with any foreign power. Upon all those
governments the duty of accepting this view of the
question, and of abstaining, consequently, from every
act which could be construed into any recognition of
the rebel Confederacy, or which could embarrass the
government of the United States in its endeavors to
re-establish its rightful authority, was constantly and
firmly pressed. " You cannot be too decided or explicit,"
was the uniform language of the Secretary, " in making
known to the government that there is not now, nor hasi
there been, nor will there be, the least idea existing
in this government, of suffering a dissolution of this
Union to take place m <my way wTuitefcer."
THE ESTEA SESSION OF CONGEESS. 271
CHAPTER X.
THE EXTEA SESSION OF CONGEESS, AND THE FIEST UN
POLDINGS OF THE POLICY OP EMANCIPATION.
Th« Extra Session of Congress. — Mr. Lincoln's first Annual Message. —
He is strongly sustained by tte action of Congress, and the sentiment
of the people. — The disastrous Battle of Bull Run, July 21st, 1861. —
General McClellan succeeds General Scott in command of the Nationa
armies. — General Butler's theory and practice in regard to fugitive
slaves applying for protection. — He decides them to be " contraband
of -war." — His -view indorsed by Government. — Fremont issues an
Em.ancipation Proclamation. — It is vetoed by the President. — The
Trent affair, and its results.
In accordance with the President's proclamation of
the 15th of April, Congress convened in extra session
on the 4th of July, 1861 ; both Houses being strongly
Republican'. On the 5th, the President sent in his first
annual message. In this able document, which we
lack space to reproduce in full, Mr. Lincoln gives a
concise statement of the critical situation of affairs at
the time when he entered upon the duties of his office ;
re-views the circumstances under which hostilities were
commenced, and thus briefly sets forth the course which
he had endeavored to pursue towards the rebellious
States, untU their open act of bloodshed had compelled
him to sterner measures.
" Finding this condition of things, and believing it to be an
imperative duty upon the incoming Executive to prevent, if
possible, the consummation of such attempt to destroy the
272 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
Federal Union, a choice of means to that end became indispen
sable. This choice was made, and was declared in the in
augural address. The policy chosen looked to the exhaustion
of all peaceful measures before a resort to any stronger ones.
It sought only to hold the public places and . property not
already wrested from the government, and to collect the
revenue, relying for the rest on time, discussion, and the ballot-
box. It promised a continuance of the mails, at government
expense, to the very people who were resisting the govern
ment ; and it gave repeated pledges against any disturbance to
any of the people, or any of their rights. Of all that which a
President might constitutionally and justifiably do in such
a case, every thing was forborne, without which it was believed
possible to keep the government on foot."
This conciliatory policy, however, had been in vain.
The madness of the leaders of the insurrectionary
movement had hurried them on in .their wild schemes,
until the foul crime of Sumter's bombardment set at
naught any further efforts at conciliation and peace.
" The assault upon and reduction of Fort Sumter, ' says the
President,' was in no sense a matter of self-defence on the part
of the assailants. They well knew that the garrison in the fort
could by no possibility commit aggression upon them. They
knew — they were expressly notified — that the giving of bread
to the few brave and hungry men of the garrison was all which
would on that occasion be attempted, unless themselves, by
resisting go much, should provoke more. They knew that this
government desired to keep the garrison in the fort, not to
assail 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 adjustraent ; 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
THE EXTEA SESSION OF CONGEESS. 273
dissolution. That this was their object the Executive well
understood ; and having said to them in the inaugural address,
'You can have no conflict without being yourselves the
aggressors,' he took pains not only to keep this declaration
good, but also to keep the case so free from the power of
ingenious sophistry that the world should not be able to mis
understand it. By the affair at Fort Sumter, with its surround
ing circumstances, that point was reached. Then and thereby
the assailants of the government began the conflict of arms,
without a gun in sight, or in expectancy to return their fire,
save only the few in the fort, sent to that harbor years before
for their own protection, and still ready to give that protection
in whatever was lawful. In this act, discarding all else, they
have forced upon the country the distinct issue, 'immediate
dissolution or blood.'
"And this issue embraces more than the fate of these United
States. It presents to the whole family of man the question,
whether a constitutional republic or democracy — a governraent
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
numbers to control administration, according to organic law
in any case, can always, upon the pretences made in this case,
or on any other pretences, or arbitrarily, without any pretence,
break up their government, and thus practically put an end to
free government upon the earth. It forces us to ask, ''Is there,
in all republics, this inherent and fatal weakness?' 'Must
a government, of necessity, be too strong for the liberties of its
own people, or too weak to maintain its own existence ?'
" So viewing the issue, no choice was left but to call out the
war power of the governraent ; and so to resist force employed
for its destruction, by force for its preservation."
Passing tersely over the secession of Virginia, and the
circumstances of violence and deceit by which, it had
18
274 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
been effected, and exposing the unjustness and hollow
ness of Kentucky's " neutrality," the President gave a
brief explanation of the reasons leading to the suspen
sion of the " habeas corpus act ;" and then offered the
following suggestions as to the measures deemed neces
sary for the immediate work in hand :
" 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 work, at least four hun
dred thousand men, and four hundred millions of dollars. That
number of men is about one-tenth of those of proper ages, within
the regions where, apparently, all are willing to engage ; and the
sura is less than a twenty-third part of the raoney value owned
by the men who seem ready to devote the whole. A debt of
six hundred raillion dollars now, is a less sum per head than
was the debt of our Eevolution when we came out of that
struggle ; and the money value in the country now bears even
a greater proportion to what it was then, than does the popula
tion. 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 frora 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 Execu
tive to give it practical shape and efficiency. One of the greatest
perplexities of the government is to avoid receiving troops
faster than it can provide for them. In a word, the people will
save their government, if the government itself will do its part
only indifferently well."
He then adverted to the abstract question of seces
sion, denying its pretensions with a pungency and
logical force peculiarly his own :
THE EXTEA SESSION OF CONGEESS. 275
" 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, well 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 ad
vancement 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 coraplete destruction of
the 'Union. The sophism itself is, that any State of the Union
may, consistently with the national Constitution, and therefore
lawfully and peaeefnlly, withdraw from the Union, without the
consent of the Union or of any other State. The little disguise
that the - supposed right is to be exercised only for just cause,
themselves to be the sole judges of 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 cur
rency, from the assumption that there is some omnipotent and
sacred supremacy pertaining to a State — to each State of our
Federal Union. Our States have neither more nor less power
than that reserved to them in tho Union by the Constitution —
no one of them ever having been a State out of the Union.
276 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
The original ones passed into the Union even before they cast
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 inde-
]5endence, 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
Declaration 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
Confederation, two years later, that the Union shall be per
petual, is most conclusive. Having never been States, either
in substance or in name, outside of the Union, whence this
magical oranipotence of ' State rights,' asserting a claim of
power to la-wfuUy 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 po
litical community without a political_ superior?' Tested by
this, no one of our States, except Texas, ever was a sove
reignty. And even Texas gave up the character on coming
into the Union ; by which act she acknowledged the Constitu
tion of the United States, and the laws and treaties of the United
States raade in pursuance of the Constitution, to be for her the
suprerae 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 in
dependence and their liberty. By conquest or purchase, the
Union gave each of them whatever of independence or liberty
THE EXTEA SESSION OF CONGEESS. 277
it has. The Union is older tha» any of the States, and, in fact,
it created them as States. Originally some independent colo
nies made the Union — and, in turn, the Union threw off their
old dependence for them, and made them States such as they
are. Not one of them ever had a State constitution indepen
dent 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 re
served to them in and by the national Constitution ; but among
these, surely, are not included all conceivable powers, however
mischievous or destructive ; but, at most, such only as were
known in the world at the tirae as governmental powers —
and certainly a power to destroy the government itself, had
never been kno-wn as a governmental, as a merely administra
tive 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 Grovernment ; while whatever con
cerns only the State, should be left exclusively to the State.
This is all there is of original principle about it. Whether the
national Constitution, in defining boundaries between the two,
has applied the principle with exact accuracy, is not to be
questioned. We are all bound by that defining -without
question. "What is now combated, is the position that secession is
consistent with the Constitution — is lawful and peaceful. It is
not contended that there is any express law for it ; and nothing
should ever be implied as law which leads to unjust or absurd
consequences. The nation purchased with money the countries
out of which several of these States were formed ; is it just that
they shall go off without leave and without refunding ? The
nation paid very large sums (in the aggregate, I believe, nearly
a hundred millions) to relieve Florida of the aboriginal tribes ;
278 THE LIFE' OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
is it just that she shall now be off without consent, or without
making any return ? The nation is now in debt for money
applied to the benefit of these so-called seceding States in
comraon with the rest ; is it just either that creditors shall go
unpaid, or the remaining States pay the whole ? A part of the
present national debt was contracted to pay the old debts of
Texas ; is it just that she shall leave and pay no part of this
herself? "Again, if one State raay secede, so raay another ; and when
al] shall have seceded, none is left to pay the debts. Is |his
quite just to creditors ? Did we notify them of this sage view
of ours when we borrowed their money ? If we now recognize
this doctrine by allowing the seceders to go in peace, it is
difficult to see what we can do if others choose to go, or to
extort terms upon which they will proraise 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 re
tained the right of secession, as they insist it exists in ours. If
they have discarded it, they thereby adrait that, on principle,
it ought not to be in ours. If they have retained it, by their
own construction of ours, they show that to be consistent they
must secede from one another whenever they shall find it the
easiest way of settling their debts, or effecting any other selfish
or unjust object. The principle 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 upon State rights. But suppose
that precisely the sarae 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 raake the point that the one, because it is a
minority, may rightfully do what the others, because they are
EXTEA SESSION OF CONGEESS. 279
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 whether there is to-day a
majority of the legally qualified voters of any State, except,
perhaps. South Carolina, in favor of disunion. There is much
reason to believe that the Union men are the majority in many,
if not in every other one of the so-called 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 on one side of the question voted upon, can scarcely be
considered 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
institutions 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,
professions, 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. Whoever, in any section, proposes to abandon
such a government, would do well to consider in deference to
280 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
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 fore
shadowings on this subject. Our adversaries have adopted
sorae declarations of independence, in which, unlike the good
old one, penned by Jefferson, they orait 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 condition of raen ; to lift artificial weights from all shoulders ;
to clear the paths of laudable pursuits for all ; to afford all an
unfettered start and a fair chance in the race of life. Yielding
to partial and temporary departures, from necessity, this is thq
leading object of the government for whose existence we con
tend. "I am most happy to believe- that the plain people under
stand and appreciate this. It is worthy of note, that while in
this the government's hour of trial, large numbers of those in
th^ army and na-vy who have been favored with the offices
have resigned and proved false to the hand which had pampered
them, not one comraon 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 comraon sailors. To the
last man, so far as known, they have successfully resisted the
traitorous efforts of those whose commands but an hour before
THE EXTEA SESSION OF CONGEESS. 281
they obeyed as absolute law. This is the patriotic instinct of
plain people. They understand, without an argument, that
the destroying the governraent which was raade by Washington,
means no good to them.
" Our popular government has often been called an experi
ment. Two points in it our people have already settled — the
successful establishing and the successful administering of it.
One stUl remains — its successful raaintenance against a formi
dable internal attempt to overthrow it. It is now for them to
demonstrate to the world that those who can fairly carry an
election can also suppress a rebellion ; that ballots are the
rightful 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 cannot take by an election, neither can they
take by a war ; teaching all the folly of being the beginners of
a war. " Lest there be some uneasiness in the minds of candid men
as to what is to be the course of the government towards the
southern States after the rebellion shall have been suppressed,
the Executive deems it 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 Governraent relatively to,,,
the rights of the States and the people under the Constitution
tLan that expressed in the inaugural address.
" He desires 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
their government, and the governraent has no right to with
hold 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
282 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
the provision, that ' the United States shall guarantee to every
State in this Union a republican form of Governraent.' 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 in as 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
lawful and obligatory.
" It was with the deepest regret that the Executive found the
duty of employing the war power in defence of the governraent
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 coraproraises are
not often proper, but that no popular governraent can long
survive a marked precedent that those who carry an election
can only save the go-vernment from iramediate destruction by
giving up the main point upon which the people gave the
election. The people themselves, and not their servants, can
safely reverse their own deliberate decisions.
"As a private citizen, the Executive could not have consented
that these institutions shall perish; much less could he, in
betrayal of so vast and so sacred a trust as these free people
have confided to him. He felt that he had no moral right to
shrink, or even to count the chances of his own life, in what
might follow. In full view of his great responsibility he has
so far done what he has deemed his duty. You will now,
according to your own judgment, perform yours. He sincerely
hopes that your views and your action may so accord with his
as to assure all faithful citizens who have been disturbed in
their rights of a certain and speedy restoration to them, under
the Constitution and the laws.
"And having thus chosen our course, without guile and with
pure purpose, let us renew our trust in God, and go forward
without fear and with manly hearts.
"Abraham Lincoln.
" July 4:, 1861."
THE EXTEA SESSION OF CONGEESS. 283
Congress imitated the President in confining its atten
tion exclusively to the rebellion and the means for its
suppression; the general sentiment of both Houses fully
sustaining the President in the steps he had already
taken. Bills were passed authorizing htm to accept the services
of half a million of volunteers, and placing five hundred
mUHons of dollars at the disposal of the government
for the prosecution of the war ; a resolution, offered by
McClernand, of Illinois, pledging the House to vote any
amount of money and any number of men necessary to
suppress the rebellion, and restore the authority of the
government, was adopted with but five opposing votes ;
and on the 22d of July, Mr. Crittenden, of Kentucky,
offered the following resolution, defining the objects of
the war : ^
" Resolved, by the House of Representatives of ihe Congress of
the United States, That the present deplorable civil war has
been forced upon the country by the disunionists of the
southern States, now in arms against the constitutional govern
ment, and in arms around the capital ; that in this national
emergency, Congress, banishing all feelings of mere passion or
resentment, will recollect only its duty to the whole country ;
that this war is not waged on their part in any spirit of oppres
sion, or for any purpose of conquest or subjugation, or purpose
of overthrowing or interfering with the rights or established
institutions of those States, but to defend and maintain the
supremacy of the Constitution, and to preserve the Union with
all the dignity, equality, and rights of the several States unim
paired ; and that as soon as these objects are accomplished, the
war ought to cease."
The resolution was adopted -with but two dissenting
votes, and was accepted by the whole country as defining
284 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
the objects and limiting the continuance ofthe war;
being regarded, also, with special favor by the loyal
citizens of the border States, whose sensitiveness on the
subject of slavery had been skUfuUy and zealously
played upon by the agents and alUes of the rebel Con
federacy. With certain modifications, the financial poUcy indi
cated by the President's message, was ultimately adopt
ed, and a new tariff bill, designed to increase the revenue
from imports, and a direct tax bill to raise twenty mil
lions of dollars, became a law on the 2d of August. A
confiscation act, moderate in its provisions, was also
passed near the close of the session. An act legalizing
the official measures of the President, during the recent
emergency, received the support of nearly every member
of both Houses.
Congress closed its extra session on the 6th of August,
having taken the most vigorous and effective measures
for the suppression of the rebelHon, having clothed the
President with even greater power than he had asked
for; and avoided with just fidelity aU topics likely
to divide and weaken the loyal sentiment of the country.
The people cordially seconded the patriotic action of
their representatives, and the universal temper of the
country was one of buoyancy and hope. During the
early part of the summer, the rebels had been steadily
pushing troops to the borders of the Potomac, menacing
the national capital with capture, until, in the latter
part of June, they had an army of not far from thirty-
five thousand men, holding a strong position along the
Bull Run creek, — its left posted at Winchester, and its
right resting at Manassas.
THE EXTEA SESSION OF CONGEESS. 285
The miUtary movements hitherto had been mostly
confined to Missouri, where the energetic General Lyon
was " handling treason without gloves ;" but it was
not until June that the campaign in Western Virginia
was fairly opened by the action (successful to the
national arms) at PhUlipa, foUowed early in July by
the -victory of Rich Mountain. In General Butler's
department, a movement was made towards Yorktown,
which resulted in the disastrous affair of Big Bethel.
But the pubHc, out of patience with the apparent tardi
ness of the mUitary commanders, chafed by the dis
astrous results which had, to a great extent, attended
what little had been done, and fearful that the golden
opportunity for striking a decisive blow at the rebellion
would be passed before the expiration of the brief term
for which a large portion of the troops had enlisted —
made so strong and universal a demand for a forward
movement, that scheming politicians and tardy generals
were fain to yield; and the government decided on
a grand advance of the army upon the rebel position at
Manassas. On the 16th of July, the national army, of about
thirty thousand men, under General McDowell, moved
forward and attacked the enemy at Bull Run, on the
21st, the result being the defeat, with a loss of four
hundred and eighty killed, and one thousand wounded,
of our forces, who fell back on Washington in the
greatest confusion and disorder. Had the rebel forces
closely followed the panic-stricken fugitives, the capital
would have been their easy prey.
The result of this battle took the whole country
by surprise, the most sanguine expectations of a prompt
286 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
and decisive victory having been universally entertain
ed ; and the actual issue first revealed to the people the
prospect of a long and bloody war. Yet the pubHc
heart was not in the least discouraged. On the con
trary, the effect was to rouse still higher the courage
and determination of the people.
It was now felt that no possible solution remained
but one, to be achieved by arms, and that the most
serious stage of the contest was at hand. Prom this
time onward,' the history of Mr. Lincoln's administrar
tion is, to a large extent, merged in that of the war,
and his most important executive acts and orders, are
closely related to the suppression of a revolt which sur
passes, in the jnagnitude of its proportions and of the
final issues involved, any other recorded in authentic
annals. The most vigorous efforts were made to reorganize
the army, to increase its numbers by volunteering, and
to establish a footing for national troops at various
points along the rebel coast. Fort Hatteras, Port
Royal and Ship Island, were taken on the coast, and
the rebels were checked in Western Virginia, Kentucky
and Missouri, States in which the population had from
the beginning of the contest been divided in sentiment
and in action.
At this juncture. General Scott having resigned in
consequence of illness and advancing age, Mr. Lincoln
selected as his successor in the chief command of
the armies. General George B. McClellan, whose success
in Western Virginia justified the choice — to a much
greater degree than did his subsequent efforts.
His first work was the task of recruiting and re-
THE EXTEA SESSION OF CONGEESS. 287
organizing the army in and around Washington, for the
defence of the capital, and preparatory to a fresh ad
vance upon the enemy. •
Thus far the government had avoided, in the prose
cution of the war, asmuch as possible, any measures in
'regard to slavery which would serve to excite the preju
dices of the border States — the confiscation act affecting
only those slaves who should be "required or permitted"
by their masters to render service to the rebellion. The
same wise theory influenced the Executive.
The question, however, "What shall we do with
them ?" as applied to slaves coming as fugitives into oui
camps, was one which early began to attract the atten
tion of our mUitary commaJnders, and it met its first
'practical solution on the 27th of May, at the hands of
General B. F. Butler, commanding at Fortress Monroe.
Finding himself greatly embarrassed by the number of
slaves that were coming in from the surrounding country
and seeking protection within the lines of his camp, he
determined to regard them as " contraband of war;"
and, not only that, he set them to work for the federal
government, at a fair compensation, against which was
charged the expense of their support, the relative value
to be adjusted thereafter. This course was approved by
the government ; and although the policy of the War
Department was exceedingly ambiguous and tender upon
this subject from the outset, it never, to its honor be it
said, for a moment dreamed of a rendition of slaves,
thus coming into our hands, to their rebel masters. Its
instructions, from the first, were " to permit no inter
ference by the persons under his command with the
relations of persons held to service under the laws of
288 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
any State," and also "to refrain from surrendering to
alleged masters any such persons who might come within
his lines." Before the close of August this policy had
so broadened out that the Secretary of War instructed
General Butler to receive all fugttives coming into his
Hnes, whether of loyal or disloyal masters — it being
proposed, at the same time, that a record of such fugi
tives should be kept, in order to compensate loyal
o-wners at the close of hostilities.
The same policy was adopted in every part of the
country, and all interference with the internal institu
tions of any State was expressly forbidden; but the
government availed itself of the services of a portion
of the slaves, taking care fully to provide for compensa
tion to loyal masters.
On the Slst of August, General Fremont, command
ing the Western Department, which embraced Missouri
and a part of Kentucky, issued an order, proclaiming
martial law in the State of Missouri, confiscating the
property, real and personal, of all who were in arms
against the United States, and declaring their slaves
free men. The President, regarding this order as ex
ceeding the authority vested in himself by CongresSj
made haste to rectify the error, which was working
mischief everywhere throughout the border States. On
the llth of September, he accordingly wrote to General
Fremont, ordering a modification of the objectionable
clause so as to make it conform with the pro-visions of
the confiscation act of August 6th, 1861.
During all this time, strenuous efforts were made in
various quarters to induce the President to depart from
this policy, and not only to proclaim a general ema,nci-
THE EXTEA SESSION OF CONGEESS. 289
pation of aU the slaves, but to put arms in their
hands and employ them in the field against the rebels.
But they were ineffectual. The President, however,
true to his con-viction that the war was "/or the Union,
and for the preservation of all the constitutional rights
of States and citizens of States in the Union," adhered
firmly and steadily to the policy which the then exist
ing circumstances of the country in his judgment ren
dered -wise and necessary. In this action he was fully
sustained by the pubUc sentiment of the loyal States, as
weU as by the great body of the people in the slave
States along the border. And his course contributed
largely, beyond doubt, to strengthen the cause of the
Union in these border States, and especially to withdraw
Tennessee from her hastily-formed connection with the
rebel Confederacy.
The seizure of Messrs. Slidell and Mason, confederate
commissioners to England, firom the deck of the British
mail-steamer Trent, November 7th, by Captain Wilkes,
gave rise to much excitement, and threatened for a
whUe to involve the country in war with England and
France. It was a deUcate matter, but Mr. Lincoln,
with great sagacity, restored them to EngHsh authority,
on the ground that Wilkes should have taken them
before a legal tribunal, instead of himself assuming to
decide their liability to capture. There were those
who, at the time, considered this as an unbecoming con
cession ; but the candid, sober second-thought of the
people saw its propriety and approved it. The effect
of the incident, under the just and judicious course
adopted by the administration, was eminently favorable
to the United States, increasing the general respect for
19
290 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
its adherence to sound principles of pubUc law, and
sUencing effectually the slander that its government was
too weak to disappoint or thwart a popular clamor.
One of the immediate and important fruits of the dis
cussion, was the prompt rejection of all demands for
recognizing the independence of the Confederate States.
In no one act of his life, perhaps, did President Lin
coln exhibit a more conspicuous instance of fidelity to
himself, than in this case.
" 'It would be difficult,' says Eev. Me. Moncure D. Conway,
for an Englishman to understand the peculiar trials of that case,
the least part of which related to England. They can be ap
preciated only by those who know the history of that political
party which, by its alliance with the anti-Engbsh prejudices of
the Irish in America, and with the slavery interest, had so long
ruled at Washington, and which, deprived of its southern votes,
was now madly endeavoring to promote a reaction by raising
a storm of popular feeling against England, and of wrath against
the party in power for, ' truckling to England,' a storm upon
which it hoped to ride into power. The Eepublicans and their
President knew that the accession of that party would be the
restoration of slavery to supreme power in the nation. Some
idea of the feeling among the Irish at the time may be conveyed
by the following expression which I heard from a leading Irish
man at a public dinner, given to an Irish colonel, in Ohio : —
' Gentlemen,' he said, ' the opinions which are expressed
throughout the country concerning this Trent affair afflict me
deeply. I did hope that the hour for which we have so long
prayed had arrived, and that we were to have a collision with
England ; but, alas ! there seems reason to believe that the act
of Wilkes is entirely legal, and that England will not object
to it.' Undoubtedly many of the foolish expressions among
Eepublicans favorable to the capture, were due more to a de
termination to diminish the party capital which the Democracy
the EXTEA SESSION OP CONGEESS. 291
was making out of it, than to ignorance of the law, or hostility
to England. Nevertheless, Mr. Lincoln had a hurricane to
withstand. He was for a few days uncertain as to the law in
the case : but there came to him a letter from an old friend in
the far west, in whose legal knowledge he had complete faith
— Hon. Thomas Ewing — which said simply — In this affair of
the Trent we are in the wrong. And before any comment on
the event had returned from England,, the President had
arrived at his decision, and was only considering how the sur
render could be made with as little risk of a Democratic (pro-
slavery) reaction as possible. These facts I have from one who
was in intimate relation with the President during that affair."
292 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
CHAPTER XI.
THE EMANCIPATION ACT.
The public mind is gradually prepared for Emancipation. — The Presi
dent's Message favoring gradual Emancipation. — The Abolition of
Slavery in the District of Columbia. — General Hunter's Emancipation
Order, and its revocation by the President. — Conference "with the
Border States Senators. — Orders from the President, through the "War
Department, relative to Slavery. — Letter from the Secretary of War to
General Butler. — Confiscation Bill. — Greeley's Letter to the President.
— The President's Reply .-r-His reply to a Memorial from the Clergy
men of Chicago. — Letters of Charles Sumner and Owen Lovejoy. — The
Emancipation Proclamation. — Suspension of the Habeas Corpus. —
Proclamation of Freedom, January 1st, 1863. — Mr. Carpenter's " Inside
History'' of the Emancipation Proclamation. — Eeminiscences by the
Eev. M. D. Conway.
The Thirty-seventh Congress, convening for its second
session, December 2d, 1861, received from the President
his annual message, in which the condition of the
country, and the progress of the war were clearly stated ;
and the principles which had guided the Executive in
his conduct of pubhc affairs, were set forth with great
distinctness and precision.
It was very e-vident from this document, as well as
from his official actions, that, as regarded the subject of
interference with slavery, the President, whUe adhering
strictly to the pro-visions of the act passed by Congress
at its extra session, was gradually becoming convinced
of the inevitable necessity of adopting a much more
rigorous poUcy — as a means of quelling the rebeUion —
than had been contemplated by that act.
the EMANCIPATION ACT. 293
It is true, as stated in a previous chapter, that when
Major-General Fremont, in September, 1861, proclaimed
universal emancipation in his military department of Mis
souri — the act, though applauded by the whole country,
and regarded by almost every statesman and lawyer as
a legitimate exercise of martial power — was disapproved
by the President. But this was begause he did not
consider it an indispensable military necessity, and con
sequently held it as a violation of his oath to support
the Constitution to permit it. In this, as in all other
cases, where a point of moral conviction was involved,
he' was immovable; and, profoundly mistaken in his
interpretation of the Constitution as many believed
him to be, yet his quiet firmness on the occasion com
manded respect even from those who differed radically
¦with him in regard to its propriety.
There was, also, equally evident, a corresponding
advance of the public mind in the same direction. The
diplomatic assurance of our Secretary of State to foreign
governments, that no change in southern institutions
was contemplated, in any event ; McClellan's manifesto
on the subject to the Virginians ; Halleck's exclusion of
fugitive slaves from the lines of the Army of the West,
and the 22d of July resolution of Mr. Crittenden, were
no longer satisfactory. During the past few months,
aside from the small class of those who had been, from
the first, radical emancipationists, — a large portion of
the people had been gradually led to the con-viction that
some measure which should free the slave from the
condition in which he was made to support the rebel
cause, and which also should allow of his active employ
ment against that cause — would be a proper and a
294 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
desirable exercise of the war-power. The resistance
of the rebels had been much more -vigorous than any
one, at the outset of the war, had calculated upon ; the
defeat at Bull Run had exasperated and aroused the
public mind; whUe the miUtary results thus far, had
not been satisfactory, either to the President or to the
people. The leniency of the government in regard to
slavery had entirely failed in its first great object, the
lessening and softening of the animosity of the rebels ;
and had even been represented by the latter, to European
powers, as evidencing the intention of the United States
to protect and perpetuate slavery, by restoring the
authority ofthe Constitution which guaranteed its safety.
It was, also, a well ascertained fact, that slaves were
freely employed, within the rebel lines, in building forti
fications, etc., thus, as well as in other ways, contributing
largely to the strength of the rebelHon. The whole
country, then, began to understand that slavery was not
only the cause, but the main strength of the rebelHon ;
and their demand for its destruction — as a means of
shortening the war — ^became daily more and more earn
estly manifested.
The President, in his inaugural address, had foreseen
this coming necessity, and consequently had avoided
any pledge or act, which under such circumstances,
should restrict his power to hasten its destruction. He
considered himself in this — as in all other matters — the
instrument for the faithful execution of the declared will
of the people. At the time of his inauguration, only seven
of the States forming the Confederacy had been fairly
swept into the maelstrom of secession, and ofthe remain
ing eight slave States, only four were finally absorbed. As
THE EMANCIPATION ACT. 295
the President, therefore, of an, as yet, undivided Union,
Mr, Lincoln felt constrained to a course of non-inter-
ference with the relation of master and slave. In his
opinion, the power vested in him did not authorize the
disturbance of that relation as a recognized institution,
but simply as a military measure, by commanders in
the field, and for purely military purposes, in accordance
with the established laws of war. Foreseeing what
must come, if resistance to the authority of the United
States was long persisted in, he had most earnestly
endeavored to arouse the attention of the southern
people, to the fact that the fate of slavery would, sooner
or later, ine-vitably be involved in the confiict. And
kno-wing this, this cautious and patient leader sought,
•with -wise forethought, to reconcile the shock which
would thus be involved, with the order and the perma
nent prosperity of the country and the people.
It was soon apparent, as the session of Congress pro
gressed, that that great deUberative body was also dis
posed to make very considerable advances upon the
legislation of the extra session, and to them the Presi
dent, on the 6th of March, sent the follo-wing message
on the subject of aiding such slaveholding States as
as might take measures to emancipate their slaves, and
recommending the adoption of measures looking to
" gradual, and not sudden emancipation."
" Washington, March 6, 1862.
" FeLLOW-CiTIZENS of THE SENATE AND HoUSE OF EEPRE
SENTATIVES : — I recommend the adoption of a joint resolution
by your honorable body, which shall be, substantially, as
follows :
" Resolved, That the United States, in order to cooperate with
296 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
any State which may adopt gradual abolition of slavery, give
to such State pecuniary aid, to be used by such State, in
its discretion, to corapensate it for the inconvenience, public
and private, produced by such change of system.
"If the proposition contained in the resolution does not
meet the approval of Congress and the country, there is 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 efiicient means of self-
preservation. The leaders of the existing insurrection enter
tain the hope that the governraent will ultiraately be forced to
acknowledge the independence of some part of the disafieeted
region, and that all the slave States north of such parts
will then say : ' The Union for which we have struggled being
already gone, we now choose to go with the southern section.'
To deprive thera of this hope, substantially ends the rebellion,
and the initiation of eraancipation completely deprives thera of
it as to all the States initiating it.
" The point is not that all the States tolerating slavery would
very soon, if at all, initiate emancipation, but that while
the off'er is equally made to all, the more northern shall, by
such initiation, piake it certain to the raore southern that
in no event will the former ever join the latter in their
proposed confederacy. I say ' initiation,' because, in my judg
ment, gradual and not sudden emancipation is better for all.
In the mere financial or pecuniary view, any member of
Congress, with the census tables and the Treasury report before
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 propasition on the part of the general government
sets up no claim of a right by Federal authority to interfere
THE EMANCIPATION ACT. 297
with slavery within State limits, referring as it does the
absolute control of the subject in each case to the State and its
people immediately interested. It is proposed as a matter
of perfectly free choice with them.
" In the annual message last December, I thought fit to say :
' The Union must be preserved ; and hence all indispensable
'means must be employed.' I said this not hastily, but de
liberately. War has been made and continues to be an indis
pensable means to this end. A practical reacknowledgraent of
the national authority would render the war unnecessary, and
it would at once cease. If, however, resistance continues, the.
war must also continue, and it is impossible to foresee all the
incidents which may attend and a]J. the ruin which may follow
it. Such as may seem indispensable, or may obviously promise
great efficiency toward 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 are the institutions and
property in it, in the present aspect of affairs.
" While it is true that the adoption of the proposed resolu
tion would be merely initiatory, and not within itself a practical
measure, it is recoraraended in the hope that it would soon lead
to important practical results. In full view of my great
responsibility to my Grod and to my country, I earnestly beg
the attention of Congress and the people, to the subject.
"March 6, 1862. Abeaham Lincoln."
The general feeling of the country, at this juncture,
was in harmony with the tone of this message. The
people, still disposed to exhaust every right and lawful
means to withdraw the people of the South from the
disastrous war into which they had been plunged by
their leaders, welcomed this suggestion of the President
298 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
as Ukely to produce that result, if any effort in that
direction could.
The friendly portion of the English press, likewise,
indorsed it as a "fair, moderate,, and magnanimous
policy," in bright contrast with the gloomy action of
the rebel authorities.
Mr. Conkling, of New York, prompted by this recom
mendation of the Executive, introduced, a few days
after, in the House of Representatives, a resolve which
-thus embodied the emancipation views of the message.
"Resolved, &c.. That the United States ought to co-operate
with any State which may adopt gradual abolishment of
slavery, giving to such State pecuniary aid, to be used by such
State in its discretion, to compensate for the inconveniences,
public and private, produced by such change of system."
This was vehemently opposed by the rebel-sympathiz
ing members, but was finally adopted by a large vote, and
was approved by the President, April 10th. The
resolve was generally regarded merely as an experiment,
but its passage was undoubtedly an important step in
the development of the anti-slavery sentiment fast
taking hold of the minds of all loyalists.
When, therefore, early in April following, a bill was
introduced into the Senate, abolishing slavery in the
District of Columbia, -with compensation to loyal owners,
-with an amendment, directing that those thus set free
should be colonized out of the United States,* it was
passed by a large majority, and was promptly approved
by President Lincoln in a special message, tn which he
said — * This provision was subsequently repealed June 29, 1863.
THE EMANCIPATION ACT. 299
" I have never doubted the constitutional authority of Con
gress to abolish slavery in this District; and I have ever
desired to see the national capital freed from the institution in
some satisfactory way. Hence there has never been, in my
mind, any question upon the subject except the one of expe
diency, 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 prin
ciples of compensation, and colonization are both recognized
and practically applied in the act."
On the 9 th of May, General Hunter, commanding
the Department of the South, issued the following order,
declaring aU the slaves within that department to be
thenceforth " forever free."
" Headquabteks, Depaetment of THE' South, 1
Hilton Head, S. C, May 9, 1862. [
" [Gbnbkal Okdees, 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 protection
of the United States of America, and having taken up arms
against the said United States, it becoraes 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 incompatible. The persons in
these three States — Georgia, Florida and South Carolina' —
heretofore held as slaves, are therefore declared forever free.
"Da-vid Huntee, Major- General Commanding.
"Ofacial: " Ed. W. Smith, Acting Assistant Adft- General."
This was confessedly based, not upon any alleged
300 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
mihtary necessity, but upon a theoretical incompati
bility between slavery and martial law. The President
thereupon at once issued a proclamation, in which,
after declaring any such declaration on the part of
General Hunter, or any other commander, to be wholly
unauthorized and void, he thus continued :
"I further make known, that, whether it be competent for'
me, as comraander-in-chief of the army and na-vy, 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 raaintainance of the government to exercise such supposed
power ; are questions which, under ray 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
regulations in armies or in camps.
"On the' sixth day of March last, by a special message, I
recommended to Congress the adoption of a joint resolution,
to be substantially as follows :
" 'Resolved, That the United States ought to cooperate with
any State which may .adopt a gradual abolishraent 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 solemn proposal of the nation,
to the States and people raost interested in the subject-raatter.
To the people of these States now I mostly appeal. I do not
argue — I beseech you to make the argument 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,
ranging, if it may be, far above partizan and personal politics.
" This proposal makes common cause for a common object,
THE EMANCIPATION ACT. 301
casting no reproaches upon any. It acts not the Pharisee. The
change it contemplates would come gently as the dews of
heaven, not rending or wrecking any thing. Will you not
embrace it ? So much -good has not been done by one effort in
all past time, as in the pro-vidence of God it is now your high
pri-vUege' 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 nineteenth day of
May, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hun
dred 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."
This characteristic proclamation, while it silenced
the clamorous denunciations of the enemies of the ad
ministration, did not develop any disposition on the
part of the border States to act upon the suggestions,
or to avaU themselves of the aid which Congress had
offered. Fully impressed, however, with the great importance
of permanently detaching the border slave States, if
possible, from the interests of the rebel Confederacy, an4
unwUling to leave any means untried which might
accomplish that desirable result, Mr. Lincoln sought a
personal Conference with the Representatives from these
States. He evidently looked forward to the necessity
of a more radical and decisive poUcy m regard to
slavery. The disastrous Peninsular campaign had produced
depi;ession throughout the country. The war, it was
302 THE life of abeaham LINCOLN.
felt, must somehow be ended, with the rebellion over
thrown; and the employment of every legitimate
war measure was felt to be now imperatively demanded.
He was anxious that the great change should come as
lightly as possible on the still loyal slave States, and it
was in this spirit that the interview was solicited by
him. Meeting at the executive mansion, on the 12th
of July, these representatives were addressed by Mr.
Lincoln (reading what he had carefully prepared for the
occasion) as follows :
" Gentlemen : 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
gooci^ban any other equal number of merabers, I feel it a duty
which I cannot j astifiably waive to make this appeal to you.
" I intend no reproach or coraplaint when I assure you that,
in my opinion, if you all had voted for the resolution in the
gradual eraancipation raessage of last March, the war would
now be substantially ended. And the plan therein proposed is
yet one of the raost . potent and swift means of ending 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 thera so long as you show a determi
nation to perpetuate the institution within your own States.
Beat them at elections, 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 considera
tion, and I trust you will not now think I improperly touch
what is exclusively your own, when, for the sake of the whole
coMutry, I ask, ' Can you, for your States, do better than to
THE EMANCIPATION ACT. 303
take the course I urge?' Discarding punctilio and maxims
adapted to more manageable time, and looking only to the
unprecedentedly stern facts of our case, can you do better in
any possible event ? You prefer that the constitutional rela
tions of the States to the nation shall be practically restored
without disturbance of the institution ; and, if this were done,
my whole duty in this respect, 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 continues long, as it must if
the object be not sooner attained, 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 sub
stantial compensation for that which is sure to be wholly lo.st
in any other event ! How much better to thus save the money
which else we sink forever in the war ! How much better to
do it while we can, lest the war, ere long, render us pecuniarily
unable to do it I How much better for you as seller, and the
nation as buyer, to sell out and buy out that without which the
war could never 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. Eoom, in South America for
colonization can be obtained cheaply and in abundance, and
when numbers shall be large enough to be company and en
couragement for one another, the freed people will not be so
reluctant to go.
"I am pressed v/ith a difficulty not yet mentioned — one
which threatens division araong those who, united, are none
too strong. An instance of it is known to you. Geneial
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
304 the LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
the general wish that all men everywhere could be freed. He
proclaimed all men free within 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 dissatisfaction, if not offence to many
whose support the country cannot afford to lose. And this is
not the end of it. The pressure in this direction is still upon
me, and is increasing. By conceding what I now ask you can
relieve me, and, much more, can relieve the country in this im
portant point.
" Upon these considerations, I have again begged your atten
tion to the message of March last. Before lea-ving the Capitol,
consider and discuss it araong yourselves. You are patriots
and statesraen, and as such, I pray you consider this proposition,
and, at the least, comraend it to the consideration of your
States and people. As you would perpetuate popular govern
ment for the best people in the world, I beseech you that you
do in no wise 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
privilege is given to assure that happiness, and swell that
grandeur, and to link your own names therewith forever."
Twenty of the Senators and Representatives thus ad
dressed replied in respectful, but decidedly unfavorable
terms. Nine only made friendly and approving responses.
The conference, however, served the most desirable
purpose of testing the sentiment of each section of the
country, and in preparing the way for the more -vigorous
treatment of the subject of slavery wliich the blind and
stubborn prejudices of the slaveholding States were
rapidly rendering inevitable.
^ THE EMANCIPATION ACT. 305
This "more vigorous treatment of the subject of
slavery," on the part of the Administration, was now
fairly commenced by the issue of the following general
instructions from the President, through the War
Ofl&ce. "Wae Depaetment, Washington, July 22c?, 1862.
" First, Ordered that military commanders within the States
of Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mis-
sippi, Lousiana, Texas, and Arkansas, in an orderly manner
seize and use any property, real or personal, which may be
necessary or convenient for their several commands, for supplies,
or for other military purposes ; and that while property may
be destroyed for proper military objects, noUe shall be destroyed
in wantonness or malice.
" Second. That military and naval commanders shall employ
as laborers, within and from said States, so many persons of
African descent as can be advantageously used for military or
naval purposes, giving them reasonable wages for their labor.
" Third. That, as to both property and persons of African
descent, accounts shall be kept sufficiently accurate and in
detail, to show quantities and amounts, and from whom both
property and such persons shall have come, on a basis upon
which compensation can be made in proper oases; and the
several departments of this government shall attend to and
perform their appropriate parts towards the execution of these
orders. " By order of the President.
"Ed-win M. Stanton, Secretary of War."
The -views of the Executive were stUl further set
forth in the reply of the War Department to General
Butler, who had decHned to approve of the conduct of
his subordinate, General J. W. Phelps, in organizing
five companies of negroes, whom he proposed to arm and
20
306 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOIN.
equip, upon the ground that the President alone had
the authority to employ Africans in arms, and that he
had not indicated this purpose.
" Wae Depaetment, Washington City, July 3, 1862.
" Gbneeal : — I wrote you last under date of the 29th ultimo,
and have now to say that your despatch of the 18th ultimo,
with the accompanying report of General Phelps, concerning
certain fugitive negroes that have come to his pickets, has been
considered by the President.
" He is of opinion that under the law of Congress, they can
not be sent back to their masters : that in common humanity
they must not be permitted to suffer for want of food, shelter,
or other necessaries of life; that to this end they should
be provided for by the quartermaster's and commissary's
departments, and that those who are capable of labor should be
set to work and paid reasonable wages.
" In directing this to be done, the President does not mean,
at present, to settle any general rule in respect to slaves or
slavery, but simply to provide for the particular case under the
circumstances in which it is now presented.
" I am. General, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
" Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War.
" Major-Gbneeal B. F. Butlee,
" Commanding, &c., New Orleans, Louisiana."
The passage of the Confiscation BiU, on the 17th of
July, as modified to meet the views of the President,
formed a very important step in the prosecution of the
war. It prescribed definite penalties for the crime of
treason, — ^thus suppljdng a defect in the existing laws of
the land ; — gave the rebels distinctly to understand that
among these penalties, if they persisted in their resist
ance to the authority of the United States, would be
THE EMANCIPATION ACT. 307
the emancipation of their slaves; and authorized the
employment, by the President, of persons of African
descent, to aid in the suppression of the rebelHon in
in any way which he might deem best, for the pubUc
welfare. Yet it was stUl most clearly evident that the
main object and purpose of these measures was not the
abolition of slavery, but the preservation of the Union
and the restoration of the authority of the Constitution.
On the same day, (July 17th,) Congress adjourned,
ha-ving adopted many other measures of marked though
minor importance, to aid in the prosecution of the war.
Several Senators had been expelled for adherence,
direct or indirect, to the rebel cause ; measures had been
taken to remove, from the several departments of the
government, employees more or less openly in sympathy
with secession ; Hayti and Liberia were recognized as
independent repubUcs; a treaty was negotiated and
ratified -with Great Britain, conceding the right,
-within certain Hmits, of searching suspected slavers
carrying the American flag, and the most liberal grants
in men and money were made to the government for
the prosecution of the war. The President had ap
pointed military Governors for several of the border
States, who were especially enjoined to protect the loyal
citizens and to regard them as alone entitled to a voice
in the direction of ci-vil affairs.
PubHc sentiment in the loyal States sustained the
action of Congress and the President as adapted to the
emergency and to the suppression of the rebellion. At
the same time it was very evident that the con-viction
was rapidly gaining ground that slavery was the cause
of the rebellion ; and that it was this interest alone
308 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
-which gave unity and -vigor to the rebel cause. A very
active and influential party at the North had insisted,
from the outset, that the most direct way of crushing
the rebellion was by crushing slavery, and had urged
upon the President an immediate and unconditional
emancipation policy, as the only thing necessary to re
inforce the ranks of the Union armies -with thousands
of enfranchised slaves, as weU as to rouse the great mass
of the people of the northern States who needed this
stimulus of an appeal to their moral sentiment. Aftej
the adjournment of Congress these demands became still
more clamorous and importunate, and the President was
urged to avaU himself of the Confiscation BUl, and to
decree the instant liberation of every slave belonging to
a rebel master. These demands soon assumed, among
the more impatient and intemperate portion of the
friends of the Administration, a tone of complaint and
condemnation; and the President was even charged
-with culpable remissness in the discharge of duties
imposed upon him by the act of Congress. These
demands were embodied with much force in a letter
addressed to the President by Hon. Horace Greeley, and
published in the New York Tribune of the 19th of
August : "the peatee of t-wentt millions.
"To Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States :
"Deae Sie: — I do not intrude to tell you — ^for you must
know already — that a great proportion of those who triumphed
in your election, and of all who desire the unqualified suppres
sion of the rebellion now desolating our country, are sorely
disappointed and deeply pained by the poHcy you seem to be
pursuing with regard to the slaves of 'the rebels. I write only
the emancipation act. 309
to set succinctly and unmistakably before you what we re
quire, what we think we have a right to expect, and of what
we complain.
" I. We require of you, as the first servant of the Eepublic,
charged especially and preeminently with this duty, that you
execute the laws. Most emphatically do we demand that
such laws as have been recently enacted, which therefore may
fairly be presumed, to embody the present will and to be dic
tated by the present needs of the Eepublic, and which, after
due consideration, have received your personal sanction, shall
by you be carried into full effect, and that you publicly and
decisively instruct your subordinates that such laws exist, that
they are binding on all functionaries and citizens, and that they
are to be obeyed to the letter.
" II. We think you are strangely and disastrously remiss in
the discharge of your official and imperative duty with regard
to the emancipation provisions of the new Confiscation Act.
Those provisions were designed to fight slavery with liberty.
They prescribe that men loyal to the Union, and willing to
shed their blood in her behalf, shall no longer be held, with
the nation's consent, in bondage to persistent, malignant
traitors, who for twenty years have been plotting, and for
sixteen months have been fighting to divide and destroy our
country. Why these traitors should be treated with tender
ness by you, to the prejudices of the dearest rights of loyal
men, we cannot conceive.
" III. We think you are unduly influenced by the councils,
the representations, the menaces, of certain fossil politicians
hailing from the border States. Knowing well that the
heartily, unconditionally loyal portion of the white citizens
of those States do not expect nor desire that slavery shall be
upheld to the prejudice of the Union — (for the truth of which
we appeal not only t» every Eepublican residing in those
States, but to such eminent loyalists as H. Winter Da-ris,
Parson Brownlow, the Union Central Committee of Baltimore,
310 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
and to the NashviUe Union) — we ask you to consider that
slavery is everywhere the inciting cause and sustaining base
of treason: the most slaveholding sections of Maryland and
Delaware being this day, though under the Union flag, in full
sympathy with the rebellion, while the free labor portions of
Tennessee and of Texas, though writhing under the bloody
heel of treason, are unconquerably loyal to the Union. So
emphatically is this the case, that a most intelligent Union
banker of Baltimore recently avowed his confident belief that
a majority of the present Legislature of Maryland, though
elected as and still, professing to be Unionists, are at heart
desirous of the triumph of the Jefif. Davis conspiracy; and
when asked how they could be won back to loyalty, replied :
' Only by the coraplete abolition of slavery.' It seeras to us
the most obvious truth, that whatever strengthens or fortifies
slavery in the border States strengthens also treason, and
drives home the wedge intended to divide the Union. Had
you, from the first, refused to recognize in those States, as
here, any other than unconditional loyalty — that which stands
for the Union, whatever may become of slavery — those States
would have been, and would be, far more helpful and less
troublesome to the -defenders of the Union than they have
been, or now are.
"IY. We think timid counsels in such a crisis calculated to
prove perilous, and probably disastrous. It is the duty of
a government so wantonly, wickedly assailed by rebellion as
ours has been, to oppose force to force in a defiant, dauntless
spirit. It cannot afford to temporize with traitors, nor with
semi-traitors. It must not bribe them to behave themselves,
nor make them fair promises in the hope of disarming their
causeless hostility. Eepresenting a brave and high-spirited
people, it can afford to forfeit any thing else better than its o-wn
self-respect, or their admiring confidence. For our govern
ment even to seek, after war has been made on it, to dispel
the affected apprehensions of armed traitors that their cherished
THE EMANCIPATION ACT. 311
privileges may be assailed by it, is to invite insult and encour
age hopes of its own do-wnfall. The rush to arms of Ohio, In
diana, Ilhnois, is the true answer at once to the rebel raids of
John Morgan and the traitorous sophistries of Beriah Magoffin.
" V. We complain that the Union cause has suffered, and is
now suffering immensely, from mistaken deference to rebel
slavery. Had you, sir, in your inaugural address, unmistake-
ably given notice that, in case the rebellion, already commenced,
were persisted in, and your efforts to preserve the Union and
enforce the laws should be resisted by armed force, you would
recognize no loyal person as rightfully held in slavery by a traitor,
we believe the rebellion would therein have received a stagger
ing, if not a fatal blow. At that moment, according to the re
turns of the most recent elections, the Unionists were a large
majority of the voters of the slave States. But they were com
posed in good part of the aged, the feeble, the wealthy, the
timid — the young, the reckless, the aspiring, the adventurous,
had already been largely lured by the gamblers, and negro-
traders, the politicians by trade and the conspirators by in
stinct, into the toils of treason. Had you then proclaimed that
rebellion would strike the shackles from the slaves of every
traitor, the wealthy and the cautious would have been supplied,
-with a powerful inducement to remain loyal. As it was, every
coward in the South soon became a traitor from fear ; for loy
alty was perilous, while treason seemed comparatively safe.
Hence the boasted unanimity of the South — a unanimity based
on rebel terrorism and the fact that immunity and safety were
found on that side, danger and probably death on ours. The
rebels, from the first, have been eager to confiscate, imprison,
scourge and kiU ; we have fought with wolves with the devices
of sheep. The result is just what might have been expected.
Tens of thousands are fighting in the rebel ranks to-day, whose
original bias and natural leaning would have led them into
ours. ,
"VI. We complain that the Confiscation Act which you ap-
312 THE LIFE OP ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
proved is habitually disregarded by your generals, and that
no word of rebuke for them from you has yet reached the
public ear. Fremont's proclamation and Hunter's order favor
ing smancipation were promptly annulled by you ; while Hal-
lack's Number Three, forbidding fugitives from slavery to
rebels to come within his lines — an order as unmilitary as in
human, and which received the hearty approbation of every
traitor in America — with scores of like tendency, have never
provoked even your remonstrance. We complain that the of
ficers of your armies have habitually repelled, rather than in-.
vited the approach of slaves who would have gladly taken tha
risks of escaping from their rebel masters to our camps, bring
ing intelligence often of inestiraable value to the Union cause.
We complain that those who have escaped to us, avowing a
willingness to do for us whatever might be required, have been
brutally and madly repulsed, and often surrendered to be
scourged, maimed, and tortured by the ruffian traitors who pre
tend to own them. We complain that a large portion of our
regular army officers, with raany of the volunteers, evince far
more solicitude to uphold slavery than to put down the rebel
lion. And finally, we complain that you, Mr. President, elected
as a Eepublican, knowing well what an abomination slavery is,
and how eraphatically" it is the core and essence of this atro
cious rebellion, seem never to interfere with these atrocities,
and never give a direction to your military subordinates, which
does not appear to have been conceived in the interest of slavery
rather than of freedom.
" YII. Let me call your attention to the recent tragedy in
New Orleans, whereof the facts are obtained entirely through
pro-slavery channels. A considerable body of resolute, able-
bodied raen, held in slavery by two rebel sugar-planters in de
fiance of the Confiscation Act which you^ have approved, left
plantations thirty miles distant and made their way to the
great mart of the south-west, which they4knew to be in the un
disputed possession of the Union forces. They made their
THE EMANCIPATION ACT. 313
way safely and quietly through thirty miles of rebel territory,
expecting to find freedom under the folds of our flag.
Whether they had or had not heard of the passage of the Con
fiscation Act, they reasoned logically that we could not kill
them for deserting the ser-vice of their life-long oppressors, who
had through treason become our implacable enemies. They
came to us for liberty and protection, for which they were will
ing to render their best ser-vices ; they met -with hostility, cap-
ti-vity and murder. The barking of the base curs of slavery
in this quarter deceives no one — not even themselves. They
say, indeed, that the negroes had no right to appear in New
Orleans armed, (with their implements of daily labor in the
cane-field ;) but no one doubts that they would gladly have laid
these do-wn if assured that they should be free. They were
set upon and maimed, captured and killed, because they sought
the benefit of that act of Congress which they may not speci
fically have heard of, but which was none the less the law of
the land — which they had a clear right to the benefit of — which
it was somdiody's duty to pubHsh far and wide, in order that
eo many as possible should be impelled to desist from serving
rebels and the rebelhon, and come over to the side of the
Union. They sought their Uberty in strict accordance with
the laws of the land — they were butchered or reenslaved for
so doing by the help of Union soldiers enlisted to fight against
slaveholding treason. It was somebody's fault that they were so
murdered — if others shall hereafter suffer in like manner, in
default of explicit and public direction to your, generals that
they are to recognize and obey the Confiscation Act, the world
will lay the blame on you. Whether you will choose to hear
it through -future history and at the bar of God, I will not
judge I can only hope.
" YIII. On the face of this wide earth, Mr. President, there is
not one disinterested, determined, intelligent champion of the
Union cause who does not feel that all attempts to put do-wn
the rebellion, and at tbe same time uphold its inciting cause are
814 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
preposterous and futile — that the rebellion, if crushed out tOr
morrow, would be renewed within a year if slavery were lefit
in full vigor — that army officers who remain this day devoted
to slavery can at best be but half-way loyal to the Union — and
that every hour of deference to slavery is an hour of added
and deepened peril to the Union. I appeal to the testimony
of your embassadors in Europe. It is freely at your service,
not at mine. Ask them to tell you candidly whether the sub
serviency of your policy to the slaveholding, slavery-upholding
interest, is not the perplexity, the despair of statesmen of all
parties, and be admonished by the general answer I
" XL I close as I began, with the statement that what an im
mense majority of the loyal millions of your country require
of you is a frank, declared, unqualified, ungrudging execution
of the laws of the land, more especially of the Confiscation
Act. That act gives freedom to the slaves of rebels coming
within our lines, or whom those lines may at any time inclose
— rwe ask you to render it due obedience by publicly requiring
your subordinates to recognize and obey it. The rebels are
everywhere using the late anti-negro riots in the North, as
they have long used your officers' treatment of negroes in the
South, to convince the slaves that they have nothing to' hope
from a Union success — that we mean in that case to sell them
into a bitter bondage to defray the cost of the war. Let
them impress this as a truth on the great mass of their ignorant
and credulous bondmen, and the Union will never be restored
— never. We cannot conquer ten millions of people united in
solid phalanx against us, powerfully aided by northern sympa-
zers and European allies. We must have scouts, guides, spies.
cooks, teamsters, diggers and choppers from the blacks of the
South, whether we allow them to fight for us or not or whether
we shall be baffled and repelled. As one of the millions who
would gladly have avoided this struggle at any sacrifice but that
of principle and honor, but who now feels that the triumph of
the Union is indispensable not only to the existence of our
THE EMANCIPATION ACT. 315
country but to the well-being of mankind, I entreat you to
render a hearty and unequivocal obedience to the laws of the
land. Yours, "HOEAOE Geeeley.
" New York, August 19, 1862."
To this. President Lincoln simply made the follo-wing
ininUtable reply :
"Executive Mansion, Washington, August 22, 1862.
"Hon. HoEACE Geeblet:
"Deae Sie — -I have just read yours of the 19th instant, ad
dressed to myself through the New York Tribune.
" If there be in it any statements or assumptions of fact which
I may know to be erroneous, I do not now and here controvert
them. "If there be any inferences which I raay believe to be
falsely drawn, I do not now and here argue against thera.
" If there be perceptible in it an impatient 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 Consti
tution. " 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, 1
would do it — ^if I could save it by freeing aU the slaves, I
316 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
would do it— and if I could do it by freeing some and lea-ving
others alone, I would also do that.
" What I do about slavery and the colored race, I do because
I believe it helps to save this Union, and what I forbear, I
forbear because I 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 official duty,
and I intend no modification of my oft-expressed personal wish
that all men everywhere could be free. Yours, "A. Lincoln."
It is impossible to mistake the President's meaning as
expressed in this letter, or to doubt the poHcy by which
he expected to re-establish the authority of the Consti
tution over the whole territory of the United States.
Regarding all the power conferred on him by Congress
in regard to slavery as having been conferred for the
purpose of aiding him to "save the Union," he resolved
to wield those powers so as best, according to his o-wn
judgment, to aid in its attainment. He forbore there
fore for a long time to issue such a proclamation as he
was authorized to make by the sixth section of the Con
fiscation Act of Congress — awaiting the developments of
public sentiment on the subject, and being especiaUy
anxious that when it was issued, i£ should receive the
moral support of the great body of the people of the
whole country without regard to party distinctions.
Seeking with assiduity every opportunity • of informing
THE EMANCIPATION ACT. 317
himself as to the drift of public sentiment on this sub
ject, he submitted himself to his "public opinion baths ;"
received and conversed freely with all who visited
and urged upon him the adoption of their peculiar views;
and on the 13th of September, gave audience to a depu
tation from all the reli^ous denominations of the city of
Chicago, which presented a memorial requesting him at
once to issue a proclamation of universal emancipation.
The President having listened attentively to the' me
morial, replied as follows :
" The subject presented in the 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 ad-vice, 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 hope it will not be irreverent for me
to say that if it is probable that God would reveal his will to
others, on a point so connected -with my duty, it might be sup
posed 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 wiU of Pro-vidence in this matter. And if I can
learn what it is I -will do it ! These are not, however, the days
of miracles, and I suppose it will be granted that I am- not to
expect a direct revelation. I must study the plain physical
facts of the case, ascertain what is possible, and learn what
appears to be wise and right.
" The subject is difficult, and good men do not agree. For
instance, the other day, four gentlemen of standing and 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,
318 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
yet they could not unite on this policy. 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 sincerity of
those he was among in their prayers. But we -will talk over
the merits of the case.
" What good would a proclaraation of emancipation from me
do, especially as we are now situated ? I do not want to issue
a document that the whole world -wiU see must necessarily be
inoperative, like the Pope's bull against the comet. Would
iny word free the slaves, when I cannot even enforce the Con
stitution in the rebel States ? Is there a single court, or ma
gistrate, or indi-vidual, 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 that law has caused a single slave to come over to
us. And suppose 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 had rushed to him
than to all the white troops under his command. They eat,
and that is all ; though it is true General Bntler 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 !
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
THE EMANCIPATION ACT. 319
ungenerously attacked for it ! For instance, when, after the
late battles at and near Bull Eun, 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 legal
or constitutional grounds, for, as commander-in-chief of the
army and navy, in time of war I suppose I have a right to
take any measure which may best subdue the enemy ; nor do
I urge objections of a moral nature, in view of possible conse
quences of insurrection and massacre at the South. I view
this matter as a practical war measure, to be decided on accord
ing to the advantages or disadvantages it may offer to the
suppression of the rebellion."
The.committee, in replying to these remarks, insisted
that a proclamation of emancipation would secure at
once the sympathy of Europe and the civilized world ;
and that as slavery was clearly the cause and origin of
the rebelHon, it was simply just, and in accordance with
the word of God, that it should be abolished. To these
•views the President responded as follows :
" I admit that slavery is at the root of the rebellion, or at
least its sine qua non. The ambition of politicians may have
instigated them to act, but they wouM have been impotent with
out slavery as thefr instrument. I will also concede that eman
cipation 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
320 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
additional 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 raeet only your scorn and conterapt. There
are fifty thousand 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 in
deed as a year ago, or as six months ago — not so many to-day
as yesterday. 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 haye an important principle to rally and unite the
people, in the fact that constitutional government is at stake.
This is a fundamental idea going down about as deep as any
thing." ¦ ,
The committee replied to this in some brief remarks,
to which the President made the following response :
" 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 wiU do.
I trust that in the freedom with which I have canvassed your
views I have not in any respect injured your feebngs."
Mr. Lincoln was evidently "feeling his way," with
" cautious step, but sure." Yet a complete vindication,
THE EMANCIPATION ACT. 321
from the perhaps natural but unwarrantable aspirations
cast upon his conscientious and cautious movements to
wards emancipation, was even then furnished by some
of the more prominent radicals themselves. No testi
mony could be more direct. or more earnest than the
follo-wing letter from the Hon. Charles Sumner :
"Senate Chambbe, June 5, 1862.
" My Deae Sie : — ^Your criticism of the President is hasty.
I am confident that, if you knew him as I do, you would not
make it.
" Of course, the President cannot be held responsible for the
misfeasances of subordinates, unless adopted or at least tol
erated by him. And I am sure that nothing unjust or ungen
erous will be tolerated, much less adopted by him.
" I am happy to let you know that he has no sympathy with
Stanley in his absurd wickedness, closing the schools, nor
again in his other act of turning our camp into a hunting
ground for slaves. He repudiates both — positively. The
latter point has occupied much of his thought : and the news
papers have not gone too far in recording his repeated declara
tions, which I have often heard from his own lips, that slaves
finding their way into the national lines are never to be reen
slaved. This is his con-viction, expressed without reserve.
" Could you have seen the President — as it was my privilege
often —while he was considering the great questions on which
he has already acted — the invitation to emancipation in the
States, emancipation in the District of Columbia, and the
acknowledgment of the independence of Hayti and Liberia —
even youB zeal would have been satisfied, for you would have
felt the sincerity of his purpose to do what he could to carry
forward the principles of the Declaration of Independence.
His whole soul was occupied, especially by the first proposi
tion, which was peculiarly his own. In familiar intercourse
with him, I remember nothing more touching than the earnest-
21
322 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
ness and completeness with which he embraced this idea. To
his mind, it was just and beneficent while it promised the sure
end of slavery. Of course, to me who had proposed a bridge
of gold for the retreating fiend, it was most welcome. Pro
ceeding from the President, it must take its place among the
great events of history.
" If you are disposed to be impatient at any seeming short
comings, think, I pray you, of what has been done in a brief
period, and from the past discern the sure promise of the
future. Knowing something of my convictions, and of the
ardor with which I maintain them, you may, perhaps, derive
some assurance from my confidence. I may say to you,
therefore, stand by the Administration. If need be, help it
by word and act, but stand by it, and have faith in it.
" I wish that you really knew the President, and had heard
the artless expression of his convictions on these questions
which concern you so deeply. You might, perhaps, wish that
he was less cautious, but you would be grateful that he is so
true to all that you have at heart. Believe me, therefore, you
are -wrong, and I regret it the more because of my desire to see
all our friends stand firmly together.
"If I write strongly it is because I feel strongly ; for my
constant and intimate intercourse with the President, beginning
with the ith of March, not only binds me peculiarly to his
Administration, but gives me a personal as well as a political
interest in seeing that justice is done him."
In the Boston Liberator we also find a letter from the
late Hon. Owen Lovejoy, addressed to WUUam Lloyd
Garrison, under date of Washington, February 22, 1864,
in which he says :
"I write you, although ill-health compels me to do it by
the hands of another, to express to you my gratification at the
position that you have taken in reference to Mr Lincoln. I
THE EMANCIPATION ACT. 323
am satisfied, as the old theologians used to say in regard to the
world, that if he is not the best conceivable President, he is the
best possible. I have known something of the facts inside
during his administration, and I know that he has been just as
radical as any of his Cabinet. And although he does not do
every thing that you or I would like, the question recurs,
whether it is likely we can elect a man who would. It is
e-vident that the great mass of Unionists prefer him for re
election; and it seems to me certain that the providence of
God, during another term, wiU grind slavery to powder. I
believe now that the President is up with the average of the
House." After due deliberation, and being satisfied that the
public welfare would be promoted by, and that public
sentiment would fuUy sustain such a step, on the 22d
of September, 1862, the President -issued the following
prelimary PEOCLAMATION OF EMANCIPATION.
"I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States of
America, and Commander-in-Chief of the army and na-vy
thereof, do hereby proclaim and declare that hereafter, as here
tofore, the war will be prosecuted for the object of practically
restoring the constitutional relation between the United States
a'iid 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 ten
dering pecuniary aid to the free acceptance or rejection of all
slave States so-called, the people whereof may not then be in
rebelHon 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 re
spective limits; and that the effort to colonize persons of
African descent, with their consent, upon this continent or
324 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
elsewhere, with the previously obtained consent of the govern
ment 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 main
tain 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. I
" That the Executive will, oil the first day of January afore
said, by proclamation, designate the States or parts of States, if
any, in which the people thereof respectively shall then be in
rebellion against the United States; and the fact that any State,
or the 'people thereof, shall on that day be in good faith repre
sented 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 en
titled 'An Act to make an additional Article of War,' approved
March 13th, 1862, and which act is in the words and figures
following :
"Be it enacted hy the Senate, and Souse of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled. That hereafter
the following shall be promulgated as an additional article of
war for the government of the army of the United States, and
shall be obeyed and observed as such :
"Aeticle. — 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 pur-
THE EMANCIPATION ACT. 325
pose of retiirning fugitives from ser-vic6 or labor who may have
escaped from any person 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 passage.
"Also, to the ninth and tenth sections of an act entitled 'An
Act to Suppress Insurrection, to Punish Treason and Eebel
lion, to seize and Confiscate Property of Eebels, and for other
Purposes,' approved July 16, 1862, and which sections are in
the words and figures following :
" Sec. 9. And be it further enacted. That all slaves of persons
who shall hereafter be engaged in rebellion against the gov
ernment 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 afterward 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. And he it further enacted. That no slave escaping
into any State, Territory, or the District of Columbia, from any
other State, shall be delivered up, or in any way impeded or
hindered of his liberty, except for crime, or some offence
against the laws, unless the person claiming said fugitive shall
first maike oath that the person to whom the labor or service of
such fugitive is alleged to be due is his lawful owner, and has
not borne arms against the United States in the present rebel
lion nor in any way given aid and comfort thereto ; and no
person engaged in the military or naval service of the United
States shall, under any pretence whatever, assume to decide on
326 THE life of ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
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
claimant, 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.
" Done at the city of Washington, this twenty-second day of
September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight
[l. s.] hundred and sixty -two, and of the Independence of the
United States the eighty-seventh.
"Abeaham Lincoln,
" By the President :
" William H. Sewaed, Secretary of State."
This was the great official act of the year and of the
century. The cause of freedom, hitherto, had proceeded
in the path of progress from steps to strides ; but here
the Chief Magistrate made a forward leap.
This bold step soon proved its force against the
traitors by the estimation in which they held it — most
of the southern journals denouncing it as an incentive
to the slaves to rise in insurrection. A resolution was
offered in the rebel Congress, offering a reward to every
negro who should, after the first of January, 1863, sue-
THE EMANCIPATION ACT. 327
ceed In killing a Unionist. The shaft had " struck home"
to a vital part of the Confederacy, as was e-vident from
the rage of the rebels and those opponents of the Admin
istration in the loyal States, and the sympathizers with
secession everywhere, who insisted that it afforded un
mistakable e-vidence that the object of the war was,
what they had always declared it to be, the abolition
of slavery, and not the restoration of the Union ; and
they put forth the most vigorous efforts to arouse pubhc
sentiment against the Administration on this ground.
This was in the face of the exphcit declaration of the
document itself, in which the President "proclaimed
and declared" that "hereafter, as heretofore, the war
¦will be prosecuted for the object of practically restoring
the constitutional relation between the United States
and each of the States and the people thereof, in which
that relation is or may be suspended or disturbed."
This at once made it evident that emancipation, as
pro-vided for in the proclamation, as a war measure,
was subsidiary and subordinate to the paramount object
of the war — ^the restoration of the Union, and the re-
establishment of the authority of the Constitution ; and
in this sense it was favorably received by the great body
of the loyal people of the United States.
Two days only had elapsed since the promulgation of
the Emancipation Proclamation, when another mandate
of almost equal importance, dropped like a bomb-shell
amid the ranks of the rebel sympathizers. This was
the suspension of the writ oi habeas corpus. Herein it
was ordered :
" First. That during the existing insurrection, and as a neces
sary measure for suppressing the same, all rebels and insur-
328 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
gents, their aiders and abettors, -within the United States, and
all persons discouraging volunteer enlistments, resisting militia
drafts, or guilty of any disloyal practice affording aid and
comfort to the rebels against the authority of the United
States, shall be subject to martial law, and liable to trial
and punishment by courts martial or military commissions.
'- Third. That the writ of habeas corpus is suspended in
respect to all persons arrested, or who are now, or hereafter
during the rebellion shall be imprisoned in any fort, camp,
arsenal, military prison, or other place of confinement, by any
military authority, or by the sentence of any court martial or
military commission."
This act — unquestionably called for by the growing
danger of the spirit of treason being excited by the
friends of slavery in the North — strengthened the
President's hands to a degree exceedingly distasteful to
those who were not ashamed to aid and abet the enemies
of their country by voice and pen. Such dangerous
characters were, at any moment, liable to be grasped
by the strong hand of military law. They accordingly
set up a general and doleful howl through the news
papers and speeches, proving, not only their disloyalty
beyond a question, but demonstrating the wisdom of
the offensive act. The beneficial effects of this order
were not long in manifesting themselves, as all inter
ference with enUstments ceased from that date.
It only remains to be added, in this connection, that
on the first of January, 1863, the President foUowed
this measure by issuing the following
PEOCLAMATION.
'Wheeeas, On the twenty-second day of September, in the
THE EMANCIPATION ACT. 329
year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty- two, a
proclamation was issued by the President of the United States,
containing, among other things, the 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
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
mihtary and naval authority thereof, will recognize and main
tain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to
repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may
make for their actual freedom.
" That the Executive will, on the first day of January afore
said, by proclamation, designate the States and parts of States,
if any, in which the people thereof respectively shall then be
in rebellion against the United States ; and the fact that any
State, or the people thereof, shall on that day be in good faith
represented in the Congress of the United States, by members
chosen thereto at elections wherein a majority of the qualified
voters of such State shall have participated, shall, in the
absence of strong countervailing testimony, be deemed con
clusive evidence that such State, and the people thereof, are not
then in rebellion against the United States.
"Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the
United States, by virtue of the power iu me vested as Com
mander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States
in time of actual armed rebellion against the authority and
government of the United States, and as a fit and necessary
war measure for suppressing said rebellion, do, on this first day
of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight
hundred and sixty -three, and in accordance with my purpose
so to do, publicly proclaimed for the fuU period of one hundred
days, from the day first above mentioned, order and designate
as the States 'and parts of States wherein the people thereof
330 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
respectively are this day in rebellion against the United States,
the following, to wit :
"Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana (except the parishes of St.
Bernard, Plaquemines, Jefferson, St. John, St. Charles, St.
James, Ascension, Assumption, Terre Bonne, Lafourche, Ste.
Marie, St. Martin, and Orleans, including the city of New
Orleans), Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Caro
lina, North Carolina, and Yirginia (except the forty-eight
counties designated as West Yirginia, and also the counties of
Berkeley, Accoraac, Northampton, Elizabeth City, York
Princess Anne, and Norfolk, including the cities of Norfolk
and Portsmouth), and which excepted parts are for the present
left precisely as if this proclamation were not issued.
" And by virtue of the power and for the^urpose 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 people so declared to be free,
to abstain frora 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 ser-vice
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 emancipation act. 331
" Done at the City of Washington, this first day of January,
in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and
[l. s.] sixty -three, and of the independence of the United
States the eighty-seventh.
(Signed), "Abeaham Lincoln.
' By the President :
" William H. Sewaed, .Secretary of State."
The deed was accomplished. The final blow was
given, by this Act of Emancipation, both to the rebelHon
and to its cause. The crisis was past, and the settle
ment of our national troubles was henceforth only a
question of time; and, as certainly as God was on the side
of right and justice, so certain was the North to triumph
in the great struggle which thenceforth assumed the
form of a direct issue between the powers of light and
the powers of darkness. It was a momentous and yet
a magnificent spectacle, when, at length, all minor con
siderations were left behind, and the great question was
fairly met. "There, on that day, on this western conti
nent was -witnessed, not a dream of fable, but as a
momentous fact, the birth of Libeety! Through the
great travaU of the nation came deliverance by the
hand of Abeaham Lincoln for four mUlions of slaves."
We cannot more fitly close this central chapter in our
work, than by giving our readers the inside history of
this document, as related by Mr. F. B. Caepentee,* in
the New York Independent.
* Mr. Carpenter was the artist who executed the celebrated painting
of the " First Eeading in Cabinet Council of the Emancipation Proclama
tion," and was, for six months, while engaged upon that picture, a resi
dent of the White House, and enjoyed the freest daily intercourse with
the President, and his family.
332 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
" The summer of '62 was the gloomiest period of the war.
After the most stupendous preparations known in modern war
fare, McClellan, with an army of one hundred and sixty thou
sand men had retreated from the peninsula, after the ' seven
days' severe fighting before Eichmond, and great depression
followed the disappointment of the brilliant hopes of the
beginning of the campaign. The 'On to Eichraond' had
been succeeded by ' Back to Washington,' and the rebellion,
flushed with success, was more defiant than ever !
" Thus far, the war had been prosecuted by the Administra
tion without touching slavery in any manner. The reasons for
this, are so admirably set forth in Mr. Lincoln's letter to Colonel
Hodges, that I feel that I can do no better, in this connection,
than to copy the paragraph in full :
'"I 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 officially upon
this judgment and feeling. It was in the oath I took that I
would, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend,
the Constitution of the United States. I could not take the
office without taking the oath. Nor was it my view that I
might take an oath to get power, and break the oath in using
the power. I understood, too, that in ordinary civil adminis
tration 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 the very oath to preserve
the Constitution to the best of my ability imposed upon me the
duty of preserving, by every indispensable means, that govern
ment — that nation of which that Constitution was the organic
law. Was it possible to lose the nation and yet preserve the
Constitution ? By general law, life and limb must be protected '
THE EMANCIPATION ACT. 333
yet often a limb must be amputated to save a life ; but a life is
never wisely given to save a limb. I felt that measures, other
wise unconstitutional, might become lawful by becoming indis
pensable to the preservation of the Constitution through the
preservation of the nation. Eight or wrong, I assumed this
ground, and now avow it. I could not feel that, to the best of
my ability, I had even tried to preserve the Constitution if to
preserve slavery, or any minor matter, I should permit the
wreck of government, country, and Constitution altogether.
When, early in the war. General Fremont attempted military
emancipation, I forbade it, because I did not then think it an
indispensable necessity. When, a little later. General Cameron,
then Secretary of War, suggested the arming of the blacks, I
objected, because I did uot yet think it an indispensable neces
sity. When, 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 would come, unless averted by that measure. They
declined the proposition, and I was, in my best judgment,
driven to the alternative of either surrendering the Union, and
Avith it the Constitution, or of laying strong hand upon the
colored element. I chose the latter!'
" Going over this same ground on an occasion I well remem
ber, Mr. Lincoln said : ' The paramount idea of the Constitution '
is the preservation of the Union. It may not be specified in
so many words, but of this there can be no question ; for with
out the Union the Constitution would be worthless. The Union
made the Constitution, not the Constitution the Union! It
seems clear, that, if the emergency should arise that slavery, or
any other institution, stood in the way of the maintenance of
the Union, and the alternative was presented to the Executive
of the destruction of one or the other, he could not hesitate
334 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
between the two. I can now,' he continued, ' most solemnly
assert that I did all in my judgment that could be done to
restore ' the Union without interfering with the institution of
slavery. We failed, and the blow at slavery was struck.'
" I now take up the history of the Proclamation itself, as
Mr. Lincoln gave it to me, on the occasion of our first inter
view, as written down by myself soon afterward :
" ' It had got to be,' said he, ' mid-summer, 1862. Things had
gone on from bad to worse, until I felt that we had reached the
end of our rope on the plan of operations we had been pursu
ing ; that we had about played our last card, and must change
our tactics or lose the game. I now determined upon the
adoption of the emancipation policy ; and without consultation
with or the knowledge of the Cabinet, I prepared the original
draft of the Proclamation, and after much anxious thought
called a Cabinet meeting .upon the subject. This was the last
of July or the first part of the month of August, 1862.' (The
exact date he did not remember.) ' This Cabinet meeting took
place, I think, upon a Saturday. All were present excepting
Mr. Blair, the Postmaster-General, who was absent at the open-
ing of the discussion, but came in subsequently. I said to the
Cabinet that I had resolved upon this step, and had not called
them together to ask their advice, but to lay the subject-matter
of a proclamation before them — suggestions as to which would
be in order, after they had heard it read. Mr. Lovejoy,' said
he, ' was in error when he informed you that it excited no com
ment excepting on the part of Secretary Seward. Yarious sug
gestions were offered. Secretary Chase wished the language
stronger in reference to the arming of the blacks. Mr. Blair,
after he came in, deprecated the policy, on the ground that it
would cost the Administration the fall elections. Nothing how
ever was offered that I had not already fully anticipated and
settled in my o-wn mind, until Secretary Seward spoke. Said
he : ' Mr. President, I approve of the Proclamation, but I ques
tion the expediency of its issue at this juncture. The depres
THE EMANCIPATION ACT. 335
sion of the public mind consequent upon our repeated reverses
is so great, that I fear the effect of so important a step. It may
be -viewed as the last measure of an exhausted government — a
cry for help — the government stretching forth its hands to
Ethiopia, instead of Ethiopia stretching forth her hands to the
government.' ' His idea,' said the President, ' was that it would
be considered our last shriek on the retreat.' (This was his
precise expression.) 'Now,' continued Mr. Seward, 'while I
approve the measure, I suggest, sir, that you postpone its issue
until you can give it to the country supported by military suc
cess, instead of issuing it, as would be the case now, upon the
greatest disasters of the war.' Said Mr. Lincoln : ' The wisdom
of the -view of the Secretary of State struck me with very
great force. It was an aspect of the case, that, in all my
thought upon the subject, I had entirely overlooked. The re
sult was, that I put the draft of the proclamation aside, as you
do your sketch for a picture, waiting for a victory. From time
to time I added or changed a line, touching it up here and
there, waiting the progress of events. Well, the next news we
had was of Pope's disaster at Bull Eun. Things looked darker
than ever. Finally, came the week of the battle of Antietam.
I determined to wait no longer. The news came, I think on
Wednesday, that the advantage was on our side. I was then
staying at the 'Soldiers' Home,' (three miles out of Washing
ton.) ' Here I finished -writing the second draft of the pre
liminary proclamation ; came up on Saturday ; called the Cabinet
together to hear it, and it was published the follo-wing Monday.'
" ' It was a somewhat remarkable fact,' he continued, ' that
there was just one hundred days between the dates of the two
proclamations, issued upon the 22d of September and the
1st of January. I had not made the calculation at the time.'
"At the final meeting on Saturday, another interesting inci
dent occurred in connection with Secretary Seward. The
President had written the important part of the Proclamation
in these words :
336 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN. '
" ' 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 peeb ; and the
executive government of the United States, including the
military and naval authority thereof, will recognize the freedom
of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such per
sons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their
actual freedom.' 'When I finished reading this paragraph,'
resumed Mr. Lincoln, ' Mr. Seward stopped me, and said, ' I
think, Mr. President, that you should insert after the word
' n "MgnizS in that sentence, the words ' and maintain^ I replied
that I had already fully considered the import of that expres
sion in this connection, but I had not introduced it because it
was not my way to promise what I was not entirely sure that
I could perform, and I was not prepared to say that I thought
we were exactly able to ' maintain' this.
"'But,' saiid he, 'Mr. Seward insisted that we ought to take
this ground ; and the words finally went in.'
" In February last, a few days after the passage of the ' Con
stitutional Amendment,' I was in Washington, and was received
by Mr. Lincoln with the kindness and familiarity which had
characterized our previous intercourse. I said to him one day
that I was very proud to have been the artist to have first con
ceived of the design of painting a picture commemorative of
the Act of Emancipation^that subsequent occurrences had
only confirraed ray own first judgment of that act as the most
sublime moral event in our history. 'Yes,' said he, and never
do I remember to have noticed in him more earnestness of ex-
pisssion or manner, 'AS affaies have tuened, it is the
CENTEAL ACT OF MY ADMINISTEATION AND THE GEEAT EVENT
OP THB NINETEENTH CENTUEY.'
" I remember to have asked him, on one occasion, if there
was not some opposition manifested on the part of several
THE EMANCIPATION ACT. 337
members of the Cabinet to the emancipation policy. He said,
in reply : ' Nothing more than I have stated to you. Mr. Blair
thought we should lose the fall elections, and opposed it on
that ground only.' Said I, ' I have understood that Secretary
Smith was not in favor of your action. Mr. Blair told me that,
when the meeting closed, he and the Secretary of the Interior
went away together, and that the latter told him, if the Presi
dent carried out. that policy, he might count on losing Indiana,
sure!' 'He never said any thing of the kind to me,' returned
the President. ' And how,' said I, ' does Mr. Blair feel about it
now ?' ' Oh,' was the prompt reply, ' he proved right in regard
to the fall elections, but he is satisfied that we have since gained
more than we lost!' 'I have been told,' said I, 'that Judge
Bates doubted the constitutionality of the Proclamation.' ' He
never expressed such an opinion in my hearing,' replied Mr.
Lincoln. 'No member of the Cabinet ever dissented from the
policy, in any conversation with rae.'
" There was one marked element of Mr. Lincoln's character
admirably expressed by the Hon. Schuyler Colfax, in his oration
at Chicago upon his death : ' When his judgraent, which acted
slowly, but which was almost as immovable as the eternal hills
when settled, was grasping some subject of importance, the
arguments against his own desires seemed uppermost in his
mind, and, in conversing upon it, he would present those argu
ments to see if they could be rebutted.'
" In illustration of this, I need only here recall the fact that
the interview between himself and the Chicago delegation of
clergymen, appointed to urge upon* hira the issue of a Proclama
tion of Emancipation, took place September 13, l'&&2, just about
a month after the President had declared his established purpose to
take this step at the Cabinet meeting which I have described.
He said to this committee : 'I do not want to issue a document
that the whole world will see must necessarily be inoperative,
like the Pope's bull against the comet!' After drawing out
22
338 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
their views upon the subject, he concluded the interview with
these memorable words :
" ' Do not misunderstand me, because I have mentioned these
objections. They indicate the difficulties which 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 ad-visement. And I can assure you that
the subject is on my mind by day and night, more than any
other. Whatever shall appear to he God's will, I ivill do/ 1 trust
that, in the freedom with. which I have canvassed your views,
I have not in any respect injured your feelings.'
"In further illustration of this peculiarity of his mind, I
will say here, to silence for ever the cavils of those who have
asserted that he was forced by the pressure of public opinion
to nominate Mr. Chase as Judge Taney's successor, that, not
withstanding his apparent hesitation upon this subject, and all
that was reported at the time in the newspapers as to the
chances of the various candidates, it is a fact well known to
several of his most intimate friends that 'there had never been
a time during his Presidency, that, in the event of the death of
Judge Taney, he had not fully intended, and expected to nomi
nate Salmon P. Chase for Chief Justice 1' These were his
very words uttered in this connection !
" Mr. Chase told me that at the Cabinet meeting, immediately
after the battle of Antietam, and just prior to the issue of the
September Proclamation, the President entered upon the business
before them, by saying that ' the time for the annunciation of
the emancipation policy could no longer be delayed. Public
sentiment,' he thought, ' would sustain it, many of his warmest
friends and supporters demanded it — and he had promised his
God thai he would do it /' The last part of this was uttered in
a low tone, and appeared to be heard by no one but Secretary
Chase, who was sitting near him. He asked the President if
he correctly understood him. Mr. Lincoln replied, ' / made a
solemn vow before God that, if General Lee was driven back from
THE EMANCIPATION ACT. 339
Pennsylvania, I would crown the result by the declaration of free-
dam to the slaves P
" In concluding this article, it will perhaps be expected that
I should take some notice of an assertion made originally in
an editorial article in The Independent, upon the withdrawal
of Mr. Chase from the political canvass of 1864, and widely
copied, in which it was stated that the concluding paragraph
of the Proclamation was from the pen of Secretary Chase. One
of Mr. Lincoln's intimate friends (this incident was related to
me by the gentleman himself), who felt that there was an im
propriety in this publication at that time, for which Mr. Chase
was in some degree responsible, went to see the President about
it. ' Oh,' said Mr. Lincoln, with his characteristic simplicitv
and freedom from all suspicion, ' Mr. Chase had nothing to do
¦with it. I think / mentioned the circumstance to Mr. Tilton,
myself.' " The facts in the case are these : While the measure was
pending, Mr. Chase subraitted to the President a draft of a proc
lamation embodying his views upon the subject, which closed
-with the appropriate and solemn words referred to : ' And upon
this act, believed to be an act of justice warranted by the Con
stitution, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind and
the gracious favor of Alraighty God !'
" Mr. Lincoln adopted this sentence intact, excepting that he
inserted after the word ' Constitution' the words ' upon mili
tary necessity.'
" Thus is ended what I have long felt to be a duty I owed
to the world — the record of circumstances attending the prep
aration and issue of the third great state paper which has
marked the progress of our Anglo-Saxon civilization.
" First is the ' Magna chaeta,' wrested by the barons of
England from King John : second, the ' Deolaeation of In
dependence,' and third, worthy to be placed upon the tablets
of history, side by side with the first two, is ' Abeahjim Lin
coln's Peoclamation of- Emancipation!'
340 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
Apropos, also, to the same subject, are the reminis
cences of the Rev. Moncuee D. Conway, which appeared
in the (London) " Fortnightly Seview " of May 15,
1865. He says :
" Early in the war I had the opportunity of a private inter
view with the President. The hour of eight in the morning
was named by him, and I found that even that was not early
enough for his work to begin. In the ante-rooom was a young
woman with her child, whose plea the President would hear.
Sad and tearful when she presently entered his room, she was
radiant enough on her return, and doubtless some poor pris
oner was set free that day to return home. My friend and I
were also there to plead for prisoners ; believing that the hour
had come when slavery had earned the right to perish by the
sword which it had taken, we carae to iraplore the President to
be our deliverer from this fearful demon that had so long harried
the land and poisoned life for all who loved their country or
justice. The President listened very patiently, and gave us
his views fully. The words which remain now most deeply
fixed in my raeraory are these : — ' We grow in this direction
daily ; and I am not without hope that sorae great thing is to
be accoraplished. When the hour comes for dealing with sla
very I trust I shall be willing to act, though it costs my life ;
and gentlemen,' he added, with a sad smile and a solemn tone,
' lives will he lost.'
" Throughout the conversation the President spoke with pro
found feeling of the Southerners, who, he said, had become at
an early day, when there was at least a feeble conscience against
slavery, deeply involved coraraerclally and socially with the in
stitution ; he pitied them heartily, all the more that it had cor
rupted thera ; and he earnestly advised us to use what influence
we might have to impress on the people the feeling that they
should be ready and eager to share largely the pecuniary
losses to which the South would be subjected if emancipation
THE EMANCIPATION ACT. 341
should occur. It was, he said, the disease of the entire na
tion, and all must share the suffering of its removal. It was
entirely through this urgency of Mr. Lincoln to all whom he
met, that all the slaves in the District of Columbia were paid
for when liberated (though many thought the slave himself
was the real o-wner to be paid), and a full price offered by Con
gress to all slave States that would, even gradually, emancipate
their slaves.
" Mr. Lincoln had much more fortitude than heroism in his
temperament, and his slow, gradual political methods seemed
at times, when martial law was alone possible, like trying to
fire off a gun a little at a time. He invited popular criticism
as a means of knowing what measures, especially relating to
slavery, the country was 'up to ;' and no man was ever less
spared. Many of the abolitionists criticised him fiercely, for he
represented a policy which they had reason to fear would close
up the war power before it had crushed the scource of the
national troubles. The President was generally patient under
these criticisms, which he knew were not made in the spirit of
personal antagonism. The nearest approach to a complaint I
ever heard him utter was to Wendell Phillips and some others,
from Boston. ' I fear,' he said, ' that some of the severity
with whieh this Administration is criticised, results from the fact
that so many of us have had so long to act with minorities that
we have got an uncontrollable hahit of criticising.' This was
said with an unfeigned humility, and the feeling of all present
was fitly expressed by Mr. Phillips, who proraptly declared to
the President that he knew no one who would prefer any man
for the next Presidential term to Abraham Lincoln, provided it
were certain that the work of emancipation was to be firmly
prosecuted. ' Oh, Mr. Phillips,' exclaimed the President, with
a childlike simplicity, ' if I have ever indulged that hope, and
I do not say I have not, it has long ago been beaten out of me.'
He -went to hear that greatest of American orators (Mr. Phillips)
at the Smithsonian Institute, and sat calmly to hear the severe
342 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
review of his own policy. A letter which he wrote to the ed
itors of the North American Review, which has not before been
published, I believe, in England, is characteristic ,of his temper.
That Review had published an article entitled ' The President's
Policy,' containing the following paragraph : —
" ' Even so long ago as when Mr. Lincoln, not yet convinced
of the danger and magnitude of the crisis, was endeavoring to
persuade himself of Union majorities at the South, and to carry
on a wai that was half peace, in hope of a peace that would
have been all .war ; while he was still enforcing the fugitive
slave law, under some theory that secession, however it might
absolve States from their obligations, could not escheat them
of their clairns under the Constitution, and that slaveholders in
rebellion had alone, araong mortals, the privilege of haying
their cake and eating it at the same time — the enemies of free
government were striving to persuade the people that the war '
was an abolition crusade.'
" To this Mr. Lincoln responded, under date of January 16,
1864; as follows :
" ' Gentlemen : — The number for this year and month of
ihe North American Review was duly received, and for it please
accept my thanks. Of course I am not the most irapartial 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 coun
try. I fear I am not quite 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 as it is. In what is
there expressed the writer has not correctly understood ine. I
have never had a theory that secession could absolve States or
people from their obligations. Precisely the opposite is as
serted in the inaugural address ; and it was because of ray be
lief in the continuance of these obligations that I was puzzled,
for a time, as to denjdng the legal rights of those citizens who re
the emancipation act. 343
mainjed individually innocent of treason or rebellion. But I
mean no more now than to merely call attention to this point.
' Yours respectfully, 'A. Lincoln.'
" It is natural that in the presence of the grave, wherein
questions of individual policy are buried, and on which traits
of personal character bloom with fresh beauty, these critics of
the President should be harshly judged. It should be -remem
bered, however, that if the President had a heavy burden to
bear, so had they who were set to watch the war in the special
interest of emancipation. At one time Mr. Lincoln was pro
posing to send the negroes out of the country., at another to
abolish slavery in the year 1900, at another to reconstruct
States with a tenth of their former population, and that tenth
made up exclusively of the lately disloyal whites, in whose rooted
hatred of the Union his patriotic heart found it impossible to
beheve. But those words ' for a time,' in the letter to the
North American Review indicated the fact that Mr. Lincoln grew
as the people grew. An able writer has pronounced the trhest
judgment upon him in saying : — ' He became great — as such
natures do become great — ^by the action of the ennobling duties
of such a station, upon a mind honest, courageous, conscien
tious and truthful.' Mr. Lincoln would be the last to be ungener
ous to his reviewers. In a conversation with some western anti-
slavery men, when I was present, he said, good-humoredly, —
' Well, gentlemen, all I can say is, we shall want all the anti-
slavery feeling in the country, and more ; go home and screw
the people up to it, and you may say any thing you like about
me, if that will help.' There was, indeed, a time when the
country was much excited against him, on account of the
length of time in which he clung to a general about whose
loyalty there were many doubts, but about whose incapacity
and devotion to slavery there were none at all. Amongst the
many protests which were uttered, some written by Eev. H. W.
Beecher were of marked power, and very scathing. Some one
344 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
clipped these from the Independent, in which they first appeared,
and sent thera to the President, who undertook, on a rainy Sun
day, to read them ; he had not, however, read very far before
he became indignant, and leaping from his chair, exclaimed to
some one present, 'Am I a dog or a man?' Nevertheless the
nation very soon began to realize the good effect of those
articles which, in the great rush of war, had the fortune to be
read." "
militaey opeeations of the YEAE 1862. 345
CHAPTER XII.
the militaey opeeations of the YEAE 1862.
Operations in the West and Southwest. — Battle of Mill Spring, Ky. —
The Burnside Expedition. — Capture of Forts Donelson and Henry. —
Surrender of Nashville, Tenn.-^Oapture of Fort Pulaski. — The Eebels
Driven from Missouri. — Capture of Island No. 10. — Of Ports Pillow
and Eandolph, on the Mississippi. — Surrender of Memphis The Battle
of Pittsburg Landing. — Proclamation for a day of National Thanksgiv
ing. — Capture of New Orleans. — Invasion of Kentucky. — Battle of
Corinth. — ^Battle of Murfreesboro, and Tennessee freed fi-om Eebel rule.
Operations in Eastern Virginia. — The President issues an Order for a
general advance of the national forces. — General McClellan's hesi
tancy and delay. — Reiterated orders to move. — Letter from the Presi
dent. — The advance on Yorktown. — Battle of Williamsburg — More
delay, more Letters and Orders. — Delay, delay, delay. — Orders, and
excuses ad infinitum et ad nauseam. — The Seven Days' Battles. — The
close of the Peninsula Campaign.— ^Pope placed in command of Army
of Virginia. — He is defeated. — McClellan reinstated, and commences
another advance on Richmond. — The old story of delay. — The Battle
of Antietam.— McClellan relieved from command. — The President's
defence of McClellan. — The President's opinion of McClellan. — The
Routine of Mr. Lincoln's daily life at this period.
Let us now turn our attention awhile to the military
operations of the year 1862, a full consideration of
which is necessary to a proper understanding of some
of Mr. Lincoln's most important actions.* These move
ments, in every part of the country, except in Eastem
* In tracing the military history of the year 1862, we have largely
availed ourselves of the excellent resume given by Hon. H. J. Raymond,
in his admirable History of the Administration of President Lincoln, of
which we are glad to learn that a new and enlarged edition will soon ap
pear, from the press of Messrs. Derby & Miller, New York.
346 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
Virginia, were marked by promptitude and vigor, and
attended with success to the national arms. In January
the victory of Mill Springs had released Western Ken
tucky from rebel rule, and opened Eastern Tennessee to
an advance of the Union armies. Early in February
following, the "Burnside Expedition" had effected a
lodgment for the Union arms upon the coast of North
Carolina ; and the President's order for an advance of
all the forces of the government on the twenty-second
of the same month, was promptly followed by the cap
ture of Forts Henry and Donelson, on the Cumberland
river, which caused the evacuation of Bowling Green,
the sm'render of Nashville, and the fall of Columbus,
the rebel stronghold on the Mississippi. Fort Pulaski,
guarding the entrance to Savannah, surrendered after
an eighteen hours' bombardment, on the twelfth of
April, and the whole coast of Florida was occupied by
the .Union forces. In the Western Department, General
Halleck's strategy and General Curtis's energy had
driven General Price from Missouri, and badly beaten
him at a subsequent battle in Arkansas. Island
No. 10, commanding the passage of the Mississippi,
fell into the hands of General Pope, and, on the fourth
of June, Forts Pillow and Eandolph, lower down on
the same river, were occupied by "the boys in blue;"
this being followed, two days later, by the surrender of
Memphis. . Then came the grandly-contested battle of
Pittsburg Landing, near Corinth — which, opening as a
disaster, closed as a glorious victory to the national
arms. When news of the successes reached Washing
ton, President Lincoln issued the following proclama
tion:
MILITAEY OPEEATIONS OF THE YEAE 1862. 347
" 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 inv.asion.
" It is therefore recommended to the people of the United .
States, that at their next weekly assemblages, in their accus
tomed places of public worship, which shall occur after the
notice of this proclamation shall have been received, they
especially 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 affiiction 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
inay speedily result in the restoration of peace, harmony and
unity throughout our borders, and hasten the establishment of
fraternal relations 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 af&xed.
" Done at the City of Washington, this tenth day of April,
in the year of our Lord one thousand .eight hundred
[l. s.] and sixty -two, and of the independence of the United
States the eighty-sixth.
"Abeaham Lincoln.
" By the President :
" William H. Sewaed, Secretary of Stated
On the 28th of May the rebels evacuated Corinth,
being vigorously pushed in pursuit by our forces for
Some twenty-five or thirty miles. In the latter part of
April, Huntsville, in Alabama, was occupied by General
Mitchell's troops ; and during the same month, a formid
able naval expedition, which had been fitted out under
Commodore Farragut for the capture of New Orleans,
commenced its operations by an attack upon Forts Jack-
348 THE life of abeaham LINCOLN.
son and St. Phihp, by which the passage of the Missis
sippi below the city is guarded. After six days' bom
bardment, the whole fleet passed the forts on the night
of the 23d, under a terrible fire from both; and on the
25th, Farragut took possession of the town.
During the summer, a powerful rebel force, under
General Bragg, invaded Kentucky, for the double
purpose of obtaining supplies and affording a rallying
point for what they beheved to be the secession senti
ment of the State. In the former object they were
more successful than in the latter. The number of
recruits gained was more than balanced by their loss by
desertions, and after the battle of Perryville, October
7th, they began a retreat. On the 5th of the same
month occurred the battle of Corinth, resulting in the
complete repulse of the rebels by General Eosecrans,
and the virtual close of the campaign in Kentucky and
Tennessee. A final effort of the enemy to maintain
possession of that region, led to a severe engagement at
Murfreesborough, on the Slst of December, which
resulted in the defeat of the rebel forces, and in the
relief of Tennessee from the presence of their armies.
In sad contrast to these successes in the west and
southwest, were the miUtary events in the east. The
fortifications around the city of Washington had been
essentially completed before the close of September^,
1861, so that thenceforth a large portion of the Army
of the Potomac was no longer needed for merely de
fensive duty. General McClellan, who had succeeded
General Scott in command in November, 1861, officially
estimated his entire force on the 1st of December, as
one hundred and ninety-eight thousand two hundred
THE POLITICAL AND MILITAEY EVENTS OF 1862. 349
and thirteen, of whom one hundred and sixty-nine
thousand four hundred and fifty-two were present for
duty, and on the 1st of January, 1862, as two hundred
and nineteen thousand seven hundred and seven, of
whom one hundred and ninety-one thousand four hun
dred and eighty were "^'effective." Deducting, there
fore, the fifty-eight thousand, which in the month of
October previous he had deemed necessary for the pro
tection and defence of Washington, he had at the begin
ning of 1862, one hundred and thirty-three thousand
four hundred and eighty men with whom to make
an aggressive movement — a force certainly twice as
large as. that of the enemy who confronted him. The
season was unusually favorable for military operations —
the troops admirably organized and disciplined, and in
the highest state of efficiency — in numbers, known
to be far superior to those of the rebels, while all, from
the highest officer to the humblest private, were ani
mated with an eager desire to be led against the enemy.
There was, both in the minds of the Administration and
of the people, to use McClellan's own words, "an
excessive anxiety for an immediate movement of the
Army of the Potomac." As the approach of winter
brought with it little or no indication of an intended
movement of our armies, the public impatience naturally
rose to the highest point of discontent. The Adminis
tration, of course, was obliged to bear the responsibility
of these unaccountable delays; it was accused of a
design to protract the war for political purposes of its
own ; and at the ensuing fall election the public dissatis
faction was strongly manifested by adverse votes in
every considerable State where elections were held.
850 THE life" of abeaham LINCOLN.
Unable longer to endure this state of affairs. President
Lincoln, on the 27th of January, issued an order appoints
ing the 22d of February as the day for a general move
ment of the land and naval forces of the United States
against the insurgent forces. This general order was
followed, four days after, by a special command to
McClellan, to put the Army of the Potomac in motion
towards Manassas, with the object of engaging the rebel
army in front of Washington by a flank attack, and by
its defeat, relieve that city, put Eichmond at our mercy,
and break the main strength of the rebellion by the
destruction of its principal army. Against this the
dilatory general remonstrated, and urged a plan of his
own, which ehcited from Mr. Lincoln the following
letter of inquiry :
" Executive Mansion, Washington, February 3, 1862.
"My Dear Sir: — You and I have dsistinct and different
plans for a moveraent of the Army of the Potomac ; yours to
be done by 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 south
west of Manassas.
"If you will give satisfactory answers to the following
questions, I shall gladly yield ray plan to yours :
" 1st. Does not your plan involve a greatly larger expenditure
of time and money than mine ?
" 2d. Wherein is a victory more certain by your plan than
mine ?
"3d. Wherein is a victory more valuable by your plan than
mine? "4th. In fact, would it not be less valuable in this: that
it would break no great line of the enemy's communications,
while mine would ?
MILITAEY OPEEATIONS OF THE YEAE 1862, 351
" 5th. In case of disaster, would not a retreat be more diffi
cult by your plan than mine ?
" Yours truly, Abraham Lincoln.
" Majoe-Gteneral McClellan."
These plain test^questions were never directly met.
The subject remained for some time under consideration,
the President's order not withdrawn, but its execution
suspended, while McClellan, under urgent pressure from
his superiors, commenced to open the Baltimore and
Ohio railroad. On the 26th of February he announced
the occupation of Loudon, Bolivar and Maryland
Heights, by our troops, and the expected arrival of a
large force of rebels at Winchester. Then, after con
siderable delay, as well as expense, in the construction
of canal boats for crossing the upper Potomac, he found,
on proceeding to use them (a considerable force intended
for Winchester being already under orders), that "the
lift-lock" was too small to allow of the boats passing to
their destination. This provoked from Mr. Stanton this
laconic reply : " General McClellan — If the lift-lock is
not big enough, why cannot it be made big enough?
Please answer immediately." But, as to do this, the
entire masonry must be destroyed and rebuilt, the boats
so long and patiently waited for, were dispensed with,
and marching orders countermanded.
The general, after having revoked an order already
given for raising the blockade of the Potomac — a
measure earnestly desired by the Administration — then
returned to Washington, and began the movement
on Manassas, as required by the President's order of
January 31st — a full month having now intervened.
Then followed the campaign of Generals Shields and
352 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
Banks, in the Shenandoah valley — resulting in the
retreat of the rebels, and the comparative quiet of that
section of the country, for the ensuing two months.
The results at Harper's Ferry, as well as the delay in
raising the blockade of the lower Potomac, were far
from satisfactory to the President. The day fixed for a
general movement had passed, and the advance on
Eichmond by the Chesapeake was- by this time imprac
ticable, unless by the roundabout way of Annapolis,
until the Potomac had first been cleared of the rebel
batteries. Meanwhile, as early as the 15th of Febru
ary, measures had been taken by. the Secretary of War
to secure with promptness the necessary transportation
by water, for the forces to be moved ; a fact fully indi
cating the willingness of the Administration to acquiesce
in a plan on Avhich the commanding general seemed to
have set his heart, rather than to insist on a preferable
movement, yet which could hardly be expected to
succeed under the reluctant generalship of one who felt
no confidence in its success, and who evinced no alacrity
in its execution.
McClellan still hesitated, conjuring up all manner of
possible contingencies, which might prove insuperable
obstacles to the President's plan ; and finally, wearied
with his steady resistance and unwillingness to enter
upon the prosecution of any other than his own plan,
Mr. Lincoln consented to submit the matter to a council
of twelve officers held late in February, at headquarters.
The decision of this council, although unfavorable to his
own views, was promptly acquiesced in by the President,
who, thereupon, ordered the organization of the Army
of the Potomac into four army corps ; making full pro-
MILITAEY OPEEATIONS OF THE YEAE 1862. 353
vision, however, for the full protection and security of
Washington. On the 9th of March, the day following
the order, McClellan, learning that the enemy had
abandoned his position in front of Washington, led his
troops on what the Prince de Joinville, one of his staff,
styled "a promenade" to Manassas, which they found
abandoned by the enemy ; and' on the 15th, the army
was ordered back to Alexandria.
About this time, also, occurred the celebrated naval
contest between the formidable rebel iron-clad " Merri
mac " (or Virginia) and the hitherto untried Ericsson
" Monitor," and which not only startled the whole
country, but produced such a marked inflence in regard
to naval armaments everywhere.
On the llth, McClellan having personally taken the
field at the head of the Army of the Potomac, was
relieved from command of his department. General
Halleck was assigned to the Department of the Missis
sippi, and the Mountain Department was created for
General Fremont.
These matters having been arranged, the following
communication was addressed to the commanding gene
ral : " War Department, March 13, 1862.
"The President having considered the plan of operations agreed
upon by yourself and the commanders of army corps, makes no
objection to the same, but gives the following directions as to
its execution :
" 1. Leave such force at Manassas Junctioh as shall make it
entirely certain that the enemy shall not repossess himself of that
position and line of communication.
" 2. Leave Washington entirely secure.
" 3. Move the remainder of the force down the Potomac,
23
354 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
choosing a new base at Fortress Monroe, or anywhere between
here and there, or, at all events, move such remainder of the army
at once in pursuit of the enemy by some route.
" Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War.
" Major-General George B. McClellan."
It will be seen from the tone of these orders, that the
President, as well as the whole country, had been greatly
amazed by the unaccountable delay of the Army of the
Potomac to move against the enemy at Manassas, and
that this feeling became one of chagrin and mortification
when the, rebels were allowed to withdraw from that
position without molestation, and without suspicion until
their design had been carried into complete and success
ful execution. He was impatiently anxious, therefore,
that no more time should be lost in delays. General
McCleUan, before embarking for the Peninsula, had
communicated his intention of reaching, without loss of
time, the field of what he believed would be a decisive
battle, somewhere between West Point and Eichmond.
On the Slst of March, the President, in yielding to the
importunities of General Fremont and his friends, and
from a belief that this officer needed a much larger force
than he then had at his command in the Mountain Depart
ment, ordered General Blenker's division, of the Army of
the Potomac, to join him, a decision which he announced
to General McClellan in the following letter :
"Executive Mansion, Washington, March 31, 1862.
" My Dear Sir : This morning I felt constrained to order
Blenker's division to Fremont, and I write this to assure you I
did so with great pain, understanding that you would wish it
otherwise. If you could know the full pressure of the case, I
MILITAEY OPEEATIONS OF THE YEAE 1862. 355
am confident that you would justify it, even beyond a mere
acknowledgment that the Commander-in-Chief may order what
he pleases. "Yours, very truly, A. LINCOLN.
" Major-General McClellan."
McClellan being now in motion up the Peninsula,
halted in the vicinity of Yorktown, and reconnoitred,
writing on the sixth to the President that he had but
eighty-five thousand men fit for duty — that the whole
line of the Warwick river was strongly fortified — that
it was quite certain that he should " have the whole force
of the enemy on his hands, probably not less than one
hundred thousand men, and probably more." and that
seige operations should be commenced as soon as he could
could get up his train. He entered, accordingly, upon
this work, telegraphing from time to time complaints
that he -was not sufficiently supported by the government,
and asking for reinforcements.
On the 9th of April President Lincoln addressed him
the follovring letter : " Washington, April 9, 1862.
" My Deae 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 Man-
356 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
assas Junction, was diverted and tied up on the line of Winches
ter and Strasburg, and could not leave it without again exposing
the Upper Potomac and the Baltimore and Ohio Eailroad.
This presented, or would present, when McDowell and Sumner
should be gone, a great temptation to the enemy to turn back
from the Eappahannock 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 Eichmond, via Manassas Junction to this city, to be en
tirely open, except what resistance could be presented by less
than twenty thousand unorganized troops ? This is a question
which the country will not allow me to evade.
" There is a curious mystery about the number of troops
now with you. When I telegraphed you on the sixth, saying
you had over a hundred thousand' with you, I had just obtained
from the Secretary of War a 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
accounted for ?*
* Gen. McCleUan, in the early part of that report, quotes, without con
tradiction or objection, the following statement of Mr. Tucker, Assistant
Secretary of War, showing that he had landed at Portress Monroe, by the
Bth day of April (having received the final order as early as the 28th
of February), 121, .500 men for McClellan, with a number of wagons and
animals manifestly well proportioned to these numbers :
" In thirty-seven days from the time I received the order in 'Washingtoai
(and most of it was accomplished in thirty days), these vessels transported
from Perryville, Alexandria, and Washington to Fort Monroe (the plaee
MILITAEY OPEEATIONS OF THE YEAE 1862. 357
" 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 rela
tively 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 to
strike a blow. I am powerless to help this. You will do me
the justice to remember I always insisted that going down the hay
in search of a field, instead of fighting at or near Manassas, was
only shifting, and not surmounting, a difficulty ; that we would
find the same enemy, and the same or equal intrenchments, ai either
place. The country will not fail io 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 written 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. Bui you must act.
" Yours, very truly, " A. Lincoln.
" Major-General McClellan."
of departure having been changed, which caused delay), one hundred and
twenty-one thousand five hundred men, fourteen thousand five hundred
and ninety-two animals, one thousand one hundred and fifty wagons,
forty-four batteries, seventy-four ambulances, besides pontoon bridges, tele
graph materials, and the enormous quantity of equipage, etc., required for
an army of such magnitude."
Yet McCleUan telegraphed to the President on the 7th of April : "My
entire force for duty only amounts to 85,000." Six days later, before receiv
ing reinforcements, McClellan himself reported his force (as officially certi
fied by Adj .-Gen. Thomas,) to be 117,721, of whpm 100,970 were present for
duty. In addition to this was the considerable force of Gen. "Wool, on
which he was authorized to draw at will. McDowell's command also, had
been, so far as practicable, put in a position for at once sustaining him
and covering Washington.
358 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
In this letter the President but echoed the impatience
and eagerness of the whole country. The most careful
inquiries made, at the tiine, by General Wool, satisfied
him that Yorktown vvas held by an inconsiderable force
of the enemy ; and subsequent disclosures rendered it
quite certain that this force was utterly inadequate to
the defence of the position, so that a prompt movement
upon it would have caused its immediate surrender, and
enabled our army to advance at once upon Eichmond.
The President, in a note dated April 6th, had said to
General McClellan :
"You now have over one hundred thousand troops with you,
independent of Gen. Wool's comraand. / think you had better
break the enemy's line from Yorktown to Warwick river ai once.
They will probably use time as advantageously as you can."
In disregarding this pointed and sensible advice — a
grave, though not irretrievable, error was committed at
the outset of the campaign. General Burnside had
accomplished, at Newborn, on the 14th of the previous
month, an incomparably more difficult task in carrying
the works ofthe enemy, when manned by numbers fully
equal to his own, and this was done, also, with compa
ratively raw recruits.
General McClellan decided, however, to approach it
by a regular siege ; and it was not until this design had
become apparent, that the rebel government began to
reinforce Magruder.* He continued his requests for
* Extract from Gen. Magruder's official report of May 3d, 1862, as
published by order of the Confederate Congress : " Every preparation
was made in anticipation of another attack by the enemy. The men slept
MILITAEY OPEEATIONS OF THE YEAE 1862. 359
additional reinforcements, transportation and cannon, all
of which were forwarded to him as promptly and lavishly
as possible. Meanwhile thousands sickened and died
in the trenches. The nation grew weary of .the same
disheartening news, day by day, and week after week.
Presently there came a request for Parott guns, which
drew from the President the following response :
" Executive Mansion, Washington, May 1, 1862.
" Major-General McClellan : — Your call for Parott guns
from Washington alarms me — chiefly because it argues in
definite procrastination. Is any thing to be done?
"A. Lincoln."
After a month spent in this way, the President urging
action with the utmost earnestness, and the general
delaying from day to day on all sorts of pretexts,
our army woke up one fine moming (the 4th of May)
to find that Yorktown, which they had so carefully
watched, was entirely empty — and nothing remained for
McClellan but to promise, as he did in announcing the
event to the government, that "no time would be
lost" in the pursuit, and that he should "push the
enemy to the wall." General Stoneman was, indeed,
sent forward with a column of cavalry to overtake
in the trenches and under arms, but, to my utter surprise, he permitted day
after day to elapse without an assault.
"In a few days the object of his delay was apparent. In every direction
in front of our lines, through the intervening woods and along the open
fields, earthworks began to appear. Through the energetic action of the
government reinforcements began to pour in, and each hour the army of
the Peninsula grew stronger and stronger, until anxiety passed from my
mind as to the result of any attack upon us.
* * « *
"J. Bankhbad Maokudek, Major-General."
360 THE life of abeaham LINCOLN.
the retreating enemy, which he succeeded in doing
on the same day, and was repulsed. On the 5th,
the advance-guard came up and found the rebel
rear-guard strongly fortified, and prepared to dispute
the advance of their pursuers. Then ensued the
battle of Williamsburg, gallantly fought almost with
out the knowledge of the commanding general, who,
indeed, was exceedingly dissatisfied with his corps
commanders for venturing the engagement in his absence.
It resulted, however, in the enemy's abandonment of his
position and retreat up the Peninsula.
General McClellan did not understand that this was
simply an attempt of the rebel rear-guard to cover the
retreat of the main force. He countermanded an order
for the advance of two divisions; sent them back
to Yorktown; and in a despatch sent to the War
Department the same night, he speaks of the battle
as an engagement with the whole rebel army. "I
find," he says, " General Joe Johnson in front of me in
strong force, probably greater, a good deal, than my
own." Eeiterating his complaints of the inferiority of
his command, he promises to do all he can " with the
force at his disposal," and to " run the rish of at least
holding them in check here (at Williamsburg) while he
resumed the original plan" — which was to move Frank
lin's corps to West Point by water. The direct pursuit
of the retreating rebel army, however, was abandoned —
owing, as the general said, to the bad state of the roads,
which rendered it impracticable. Five days spent at
Wilhamsburg, enabled the rebels, notwithstanding the
" state of the roads," to withdraw their whole force
across the Chickahominy, and estabhsh themselves
MILITAEY OPEEATIONS OP THE YEAE 1862. 361
within the fortifications in front of Eichmond; and
when, on the morning of the 7th, General Franklm
landed at West Point, he was too late to intercept the
main body of the retreating enemy, but was met by a
strong rear-guard, with whom he had a sharp and fruit
less engagement.
Norfolk, in the meantime, had been taken by General
Wool, and the President and Secretary of War were on
a visit at Fortress Monroe. It was while here that the
Secretary of War received the following despatch from
General McClellan, dated May 9 :
"To Hon. E. M. Stanton, Secretary of War: — I respectfully
ask permission to re-organize the army corps. I ara not willing
to be held responsible for the present arrangement, experience
having proved it to be very bad, and it having nearly resulted
in a most disastrous defeat. I wish rather to return to the
organization by divisions, or else to be authorized to relieve
incompetent commanders of army corps. Had I been one-half
hour later on the field on the 5th, we would have beeh routed,
and would have lost every thing. Notwithstanding my positive
orders, I was informed of nothing that had occurred, and- 1 went
to the field of battle myself upon unofficial information that
my presence was needed to avoid defeat. I found there
the utmost confusion and incompetency, the utmost discourage
ment on the part of the men. At least a thousand lives were
really sacrificed by the organization into corps. I have
too much regard for the lives of my comrades, and too deep an
interest in the success of our cause, to hesitate for a moment.
I learn that you are equally in earnest, and I therefore again
request fuU. and complete authority to relieve from duty with
this army commanders of corps or divisions who find them
selves incompetent. "G. B. McClellan, Major-General Commanding"
362 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
To this Secretary Stanton replied, in substance :
" The President directs me to say that you ' may tem
porarily suspend that organization in the army now
under your immediate command, and adopt any you see
fit until further orders.' He also writes you privately."
The President's letter, thus referred to, is as follows :
" Headquarters Department of Virginia, )
Fort Monroe, Va., May 9, 1862. j
" Major-General McClellan :
" My Dear Sir : — I have just assisted the Secretary of War
in framing the part of a despatch to you relating to army corps,
which despatch, 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 whom you had
selected and assigned as generals of divisions, but also on the
unanimous opinion of every military man I could get an
opinion from, and every raodern military book, yourself only
excepted. Of course, I did not on ray own judgraent pretend
to understand the subject. I now think it indispensable for
you to know how your struggle against it is received in
quarters which we cannot 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, or Keyes — the commanders
of these corps' are, of course, the three highest ofiicers with you ;
but I am constantly told that you have no consultation or com
munication with them ; that you consult and comraunicate with
nobody but Gerteral Pitz John Porter, and perhaps General
Franklin. I do not say these coraplaints are true or just ; but,
at all events, it is proper you should know of their existence.
Do the coraraanders of corps disobey your orders in any thing ?
" 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
MILITAEY OPEEATIONS OF THE YEAE 1862. 363
as applicable to you personally, that Senators and Eepresenta
tives speak of me in their places as they please without
question, and that of&cers of the army must cease addressing
insulting letters to them for taking no greater liberty with
them,. "But to return. Are you strong enough— are you strong
enough even with my help — to set your foot upon the necks of
Sumner, Heintzelman and Keyes all at once? This is a
practical and very serious question to you.
" The success of your army and the cause of the country are
the same, and of course I only desire the good of the cause.
"Yours truly, A.Lincoln."
General McClellan did not conclude to make the
changes which he had pronounced so indispensable.
Again McClellan began to prepare for fighting the
"decisive battle" which had constantly been looming
before his eyes like a " will-o'-the-wisp," since the retreat
of the Confederates from Manassas; but a dispropor
tionate amount of his time was wasted in making out a
case of neglect against the government. On the 10th
of May, having then advanced only three miles beyond
Wilhamsburg, he sent a long despatch to the War
Department, reiterating" his conviction that the rebels
were about to dispute his advance with their whole
force, and asking for "every man" the government
could send him. Unless reinforced, he would probably
be " obliged to fight nearly double his numbers strongly
intrenched." Ten days previously the ofiicial returns
showed that he had one hundred and sixty thousand
men under his command. On the 14th, he again tele
graphed the President his fears that he -was confronted
by overwhelming numbers, saying that he could not
bring more than eighty thousand men into the field, and
364 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
again asking for "every man" that could be sent him.
Even if not needed for military purposes, he thought a
great display of imposing force in the capital of the
rebel government would have the best moral efiect.
Alas ! he was never destined to lead the armies of tbe
Union into the rebel capital.
In reply, hS was informed of the unwilhngpess of
the President " to uncover the capital entirely," but that
General McDowell had been ordered to co-operate with
him, by marching upon Eichmond by the shortest
route ; always, however, " keeping himself in position
to save the capital from all possible attack ;" and retain
ing the command of his own troops, and of the Depart
ment of the Eappahannock. '
In reply to this, on the 21st of May General McClellan
repeated his fears of the overwhelming force of the
rebels ; and urged that General McDowell should join
him by water instead of by land, going down the Eap
pahannock and the bay to Fortress Monroe, and then
ascending the York and Pamunkey rivers, although he
feared there was "httie hope that he could join him
overland in time for the coming battle. Delays," he
said, " on my part will be dangerous : I fear sickness
and demorahzation. This region is unhealthy for nor
thern men, and unless kept moving, I fear that our
soldiers may become discouraged." He urged that
McDowell should be put more completely under his
command, and declared that a movement by land would
uncover Washington quite as completely as one by water.
He, however, gave no instructions, as required, for sup
plying McDowell's forces on their arrival at West Point.
The jealous sensitiveness exhibited by McClellan
MILITAEY OPEEATIONS OF THE YEAE 1862. 365
in this letter, was thus met by the following reply from
President Lincoln : "Washington, May 2iih, 1862.
"I left General McDowell's camp at dark last evening.
Shields's command is there, but it is so worn that he cannot
move before Monday morning, the 26th. We have so thinned
our line to get troops for other places that it was broken yester
day at Front Eoyal, 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 Eichmond.
"If, in conjunction with McDowell's movement against
Anderson, you could send a force from your right to cut off the
eneray's supplies from Eichmond, preserve the railroad bridge
across the two forks of the Pamunkey, and intercept the enemy's
retreat, you will prevent the army now opposed to you from
receiving an accession of numbers of nearly fifteen thousand
men ; and if you succeed in saving the bridges, you will secure
a line of railroad for supplies in addition ta the one you now
have. Can you not do this almost as well as not, while' you
are building the Chickahominy bridges? McDowell and
Shields both say they can, and positively will move Monday
morning. I wish you to move cautiously and safely.
" You will have command of McDowell, after he joins you, pre
cisely as you indicated in your long despatch to us of the 21st.
" A. Lincoln, President.
" Major-General G. B. McClellan."
General Banks had been sent by General McClellan
on the 1st of AprU, to guard the approaches to Wash
ington by the valley of the Shenandoah, which were?
even then menaced by a considerable rebel force. A
366 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
conviction of the entire insufl&ciency of the forces left
for the protection of the capital, led to the retention of
McDowell, from whose command, however, upon General
McClellan's urgent and impatient applications, general
Franklin's division had been detached. Of this the
President promptly informed the commanding general,
at the same time clearly stating the emergency which
had compelled this change of plan.
But McClellan, thinking only of himself, and appar
rently unable or unwilling to concede any thing to the
necessities of brave comrades elsewhere in the field,
remonstrated against the diversion of McDowell.
" Washington, May 25ih, 1862.
"Your despatch received. General Banks was at Strasburg
with about six thousand men. Shields having been taken from
aim to swell a coluran for McDowell to aid you at Eichmond,
and the rest of his force scattered at various places. On the
23d, a rebel force of seven to ten thousand fell upon one regi
ment and two companies guarding the bridge at Port Eoyal,
destroying it entirely; crossed the Shenandoah, and on the 24:th,
yesterday, pushed on to get north of Banks on the road to
Winchester. General Banks ran a race with them, beating
them into Winchester yesterday evening. This morning a
battle ensued between the two forces, in which General Banks
was beaten back into ' fall 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 Eoyal with ten thousand troops, following up and
supporting, as I understand, the force now pursuing Banks.
Also, that another force of ten thousand is near Orleans, follow
ing on in the same direction. Stripped bare, as we are here, I
will do all we can to prevent them crossing the Potomac at
Harper's Ferry or above. McDowell has about twenty thou-
MILITAEY OPEEATIONS OF THE YEAE 1862. 367
sand of his forces moving back to the vicinity of Front Eoyal ;
and Fremont, who was at Franklin, is moving to Harrisburg ;
both these movements intended to get in the enemy's rear.
" One more of McDowell's brigades is ordered through here
to Harper's Ferry ; the rest of his forces reraain for the present
at Fredericksburg. We are sending such regiments and dribs
from here and Baltimore as we can spare to Harper's Ferry,
supplying their places in some sort, calling in militia from the
adjacent States. We also have eighteen cannon on the road to
Harper's Ferry, of which arm there is not a single one at that
point. This is now our situation.
" If McDowell's force was rvow beyond our reach, we should be
entirely helpless. Apprehensions of something like this, and no
unwillingness to sustain you, has always been my reason for with
holding McDowell's forces from you.
" Please understand this, and do the best you can with the
forces you have. "A. Lincoln.
"Major-General McClellan."
Jackson made a triumphant march through the
Shenandoah valley, and for a time it seemed as if
nothing could prevent his crossing the Potomac, and
appearing in the rear of Washington. The President
promptly announced this state of things to General
McClellan in the following despatch :
" Washington, May 25th, 1862—2 P. M.
"The enemy is moving north in sufiicient force to drive
General Banks before him ; precisely in what force we cannot
tell. He is also threatening Leesburg and Geary on the
Manassas Gap railroad, 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 purpose of a very desperate defence of Eichmond. I
368 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
think the time is near when you must either attack Eichmond
or give up the job, and come to the defence of Washington
Let me hear from you instantly. "A. Lincoln."
On the 20th of June, he notified the President that
Jackson had been reinforced by probably not less than
ten thousand troops sent from Eichmond ; that his own
defences on the Chickahominy, made necessary by his
" inferiority of numbers," would be completed the next
day ; and that he would like to know the " disposition,
as to numbers and position, of the troops not under his
command, in Virginia and elsewhere," requesting per
mission, also, to lay before the President, " by letter or
telegraph, his views as to the present state of military
affairs throughout the whole country." To this he re
ceived the following reply :
"Washington, June 21st, 1862—6 P. M.
"Your despatch of yesterday, 2 P. M., was received this
morning. If it would not divert too much of your time and
attention from the array under your immediate command, I
would be glad to have your views as to the present state of
military affairs throughout the whole country, as you say you
would be glad to give them. I would rather it should be by
letter than by telegraph, because of the better chance of secrecy.
As to the numbers and positions of the troops not und* your
command, in Virginia and elsewhere, even if I could do it with
accuracy, which I cannot, I would rather not transmit either by
telegraph or letter, because of the chances of its reaching the
enemy. I would be very glad to talk with you, but you cannot
leave your camp, and I cannot well leave here.
"A. Lincoln, President.
"Major-General George B. McClellan."
Circumstances occurring shortly after prevented Gen.
MILITAEY OPEEATIONS OF THE YEAE 1862. 369
McClellan fi:'om favoring the President and the country
at large, as he had proposed, with his opinion on " the
situation ;" theories being quite " pushed to the wall '*
bythe stern realities ofthe new opening ofthe "Penin
sula Campaign." For now nearly a month, he had been
constantly reiterating his intention to make an immediate
advance upon Eichmond ; and, frequently, days were
especially fixed for the movement — ^yet, again and again,
when the decisive moment arrived, it brought only a
postponement. His army, at this time, occupied both
banks of the Chickahominy — the left wing being strong
and well compacted, while the right was comparatively
weak and attenuated. The stream, however, had been so
thoroughly bridged, that either wing could easily and
speedily have been transferred across. Hitherto he had
believed Jackson to be in force at Gordonsville, but on
the 24th of June he learned from a deserter, that an at
tack on his right and rear had been planned for the 28th,
which information was confirmed on the 25th by advice
from the War Department. In view of this expected at
tack he wrote to the Department a letter, which seems
to be an attempt of his timorous nature to throw upon
others the responsibility of an anticipated defeat ; declar
ing the rebel force to be about two hundred thousand,
he regretted his own " great inferiority in numbers," pro
testing that Jie could not be held responsible for it, as he
had repeatedly and constantly demanded reinforcements,
and that, if the result of the action was a disaster,
the " responslbihty cannot be thrown on his shoulders,
but must rest where it belongs." He closed by saying
that he should probably be attacked on the following
day, and that he felt "that there was no use in again
24
370 THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
asking for reinforcements." To this the President thus
replied : " Washington, June 26, 1865.
" Your three despatches of yesterday in relation, ending with
the statement that you completely succeeded in making your
point, are very gratifying. The latter one, suggesting the pro
bability of your being overwhelmed by two hundred thousand
men, and talking of to whom the responsibility will belong,
pains me very much. I give you all I can, and act on the pre
sumption that you will do the best you can with what you have ;
while you continue, ungenerously I think, to assume that I
could give you more if I would. I have omitted— I shall omit
— no opportunity to send you reinforcements whenever I
can. "A. Lincoln."
McClellan seems to have fully anticipated and made
his arrangements for a defeat, having — according to his
own report — as early as the 18th, ordered supplies to
the James river, as a convenient place upon which to
fall back in case of disaster. On the 26th, his extreme
right was attacked at Mechanicsville, and, though the
enemy were repulsed, their purpose of crushing that
wing, and severing his communications, was fully re
vealed. Instead, however, of advancing his left wing
across the river to strengthen the right, or of withdra'wing
his right across the strong defensive line of the river —
he left the unfortunate right wing to contiryie the strug
gle the next day, without support, against the main body
of the rebel army, and only withdrew it across the Chick
ahominy after the terrible defeat of Gaines' Mill. On
the next day his troops commenced a retreat, and the
general again showered reproaches upon the government
for neglect of his army — alleging that ten thousand fresh
MILITAEY OPEEATIONS OF THE YEAE 1862. 371
men would enable him to take Eichmond (this from a
retreating general !) but that, as it was, he could hope to
cover his retreat. Claiming, as before, that he was not
to be held " responsible for the result," he imperatively
demanded very large reinforcements, and concluded this
characteristic letter to the Secretary of War, with this
remarkable, sentence — " If I save this army now, I tell
you plainly that / owe no thanks to you or to any person
in Washington: you have done your best to sacrifice this
army." The unparalleled impertinence of this communication
instead of causing the prompt, and well-merited dismissal
of the writer, only called from our most patient and
generous-hearted President the following reply :
"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-"
morrow, or next day. I have not said you were ungenerous
for saying you needed reinforcements ; I thought you were un
generous, 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 Eichmond
to come in front of us. It is the nature of the case, and neither
you nor the Government is to blame.
"Abraham Lincoln."
Meanwhile the army continued its retreat towards the
James river, making successive stops to resist pursuit,
372 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
at points previously designated by General McClellan, who
with his staff proceeded in advance, but took no personal
partin any of the terrible battles which his brave men were
fighting day after day. At Savage Station, on the 29th,
at Glendale on the 30th, and at Malvern Hill on the
1st of July, they stayed their retreating footsteps, faced
the enemy like lions, routed them with terrific slaughter,
and then pushed on with bitter thoughts to Harrison's.
Landing on the river, where under cover of the Union!
gunboats, they found at last a welcome respite from thei
roar and din of battle. Before the battle of Malvern Hill,
a telegra,phic request for fresh troops, brought from Wash
ington the following brief despatch from the President :
" Washington, July 1, 1862—3.30 p. M.
" It is impossible to reinforce you for your present emergency.
If we had a million of men we could not get them to you in
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 Fortress
Monroe. We still have strength enough in the country, and
will bring it out.'^
" A. Lincoln.
" Major-General G. B. McClellan."
Gen. McClellan estimated the entire number of his
killed, wounded and missing during these seven days,
at fifteen thousand two hundred and forty-nine.
* On the 28th of June, the Governors of seventeen States sent an ad
dress to Mr, Lincohi, pledging the readiness of the people to respond to a
call for more troops, and expressing the popular desire for prompt and
vigorous measures to suppress the rebellion. In response to this, the
President, on the 1st of July, (the same day on which he wrote to Gen.
McClellan,) issued a call for three hundred thousand volunteers.
MILITAEY OPEEATIONS OF THE YEAE 1862. 373
Again, on the following day, in reply to a request for
fifty thousand more troops, the President thus writes :
"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 fifty thousand men
to be promptly sent you, you surely labor under some gross
mistake of fact. Eecently you sent papers showing your disr
posal of forces made last spring for the defence of Washington,
and advising a return to that plan. I find it included, in and
about Washington, seventy-five thousand men. Now, please
be assured that I have not raen enough to fill that very plan by
fifteen thousand. All of General Fremont's in the valley, all
of General Banks', all of General McDowell's not with you, and
all in Washington, taken together, do not exceed, if they reach,
sixty thousand. With General Wool and General Dix added
to those mentioned, I have not, outside of 'your army, seventy-
five thousand men east of the mountains. Thus, the idea
of sending you fifty thousand, or any other considerable forces
promptly, is simply absurd. If, in your frequent mention
of responsibiUty, you have the impression that I blame you for
not doing more than you can, please be relieved of such irapres
sion. I only beg, that in like raanner, you will not ask impos
sibilities of me. If you think you are not strong enough
to take Eichmond just now, I do not ask you to try just now.
Save the army, material, and personnel, and I will strengthen it
for .the offensive again as fast, as I can. The Governors of
eighteen States offer me a new levy of three hundred thousand,
which I accept. A. Lincoln."
On the next day. General McClellan again wrote for
one hundred thousand men — " more rather than less,"
to enable him to " accomplish the great task of captur
ing Eichmond, and putting an end to the rebellion;"
expressmg his hope that the enemy was as completely
374 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
worn out as his own army, though he feared an attack,
from which, however, he trusted the bad condition of
the roads might protect htm. On the 4th, his call for
"heavy reinforcements" was repeated, although he
acknowledged that he held a very strong position, from
which, with the aid of the gunboats, he could scarcely
be driven. On the same day he received the followi'ug
from the President : " War Department, |
Washington City, D. G, July 4, 1862. [
" 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 addition to that arrived and now arriving from
the Potomac (about ten thousand raen, I suppose), and about
ten thousand, I hope, you will have from Burnside 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 removal, 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 opinioij, 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 confident you can keep the James river
open, you had better remove 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 suppose it can have escaped your atten
tion. A. Lincoln.
" P. S. — If at any time you feel able to take the offensive,
you are not constrained from doing so. A. L."
MILITAEY OPEEATIONS OF THE YEAE 1862. 375
At this juncture, the forces previously commanded by
Generals Banks, Fremont and McDowell, were consoli
dated into the army of Virginia, the command of which
was given to General Pope, whose hitherto successful
career in the west, indicated him as fitted for this
important position in the east. He at once entered
vigorously upon the work of preparation for the triple
task which devolved upon him, viz. : the defence of
Washington, holding the Shenandoah valley, and creat
ing a diversion in favor of the army at Harrison's Land
ing. On ascertaining the condition of the forces placed
at his command, he was painfully conscious of the great
disproportion of the means at his disposal to the ends
that were to be accomplished, for his new command
amounted to barely thirty-eight thousand effective men.
Under these circumstances, after having unsuccess
fully appealed to the chief authorities at Washington to
relieve him from a command from which so httie was to
be hoped, and in which his high military reputation was
staked at fearful odds, he issued an energetic address to
his army, and proceeded earnestly to the performance
of the three-fold duties already indicated, drawing
almost the entire army of Lee away from Eichmond.
On the 7th of July, General McClellan sent to the
President a letter of advice on the general conduct of
his administration, in which he expressed the opinion
that the time had come " when the government should
determine upon a civil and mihtary policy covering the
whole ground of our national trouble," and he proceeded
to lay down the basis of such a pohcy as ought to
be adopted. " The war against the rebellion," he said,
" should not be a war looking to the subjugation of the
376 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LESTCOLN.
people of any State in any event. Neither confiscation
of property, political execution of persons, territorial
organization of States, nor forcible abolition of slavery,
should be contemplated for a moment." He added :
" Military power should not be allowed to interfere with tha .
relations of servitude, either by supporting or impairing the
authority of the master, except for repressing disorder, as
in other cases. Slaves, contraband, under the act of Congress,
seeking military protection, should receive it. The right of the
government to appropriate permanently to its own service
claims to slave labor, should be asserted, and the right of the
owner to compensation therefor should be recognized. This
principle might be extended, upon grounds of military necessity
and security, to all the slaves of a particular State, thus work
ing manuraission in such State ; and in Missouri, perhaps
in Western Virginia also, and possibly even in Maryland, the
expediency of such a measure is only a question of time * *
" Unless the principles governing the future conduct of our
struggle shall be made known and approved, the effort to
obtain the requisite forces will be almost hopeless. A declara
tion of radical views, especiaUy upon slavery, will rapidly dis
integrate our present armies."
He closed his letter by saying, " I may be on the brink
of eternity; and as I hope for forgiveness from my
Maker, I have written this letter with sincerity towards
you, and from love for my country."
The President, instead of entering upon a discussion
as to the general pohcy of his administration, simply
urged the general's attention to the state of his own
army ; 'and with a view to inform himself more accu
rately as to its actual condition and prospects, visited
the camp on the 8th of July, at Harrison's Landing.
MILITAEY OPEEATIONS OF THE YEAE 1862. 377
On returning to Washington, the President thus wrote
the general :
" Executive Mansion, Washington, July 18, 1862.
" My Dear Sir : — I am told that over • one hundred and
sixty thousand men have gone with your army on . the Penin
sula When I was with you the other day, we made out
eighty-six thousand remaining, leaving seventy-three thousand
five hundred to be accounted for. I believe three thousand
five hundred will cover all the killed, wounded and missing, in
all your battles and skirmishes, le^iving fifty thousand who
have .left otherwise. Not more than five thousand of these
have died, leaving forty-five thousand 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 Eichmond in the next three days. How can
they be got to you, and how can they be prevented from get
ting away in such numbers in the future ?
"Abraham Lincoln."
The general's reply to this letter, disclosed the re
markable fact that thirty-eight thousand two hundred
and fifty men of his army were absent on furloughs
granted by his permission ; and that the actual number
of troops composing his army on the 20th of July, ac
cording to official returns, was one hundred and fifty-
eight thousand, three hundred and fourteen, and its ag
gregate losses in the retreat to the James river fifteen
thousand two hundred and forty-nine.
The future plan of army operations had been, during
the President's visit to the camp, a subject of anxious
deliberation and discussion. Washington, which was
comparatively unprotected, was understood to be the
point aimed at by the rebel leaders, and as McClellan
378 the life of abeaham Lincoln.
did not consider his army sufficiently strong for an offen
sive programme — the corps commanders decided strongly
in favor of using the Army of the Potomac for the de
fence of the capital. McClellan, however, had not
given up the idea of taking Eichmond. On the llth,
he informed the President that his " army was in fine
spirits, and that he hoped he would soon make him
strong enough to try again ;" again, he writes, that he
was "more and more convinced that the army ought
not to be withdrawn, but promptly reinforced and thrown
again on Eichmond," and earnestly deprecated any
further retreat, as disasters to the morale of his troops,
saying, "if we have a little more than half a chance we
can take Eichmond." These messages and demands
still continuing, day after day. General Halleck, on the
25th, visited the camp in person, and having carefully
inspected the troops, convened a council of officers, a
majority of whom concurred in the opinion that the
army ought to be withdrawn from the Peninsula. On
the 30th, therefore, he ordered General McClellan to
make ready for the prompt removal of his sick, in order
to enable him to "move in any direction." Four days
were lost by McClellan's delay to comply with this, and
a similar order following — because he did not know
what was intended to be done with his army. FinaUy,
having been informed that his army was to be with
drawn from the Peninsula to Aquia Creek, he, instead
of obeying, entered a long protest against the movement
— affirming his present position to be the " true defence
of Washington," and urging that the order might be
countermanded .
To this the Secretary of War replied on the fourth,
MILITAEY OPEEATIONS OF THE YEAE 1862. 379
again urging the dilatory commander to hasten the re
moval of the sick, which he was significantly reminded
he had been " expected to have done without waiting
to know what were or would be the intentions of the
govern'nient respecting future movements;" and on the
sixth he was again addressed, as follows :
"Headquarters of the Army, 1
Washington, August Qth, 1862. J
"General: — Your telegram of yesterday was received this
morning, and I immediately telegraphed a bj-ief reply, promis
ing to write you more fully by mail.
" You, General, certainly could not have been more pained
at receiving my order than I was at the necessity of issuing it.
I was advised by high officers, in whose judgment I had great
confidence, to make the order immediately on my arrival here,
but. I determined not to do so until I could learn your wishes
from a personal interview. And even after that interview I
tried every means in my power to avoid withdrawing your
army, and delayed my decision as long as I dared to delay it.
¦ " I assure you. General, it was not a hasty and inconsiderate
act, but one that caused me more anxious thoughts than any
other of my fife. But after full and mature consideration of
all the pros and cons, I was reluctantly forced to the conclusion
that the order must be issued — there was to, my mind no
alternative. " Allow me to allude to a few of the facts in the case.
"You and your officers at our interview estimated the
nemy's forces in and around Eichmond at two hundred thou
sand men. Since then, you and others report that they have
received and are receiving large reinforcements from the South.
General Pope's army, covering Washington, is only about forty
thousand. Your effective force is only about ninety thousand.
You are thirty miles from Eichmond, and General Pope eighty
or ninety, vnth ihe enemy directly between you, ready to fall with
380 • THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
his superior numbers upon one or ihe other as he may elect ; neither
can reinforce the other in case of such an attack.
" If General Pope's army be diminished to reinforce you,
Washington, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, would be left un
covered and exposed. If your force be reduced to strengthen
Pope, you would be too weak to even hold the position you
now occupy should the enemy turn round and attack you in
full force. In other words, the old Army of the Potomac is
split into two parts, with the entire force of the enemy directly
between them. They cannot be united by land without ex
posing both to destruction, and yet they must be united. To
send Pope's forces by water to the Peninsula, is under present
circurastances a railitary impossibility. The only alternative
is to send the forces on the Peninsula to some point by water,
say Fredericksburg, where the two armies can be united.
"Let me now allude to some of the objections which you
have urged: you say that the withdrawal from the present
position will cause the certain demoralization of the army,
' which is now in excellent discipline and condition.'
" I cannot understand why a simple change of position to a
new and by no means distant base will demoralize an army in
excellent discipline, unless the officers themselves assist in that
demoralization,. which I am satisfied they will not.
" Your change of front, from your extreme right at Hanover
Court House to your present position, was over thirty miles,
but I have not heard that it demoralized your troops, notwith
standing the severe losses they sustained in effecting it.
"A new base on the Eappahannock at Fredericksburg brings
you within about sixty miles of Eichmond, and secures a rein
forcement of forty or fifty thousand fresh and disciplined
troops. " The change with such advantages will, I think, if properly
represented to your army, encourage rather than demoralize
your troops. Moreover, you yourself suggested that a junction
might be effected at Yorktown, but that a flank march across
MILITAEY OPEEATIONS OF THE YEAE 1862. 381
the isthmus would be more hazardous than to retire to Fort
Monroe. "You will remember that Yorktown is two or three miles
further than Fredericksburg is. Besides, the latter is between
Eichmond and Washington, and covers Washington from any
attack of the enemy.
" The pohtical effect of the withdrawal may at first be un
favorable ; but I think the public are beginning to understand
its necessity, and that they will have much more confidence in
a united army than in its separated fragments.
"But you will reply, why not reinforce me here, so that I
can strike Eichmond from my present position ? To do this,
you said, at our interview, that you required thirty thousand
additional troops. I told you that it was impossible to give
you so many. You finally thought you would have 'some
chance' of success with twenty thousand. But you afterwards
telegraphed me that you would require thirty -five thousand, as
the enemy was being largely reinforced.
" If your estimate of the enemy's strength was correct, your
requisition was perfectly reasonable; but it was utterly im
possible to fill it until new troops could be enlisted and organ
ized, which would require several weeks.
" To keep your army in its present position until it could be
so reinforced would almost destroy it in that climate.
" The months of August and September are almost fatal to
whites who live on that part of the James Eiver ; and even
after you received the reinforcement asked for, you admitted
that you must reduce Fort Darling and the river batteries
before you could advance on Eichmond.
" It is by no means certain that the reduction of these forti
fications would not require considerable time — perhaps as much
as those at Yorktown.
" This delay might not only be fatal to the health of your
army, but in the mean time General Pope's forces would be
382 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
exposed to the heavy blows of the enemy without the slightest
hope of assistance from you.
" In regard to the demoralizing effect of a withdrawal from
the Peninsula to the Eappahannock, I must remark that a
large number of your highest of&cers, indeed a majority of
those whose opinions have been reported to me, are decidedly
in favor of the movement. Even several of those who originally
advocated the line of the Peninsula now advise its abandon
ment. " I have not inquired, and do not wish to know, by whose
advice or for what reasons the army of the Potomg,c was
separated into two parts, with the enemy between them. I
'must take things as I flnd them.
" I find the forces divided, and I wish to unite them. Only
one feasible plan has been presented for doing this. If you, or
any one else, had presented a better plan, I certainly should
have adopted it. But all of your plans require reinforcements
which it is impossible to give you. It is very easy to ask for
reinforcements, but it is not so easy to give thera when you
have no disposable troops at your command.
"I have written very plainly as I understand the case, and I
hope you will give me credit for having fully considered the
matter, although I may have arrived at very different conclu
sions from your own.
" Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
" W. H. Halleck, General-in-Chief.
" Major-General G. B. McClellan, Commanding, etc.,
Berkeley, Yirginia."
And this, then, was the practical result of the Penin
sula campaign; three months of "masterly inactivity,"
in the field, added to the eight months of preparation
before Washington. And this was not because he
lacked the proper support from government; for,
although his plan of an attack on Eichmond by the
MILITAEY OPEEATIONS OF THE YEAE 1862. 383
lower Chesapeake was entirely at variance with the
better judgment of the President and others, yet
McClellan was furnished with all needed means, and
every available man, consistently with his own opinions
as to the necessary security of Washington, and with
the conditions expressly exacted by himself in under
taking the work. Nor was it owing to any unfortunate
combination of events, or to any lack of courage or
nerve on the part of his soldiers, for these were the
men who, even amid the discouragements of a retreat,
wrested the victories of Fair Oaks, Savage Station, and
Malvern Hill from a flushed and pursuing enemy ; and
who, at a later day, under another leader, captured
Eichmond, and ended the rebellion. The Army of the
Potomac, most sorely tried of all our armies, needed
then only proper handling by its commander to have
insured it the success and the glory which has since
crovmed its patriotism, its patience, its heroism.
" The military record of the campaign," says another writer,
" has a singular sameness. When occasionally his roads are
good, he cannot move without reinforcements. When his rein
forcements come, he has to wait for better roads. Thus time
passes — the month of April, before an army originally one-
eighth as large as his own ; much of May and June by the
sickly Chickahominy, his men not unfit for duty engaged in
throwing up intrenchments, to be abandoned on the first
attack. Day after day he is only waiting for something just
on the point of being gained, when his final advance and assaul
are to commence. But perfect readiness never comes ; and at
last, the enemy, concentrating all his strength, himself attacks,
and puts upon its defence, an army that was confidently led
forth for aggressive war.
" A month wasted at Yorktown, without plausible palliation ;
384 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
tardy pursuit, after the unintended battle, resulting in victory
at Williamsburg; unaccountable hesitation and slackness on
the Chickahominy ; utter neglect to use the known absence of
Jackson, or to anticipate the arrival of Beauregard after the
evacuation of Corinth ; insured an otherwise impossible dis
comfiture. Never did the result of a campaign more bitterly
disappoint public hope. The worst that Mr. Lincoln had fore
seen from the adoption of the Peninsular plan had happened,
and even a loss of the entire army was now dreaded. Every
advantage supposed by General McClellan to be attainable
by this route to Eichmond had been thrown away. The
cause had suffered a vastly greater blow than at Bull Eun,
The nation was more depressed; the Administration more
painfully embarrassed, than by any previous calamity. The
worst efl'ects upon the cause, abroad and at home, were to be
apprehended from this unfortunate issue of a grand mihtary
plan." The order for the removal of the sick had been given
to General McClellan on the 2d of August ; on the 7th
he reported that three thousand seven hundred and
forty had been sent, and five thousand seven hundred
still remained. On the 9th, General Halleck telegraphed
McClellan that the enemy was massing his forces in
front of General Pope and Burnside to crush them and
move upon Washington, and that reinforcements must
at once be sent to Aquia Creek: "Considering the
amount of transportation at your disposal, your delay
is not satisfactory. Tou must move with all celerity."
To this he replied that he would move " as soon as the
sick were disposed of."
Again, on the 10th, General Halleck informed him
that " the enemy is crossing the Eapidan in large force.
They are fighting General Pope to-day. There must be
MILITAEY OPEEATIONS OF THE YEAE 1862. 385
no further delay in your movements: that which has
already occurred was entirely unexpected, and must be
satisfactorily explained. Let not a moment's time be
lost, and telegraph me daily what progress you have
made in executing the order to transfer your troops."
On the 21st, he was told "the forces of Burnside and
Pope are hard pushed, and require aid as rapidly as
you can. By all means see that the troops s'ent have
plenty of ammunition. We have no time to supply
them; moreover, they may have to fight as soon as
they land."
On the 27th of August, General McCleUan was order
ed by General Halleck to " to take entire direction of the
sending out of the troops from Alexandria " to reinforce
Pope, whom the enemy were pressing with a powerful
army, and whose headquarters were now at Warrenton
Junction. A portion ofthe Army of the Potomac, which,
fortunately, had arrived before General McClellan, went
forward at once to Pope's aid, but, of those which arrived
after him, or which were in Alexandria at the time, not
one reached the field or took any part in the battle by
which the army was saved fi:om destruction and the
capital from capture.
For the next two days the general's time seems to
have been pretty well occupied in sending to the Sec
retary of War, telegraphic despatches, in which it is
certainly not easy to discover any very earnest desire to
reinforce his own- much-praised Army of the Potomac,
then fighting a battle in his front and within his hearing,
but under another commander; no evidence beyond
his own declaration, that from the moment of his ar
rival at Alexandria he " left nothing in his power undone
25
386 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
to forward supplies and reinforcements to General Pope."
On the contrary, they seem to show that he had decided
to do, what in a telegram of the same date he had sug
gested to the President, " leave Pope to get out of his
scrape," and devote himself exclusively to the safety of
Washington;* He seems to think any disposition of
Franklin's and Sumner's troops wise, except sending
them forward to reinforce Pope. He was anxious to
send them anywhere and everywhere except where they
were wanted most, and where alone they could assist in
getting Pope " out of his scrape," and in aiding the
Army of the Potomac. That army, finally, after having
contested every inch of ground with a gallantry and
tenacity which would have insured it glorious success,
if it had been properly supported — was defeated, and
driven back upon Washington. Unbroken in spirit and
organization, it fell back upon the capital fully pre
pared to renew the struggle for its safety.
The progress of the rebel army up the Potomac, with
the evident purpose of attacking Baltimore, or invading
* On the 29th he had telegraphed to the President as follows :
" I am clear that one of two courses should be adopted : Pirst,to con
centrate all our available forces to open communications with Pope ;
second, to leave Pope to get oui of his scrape, and at once use all our means
to make the capital perfectly safe. No middle ground will now answer.
Tell me what you wish me to do, and I will do all in my power to accom
plish it."
To this the President had thus replied :
" Washington, August 29, 1862—4.10 p. m.
"Yours of to-day just received. I think your first alternative, to wit,
'to concentrate all our available forces to open communication with Pope,'
is the right one, but I wish not to control. That I now leave to General
Halleck, aided by your counsels. " A. Lincoln
" Major-General McClellan."
MILITAEY OPEEATIONS OF THE YEAE 1862. 387
Pennsylvania, had created a general feeling of uneasiness
throughout the country, and at Washington especially.
This state of the public mind was adroitly used by the
political party of which McClellan had recently become
the recognized head, as well as by strong military cHque
in the army, to operate unfavorably against General Pope
— in consequence of which that officer was relieved, and
General McClellan again took command of the Army of
the Potomac. On the 4th he commenced to move his
army into Maryland to repel the rebel invasion ; on the
llth he again writes for more reinforcements — even if
sending them should involve the withdrawal of troops
from Harper's Ferry, or from the front of Washington.
This, however, was refused. On the 14th occurred the
battle of South Mountain, the rebels falling back to the
Potomac ; on the 17th the battle of Antietam was fought
— ^the completion of the victory of the Union arms being
sadly marred by McClellan's neglect to push a vigorous
pursuit of the shattered and demorahzed foe — although
he had at least one entirely fresh corps to use. On the
19th, when orders were issued for a renewal of the
conflict, it was suddenly discovered that the enemy were
safely on the other side of the Potomac, and the " con
dition of his army " was his excuse for not crossing in
pursuit. On the 23d, and again on the 27th, he wrote to Wash
ington for reinforcements to enable him to maintain his
position where he then was, and to attack the enemy
should he attempt to reoross into Maryland !
On the 1st of October, President Lincoln visited the
army and made careful inquiry into its strength and
condition. It is not too much to say that this visit was
388 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
made, in part, from the extreme anxiety felt by Mr.
Lincoln on account of the protracted delay in moving the
anny, and from a desire to ascertain, by personal obser
vation, how far this inaction was necessary or reasonable.
On the President's return, the following despatch was
sent by General Halleck to General McClellan :
" Washington, D. C, October 6, 1862.
"I am instructed to telegraph to you as follows : The Presi
dent directs that you cross the Potomac and give battle to the
enemy, or drive him south. Your array must move now, while
the roads are good. If you cross the river between the enemy
and Washington, and cover the latter by your operation, you
can be reinforced with thirty thousand men. If you move up
the valley of the Shenandoah not more than twelve or fifteen
thousand can be sent you. The President advises the interior
line between Washington and the enemy, but does not order
it. He is very desirous for your array to move as soon as pos
sible. You will iraraediately report what line you adopt, and
when you intend to cross the river : also to what point the re
inforcements are to be sent. It is- necessary that the plan of
your operations be positively determined on, before orders are
given for building bridges and repairing railroads. I am di
rected to add, that the Secretary of War and the General-in-
Chief fully concur with the President in these instructions.
" H. W. Halleck, General-in- Chief.
" Major-General McClellan."
General McClellan now called for very large quantities
of shoes, clothing, and other supplies, without which, he
said, the army could not move. On the llth, the rebel
General Stuart, with a force of some twenty-five hundred
men, made a raid into Pennsylvania, circling completely
round our army, and thwarting all the arrangements by
which General McClellan had reported that his capture
MILITAEY OPEEATIONS OF THE YEAE 1862. 389
was certain. On the 13th, the President, whose patience
was well-nigh exhaiusted by these protracted delays,
addressed General McClellan the following letter :
"Executive Mansion, Washington, Oct. l^th, 1562.
" My Deae Sir : — You remember my speaking to you of
what I called your over-cautiousness. Are you not over-
oautious when you assume that you cannot 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.
cannot subsist your army at Winchester unless 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 now
wagons from Culpepper Court House, which is just about twice
as far as you would have 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 Ferry to Winchester ;
but it wastes all the remainder of autumn to give it to you, and,
in fact, ignores the question of time, which cannot and must
not be ignored.
"Again, one of the standard raaxims of war, as you know,
is, 'to operate upon the enemy's communications as much as
possible without exposing your own.' You seem to act as
if this applies against you, but cannot apply in your favor.
Change positions with the enemy, and think you not he would
break your communication with Eichmond 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 nothi^ng to do but to follow and
ruin him. If he does so with less than fuU force, fall upon and
beat what is left behind all the easier.
" Exclusive of the water line, you are now nearer Eichmond
390 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
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
Potomac below, instead of above the Shenandoah and Blue
Eidge. My idea was, that this would at once menace the
enemy's communications, which I would seize if he would
permit. If he should move northward, I would follow him
closely, holding his comraunications. If he should prevent our
seizing his coramunications, and raoves toward Eichmond, I
would press closely to him, fight him if a favorable opportunity
should present, &nd at least try to beat him to Eichmond 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 hira there, on the idea that if
we cannot beat hira when he bears the wastage of coming to
us, we never can when we 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 raerely 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 intrenchments of
Eichmond. Eecurring to the idea of going to Eichraond on
the inside track, the facility of supplying from the side away
from the enemy is remarkable — as it were by the diiferent
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 Eidge more closely. The chord-line, as
you see, carries you by Aldie, Haymarket, and Fredericksburg,
and you see how turnpikes, railroads, and, finally, the Potomac
by Aquia Creek, meet you at all points from Washington.
MILITAEY OPEEATIONS OF THE YEAE IS62. 391
The same, only the hnes lengthened a little, if you press closer
to the Blue Eidge part of the way. The gaps through the
Blue Eidge I understand to be about the following distances
from Harper's Ferry, 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 knowl
edge, and compelling him to keep his forces together for dread
of you. The gaps would enable you to attack if you should
Avish. For a great part of the way you would be practically
between the enemy and both Washington and Eichmond,
enabling us to spare you the greatest number of troops from
here. When, at length, running to Eichmond ahead of him
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, A. Lincoln.
" Major-General McClellan."
For another fortnight General McClellan delayed to
move his army in obedience to the President's order,
and sent forward only complaints of inadequate sup-
phes, and incessant demands for reinforcements. On
the twenty-first, inquiring whether it was still the Presi
dent's wish that he should march upon the enemy at
once or await the arrival of fresh horses, he was told
that the order of the sixth was unchanged, and that the
President, while not expecting impossibilities, was "very
anxious that all this good weather should not be wasted
in inactivity." General McClellan then fixed upon the
first of November as the earliest date for the forward
392 THE life of abeaham LINCOLN.
movement. On the twenty-fifth he complained to the
Department of the condition of his cavalry, saying that
the horses were fatigued and greatly troubled with sore
tongue; which provoked from the President the follow
ing inquiry :
" War Department, Washington, Oct. 25th, 1862
"I have just read your despatch about sore-tongue and fa
tigued horses. Will you pardon me for asking what the horses
of your army have done since the battle of Antietam that
fatigues any thing ?
''A. Lincoln."
The general replied, that they had been engaged in
making reconnoissances, scouting, and picketing. To
which the President thus rejoined :
"Executive Mansion, Washington, Oct. 26th, 1862.
" 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 rejoioed to
learn from your despatch to General Halleck, that you began
crossing the river this morning.
"A. Lincoln."
The general replied in a long despatch, rehearsing in
detail the labors performed by his cavalry, to which he
thought the President had done injustice. This note
ehcited the following reply :
"Executive Mansion, Washington, Oct. 2Qth, 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 raore than five weeks total inaction of the army
MILITAEY OPEEATIONS OF THE YEAE 1862. 393
and during which period we had sent to that army every fresh
horse we possibly could, amounting in the whole to seven thou
sand nine hundred and eighteen, that the cavalry horses were
too fatigued to move, presented a very cheerless, almost hope
less prospect for the future, and it may have forced something
of impatience into my despatches. If 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."
The next topic of discussion which the general took
up, was the extent to which the line of the Potomac
should be guarded, after he left it, so as to cover Mary
land and Pennsylvania from further invasions ; and his
rather irrelevant' suggestions concerning the position of
the rebel army under Bragg, led General Halleck, in
reply, to remind him that Bi-agg was four hundred miles
away, while Lee was but twenty I On the twenty-seventh
he telegraphed to the President that it would be neces
sary to " fill up the old regiments of his command before
taking them again into action," to which the President
repUed :
" Executive Mansion, Washington, Oct. 21th, 1862.
" Your despatch of three 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 tho
States are incorporated in the old regiments ?'
"A. Lincoln."
The general replied to this that the language of the
despatch — which had been prepared by one of his aids
— had incorrectly expressed his meaning, and that he
did not propose to delay his advance until his regiments
394 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
were replenished by drafted men. Finally, on the 5th
of November, just a month after the order had been is
sued, the general announced to the President that the
army was all on the Virginia side of the river — the
enemy, meanwhile, having possessed himself of all the
strong points, and fallen back, at perfect leisure, towards
his base of operations. This disgraceful and inexcusa
ble delay fairly exhausted the patience of an over-
patient government, and the date of McClellan's an
nouncement of the accomplishment of his great feat,
was also the date of an order relieving him from the
command of the Army of the Potomac, and directing
General Burnside to take his place.*
The record of the Army of the Potomac, while under
the command of General McClellan, forms a most remark
able chapter in the history of the war. An army of one
hundred and sixty thousand men, brave, enthusiastic and
* In a subsequent private conversation with Mr. Albert D. Eicbardson,
the President thus alluded to General McClellan :
" I do not, as some do, regard McClellan either as a traitor or an officer
without capacity. He sometimes has bad counsellors, but he is loyal, and
he has some fine military qualities. I adhered to him after nearly all
my constitutional advisers lost faith in him. But do you want to know
when I gave him up ? It was after the battle of Antietam. The Blue
Eidge was then between our army and Lee's. We enjoyed the great ad
vantage over them, which they usually had over us : we had the short
line, and they had the long one, to the rebel capital. I directed McCleEan
peremptorily to move on Richmond, at once. It was eleven days before
he crossed his first man over the Potomac ; it was eleven days after that
before he crossed the last man. Thus, lie was twenty-two days in passing
the river at a much easier and more practicable ford than that where Lee
crossed his entire army between darJc one night and dayligM the next
morning. That was the last grain of sand which broke the camel's back.
I relieved McClellan at once. As for Hooker : I have told him forty times
that I fear he may err just as much one way as McClellan does the other
— may be as over-daring as McClellan is over-cautious."
MILITAEY OPEEATIONS OP THE YEAE 1862. 395
patriotic, thoroughly organized and provided, even to
profusion, with every thing essential to its comfort and
efficiency — during a period of fifteen months — had con
stantly faced and fought an enemy, without accomplish
ing a single important result. Always restrained by
the over-cautiousness of its commander from attacking
the enemy — Antietam excepted, where, indeed, it was
impossible to avoid an engagement — it had fought every
battle on the defensive, and even its successes were
turned into defeats by the strange neglect of that com
mander to follow up the advantages gained ; thus giving
to the enemy ample time to recuperate and prepare for
more vigorous resistance. As we have already seen,
this style of warfare was not such as commended itself
to the clear-sighted and practical, though cautious, mind
of Mr. Lincoln; who, while constantly urging more
prompt and decisive action upon the, general, always
gave to him, to the fullest extent of his power, all the
aid which was at the disposal of the government. More
than that, also, with the generosity bo peculiar to him
self, the President, while personally annoyed by these
continual delays and frequent disasters, and implicated, .
in a measure, in the odium which was cast upon' his
subordinate — ^never hesitated to protect him from the
rapidly rising tide of public discontent and censure,
even when it obliged him to "shoulder the responsi
bility." Of this a remarkable instance is afforded by
the following speech made by him, at a meeting held in
Washington, August 6th, after the retreat of the army
to the James river, but before its withdrawal from the
Peninsula. " Fellow-Citizens : — I believe there is no precedent for my
396 LIFE OP ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
appearing before you 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 examina
tion, 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 under
standing than I will or could, and therefore I propose not to
detain you a raoment longer.
" I am very little inclined on any occasion to say any thing
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 raatter in which we have heard some other persons blamed
for what I did myself. There has been a very wide-spread
attempt 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 sorae 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 comraanders in the field cannot be successful,
not only the Secretary of War, but myself, for the tirae being
the master of thera both, cannot but be failures. I know Gen
eral McClellan wishes to be successful, and I know he does not
wish it any raore than the Secretary of War for him, and both
of them together no more than I wish it. Soraetimes we have
a dispute about how many men General McClellan has had, and
those who would disparage him say that he has 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 raen 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
MILITAEY OPEEATIONS OP THE YEAE 1862. 397
War talk of those at present fit for duty. General McClellan
has 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
accusation 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 T avail
myself of my privilege of saying no more."
During this time Mr. Lincoln worked night and day
in his ofiice, and the routine of his daily life was thus
well described by one who knew :
" Mr. Lincoln is an early riser, and he thus is able to devote
two or three hours each morning to his volurainous private
correspondence, besides glancing at a city paper. At nine he
breakfasts — then walks over to the War Office, to read such war
telegrams as they give him (occasionally sorae are withheld), and
to have a chat with General Halleck on the railitary situation, in
which he takes a great interest. Eeturning to the White House,
he goes through with his morning's mail, in company with a
private secretary, who makes a minute of the reply which he is
to make — and others the President retains, that he may answer
thera himself Every letter receives attention, and all which
are entitled to a reply receive one, no matter how they aie
worded, or how inelegant the chirography may be.
" Tuesdays and Fridays are Cabinet days, but on other days
visitors at the White House are requested to wait in the ante
chamber, and send in their cards. Sometimes, before the Presi
dent has finished reading his mail, Louis will have a handful of
pasteboard, and from the cards laid before him Mr. Lincoln
398 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN. '
has visitors ushered in, giving precedence to acquaintances.
Three or four hours do they pour in, in rapid succession, nine
out of ten asking offices, and patiently does the President listen
to their application. Care and anxiety have furrowed his rather
homely features, yet occasionally he is ' reminded of an anec
dote,' and good-humored glances beam from his clear grey
eyes, while his ringing laugh shows that he is not ' used up'
yet. The simple and natural raanner in which he delivers his
thoughts raakes hira appear to those visiting him like an earnest,
affectionate friend. He makes little parade of his legal science,
and rarely indulges in speculative propositions, but states his
ideas in plain Anglo-Saxon, illuminated by many lively images
and pleasing allusions, which seem to flow as if in obedience to
a restless impulse of nature. Sorae newspaper admirer attempts
to deny that the President tells stories. Why, it is rarely that
any one is in his company for five rainutes without hearing a
good tale, appropriate to the subject talked about. Many a
metaphysical argument does he demolish by simply telling an
anecdote, which exactly overturns the verbal structure.
" About four o'clock the President declines seeing any more
company, and often .accompanies his wife in her carriage to
take a drive. He is fond of horseback exercise, and when
passing the summers horae, used generally to go in the saddle.
The President dines at six, and it is rare that some personal
friends do not grace the round dining-table where he throws off"
the cares of office, and reminds those who have been in Ken
tucky of the old school gentleman who used to dispense gener
ous hospitality there. From the dinner table the party retire
to the crirason drawing-room, where coffee is served, and where
the President passes the evening, unless some dignitary has a
special interview. Such is the almost unvarying life of Abra
ham Lincoln, whose administration will rank next in importance
to that of Washington in our national annals."
THE POLITICAL AND MILITAEY EVENTS OF 1863. 399
CHAPTEE XIII.
THE POLITICAL AND MILITAEY EVENTS OF THE YEAE 1863.
Second Session of the Thirty-seventh Congress. — The Annual Message. —
Work done by Congress.- — The President's Message on the Financial
Bill. — His policy indorsed by the popular elections in some of the New
England States. — A Letter from the Workingmen of Manchester
(England), and the President's reply. — His letter to the State Conven
tion at Springfield, IU. — Proclamation of Pardon and Amnesty. — An
nual Message of December, 1863.— 77ie Military Events of 1863. — The
situation at the opening of the year. — Successes in the West. — In the
East, General Burnside is relieved by General Hooker, who fights Lee
at Chancellorsville. — The Battle of Gettysburg, Pa. — The President's
Despatch. — His Speech at the Consecration of the National Cemetery
at Gettysburg.— Great Kejoicings. — Mr. Lincoln's Speech at Washing
ton. — His Letter to General Grant. — His Proclamation of Thanksgiving,
Prayer, and Praise. — Military successes in Tennessee. — Proclamations.
— Sketch of Events arising from Arbitrary Arrests andthe Suppression
of the 'Writ of Habeas Corpus. — Its Suspension in May, 1861. — The
Attorney-General furnishes an opinion on it. — Arrest of the Maryland
Legislature. — Executive Orders in relation to State prisoners. — Pro
clamation of September, 1862. — Factious opposition of Hon. C. L.
Vallandigham. — He is arrested, tried, and sent into Eebeldom, by order
of the President. — Great excitement following. — Mr. Lincoln's Letter
to Hon. Erastus Coming and others. — Mr. Lincoln's reply to the Com
mittee of the Democratic State Oonvention.^Proclamation of Sep
tember, 1863. — The Draft is commenced. — Eiots in New York city. —
Hie Missouri Imbroglio. — Commences in 1861. — The President at last
" takes hold of it," in 1863. — Letter to General Schofield.' — His reply to
a German Fremont Committee. — His reply to a Committee from tha
Mass Convention of September, 1863. — Instructions to General Scho
field. — Foreign Affairs. — French preposition for a mediation in Ameri
can Affairs. — It is declined by the United States. — The Preeident's
reply. — The Correspondence between Hon. Fernando Wood and Mr.
Lincoln on the subject of a Conference with Eebel authorities.
400 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
The Thirty-seventh Congress convened, for its second
and last session, on the first of December, 1862, and on
the same day both Houses received from the President
the customary annual message. In view of the marked
events of the preceding session, and of the momentous
circumstances which surrounded the nation, this docu
ment was eagerly looked for, and its reception was, in
a proportionate degree, favorable. The material portions
of this paper are as follows :
ANNUAL MESSAGE, 1862.
" Fellow- CITIZENS of the Senate and House of Eepre
sentatives : — Since your last annual assembling, another year
of health and bountiful harvests has passed. And, while it
has not pleased the Alraighty 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 tirae, and wise way, all will
yet be well.
" If the condition of our relations with other nations is less
gratifying than it has usually been at former periods, it is cer
tainly raore 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 that the mari
time powers which, at the beginning of our domestic difficul
ties, so unwisely and unnecessarily, as we think, recognized the
insurgents as a belligerent,, would soon recede from that posi
tion, which bas proved only less injurious to themselves than
to our own country. But the temporary reverses which afl;er-
ward 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 radically changed, for the
moraent, the occupations and habits of the American people,
THE POLITICAL AND MILITAEY EVENTS OF 1863. 401
has necessarily disturbed the social condition, and affected- very
deeply the prosperity of the nations with which we have car
ried on a commerce that has been steadily increasing through
out 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 agitation we have forborne from taking part in any
controversy between foreign States, and between parties or
factions in such States. We have attempted no propagandism,
and acknowledged no revolution. But we have left to every
nation the exclusive conduct and management of its own affairs.
Our struggle has been, of course, contemplated by foreign
nations with reference less to its own merits, than to its sup
posed, and often exaggerated, effects and consequences resulting
to those nations themselves. ISTevertheless, 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 operation, with a good prospect
of complete success. It is an occasion of special pleasure to
acknowledge that the execution of it, on the part of 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
" Applications have been made to me by many free Ameri
cans of African descent to favor their emigration, with a view
to such colonization as was contemplated in recent acts of Con
gress. Other parties, at home and abroad — some from inter
ested motives, others upon patriotic considerations, and still
others influenced by philanthropic sentiments — have suggested
similar measures ; while, on the other hand, several of the
Spanish- American republics have protested against the sending
of such colonies to their respective territories. Under these
circumstances, I have declined to move any suoh.colony to any
State, without first obtaining the consent of its government,
26
402 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
with an agreement on its part to receive and protect such emi
grants in all the rights of freemen ; and I have, at the same
time, offered to the several States situated within the tropics,
or having colonies there, to negotiate with them, subject to the '
advice and consent of the Senate, to favor the voluntary emigra
tion of persons of that class to their respective territories, upon
conditions which shall be equal, just and humane. Liberia and
Hayti are, as yet, the only countries to which colonists of Afri
can descent frora here, could go with certainty of being received
and adopted as citizens ; and I regret to say such persons, con
templating colonization, do not seem so willing to migrate to
those countries, as to some others, nor so willing as I think
their interest demands. I believe, however, opinion among
them in this respect is improving ; and that, ere long, there will
be an augmented and considerable raigration to both these
countries, frora the United States
"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
Eussian Empire.
" The Territories of the United States, with uniraportant
exceptions, have remained undisturbed by the civil war ; and
they are exhibiting such evidence of prosperity as justifies an
expectation that some of them will soon be in a condition to
be organized as States, and be constitutionally admitted into the
Federal Union.
" The imraense raineral resources of some of those Territories
ought to be developed as rapidly as possible. Every step in
that direction would have a tendency to improve the revenues
of the government, and diminish the burdens of the people.
It is worthy of your serious consideration whether some extra
ordinary 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 Terri-
THB POLITICAL AND MILITAEY EVENTS OF 1863. 403
tories, with a view to the publication of its results at home and
in foreign 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 suppression of the rebel
lion, have hitherto been met with a promptitude and certainty
unusual in similar circumstances; and the public credit has
been fully maintained. The continuance of the war, however,
and the increased disbursements made necessary by the aug
mented forces now in the field, demand your best reflections as
to the best mode of providing the necessary revenue, without
injury to business, and with the least possible burdens upon
labor. " The suspension of specie payments by the banks, soon after
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
demands, be so economically, or so well provided for. The
judicious legislation of Congress, securing the receivability of
these notes for loans and internal duties, and raaking them a
legal tender for other debts, has made them an universal cur
rency ; and has satisfied, partially, at least, and for the time,
the long felt want of an uniform circulating medium, saving
thereby to the people imraense sums in discounts and ex
changes. "A return to specie payments, however, at the earliest period
compatible 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
legislation. Convertibility, prompt and certain convertibility
into coin, is generally acknowledged to be the best ahd the
surest safeguard against them ; and it is extremely doubtful
whether a circulation of United States notes, payable in coin,
4{)4 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LLSTCOLN.
and sufficiently large for the wants of the people, can be per
manently, usefully and safely maintained.
"Is there, then, any other mode in which the necessary pro
vision for the public wants can be made, and the great advan
tages 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 bank
ing 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 the United States
bonds deposited 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
protect labor against the evils of a vicious currency, and facili
tate commerce by cheap and safe exchanges.
"A moderate reservation from the interest on the bonds
would corapensate the United States for the preparation and
distribution of the notes and a general supervision of the
system, and would lighten the burdens of that part of the
public debt employed as securities. The public credit, more
over, would be greatly iraproved, and the negotiation of new
loans greatly facilitated by the steady market deraand for gov
ernment bonds which the adoption of the proposed system
would create.
" It is an additional recomraendation of the measure, of con
siderable weight, in my judgraent, that it would reconcile, as
far as possible, all existing interests, by the opportunity offered
to existing institutions to reorganize under the act, substitu
ting only the secured uniforra national circulation for the local
and various circulation, secured and unsecured, now issued by
them. "On the 22d day of September last a proclamation was
issued by the Executive, a copy of which is herewith sub
mitted. " In accordance with the purpose expressed in the second
THE POLITICAL A,ND MILITAEY EVENTS OF 1863. 405
paragraph of that paper, I now respectfully recall your atten
tion to what may be called ' compensated emancipation.'
"A nation may be said to consist of its territory, its people
and its laws. The territory is the only part which is of certain
durability. ' One generation passeth away and another gene
ration 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
be the home of one national family ; and it is not well adapted
for two, or more. Its vast extent, and its variety of cliraate
and productions, are of advantage, in this age, for one people,
whatever they might have been in former ages. Steara, tele
graphs and intelligence have brought these to be an advanta
geous combination for one united people.
" In the inaugural address I briefly pointed out the total in
adequacy of disunion, as a remedy for the differences between
the people of the two sections. I did so in language which I
cannot improve, and which, 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 dis
pute. The fugitive slave clause of the Constitution, and the
law for the suppression of the foreign slave trade, are each as
well enforced, perhaps, as any law can ever be in a community
where the moral sense of the people imperfectly supports the
law itself The great body of the people abide by the dry legal
obligation in both cases, and a few break over in each. This,
I think, cannot be perfectly cured ; and it would be worse in
both cases after the separation of the sections, than before.
The foreign slave-trade, now imperfectly suppressed, would be
ultimately revived without restriction in one section; while
fugitive slaves, now only partially surrendered, would not be
surrendered at all by the other.
" ' Physically speaking, we cannot separate. We cannot re-
406 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
move our respective sections from each other, nor build an
impassable wall between them. A husband and wife may be
divorced, and go out of the presence, and beyond the reach of,
each other; but the different parts of our country cannot
do this. They cannot but remain face to face ; and intercourse,
either araicable or hostile, must continue between them. Is it
possible, then, to make that intercourse more advantageous or
more satisfactory, after separation than before'? Can aliens
make treaties easier than friends can raake laws ? Can treaties
be more faithfully enforced between aliens than laws can
among friends? Suppose you go to war, you cannot fight
always ; and when, after rauch loss on both sides, and no gain
on either, you cease fightijig, the identical old questions, as to
terms of intercourse, are again upon you.
" There is no line, straight or crooked, suitable for a national
boundary, upon which to divide. Trace through, frora east to
west, upon the line between the free and slave country, and we
shall flnd 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 surveyor's lines, over which people raay walk back
and forth without any consciousness of their presence. ISTo
part of this line can be raade any raore difficult 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 section, 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 Alleghanies, north by the British Domin
ions, west by the Eocky Mountains, and south by the line along
which the culture of corn and cotton meets, and which includes
part of Virginia, part of Tennessee, all of Kentucky, Ohio,
Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Iowa,
THE POLITICAL AND MILITAEY EVENTS OF 1863. 407
Mianesota, and the Territories of Dakotah, 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 Ststes — certainly more than
one million of square miles. Once half as populous as Massa
chusetts already is, it would have more than seventy-five mil
lions of people. A glance at the map shows that, territorially
speaking, it is the great body of the Eepublic. The other
parts are but marginal borders to it ; the magnificent region
sloping west from the Eocky Mountains to the Pacific, being
the deepest, and also the richest, in undevel6ped resources. In
the production of provisions, grains, grasses, and all which pro
ceed from them, this great interior region is naturally one of
the most important in the world. Ascertain from the statistics
the small proportion of the region which has, as yet, been
brought into cultivation, and also the large and rapidly increas
ing amount of its products, and we shall be overwhelmed with
the magnitude of the prospect presented. And yet this region
has no sea-coast, touches no ocean any where. As part of one
nation, its people now find, and may forever find, their way to
Europe by New York, to South America and Africa by New
Orleans, and to Asia by San Francisco. But separate our
common country into two nations, as designed by the present
rebellion, and every man of this great interior region is thereby
cut off from sorae one or raore 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 terras dictated by a government foreign
to them. These outlets, east, west, and south, are indispensable
408 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
to the well-being of the people inhabiting, and to inhabit, this
vast interior region. Which of the three may be the best, is
no proper question. All are better than either ; and all, of
right, belong to that people and to their successors forever.
True to themselves, they will not ask where a line of separation
shall be, but wiU vow, rather, that there shall be no such line.
Nor are the raarginal regions less interested in these commu
nications to, and through them to the great outside world.
They too, and each of them, must have access to this Egypt
of the West without paying toll at the crossing of any na
tional boundary.
" Our national 'strife springs not from our permanent part ;
not from the land we inhabit ; not frora our national home
stead. There is no possible severing of this but would mul
tiply, and not mitigate evils among us. In all its adaptations
and aptitudes, it demands union, and abhors separation. In
fact it would, ere long, force reunion, however much of blood
and treasure the separation might have cost.
" Our strife pertains to ourselves — to the passing generations
of men ; and it can, without convulsion, be hushed forever with
the passing of one generation.
" In this view, I recommend the adoption of the following
resolution, and articles amendatory to the Constitution of the
United States :
" 'Resolved by ihe Senate and Souse of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled, (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, aU 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, be
fore the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one
THE POLITICAL AND MILITAEY EVENTS OF 1863. 409
thous.and 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 araount equal to the
aggregate sum of for each slave
shown to have been therein by the eighth census of the United
States, said bonds to be delivered to such State by instalments,
or in one parcel, at the corapletion of the abolishment, accord
ingly as the same shall have been gradual, or at one time,
Avithin such State ; and interest shall begin to run upon any
such bond, only from the proper time of its delivery as afore
said. Any State, having received bonds as aforesaid, and after
ward reintroducing or tolerating slavery therein, shall refund
to the United States the bonds so received, or the value thereof,
and all interest paid thereon.
" 'Article — . All slaves who shall have enjoyed actual
freedom by the chances of the war, at any time before the end
of the rebellion, shall be forever free ; but all owners of such,
who shall not have been disloyal, shall be compensated for
them, at the same rate as is provided for States adopting abol
ishraent of slavery, but in such way, that no slave shall be
twice accounted for.
" 'Article — . Congress may appropriate money, and other
wise provide for colonizing free colored persons, with their own
consent, at any place or places without the United States.'
" I beg indulgence to discuss these proposed articles at sorae
length. Without slavery, the rebellion could never have ex
isted ; 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 among us. Sorae would perpetuate slavery ; some would
abolish it suddenly, and without corapensation ; some would
abobsh it gradually, and with compensation ; some would
remove the freed people from us, and some would retain them
410 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
with US ; and there are yet other minor diversities. Because
of these diversities, we waste much strength in struggles
among ourselves. By mutual concession we should harmonize
and act together. This would be compromise ; but it would
be compromise among the friends, and not with the enemies of
the Union. These articles are intended to embody a plan of
such mutual concessions. If the plan shall be adopted, it is
assumed that eraancipation will follow, at least in several of
the States.
" As to the first article, the main points are : first, the
emancipation ; secondly, the length of time for consumraating
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, frora 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. An
other class will hail the prospect of eraancipation, but will
deprecate the length of tirae. They will feel that it gives
too bttle 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 very great; and it gives the inspiring
assurance that their posterity shall be free forever. The plan
leaves to each State, choosing to act under it, to abolish slavery
now, or at the end of the century, or at any intermediate time,
or by degrees, extending over the whole or any part of the
period ; and it obliges no two States to pro6eed alike. It also
provides for corapensation, and generally, the mode of making
it. This, it would seem, must further mitigate the dissatisfac
tion of those who favor perpetual slavery, and especially of
those who are to receive the compensation. Doubtless, some
of those who are to pay, and not to receive, will object. Yet
THE POLITICAL AND MILITAEY EVENTS OF 1863. 411
the measure is both just and economical. In a certain sense,
the bberation 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 continuance. If,
then, for a common object, this property is to be sacrificed, is
it not just that it be done at a common charge ?
"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 raoney, and,
in that view, 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 la\-ge sum, than it is to pay a
larger one. And it is easier to pay any sum when we are able,
than it is to pay it before we are able. The war requires large
sums, and requires them at once. The aggregate sum neces
sary for compensated emancipation, of course, would be large.
But it would require no ready cash; nor the bonds even, any
faster than the emancipation progresses. This might not, and
probably would not, close before the end of the thirty-seven
years. At that time we shall probably have a hundred
millions of people to share the burden, instead of thirty-one
millions, as now. And not only so, but the increase of our
population may be expected to continue for a long time after
412 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
that period, as rapidly as before; because our territory will
not have becorae 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 one hundred
and three millions, two hundred and eight thousand,' four
hundred and fifteen. 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 terri
tory 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 born away. But such is not our condition. We
have two millions nine hundred and sixty-three thousand
square miles. Europe has three milbons 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
m'ore waste surface, by mountains, rivers, lakes, deserts, or
other causes ? Is it inferior to Europe in any natural advan
tage? If, then, we are, at some time, to be as populous as
Europe, how soon ? As to when this may be, we can judge by
the past and the present ; as to when it will be, if ever, depends
much on whether we raAintain the Union. Several of our
States are already above the average of Europe — seventy -three
and a third to the square mile. Massachusetts has one hun
dred and fifty-seven; Ehode Island, one hundred and thirty-
three ; Connecticut, ninety-nine ; New York and New Jersey,
each, eighty. Also two other great States, Pennsylvania and
Ohio, are not far below, the former having sixty-three, and the
latter fifty-nine. The States already above the European
average, except New York, have increased in as rapid a ratio,
since passing that point, as ever before ; while no one of them
is equal to some other parts of our country, in natural capacity
for sustaining a dense population.
35.02
per
cent, ratio of
increase
36.45
33.13
33.49
32.67
35.87
35.58
THE POLITICAL AND MILITAEY EVENTS OF 1863. 413
" Taking the nation in the aggregate, and we find its popula
tion and ratio of increase, for the several decennial periods, to
be as follows :
1790 3,929,827
1800 5,305,937
1810 7,239,814
1820 9,638,131
1830 12,866,020
1840 17,069,453
1850 23,191,876
1860 31,443,790
" This shows an average decennial increase of 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
no one of these seven periods, is either two per cent, below, or
two per cent, above, the average, thus showing how inflexible,
and, consequently, how reliable, the law of increase, in our
case is. Assuming that it will continue, gives the following
results :
1870 42,323,341
1880 56,967,216
1890 76,677,872
1900 103,208,415
1910 138.918,526
1920 186,984,335
1930 ' 251,680,914
" These figures show that our country may be as populous
as Europe now is, at some point between 1920 and 1930 — say
about 1925 — our territory, at seventy-three and a third
persons to the square mile, having the capacity to contain
217,186,000. "And we will reach this, too, if we do not ourselves relin-
guish the chance, by the folly and evils of disunion, or by long
and exhausting war, springing fi-om the only great element of
414 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
national discord among us. While it can not be foreseen
exactly how much one huge exaraple of secession, breeding
lesser ones indefinitely, would retard population, civilization,
and prosperity, no one can doubt that the extent of it would
be very great and injurious.
"The proposed eraancipation would shorten the war, per
petuate peace, insure this increase of population, and propor
tionately 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 any thing on either
principal 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 upon 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 importance of time in this
connection — the great advantage of a policy by which we shall
not have to pay until we number a hundred millions, what, by
a different policy, we 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
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.
Sorae of them, doubtless, in the property sense, belong to lojal
owners ; and hence, provision is made in this article for com
pensating such.
"The third article relates to the future of the freed people.
THE POLITICAL AND MILITAEY EVENTS OF 1863. 415
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 to be deported, and the American voters, through their
representatives in Congress.
"I cannot raake it better known than it already is, that I
strongly favor colonization. And yet I wish to say there is an
objection urged against free colored persons remaining in the
country, which is largely imaginable, 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 withoiit deportation, would probably en
hance 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 conse
quently, enhancing the wages of it. With deportation, even to
a limited extent, enhanced wages to white labor is mathemati
cally certain. Labor is like any other commodity in the
market — increase the demand for it, and you increase the
price of it. Eeduce 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.
416 THE LIFE OP ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
" 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 dis
tributed among the whites of the whole country, and there
would be but one colored to seven whites. Could the one, in
any way, greatly disturb the seven? There are many com
munities now, having more than one free colored person to
seven whites ; and this without any apparent consciousness of
evil from it. The District of Columbia, and the States of
Maryland and Delaware, are all in this condition. The District
has more than one free colored to six whites ; and yet, in its
frequent petitions to Congress, I believe it has never presented
the presence of free colored persons as one of its grievances.
But why should emancipation South send the freed people
North? People, of any color, seldom run, unless there be
something to run from. Seretofore, colored people, to some'
extent, have fled North from bondage ; and now, perhaps, from
both 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 interest involved. And, in any event, cannot 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
fi:ee by the act of Congress abolishing slavery here.
" The plan consisting of these articles is recommended, not
THE POLITICAL AND MILITAEY EVENTS OF 1863. 417
but that a restoration of the national authority would be ac
cepted without its adoption.
" Nor will the war, nor proceedings under the proclamation
of September 22, 1862, be stayed because of the recommendation
of this plan. Its timely adoption, I doubt not, would bring
restoration, and thereby stay both.
"And, notwithstanding this plan, the recommendation that
Congress provide by law for compensating any State which
may adopt emancipation, before this plan shall have been acted
upon, is hereby earnestly renewed. Such would be only an
advance part of the plan, and the same arguments apply to
both. " This plan is recommended as a means, not in exclusion of
but in addition to, all others for restoring and preserving the
national authority throughout the Union. The subject is pre
sented exclusively in its economical aspect. The plan would,
I am confident, secure peace more speedily, and maintain 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 rely solely upon force. It is
much — very much — that it would cost no blood at all.
" The plan is proposed as permanent constitutional law. It
cannot 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
Magistrate of the nation. Nor do I forget that some of you
are my seniors ; nor that many of you have more experience
27
418 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
than I, in the conduct of public affairs. Yet I trust that, in
view of the great responsibility resting upon me, you will per
ceive no want of respect to yourselves, in any undue earnest
ness 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
indefinitely? Is it doubted that we here — Congress and Execu
tive — can secure its adoption? Will not the good people
respond to a united and earnest appeal frora 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?' 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
Congress and this administration, v/ill be remembered in spite
of ourselves. No personal significance, or insignificance, can
spare one or another of us. The fiery trial through which we
pass, will light us down, in honor or dishonor, to the latest
generation. We say 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 /ree— 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 fail. The way is plain, peaceful,
generous, just — a way which, if followed, the world will forever
applaud, and God must forever bless.
" December 1, 1862. Abraham LINCOLN."
THE POLITICAL AND MILITAEY EVENTS OF 1863. 419
At the very outset of the session, the opposition
leaders, elated with their recent successes in the elec
tions, brought forward resolutions strongly censuring the
Administration for its arrest of persons, in the loyal
States, suspected of giving aid and comfort to the rebel
lion. Prolonged discussion on the subject, resulted at
length in the passage of a bill fully indorsing the action
of the Executive in the suspension of the habeas corpus
act, and indemnifjdng the President, as well as all
governmental ofiicials concerned in such arrests as had
been made; and further, authorizing the President,
during the existence of the war, to declare the suspen
sion of the writ of habeas corpus, " at such times, and
in such places, and with regard to such persons, as in
his judgment the pubhc safety may require."
The relations in which the rebel States were placed
by their secession, towards the general government,
came up before the House, and was warmly debated,
but no vote was taken which directly imphcated the
opinion of the House on the theoretical question ia-
volved. A bill directing the President to raise, arm,
and equip as many volunteers of African descent as he
might deem useful, for such term of service as he might
think proper, not exceeding five years — to be officered
by white or black persons, in the President's discretion —
slaves to be accepted as well as freemen, was, after con
siderable discussion, passed. It was, however, on reach
ing the Senate, referred to the Committee on Military
Aflairs, which, on the 12th of February, reported
agaiust its passage, on the ground that the authority
which it was intended to confer upon the President was
already sufficiently granted in the act of the previous
420 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
session, approved July 17, 1862, which authorized the
President to employ, in any military or naval service
for which they might be found competent, persons of
African descent.
A bill, commonly known as the " Conscription Act,"
was passed, providing for the creation of a nationa;l
force by enrolling and drafting the militia of the whole
country, — each State being required to contribute its
quota in the ratio of its population, and the whole force,
when raised, to be under the control of the President.
Some measure of the kind was rendered absolutely
necessary by the revival of party spirit throughout the
loyal States, and by the active and effective efforts of
the Democratic party, emboldened by the results of the
fall elections of 1862, to discourage and prevent volun
teering. So successful had they been in this work, that
the government seemed likely to fail in its efforts to
raise men for another campaign; and it was to avert
this disaster that the bill in question was brought
forward for the action of Congress.
A financial bill was also passed by both houses,
authorizing the Secretary of the Treasury to borrow
and issue bonds for nine hundred million dollars, at not
more than six per cent, interest, and payable at not less
than ten, nor more than forty years. He was also
authorized to issue treasury interest-bearing notes to the
amount of four hundred milhon dollars, and notes not
bearing intei-est to the amount of one hundred and fifty
thousand dollars. During the pendency of this bill, a
joint' resolution passed both houses, authorizing the
issue of one hundred million dollars in treasury notes to
meet the immediate wants of the soldiers and sailors in
THE POLITICAL AND MILITAEY EVENTS OF 1863. 421
service. The President's approval of this bill was
accompanied by a special message, in which he remarks :
" While giving this approval, however, I think it my duty
to express my sincere regret that it has been found necessary
to authorize so large an additional issue of United States notes,
when this circulation, and that of the suspended banks together,
have become already so redtindant as to increase prices beyond
real values, thereby augmenting the cost of living to the injury
of labor, and the cost of supplies, to the injury of the whole
country. It seems very plain that continued issues of United
States notes, without any check to the issues of suspended
banks, and without adequate provision for the raising of money
by loans, and for funding the issues, so as to keep them within
due limits, must soon produce disastrous consequences ; and
this matter appears to me so important that I feel bound to
avail myself of this occasion to ask the special attention of
Congress to it.
" That Congress has power to regulate the currency of the
country can hardly admit of doubt, and that a judicious measure
to prevent the deterioration of this currency, by a reasonable
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 pubhc credit. To that end, a uniform currency, in
which taxes, subscriptions, loans, and all other ordinary public
dues may be paid, is almost if not quite indispensable. Such a
currency can be furnished by banking associations authorized
under a general act of Congress, as suggested in my message at
the beginning of the present session. The securing of this
circulation by the pledge of the United States bonds, as herein
422 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
suggested, would still further facilitate loans, by increasing the
present and causing a future demand for such bonds.
"In view of the- actual financial embarrassment of the
government, and of the greater embarrassment sure to corae if
the necessary raeans of relief be not afforded, I feel that I
should not perforra my duty by a simple announceraent of my
approval of the joint resolution, which proposes relief only by
increasing the circulation, without expressing my earnest
desire that measures, such in substance as that I have just
referred to, may receive the early sanction of Congress. By
such measures, in my opinion, will payment be most certainly
secured, not only to the army and navy, but to all honest
creditors of the government, and satisfactory provision made for
future demands on the Treasury."
The second bill, providing a national currency, secured
by a pledge of United States stocks, and providing fi)r
the circulation and redemption thereof, was passed,
under the twofold conviction that so long as the war
continued, the country must have a large supply of
paper money, and that it was also particularly desirable
that this money should be national in its character, and
its security based on the faith of the government.
Among the principal transactions of this session,
. aside from the necessary appropriations, were — the ad
mission of the new State of West Virginia, by an act
approved December Slst, 1862; the organization of the
new Territories of Arizona and of Idaho ; the passage
of a stringent act to prevent and punish frauds upon the
government ; an authorization of letters of marque and
reprisal ; and the passage of an act providing for the
collection of abandoned property in insurrectionary dis
tricts. Its spirit manifested the same thorough aud
fixed determination to carry on the war, by the use of
THE POLITICAL AND MILITAEY EVENTS OF 1863. 423
the most vigorous and effective measures for the sup
pression of the rebellion, and the President received
from it the same full and prompt support which he had
from the preceding Congress.
While certain members of the opposition had assumed
a greater boldness of hostihty to the administration,
some of them defiantly avowing their desire that further
resistance to armed rebellion should cease ; and while
some of the administration party, even, impatient of
the delays which seemed to mark the progress of the
war, insisted upon bolder measures — especially towards
the institution of slavery — the majority of the members
of Congress, as well as the great body of the people,
manifested an unabated confidence in the patriotism
and sagacity evinced by the President in his conduct
of public affairs.
This was still more clearly demonstrated during the
elections which followed, shortly after the adjournment
of Congress, in the States of New Hampshire, Con
necticut and Ehode Island — in which; although the
opposition spared no pains to procure a popular verdict
against the administration, the result was an emphatic
indorsement of President Lincoln and his policy. It
was evident that a healthy reaction was taking place
in the public mind, and that the critical point of the
political position was successfully passed.
The relations of the government with European na
tions during the year 1862, were on the whole satisfac
tory. In official intercourse with these foreign powers,
the President and his Secretary of State uniformly held
firm and decided language in regard to the rebelhon,
and the relations of the rebelhous States to the National
424 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN,
Government ; while our minister in London persistently
and ably labored to arouse the British government to
its duty in the prevention of the building and fitting-
out of vessels of war in English ports to be used by the
rebels in destroying the commerce of the United States.
That government, however, blinded to justice by the
strength of its prejudices, proved deaf to all the re
monstrances thus urged by a friendly power.
The prominent issue before the, people, in the elec
tions this year, was the policy of the administration ia
regard to emancipation. This measure, which had
already proved both at home and abroad an element of
great and increasing strength in the suppression of the
rebellion, also commended itself to the world as being
in accordance with the clearest interests of civilization
and humanity. A gratifying evidence of this was fur
nished by the testimonial sent to Mr. Lincoln, in the
early part of the year, from the workingmen of Man
chester, in England; and from which we make the
following extracts :
"As citizens of Manchester, assembled at the F.ree-Trade
Hall, we beg to express our fraternal sentiments toward you
and your country. We rejoice in your greatness as an out
growth of England, whose blood and language you share,
whose orderly aud legal freedom you have applied to new cir
curastances, over a region immeasurably greater than our own.
We honor your free States, as a singularly happy abode for
the working millions where industry is honored. One thing
alone has, in the past, lessened our sympathy with your coun
try, and our confidence in it — we mean the ascendency of poli
ticians who not merely maintained negro slavery, but desired
to extend and root it more firmly. We joyfully honor you, as
THE POLITICAL AND MILITAEY EVENTS OF 1863. 425
the President, and the Congress with you, for many decisive
steps toward practically exemplifying your belief in the words
of your great founders : 'All men are created free and equal.'
You have procured the liberation of the slaves in the district
around Washington, and thereby made the centre of your fed
eration visibly free. You have enfiarced the laws against the
slave-trade, and kept up your fleet against it, even while every
ship was wanted for service in your terrible war. You have
nobly decided to receive embassadors from the negro republics
of Hayti and Liberia, thus forever renouncing that unworthy
prejudice which refuses the rights of humanity to men and
women on account of their color. In order raore effectually to
stop the slave-trade, you have made with our Queen a treaty,
which your Senate has ratified, for the right of mutual search.
Your Congress has decreed freedom as the law forever in the
vast unoccupied or half-unsettled Territories which are directly
subject to its legislative power. It has off'ered pecuniary aid
to all States which will enact eraancipation locally, and has
forbidden your Generals to restore fugitive slaves who seek
their protection. You have entreated the slave-masters to
accept these raoderate offers ; and after long and patient wait
ing, you, as commander-in-chief of the army, have appointed
to-morrow, the first of January, 1863, as the day of uncon
ditional freedom for the slaves of the rebel States. We implore
you, for your own honor and welfare, not to faint in your provi
dential mission. While your enthusiasm is aflame, and the
tide of events runs high, let the work be finished effectually.
Leave no root of bitterness to spring up and work fresh misery
to your children. It is a mighty task, indeed, to reorganize
the industry not only of four millions of the colored race, but
of five millions of whites. Nevertheless, the vast progress you
have made in the short space of twenty months, fill us with
hope that every stain on your freedom will shortly be removed,
and that the erasure of that foul blot upon civilization and
Christianity — chattel slavery — during your Presidency, will
426 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
cause the name of Abraham Lincoln to be honored and re
vered by posterity."
To this address Mr. Lincoln sent the following reply:
" Executive Mansion, "I
5-1
Washington, January 19, 1863.
"To the Workingmen of Manchester : — I have the honor
to acknowledge 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 integ
rity of the Federal Eepublic. A conscientious purpose to
perform this duty is the key to all the measures of administra
tion which have been, and to all which will hereafter be pur
sued. Under our frame of governraent and my official oath, I
could not depart frora this purpose if I would. It is not always
in the power of governraents to enlarge or restrict the scope
of moral results which follow the policies that they may deem
it necessary, for the public safety, frora 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, been aware that the favor or disfavor of foreign nations
might have a material influence in enlarging and prolonging
the struggle with disloyal men in which the country is engaged.
A fair exaraination of history has seemed to authorize a belief
that the past action and influences of the United States were
generally regarded as having been beneficial toward mankind.
I have, therefore, reckoned upon the forbearance of nations.
Circumstances — to some of which you kindly allude — induced
me especially to expect that, if justice and good faith should be
practiced by the United States, they would encounter no hostile
the political and militaey events of 1863. 427
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 peace and araity 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 sufferings which the Avork-
ingmen 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 of 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. Through
the action of our disloyal citizens, the workingmen of Europe
have been subjected to severe trial, for the purpose of forcing
their sanction to that atterapt. Under these circumstances, I
can not but regard your decisive utterances upon the question
as an instance of sublime Christian heroisra, which has not been
surpassed in any age or in any country. It is indeed an ener
getic and reinspiring assurance of the inherent power of truth,
and of the ultimate and universal triuraph of justice, human
ity and freedom. 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 adrairation, esteem, and the most reciprocal feelings of
friendship among the American people. I hail this inter
change of sentiraent, therefore, as an augury that, whatever
else may happen, whatever misfortune may befall your country
or my own, the peace and friendship which now exists between
the two nations will be, as it shall be my desire to make them,
perpetual.
"Abraham Lincoln."
Later in the season Mr. Lincoln was invited to revisit
his home in Springfield, on the occasion of a mass meet-
428 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
ing of the Unconditional Unionists of Ilhnois, to be
held at that place.
Finding it impossible to accept the invitation, he
wrote in reply the following letter, in which several of
the most conspicuous features of his policy are clearly
and tu-nily defended against the censures by which they
had been assailed :
"Executive Mansion, Washington, August 2Qih, 1863.
" Hon. James C. Conkling :
" My Dear Sir : — ^Your letter, inviting me to attend a mass
meeting of iinconditional Union men, to be held at the capital
of Illinois, on the third day of September, has been received.
It would be very agreeable for me thus to meet my old friends
at my own horae ; but I cannot just now be absent from here so
long as a visit there would require.
"The meeting is to be of all those who maintain uncon
ditional devotion to the Union ; and I am sure that my old
political friends will thank me for tendering, as I do, the
nation's gratitude to those other noble men whom no partisan
malice or partisan hope can make false to the nation's life.
" There are those who are dissatisfied with me. To such I
would say, you desire peace, and you blame rae 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 up the Union. I am against this. Are you for it ? If
you are, you should say so plainly. If you are not for force,
nor yet for dissolution, there only remains some imaginable
compromise. " I do not believe that any compromise embracing the main
tenance 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,
THE POLITICAL AND MILITAEY EVENTS OF 1863. 429
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 com
promise, if one were made with them.
"To illustrate: Suppose refugees from the South and peace
men of the North get together in ebn vention, and frame and
proclaim a compromise embracing 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 controllers
of Lee's army are not agreed can at all affect that army.
In an effort at such compromise we would waste time, which
the enemy would improve to our disadvantage ; and that would
be all.
"A compromise, to be effective, must be made either with
those who control the rebel army, or with the people, first
liberated from the domination of that army by the success of
our own army. Now, allow me to assure you that no word or
intimation from that rebel army, or from any ofthe men con
trolling it, in relation to any peace coraproraise, has ever corae
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 corae, it shall
not be rejected and kept a secret from you. I freely acknowl
edge myself to be the servant of the people, according to the
bond of service, the United States Constitution; and that, as
such, I am responsible to them.
" But, to be plain. 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
men could be free, while you, I suppose, do not. Yet, I have
neither adopted nor proposed any measure which is not con
sistent with even your view, provided that you are for tho
430 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
Union. I suggested compensated emancipation ; to which you
replied you wished not to be taxed to buy negroes. But I had
not asked you to be taxed to buy negroes, except in such a
a way as to save you from greater taxation to save the Union
exclusively by other means.
"You dislike the Emancipation Proclamation, and perhaps
would have it retracted; You say it is unconstitutional. I
think differently. I think the Constitution invests its Com
mander-in-chief with the law of war in time of war. The most
that can be said, if so much, is, that slaves are property. Is
there, has there ever been, any question that by the law of
war, property, both of eneraies 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 ex
ceptions are the massacre of vanquished foes and non-com
batants, male and female.
" But the proclamation, as law, either is valid or is not valid.
If it is not valid it needs no retraction. If it is valid it cannot
be retracted, any more than the dead can be brought to life.
Some of you profess to think its retraction would operate
favorably for the Union. Why better after the retraction than
before the issue ? There was more than a year and a half of
trial to suppress the rebellion before the proclamation was
issued, tho 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 favorably for us since the issue of the proclama
tion as before.
" I know as fully as one can know the opinions of others that
sorae of the comraanders of our armies in the field, who have
given us our most important victories, believe the emancipa-
THE POLITICAL AND MILITAEY EVENTS OF 1863. 431
tion policy and the use of colored troops constitute the heaviest
blows yet dealt to the rebellion, and that at least one of those
important successes could not have been achieved when it was,
but for the aid of black soldiers.
"Among the commanders who hold these views are some who
have never had any affinity with what is called 'Abolitionism,'
or with 'Eepublican party politics,' but who hold them purely
as military opinions. I subrait their opinions as entitled to
sorae weight against the objections often urged that eraancipa
tion and arraing 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 cf
them seem willing to fight for you ; but no matter. Fight you
then, exclusively, to save the Union. I issued the proclama
tion on purpose 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 weak
ened the eneray in his resistance to you. Do you think differ
ently ? I thought that whatever negroes can be got to do as
soldiers, leaves just so raiich less for white . soldiers to do in
saving the Union. Does it appear otherwise to you? But
negroes, like other people, act upon raotives. Why should
they, do anything for us if we will do nothing for thera ? 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
unvexed to the sea. Thanks to the great Northwest for it ; noi
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
432 ' THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
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 rivar may well be
proud, even that is not all. It is hard to say that any thing
has been more bravely and well done than at Antietam, Mur
freesboro, Gettysburg, and on many fields of less note. ¦ Nor
must Uncle Sam's web-feet be forgotten. At all the watery
margins they have been present, not only on the deep sea, the
broad bay, and the rapid river, but also up the narrow, muddy
bayou, and wherever the ground was a little damp they have
been and made their tracks. Thanks to all. For the great
Eepublic — 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 fature tirae. 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
sorae black men who can remeraber that, with silent tongue, and
clenched teeth, and steady eye, and well-poised bayonet, they
have helped raankind on to this great consuraraation, while I
fear there will be some white ones unable to forget that with
malignant heart and deceitful speech they have striven to
hinder it.
" Still, let us not be over-sanguine of a speedy, final triumph.
Let us be quite sober. Let us diligently apply the means,
never doubting that a just God, in His own good time, will
give us the rightful result.
"Yours, very truly, A. Lincoln."
The decisive advantages gained by the national arms,
having substantially closed the rebellion in Louisiana,
Tennessee and Arkansas, movements were immediately
made by the people of those States, to secure a reorgan-
THE POLITICAL AND MILITAEY EVENTS OF 1863. 433
ization under local loyal governments; and a natural
desire was felt to know what was the President's policy
fi>r the restoration of law and order in the territories
thus reclaimed from rebel rule. This important question
had already claimed' Mr. Lincoln's most earnest atten
tion — and he had been, by Act of Congress, July 17th,
1862, fully authorized to extend, by act of proclamar
tion, pardon and amnesty to any persons who had par
ticipated in the rebellion, with such exceptions and con
ditions as he might deem expedient for the public
welfare. In his judgment, the fitting time had now
arrived for the exercise of the power thus freely vested
in him. He therefore issued, simultaneously with his
annual message, the following
PEOCLAMATION.
"Whereas, In and by the Constitution of the United
States, it is provided that the President 'shall have power
to grant reprieves and pardons for offences against the United
States, except 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 rebel
lion and treason, laws have been enacted by Congress declaring
forfeitures and confiscation 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 conditional pardon accords with
28
434 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
well-established judicial exposition of the pardoning power,
and WHEREAS, with reference to 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 persons heretofore engaged in said
rebellion, to resume their allegiance to the United States, and
to reinaugurate loyal State governments within and for their
respective States ; therefore
"I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, do
proclaim, declare, and make known to all persons who have,
directly or by implication, participated in the existing rebellion,
except as hereinafter 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
Vhere rights of third parties shall have intervened, and upon
the condition that every such person shall take and subscribe
an oath, and thenceforward keep and maintain said oath in
violate; and which oath shall be registered for permanent
preservation, and shall be of the tenor and effect following, to
wit: " I, , do solemnly swear, in presence of Almighty
God, that I will henceforth faithfully support, protect 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 during
the existing rebellion with reference to slaves, so long and so
far as not repealed, modified, or held void by Congress, or by
decision of the Supreme Court ; and that I will, in like manner,
abide by and faithfully support all proclamations of the Presi
dent made during the existing rebellion having reference
to slaves, so long and so far as not modified or declared void by
decision of the Suprerae Court. So help rae God.
" The persons excepted from the benefits of the foregoino-
provisions are all who are, or shall have been, civil or diplomatic
officers or agents of the so-called Confederate Government ; all
THE POLITICAL AND MILITAEY EVENTS OF 1863. 435
who have left judicial stations under the tTpited States to aid
the rebellion ; all who are, or shall have been, military or naval
officers /)f the said so-called Confederate Government, above
the rank of colonel in the army, or of lieutenant in the navy;
all who have left seats in the United States Congress to aid the
rebellion; all who resigned commissions in the Army or Navy
of the United States, and afterwards aided the rebellion ; and
all who 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 in any oth6r
capacity. " And I do further proclaim, declare, and make known, that
whenever, in any of the States of Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana,
Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Car
olina, 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, 1860, each hav
ing 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 contravening said
oath, such shall be recognized as the true government 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 inva
sion ; and on application of the Legislature, or the Executive,
(when the Legislature can not be convened,) against domestic
violence.' " And I do further proclaim, declare, and make known that
any provision which may be adopted by such State govern
ment in relation to the freed people of such State, which shall
recognize and declare their permanent freedom, provide for
436 LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
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 Na
tional 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 Consti
tution, and the general code of laws, as before the rebellion, be
maintained, subject only to the modifications made necessary
by the conditions hereinbefore 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 misunderstanding, it may be proper to say that
this proclamation, so far as it relates to State governments 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 whether members sent to Con
gress from any State shall be admitted to seats constitutionally,
rests exclusively with the respective Houses, and not to any
extent with the Executive. And still further, that this procla
mation 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 governments raay be re-es
tablished within said States, or in any of them ; and, while the
mode presented is the best the Executive can suggest, with his
present irapressions, it must not be understood that no other
possible mode would be acceptable.
" Given under my hand at the city of Washington, the Sth
day of December, A. D. 1863, and of the Indepen-
[l. s.] dence of the United States of America the eighty-eighth.
Abraham Lincoln."
The victories of the Union arms during the summer
of 1863, with all their important train of influences at
home and abroad, had produced a vigorous and healthy
THE POLITICAL AND MILITAEY EVENTS OF 1863. 437
condition of the pubHc sentiment of the country. It is
true, indeed, that there was still considerable partizan
opposition to the acts of the administration, which in
some quarters even took the form of open hostility to
the further prosecution of the war ; but, the people were
" full of pluck," and the Union party entered the polit
ical contests ofthe autumn of 1863 with confident cour
age. The canvass which ensued was earnest on both
sides, but every State in which elections were held, ex
cept only New Jersey, cast its influence in support of
the National Government ; whUe, in the larger States,
the majorities were so large as to make the result of
more than ordinary significance. Ohio repudiated Va^
landigham, who had been nominated for Governor solely
on account of the issue he had made with the Govern
ment in the matter of his arrest, by a majority of
nearly one hundred thousand. New York, disgraced
by the draft-riots, and with a strong administration Gov
ernor elected only the year before, gave the administra
tion a majority of near thirty thousand, while Pennsyl
vania re-elected her sturdy patriotic Governor, in the face
of strong opposition, by about the same majority.
The result was, therefore, justly claimed as a decided
verdict of the people, in support of the government, and
its effect upon all parties was of marked importance.
While it strengthened the hands of the administration,
it also developed a division of sentiment in the ranks of
the opposition.
Mr. Lincoln's annual message was sent in to Con
gress on the 9 th day of December. This document —
omitting only portions of less abiding interest — is as
follows :
438 LIFE OP ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
annual message.
"Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Eep
resentatives : Another year of health and sufficiently abun
dant harvests, has passed. For these, and especially for the
improved condition of our national affairs, our renewed and
profoundest gratitude to God is due.
" We reraain in peace and friendship with foreign powers.
" The efforts of disloyal citizens of the United States to
involve us in foreign wars, to aid an inexcusable insurrection,
have been unavailing. Her Britannic Majesty's' Government,
as was justly expected, have exercised their authority to
prevent the departure of new hostile expeditions from British
ports. The Emperor of France has, by a like proceeding,
proraptly vindicated the neutrality which he proclaimed at the
beginning of the contest. Questions of great intricacy and
importance have arisen, out of the blockade and other bel
ligerent operations, between the governraent 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 impartiality of their adjudications, have com
manded 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 carried 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 sorae govern
ments, 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
THB POLITICAL AND MILITAEY EVENTS OF 1863. 439
the lines of the insurgents, is to be exempted from the rule
which classes him as a belligerent, in whose behalf the govern
ment of his country cannot expect any privileges or immuni
ties 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 delared 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 throwing 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 declarations of intention may be made, or
naturalizations effected, to 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 imposed 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 interposition of this government as citizens. Many
altercations and great prejudices have heretofore arisen out of
this abuse. It is, therefore, submitted to your serious con
sideration. 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. I submit
440 THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
the expediency of such an amendment q-f the law as will make
the fact of voting an estoppel against any plea of exemption
from military service, or other civil obligation, on the ground
of alienage
" The condition of the several organized territories is gener
ally satisfactory, although Indian disturbances in New Mexico
have not been entirely suppressed. The mineral resoiirces of
Colorado, Nevada, Idaho, New Mexico, and Arizona, are proving
far richer than has been heretofore understood. I lay before you
a communication on this subject, from the Governor of New
Mexico. I again submit to your consideration the expediency
of establishing a systera for the encouragement of immigration.
Although this source of national wealth and strength is again
flowing with greater freedom than for several years before the
insurrection occurred, there is 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 the 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 beginning a new life. This
noble effort deraands the aid, and ought to receive the attention
and support, of the government.
"Injuries, unforeseen by the government, and unijitended,
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 govern
ment expects redress from other powers when similar injuries
are inflicted by persons in their service upon pitizens of the
United States, we must be prepared to do justice to foreigners.
If the existing judicial tribunals are inadequate to this purpose,
a special court may be authorized, with power to hear and
decide such claims of the character referred to as may have
THE POLITICAL AND MILITABY EVENTS OF IJc'S. 441
arisen under treaties and the pubhc law. Conventions for
adjusting the claims by joint commission have been proposed
to some governments, 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
decrees of restitution have been rendered and damages awarded
by admiralty courts, and in other cases, where this government
may be acknowledged to be bable in principle, and where
the amount of that liabihty has been ascertained by an informal
arbitration. ....
" The operations of the Treasury during the last year have
been successfully conducted. The enactment by Congress of a
National Banking Law has proved a valuable support of the
pubhc credit : and the general legislation in relation to loans
has fully answered the expectations of its favorers. Some
amendments may be required to perfect existing laws ; but no
change in their principles or general scope is believed to
be needed.
'¦ Since these measures have been in operation, all demands
on the Treasury, including the pay of the army and navy, have
been promptiy met and fully satisfied. No considerable body
of troops, it is beheved, were ever more amply provided, and
more Uberally and punctually paid ; and it may be added that
by no' people were the burdens incident to a great war ever
more cheerfully borne.
"The report of the Secretary of War is a document of great
interest. It consists of —
"1. The military operations of the year, detailed in the
report of the General-in-Chie£
" 2. The organization of colored persons into the war service.
¦ 3. The exchange of prisoners, fully set forth in the letter
of General Hitchcock.
"4. The operations under the act for enrolling and callino'
out the national forces, detailed in the report of the Provost
Marshal GeneraL
442 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
" 5. The organization of the invalid corps ; and
" 6. The operation of the several departments of the Quarter
master-General, Commissary-General, Paymaster-General, Chief
of Engineers,. Chief of Ordnance, and Surgeon-General.
"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 whole of this unhappy
contest, have been discharged with fidelity and eminent success.
The extensive blockade has been constantly increasing in
efficiency, and the navy has expanded ; yet on so long a line
it has so far been impossible to entirely suppress illicit trade.
From returns received at the Navy Department, it appears that
more than one thousand vessels have been captured since the
blockade was instituted, and that the value of prizes already
sent' in for adjudication, araounts to over thirteen million dollars.
" The naval force of the United States consists, at this time,
of five hundred and eighty-eight vessels, completed and in the
course of completion, and of these seventy-five are iron-clad or
armored steamers. The events of the war give an increased
interest and importance to the navy, which will probably extend
beyond the war itself.
" The armored vessels in our navy, completed and in service,
or which are u.nder contract and approaching 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 neces
sary for cruising purposes, and to maintain 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, deraands either a corresponding change in some
of our existing navy-yards, or the establishment of new ones,
THE POLITICAL AND MILITAEY EVENTS OF 1863. 443
for the construction and necessary repair of modern naval
vessels. No inconsiderable embarrassment, delay, and public
injury have been experienced from the want of such govern
mental 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 coraraunica
tion. 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 purposes upon one of the Western rivers. A naval
force has been created on those interior waters, and under
many disadvantages, within little more than two years, exceed
ing in numbers the whole naval force of the country at the com
mencement of the present administration. Satisfactory and
important as have been the performances 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 proximity to navigable waters. Without the advan
tage of public works, the resources of the nation have been
developed, and its power displayed, in the' construction of a
navy of such magnitude, which has; at the very period of its
creation, rendered signal service to the Union.
" The increase of the number of seamen in the public service,
from seven thousand five hundred men in the spring of 1861,
to about thirty-four thousand at the present time, has been
accomplished without special legislation or extraordinary boun
ties 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,
444 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
and will, if not corrected, be likely to impair its- efficiency, by
detaching seamen from their proper 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 especially interested.
" I commend to your consideration the suggestions of the
Secretary of the Navy in regard to the policy of fostering and
training seamen, and also the education of officers and engineers
for the naval service. The Naval Academy is rendering signal
service in preparing midshipmen forthe highly responsible duties
wliich in after-life they wiU be required to perform. 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 insurrection have been
filled by the Secretary of the Navy. The school is now more
full and complete than at any former period, and in every
respect entitled to the favorable consideration of Congress.
" The raeasures 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 sub
mitted for the constitutional action of the Senate. They con
tain stipulations for extinguishing the possessory rights of the
Indians to large and valuable tracts of lands. It is hoped that
the effects 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 out
lying settlements and emigrants. Sound policy and our impera
tive duty to these wards of the government demand our anxious
and constant attention to their material well-being, to their pro
gress in the arts of civilization, and above all, to that moral
training which, under the blessing of Di-vine Providence, wUl
confer upon them the elevated and sanctifying influences, the
hopes and consolations of the Christian faith. ....
THE POLITICAL AND MILITAEY EVENTS OF 1863. 445
" When Congress assembled a year ago, the war had already
lasted nearly twenty months ; and there had been many con
flicts on both land and sea, with varying results. The rebel
lion had been pressed back into reduced limits ; yet the tone
of public feeling 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 coramerce was suffering greatly by a
few armed vessels built upon and furnished from foreign shores ;
and we were threatened with such additions frora the same
quarter as would sweep our trade from the sea and raise our
blockade. We had failed to elicit from European governments
anything hopeful upon this subject. The preliminary Emanci
pation Proclamation, issued in September, was running its
assigned period to the beginning of the new year. A month
later the final proclamation came, including the announcement
that colored men of suitable condition would be received into
the -war service. The policy of emancipation, and of employing
black soldiers, gave to the future a new aspect, about which
hope and fear and doubt contended in uncertain conflicts.
According to our political system, as a matter of civil adrainis-
•tration, the general governraent had no lawful power to effect
emancipation in any State ; and for a long time it had been
hoped that the rebellion could be suppressed without resorting
to it as a military measure. It was all the while deemed possi
ble that the necessity for it might come, and that, if it should,
the crisis of the contest would then be presented. It came, and
as was anticipated, it was followed by dark and doubtful days.
Eleven months having now passed, we are permitted to take
another review. The rebel borders are pressed still further
back, and by the complete opening of the Mississippi the
country dominated by the rebellion is divided into distinct
parts, with no practical communication between them. Ten-
446 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
nessee aud Arkansas have been substantially cleared of insur-
surgent control, and influential citizens in each, owners of
slaves and advocates of slavery at the beginning of the rebel
lion, now declare openly for emancipation in their respective
States. Of those States not included in the Emancipation Pro
clamation, 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 mili
tary- 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 raust be filled with so many white men. So
far as tested, it is difficult to say they are not as good soldiers
as any. No servile insurrection, or tendency to violence or
cruelty, has marked the measures of emancipation and arming
the blacks. These measures have been much discussed in for
eign countries, and contemporary with such discussion the tone
of public sentiment there is much improved. At home the
same measures have been fuUy discussed, supported, criticised,
and denounced, and the annual elections following are highly
encouraging to those whose official duty it is to bear the coun,j
try through this great trial. Thus we have the new reckoning.
The crisis which threatened to divide the friends of the Union
is past. " Looking now to the present and future, and with reference
to a resumption of the national authority -within the States
wherein that authority has been suspended, I have thought fit
to issue a proclamation, a copy of which is herewith trans
mitted. On examination of this proclamation it will appear, as
is believed, that nothing is attempted beyond what is amply
justified by the Constitution. True, the form of an oath is
given, but no man is coerced to take itr The man is only
THE POUTICAL AND MILITAEY EVENTS OF 1863. 447
promised a pardon in case he voltmtarily takes the oath. The
Constitution authorizes the Executive to grant or -withhold the
pardon at his own absobite discretion ; and this includes the
power to gract on terms, as is fully established by judicial and
other authorities.
" It is also proffered that if, in any of the States named, a State
government shall be, in the mode prescribed, set up, such gov
ernment shaU 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 guarantee
to every State in the Union a repubUcan form of government,
and to protect the State, in the cases stated, is expUcit and fuU.
But why tender the benefits of this pro-vision 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 fevorable to repubUcan 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 deaUng.
" An attempt to guarantee and protect a revived State Gov
ernment, constructed in whole, or in preponderating part, from
the verv element against whose hostility and violence it is to be
protected, is simply absurd. There must be a test by which
to separate the opposing element, so as to build only from the
sound ; and that test is a sufficiently Uberal one, which accepts
as sound whoever will make a sworn recantation of his former
unsoundness. " But if it be proper to require, as a test of admission to the
political body, an oath of aUegiance to the Constitution of the
United States, and to the Union under it, why not also to the laws
and proclamations in regard to slavery ? Those laws and pro
clamations were enacted and put forth for the purpose of aid
ing in the suppression of the rebeUion. To give them their
foUest effect, there hftd to be a pledge for their maintenance.
448 THE LIFE OP ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
In my judgment they have aided, and will further aid, the
cause for which they are intended. To now abandon them
would be not only to relinquish a lever of power, but would
also be a cruel and an astonishing breach of faitlj. I may add
AT THIS POINT THAT, WHILE I REMAIN IN MY PRESENT POSI
TION, I SHALL NOT ATTEMPT TO RETRACT OR MODIFY THE
Emancipation Proclamation ; nor shall I return to
SLAVERY ANY PERSON WHO IS FREE BY THB TERMS OF THAT
proclamation, OE BY ANY OP THE ACTS OF CONGEESS. For
these and other reasons, it is thought best that support of these
measures shall be included in the oath ; and it is believed the
Executive may lawfully claim it in return for pardon and res
toration of forfeited rights, which he has clear constitutional
power to withhold altogether, or grant upon the terms which
he shall deem wisest for the public interest. It should be ob-"'
served, also, that this part of the oath is subject to the modify
ing and abrogating power of legislation and supreme judicial
decision. " The proposed acquiescence of the national Executive in any
reasonable temporary State arrangement for the freed people,
is made with the view of possibly modifying the confusion and
destitution which must, at best, attend all classes by a total
revolution of labor throughout whole States. It is hoped that
the already deeply afflicted people in those States may be some
what more ready to give up the cause of their affliction, if, to
this extent, this vital matter be left to themselves; while no
power of the national Executive to prevent an abuse, is abridged
by the proposition.
"The suggestion in the proclamation as to maintaining the
political framework of the States on what is called reconstruc
tion, is made in the hope that it may do good without danger
of harm. It will save labor, and avoid great confusion.
"But why any proclamation now upon this subject? This
question is beset with the conflicting views that the step might
be delayed too long or be taken too soon. In some States the
THE POLITICAL AND MILITAEY EVENTS OF 1863. 449
elements for resumption seem ready for action, but remain
inactive, apparently for want of a rallying point — a plan of
action. Why shall A adopt the plan of B, rather than B that
of A? And if A and B should agree, how can they know but
that the general government here will reject their plan ? By
the proclamation, a plan is presented which may be accepted by
them as a raUying point, and which they are assured in ad
vance wfll not be rejected here. This may bring them to act
sooner than they other-wise 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 -wiU be pardoned, with rights restored, it is not
said that other classes or other terms -wiU never be included.
Saying that reconstruction -wiU be accepted, if presented in a
specified way, it is not said it "wiU never be accepted in any
other way.
" The movements, by State action, for emancipation in several
of the States, not included in the Emancipation Proclaraation,
are matters of profound gratulation. And while I do not
repeat in detail what I have heretofore so earnestly urged upon
this subject, my general -views and feelings remain unchanged ;
and I trust that Congress -will omit no fair opportunity of aid
ing these iraportant steps to a great consummation.
"In the midst of other cares, however important, we must
not lose sight of the fact that the war power is still our main
reliance. To that power alone can we look, yet for a time, to
give confidence to the people in the contested regions that the
insurgent power -will not again overrun them. Until that
confidence shall be established, little can be done anywhere for
what is called reconstruction. Hence our chiefest care must
stfll be directed to the army and navy, who have thus far borne
their harder part so nobly and well. And it may be esteemed
29
450 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
fortunate that in giving the greatest efficiency to these indis
pensable arms, we do also honorably recognize the gaUant
raen, from commander to sentinel, who compose them, and to
whora, more than to others, the world must stand indebted for
the horae of freedom disenthralled, regenerated, enlarged, and
perpetuated.
"Abraham Lincoln.
"Dec.Qth, 1863."
During this session, the President found in Congress a
ready co-operation in all measures for the prosecution
of the war. A system of direct taxation, affording a
firm basis for all government securities, and insuring
against financial disaster, as well as enactments
required to carry out the policy of the Secretary
of the Treasury, and to meet all pressing demands upon
the national exchequer, received the proper attention.
A desire to further the energetic exertions of the Gov
ernment in preparing for the last grand struggle with
rebellion was manifested in the action of both Houses
in so marked a degree as to inspire the country -with
confidence in a speedy and favorable issue of the war.
The deliberations of Congress during the session
possessed but little special interest or importance ;
the emergencies and requirements of the war, present
and prospective, having been very fuUy provided for by
its action at the previous session. Amendments were
offered to the Conscription Bill, which, as finally passed,
did not vary essentially from the original law. It
gave rise, however, to considerable discussion as to
the proper regulation of the mode of enlistment of cob
ored men, free and slave, as soldiers. Both Houses
finally agreed upon a proviso that colored troops, " while
THE POLITICAL AND MILITAEY EVENTS OF 1863. 451
they shall be credited in the quotas of the several
States, or subdivisons of States, wherein they are respec
tively drafted, enlisted or shall volunteer, shah, not be as
signed as- State troops, but shall be mustered into regi
ments or companies as ' United States Colored Volun
teers.' " A growing conviction in the pubhc mind, that the
destruction of slavery was necessary to the successful pros
ecution of the war, and that the emancipation ofthe slaves
would be the certain result of the war, was clearly in
dicated in the debates of Congress, as well as by the tone
of the press. Early iu February, a bill was reported in
the House pro-viding for the estabhshment of a Bureau of
freedmen's Affairs, which should determine aU questions
relating to persons of African descent, and regulating their
employment and proper treatment on abandoned planta
tions ; — ^which, after a sharp debate was passed by a
vote of sixt;\--nine to sixty-seven. A resolution was also
adopted submitting to the action of the several States an
amendment to the Constitution of the United States,
forever prohibiting the existence of slavery within the
States and Territories of the L^nion — and was passed
¦with but httie opposition.
The argument of some of the border State Senators,
that the interference of the people in any thing which
State laws declare to be property, was a palpable viola
tion of State rights, was . promptly met by the Hon.
Reverdy Johnson, of Maryland, who held that the
Constitution, when it was fi-amed, might properly and
unquestionably have embodied within it this prohi
bition of slavery, and that it was competent for the
people to do now whatever they might have done then.
The payment of government bounties to volunteer
452 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
troops ; questions connected with taxation and currency,
and other necessary matters, which do not call for de
tailed mention in this work, occupied the attention of
Congress, during the session. Considerable acrimonious
debate arose from the controversy between General F.
P. Blair, Jr., and other members of the Missouri dele
gation, in regard to his contested seat in Congress, which
demanded much of Mr. Lincoln's patient consideration,
and called forth several letters from his hand.
The relations of the country with foreign affairs con
tinued as satisfactory, on the whole, as could be ex
pected. An important point was gained, in the issuing
of an order by the British government, forbidding the
departure of the formidable rams which were building
in English ports unquestionably for the rebel navy.
Regarding this as practically giving to the rebels the
freedom of British ports for the destruction of American
commerce, our government- sternly protested against
such one-sided neutrality.
" It would be superfluous in me," wrote Our Minister, Mr.
Adams, " to point out to your lordship that this is war. No
matter what may be the theory adopted of neutrality in a
struggle, when this process is carried on in the manner indi
cated, from a territory and with the aid of the subjects of
a third party, that third party to all intents and purposes ceases
to be neutral. Neither is it necessary to show that any govern
ment which suffers it to be done, fails in enforcing the essential
conditions of international amity towards the country against
whom the hostility is directed. In my belief it is irapossible
that any nation, retaining a proper degree of self-respect, could
tamely submit to a continuance of relations so utterly deficient
in reciprocity. I have no idea that Great Britain would do so
for a moment."
THE POLITICAL AND MILITAEY EVENTS p 1863. 453
The remonstrance had the desired effect.
Our relations with France, also, continued to be
friendly, but the proceedings of the French in Mexico
gave color to the rumors which were freely circulated,
that they were about to establish in that country, a
monarchical form of government, under a European
prince. The attitude of our government toward.s such
a movement was, therefore, distinctly defined by Mr.
Seward in his correspondence with our Minister at
Paris, under date of September 20th,' as follows :
"The United States hold, in regard to Mexico, the sarne
principles as they hold in regard to all other nations. They
have neither a right nor a di.sposition to intervene by force in
the internal af^irs of Mexico, whether to establish and main
tain a rcpuVjlic, or even a domestic government, there, or to
overthrow an imperial or a foreign one, if Mexico choo.sos to
establish or accept it. The United States have neither the
right nor the disposition to intervene by force on either side in
tli<; lamentable war which is going on between France and
Mexico. On the contrary, they practise in regard to Mexico,
in every phrase of that war, the non-intervention which they
require all foreign powers to observe in i egard to the Lnited
States. But notwithstanding this self-restraint, this govern
ment knows full well that the inherent normal opinion of
Mexico favors a government there republican in form and
doincHtic in its organization, in preference to any monarchical
institutions to be imposed from abroad. This government
knows also that this normal opinion of the people of Mexico
resulted largely from the influence of popular opinion in
this country, and is continually invigorated by it. The
President believes, moreover, that this pjopular opinion of the
United States is just in itself and eminently essential to the
progress of civilization on the American continent, which
civilization, it believes, can and will, if left free from European
454 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
resistance, work harmoniously together with advancing refine
ment on the other continents. This government believes that
foreign resistance, or attempts to control American civilization,
raust and will fail before the ceaseless and ever increasing
aothntj of raaterial, moral and political forces, which peculiarly
belong to the American continent. Nor do the United States
deny tha;t, in their opinion, their own safety and the cheerful
destiny to which they aspire, are intiraately dependent on the
continuance of free republican institutions throughout America.
They have submitted these opinions to the Eraperor of France,
on proper occasions, as worthy of his serious consideration,
in deterraining how he would conduct and close what might
prove a successful war in Mexico. Nor is it necessary to prac
tice reserve upon the point that if France should, upon due
consideration, deterraine to adopt a policy in Mexico adverse
to the Araerican opinion and sentiraents which I have de
scribed, that policy would probably scatter seeds which would
be fruitful of jealousies which raight ultiraately ripen into
collision between France and the United States and other
American republics."
On the 23d of October, Mr. Seward repeated the
determination of our government to maintain complete
neutrality in the war between France and Mexico, and
while declaring that we could not anticipate the action
of the people of Mexico, we had not " the least purpose
or desire to interfere with their proceedings, or control
X)r interfere with their free choice, or disturb them in
the exercise of "whatever institutions of government
they may, in the exercise of an absolute freedom,
estabUsh." As we did not consider the war yet closed,
however, we were not free to consider the recognition
of the government which, in the further chances of that
war, might take the place of the one now existing in
raCE POLITICAL ANT) MILITAEY EVENTS OF 1863. 41; o
Mexico, and "with which our relations were those of
peace and fidendship.
The pohcy of the President, therefore, in regard to
the war in Mexico, was that of neutrahty; and the
fettled sentiment of- the people upon the subject was
embodied, beyond all doubt, in the following resolution.
passed by the House of Eepresentatives, on the 3d of
April, 1864.
" Resolved, That the Congress of the United States are nn-
-wiUing by silence to leave the nations of the world under the
impression that they are indifferent spectators of the deplorable
events now transpiring in the repubUc of Mexico ; therefore,
they think fit to declare that it does not accord with the senti
ment of the people of the United States to acknowledge a
monarchical government erected on the ruins of any repubUcan
government in .America, under the auspices of any European
power." Having thus traced the political events of the year
1863, let us briefly glance at the military movements
during the same period.
The first two years of the war had resulted, on the
whole, in decided advantages to the national arms.
Commencing their " Confederacy " "with seven States, the
conspirators against the national life had undertaken,
by intrigue as well as by force of arms, to detach the
remaining slaveholding States — ^the Indian Territory,
Xew Mexico, and Arizona — ^fi-om their allegiance to the
government, and to add this immense region to the new
southern nationahty. General Canby's vigorous cam
paign in Xew Mexico, "with the victory at Fort Craig,
in 1862, drove the invaders back into Texas; and
General Curtis' grand success at Pea Eidge, Arkansas, in
456 jLIPE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
March of the same year, effectually demolished all hopes
of any rebel acquisition in the Territories. The most
determined efforts of rebellion to extend their boundary
beyond the four slave States of Virginia, North Carolina,
Tennessee, and Arkansas, which had been swept intOi
the secession movement at the very onset, proved abor
tive. But, in spite of these efforts, the spring of 1863 found
Arkansas substantially reclaimed ; New Orleans, and a
large portion of Louisiana restored to the government ;
the Mississippi river reconquered through almost its
entire length ; most of the western and middle parts of
Tennessee occupied by Federal garrisons ; the western
half of Virginia reorganized under a loyal government,
and much of eastern Virginia in the grasp of the Union
arms; a permanent foothold gained on the coasts of
North Carohna, South Carohna, and Florida ; northern
Alabama returning to sentiments of loyalty, under the
supporting presence of government troops ; a blockade,
pressing hea"vily upon the rebelhous States; and the
power of slavery materially crippled by the effects of
the Emancipation Proclamation, which deranged the
productive interests of the rebellion, and added a new
and increasing element of strength to our arms.
Vicksburg and Port Hudson were now positions of
the utmost importance to the rebels, who were straining
every nerve to hold their trans-Mississippi communica
tions, inasmuch as the Eed river country and Texas
furnished their most abundant supplies. To sweep from
their grasp even this last vestige of power in that re
gion, became the object of General Grant's brief but
energetic campaign ; which, commencing with a series of
THK POLITICAL AXD MILITABY EVENTS 07 IS:?, ioi
brilliant -victories, teimiaated in the surrender of Vicks
burg and thirty thousand prisoners, on the 4th of July,
1S63. On the eighth, as a consequence partly of this
success. Port Hudson, after a two months' siege. w;i5
also unconditionally surrendered, with it# garrison t)i
over six thousand men. to the combined forces of
General Banks and Admiral Farragut ; and the •¦ Father
of Waters" was once more open to the Guli' — thus out-
ting oft' the territory west of that river ficom its con
nection "with the remainder of the Conlederacy. being a
practical loss of nearly one-half of the rebel territory.
In Eastern Virginia, the year ISoo had opened
on the 20th of January by an attempted ad-vance on
the rebel army at Fredericksburg, by the anny
under General Burnside — ^whieh, however, failed, ia
consequence of a heavy storm so damaging the roads
as to render it impossible to bring up artillery and
pontoons with the promptness essential to success. On
the twenty-fourth, General Burnside was reheved from
the comniand of the Army of the Potomac, and General
Joseph Hooker appointed in his place. The season
forbade any mo-vement for thxee inonths. but on the
27th of Aprilj General Hooker pushed his army tbrwaid
¦with the design of attacking the enemy in fiank and
rear. The mo"rement seemed to be a success until thev
reached Chancellorsville. a few miles southwest of
Fredericksburg, where, on the 2d of May. they met the
enemy, and, after an action which continued with varv-
ing saccess for three, days. Hooker was compelled, on
the 5th. to withdraw his army to the north bank of the
Ra^^^pihannock — ^ha"ving lost not i^ir from eighteen thou
sand men in the movement. The rebel loss was also
458 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
large, and iii the death of General "StonewaU" Jackson
then' cause sustained a severe blow. The rebel General
Lee now assumed the offensive, advancing through
Maryland into Pennsylvania. This movement natu
rally created the most intense excitement throughout
the country, and President Lincoln issued a proclama
tion calling for one hundred thousand militia from the
States most directly menaced, to serve for sis months,
and New York was summoned to send twenty thousand
also. General Hooker, however, moving on an interior line,
covered 'Washing-ton, and kept his forces in an attitude
to strike the enemy "with effect. During these move
ments. Hooker was superseded, on the 28th of June,
by General George G. Meade, who at once ordered an
advance into Pennsylvania in the general direction of
Harrisburg. towards which the enemy was rapidly ad
vancing. The two armies came in contact on the
1st of July, near the to"WTi of Gettysburg, and a three
days' conflict ensued, in which an important victory was
gained over Lee, who retreated in all possible haste
over the Potomac, having lost heavily in killed,
wounded and prisoners — the latter nnmbering thirteen
thousand six hundred and twenty-one.
On the morning of the 4th of July, the day cele
brated throughout the country as the anniversary of
the Declaration of Independence, the President issued
the follo"\ving despatch :
" Washington, July 4—10.30, A. M.
" The President announces to the country, that news from
the Army of the Potomac, to ten P. M. of the third, is such
as to cover that army with the highest honor ; to promise a
THE POLITICAL AND MILITAEY EVENTS OF 1863. 459
great success to the cause of the Union ; and to claim the con
dolence of all for the many gallant fallen — and that, for this,
he especiaUy desires that on this day, He, whose will, not ours,
should ever be done, be everywhere remembered, aud reve
renced with profoundest gratitude. "Abraham Lincoln."
The result of this severe battle was of the utmost
importance, inasmuch as it defeated the intended in
vasion of Pennsylvania and Maryland, and compelled
the rebels to evacuate the upper part of the valley of
the Shenandoah, leaving in our hands nearly fourteen
thousand prisoners, and twenty-five thousand small
arms collected on the battle-field. Our own losses were
very severe, amormting to two thousand eight hundred
and thirty-four killed, thirteen thousand seven hundred
and nine wounded, and six thousand six hundred and
forty-three missing — in all, twenty-three thousand one
hundred and eighty-six.
During the ensuing season, a plot of ground adjoining
the town cemetery, and forming an important part of
the battle-field, was purchased by the State of Pennsyl
vania, to be used as a national burial-place for the loyal
soldiers who fell in that great engagement. It was
dedicated, with solemn and impressive ceremonies, on
the 19th of November, 1863, the President and the mem
bers of his cabinet being in attendance ; and a very large
and imposing military display added a solemn grandeur
to the ceremonies of the day. Hon. Edward Everett
dehvered an elaborate address, arid President Lincoln
made the following remarks :
" Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth
upon this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and
460 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
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 the final restr
ing-place of those who here gave their lives that that nation
might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should
do this.
" But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate, we can not con
secrate, we can not hallow this ground. The brave men, Uving
and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our
power to add or detract. The world -will little note, nor long
remember, what we say here ; but it can never forget what they
did here. It is for us, the Uving rather, to be dedicated here to
the unfinished work that they have thus far so nobly carried on.
It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task re
maining before us — that from these honored dead .we take
increased devotion to the cause for which they here gave the
last full measure of devotion — that we here highly resolve that
the dead shall not have died in vain — that the nation shall,
under God, have a new birth of freedom — and that the govern
ment of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not
perish from the earth.
The almost simultaneous occurrence of the great "vic
tories of Vicksburg, Port Hudson and Gettysburg —
undoubtedly constituting the most glorious and sub-
substantial celebration ever before accorded to our
national holiday — called forth the most enthusiastic
rejoicings in every section of the country. Public
meetings were everywhere held, and the people, as
with one voice, testified their joy, and their unflinch
ing purpose to prosecute the war until the rebellion
should be utterly extinguished.
THE POLITICAL AND MILITAEY EVENTS OF 1863. 461
A large concourse of the citizens of Washington
visited the residence of the President, and, also, those
of the members of his Cabinet — giving them each, in
turn, the honors of a serenade — which the President
acknowledged in the following remarks :
" Fellow-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. How long ago is it — eighty odd years —
since, on the Fourth of July, for the first time in the history of
the world, a nation, by its representatives, assembled and de
clared as a self-evident truth, "that all men are created equal ?"
That was the birthday of the United States of America. Since
then the Fourth of July has had several very peculiar recogni
tions. The two men most distinguished in the framing and
support of the Declaration were Thomas Jeffeeson 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
signed it, and were elected Presidents 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 on this last Fourth of July, just passed, when
we have a gigantic rebellion, at the bottom of which is an
effort to overthrow the principle that all men were created
equal, we have the surrender of a most powerful position and
army on that very day. 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 first, second, and third of the month of July ; and on the
fourth, the cohorts of those who opposed the declaration that all
men are created equal, ' turned tail' and run. [Long-continued
462 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
cheers.] Gentlemen, this is a glorious theme, and the occasion
for a speech, but I am not prepared to make one worthy of the
occasion. I would Uke to speak in terms of praise due to the
many brave ofiicers and soldiers, who have fought in the cause
of the Union and liberties of their country from the beginning
of the war. These are trying occasions, not only in success,
but for the want of success. I dislike to mention the name
of one single ofiicer, lest I might do wrong to those I might
forget. Eeoent events bring up glorious names, and particu
larly prominent ones ; but these I will not mention. Ha-ving
said this much, I will now take the music."
The President, a few days afterwards, wrote to Gen
eral Grant the following letter, in which Mr. Lincoln's
character for honesty and candor is agreeably displayed
in the modest and unconscious garb of his own language:
"Executive Mansion, Washington, July 13, 1863.
" Majoe-Genekal Gkant — My Dear General : I do not re
member that you and J. ever met personally. I write this now
as a grateful acknowledgment for the almost inestimable service
you have done the country. I write to say a word further.
When you first reached the vicinity of Vicksburg, 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
rigbt and I was wrong. Yours truly,
-? "A. Lincoln."
THE POLITICAL AND MILITAEY E"VENTS OF 1S63. 463j
These -victories, together "with others, achieved in
other sections of the country, gave such strong grounds
of encouragement and hope for the speedy overthrow of
the rebelhon, that, on the loth of July, the President
issued the follo-wing Proclamation for a day of national
thanksgiving, praise and prayer : ,
"By the President' of ike United States of America.
"A PEOCLAMATION.
"It has pleased Almighty God to hearken to the suppUca-
tions 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 effective as to furnish reason
able grounds for augmented confidence that the Union of these
States -wiU be maintained, their Constitution preserved, and
their peace and prosperity permanently secured. But these
victories have been accorded not -«ithout sacrifice of Ufe, limb,
and liberty, incurred by brave, patriotic, and loyal citizens.
Domestic affliction, in every part of the country, foUows 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 these triumphs and these
sorrows. " Xow,' therefore, be it kno-wn, that I do set apart Thursday,
the sixth day of August next, to be observed as a day for
national thanksgiving, praise, and prayer; and I invite the
people 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 Di-vin
Majesty, for the wonderful things he^ has done in the nation's
behalf and invoke the influence of His Holy Spirit, to subdue
the anger which has produced, and so long sustained, a need
less and cruel rebelUon ; to change the hearts of the insurgents ;
to guide the counsels of the government -with wisdom adequate
464 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
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, battles, and sieges, have been brought to suffer in
mind, body, or estate ; and finally, to lead the whole na,tion
through paths of repentance and submission to the Di-vine
will, bacfe to the" perfect enjoyment of union and fraternal
peace. "In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and
caused the seal of the United States to be af&xed.-
"Done at the city of Washington, this fifteenth day of
July, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight
[l. s.] hundred and 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 Siate.^'
This was followed, on the 17th of the same month,
by a proclamation calling for' three hmidred thou
sand additional men, for a term of not less than three
years. In other portions cf the field of war, our arms,
during the year 1863, had achieved other victories of
marked importance, which deserve mention.
The operations before Charleston and other points,
although attended with less success than was, perhaps,
expected, were not entirely without favorable results.
Disaster to the rebel cause followed the advance of
General Eosecrans on Chattanooga, and of General
Burnside upon Knoxville, in the latter part of August.
With but httie fighting, Burnside occupied Knoxville
and Cumberland Gap, whUe Rosecrans, after the un-
the political and militaey events of 1863. 465
favorable battle of Chickamauga, took possession of
Chattanooga. By the latter part of Septem'ber, East
Tennessee was thus completely in our possession, and a
line of communication of the greatest importance to the
enemy was finally severed. On the 19th of October,
General Grant, by the President's order, assumed com
mand of the united armies of the Tennessee, the Cum
berland and the Ohio ; and the subsequent victories of
Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge, on the 24th
and 25th of November, as well as the decisive defeat of
Longstreet in his attempt to recover Knox"ville, made
this great acquisition entirely secure. The way was
thus fully prepared for assuming the offensive, by an
advance into the heart of Georgia, and the rebelhon
seemed now to be trembling on the verge of final over
throw. Upon recei"ving intelligence of these movements, the
President issued the following recommendation :
"Executive Mansion, Washington, D. G., Dec. 7, 1863.
" Eeliable information being received that the insurgent force
is retreating from East Tennessee, under circumstances render
ing it probable that the Union forces cannot 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. Lincoln."
On the 3d of October, the President had issued the
following proclamation, recommending the observance
30
466 THE life of abeaham LINCOLN.
of the last Thursday of November as a day of Thanks
giving :
" By the President of the United States of America.
" PEOCLAMATION.
" 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 insensible to the ever watchful pro-vidence of
Almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequalled
magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to invite
and provoke the aggressions of foreign States, peace has been
preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws
have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed
everywhere except in the theatre of 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 of peaceful industry to the
national defence, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle, or
the ship. The axe has enlarged the borders of our settlements,
and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious
metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore.
Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste
that has been made in the camp, the siege, and the battle-field ;
and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented
strength and vigor, is permitted to expect a continuance of
years, with 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, while dealing with us in anger
for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.
" It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be
THE POLITICAL AND MILITAEY EVENTS OF 1863. 467
solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged, as with one
heart and voice, by the whole American people. I do, there
fore, invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United
States, and also those who are at sea, and those who are
sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the
last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving and
prayer to our beneficent Father, who dwelleth in the heavens.
And I recommend to them that, while ofi'ering up the ascrip
tions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and
blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national
perverseness and disobedience, commend to his tender care all
those who have become widows, orphans, mourners, or sufferers
in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably
engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Al
mighty 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, tranquility, and union.
" In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and
caused the seal of the United States to be af&xed.
" Done at the City of Washington, this third day of October,
in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and
[l. s.] sixty -three, and of the independence of the United
States the eighty-eighth.
(Signed), "Abeaham Lincoln. '
" By the President :
" William H. Sewaed, Secretary of State."
Our history of the year would be quite incomplete
without a brief statement of some of the events arising
from arbitrary arrests by the government, and from the
suspension of the habeas corpus act; events which,
as connected with some of the most important of Mr.
Lincoln's State papers, claim our attention somewhat in
detail. It will be remembered that at the very outbreak
of the rebelhon, the government had been confronted
468 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
by one of the most formidable e"vils which embarrassed
its action, in the fact that the rebels were aided and
al^etted by the active co-operation of men in the north
ern States, whose pohtical sympathies and affiliations
had always been in unison with their own. No New
Yorker, at least, can ever forget without a burning sense
of humiliation, the favoring apology sent by Fernando
Wood, then Mayor of New York, to Senator Toombs,
of Georgia, for the seizure, by the city police, of arms
in process of shipment to the State of Georgia ; nor his
assurance that "if he had the power, he should sum
marily punish the authors of this illegal and unjustifi
able seizure of private property." As we have already
stated, in a pre"vious chapter, all the departments of State
at Washington and elsewhere, as well as the army and
navy, were found to be filled with a large proportion of
those who actively sympathized with the secession
movement, and were always prompt to render it every
possible aid and comfort. It was this thorough infiltra
tion of the traitorous element throughout every branch
of the civil and mihtary departments which, at first, so
constantly betrayed the government and thwarted its
plans. Under cover of opposition to the administration,
many prominent newspapers and politicians insiduously
began to undermine the strength of the government,
and to paralyze its efforts for the suppression of the
rebelhon. Under these circumstances, resort was necessarily had
by government to one of those extraordinary powers
vested in it by the Constitution, in case of extraordinary
emergencies, viz., the suspension of the writ of habeas
corpus. The question was not so much as the justifi-
THE POUTICAL AND MILITAEY EYENTS OP 1863. 469
abihty of the measure in the present case, as it was
upon which department of the government the responsl
bihty of the act should rest. If the act was one of
legislation, it could only be performed by Congress and
the President ; if, in its nature executive, then it might
be performed, the emergency requiring it, by the Presi
dent alone. In this case, however, the pressing emer
gency of public affairs cut the Gordian knot of doubt.
Congress had adjourned on the 4th of March preceding,
and could not well be assembled again in time. Time
was precious, for delay in"vited further plotting and mis
chievous combinations between the rebels and their
northern coadjutors.
Influenced by these considerations, the President
issued his proclamation of May 3d, 1861, authorizing
the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus by the com
mander of the United States forces upon the Florida
coast. This was followed necessarily by the exercise of
the same power in other parts of the country. These
acts of the government were, of course, violently assailed
by its opponents, and some of the pubhc prints of the
day indulged in such intemperate abuse on the subject
that they were refiised the pri"vilege of the pubhc mails,
and stringent restrictions were also placed upon the
transmission of telegraphic intelligence. Early in July,
1862, Attorney-General Black furnished the President,
at his request, with an elaborate opinion in regard to
the power of the Executive to make arrests of the per
sons of aiders and abettors of the rebelhon, and upon
his right to refuse to obey a writ of habeas corpus in
case of such arrests. His opinion was favorable to the
government, which thenceforth exerted, with vigor and
470 THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
energy, all the poAver thus placed in its hands to pre
vent the rebellion from receiving aid from northern
sympathizers. A large number of persons were placed
under arrest, but were subsequently released upon
taking an oath of allegiance to the United States.
Baltimore, continuing to be for some time the head
quarters of conspiracies and movements of various kinds
in aid of the rebellion, the arrests were consequently
more numerous there than elsewhere.
On the 16th of September, nme secession members
of the House of Delegates of Maryland, with the officers
of both houses, were arrested by General McClellan,
then in command of the army, and its anticipated
session on the 17th was thus broken up.
The President, at the time, made the following state
ment of his views in regard to these arrests :
" The public safety renders it necessary that tlie 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 i-uiniistakable 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 animosities,
but in all cases the government is in possession of tangible and
unmistakable evidence, which will, when made public, be satis
factory to every loyal citizen."
Arrests continued to be made under authority of the
State Department, not without complaint, certainly,
but with the general acquiescence of the whole com
munity, and to the undoubted advantage of the govern-
TIIE POLITICAL AND MILITAEY EVENTS OF 18C3. 471
ment and the country. On the 14tli of February, 1862,
control of tho whole matter was traiiKlbrred to the War
Department. The circumstances which had made these
arrests necessary are stated with so much clearness and
lbr(.'(.' in the official order, that we insert it at length, as
follows :
EXECIUTIYE OKDEES IN EELATION TO STAT1-: PIUSONEES.
"War Department, Washington, Feb. 14.
" Tlio breaking out of a formidable insurrection, based on a
conflict of political ideas, being an event without precedent in
tho United States, was necessarily attended by great confusion
and por})luxity of the public mind. Disloyalty, before unsus
pected, suddenly bocauio bold, and treason astonished the
world by bringinj^- at once into the field military forces superior
in numbers to tho standing army of tho United States.
"Every department of tho government was paralyzed by
treason. l)e(ee,tion appeared iu tlio Senate, in tho House of
Kcjiresentativos, in the Cabinet, in tho federal courts ; ministers
and consuls returned from I'oroign countries to enter the insur
rectionary couiieiis, or land or naval forces; commanding and
other ofiieers of the army and in tho navy betrayed the councils
or deserted tluur posts lor coiiiiiiaiids in tho insurgent forces.
I'reasou was Ihigrtmt in the revomie and in tlie post office
service, as well as in the territorial governments and in the
Indian reserves.
" Not only Governors, Judges, Legislators and ministerial
officers in tho States, but even whole States, rushed, one after
another, with apparent unanimity, into rebellion. Tho capital
was besici^ed and its connection with all the States cut ofi".
" Even in the portions of the country which wore most loyal,
political combinations and secret societies were formed further
ing the work c>r disunion, while, from motives of disloyalty or
cupidity, or froin o.xelted passions or iterverted sympathies,
472 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
individuals were found furnishing men, money, and materials
of war and supplies to the insurgents' military 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
inactive. 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 in
stigated by the abettors 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 inef&cient forces, discouraged the loyal,
and gave new hopes to the insurgents. Voluntary enlistments
seemed about to cease, and desertions commenced. Parties
speculated upon the question whether conscription had not
become necessary to fill up the armies of the United States.
" In this emergency the President felt it his duty to employ
¦\vith energy the extraordinary powers which the Constitution
confides to him in cases of insurrection. He called irito the
field such military and naval forces, unauthorized by the
existing laws, as seemed necessary. He directed measures to
prevent the use ofthe Post Office for treasonable correspondence.
He subjected passengers to and from foreign countries to new
passport regulations, and he instituted a blockade, suspended
the writ of habeas corpus in various places, and caused persons
THE POLITICAL AND MILITAEY EVENTS OF 1863. 473
who were represented to him as being or about to engage in
disloyal and treasonable practices to be arrested by special
civU 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 insti
tuted, 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
hensions of public danger and facilities for treasonable practices
have diminished with the passions which prompted heedless
persons to adopt them. The insurrection is believed to have
culminated and to be declining.
" The President, in view of these facts, and anxious to favor
a return to the normal course of the administration, as far as
regard for the public welfare will, allow, directs that all political
prisoners or State prisoners, now held in military custody, be
released on their subscribing to a parole engaging them to ren
der no aid or comfort to the enemies in hostility to the United
States. " The Secretary of War will, however, at his discretion, ex
cept 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
direction of the military authorities alone.
"By order ofthe President:
" Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War"
474 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
Wherever the public safety seemed to require it, arrests
continued to be made — the President, in every instance,
assuming all the responslbihty of these acts, and throw
ing himself upon the courts and the judgment of the
countrv for his vindication. The President himself,
however, had not, up to this time, directed any general
suspension of the writ of habeas corpus, or given any
public notice of the rules by which the government
would be guided in its action upon cases that might
arise ; it being left to the Secretary of War to decide in
what instances and for what causes arrests should be
made and the privilege of the writ should be suspended.
Some of the courts into whicii these cases were brought,
had ruled that, although the President had authority
under the Constitution to suspend the writ, he could not
delegate that authority to any subordinate. To meet
this case, therefore, the President, on the 24th of Sep
tember, 1862, issued the following
" PEOCLAMATION.
" Whereas, it has been necessary to call into service, not only
volunteers, but also portions ofthe militia of the States by draft,
in order to suppress the insurrection existing in the United
States, and disloyal persons are not adequately restrained by
the ordinary processes of law from hindering this measure, and
frora giving aid and comfort in various ways to tho insurrec
tion. " Now, therefore, be it ordered —
"First, That during the existing insurrection, and as a neces
sary measure for suppressing the same, all rebels and insurgents,
their aiders and abettors, within the United States, and all per
sons discouraging volunteer enlistments, resisting military drafts,
or guilty of any disloyal practice affording aid and comfort to
THE POLITICAL AND MILITAEY EVENTS OF 18G3. 475
the rebels against the authority of the United Stateis, shall be
subject to martial law, and Uable to trial and punishment by
courts-martial or military commission.
Sxond, That the writ of habeas corpus is suspended in respect
to all persons arrested, or who are now, or hereafter during the
rebellion shall be, imprisoned in any fort, camp, arsenal, mili
tary prison, or other place of confinement, by any military
authority, or by the sentence of any court-martial or military
commission. " In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal,
and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
" Done at the city of Washington, this twenty-fourth d.ay of
September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight
[l. s.] hundred and sixty-two, and of the independence of the
United States the eighty-seventh.
" Abraham Lincoln."
" By the President :
" William H. Sewaed, Secretary of State."
This was accompanied by orders- from the War Depart
ment appointing a Provost Marshal-General, whose
headquarters were to be at Washington, with special
provost-marshals, one or more, in each State, charged
with the duty of arresting deserters and disloyal persons,
and of inquiring into treasonable practices throughout
the country.
Durmg the following winter. Congress enacted a law,
sanctioning the action of the President in suspending the
writ of habeas corpus, and giving him full authority
to check and punish all attempts to defeat the efforts of
the government in the prosecution of the war. After
the adjournment, how.ever, party agitation was again re
vived, and public meetings were held denouncing the
conduct of the government, and protesting against the
476 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
further prosecution of the war. One of the most active
of these advocates of peace with the rebel confederacy
was Hon. C. L. Vallandigham, a member of Congress
from Ohio, who- after the adjournment made a political
canvass of his district, in the course of which, in a speech
at Mount Vernon, on the 1st of May, he denounced the
government at Washington as aiming, in its conduct of
the war, not to restore the Union, but to crush out hb
erty and establish a despotism : declaring that the war
was waged for the freedom of the blacks and the enslav
ing of the whites, that the government could have had
peace long before if it had really desired it, that the
mediation of France should have been accepted, and
that the governmenthad deliberately rejected propositions
by which the Southern States could have been brought
back into the Union. He also denounced order No. 38,
issued by General Burnside, in command of the Departs
ment, forbidding certain disloyal practices, and giving
notice that persons declaring sympathy for the enemy
would be arrested for trial ; proclaimed his intention to
disobey it, and appealed to his hearers to resist and de
feat its execution.
For this speech Mr. Vallandigham was very properly
arrested, by order of General Burnside, on the 4th of
May, and ordered for trial before a court>-martial at Cin
cinnati. His application on the 5th, for a writ of Zio-
beas corpus, was heard before the Circuit Court of the
United States, which decided adversely to him. Hav
ing, therefore, been tried by the mihtary commission, he
was sentenced to close confinement at Fort Warren, in
Boston harbor. The President, however, modified this
sentence by directing that he should be sent within the
THE POLITICAL AND MILITAEY EVENTS OF 18C3 477
rebel hnes, and should not return to the United States
until after the close of the war — and the sentence was
at once carried into execution. This arrest, trial and
sentence, of course, created great excitement throughout
the country. By the opponents of the administration,
Mr. Vallandigham was treated as a martyr, and public
meetings were held at which the action of the govern
ment was characterized as tyrannical and dangerous to
the public liberties. One of these demonstrations was
held at Albany, on the 16th of May, to which Governor
Seymour addressed a letter, in which he said, referring
to the arrest of Vallandigham, "If this proceeding is
approved by the government, and sanctioned by the
people, it is not merely a step toward revloution, — it is
revolution. It will not only lead to military despotism,
— it establishes military despotism. In this aspect it
must be accepted, or in this aspect rejected. * * The
people of this country now wait with the deepest anxiety
tbe decision of the administration upon these acts. Hay
ing given it a generous support in the conduct of the
war, we pause to see what kind of a government it is
for which we are asked to pour out our blood and our
treasure. The action of the administration will deter
mine, in the minds of more than one-half of the people
of the loyal States, whether this -war is waged to put
down rebellion at the South, or destroy free institutions
at the North." The resolutions adopted at this meeting,
while pledging the Democratic party of the State to the
preservation of the Union, condemned in the strongest
terms the whole system of arbitrary arrests, and the
suspension of the writ of Iwibeas corpus.
478 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
A copy of these resolutions was forwarded by the
presiding ofiicer to President Llsxoi-n, who sent the fol
lo-wing letter in reply :
'-¦ Executive Maxsion, Washington, June 13, 1863.
" Hon. Eeastus Coexixg and others :
" Gentlemen : Your letter of May 19, inclosing the resolutions
of a pubUc 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 viciory, and
to support the administration in every constitutional and law-
-rul measure to suppress the rebellion ; and, secondly, a declara
tion of censure upon the administration for supposed unconsti
tutional action, such as the making of military arrests. And
from the two propositions a third is deduced, which is, that the
gentlemen composing the meeting are resolved on doing their
part to maintain our common government and countrv, despite
the folly or -wickedness, as they may conceive, of any adminis
tration. This proposition 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
systematicaUy east upon me for doing what, in mv "view of
duty, I could not forbear. The resolutions promise to support
me in every constitutional and la-wful measure to suppress the
rebellion, and I have not knowingly employed, nor shall know
ingly employ, any other. But the meeting, by these resolu
tions, assert and argue that certain military arrests, and pro
ceedings following them, for which I am ultimately responsible,
THE POLITICAL AND MILITAEY EVENTS OF 1363. 479
are unconstitutional. I think they are not. The resolutions
quote from the Constitution the definition of treason, and also
the limiting safeguards and guarantees therein provided for the
citizen on trial for treason, and on his being held to answer
for capital, or otherwise infamous crimes, and, in criminal pros
ecutions, his right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial
jury. They procceed to resolve, ' that the safeguards of the
rights of citizens against the pretensions of arbitrary power
were intended more especially fox his protection in times of civil
commotion.' " And apparently to demonstrate the proposition, the resolu
tions proceed : ' They were secured substantially to the English
people after years of protracted civil war, and were adopted
into our Constitution at the close of the revolution.' Would
uot 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 devout-
edly for them after civil war, and before civil war, and at all
times, ' except when, in cases of rebellion or invasion, the pub
lic safety may require ' their suspension. The resolutions pro
ceed to tell us that these safeguards ' have stood the test of sev
enty-six years of trial, under our republican system, under cir
cumstances, which show that, while they constitute the founda
tion of all free government, they are the elements ofthe endur
ing stability of the Eepublic' 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 application to the case we have in hand, because
the arrests complained of were not made for treason — that is,
not for the treason defined in the Constitution, and upon convi(!-
tion of which the punishment is death — nor yet were tbey
made to hold persons to answer for any capital or otherwise in-
480 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
famous crimes ; nor were the proceedings following, in any
constitutional or legal sense, ' criminal prosecutions.' The ar
rests were made on totall}'- different grounds, and the proceed
ings foUowing accorded with the grounds of the arrest. Let
us consider the real case with which we are dealing, and apply
to it the parts of the Constitution plainly made for such cases.
"Prior to my installation here, it had been inculcated that
any State had a lawful right to secede from the national Union,
and that it would be expedient to exercise the right whenever
the devotees of the doctrine should fail to elect a President to
their own liking. I was elected contrary to their liking, and,
accordingly, so fiir as it was legally possible, they had taken
seven States out of the Union, had seized many of the United
States forts, and had fired upon the United States flag, all
before I was inaugurated, and, of course, before I had done
any official act 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 more than thirty years, while the Govern
ment had taken no steps to resist them. The former had care
fully considered all the means which could be turned to their
account. It undoubtedly was a well-pondered reliance with
them that, in their own unrestricted efforts to destroy Union,
Constitution, and the law altogether, the government would, in
a 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 amoungst us a most efficient corps of spies, in
formers, 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 question as to who was to suspend it : meanwhile
THE POLITICAL AND MILITAEY EVENTS OF 1863. 481
their spies and others might remain at large to help on their cause.
Or if, as has hiappened, 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 programme, as 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 indispensable to the public safety. Nothing
is better kno-wn to history than that courts of justice are utterly
incompetent to such cases. Civil courts are. organized chiefly
for trials of indi-viduals, or, at most, a few individuals acting in
concert, and this in quiet times, and on charges of crime well de
fined in the law. Even in times of peace, bands of horse-thieves
and robbers frequently grow too numerous and powerful for the
ordinary 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 to kill 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 bythe resolutions
betore me — in fact, a clear, flagrant, and gigantic case of rebel
lion ; and the provision of the Constitution that 'the privilege
of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended unless
when, in cases of rebellion or invasion, the public safety may
require it,' is the provision which specially applies to our present
case. This provision plainly attests the understanding of those
31
482 THE LIFE OP ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
who made the Constitution, that ordinary courts of justice are
inadequate to ' cases of rebellion' — attests their purpose that, in
such cases, men may be held in custody whom the courts, act
ing on ordinary rules, would discharge. Sabeas corpus does
not discharge men who are proved to be guilty of defined
. crime ; and its suspenston. 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 rebel
lion or invasion, the public safety may require it.' This is pre
cisely our case — a case of rebellion, wherein the public safety
does require the suspension. Indeed, arrests by process of
courts, and arrests in cases of rebellion, do not proceed
altogether upon the same basis. The former is directed at the
small percentage of ordinary and continuous perpetration of
crime ; while the latter is directed at sudden and extensive up
rising 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 prob
ably would be done. The latter is more for the preventive and
less for the vindicative than the former. In such cases the pur
poses of men are much more easily understood than in cases of
ordinary crime. The man who stands by and says nothing
when the peril of his government is discussed, cannot be mis
understood. If not hindered, he is sure to help the enemy;
much more, if he talks ambiguously — talks for his country
with ' huts,' and ' if's' and ' ands.' Of how little value the con
stitutional provisions I have quoted will be rendered, if arrests
shall never be made until defined crimes shall have been com
mitted, may be illustrated by a few notable examples. General
John C. Breckinridge, General Robert E. Lee, General Joseph
E. Johnston, General John B. Magruder, General William B.
Preston, General 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
THE LIFE OP ABEAHAM LINCOLN. .483
then as now. Unquestionably, if we had seized and held them,
the insurgent's cause would be much weaker. But no one of
them had then committed any crime defined in the law. Every
one of them, if arrested, would have been discharged on habeas
corpus, were the writ allowed to operate. In view of these and
similar cases, I think the time not unlikely to come when I
shall be blamed for having made too few arrests rather than
too many.
" By the third resolution, the meeting indicate their opinion
that mUitary arrests may be constitutional in localities where
rebellion actually exists, but that such arrests are unconstitu
tional in localities where rebellion or insurrection does nH
actually exist. They insist that such arrests shall not be made
' outside of the lines of necessary military occupation and the
scenes of insurrection.' Inasmuch, however, as the Constitu
tion itself makes no such distinction, I am unable to believe
that there is any such constitutional distinction. I concede that
the class of arrests complained 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 consti
tutional wherever the public safety does require them ; as well
in places to which they may prevent the rebellion extending
as in those where it may be already prevailing ; as well where
they may restrain mischievous interference with the raising and
supplying of armies to suppress the rebellion, as where the re
bellion 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. Vallan
digham was, by a military commander, seized and tried ' for no
other reason than words addressed to a public meeting, in criti
cism of the course of the Administration, and in condemnation
of the military orders of the General.' Now, if there be no
484 THE POLITICAL AND MILITAEY EYENTS OF 1863.
mistake about this ; if this assertion is the truth, and the whole
truth ; if there was no other reason for the arrest ; then, I con
cede that the arrest was wrong. But the arrest, as I under
stand, 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 rebellion without an adequate mili
tary force to suppress it. He was not arrested because he was
damaging the political prospects of the Administration, or the
personal interests of the commanding general, but because he
was damaging the army, upon the existence and vigor of which
the life of the nation depends. He was warring upon the mili
tary, and this gave the military constitutional jurisdiction to
lay hands upon him. If Mr. Vallandigham was not damaging
the military power of the country, then his arrest was made on
mistake of fact, which I would be glad to correct on reasonably
satisfactory evidence.
"I understand the meeting, whose resolutions I am consider
ing, to be in favor of suppressing the rebellion by military
force by armies. Long experience has shown that armies can
not be maintained unless desertions shall be punished by the
severe penalty of death. The case requires, and the law and
the Constitution sanction this punishment. Must I shoot a
simple-minded soldier-boy who deserts, while I must not touch
a hair of a wily agitator who induces him to desert? This is
none the less injurious when effected by getting a father, or
brother, or friend, into a public meeting, and there working
upon his feelings tUl he is persuaded to write the soldier-boy
that he is fighting in a bad cause, for a wicked administration
of a contemptible government, too weak to arrest and punish
him if he shall' desert. I think that, in such a case, to silence
the agitator and save the boy, is not only constitutional, but
withal a great mercy.
"If I be wrong on this question of constitutional power, my
' THE POLITICAL AND MILITAEY EVENTS OF 1863. 485
error Ues in belie-sdng that certain proceedings are constitu
tional 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 invol-ving 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 thb govern
ment can constitutionally take no strong m.easures in time of
rebellion, because it can be shown that the same could not be
lawfully taken in time of peace, than I can be persuaded that a
particular drug is not good medicine for a sick man, because it
.can be shown not to be good food for a well one. Nor am I
able to appreciate the danger apprehended by the meeting that
the American people will, by means of military arrests during
the rebellion, lose the right of public discussion, the Uberty of
speech and the press, the law of evidence, trial by jury, and
habeas corpus, throughout the indefinite peaceful future, which
I trust lies before them, any more than I am able to believe
that a man could contract so strong an appetite for emetics
during temporary illness as to persist in feeding upon them
during the remainder of his healthful life.
" In gi-ving 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 prepared their resolutions, be permitted to suppose
that this occurred by accident, or in any way other than that
they preferred 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.
436 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
the force of habit, the prejudices of the past, and selfish hopes
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 denied me this, I will yet be thankful, for
the country's sake, that not all Democrats have done so. He, on
whose discretionary judgment Mr. Vallandigham was arrested
and tried, is a Democrat, having no old party affinity with me ;
and the judge who rejected the constitutional view expressed
in these resolutions, by refusing to discharge Mr. Vallandigham
on habeas corpus, is -a Democrat of better days than these, having
received his judicial mantle at the hands of President Jackson.
And still more, of all those Democrats who are nobly exposing
their lives and shedding their blood on the battle-field, I have
learned that many approve the course taken with Mr. Vallan
digham, while I have not heard of a single one condemning it.
I cannot assert that there are none such. And the name of
Jackson recalls an incident of pertinent history : — After the
battle of New Orleans, and while the fact that the treaty of
peace had been concluded was well known in the city, but
before official knowledge of it had arrived, General Jackson
Still maintained martial or military law. Now that it cOuld be
said the war was over, the clamor against martial law, whiqh
bad existed from the first, grew more furious. Among other
things, a Mr. Louiallier published a denunciatory newspaper
article. General Jackson arrested him. A lawyer by the name
of Morrel procured the United States Judge Hall to issue a writ
of habeas corpus to relieve 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 arrested him. When the officer under
took to serve the writ of habeas corpus, General Jackson took it
from him, and sent him away with a copy. Holding the judge
in custody a few days, the General sent him beyond the limits
of his encampment, and set him at Uberty, with an order to
remain till the ratification of peace should be regularly an-
THE POLITICAL AND MILITAEY EVENTS OF ISeS.'; 487
nounced, or until the British should have left the Southern
coast. A day or two more elapsed, the ratification of a treaty
of peace was regularly announced, and the judge and others
were fully liberated. A few days more, and the judge called
General Jackson into court and fined him one thousand dollars
for having arrested him and the others named. The General
paid the fine, and there the matter rested for nearly thirty
years, when Congress refunded principal and interest. The
late Senator Douglas, then in the House of Eepresentatives,
took a leading part in the debates, in which the constitutional
question was much discussed. I am not 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 ; second, that we then had a case of invasion,
and now we have a case of rebellion ; and, thirdly, that the
permanent right of the people to public discussion, the liberty
of speech and of the press, the trial by jury, the law of evidence,
and the habeas corpus, suffered no detriment whatever by that
conduct of General Jackson, or its subseqvient approval by the
American Congress.
" And yet, let me say that, in my own discretion, I do not
know whether I would have ordered the arrest of Mr. Vallan
digham. 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 practice a general directory and revisory power in the
matter. " One of the resolutions expresses 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
a:m specifically called on to discharge Mr. Vallandigham. I
regard this as, at least, a fair appeal to me on the expediency
of exercising a constitutional power which I think exists. In
I'e.sponse to such appeal, I have to say, it gave me pain when I
learned that Mr. Vallandigham had been arrested — that is, I
488 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
was pained that there should have seemed to be a necessity for
arresting him — and that it -will afford me great pleasure to dis
charge 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 pro
gresses, it appears to me, opinion and action which were in great
confusion at first, take shape and fall into more regular channels,
so that the necessity for strong dealing with them gradually
decreases. I have every reason to desire that it should cease
altogether ; and far from the least is my regard for the opinions
and wishes of those who, like the meeting at Albany, declare
their purpose to sustain the government in every constitutional
and lawful measure to suppress the rebellion. StiU, I must
continue to do so much as may seem to be required by the
public safety. " A. Lincoln."
Similar meetings were held ui other cities and towns
ofthe North, and, on the llth of June, at a State Con
vention of the Democratic party, held at Columbus,
Ohio, for the nomination of State ofiicers, Mr. Vallan
digham was made the Democratic candidate for governor,
receiving, on the first ballot, four himdred and forty-
eight votes out of four hundred and sixty-one, the whole
number cast. Eesolutions were adopted protesting
against the Emancipation Proclamation ; condemning
martial law in loyal States, where war does not exist ;
denouncing the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus ;
protesting very strongly against the banishment of Val
landigham, and calling on the President to restore him
to his rights ; declaring that they would hail with de
hght the desire of the seceded States to return to their
allegiance, and that they would co-operate with the
citizens of those States in measures for the restoration of
peace
THE POLITICAL AND MILITAEY EVE^iTS OF 1S63. 4S9
A committe, on the 2Gth of June, pi-esented to the
President the i-esolutions adopted by the Convention,
and urged the immediate recall and restor.ition of Mr.
VaUandigham, their candidate for governor. To this
President Lincoln made the following i-eplv:
"Washixgtox. Jup.t -29. 1863.
•• Gextlemen : — The resolutions of the Ohio Demooratio State
Convention, which you present me, together with your intro
ductory and closing remarks, being in position aud argument
mauily 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 e\-idently used in j>reparing your remaiks,
and I desire no more than that it be used with accuracy. In a
single reading of your remarks, I only discovered one inaccu-
r;icy in matter which I suppose you took from that j>aper. It
is where you sav. ' The undersigned are unable to agree witli
you in the opinion you have expressed that the Constitution is
different in time of insurrection or invasion from what it is in
time of p>edce 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 iis appiicc.iion in c;ises of
rebeUion or invasion, involving the public satetv. from what it
is in times of profound peace and public security ; and this
opinion I adhere to. simply because, by the Constitution itself^
things may be done in the one case which may not be done in
the other.
¦• I dishke to waste a word on a merely personal point, but I
must respecttuUy assure you that you wiU find yourselves at
lault should you ever seek for evidence to prove your :issamp-
tion that I ' opposed iu disoossious before the people the poUcy
of the Mexican war.'
" You say. ' Expunge from the Constitution this limitation
490 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
upon the power of Congress to suspend the writ of habeas
corpus, and yet the other guarantees of personal liberty would
remain unchanged.' Doubtless if this clause of the Constitu
tion improperly called, as I think, 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, involving the public safety. If the liberty could be
indulged in expunging that clause, letter and spirit, I real, y
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. VaUandigham in the
very case in question, under the advice of able lawyers, saw
not where else to go but to the habeas corpius. But by the Con
stitution the benefit of the writ of habeas corpus itself may be
suspended, when, in case of rebellion or invasion, the public
safety may require it.
"You ask, in substance, whether I really claim that I may
override all the guaranteed rights of individuals, on the plea
of conserving the public safety — when I may choose to say the
public safety requires it. This question, divested of the phrase
ology calculated to represent me as struggling for an arbitrary
personal prerogative, is either simply a question who shaU de
cide, or an affirmation that nobody shaU 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 who is to decide it.
By necessary implication, when rebeUion or invasion comes,
the decision is to be made from time to time ; and I think the
man whom, for the time, the people have, under the Constitu-
THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN. 491
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.
*¦ The earnestness with which you insist that persons can
only, in times of rebellion, be lawfully dealt with in accord
ance with the rules for criminal trials and punishments in times
of peace, induces 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 rebellion. The Constitution itself rejects this view. The
military arrests and detentions which have been made, in
cluding those of Mr. Vallandigham, which are not different in
principle from the other, have been for prevention, and not for
punishment — as injunctions to stay injury, as proceedings to
keep the peace — and hence, like proceedings in such cases, and
for like reasons, they have not been accompanied with indict
ments, or trial by juries, nor in a single case by any punish
ment whatever beyond what is purely incidental to the pre
vention. The original sentence of imprisonment in Mr.
Vallandigham's case was to prevent injury to the military
service only, and the modification of it was made as a less
disagreeable mode to him of securing the same prevention.
" I am unable to perceive an insult to Ohio in the case of
Mr. VaUandigham. 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
nomination of Governor, until so informed by your reading to
me the resolutions of the Convention. I am grateful to the
State of Ohio for many things, especially for the brave soldiers
and officers she has given in the present national trial to the
armies of the Union.
492 THE POLITICAL AND MILITAEY EVENTS OP 1863.
" You claim, as I understand, that according to my own po
sition 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 know that Mr. Vallandigham
has specifically and by direct language advised against enUst
ments, and in favor of desertions and resistance to drafting.
We all know that combinations, armed 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
solemnly declare my belief that this hindrance of the military,
including maiming and murder, is due to the cause in which
Mr. Vallandigham has been engaged, in a greater degree than
to any other cause; and it is due to him personally in a greater
degree than to any other man.
" These things have been notorious, known to all, and of
course known to Mr. Vallandigham. Perhaps I would not be
wrong to say they originated with his especial friends and
adherents. With perfect knowledge of them he has frequently,
if not constantly, made speeches in Congress and before popular
assemblies; and if it can be shown that, with these things
staring him in the face, he has ever uttered a word of rebuke
or counsel against them, it -will be a fact greatly in his 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 resistance, it is next to impossible to repel
the inference that he has counselled directly in favor of it.
THE POLITICAL AND MILITAEY EVENTS OF 1863. 493
" With all this before their eyes, the convention you repre
sent 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
constitutional means of saving the Union against a rebellion, or
even to intimate that you are conscious of an existing rebeUion
being in progress with the avowed object of destroying that
very Union. At the same time, your nominee for governor, in
whose behalf you appeal, is known to you, and to the world, to
declare against the use of an army to suppress the rebellion.
Youi- own attitude, therefore, encourages desertion, resistance
to the draft, and the like, because it teaches those who incline
to dissert and to escape the draft, to believe it is your purpose
to protect them, and to hope that you will become strong
enough to do so.
" After a short personal intercourse with you, gentlemen of
the 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 sub
stantial 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, indorse your names upon one of them, and return
it thus indorsed to me, with the understanding that those sign
ing are thereby committed to the following propositions,
and to nothing else •
" 1. That there is now rebellion in the United States, the
object and tendency of which is to destroy the national Union ;
and that, in your opinion, an army and navy are constitutional
means for suppressing that rebellion.
" 2. That no one of you will do any thing which, in his own
494 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
judgment, will tend to hinder the increase, or favor the de
crease, 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 provided for and supported.
" And with the further understanding that upon receiving
the letter and names thus indorsed, I will cause them to be
published, v/hich publication shall be, within itself, a revoca
tion of the order in relation to Mr. Vallandigham.
" It -will not escape observation that I consent to the release
Df Mr. Vallandigham upon terms not embracing any pledge
from him or from others as to what he will or will not do. I
do this because 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
chiefiy 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 conse
quences of any mistake in allowing Mr. Vallandigham to
return, so that, on the whole, the public safety will not have
suffered 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 idspectfuUy, yours, &c.,
"A. Lincoln."
The canvass throughout the summer was very ani
mated, the opponents of the administration in Ohio, as
elsewhere throughout the country, makuig the matter
of arbitrary arrests a very prominent point of attack.
Special prominence was given to the fact that instead of
acting directly upon his own responslbihty in these
THE POLI'JJCAL AND MILITAEY EVENTS OF 1863. 495
cases, the President left them to the discretion of
military commanders in the several departments ; this
being held to be in violation of the law of Congress
authorizing the President to suspend the. writ of habeas
corpus, but not to delegate that high prerogative. To
meet this objection, therefore, and to establish a uniform
mode of action on the subject, the President issued the
following " PEOCLAMATION.
"Whereas, The Constitution of the United States has
ordained that ' The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shal
not be suspended, unless, when in cases of rebellion or in
vasion, the public safety may require it ; and, whereas, a
rebellion was existing on the 8d day of March, 1863, which
rebeUion is still existing ; and, whereas, by a statute which
was approved on that day, it was enacted by the Senate
and House of Eepresentatives of the United States, in Congress
assembled, that during the present insurrection the President
of the United States, whenever in his judgm.-nt the pnblic
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 wai; 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 na;val services by the authority of the President of
498 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINClQ^N.
the United States, or for resisting the draft, or for any other
offence against the military or naval service ; now, therefore, I,
Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, do hereby
proclaim and make known to all whom it may concern, that
the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus is suspended through
out 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 sub
sequent 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 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 affixed, this
fifteenth day of September, in the year of our Lord one
thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the inde
pendence of the United States of America the eighty-
eighth.
"Abraham Lincoln.
" By the President :
" Wm. H. Seward, Secretary of Slate."
The Strenuous efforts hitherto made by the enemies
of the government to arouse hostility against its general
policy, had proved successful in the discouragement of
volunteer enlistments; and the government found it
necessary to resort to the extraordinary power vested in
it by the " Conscription Act." The questions raised in
regard to the liability of foreigners to be drafted under
this law, were decisively settled by a special proclama-
THE POLITICAL AND MILITAEY EVENTS OF 1863. 497
tion from the President, on the 8th of May, 1863 ; and
it was subsequently ordered that the draft should take
place in July, and the quotas were assigned to the re
spective States.
Great pains, had been taken by the opponents of the
administration to excite odium against that clause ofthe
law fixing the price of exemption from service under the
draft at three hundred dollars. It was represented that
this clause was for the special benefit of the rich, who
could easily pay the sum required ; while poor men who
were unable to pay it would be compelled, at whatever
hardships to themselves and their families, to enter the
army. The draft was commenced in the city of New
York on Saturday, July llth, and was conducted
quietly and successfully during that day. But on
Monday morning, July 13th, one of the district
enroUing officers was suddenly attacked by an armed
mob, the wheel and lists destroyed, and the building
set on fire. The city was surprised by this sudden out
break of an evidently organized attempt to overawe the
government authority, for the first day's movements
seemed to be primarily directed against every one sup
posed to be in any way concerned in the draft, or
prominently identified, officially or otherwise, with the
administration or the Republican party. After tbe first
day the rioters took a new turn, and gave themselves
up to indiscriminate sack aud pillage of whatever they
could lay their hands upon. Unfortunately the militia
regiments of the city had been sent to Pennsylvania to
meet the rebel invasion ; and the only guardians left for
the public peace were the regular police, and a few
hundred soldiers who garrisoned the forts. Both behaved
32
498 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
with the greatest vigor and fidelity, but they were too
few to protect the city, which, for four days, seemed to
be perfectly abandoned to the control of the mob.
Negroes were assaulted, beaten to death, mutilated, and
hung; builduigs burned, and gangs of desparadoes
patrolled the streets, levymg contributions, and ordering
places of business to be closed.
Finally, however, the strong arm of the law began to
make itself felt. The noble efforts of the United States
troops and the pohce, aided by the mihtia regiments
who began to return from Pennsylvania, were successful
in dispersing the bands of rioters, and restoring the
peace of the city.
During these riots the draft was necessarily suspended,
and on the 3d of August, Governor Seymour addressed
a long letter to the President, asking that further pro
ceedings under the draft might be postponed until it
should be seen whether the number required from the
State of New York could not be raised by volunteering, and
also until the constitutionality of the law could be tested
in the judicial tribunals. In his reply, Mr. Lincoln,
after statmg the facts and premises on which the
government had acted in regard to the draft in New
York city, thus frankly but firmly meets the issue made
by the Governor :
" I do not object to abide a decision of the United States
Supreme Court, or of the Judges thereof, on the constitution
ality of the draft law. In fact, I should be willing to facilitate
the obtaining of it. But I cannot consent to lose the time while it
is being obtained. We are contending with an enemy who, as I
understand, drives every able-bodied man he can reach into his
ranks, very much as abutcher drives bullocks into a slaughter-pen.
THE POLITICAL AND MILITAEY EVENTS OF 1863. 499
No time is wasted, no argument is used. This produces an
army which will soon turn upon our now -victorious soldiers
already in the field, if they shall not be sustained by recruits
as they should be. It produces an army with a rapidity not to
be matched on our side, if we first waste time to re-experiment
with the volunteer system, already deemed by Congress, and
palpably, in fact, so far exhausted as to be inadequate ; and
then more time to obtain a 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 who are already in it ; and still
more time to determine with absolute certainty that we get
those who are to go in the precisely legal proportion to thc"se
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
free principles of our common country.
" Your obedient servant, A. Lincoln."
The draft in New York was resumed on the 19th of
August, and ample preparations ha-ving been made for
the preservation of the pubhc peace, encountered no
further opposition. In every other part of the country,
the proceedings were conducted and completed -without
resistance. Another combination of unfortunate events and cir
cumstances which sorely beset and tried the patience of
the Chief Magistrate was the unfortunate Missouri im
broglio. In this State, at the outbreak of the rebelhon, the
Executive Department was under the control of traitors,
who, under pretence of warding off" domestic treason,
were, in reality, organizing its forces for active co-operar
tion with the secession movement. Governor Jacksou
had convened the Legislature for the purpose of takmg
the State out of the Union, but the people defeated his
500 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
traitorous project, by electing a large majority of Union
members, who, on the 30th of July, 1861, declared all
the Executive ofiices vacant, and appointed a loyal pro
visional government, of which the Hon. H. R. Gamble
was made the head. He immediately ordered all rebel
troops to withdraw from the State ; called upon the citi
zens to organize for the public defense, and took other
decisive measures to maintain the national authsrity
within the State. Shortly after. Governor Jackson, return
ing from Richmond, declared the State to be out of the
Union, and summoned a new Legislature, which, sub
servient to his wishes, on the 2d of November, ratified a
treaty, by which certain commissioners, on both sides,
agreed that Missouri should join the rebel confederacy.
The State authority was thus divided — two persons claim
uig to 'wield the Executive authority, and two bodies, also,
claiming to represent the popular will, — one adhering
to the Union, and the other to the confederacy in organ
ized rebelhon against it. This state of things naturally
opened every section and neighborhood of the State, to
all the evil effects of civil war.
To these were gradually added other evils arising
from a division of sentiment, which soon ripened into
sharp hostility, among the friends of the Union within
the State. One of the principal and earliest causes of
this was the action and removal of General Fremont,
¦v\lio had arrived at St. Louis, to take command of the
Western Department, on the 26th of July, 1861. On
the 31st of August he issued a proclamation, declaring
that circumstances, in his judgment, of sufficient urgency
rendered it necessary that " the commanding general of
tlie Department slwuld assume the administrative power
THE POLITICAL AND MILITAEY EVENTS OF 1863. 501
of the State, thus superseding entirely the authority of
the civil rulers ; proclaiming, also, the State to be under
martial law ; declaring that all persons taken with arms
in their hands, -within the designated lines of the de
partment, should be tried by a court-martial, and if
found guilty, shot ; and confiscating the property and.
emancipating the slaves of " all persons who should be
proved to have taken an active part -with the enemies
of the United States." This latter clause, which tran
scended the authority conferred by the confiscation act
of Congress, was subsequently modified by order of the
President of the United States.*
On the 14th of October, after a personal inspection
of affairs in that department by the Secretary of War,
General Fremont was censured by an order from the
War ofl6.ce, on grounds mainly relating to his lavish and
unwarranted expenditures, etc. ; and this was followed,
on the 2d of November, by an order relieving him from
his command, which then devolved upon General Hun
ter. He, in tum, was superseded, sixteen days later, by
General Halleck. Fremont's removal was made, by his
numerous friends, especially among the German popula
tion, the occasion of magnificent public demonstrations
of sympathy for him, and of censure for the govern
ment; his removal being ascribed to jealousy of his
popularity, and to the well-known fact that his policy
in regard to emancipation was in advance of the gov
ernment at Washington.
The sharp personal discussions which were thus in
augurated, were made still more bitter, by denunciations
* See page 288.
502 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
of General Halleck's course in excludmg, for military
reasons, which have been already noticed, fugitive
slaves from our lines, and by the contest that soon came
up in the State Convention, on the general subject of
emancipation. On the 7th of June, 1862, a bill was in
troduced into the Convention by Judge Breckinridge,
of St. Louis, for gradual emancipation, framed in ac
cordance with the recommendation of the President's
message. This was, however, summarily laid on the
table, but was revived, on the 13th, by a special mes
sage from Governor Gamble, and was then referred to a
special committee, which reported resolutions, recogniz
ing the generous nature of the movement, but declining
to take any action upon it. These resolutions were
adopted. On tbe 16 th, a mass convention of emancipationists,
comprising one hundred and ninety-five delegates from
twenty-five counties, met at Jefferson City, and passed
resolutions, declaring that it was the duty of the next
Legislature to pass laws giving effect to a gradual system
of emancipation on the basis proposed. This question,
therefore, became the leading theme of controversy, and
the key-note of the ensuing State election, resulting in
the election of a Legislature, the large majority of which
was favorable to emancipation.
During the summer, the State was overrun with rebel
guerillas, who robbed and plundered the Unionists ; so
that Governor Gamble was obliged to order the organi
zation of the entire mihtia of the State, and authorized
General Schofield to call into active ser-vice such portions
of it as might be needed to put down the marauders,
THE POLITICAL AND MILITAEY EVENTS OF 1863. 503
and defend peaceable and loyal citizens. The organiza
tion was effected with promptness, and the State militia
became a powerful auxiliary of the national forces, in
clearing all sections of the State of the lawless bands
which had committed so many outrages.
On the 19 th of September, the States of Missouri,
Kansas and Arkansas, were formed into a military dis
trict, of which the command was assigned to General
Curtis, whose sentiments were thoroughly in sympathy
with the friends of immediate emancipation, and the
supporters of General Fremont in his differences with
the government. He had control of the national forces
in his district, but not of the State militia.
The differences of political sentiment between the two
wings of the Union party of the State were repre
sented, to some extent, by two organized military
forces ; and the contest between them was waged with
increasing bitterness, to the great embarrassment of the
government at Washington, and to the injury of the
Union cause. At length, in the spring of 1863, the
President removed General Curtis from his command,
and appointed General Schofield in his place. This
gave rise to very vehement remonstrances and protests,
to one of which, sent by telegraph, the President made
the following reply :
" Your despatch of to-day is just received. It is very pain
ful to me that you, in Missouri, cannot, or will not, settle your
factional quarrel among yourselves. I have been tormented
with 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."
504 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
To General Schofield himself, the President soon after
addressed the following letter :
"Executive Mansion, Washington, May 21, 1863.
" General J. M. Schofield :
" Dear Sir : — Having removed General Curtis, and assigned
you to the command of the Department 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 majority of
the people, have entered into a persistent, 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
mUitary measures be strong enough to repel the invaders and
keep the peace, and not so strong as to unnecessarily harass
and persecute the people. 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. Lincoln."
This action gave great dissatisfaction to the more radi
cal Unionists of the State. They had long been anxious
to have the provisional government, of which Governor
Gamble was the executive head, set aside by the
national authority, and the control of the State vested
THE POLITICAL AND MILITAEY EVENTS OF 1863. 505
in a military governor clothed with the authority which
General Fremont had assumed to exercise by his procla
mation of August Slst, 1861 ; — and the Germans, in
particular, made very urgent demands for the restora
tion of General Fremont himself Several deputations
visited Washington for the purpose of representing
these views and wishes to the President, and also of
insisting upon sundry changes in the Cabinet; the
dismissal of General Halleck from the position of Com
mander of the Armies of the United States ; and other
matters of equal importance.
The following report of President Lincoln's reply
to these various requests, was made by a member of a
committee appointed at a mass meeting, composed
mainly of Germans, held at St. Louis, on the 10th of
May, 1863, and although made by a person oppfsed to
the President's action, it probably affords a substantially
correct statement of his remarks :
" Messrs. Emile Pretoeious, Theodore Olshausen, E. E.
eombaur, etc.:
"Gentlemen: — During a professional*visit to Washington
city, I presented to the President of the United States, in com
pliance with your instructions, a copy of the resolutions
adopted in mass meeting at St. Louis on the 10th of May,
1863, and I requested a reply to the suggestions therein con
tained. The President, after a careful and loud reading of the
whole report of proceedings, saw proper to enter into a conver
sation of two hours' duration, in the course of which most o^
the topics embraced in the resolutions and other subjects were
discussed. "As my share in the conversation is of secondary import
ance, I propose to omit it entirely in this report, and avoiding
506 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
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 his best understanding, if he had to die fof 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, fac
tion or set of men. General Halleck is not guilty of the
charges made against him, most of which arise from misappre
hension 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
' systematically kept out of command,' as stated in the fourth
resolution; 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^as not only willing, but anxious -to place them again
in command as, soon as he could find spheres of action for
them, without 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 admit
ting 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
ascribed 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 POLITICAL AND MILITAEY EVENTS OF 1863. 507
" 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 emancipation.
In explanation of his views on this subject, the President said
that in his speeches 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 operation, would result in
the death of the patient, while 'tinkering it off by degrees'
would preserve 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 he was at present advised, the
Radicals in Missouri had no right to consider themselves the ex
ponents of his views on the subject of emancipation in that State.
" 5. General Curtis was not relieved on account of any wrong
act or great mistake committed by him. The system of
provost-marshals, established by him throughout the State,
gave rise to violenljicomplaint. That the President had thought at
one time to appoint General Fremont in his place ; that at
another time he had thought of appointing General McDowell,
whom he characterized as a good and loyal, though very un
fortunate soldier ; and that, at last. General Schofield was ap
pointed, 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 occasion permitted. At the close of the conversation,
the President remarked that there was evidently a 'serious
misunderstanding springing up between him, and the Germans
of St. Louis, which he would like to see removed. Obser-ving
to him that the difference of opinion related to facts, men, and
measures, I withdrew.
" I am very respectfully, etc., James Taussig."
On the 1st of July, the State Convention passed an
508 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
amendment to the Constitution, declaring that slavery
should cease to exist in Missouri on the 4th of July,
1870, with certain specified exceptions. The demand,
however, was made for immediate emancipation, and
Governor Gamble and the members of the provisional
government who had favored the policy adopted by the
State Convention, were denounced as the advocates of
slavery and allies of the rebellion. In the early part
of August, the murderous guerrilla raid into the town of
Lawrence, Kansas, aroused the most intense excitement
in the adjoining State of Missouri, and the opponents
of the provisional government siezed the occasion to
throw upon it and General Schofield, who had command
of the State militia as well as of the national forces, the
responsibility^ in having permitted this massacre to take
place. At a mass convention, held at Jefferson city, on the
2d of September, resolutions were adopted denouncing
the military pohcy pursued in the State and the delegar
tion of military powers to the provisional government.
A committee of one from each county was appointed to
visit Washington and lay their grievances before the
President ; and in the latter part of September the com
mittee had an interview with the President, in which
they represented Governor Gamble and General Scho
field as in virtual alhance with the rebels, and demanded
the removal of the latter as an act of justice to the
loyal and anti-slavery men of the State. The committee
also held public meetings in several of the northern
cities, for the purpose of enlisting pubhc sentiment in
their support ; assertmg that the radical emancipation
party was the only one which represented the loyalty
THE POLITICAL AND MILITAEY EVENTS OF 1863. 509
of Missouri, and strongly censuring President Lincoln
for "closing his ears to just, loyal, and patriotic de
mands of the radical party, while he indorsed the dis
loyal and oppressive demands of Governor Gamble,
General Schofield, and their adherents."
On the 5th of October, the President made to the
representations and requests of the Committee the fol
lowing reply :
"Executive Mansion, Washington, Oct. 5th, 1863.
" Hon. Charles Drake and others. Committee :
" Gentlemen : — Your original address, presented on the 30th
ult., and the four supplementary ones presented on the 3d 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 General
Butler be appointed as Commander of the military department
of Missouri.
" Second, That the system of enrolled militia in Missouri may
be broken up, and national forces be substituted for it ; and,
" Third, That at elections, persons may not be allowed to
vote who are not entitled by law to do so.
"Among the reasons given, enough of suffering and wrong
to Union men, is certainly, and I suppose truly, stated. Yet
the whole case, as presented, fails to convince me that General
Schofield, or the enrolled militia, is responsible for that sufi'er-
ing 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
510 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
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 with, but not without
slavery — those for it without 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.
"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 differ
ences, each will prefer a different way of sustaining the Union.
At once, sincerity is questioned, and motives are assailed.
Actual war coming, blood grows hot, and blood is spilled.
Thought is forced from old channels into confusion. Decep
tion breeds and thrives. Confidence dies, and universal
suspicion reigns. Each man feels an impulse to kill his
neighbor, lest he be killed by him. Eevenge and retaUation
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 reptile rises up. These add crime to confusion.
Strong measures deemed indispensable but harsh at best, such
men make worse by maladministration. Murders for old grudges,
and murders for pelf 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 general. The newspaper files, those chroniclers of
current events, will show that the evils now complained of,
were quite as prevalent 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
• THE POLITICAL AND MILITAEY EVENTS OF 1863. 511
meet it. When the organized rebel army left the State, the
main Federal force had to go also, leaving the department com
mander at home, relati-vely no stronger than before. Without
disparaging any, I affirm with confidence, that no commander
of that department has, in proportion to his means, done better
than General Schofield.
" 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
conceive, 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
0. Broadhead as ¦ Provost-Marshal-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 me, which led to a change of commander of that depart
ment. " 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, applicable
to some parts of the State, to levy and collect contributions
from noted rebels, to compensate losses, and relieve destitution
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 justified by
stern necessity, and that it was liable to great abuse in admin
istration, was equally clear. Agents to execute it, contrary to
the great prayer, were 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
512 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
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 having 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 any thing to allege, had
general charge of this system. A controversy in regard to it
rapidly 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 oppos
ing political parties. I exhausted my wits, and very nearly
my patience also, in efforts to convince both that the e-vils 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
advantage. ¦ The case could scarcely be worse, and whether it
could be made better could only be determined 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 chano-e Mr. Dick
was removed, and that Mr. Broadhead, 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 consequences of the change.
" I gave the new commander no instructions as to the admin
istration of the system mentioned, beyond what is contained in
the private letter afterward surreptitiously published, in which
THE POLITICAL AND MILITAEY EVENTS OF 1863. 513
I directed him to act solely for the public good, and indepen
dently of both parties. Neither any thing you have presented
me, nor any thing I have otherwise learned, has convinced me
that he has been unfaithful to this charge.
"Imbecility is urged as one cause for removing General
Schofield, 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 example 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
hearts to do it.
" The charge is made that General Schofield, on purpose to
protect the Lawrence murderers, would not allow them to be pur
sued into Missouri. 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 Missouri was
the only way to avoid an indiscriminate massacre there, includ
ing probably more innocent than guilty. Instead of condemn
ing, I therefore approve what I understand General Schofield
did in that respect,
" The charge that General Schofield has purposely -withheld
protection from loyal people, and purposely facilitated the
ohgects of the disloyal, are altogether beyond my' power of
belief. 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 purposes 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
command. " 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
33
514 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
to ascertain, better than I now know, what is its exact value.
Let me now say, however, that your proposal to substitute
national force for the ' Enrolled MiUtia,' impUes 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 Eosecrans ?
"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 Johnson. Was this all wrong?
Should the enrolled militia then have been broken up, and
General Herron kept from Grant, to police Missouri ? So far
from finding cause to object, I confess to a sympathy for what
ever relieves our general force in Missouri, and allows it to
serve elsewhere.
" I therefore, as at present advised, cannot attempt the de
struction 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 corpus.
"I concur in the propriety of your request in regard to
elections, and have, as you see, directed General Schofield ac
cordingly. I do not feel justified to enter upon the broad field
you present in regard to the poUtical differences between Eadi-
cals and Conservatives. From time to time I have done and
said what appeared to me proper 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 Eadicals and Conserva
tives 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 would be too strong for any
foe from any quarter. They, however, choose to do otherwise,
THE POLITICAL AND MILITAEY EVENTS OF 1863. 515
and I do not question their right. I, too, shall do what seems
to be my duty. I hold whoever commands in Missouri or else
where responsible to me, and not to either Eadicals or Conser
vatives. 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. Lincoln."
INSTEUCTIONS TO GENEEAL SCHOFIELD.
" Executive Mansion, Washington, D. C, Oct. 1, 1863.
" General John M. Schofield : — There is no organized mili
tary 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 require 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
generaUy. 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 assembUes 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
exercise with great caution, calmness, and forbearance.
"With the matter of removing the inhabitants of certain
counties en masse, and of removing certain individuals from
time to time, who are supposed to be mischievous, I am not
now interfering, 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
616 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
proper, however, to enjoin upon you the following : Allow no
part of the military under your command to be engaged in
either returning fugitive slaves, or in forcing or enticing slaves
from their homes ; and, so far as practicable, enforce the same
forbearance upon the people.
" Eeport 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 pro
perty, under the law of Congress, or otherwise, except upon
o ders 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, includ
ing as of those laws the restrictions laid by the Missouri Con
vention upon those v/ho 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 will repress assumptions of unauthorized individuals to
p€Srform 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 break
ing 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 condition of affairs in this department, however,
continued to be so greatly disturbed by political agita
tions, and the personal controversies to which they gave
rise, that after a lapse of some months, the President
thought best to relieve General Schofield from further
THE POLITICAL AND MILITAEY EVENTS OF 1863. 517
command in this department, and General Rosecrans
was appointed in his place. In his order assuming
command, dated January 30th, 1864, General Rosecrans
paid a very high compliment to his predecessor for the
admirable order in which he found the business of the
department, and expressed the hope that he might re
ceive " the honest, firm, and united support of all true
national and Union men of the department, without
regard to politics, creed, or party, in his endeavors
to maintain law and re-estabhsh peace and secure pros
perity throughout its limits."
During the year, an attempt was made by the Empe
ror of the French to secure the co-operation of Russia
and England in a joint effort at co-operation between
the United States government and the rebel authorities.
The attempt failed, owing to the unwillingness of the
two latter powers to join in the contemplated mediation;
and the French government, thereupon, undertook the
matter alone. Accordingly, on the 9th of January,
1863, it communicated to its minister at Washington
the readiness of the Emperor to do any thing in his
power which might tend towards the termination of
the war. The advantages of the proposed mediation
and conference between the United States and its re
beUious States, were thus set forth in this dispatch :
" Eepresentatives or commissioners of the two parties could
assemble at such point as it should be deemed proper to desig
nate, and which could, for this purpose, be declared neutral.
Eeciprocal complaints would be examined into at this meeting.
In place of the accusations which North and South mutually
cast upon each other at thistime, would be substituted an
argumentative discussion of the interests which divide them.
518 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
They would seek out by means of well ordered and profound
deliberations whether these interests are definitively irrecon
cilable — whether separation is an extreme which can no longer
be avoided, or whether the memories of a common existence,
whether the ties of any kind which have made of the North and
of the South one sole and whole Federative State, and havo
borne them on to so high a degree of prosperity, are not more
powerful than the causes which have placed arms in the hands
of the two populations. A negotiation, the object of which
would be thus determinate, would not involve any of the objec
tions raised against the diplomatic interventions of Eilrope, and,
without giving birth to the same hopes as the immediate con
clusion of an armistice, would exercise a happy influence on
the march of events.
" Why, therefore, should not a combination which respects
all the relations of the United States obtain the approbation of
the Federal Government ? Persuaded on our part that ic is in
conformity with their true interests, we do not hesitate to
recommend it to their attention ; and, not having sought in the
project of a mediation of the maritime powers of Europe any
vain display of influence, we would applaud, with entire free
dom from all susceptibility of self-esteem, the opening of a
negotiation which would invite the two populations to discuss,
without the co-operation of Europe, the solution of their differ
ence." To this, the President made a reply, which embraces
so many points of permanent interest and importance
in connection with the policy of his administration, that
it is well worthy of a place in his biography.
" Department of State, Washington, Feb. 6, 1863.
" Sir : — The intimation given in your dispatch of January 15th,
that I might expect a special visit from M. Mercier, has been
reaUzed. He called on the 3d instant, and gave me a copy of
THE POLITICAL AND MILITAEY EVENTS OF 1853. 519
a dispatch which he had just then received from M. Drouyn de
I'Huys under the date of the 9th of January.
" I have taken the President's instructions, and I now proceed
to give you his views upon the subject in question.
" It has been considered with seriousness, resulting from the
reflection that the people of France are known to be faultless
sharers with the American nation in the misfortunes and
calamities of our unhappy civil war; nor do we on this, any
more than on other occasions, forget the traditional friendship
of the two countries, which we unhesitatingly believe has
inspired the counsels that M. Drouyn de I'Huys has imparted.
"He says, 'the Federal Government does not despair, we
know, of giving more active impulse to hostilities ;' and again
he remarks, ' the protraction of the struggle, in a word, has not
shaken the- confidence (of the Federal Government) in the
definitive success of its efforts.'
" These passages seem to me to do unintentional injustice to
the language, whether confidential or public, in which this
government has constantly spoken on the subject of the war.
It certainly has had and avowed only one purpose — a determi
nation to preserve the integrity of the country. So far from
admitting any laxity of effort, or betraying any despondency,
the government has, on the contrary, borne itself cheerfully in
all vicissitudes, with unwavering confidence in an early and
complete triumph of the national cause. Now, when we
are, in a manner, invited by a friendly power to review the
twenty-one months' history of the conflict, we find no occasion
to abate that confidence. Through such an alternation of
victories and defeats as is the appointed incident of every war,
the land and naval forces of the United States have steadily
advanced, reclaiming from the insurgents the ports, forts, and
posts which they had treacherously seized before the strife
actually began, and even before it was seriously apprehended.
So many of the States and districts which the insurgents
included in the field of their projected exclusive slaveholding
520 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
dominions have already been re-established under the flag of
the Union, that they now retain only the States of Georgia,
Alabama, and Texas, with half of Virginia, half of North
Carolina, and two-thirds of South CaroUna, half of Mississippi,
and one-third respectively of Arkansas and Louisiana. The
national forces hold even this small territory in close blockade
and siege.
" This government, if required, does not hesitate to submit
its achievements to the test of comparison; and it maintains
that in no part of the world, and in no times, ancient or
modern, has a nation, when rendered all unready for combat by
the enjoyment of eighty years of almost unbroken peace
so quickly awakened at the alarm of sedition, put forth energies
so vigorous, and achieved successes so signal and effective
as those which have marked the progress of this contest on the
part of the Union.
" M. Drouyn de I'Huys, I fear, has taken other light than the
correspondence of this government for his guidance in ascer
taining its temper and firmness. He has probably read of
divisions of sentiment among those who hold themselves forth
as organs of public opinion here, and has given to them
an undue importance. It is to be remembered that this is
a nation of thirty millions, civilly divided into forty-one States
and Territories, which cover an expanse hardly less than
Europe; that the people are a pure democracy, exercising
everywhere the utmost freedom of speech and suffrage; that a
great crisis necessarily produces vehement as well as profound
debate, with sharp collisions of individual, local, and sectional
interests, sentiments, and ambitions ; and that this heat of con
troversy is increased by the intervention of speculations,
interests, prejudices, and passions from every other part of the
civUized world. It is, however, through such debates that the
agreement of the nation upon any subject is habitually
attained, its resolutions formed, and its policy estabUshed.
While there has been much difference of popular opinion and
THE POLITICAL AND MILITAEY EVENTS OF 1863. 521
favor concerning the agents who shall carry on the war,
the principles on which it shall be waged, and the means
with which it shall be prosecuted, M. Drouyn de I'Huys has
only to refer to the statute book of Congress and the executive
ordinances, to learn that the national activity has hitherto
been, and yet is, as efficient as that of any other nation, what
ever its form of government, ever was, under circumstances of
equally grave import to its peace, safety, and welfare. Not one
voice has beeuTaised anywhere, out of the immediate field of
the insurrection, in favor of foreign intervention, of mediation,
of arbitration, or of compromise, -with the relinquishment
of one acre of the nationaf domain, or the surrender of eve
one constitutional franchise. At the same time, it is manifes'
to the world that our resources are yet abundant, and ( ur
credit adequate to the existing emergency.
" What M. Drouyn de I'Huys suggests, is that this govern
ment shall appoint commissioners to meet, on neutral ground,
commissioners of the insurgents. He supposes that in the
conferences to be thus held, reciprocal complaints could be
discussed, and in place of the accusations which the North and
South now mutually cast upon each other, the conferees would
be engaged with discussions of the interests which divide them.
He assumes, further, that the commissioners would seek by
means of Avell-ordered and profound deliberation, whether
these interests are definitively irreconcilable, whether separation
is an extreme that can no longer be avoided, or whether
the memories of a common existence, the ties of every kind
which have made the North and the South one whole Fede
rative State, and have borne them on to so high a degree
of prosperity, are not more powerful than the causes whic
have placed arms in the hands of the two populations.
" The suggestion is not an extraordinary one, and it may weU
have been thought by the Emperor of the French, in the
earnestness of his benevolent desire for the restoration of
peace, a feasible one. But when M. Drouyn de I'Huys shall
522 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
come to review it in the light in which it must necessarily be
examined in this country, I think he can hardly fail to perceive
that it amounts to nothing less than a proposition that, while
this government is engaged in suppressing an armed insurrec
tion, with the purpose of maintaining the constitutional national
authority, and preserving the integrity of the country, it shall
enter into diplomatic discussion with the insurgents upon the
questions whether that authority shall not be renounced, and
whether the country shall not be delivered over to disunion, to
be quickly followed by ever-increasing anarchy.
" If it were possible for the government of the United States
to compromise the national authority so far as to enter into
such debates, it is not easy to perceive what good results could
be obtained by them.
" The commissioners must agree in recommending either
that the Union shall stand, or that it shall be voluntarily
dissolved ; or else they must leave the vital question unsettled,
to abide at last the fortunes of the war. The government has
not shut out the knowledge of the present temper, any more
than of the past purposes of the insurgents. There is not the
least ground to suppose that the controlling actors would
be persuaded at this moment, by any arguments which national
commissioners could ofi'er, to forego the ambition that has
impelled them to the disloyal position they are occupying.
Any commissioners who should be appointed by these actors,
or through their dictation or infiuence, must enter the confer
ence imbued with the spirit, and pledged to the personal
fortunes of the insurgent chiefs. The loyal people in the insur
rectionary States would be unheard, and any offer of peace by
this government, on the condition of the maintenance of the
Union, must necessarily be rejected.
" On the other hand, as I have already intimated, this govern
ment has not the least thought of relinquishing the trust which
has been confided to it by the nation under the most solemn of
all political sanctions ; and if it had any such thought, it would
THE POLITICAL AND MILITAEY EVENTS OP 1863. 523
still have abundant reason to know that peace proposed at the
cost of dissolution would be immediately, unreservedly, and
indignantly rejected by the American people. It is a great
mistake that European statesmen make, if they suppose this
people are demoralized. Whatever, in the case of an insur
rection, the people of France, or of Great Britain, or of
Switzerland, or of the Netherlands, would do to save their
national existence, no matter how the strife might be regarded
by, or might affect foreign nations, just so much, and certainly
no less, the people of the United States will do, if necessary, to
save for the common benefit the region which is bounded by
the Pacific and the Atlantic coasts, and by the shores of the
Gulfs of St. Lawrence and Mexico, together with the free and
common navigation of the Eio Grande, Missouri, Arkansas,
'Mississippi, Ohio, St. Lawrence, Hudson, Delaware, Potomac,
and other natural highways by which this land, which to them
is at once a land of inheritance and a land of promise, is
opened and watered. Even if the agents of the American
people now exercising their power should, through fear or
faction, fall below this height of the national virtue, they would
be speedily, yet constitutionally, replaced by others of sterner
aharacter and patriotism.
I must be allowed to say, also, that M. Drouyn de I'Huys
em in his description of the parties to the present conflict.
We have here, in the poUtical sense, no North and South,
no Northern and Southern States. We have an insurrectionary
party, which is located chiefly upon and adjacent to the shore
of the Gulf of Mexico; and we have, on the other hand, a
loyal people, who constitute not only northern States, but also
eastern, middle, western, and southern States.
"I have, on many occasions heretofore, submitted to the
French government the. President's views of the interests, and
the ideas more effective for the time than even interests, which
lie at the bottom of the determination of the American
government and people to maintain the Federal Union. The
524 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
President has done the same thing in his messages and other
public declarations. I refrain, therefore, from reviewing that
argument in connection with the existing question.
"M. Drouyn de I'Huys draws to his aid the conferences
which took place between the Colonies and Great Britain in
our revolutionary war. He will allow us to assume that action
in the crisis of a nation must accord with its necessities, and
therefore can seldom be conformed to precedents. Great
Britain, when entering on the negotiations, had manifestly come
to entertain doubts of her ultimate success ; and it is certain
that the councils of the Colonies could not fail to take new
courage, if not to gain other advantage, when the parent State
compromised so far as to treat of peace on the terms of
conceding their independence. i
" It is true, indeed, that peace must come at some time, and
that conferences must attend, if they are not allowed to precede
the pacification. There is, however, a better form for such
conferences than the one which M. Drouyn de I'Huys suggests.
The latter would be palpably in derogation of the Constitution
of the United States, and would carry no weight, because desti
tute of the sanction necessary to bind either the disloyal or the
loyal portions of the people. On the other hand, the Congress
of the United States furnishes a constitutional forum for debates
between the alienated parties. Senators and Eepresentatives
from the loyal portion of the people are there already, freely
empowered to confer ; and seats also are vacant, and invitincr
senators and representatives of this discontented party who may
be constitutionally sent there from the States involved in the in-
surrection. Moreover, the conferences which can thus be held
in Congress have this great advantage over any that could be
organized upon the plan of M. Drouyn de I'Huys, namely, that
the Congress, if it were thought wise, could call a national con
vention to adopt its recommendations, and give them all the
solemnity and binding force of organic law. Such conferences
between the alienated parties may be said to have already
THE POLITICAL AND MILITAEY EVENTS OF 1863. 525
begun. Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Mis
souri — States which are claimed by the insurgents — are already
represented in Congress, and submitting with perfect freedom
and in a proper spirit their advice upon the course best calcu-
•lated to bring about, in the shortest time, a firm, lasting, and
honorable peace. Eepresentatives have been sent also from
Louisiana, and others are understood to be coming from
Arkansas. " There is a preponderating argument in favor of the Con
gressional form of conference over that which is suggested by
M. Drouyn de I'Huys, namely, that while an accession to the
latter would bring this Government into a concurrence with the
insurgents in disregarding and setting aside an important part
of the Constitution of the United States, and so would be of
pernicious example, the Congressional conference, on the con
trary, preserves and gives new strength to that sacred writing
which must continue through future ages the sheet anchor of
the republic.
" You will be at liberty to read this despatch to M. Drouyn
de I'Huys, and to give him a copy if he shall desire it.
" To the end that you may be informed of the whole case, I
transmit a copy of M. Drouyn de I'Huys' despatch.
"I am, sir, your obedient servant,
"William H. Seward."
This despatch had the effect of promptlj'^ putting an
end to all talk of foreign intervention in any form. Its
closing suggestions relative to the mode in which the
southern States could resume their former relations to
Federal Government, were naturally taken as signifi
cant indications of the policy of the Administration in
case of restoration ; and, while sharply assailed in some
quarters, called forth the cordial approbation of the
people throughout the country.
526 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
The subject of appointing commissioners to confer
with the rebel authorities had frequently been discussed
previous to this correspondence, but the proposition had
generally emanated from the opposition party, by whom
it was represented that the rebels were only restrained
from abandoning the contest by the refusal of the
national government to furnish them an opportunity of
doing so without undue humiliation and dishonor. So
long before as December, 1862, the Hon. Fernando
Wood, of New York, advised the President that he had
reason to believe that the southern States would "send
representatives to the next Congress, provided a full and
general amnesty should permit them to do so," and
suggesting the appointment of commissioners empowered
to ascertain the truth of these assurances.
The reply of the President was characteristically
frank, but cautious :
"Executive Mansion, Washington, Dec. 12th, 1862.
" Hon. Fernando Wood :
" My Dear Sir : — Your letter of the 8th, with the accom
panying note of same date, was received yesterday.
" The most important paragraph in the letter, as I consider, is
in these words : ' On the 25th of November last I was advised by
an authority which I deemed likely to be well informed as weU
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 guarantee
or terms were asked for other than the amnesty referred to.'
" I strongly suspect your information wiU prove to be ground
less ; nevertheless, I thank you for communicating it to me.
Understanding the phrase in the paragraph above quoted
'the southern States would send representatives to the next
THE POLITICAL AND MILITAEY EVENTS OF 1863. 527
congress' — to be substantially the same as that ' the people of
the southern States would cease resistance, and would rein
augurate, 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 tf 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 proper now to communicate
this, formally or informally, to the people of the southern
States. My belief is that they already know it ; and when they
choose, if ever, they can communicate with me unequivocally.
Nor do I think it proper now to suspend military operations
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
before the 1st 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 re
quest that you will regard it as confidential.
"Your obedient servant, A. Lincoln."
* A reference to the Emancipation Proclamation, -which the President
proposed to issue on that day, in case his preliminary offer should be, at
that time, unaccepted.
528 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
CHAPTER XIV.
THE YEAE 1863, AND ME. LINCOLN'S EENOMINATION FOE THE
PEESIDENCY.
IVo Drafts ordered. — The appointment of General U. S. Grant aa Lieu
tenant-General. — His Programme of Military Operations. — Mr. Lin
coln's remarks at the Patent OfiBce Fair, in Washington. — His address to
the Workingmen's Democratic Eepublican Association of Ne-w York. —
His letter to the Christian Commission.- — His speech at the U. S. Sani
tary Commission Fair at Baltimore. — Political events ; Mr. Lincoln is
renominated fpr the Presidency. — Platform of the Eepublican Party. —
His reception of the news of his Nomination. — General McClellan
nominated by the Democratic Party, and General Premont by the
Eadicals. — President Lincoln's Address at the Philadelphia Sanitary
Pair. — Military events ; a gloomy battle-summer ; final successes ; a
change of popular feeling, and a day of Thanksgiving appointed. — The
attempt of the Eebels to open Negotiations for Peace. — It is " squashed"
bythe President's note, "To -whom it may Concern." — The Presiden
tial election of 1864. — Mr. Lincoln is elected. — His speech upon being
notified thereof.
The requirements of the military and naval service
called for their prompt and decided augmentation, and
the President, therefore, on the 1st of February, 1864,
issued an order for a draft for five hundred thousand
men, to serve for three years or during the war, to be
made on the tenth of March following. On the four
teenth of March, he issued orders for a supplementary
draft in April, for an additional two hundred thousand
men for the service in the army, navy, and marine
corps of the United States.
On the twenty-six of March, 1864, the follo-wing pro-
EENOMINATION FOE THE PEESIDENCY. "529
clamation, explanatory of the one issued on the eighth
of December, 1863, was published :
" By the President of the United States of Anwrica.
" Whereas, it has become necessary to define the cases in
T/hich insurgent enemies are entitled to the benefits of the
proclamation of the President of the United States, which was
made on the eighth 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 insurrection 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 State-s, do hereby proclaim and declare that the said
proclamation does not apply to the cases of persons 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 or custody, or under bonds, or on parole of the civil,
military, or naval authorities, or agents of the United States,
as prisoners of war, or persons detained for offences of any
kind, either before or after conviction ; and that on the con
trary 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 restoring peace and establishing the national
authority. "Persons excluded from the amnesty offered in the said
proclamation may apply to the President for clemency, Uke
all other offenders, and their application will receive due con
sideration. " I do further declare and proclaim that the oath presented
in the aforesaid proclamation of the eighth of December, 1868,
may be taken and subscribed before any commissioned officer,
civil, mUitary, or naval, in the service of the United States, or
34
530' THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
any civU or military officer of a State or Territory not in insur
rection, who, by the laws thereof, may be qualified for admin
istering 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 trans
mit the original records of such oaths at as early a day as
may be convenient, to the Department of State, where they
will be deposited, and remain in the archives of the govern
ment. "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, the twenty-sixth day of
March, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight
[l. s.] hundred and sixty-four, and of the independence of the
United States the eighty-eighth.
"Abraham Lincoln.
"By the President :
" William H. Seward, Secretary of State."
On the 26th of February, Congress adopted a bill
which had been introduced on the first day of the session,
having for its object the revival of the rank of Lieuten
ant-General in the army. It was approved on the 2d
of March by the President, who immediately nominated
Major-General Ulysses S. Grant as the recipient of the
high ofiice, and the nomination was promptly confirmed
on the same day, by the Senate. On the 9th of the
same month, at the White House in Washington, the
general received his commission from the hands of the
President, who accompanied the presentation with these
few, but earnest words : —
EENOMINATION FOE THE PEESIDENCY. 531
" General Grant : — The expression of the nation's appro
bation of what you have already done, and its reliance on you
for what remains to do in the existing great struggle, is now
presented with this commission, constituting you Lieutenant-
Grneral of the Army of the United States.
"With this high honor devolves on you an additional respon
sibility. As the country herein trusts you, so, under God, it
will sustain you. I scarcely need add, that with what I here
speak for the country, goes my own hearty personal concurrence."
Accepting this commission -with characteristic modesty,
General Grant proceeded, with equal characteristic ener
gy, to organize a grand campaign of ofiensive operations,
which should combine the armies of the East and of the
West in one simultaneous efibrt to throttle the rebellion,
and end the war. It is true that the movements in
Florida and Louisiana in the earlier part of the season, as
well as the captures by the rebels of Fort Pillow and
Plymouth, followed, as they were, by massacres of unpar
alleled barbarity — afforded no very auspicious opening
to the campaign. Yet the pubhc confidence was im
mensely strengthened by the appointment of General
Grant to the chief command; for his previous signal
success, as well as his earnest and unselfish character,
was, to both people and soldiers, a pledge that the
time and strength of a great nation would no longer be
frittered away amid the petty bickerings of jealous
military commanders and political aspirants.
In delegating this great power to LieutenantrGeneral
Grant, the direction of military afiairs had been limited
by no hampering conditions. The entire forces of the
country, with such subordiaates and such preparations as
532 THE life of abeaham LINCOLN.
he especially- desired, were freely placed at his disposal,
by the government.
The armies of Eastern Tennessee and Virginia were
heavily increased by new levies, and by an effective sys
tem of concentration ; and, from the Pacific to the Mis
sissippi, it soon became evident that, under the inspira
tion of a great controlling mind, every thing was being
placed in condition for dealing a last effective blow at
the already tottering Confederacy. The programme was
briefly this : Sherman's field of operation was the South
west, and after taking and destroying Atlanta, he was to
march directly through the heart of Georgia, making
Savannah his first objective point ; then striking north
ward, he was to compel the evacuation of Columbia,
Charleston and Wilmington, and co-operate with Grant
in the conquest of the rebel capital ; — Thomas being left
in the South-west, to check, and if possible to destroy
Hood and Johnston. Meanwhile, Grant, with his brave
lieutenants; Meade, Sheridan, and Hancock, were to ac
complish the annihilation of Lee's splendid army, and
the capture of the rebel capital. The highest comph-
ment to the sagacity, tact, and military genius of the
illustrious commander-in-chief, as displayed in this plan
of operations, is found in the fact that, during the ensu
ing year, and in spite of all drawbacks and the many
unforeseen emergencies which are constantly occurring
to change the fortunes and character of a campaign — its
details were finally carried out almost to the very letter,
and with a completeness which ensured the much hoped-
for results. Right gloriously did the Lieutenant-General
vmdicate his telegram to the President in May, saying,
EENOMINATION FOE THE PEESIDENCY. 533
" I iutend to fight it out on this line, if it takes all
summer." On the 21st of March, 1864, at the close of a fair for
the benefit of the sick and wounded soldiers, held at the
Patent Office, in Washington, Mr. Lincoln was called
upon for a speech, and comphed by making the following
brief remarks :
" Ladies and Gentlemen : — I appear but to say a word.
This extraordinary war in which we are engaged falls heavily
upon all classes of people, but the most heavily upon the soldier.
For it has been said, aU 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 ; and among these manifestations nothing has been
more remarkable than these fairs for the relief of suffering sol
diers and ¦ their families. And the chief agents in these fairs
are the women of America. I am not accustomed to the use of
the 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 !"
(Great applause.)
Three days later, a committee appointed by the
Workingmen's Democratic Republican Association of
New York waited on the President, and presented him
with an address informing him that he had been elected
an honorary member of that organization. To this,
Mr. Lincoln made the following reply :
534 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
" Gentlemen of the Committee : — The honorary member
ship in your association, so generously tendered, is gratefully
accepted. "You comprehend, as your address shows, that the existing
rebellion means more and tends to do more than the perpetra
tion of African slavery — that it is, in fact, a war upon the rights
of all working people. Partly to show that this view has not
escaped my attention, and partly that I cannot better express
myself, I read a passage from the message to Congress in
December, 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 ofthe 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 abridgement of the existing right
of suifrage, and the denial to the people of all right to partici-
jjate 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 approach 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 labor, in the structure of gov
ernment. It is assumed that labor is available only in connec
tion with capita] ; 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 capi
tal shall hire laborers, and thus induce them to work by their
EENOMINATION FOE THE PEESIDENCY. 535
own consent, or buy 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 infer
ences 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
neither class — neither work for others, nor have others working
for them. In most of the southern States a majority of the
whole people of all colors, are neither slaves nor masters ; while
in the northern, a large majority are neither hirers nor hired.
Men with their families — wives, sons, and daughters — work for
themselves on their farms, in their houses, and in their shops,
taking the whole product to themselves, and asking no favors
of capital on the one hand nor of hired laborers or slaves on the
otner. 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 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
536 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
condition 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
a while, saves a- surplus with which to buy tools or land for him
self, then labors on his own account another while, and at length
hires another new beginner to help him. This is the just and gen
erous and prosperous system which opens the way to all — gives
hope to all, and consequent energy and progress, and improve
ment of condition to all. No men living are more worthy to
be trusted than those who toil up frora poverty — none less in
clined 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 pres
ent rebellion 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 property. Property is the fruit of labor ; property
is desirable : is a positive 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."
In this connection we may, also, present the following
EENOMINATION FOR THE PEESIDENCY. 537
letter, written a year before, which is strongly indicative
of the deep interest which Mr. Lincoln ever manifested
in all these volunteer benevolent movements for the re
lief of the sick and wounded of the army and navy. It
was addressed to the Christian Commission, in reply to
an invitation to preside over the meeting of that body
held in Washington, on the 22d of February, 1863.
"Executive Mansion, February 22d, 1863.
" Eev. Alexander Eeed :
"My Dear 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 Eepresentatives in this city, is received.
" While, for reasons which I deem sufficient, I must decline
to preside, I cannot withhold 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. And
whatever shall tend to turn our thoughts from the unreasoning
and uncharitable passions, prejudices, and jealousies incident to
a great national trouble such as ours, and to fix them on the
vast and long-enduring consequences, for weal or for woe, which
are to result from the struggle, and especiaUy to strengthen our
reliance 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
coinciding this year, and suggesting together the highest inter
ests of this life and of that to come, it is the most propitious
for the meeting proposed.
"Your obedient servant, A. Lincoln."
Another speech, delivered by Mr. Lincoln on the
eighteenth of April, 1864, at the opening of a fair held
in Baltimore, for the benefit of the United States Sani-
538 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
tary Commission, is especially suggestive, in view of
the date, place, and occasion of its delivery. It will be
remembered, that, on his way to Washington, in Feb- '
ruary, 1861, he had been obliged to pass through the
city of Baltimore incognito, to escape from a plot of
assassination, of which he had been forewarned. On the
nineteenth of April, in the same year also, the blood
of loyal soldiers, marching to protect the national
capital, had been shed in the streets of that city, by
ruffian hands. He now stood before an immense throng
in the same city, on the anniversary eve of the assahlt
upon those soldiers, and~a.t the fair in aid of an organi
zation for the benefit of Union soldiers everywhere. He
spoke, too, of slavery, and was loudly cheered when he
referred to the practically accomplished fact of its aboli
tion, and announced the intention of government to
give the fullest protection, even to the extent of retribu
tion, to every black soldier in its armies.
The report of this speech^ is here given, as it appeared
in the Baltimore journals at the. time.
After the cheering had ended, and after, with great
exertions, order had been secured — everybody being
anxious to see the President — he said, substantially :
"Ladies and Gentlemen: — Calling it to mind that we are
in Baltimore, we cannot fail to note that the world moves.
[Applause.] Looking upon these many people I see assem
bled here to serve, as they best may, the soldiers of the Union,
it at once occurs to me that three years ago the same soldiers
could not so much as pass through Babimore. The change
from then till now is both great and gratifying. I would say,
blessings upon the men who have wrought the change, and the
fair women who strive to reward them for it. [Applause.]
EENOMINATION FOE THE PEESIDENCY. 539
But, Baltimore suggests more than could happen within Balti
more. This change which has taken place in Baltimore, is
part only of a far wider change, that is taking place all over
the country.
" When the war began, three years ago, neither party, nor
any man, expected it would last till now. Bach 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. [Loud
applause.] So true it is that man proposes and God disposes.
"But we can see the past, though we may 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
liberty, and the American people, just now, are much in want
of one. We all declare for liberty ; but in using the same
woo-d we do not all mean the same thing. With some the word
liberty may mean for each man to do as he pleases with him
self, 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 different, but incompatible things, called by the
same name, liberty. And it follows that each of these things
is, by the respective parties, called by two different and incom
patible names — liberty and tyranny.
" The shepherd drives the wolf from the sheep's throat, for
which the sheep thanks the shepherd as a liberator, while the
wolf denounces him for the same act, as the destroyer of liberty,
especially as the sheep was a black one. [Applause.] Plainly,
the sheep and the wolf are not agreed upon a definition of the
word liberty ; and precisely the same difference prevails to-day
among us human creatures, even in the North, and all profess
ing to love Uberty. Hence we behold the process by which
thousands are daily passing from under the yoke of bondage
540 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
hailed by some as the advance of liberty, and bewailed by
others as the destruction of all liberty. Eecently, 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
wolfs dictionary has been repudiated. [Applause.]
I: 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,
true I fear, has reached us of the massacre, by the rebel forces
at Fort Pillow, in the west end of Tennessee, on the Missis-
sissippi river, of some three hundred colored soldiers and
white officers, who had just been overpowered by their assail
ants. There seems to be some anxiety in the public mind
whether the government is doing its duty to the colored soldier,
and to the service, at this point. At the beginning of the
war, and for some time, the use of colored troops was not~ con
templated ; 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 protection given to any other sol
dier. [Applause.] The difficulty is not in stating the princi
ple, but in practically applying it. It is a mistake to suppose
the government is indifferent to this matter, or is not doing the
best it can in regard to it. We do not to-day know that a
colored soldier, or white officer commanding colored soldiers,
has been massacred by the rebels when made a prisoner. We
fear it, beUeve it, I may say, but we do not know 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
EENOMINATION FOE THE PEESIDENCY. 541
is. If, after all that has been said, it shall turn out that there
bas 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 matter of grave consideration in what exact course to apply
the retribution ; but, in the supposed case, it must come. [Ap
plause.] As Mr. Lincoln's term of ofiice began to draw to a
close, his renomination for the Presidency was clearly
foreshadowed in the expressions of public opinion. The
spring elections of 1864 tn some of the New England
States, proved, even more decidedly than those of the
year previous, that his administration had become firmly
grounded in the confidence of the people ; and the fact
that the administration party in each of those States
made his election a distinct issue of the canvass, ren
dered the result of their local contests a mo,st gratifying
indorsement of Mr. Lincoln's personal popularity. To
this was added, also, the unanimous and enthusiastic
wish, as expressed through State conventions or Legis
latures, that Mr. Lincoln should continue to hold during
another term the office upon which he had already con
ferred such honor. A similar current of public opinion
was strongly apparent in every northern State ; and the
friends of the government in Europe, also, looked upon
his re-election as necessary to the salvation of our in
stitutions. When, therefore, on the seventh of June, 1864, the
National Republican Convention assembled at Balti
more, the formal nomination of Mr. Lincoln as the
542 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
choice of the people for a second term of the Presi
dential ofiice was regarded as a matter of course. The
vote of the Convention, on the ninth, was as follows :
For Mr. Lincoln — Maine fourteen. New Hampshire
ten, Vermont ten, Massachusetts twenty-four, Rhode
Island eight, Connecticut twelve. New York sixty-five.
New Jersey fourteen, Pennsylvania fifty-two, Delaware
six, Maryland fourteen, Louisiana fourteen, Arkansas
ten, Tennessee fifteen, Kentucky twenty-two, Ohio forty-
two, Indiana twenty-six, Illinois thirty-two, Michigan
sixteen, 'Wisconsin sixteen, Iowa sixteen, Minnesota
eight, California ten, Oregon six, West Virginia ten,
Kansas six, Nebraska six, Colorado six, Nevada six.
Total, four hundred and ninety-seven.
For General Grant — Missouri twenty-two.
Abraham Lincoln was therefore, for the second time,
nominated by acclamation for President of the United
States ; and Governor Andrew Johnson, of Tennessee,
also a self-made man, was nominated for the Vice Presi
dency. The convention also adopted the following
pithy series of resolutions, embracing the platform of
the party :
"Resolved, That it is the highest duty of every American
citizen to maintain against all their enemies the integrity of
the Union, and the paramount authority of the Constitution and
laws of the United States ; and that, laying aside all differences
and political opinions, -^-e pledge ourselves, as Union men, ani
mated by a common sentiment and aiming at a common object,
to do every thing in our power to aid the Government in queU-
ing by force of arms the rebellion now raging against its
authority, and in bringing to the punishment due to their
crimes the rebels and traitors arrayed against it.
EENOMINATION FOE THE PEESIDENCY. 543
"Resolved, That we approve the determination of the govern
ment of the United States not to compromise with rebels or to
offer any terms of peace, except such as may be based upon
an ' unconditional surrender' of their hostility and a return to
their just allegiance to the Constitution and laws ofthe United
States ; and that we call upon the government to maintain this
position, and to prosecute the war with the utmost possible
vigor to the complete suppression of the rebellion, in full re
liance upon the self-sacrifice, the patriotism, the heroic valor
and the undying devotion of the American people to their
country and its free institutions.
" Resolved, That as slavery was the cause, and now constitutes
the strength, of this rebellion, and as it must be always and
everywhere hostile to the principles of republican govern
ment, justice and the national safety demand its utter and com
plete extirpation from the soil of the repubUc, and that we
uphold and maintain the acts and proclamations by which the
government, in its own defence, has aimed a death-blow at this
gigantic evil. We are in favor, furthermore, of such an
3,mendment to the Constitution, to be made by the people, in
conformity with its provisions, as shall terminate and forever
prohibit the existence of slavery within the limits of the juris
diction of the United States.
"Resolved, That the thanks of the American people are due
to the soldiers and sailors of the army and navy (applause),
who have periled their lives in defence of their country and in
vindication of the honor of the flag ; that the nation owes to
them some permanent recognition of their patriotism and their
valor, and ample and permanent provisions for those of their
survivors who have received disabling and honorable wounds
in the service of the country ; and that the memories of those
who have fallen in its defence shall be held in grateful and ever
lasting remembrance.
"Resolved, That we approve and applaud the practical
wisdom, the unselfish patriotism, and unswerving fideUty to the
544 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOf-N.
Constitution and the principles of American liberty, with
which Abraham Lincoln has discharged, under circumstances
of unparalleled difficulty, the great duties and responsibilities
of the Presidential office ; that we approve and indorse, as
demanded by the emergency and essential to the preservation
of the nation, and as within the Constitution, the measures and
acts which he has adopted to defend the nation against its open
and secret foes ; that we approve especially the proclamation of
emancipation, and the employment as Union soldiers of men
heretofore held in slavery, and that we have full confidence in
his determination to carry these and all other constitutional
measures essential to the salvation of the country into full and
complete effect.
" Resolved, That we deem it essential to the general welfare
that harmony should prevail in the national councils, and we
regard as worthy of public confidence and official trust those
only who cordially indorse the principles proclaimed in these
resolutions, and which should characterize the administration
of the government.
" Resolved, That the government owes to all men employed
in its armies, without regard to distinction of color, the full
protection of the laws of war, and that any violation of these
laws or of the usages of civilized nations in the time of war
by the rebels now in arms should be made the subject of full
and prompt redress.
"Resolved, That the foreign immigration which in the past
has added so much to the wealth and development of resources
and increase of power to this nation, the asylum of the oppressed
of all nations, should be fostered and encouraged by a liberal
and just policy.
" Resolved, That we are in favor of the speedy construction
of the railroad to the Pacific.
" Resolved, That the national faith pledged for the redemp
tion of the pubUc debt must be kept inviolate, and that for this
purpose we recommend economy and rigid responsibility in the
EENOMINATION FOE THE PEESIDENCY. 545
pubUc expenditures, and a vigorous and just system of taxa
tion ; that it is the duty of every loyal State to sustain the
.credit and promote the use of the national currency.
" R^olved; That we approve the position taken by the
government that the people of the United States can never
regard with indifference the attempt of any European power
to overthrow by force or to supplant by fraud the institutions
of any republican, government on the western continent, and
that they will view with extreme jealousy as menacing to the
peace and independence of this our country, the efforts of any
such power to obtain new footholds for monarchical govern
ments sustained by a foreign military force in near proximity
Jo the United States."
Upon his nomination being officially announced to
Mr. Lincoln, on the following day, he made this char
acteristic acceptance :
" Gentlemen : — I can only say, in response to the remarks of
your chairman, I suppose, that I am very grateful for the
renewed confidence which has been accorded to me, both by
the convention and by the National League. I am not insensi
ble at all to the personal compliment there is in this, yet I do
not allow myself to believe that any but a small portion of it
is to be appropriated as a personal compliment The conven--
tion and the nation, I am assured, are alike animated by a
higher view of the interests of the country for the present and
the great future, and that part I am entitled to appropriate as
a compliment, is only that part which I may lay hold of as
being the opinion of the convention and of the league — that I
am not unworthy to be intrusted with the place I have occupied
for the last three years. I have not permitted myself, gentle
men, to conclude that I am the best man in the country ; but I
am reminded in this connection of a story of an old Dutch
farmer, who remarked to a companion once, that ' it was not
best to swap horses when crossing streams.' "
35
546 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
On the 29th of August of the same year, the Demo
cratic Convention met at Chicago, and nominated
George B. McClellan for the Presidency, and George H.
Pendleton for the Vice Presidency. The platfotm of
the party, as laid down by this convention, set forth,
among other things, the following :
"Resolved, That this convention does explicitly declare, as
the sense of the American people, that after four years of failure
to restore the Union by the experiment of war, during which,
under the pretence of a military necessity of a war power
higher than the Constitution, the Constitution itself has been
disregarded in every part, and public liberty and private right
alike trodden down, and the material prosperity of the country
essentially impaired ; justice, humanity, liberty, and the public
welfare, demand that immediate efforts be made for a cessation
of hostilities, with a view to an ultimate convention of all the
States, or other peaceable means to the end that at the earliest
practicable moment peace may be restored on the basis of the
Federal Union of the States."
General McClellan, in his letter of acceptance of this
nomination, endeavored virtually to ignore the portion
of the platform given above, and urged a vigorous prose
cution of the war. This caused much dissatisfaction in
the Democratic party, and for a time it seemed as
though the party would be wrecked in advance of the
election by these differences ; some of the leading peace
men of the party refusing to support General McClellan,
whUe the War Democracy denounced the platform in
unmeasured terms.
The radicals, also, impatient of what they considered
Mr. Lincoln's weakness and over-caution, held a con-
EENOMINATION FOE THE PEESIDENCY. 547
vention at Cleveland, at which they nominated General
Fremont as their banner bearer.
The year 1864 was signalized by a series of monster
fairs, held in the principal cities of the Union, for the
benefit of the United States Sanitary Commission.
At one of these, the great " Central Sanitary Fair,"
held at Philadelphia, Mr. Lincoln and his wife were
present, by invitation, on the 16th of June. A large
multitude were present to welcome the beloved Chief
Magistrate, and after partaking of an elegant collation
which had been prepared, Mr. Lincoln made a charac
teristic address, in which, speaking of the war, he said :
"War, at the best, is terrible, and this war of ours, in its
magnitude and its duration, is one of the most terrible. It has
deranged business, totaUy in many localities, and partially in
all localities. It has destroyed property, and ruined homes ; it
has produced a national debt and taxation unprecedented, at
least in this country. It has carried mourning to almost every
home, until it can almost be said that the ' heavens are hung in
black.' *****
"It is a pertinent question, often asked in the mind pri
vately, and from one to the other, ' when is the war to end ?'
Surely I feel as deep an interest in this question as any other
can, but I do not wish to name a day, or month, or a year when
it is to end. I do not wish to run any risk of seeing the tim.e
come, without our being ready for the end, and for fear of dis
appointment because the time had come, and not the end. We
accepted this war for an object, a worthy object, and the war
will end when that object is attained. Under God, I hope it
never will until that time. [Great cheering.] Speaking of the
present campaign. General Grant is reported to have said, ' I am
going through on this line if it takes all summer !' [Cheers.]
This war has taken three years ; it was begun, or accepted, upon
548 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
the Une of restoring the national authprity over the whole na
tional domain — and for the American people, as far as my
knowledge enables me to speak, I say, we are going through
on this line ' if it takes three years more. [Cheers.] My
friends, I did not know but that I might be called upon to say
a few words before I got away from here, but I did not know it
was coming just here. [Laughter.] T have n«ver been in the
habit of making predictions in regard to the war, but I am
almost tempted to make one. If I were to hazard it, it is this :
That Grant is this evening, with General Meade and General
Hancock, of Pennsylvania, and the brave officers and soldiers
with him, in a position from whence he will never be dislodged
until Eichmond is taken, [loud cheering,] and I have but one
single proposition to put now, and perhaps I can best put it in
the form of an interrogatory. If I shall discover that General
Grant, and the noble officers and men under him, can be greatly
facilitated in their work by a sudden pouring forward of men
aud assistance, will you give them to me? [Cries of 'Yes !']
Then, I say, stand ready, for I am waiting for the chance.
[Laughter and cheers.] I thank you, gentlemen."
The hint given by the President in his speech, was
remembered, and better understood when, during the
following month, a call was made for five hundred thou
sand more men.
The months of June, July and August, 1864, were,
in respect to mihtary events, the gloomiest and most
discouraging which had been experienced since the
summer of 1862. General Grant's operations, while
they could not be called failures, were certainly not so
successful as to relieve the public mind from deep
anxiety and apprehension of disaster. Starting, on the
3d of May, and fighting heavily and persistently every
step of the way from the Rapidan to the James ; he had,
EENOMINATION FOE THE PEESIDENCY. 549
indeed, flanked Lee's army from one position after
another, until he found himself, by the first of June, in
front of Richmond — ^but, he had lost one hundred thou
sand men! Here the enemy stood desperately at bay,
and Grant, although his immense losses had been fully
recruited, found himself utterly unable to force the posi
tion ; and without any apparent advantage to show for
all that he had done. Things were at a "dead lock;"
and, though he held Lee's army fast where it was, he
was able to do but little more. A false move would have
been fatal not only to his heroic army, but to the eter
nal liberties of the nation whose warrior-leader he was.
In this critical position, he determined to throw his
army across the James river, and attack Richmond on
that side ; and, in three days, the bold movement was
accomphshed, in the very face of the rebel foe, although
without his knowledge.
Previously to this, in accordance with the Lieutenant-
General's masterly plans, the Army of the James, under
command of General Butler, had seized and fortified
Bermuda Hundred, nearly midway between Richmond
and Petersburg ; had cut the railroad below the latter
place, upon which an unsuccessful attack had been
made ; had laid siege to Fort Darling, but had been un
able tb hold the position against the rebels ; and, having
repelled all attacks on its lines, was prepared to render
important assistance to the Army of the Potomac. In
Western Virginia, the Union General, Sigel, had been
defeated, and was relieved from command by General
Hunter; who, though at first successful, was finally
obliged to retreat before the rebel Early, with terrible
suffering to his troops, and heavy losses of guns and
550 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
trains. Early, then, finding himself unopposed, pushed
down the Shenandoah ; crossed into Maryland ; occupied
Hagerstown and Frederick ; jDlundered extensively ;
fought several battles with the militia which ventured
to oppose him; burnt Postmaster-General Blair's resi
dence at Silver Springs ; destroyed the passenger trains
on the Baltimore and Washington Railroad, and auda
ciously threatened both those cities. He even ap
proached within two miles of the latter city, but finding
himself unexpectedly confronted by the veteran Nine
teenth Corps, fresh from New Orleans, and the Sixth
from the Army of the Potomac, and a large force under
General Couch, from Pennsylvania, in his rear ; he has
tened back into Virginia, taking with him his plunder,
and burning the town of Chambei^sburg, Pa. These
stirring events in tbe immediate vicinity of the national
capital, of course added largely to the disquietude of
the pubhc mind, already depressed by the uncertainty
of success on the part of our army. During all this ex
citing period, however. President Lincoln remained
calmly at his post. " Sheridan, meantime, had made his
famous raid completely around Lee's lines, committing
sad havoc with rebel stores and communications.
As soon as General Grant reached the south side of
the James he ordered an immediate attack on, Peters
burg, which was unsuccessful ; and a series of attacks
upon the rebel works, resulted, by the 23d of June, in
the investiture of that city, except on its northern and
western sides. Then was tried, after considerable delay,
the explosion of the great mine under the defences of
Petersburg (July 30th), fohowed by an attack, which
resulted only in terrible disaster and loss to the fi)rce
EENOMINATION FOE THE PEESIDENCY. 551
employed. Nothing, so far, seemed to have been gained.
Then followed five weary weeks of sad depression to- the
loyal North, during which httie was gained in the
vicinity of Petersburg — except a slight advance, and
contraction of the Union hnes, accomplished only by
occasional attacks and hand-to-hand conflicts. More
important operations were recommenced late in Septem
ber, by the battle of Chaflfin's Farm ; the affair of Fort
Harrison ; a cavalry reconnoissance within two miles of
Richmond ; a desperate attempt on the part of the
rebels to turn the right flank of the Army of the James
(October 7th) ; and the battle of Hatcher's Run on the
29th of the same month. Sheridan, who in August
previous had been sent to the command of the Army
of the Shenandoah, met, and in a series of brilliant
actions defeated the rebel Early and drove him out of
the valley. This was about the middle of October.
Sherman, also, during all these months, had been
contending with a wily and powerful foe, and with ob
stacles of more than usual strength. Starting (May 7th)
from Chattanooga (three hundred and fifty miles from
his primary base at Louisville, and one hundred and
seventy-five from his secondary base at Nashville), he
commenced his march to Atlanta, one hundred and
thirty jniles distant, with slender lines of communica
tion, surrounded by enemies and by topographical diffi
culties which might well have intimidated a less
courageous strategist. By a series of severely-contested
battles and masterly fianking manoeuvres, he placed
himself, by the 22d of July, in front of Hood's army,
which had rallied at bay in the outer Ime of the de
fences of Atlanta. Here a desperate battle was fought,
552 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
in which the Union army was finally victorious, though
their joy was sadly diminished by the loss of Major-
General McPherson, one of the ablest and best-beloved
of Sherman's heutenants. Then ensued a series of ope
rations by which Atlanta was severed from all its com
munications ; but, as yet, it seemed impregnable — and
with every day's delay Sherman's position became more
critical. Finally, after another battle with Hood, who,
for the third time, was severely whipped, Sherman de
termined to capture the city, if possible, by a grand
flanking movement, which obliged him to apparently
raise the siege. This was done ; and while Hood was
congratulating his army that Sherman had given up the
capture of Atlanta as a hopeless task, he found his few
remaining communications severed, and no hope for
himself but immediate retreat. Blowing up his ammu
nition trains, he evacuated the town, which was occu
pied by the Union forces on the 2d of September.
While our soldiers were thus nobly doing their duty
in the face of tremendous odds, " our gallant web-feet,"
as Mr. Lincoln once playfully nick-named the sailors,
had been by no means inactive. Admiral Farragut had
long desired to attack the defences of Mobile, and to
check the blockade-running which it was impossible
wholly to prevent while that port was left unmolested.
An attack upon the three strong forts which guarded
the entrance of the harbor had been several times pro
jected, but as often delayed from one cause or another.
Finally, during the month of July, 1864, an arrange
ment was made for a combined attack by land and sea
forces, which was carried into effect on the 5th of
August, resulting, after a terrible conflict, in the de-
EENOMINATION FOE THE PEESIDENCY. 553
struction of the rebel fleet ; the capture of the famous
armored-ship Tennessee, and of two hundred and thirty
rebel officers and men ; the abandonment on the next
day of Fort Powell, with eighteen guns ; the surrender
on the eighth of Fort Gaines, with over eighteen hun*
dred prisoners and twenty-six guns; and, on the 23d of
August, after a further bombardment of twenty-four
hours, of Fort Morgan, with sixty guns and six hundred
prisoners. ' Thus the port of Mobile became hermetically
sealed against blockade-runners, and a serious blow was
given to the rebel cause.
The signal success at Mobile was almost the first — cer
tainly the only considerable — victory which hghted up
the gloom of this battle-summer. The general ill-success
of our arms, the tremendous losses incurred, and the
evident fact , that the government was straining every
nerve to meet the extraordinary demands made upon it,
had produced in the public mind a feeling of intense
anxiety and depression ; of which the opponents of the
Administration at home as well as abroad were prompt
to take advantage. They " croaked" about our disas
ters ; they bewailed what they termed the " reckless
disregard of human life" manifested in our military
operations ; they exclaimed against the incompetency
ofthe Cabinet ; and "waxed exceeding wroth" over the
measures adopted by the President and Secretary of
War in certain critical emergencies ; inveighed against
what they were pleased to term a governmental inter
ference with an4 disregard of. the Constitution ; and
groaned over the vast expenditure of money which was
saddhng the country with a debt which "future genera
tions yet unborn" would never live to see paid. In
554 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
short, taking advantage of the state of affairs, all that
misrepresentation, malignity, personal Ul-will and parti
zan zeal could find or invent to be used against Mr. Lin
coln and his supporters in the coming election, was
eagerly seized and venomously used.
These misrepresentations and croakings, together with
the condition of military affairs, were not without their
effect upon the popular mind. It would have been, per
haps, too much to expect that the people, so long
disappointed, and so long delayed in the success of
the undertaking to which they had freely and generously
committed themselves, should not have been seriously
disturbed and disheartened by the "logic of events,"
as interpreted by the insidious and plausible arguments
of these malcontents. It was, indeed, a most critical
moment for Mr. Lincoln and for the country. Impar
tient, dispirited, sick of war, and desirous of peace, the
people were in a fit mood for any change of leaders, or
of policy, which promised a speedy end to then- diffi
culties. It was at just this juncture, at the darkest moment of
this hour of gloom and indecision, that the Democratic
party nominated General McClellan for the Presidency,
and put forth their peace platform — a platform which dis
tinctly avowed the uselessness of a further continuance
of the war, and a determination to secure a peace with
the rebel leaders at any price. If ever the friends of
tbe Union and of human liberty had cause to thank
God for a "special providence," it w^ for the second
section of the Chicago Platform !* The national heart.
' See page 546.
EENOMINATION FOE THE PEESIDENCY. 555
although "sick with hope deferred," was not utterly
callous to the promptings of duty and of right ; and it
quivered with indignation at this shameless avowal, by
men who had been the persistent opponents of govern
ment, of a desire .and a purpose to surrender to rebels in
arms all for which our brave armies had been contend
ing during the past four years. The opposition leaders
had wofully mistaken the temper of the American people
when they inserted the peace plank in their platform —
for it was indignantly spurned, not only by the masses
and by the soldiers in the field, but by a large portion
of the Democratic party, who immediately rallied to the
support of the Administration. From that moment the
political issue was distinctly drawn, and as fairly under
stood by the people — " Shall we carry on this war to an
honorable termination, or shall we cravenly surrender
to rebels in arms ?" The question involved the hfe of
the nation, and the reaction in the popular feeling was
prompt and powerful. Sophistries could no longer
blind, and disasters no longer warp the better judg
ment of the masses ; and public opinion once more
began to flow in healthier and more cheerful channels.
This happy change was most pleasantly intensified by
the receipt, early in September, of the news of the
glorious naval victory at Mobile, and of Sherman's tri
umphant occupation of Atlanta. And Mr. Lincoln,
always prompt to acknowledge the agency of the
Almighty in national affairs, immediately gave expres
sion to the popular joy by proclaiming a day of
Thanksgiving. While these events were transpiring, the President
received intimations that certain parties, professing to
556 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
represent the Confederate government, were at the
Clifton House, at Niagara Falls, and desired to enter
into negotiations for peace. These parties, who evi
dently began to foresee that the "beginning of the
end" was drawing nigh, succeeded in persuading Mr.
Horace Greeley that such a conference would be highly
productive of good in ending the war; and, through
his influence and agency, the President was placed in
communication with these self-styled pacificators. Their
real purpose was, undoubtedly, to induce Mr. Lincohi
in some manner to recognize the bogus Southern Con
federacy, and to entrap him into a revelation of his
plan, or some overt admission which should be used to
their advantage. They first applied- for permission to
visit Washington, " as bearers of propositions looking
to the establishment of peace ;" but Mr. Lincoln's cau
tion and adroit management soon elicited from them
the fact that they had no authority from Richmond to
act officially upon the subject. He, therefore, contented
himself with sending them the following characteristic
"Executive Mansion, .
Washington, D. C, July IQih, 1864. )
"To WHOM it may CONCERN:
" Any propositions which embrace the restoration of peace,
the integrity of ihe whole Union, and the abandonment of slavery,
and which comes by and with an authority that can control the
armies now at war against the United States, will be received
and considered by the executive government of the United
States, and will be met by liberal terms on other substantial
and collateral points, and the bearer or bearers thereof shall
have safe conduct both ways.
"Abraham Lincoln."
EENOMINATION FOE THE PEESIDENCY. 557
This straightforward document, while it clearly de
monstrated the perfect readiness of the President to
afford full opportunity for the suggestion of any measures
looking towards peace, at the same time pricked the
hollow pretences of these pseudo-embassadors, who
responded to it in a tone of ill-temper which betrayed
their bitter disappointment at the failure of their nice
little trap to catch Mr. Lincoln "napping." Their com
plaints, however, had no other effect . than to render
them ridiculous in the sight of the world, and their
labors went for naught.
The presidential election took place upon the 8th of
November, 1864 ; General Fremont having withdrawn
from the field, on the 21st of September preceding, the
contest rested solely between Mr. Lincoln, Republican,
and General McClellan, Democrat. It resulted in the
triumph of Mr. Lincoln in every loyal State, except
Kentucky, New Jersey, and Delaware. These three
States, altogether, gave to the Democratic candidate but
twenty-one electoral votes ; while the Republican candi
date carried twenty-two States, giving him two hundred
and thirteen electoral votes ; thus allowing Mr. Lincoln
a majority in the Electoral College of one hundred and
ninety-two votes, although but one hundred and eighteen
were all that were necessary to secure him the victory.
In some of the States their soldiers in the field were
allowed to vote, the military vote, in such cases, being
almost invariably cast for Lincoln and Johnson.
The official returns for the entire vote polled, summed
up four milhon and thirty-four thousand, seven hundred
and eighty-nine; of which Mr. Lincoln received two
millioas two hundred and twenty-three thousand and
558 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
thirty-five, and McClellan one million eight hundred
and eleven thousand seven hundred and fifty-four, leav
ing a majority of four hundred and eleven thousand
two hundred and eighty-one on the popular vote. Mr.
Lincoln, who in 1860 was elected by a plurality vote,
received in 1864 a most decided and unmistakable
majority, being the sixth President of the United States
who had been elected to serve a second term.
This gratifying result was accepted as a fuU indorse
ment of the policy of Mr. Lincoln's Administration, and
the prosecution of the war received new vigor and
strength, from this time forward.
At a late hour on the night of the election, the Presi
dent was serenaded by a club of Pennsylvanians, who
notified him of the fact of his being the choice of the
people for a second term. .He responded as follows :
" Priends and Fellow-Citizens : — Even before I had been
informed by you that this compliment was paid me by loyal
citizens of Pennsylvania friendly to me, I had inferred that
you were of that portion of my countrymen who think that
the best interests of the nation are to be subserved by the sup
port of the present Administration. I do not pretend to say
that you, who think so, embrace aU the patriotism and loyalty
of the country ; but I do beUeve, and I trust Avithout personal
interest, that the welfare of the country does require that such
support and indorsement be given. I earnestly believe that
the consequences of this day's work, if it be as you assume,
and as now seems probable, will be to the lasting advantage if
not to the very salvation of the country. I cannot, at "this
hour, say what has been the result of the election, but whatever
it may be, I have no desire to modify this opinion : that all
who have labored to-day in behalf "of the Union organization,
have wrought for the best interest of their country and the
EENOMINATION FOE THE PEESIDENT. 559
world, not only for the present but for all future ages. / am
thankful to God for this approval of the people ; but while deeply
grateful for this mark of iheir confidence in mC) if I krww my
heart, my gratitude is free from any taint of personal triumph. I
do not impugn the motives of any one opposed to me. It is no
pleasure to me to. triumph over any one, but I give thanks to the
Almighty for this evidence of the people^ s resolution to stand by free
government and the rights of humanity.'^
560 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LFNCOLN.
CHAPTER XV.
FEQM ME. Lincoln's ee-election to the conclusion of
THE WAE.
The Annual Message of 1864-,5. — The Portress Monroe Peace Negotia
tions. — Mr. Lincoln's and Mr. Seward's accounts ofthe Conference. — The
account given by one of the Eebel Commissioners, Hon. Alexander S.
Stephens, Vice President of the Confederacy. — Mr. Lincoln's Inaugura
tion, March 4th, . 1865. — His second Inaugural Address. — Military
Events. — Sherman's March to Savannah. — Thomas's defeat of Hood. —
The Expeditions against Wilmington. — Operations of the Army of the
Potomac against Richmond and Petersburg. — Capture of these Cities. —
Lee's flight, pursuit, and defeat. — He surrenders to G-eneral G-rant. —
Sherman's March through the Carolinas. — He receives Johnston's sur
render. — Collapse of the Rebellion. — The President visits the Army. —
Is present at the fall of Richmond. — Enters that City. — Returns to
Washington.— His last Speech to the People, on occasion of the public
rejoicings at Washington.
Both Houses of Congress assembled on Monday, the
fifth of December, 1864, and after some preliminary
business, adjourned to Tuesday, when the following
message was received from the President :
" Fellow Citizens of the Senate and House of Eepre
sentatives: — Again the blessings of health and abundant
harvests claim our profoundest gratitude to Almighty God.
"The condition of our foreign affairs is reasonably satis
factory. " Mexico continues to be a theatre of civil war. While our
political relations with that country have undergone no change,
we have at the same time strictly maintained neutrality between
the belligerents.
THE CONCLUSION OF THE WAE. 561
" OfBcial 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 instalments. 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 confi
dence which we should manifest by furnishing it would win
forbearance and favor toward the colony from all civilized
nations. ****** "I learn, with much satisfaction, that the noble design
of a telegraphic communication between the eastern coast of
America and Great Britain has been renewed, with full expec
tation 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.
"The ports of Norfolk, Fernandina, and Pensacola have
beeri opened by proclamation. It is hoped that foreign mer
chants will now consider whether it is not safe and more
profitable to themselves, as well as just to the United States, to
resort to these 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
operations, 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
36
562 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
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 this 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 dif&culties have arisen, especially
in Brazilian and British ports, and on the northern boundary
of the United States, which have required and are likely to
continiie to require the practice of constant vigilance, and a just
and conciliatory spirit on the part of the United States, as well
as of the nations concerned and their governments. Commis
sioners 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 proceeding to the execution of the trust assigned them.
" In view of the insecurity of Ufe in the region adjacent to
the Canadian border by recent assaults and depredations com
mitted 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 existing arrangements with Great Britain, the United States
must hold themselves at liberty to increase their naval arma
ment upon the lakes, if they shall find that proceeding necessary.
The condition of the border will necessarily come into con-
THE CONCLUSION OF THE WAE. 563
sideration in connection with the continuing or modifying
the rights of transit from Canada through the United States,
as well as the regulation of imposts, which were temporarily
established by the Reciprocity Treaty ofthe 5th of June, 1864.
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 towards 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
necessary measures 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 an amendment which will enable the oflBcers
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 towards this great
national policy is manifested by most of the European States,
and ought to be reciprocated on our part by giving the immi
grants effective national protection. I regard our immigrants
as one of the principal replenishing streams which are ap
pointed by providence to repair the ravages of internal war,
and its wastes of national strength and health. All that is
necessary is to secure the flow of that stream in its present
fullness, and to that end the government must, in every way,
make it manifest that it neither needs nor designs to impose
involuntary mUitary service upon those who come from other
lands to cast their lot in our country.
" The financial affairs of the government have been success
fully administered.
* * -» * * -:f-
" The public debt on the first day of July last, as appears by
the books of the Treasury, amounted to one billion seven hun
dred . and forty million six hundred and ninety thousand
564 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
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 mil
Uons. 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 better to favor such a
general distribution, greater inducements to become owners
might, perhaps, with good effect and without injury, be pre
sented 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 limited amount of some future issue
of public securities might be held by any bona fide purchaser
exempt from taxation and from seizure for debt, under such
restrictions and limitation as might be necessary to guard
against abuse of so important a privilege. This would enable
prudent persons to set aside a small amount against a possible
(lay of want.
" PrivUeges like these would render the possession of such
securities to the amount Umited most desirable to every person
of small means, who might be able to save enough for the pur
pose. The great advantage of citizens 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 to themselves.
" The public debt on the first day of July last, although some
what exceeding the estimate of the Secretary of the Treasury
made to Congress at the commencement of last session, falls
short of the estimate of that officer made in the succeeding
December as to its probable amount at the beginning of this
year, by the sum of three million nine hundred and ninety-five
thousand and seventy-nine dollars and thirty-three cents. This
fact exhibits a satisfactory condition and conduct of the opera-
ations of the Treasury.
THE CONCLUSION OF THE WAE. 565
" The national banking system is proving to be acceptable to
capitalists and to the people. On the 25th day of November, five
hundred and eighty-four 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 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 permanent 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 advis
able for the suppression of State bank issues, it will be for Con
gress 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 compre
hensive and satisfactory exhibit of the affairs of that depart- ,
ment, and of the naval service. It is a subject of congratula
tion and laudable pride to our countrymen, that a navy of such
vast proportions has been organized in so brief a period, and
conducted with so much efScienoy and success.
" The general exhibit of the navy, including vessels under
construction on the first of December, 1864, shows a total of six
hundred and seventy-one vessels, carrying four thousand six
hundred and ten guns and five hundred and ten thousand three
586 THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
hundred arid ninety-six tons, being an actual increase during
the year over and above all losses by shipwreck or in battle of
eighty -three vessels, one hundred and sixty-seven guns, and
forty-two thousand four hundred and twenty-seven tons. The
totcil number of men at this time in the naval service, including
officers, is about fifty-one thousand. There have been captured
by the navy during the year, three hundred and twenty-four
veseels, and the whole number of naval captures since hostili
ties commenced is one thousand three hundred and seventy-
nine, of which two hundred and sixty-seven are steamers. The
gross proceeds arising from the sale of condemned prize pro
perty thus far reported, amount to fourteen million three hun
dred and ninety-six thousand two hundred and fifty dollars and
fifty-one cents. A large amount of such proceeds is still under
adjudication, and yet to be reported. The total expenditures of
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 first of November, 1864,
are two hundred and thirty-eight miUion six hundred and
forty-seven thousand two hundred and sixty-two dollars and
thirty -five cents.
* * * * *
"It is of noteworthy interest that the steady expansion
of population, 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 civU 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 exceUent
system is firmly estabUshed 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
Pacific ocean.
" The Territories of the Union are generally in a condition of
THE CONCLUSION OF THE WAE. 567
prosperity and growth. Idaho and Montana., by reason of their
great distance and the interruption of communication with
them by Indian hostilities, have been only partially organized ;
but it is understood that these difficulties are about to disappear,
which will permit their governments, like those of the others,
to go into speedy and full operation.
* * * * * *
" The Uberal provisions made by Congress for paying pen
sions to invalid soldiers and sailors of the repubUc, 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
sixteen thousand seven hundred and seventy invalid soldiers,
and of two hundred and seventy-one disabled seamen, making
the present number , of army invalid pensioners, twenty-two
thousand seven hundred and sixty-sev^n, and of navy invalid
pensioners, seven hundred and twelve. Of widows, orphans,
and mothers, twenty-two thousand one hundred and ninety-
eight have been placed on the army pension rolls, and two
hundred and forty-eight on the navy rolls. The present
number of army pensioners of this class, is twenty-five thou
sand four hundred and thirty-three, and of navy pensioners,
seven hundred and ninety-three. At the beginning of the
year, the number of revolutionary pensioners was one thousand
four hundred and thirty. 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 revo
lutionary soldiers. During the year ending the 80th of June,
1864, four million five hundred and four thousand six hundred
and sixteen dollar's and ninety-two cents have been paid to
pensioners of all classes.
"I cheerfully commend to your continued patronage, the
benevolent institutions of fhe District of Columbia, which havo
568 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
hitherto been established or fostered by Congress, and respect
fuUy refer for information concerning them, and in relation to
the Washington Aqueduct, the Capitol, and other matters of
local interest, to the report of the Secretary.
"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
liberating the regions left in the rear, so that Missouri, Ken
tucky, Tennessee, and parts of other States have again pro
duced reasonably fair crops.
" The most remarkable feature in the military operations of
the year, is General Sherman's attempted march of three
hundred miles directly through the 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 is not
here 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 so much in the right
direction, that twelve thousand citizens in each of the States of
Arkansas and Louisiana, have organized loyal State govern
ments with free constitutions, and are earnestly struggling to
maintain and administer them. The moveraent in the same
direction, more extensive though less definite, in Missouri,
Kentucky and Tennessee, should not be overlooked. But
Maryland presents 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 rule
her no more.
" At the last session of Congress, a proposed amendment of
THE CONCLUSION OF THE WAE. 569
the 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 without questioning the
wisdom or patriotism of those who stood in opposition, I
venture to recommend the consideration 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 Con
gress 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 that 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 question. 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 attainable unless some deference shall be
paid to the will of the majority, simply because it is the will
of the majority. In this case the cominon end is the main
tenance 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
milUons of voters met and mingled at the polls, give strong
assurance of this. Not only those who supported the ' Union
ticket' (so-called), but a great majority of the opposing party
570 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
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 ofhce whatever, high or low,
has ventured to seek votes on the avowal that he was for giving
up the Union.
" There has been 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 a fair opportunity of show
ing one to another, and to the world, this firmness and una
nimity 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 the national resources, that of living
men. While it is melancholy to reflect that the war has filled
so many graves and carried mourning to so many hearts, it is
some relief to know that, compared with the surviving, the
fallen have been so few. While corps, and divisions, and
brigades, and regiments have formed and fought, and dwindled
and gone out of existence, a great majority of the men who
composed them are still living. The same is true of the naval
service. The election returns prove this. So many voters
could not else be found. The States regularly holding elec
tions, both now ahd four years ago, to wit: California, Con
necticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine,
Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New
Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsyl
vania, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Yirginia, and Wisconsin,
cast three million nine hundred and eighty-two thousand and
eleven votes now. against three million eight hundred and
seventy thousand two hundred and twenty-two cast then, show
ing an aggregate now of thirty-three miUion nine hundred
and eighty -two thousand and eleven, to which is to be added,
THE CONCLUSION OF THE WAE. 571
thirty -three thousand seven hundred and sixty -two cast now in
the new States of Kansas and Nevada, which did not vote in
1860. Thus swelling the aggregate to four million fifteen
thousand seven hundred and seventy-three, and the net increase
during the three years and a half of war, to one hundred and
forty -five thousand seven hundred and fifty-one.
" To this, again, should be added the number of all soldiers
in the field from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Jersey,
Delaware, Indiana, IlUnois and California, who, by the laws of
those States, could not vote away from their homes, and which
number cannot be less than ninety thousand. Nor yet is this
all. The number in organized Territories is triple now what it
was four years ago, while thousands — white and black^oin us
as the national arms press back the insurgent lines. So much
is shown affirmatively and negatively by the election.
" 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 demon
strated 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. Natural resoiirces are
now more complete and abundant than ever. The national
resources, then, are unexhausted, and 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 evidence 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 cannot voluntarily yield it. Between him and us the issue
is distinct, simple and inflexible. It is an issue which can only
572 THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
be tried by war, and decided by victory. If -we yield we are
beaten ; if the southern people fail him, he is beaten — either
way it would be the victory and defeat following war. What
is true, however, of him who heads the insurgent cause, is not
necessarily true of those who follow. Although he cannot
reaccept the Union, they can. Some of them, we know, already
desire peace and reunion. 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, courts,
and votes.
"Operating only in constitutional and lawful channels, some
certain and other possible questions are and would be beyond
the executive power to adjust; for instance, the admission
of members into Congress, and whatever might require the
appropriation of money. The executive power itself would be
really diminished by the cessation of actual war. Pardons and
remissions of forfeiture, however, would still be within execu
tive 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 offered
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 pre
cautionary measures as rendered the practical process less easy
and certain. During the same time, also, special pardons have
been granted to individuals of excepted classes, and no volun
tary 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
THE CONCLUSION OF THE WAE. 573
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 rigorous measures than here
tofore shall be adopted.
" In presenting the abandonment of armed resistance to the
national authority, on the part of the insurgents, as the only
indispensable condition to ending the war on the part of
the government, I retract nothing heretofore said as to slavery.
I repeat the declaration made a year ago, that, while I
remain in my present position, I shall not attempt to retract or
modify the Emancipation Proclamation. Nor shall I return to
slavery any person who is free by the terms of that proclama
tion, or by the acts of Congress.
"Tf the people should, by whatever mode or means, make it
an executive duty to re-enslave such persons, another, and not
I, must be their instrument to perform it. In stating a single
condition of peace, I mean simply to say, that the war will
cease on the part of the government, whenever it shall have
ceased on the part of those who began it.
"Abraham Lincoln."
The covert attempt to negotiate for favorable terms
having failed, the rebel government, well aware of its
waning power, made a more open advance to our gov
ernment, which resulted in the famous " Peace Confer
ence," held in Hampton Roads, in the early part of Feb
ruary, 1865. In order to gain a clear understanding
of this whole affair, it may be stated that on December
the 28th, 1864, Mr. Lincoln had furnished P. P. Blair,
Sen., a pass to enter the southern lines and return ;
especially stipulating, however, that he should in no
way treat with the rebels, in behalf of the government.
Mr. Blair, on his return, brought a letter from Jefferson
Da,vis, dated January 12th, 1865, in which he stated
574 THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
that he was willing " to enter into negotiations for the
restoration of peace," that he would appoint a commis
sioner, " and renew the effort to enter into a conference,
with a view to secure peace to the two countries."
Mr. Lincoln's reply to this was as follows :
" Washington, January 18th, 1865.
" F. P. Blair, Esq. — Sir : You having shown me Mr. Davis's
letter to you of the 12th inst., you may say to him that I have
constantly been, am now, and shall continue ready to receive any
agent, whom he or any other influential person now resisting
the national authority, may informally send me with a view of
securing peace to ihe people of our common couniry.
" Yours, etc., A. Lincoln."
This message, when shown to Davis, was interpreted
by him — as Mr. Lincoln evidently intended it should
be — viz : as expressing a firm determination, however
anxious for peace, not to recognize, even tacitly, the
assumption of the independence of the rebellious Con
federacy. Ll the early part of the ensuing month, February, the
national government received an apphcation for per
mission for the Confederate Vice President, Alexander
H. Stephens, of Georgia; the President of the rebel
Senate, Hon. R. M. T. Hunter, of Virginia, and Hon. J.
A. Campbell, of Alabama, the rebel Assistant Secretary
of War, to enter the Union lines as quasi commissioners
from the rebel government to confer informally with
the President at Washington, in order "to ascertain
upon what terms the war could be terminated honor
ably." Permission was granted, with the understanding
that the parties named were not to be allowed to land,
a fact which caused much annovance to the rebel
THE CONCLUSION OF THE WAE. 575
agents, who made no secret of their desire to visit
Washington. They were furnished quarters on board a stea;ner,
anchored in Hampton Roads, off Fortress Monroe, and
the Secretary of State was sent, by the President, to
meet them with the following instructions :
"Executive Mansion", Washington, January 31, 1865.
" Hon. Wm. H. Seward, Secretary of State :
"You will proceed to Fortress Monroe, Yirginia, there to
meet and informally confer with Messrs. Stephens, Hunter, and
Campbell, on the basis of my letter to F. P. Blair, Esq., of
January 18th, 1865, a copy of which you have. You wil
make known to them that three things are indispensable, to wit :
First, the restoration of the national authority throughout all the
States ; second, no receding by the Executive of the United States on
the slavery question from the position assumed thereon in the late
annual message to Congress, and in the preceding documents ; no
cessation of hostilities short of the end of the war, and ihe disbanding
of all the forces hostile to the government. You will inform them
that all propositions of theirs, not inconsistent with the above,
will be considered, and passed upon in a spirit of sincere liber
ality. You will hear all they may choose to say, and repeat it
to me. You will not assume definitely to consummate any
thing. Yours, etc.,
"A. Lincoln."
The next morning, February 1st, in order to prevent
any attempt at trickery by the rebels, he sent a cipher
despatch to General Grant, informing him that nothing
then transpiring was to "'change^hinder, or delay" any
of his military movements or plans.
In reply. General Grant intimated to Secretary
Stanton that it might be as well if the President could
personally be present at the confeience, as he, the gen-
576 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
eral, beheved " their desire sincere to restore peace and
Union," alluding to the three commissioners. To which
Mr. Lincoln, ever desirous for peace, telegraphed, on the
morning of February 2d, to Secretary Seward, as follows :
" Induced by a despatch from General Grant, I join you
at Fortress Monroe as soon as I can come ;" whUe to
General Grant he telegraphed : " Say to the gentlemen
that I will meet them personally at Fortress Monroe, as
soon as I can get there."
He reached the fortress on the night of February 2d,
plainly showing that he had delayed no time when he
believed a peace could be obtained upon the basis of the
Union, and next morning, February 3d, joined the
Secretary of State and Major Eckert on board the
steamer River Queen, then anchored in the " Roads."
The commissioners then came on board and held a
conference with the President and his Secretary, which
lasted four hours, and was perfectly friendly and good-
tempered throughout. Not a word was said on either
side indicating any but amicable, sentiments. On our
side the conversation was mainly conducted by the
President ; on theirs by Mr. Hunter, Mr. Stephens occa
sionally taking part. The commissioners said nothing
whatever of their personal views or wishes ; speaking
solely and exclusively for their government, and, at the
outset and throughout the conference, declaring their
entire lack of authority to make, receive, or consider
any proposition whatever looking toward a close of the
war, except on the basis of a recognition of the indepen
dence of the Confederate States as a preliminary condi
tion. The President presented the subject to them in
every conceivable form, suggesting the most liberal and
THE CONCLUSION OF THE WAE. 577
considerate modification of whatever, in the existing
legislation and action of the United States Government,
might be regarded as specially hostile to the rights and
interests, or wounding the pride of the southern people
— but in no particular could he induce them to
swerve, even for a moment, from their demand for
recognition. They did not, however, express this as
their own conviction or wish, but as the condition
which their instructions rendered absolutely indispensa
ble to any negotiations or discussions whatever concern
ing peace.
The President on the other hand refused, at every
point, to entertain the idea of any such recognition for a
moment, afl&rming that the United States could only
stop the war and arrest, even temporarily, the movement
of its armies, on the condition of the recognition of the
authority of the national government over the whole^
territory of the United States. This point conceded he
assured them that in other minor matters of difference
they would meet with the utmost liberality ; but without
that recognition the war must and would go on.
Upon this radical and irreconcilable difference, the
whole discussion turned, and, as neither side could be
swerved from its position, the attempt at negotiation
came to a futile end — and the parties separated, dis
tinctly understanding that the attitude and action of
each government was not, in the slightest degree, affected
or changed by the conference.*
* The spirit und result of this conference is thus stated by Mr. Lincoln
himself, in his Eeport (January 16th, 1865), accompanying the documents
furnished in response to a resolution of enquiry by the House.
" On the morning of the 3d the three gentlemen, Messrs. Stephens,
37
578 THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
Since the suppression of the rebellion, Mr. Stephens'
account of the celebrated conference has come to light,
Hunter and Campbell, came aboard of our steamer, and had an interview
with the Secretary of State and myself of several hours duration. No
question of preliminaries to the meeting was then and there made or
mentioned. No other person was present. No papers were exchanged
or produced, and it was in advance agreed that the conversation was to
be informal and verbal merely. On our part the whole substance of the
instructions to the Secretary of State hereinbefore recited was stated a^d
insisted upon, and nothing was said inconsistent therewith. While by
the other party it was not said that in any event or on any condition they
ever would consent to reunion ; and yet they equally omitted to declare
they would so consent. They seemed to desire a postponement of that
question, and the adoption of some other course flrst, which as some
of them seemed to argue might or might not lead to reunion, but which.
course we thought would amount to an indefinite postponement. The
conference ended without result.''
The Secretary of State thus describes the interview in a letter to Mr.
Adams, our minister in England, under date of February 9th, 1865 :
" The conference was altogether informal. There was no attendance of
secretaries, clerks or other witnesses. Nothing was written or read. The
conversation, though earnest and free, was calm and courteous and kind
on both sides. The Eichmond party approached the discussion rather
indirectly, and at no time did they make categorical demands or tender
forraal stipulations or absolute refusals.
"Nevertheless, during the conference— which lasted four hours the
several points at issue between the government and the insurgents were
distinctly raised and discussed fully, intelligently, and in an amicable spirit.
What the insurgent party seemed chiefly to favor was a postponement
of the question of separation upon which the war is waged, and a mutual
direction of the efforts of the government as well as those of the insur
gents to some extrinsic policy or scheme for a season; during which
passions might be expected to subside and the armies be reduced, and
trade and intercourse between the people of both sections be resumed.
It ;was suggested by them that through such postponement we might now
have immediate peace, with some not very certain prospect of an ultimate
satisfactory adjustment of political relations between the government,
and the States, section or people now engaged in conflict with it.
"The suggestion, though deliberately considered, was, nevertheless,
regarded by the President as one of armistice or truce, and he announced
THE CONCLUSION OF THE WAE. 579
and we copy portions of it from the Augusta {Georgia),
Chronicle, of June 17th, 1865.
"STATEMENT BT ALEX ANDES H. STEPHENS^
" We have before stated that Mr. Davis, late President of the
States engaged in the Eebellion, had not communicated to the
people who had elected him, and trusted him, the truth in
regard to the famed Fortress Monroe Conference.
" Now that the aforesaid Davis has no longer power to arrest
that we can agree to no cessation or suspension of hostilities except on
the basis of the disbandment of the insurgent forces and the restoration
of the national authority throughout all the States in the Union. Col
laterally and in subordination to the proposition which was thus an
nounced the anti-slavery policy of the United States was reviewed in all
its bearings, and the President announced that he must not be expected
to depart from the positions he had heretofore assumed in his Proclama
tion of Emancipation and other documents, as these positions were re
iterated in his annual message.
" It was further declared by the President that the complete restoration
of the national authority everywhere was an indispensable condition of
any assent on our part to whatever form of peace might be proposed.
The President assured the other party that while he must adhere to
these positions, he would be prepared so far as power is lodged with the
Executive to exercise liberality. Its power, however, is limited by the
Constitution, and, when peace should be made. Congress must necessarily
act in regard to appropriations of money and to the admission of repre
sentatives from the insurrectionary States.
" The Eichmond party^ were then informed that Congress had, on the
31st ult., adopted by a constitutional majority a joint resolution sub
mitting to the several States the proposition to abolish slavery through
out the Union, and that there is 'every reason to expect that it will be
accepted by three-fourths of the States, so as to become a part of the
national organic law.
" The conference came to an end by mutual acquiescence, without pro
ducing an agreement of views upon the several matters discussed or any
of them. Nevertheless, it is perhaps of some importance that we have
been able tp submit our opinions and views directly to prominent insur
gents, and to hear them in answer in a courteous and not unfriendly
manner."
580 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
and confine persons without the benefit of habeas corpus ; or
his organs to instigate mobs of soldiers and irresponsible
men to threaten destruction to Ufe and private property; or
officials to arrest persons and suppress papers for publications
without his sanction, it may be as well to let people know the
truth. " We will now give the history of the convention as nearly
as we can remember it from the statement of Mr. Stephens to
us directly after his return.
"A PRIVATE CONFERENCE DECLARED IMPERATIVE BT
STEPHENS.
" Mr. Davis sent for him to communicate the information that
Mr. Blair desired a conference between the authorities of the
United States and the southern States upon the subject of
peace, and Mr. Stephens' advice was asked. He promptly re
plied that if Mr. Blair spoke by authority of President Lincoln,
he most earnestly advised the conference. But that, as the
terms of peace, if favorable to the South, would awaken angry
debate from the radical men of the North, and a failure to get
terms but dishearten our own people, he recommended, first,
that the strictest secrecy be used : second, that the parties to
the conference be President Lincoln and Mr. Davis, and that
Generals Grant and Lee be the only ones to even know of the
meeting. " The advice was taken as usual in Eichmond — disregarded
altogether — and by officially telegraphing the news to every
corner of the late so-called Confederacy. Two days later 'Mr.
Stephens was surprised by the information from Mr. Benjamin
that a committee of three were to go, consisting of Alexander
H. Stephens, Vice President ; E. M. T. Hunter, Senator from
Virginia ; and John A. CampbeU, Assistant Secretary of War.
Mr. Stephens saw at once that to refuse to go would subject
him to unfriendly remarks, and that probably he would have
the responsibility of failure to make peace thrown upon his
shoulders. So he went, merely remarking to Mr. Campbell,
THE CONCLUSION OF THE WAE. 581
' that the old story of the monkey that took the paw of the cat
to pull his chestnuts out of the flre was not without some
modern illustrations;' to which Mr. Campbell said that 'he
thought so too, and did not like it.'
"PEACE DESIRED BT BOTH ARMIES.
" The flag of truce and the loud and prolonged cheers cf
both armies, that gave the lie to the statement of southern
administration organs that the veterans were opposed to
peace, and the two day's enjoyment of. the hospitality of that
glorious soldier Grant, are history well known. Probably but
for the indorsement of the peace wishes of Stephens and
Hunter by General Grant, the interview would not have been
granted. The reason why the general did not include Mr.
Campbell in the indorsement was, that Mr. Campbell was per
fectly satisfied that the country was whipped then, and prepared
to take what he could get, and therefore did not talk ; while
Mr. Hunter, who was not much for reconstruction, talkfed the
most. "THE CONFERENCE.
" The three southern gentlemen met Mr. Lincoln and Mr.
Seward, and after some preliminary remarks, the subject of
peace was opened. Mr. Stephens, well aware that one who asks
much may get more than he who confesses to humble wishes
at the outset, urged the claims of his section with that skill and
address for which the northern papers have given him credit.
Mr. Lincoln, holding the vantage-ground of conscious power,
was, however, perfectly frank, and submitted his views almost
in the form of an argument.
"THE REPORT OF THE REBEL COMMISSIONERS.
" The report of Messrs. Stephens, Hunter and Campbell we
give as follows : '"Eichmond, Feb.io, 1865.
" 'To THE President of the Confederate States :
" ' Sir : — Under your letter of appointment as commissioners,
582 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
of the 28th ult., we proceeded to seek an informal conference'
with Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, upon
the subject mentioned in the letter. Conference was granted,
and took place on the 30th of December, on board a steamer
anchored in Hampton Eoads, where we met President Lincoln
and the Hon. Mr. Seward, Secretary of State for the United
States. It continued for several hours, and was both full and
explicit. " ' We learned from them that the message of President Lin
coln to the Congress of the United States in December last,
explains clearly his sentiments as to the terms, conditions, and
mode of procedure by which peace can be secured to the people,
and we are not informed that they would be modified or altered
to obtain that end. We understand from him that no terms or
proposals of any treaty or agreement looking to the ultimate
settlement would be entertained or made by him with the
authorities of the Confederate States, because that would be a
recognition of their existence as a separate power, which under
no circumstances would be done. And for lilce reasons, that no
such terms would be entertained by him from separate States ;
that no extended truce or armistice, as at present advised,
would be granted or allowed, without satisfactory assurance,
in advance, of the complete restoration of the authority of the
Constitution and laws of the United States over aU places within
the States of the Confederacy.'
" This appears to have been the principal topic of discussion.
Davis had on this occasion, as on that of Mr. Stephens' visit to
Washington, made it a condition that no conference should be
had unless his rank as commander or President should first be
recognized. Mr. Lincoln declared that the only ground on
which he could rest the justice of the war — either with his own
people or with foreign powers — was that it was not a war for
conquest, but that the States had never been separated from the
Union. Consequently, he could not recognize . another govern
ment inside of the one of which he alone was President, nor
THE CONCLUSION OF THE WAE. 583
admit the separate independence of States that were yet a part
of the Union. ' That,' said he, ' would be doing what you have
so long asked Europe to do in vain, and be resigning the only
thing the armies of the Union are fighting for.'
" MR. LINCOLN SUPPRESSES HUNTER — A HARD HIT.
" Mr. Hunter made a long reply, insisting that the recog
nition of Davis's power to make a treaty was the first and indis
pensable step to peace, and referring to the correspondence
between King Charles I. and his parliament as a trustworthy
precedent of a. constitutional ruler treating with rebels.
" Mr. Lincoln's face then wore that indescribable expresssion
which generally preceded his hardest hits, and he remarked : —
' Upon questions of history I must refer you to Mr. Seward, for
he is posted in such things, and I don't pretend to be bright.
My only distinct recollection of the matter' is, that Charles lost
his head.' That settled Mr. Hunter for a while.
" ' UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER.'
" Little appears to have been said about an armistice. Mr.
Lincoln persisted in his declaration that the country demanded
the restoration of the Union and its laws. The report goes on:
" 'Mr. Lincoln remarked that whatever consequences may
follow from the re-establishment of that authority must be
accepted ; but individuals subject to pains and penalties under
the laws of the United States, might rely upon a very liberal
use of the powers confided to him to remit those pains and
penalties if peace be restored.
" ' Limited as he was by the Constitution, he could not
change or impair the power of Congress, nor abolish its laws,
nor stay the judgments of the courts ; for the legislative and
judicial power had coequal jurisdiction with the executive.
But he did offer all the power of mercy, and pardon, and influ
ence, both as the Chief Magistrate and as a popular party leader.
584 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
and that is a better offer than rebels on the eve of destruction
and ruin ever had before from a victorious power.'
"SOME GOOD ADVICE BT THE PEESIDENT — A CHAEACTERISTIO
REMARK.
"During the interview it appears that Hunter declared that
he had never entertained any fears for his person or life from
so mild a government as that of tho United States. To which
Mr. Lincoln,, retorted that he, also, had felt easy as to the rebels,
but not always so easy about the lamp-posts around Washing
ton city — a hint that he had already done more favors for the
rebels than was exactly popular with the radical men of his
own party.
" Mr. Lincoln's manner had now grown more positive. He
suggested that it would be better for the rebel States to return
at once than to risk the chances of continuing the war, and the
increasing bitterness of feeling in Congress. The time might
come, he said, when they would not be considered as an erring
people invited back to citizenship, but would be looked upon
as enemies to be exterminated or ruined.
"DISCUSSION UPON THE ANTI-SLAVEET AMENDMENT TO THE
CONSTITUTION.
" During the conference, the amendment to the Federal Con
stitution, which has just been adopted by Congress was read,
providing that neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, ex
cept for crimes, should exist within the United States, or any
place within its jurisdiction, and Congress should have power
to enforce the amendment by appropriate legislation. The
report says :
" Mr. Seward then remarked : ' Mr. President, it is as weU to
inform these gentlemen that yesterday Congress acted upon the
amendment of the Constitution abolishing slavery.'
" Mr. Lincoln stated that was true, and suggested that there
was a question as to the right of the insurgent States to return
THE CONCLUSION OF THE WAR. 585
at once and claim a right to vote upon the amendment, to
which the concurrence of two thirds of the State was required.
He stated that it would be desirable to have the institution of
slavery abolished by the consent of the people as soon as
possible — he hoped within six years. Ho also stated that four
hundred miUions of dollars might be ofl'ered as compensation
to the owners, and remarked, ' You would be surprised were I
to give you the names of those who favored that.'
"THE 'ROOT hog' STORT.
" Mr. Hunter said something about the inhumanity of leav
ing so many poor old negroes and young children destitute by
encouraging the able-bodied negroes to run away, and asked,
what are they — the helpless — to do ?
" Mr. Lincoln said that reminded him of an old friend in
lUinois, who had a crop of potatoes, and did not want to dig
them. So he told a neighbor that he would turn in his hogs,
and let them dig them for themselves. ' But,' said the neighbor,
' the frost will soon be in the ground, and when the soil is hard
frozen, what will they do then ?' To which the worthy farmer
replied, 'Let 'em root.'
"Mr. Stephens said he supposed that was the original of
'Eoot, Hog, or Die,' and a fair indication of the future of the
negroes. " Of aU correspondence that preceded the conference herein
mentioned, and leading to same, you have heretofore been in
formed. Very respectfully, your obedient servants,
(Signed) "Alexander H. Stephens,
"E. M. T. Hunter,
"John A. Campbell.
"The commissioners remark that all that is known of this
correspondence they 'have from the report of Mr. Seward, as
Mr. Davis never favored them with it.' Mr. Stephens reported
to Mr. Davis that nothing had been done, that nothing was
determined, and that if he relied upon the sincerity of Mr.
I
586 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
Blair, the conference was but a confirmation of the desire for
peace on the part of the United States, and the way opened for
settlement. Mr. Davis, however, looked upon the proposals as
insulting, and seemed to have the concurrence of Mr. Hunter
in that view — somewhat. He wished a statement to go before
the public that only insulting terms were tendered ; but the
commissioners declined to make it, on the ground that it was
not true. "how DAVIS DOCTORED THE REPORT.
" With some difficulty they secured the reception of the brief
and perfectly truthful, but not very clear, report that was pub
lished, and Mr. Davis put the coloring to it, and endeavored to
secure his object of crushing the great southern peace party by
an inflammatory despatch all over the country, followed by the
actual report, with the foUowing ingenious preface, written by
himself : " ' Executive Office, Eichmond, February 6, 1865.
" ' To the Senate and House of Eepresentatives of the
Confederate States : — I recently received a written notifica
tion which satisfied me that the President of the United States
was disposed to confer informally with any official agents that
might be sent by me with a view to the restoration of peace. I
requested the Hon. A. H. Stephens, Hon. E. M. T. Hunter, and
Hon. John A. Campbell, to proceed through our lines and hold
conference with Lincoln, or such persons as he might depute to.
represent him.
"'I herewith submit, for the information of Congress, the
report of these eminent citizens above named, showing that the
enemy refused to enter into negotiations with the Confederate
States, or any of them separately, or give our people any other
terms or guarantees than those which Congress may grant, or
to permit us to have a vote on any other basis than our uncon
ditional submission to their rule, coupled with the acceptance
of their recent legislation, including the amendment to the
THE CONCLUSION OF THE WAE. 587
Constitution emancipating all negro slaves ; and with the right,
on the part of the Federal Congress, to legislate on the subject
of the relations between the white and black populations in
each State. Such is, as I understand, the effect of the amend-
rnent to the Constitution which has been adopted by the Con
gress of the United States. "'Jefferson Davis.'
" This was closely followed by mass-meetings in the capital
and elsewhere. How strange it is that all these bloody-minded
men, who advocated the 'black flag,' and ' no quarters,' upon our
street corners, contented themselves with words ? and with all
this hate of Yankees, never undertook to find them at the front,
where there have been lots of them to be found for four years.
Mr. D^is said in one of those Eichmond meetings in his
speech : ' We will teach them that when they talk to us they
talk to their masters.'
" FIEE- eaters' LIES ABOUT STEPHENS.
"Mr. Stephens came home with a new cause of sorrow, and
those who said he talked of coming home to make war-speeches
and denounce the terms offered, simply Ued. Before Mr.
Lincoln's death, he thought he was doing a favor to him not to
include that offer of four hundred millions in gold for the
southern slaves, in the published report, for it would be used
to the injury of Mr. Lincoln by those of his enemies who talk
about taxation and the debt.
" MR. STEPHENS' OPINION OF MR. LINCOLN.
"^Mr. Stephens has frequently expressed no apprehensions
should the fortunes of war throw him into the hands of Mr.
Lincoln, and said he would not get out of the way of a raid
were it not for appearances, on account of the office he held.
He spoke of Mr. Lincoln as an old friend who had generally
voted with him in Congress, and who had a good heart and
fine mind, and was undoubtedly honest."
588 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
On the 4th of March, 1865, Mr. Lincoln was inaugu
rated for a second term of four years, to which he had
been chosen by the people. As the day was rainy, the
ceremonies began in the Senate chamber, which the
ofl&cial procession entered at twelve o'clock. The mem
bers of the Supreme Court first took their seats on the
right of the Vice President's chair, soon after which Mr.
Lincoln entered, escorted by Vice President Hamhn, and
followed by the members of the Cabinet, the diplomatic
corps, ofiicers of the army and navy who have received
the thanks of Congress, governors, etc. Vice President
Hamlin briefly took his leave of the Senate, over which
he presided for four years, and the oath of ofitee was
then administered to his successor, Andrew Johnson,
and the Senators elect to the Thirty-ninth Congress.
When this was concluded, the ofiicial procession again
formed, and moved to the platform in front of the eastern
front of the Capitol, where Mr. Lincoln pronounced the
following INAUGUEAL ADDEESS.
" Fellow Countbtmen : — At this second appearing to take
the oath of the Presidential office, there is less occasion for an
extended address than there was at first. Then a statement of
a course to be pursued seemed very fitting and proper.
"ISTow, 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 progress of our arms, upon which aU else chiefly de
pends, is as well known to the public as to myself, and it is, I
trust, reasonably satisfactory and encouraging to all. With
high hopes for the future, no prediction in regard to it is ven
tured.
THE CONCLUSION OF THE WAE. 589
" On the occasion corresponding to this, four years ago, all
thoughts Avere anxiously directed to an impending civil war.
All dreaded it ; all sought to avoid it.
" While the inaugural address was being delivered from this
place, devoted altogether 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
distributed generally over the Union, but localized in the
southern part of it.
" These slaves constituted a peculiar and powerful interest.
All knew that this interest was somehow the cause of the war.
To strengthen, perpetuate, and extend this interest was 'the
object for which the insurgents would rend the Union by war,
while the government claimed no right to more than 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
triumph, and a result less fundamental and astounding.
" Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God, and
each invokes 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 may not be judged. The prayer 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 offences, for it must needs be that offences
come, but woe unto the man by whom the offence cometh.' If
we shall suppose that American slavery is one of these offences
590 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
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 speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that
it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondman's two
hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and
until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by
another 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 no one, with charity for all, with flrm
ness in the right as God gives us' to see the right, let us strive
on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds,
to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his
widow and his orphans, to do all which may achieve and
cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all
nations." The oath of ofiice was then administered by Chief
Justice Chase, and the reinaugurated President was
escorted back to the White House.
The Presidential election having passed, public atten
tion was once more absorbed by the operations of our.
army and navy, still occupied in every portion of the
field, in carrying out the admirable plans inaugurated
by the Lieutenant-General for the final overthrow of the
rebellion. In the Southwest, the rebel General Hood, rallying
somewhat from the severe defeats which he had suffered,
made an attempt to cut Sherman's communications with
THE CONCLUSION OF THE WAE. 591
his base. The latter giving him, as a decoy, every facil
ity of doing so, sent General Thomas with two corps to
watch him on the Tennessee river, and having thus lured
him to a sufiicient distance, destroyed ^he railroad be
tween Chattanooga 'and Atlanta, and cutting boldly loose
from his base at the latter point, commenced his grand
march of nearly three hundred miles across the country
to Savannah, which surrendered to him on the 22d of
December. Hood, meantime, had rashly pushed after
Thomas, who purposely drew him on, and after being
severely whipped at Franklin, attempted to surround
Nashville. On the 15th of December, however, he wa&
attacked by the Union forces, and completely routed,
having sustained a loss of nearly seventeen thousand
men in these two engagements.
While Sherman and Thomas were dealing these
tremendous blows in this portion of the Confederacy,
General Grant was as ably fulfilling his part of the pro
gramme. On tbe 13th of December, he sent a combined
military and naval expedition, under General Butler and
Rear- Admiral Porter, to capture Wilmington. This, prov
ing unsuccessful, was shortly followed by another, under
command of General A. Terry, which gallantly accom
plished its purpose, on the 15th of January, by the capture
of Fort Fisher; thus effectually sealing the harbor which
had, hitherto, been accessible to blockade-runners, to a
greater degree, almost, than any other port on the coast.
Early in February a forward movement was made hy
Grant, himself, with four corps of the Army of the Poto
mac, for the purpose of establishing his lines closer to the
Weldon railroad. Thereupon ensued a desperate struggle
of several days' duration, which resulted in a permanent
592 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
gain, held by the Union forces, of a position four miles
in advance of their former one. Then followed, on the
25th of March, a successful attack, by the rebels, on
Fort Steadmaij, near Petersburg, and the capture of its
garrison; but the Union troops retook the fort, and
gained and held in turn a portion of the rebel lines.
Four days after this. General Grant undertook to give his
foe the coup de grace ; attacking with the Army of the
Potomac in front, while the Army of the James forced
the enemy's right fiank ; and Sheridan, with a large
cavalry force, distracting Lee's attention by a blow at the
junction of the Southside, Richmond and Danville rail
roads, suddenly wheeled, struck the southside railroad
within ten miles of Petersburg, and tearing it up as he
went, fell upon the rebel left flank. The four days of
terrible conflict, which ensued, resulted in placing Pe
tersburg completely at the mercy of the national armies.
On the night of Sunday, April 2d, Petersburg and
Richmond were evacuated, and both were occupied by the
" brave boys in blue " the next moming, April 3d ; the
colored troops, under General Weitzel, having the honor
of first entering the fallen rebel capital. Lee, having
lost nearly half of his army,* and with the balance
utterly demoralized, fled toward Danville, but finding
his route obstructed turned toward Lynchburg, with
General Grant in hot pursuit. On the 6th of April, he
was overtaken by Sheridan and Meade, at Deatonville,
and met with a crushing defeat. Seven of his generals
and many thousands of his troops, with most of his guns,
were captured. He made a futile attempt to escape with
*¦ General Lee lost about eighteen thousand, who were taken prisoners,
and very nearly eight to ton thousand in killed and wounded.
THE CONCI.USION OF THE WAE. 593
the remnant of his force, but finding every avenue of
escape closed against him, was compelled to surrender on
Sunday, the 9th of April, 1865, on the terms offered by
his captor. General Grant. Thus the Confederacy re
ceived its death-blow.
Meanwhile, Sherman, moving northward from Savan
nah in two columns, flanked Charleston, S. C, and com
pelled its evacuation without the necessity of striking a
blow ; captured Columbia, Cheraw and Fayetteville, and
being joined by Schofield's and Terry's armies occupied
Goldsborough, only one hundred and fifty miles from
Grant's army, and connected by a railroad which could
be rapidly repaired. Between these two great armies of
the Union there remained, after Lee's surrender, only
General Johnston's daily weakening force, almost, if not
^uite, the only organized army of the rebellion, which
seemed about to be crushed between the two, as be
tween the upper and the nether millstone.
But Lee's surrender had virtually decided the exists
ence of the Confederacy — it would have been folly and
madness for the rebel chieftains to prolong a useless
warfare, and the ^ pubhc heart, both North and South,
was shortly gladdened by the news of Johnston's sur
render to Sherman, on the 26th of AprU, and of Dick
Taylor's trans-Mississippi army to General Canby on the
4th of May.
On the 24 th of March, President Lincoln left Wash
ington on a visit to the army, at the request, as has
since been ascertained, of General Grant, who advised him
to be present at the capture of the rebel capital ; every
thing being then in readiness for the last and closhig
movement of the campaign. From his quarters at City
38
594 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
Point, he telegraphed, on March 31st, the news of the
victory of the previous day, on the Boydtown plank
road ; on April 1st and 2d he announced, through the
Secretary of War, General Grant's successful movement
on the left of his line, especially Sheridan's brilliant
victories, and on April 3d, 1865, a brief despatch signed
" A. Lincoln," electrified the country with the glorious
intelligence that Richmond and Petersburg had fallen
into our hands. The latter city he visited during the
aftern'oon of the sam'e day, and was well received by the
citizens. On the day following he visited Richmond —
whicii he unostentatiously entered on foot, merely
attended by a small guard, and proceeded immediately
to the late residence of the arch-traitor, Jeflferson Davis,
now the headquarters of the Union general in command,
where, in the evening, he held a levee, at which h«
received, in his usual free and easy manner, the con
gratulations of his brave soldiers, and the visits of the
citizens of the place.
This, to him, must have been an hour of joy unmin
gled. Long and anxious hours of care seemed now to
be slipping from his shoulders, and brighter hours of hope
and peace cast their radiance upon his heart and upon
the future of his redeemed and beloved country. Well
can we imagine that the emotions of that hour of triumph,
albeit so modestly borne by Mr." Lincoln, amply repaid
him for the long years of patient endurance, of hope
deferred, of calumny and misrepresentation, of carking
care and unprecedented responsibility, which it ha,d been
his lot to bear. His return to Washington had nothing to
dampen this joy, for on the 9th of April, he was enabled
to congratulate his countrymen on the surrender of Lee's
THE CONCLUSION OP THE "WAE. 595
army, and the virtual close of the rebellion. But one
great rebel army still stood at bay, that of Johnston ;
and its submission was merely a question of a few days'
time. The impending draft, which had been the terror
of the country, was promptly stopped, and the public
heart began, almost too suddenly for, realization — to
breathe freer and happier in the anticipation of speedy
peace. Under these circumstances it was bi^t natural
that the people should instinctively desire to congratulate
their great leader, and to look upon his honest and care
worn countenance, now relaxed and beaming with a
grateful sense of relief from anxiety. On the evening
ofthe llth of April, there was an impromptu gathering
of the masses around the White House, and Washington
was fairly ablaze with happiness and hope.
The Executive Departments, including the Presi
dent's mansion, were illuminated, and adorned with
transparencies and national fiags, as were also many
places of business and private dwellings. Bonfires
blazed in different parts of the city, and rockets were
fired. Thousands of persons of both sexes repaired to
the executive mansion, and, afte:?* several airs had
been played by the band, the President, in response to
the numerous calls, appeared at an upper window. The
cheering with which he was greeted having ceased, he
spoke as follows, foreshadowing his policy of recon
struction :
"We meet this evening, not in sorrow, but in gladness- of
heart. The evacuation of Petersburg and Eichmond, and the
surrender of the principal insurgent ariny, give hopes of a
righteous and speedy peace, whose joyous expression cannot be
restrained. In the midst of this, however. He from Mfeom all
596 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
blessings flow must not be forgotten. A call for a National
Thanksgiving is being prepared, and wUl be duly promulgated.
Nor must those whose harder part gives us the, cause of re
joicing, be overlooked. Their honors must not be parcelled
out with others. I, myself, was near the front, and had the
high pleasure of transmitting much of the good news to you.
But no part of the honor, for plan or execution, is mine. To
General Grant, his skillful officers and brave men, all belong.
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 case of war between independent nations, there is no au
thorized organ for us to treat with. No one man has authority
to give up the rebellion for any other man. We simply must
begin with and mould from disorganized ¦ and discordant ele
ments. Nor is it a small additional embarrassment, that we,
the loyal people, differ among ourselves as to the mode, manner
and measure of reconstruction. As a general rule, I abstain
from reading the reports of attacks upon myself, wishing not
to be provoked by that to which I cannot properly offer an
answer. In spite of this .precaution, however, it comes to my
knowledge that I am •Quch censured for some supposed agency
in setting up and seeking to sustain the new State government
of Louisiana. In this I have done just so much and no more
than the public know. In the annual message of December,
1863, and the accompanying 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 ac
ceptable ; and I also distinctly protested that the Executive
claimed, no right to say who or whether members should be
admitted to seats in Congress from such States. This plan was
THE CONCLUSION OF THE WAE. 597
in advance submitted to the then Cabinet, and approved by
every member of it. One of them suggested that I should
then, and in that connection, apply the Emancipation Proc
lamation to the theretofore excepted parts of Virginia and
Louisiana ; that I should drop the suggestion about appren
ticeship for freed people ; and that I should omit the protest
against my own power in regard to the admission of members
of Congress. But even he approved every part and parcel of
the plan which has since been employed or touched by the
action of Louisiana. The new constitution of Louisiana, de
claring 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 eniancipationist came to my knowledge until after the
news .reaehed Washington that the people of Louisiana had
begun to move in accordance with it. From about July, 1862,
I had corresponded with different persons supposed to be in
terested in seeking a reconstruction of a State government 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 reBonstruct 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 whenever
I shall be convinced that keeping it is adverse to the public
interest.- But I have not yet been so convinced. I have been
shown a letter on this subject — supposed to be an able one —
in which the writer expresses regret that my mind has not
598 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LlNCOLiST.
Beemed to be definitely nxed on the question whether the se
ceded States, so called, are in the Union or out of it. It would
perhaps add astonishment to this 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 discussion of it,
while it thus remains practically immaterial, could have no
effect other than the mischievous one of dividing our friends.
As yet, whatever it may become, that question is bad as 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 those States, is to again get them into
that proper practical relation. I believe that it is not only
possible, but in fact easier to do this without deciding, or even
considering, whether these States have been out of the Union
or in it ; finding themselves safely at home, it would be utterly
immaterial whether they had been abroad. Let us all join in
doing the acts necessary to restore the proper practical relations
between these States and the Union, and each forever after in
nocently indulge his own opinion whether in doing the acts he
brought the States from -without into the Union, or only gave
them proper assistance, they never having been out of it. The
amount of constituency, so to speak, on which the Louisiana
government rests, would be more satisfactory to all if it con
tained -fifty thousand, or thirty thousand, or even twenty
thousand — ^instead of twelve thousand — as it does. It is also
unsatisfactory to some that the elective franchise 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 Lou-
isians government, as it stands, is quite all that is desirable.
The question is, wUl it be wiser to take it as it is, and keep it,
improve it, or to reject and disperse ?
. THE CONCLUSION OF THE WAE. 599
. "Can Louisiana be brought into proper practical relation
with the Union sooner by sustaining or by discarding her new
State government ? Some twelve thousand voters in the here
tofore slave State of Louisiana, have sworn allegiance to the
Union, assumed to be the rightful political power of the State,
held elections, organized a State government, adopted a free
State constitution, giving the benefit of the public schools
equaUy 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 Constitution
al 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 committal.
" Now, if we reject and spurn them, we do our utmost to dis
organize 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, help 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 popular prac
tical relations with the Union, I have so far been unable to
perceive it. If, on the contrary, we sustain and recognize the
new government of Louisiana, the converse of all this is made
true. We encourage the hearts and nerve the arms of twelve
thousand to adhere to their work and argue for it, and feed it,
and grow it, and ripen it to a conaplete 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
attain it sooner by saving the already advanced steps toward
600 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
it than by running backward over them ? Concede that the
new government of Louisiana is only to what it should be as
the egg is to the fowl, we shall sooner have the fowl by hatch
ing the egg than by smashing it. [Laughter.]
"Again, if we rejpct Louisiana we also reject one vote in
favor of the proposed amendment to the national Constitution.
To meet this proposition, it has been argued that no more than
three-fourths of those States which have not attempted seces
sion are necessary to validly ratify the amendment. I do not
commit myself against this further than to say that such a rati
fication would be questionable and sure to be persistently ques
tioned, while a ratification by three-fourths of all the States
would be unquestioned and unquestionable.
"I repeat the question, can Louisiana be brought into prac
tical relation with the Union sooner by sustaining or by dis
carding her new State government ? What has been said of
Louisiana will apply to other States. And yet so great pecu
liarities pertain to each State and such important and sudden
changes occur in the same State, and withal so new and unpre-
dented is the whole case, that no exclusive and inflexible plan
can safely be prescribed as to details and collaterals. Such
exclusive and infiexible plan would surely become a new
entanglement. " Iraportant principles may and must be inflexible. Inthe
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 satisfled tlat
action will be proper."
The President, during the dehvery of the above
speech, was frequently interrupted by applause, and on
its conclusion, in the midst of the cheering the band
struck up a patriotic air, when he bowed and retired.
Repeated calls for Senator Sumner were then made,
but he was not present.
THE CONCLUSION OP THE WAE. 601
Senator Harlan, of Iowa, was called for, and after the
applause had subsided he directed attention to two prin
ciples settled or to be settled by the closing contest:
First, that the American people had decided that the
majority of the voters of the republic should control its
destinies and the incipient processes of making its laws.
Second, that no part of the repubhc should ever be per
mitted by force to divide it.
The punishment of traitors lay in the hands of Con
gress, and the Cdnstitution pointed out clearly what
constituted treason. Those who hatched the treason
should suffer the penalty, and under Congress he was
wilhng to trust the future in the hands of the citizen
elected a second time to see* the laws faithfully exe
cuted. Senator Harlan's remarks were applauded, and -the
assemblage dispersed after vociferous huzzas and music
by the band. A larger and more enthusiastic meeting
was seldom, if ever before, held in frontof the execu
tive mansion.
On the same day the President had issued the follow
ing important proclamation, claiming that our vessels-
of-war in foreign ports should no longer be subjected to
restrictions as at present, but should have the same
rights and hospitalities which are extended to foreign
men-of-war in the ports of the United States, and
declaring that hereafter the cruisers of every nation
should receive the treatment which in those ports, they
accord to ours, as follows :
" Whereas, For some time past vessels-of-war ofthe United
States have been refused in certain ports privUeges and immu
nities to which they were entitled by treaty, pubhc law, or tho
6'02 the LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
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 at times 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, ftierefore, I, Abraham
Lincoln, 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 thenceforth the same privileges and
immunities shaU be refused to the vessels-of-war of that country
in the ports of the United States, and this refusal shall continue
until the 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 hulidred and
[l. s.] sixty-five, and of the independence of the United
States of America the eighty Tuinth.
"Abraham Lincoln.
" By the President :
" William H. Sewaed, Secretary of State."
the ASSASSINATION. 603
CHAPTER XVI.
THE ASSASSINATION, AND ITS EFFECTS UPON THE COUNTET.
Threats of Assassination. — Details of the arrangements made by the Con
spirators. — Booth's strange conduct and excited manner on the day of
the Assassination. — President Lincoln's last hours am.ong his family
and friends. — Goes to the theatre. — The Deed.^Statements of Major
Eathbone, Miss Harris and others. — The Death-bed scene. — The attack
on Secretary Seward. — The news in Washington. — Its effects on the
Nation. — The Editorial of the New York 'World. — Public emotion in
N|K York and elsewhere. — Eev. Dr. Bellows' discourse. — Eemarks of
tl^Eoman Catholic Archbishop. — Eev. H. W. Beecher's discourse. —
The effect of the news upon Europe. — The reception in London. — The
scene of fts announcement in the Liverpool Exchange. — Ofiioial condo
lences. — Letter from the French Government. — Tribute of the Italian
Chamber of Deputies. — Belgium joins in the general grief. — A conmiem-
orative service in Berlin.
Good Feidat, the 14th of April, has become a day
ever memorable in American annals. Being the anni
versary of Major Anderson's evacuation of Fort Sumter,
the opening scene of the terrible four years' civil war,
just ended, it had been appointed as a day of national
thanksgiving and rejoicing — ^in singular forgetfulness of
the fact that, from earliest times it was, to the Christian
world, a commemoration of the death of the Saviour.
Bichmond was ours; the rebel General Lee and his
army were prisoners ; Johnston's army on the eve of
surrender; and this day General Anderson,- amid the
thunder of echoing cannon, and the cheers and con
gratulations of loyal men, raised the beloved flag of his
iaountry ove^the ruins of Sumter, from which, four
604 THE life of abeaham LINCOLN.
years before, he had been driven, by the overpowermg
force of armed treason.
President Lincoln was already planning ways of
peace ; the reduction of the national army, and of the
heavy expenditures of the War Department ; the recon
struction and restoration of the southern States, to the
Union from which they had madly torn themselves ; the
softening of all the asperities, and the healmg of all the
wounds, social and pohtical, which had been engendered
by this terrible civil strife — such were his first thoughts
and cares.
At the first breath of returning peace, th^ sword had
turned to the olive-branch in his hand ; and his areat
heart gladly threw off the armor of defence, for the gar
ment of mercy. This hour of triumph was, to. him, not
so much a lessening, as a change of responsibility. In
that hour, he :Was relieved from these responsibilities,.
and set free from all the cares of earth, by the .sudden
act of an assassin — which, when we consider its success,
the ease with which it was accomplished, and the
rapidity of the murderer's escape, is almost without a
parallel in history.
In a public concourse, and in the presence of hundreds,
tbe chief of a great nation was murdered in an instant,
and for a long time no trace of the recognized assassin
could be found, although he must have galloped in the
dead hour of night past ofl&cers and sentries, apparently
unquestioned and unchecked.
A plot,. the whole extent and ramifications of which
have never yet been fully made known, had long been
formed to assassinate the President and the prominent
members of the Cabinet. Originating apparently in the
the ASSASSINATION. 605
Confederate government, this act, with others, such as
the attempt to fire New York, the St. Albans raid, the
seizure of vessels on the lakes and at sea, was confided
to an association of army ofiicers, who when sent on
these errands were said to be on ' detached service.'
There is direct proof of Booth's actual consultation with
officers known to belong to this organization, during
Lee's retreat from Gettysburg. The assassination of the
President was a thing so commonly talked of in the
South as to excite at last no surprise, and a reward was
actually offered, in one of the southern papers, for the
assassination of the President, Vice President, and Secre
tary of State.
It is already ascertained that a previous attempt to
take the life of Mr. Lincoln, by poison, was made, but
failed. Then parties were employed to do the work
surely, and to John Wilkes Booth, the great act was
committed. •
Threats of assassination had, at the beginning of the
war, induced considerable care on the part of the author
ities. At the first inaugration, in 1861, steps were
taken to guard against any such nefarious design.
Gradually, however, these threats were treated lightly,
and less precautions was taken. Warning, indeed, had
been conveyed to Mr. Seward on the very day that an
accident laid him a sufferer on his bed of pain, but
apparently without inducing any unueual caution or
watchfulness. ,
The President's visit to Richmond, where he walked
unattended, had seemed to many too rash, and his
friends remonstrated strongly against his thus imperil
ling a life on which all America had a claim. He wrote
1
606 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
on the very day of his death, influenced, at length, by
this friendly anxiety, to General Van Allen : " I intend
to adopt the advice of my friends and use due precau
tion." Alas ! too late. The time and place of the terrible
crii^e had already been appointed. One of the prin
cipal theatres of Washington, directed by John T. Ford
(who, however, seems . to have been no party to the
plot), had placed a state box, as it was termed, at
the disposal of President Lincoln. The evening of the
14th was appointed for the benefit of Miss Laura
Keene, to which the President, General Grant, and
other prominent ofiicials were invited, and expected. to
be present. This invitation furnished the long wished-
for opportunity to the conspirators, ahd with diabolical
ingenuity, they prepared the theatre for their fiendish
work. The President's box was a double one, or what
ordinamly constituted two boxes, in the second tier, at
the left of the stage. On occasions of its being occupied
by the Presidential party, these boxes were thrown into
one, by the removal of the temporary partition. The
doors of these boxes opened into a narrow, dark hall
way, closed in turn by a door at the end of the dress-
circle. During the day, or previously, these premises
had been fully and deliberately prepared by the assassin
and his accomplices, for the coming tragedy. The
passage-door opening from the dress-circle had been
securely- fastened by a piece of board, firmly braced
between it and a secret niche made in the opposite
wall — so that it would be impossible to jar it out of
place by knockmg against the door on the outer, or
dress-circle side. Having thus guarded against intru-
THE ASSASSINATION. 607
sion by any of the audience, the assassin next proceeded
to provide means of observing the position of the
occupants of the box, by boring gimlet holes in the
panels of the box doors, enlarged by a pen-knife on the
inside, through which he could survey the scene at the
moment of action. The spring-locks on the inside
of the doors were weakened by the partial withdrawal
of the screws which fastened the hasps to the wood ; so
that, even if locked, the doors would offer but little
resistance to firm pressure from the outside. Facility
of access being thus provided, the murderer, or his
confederates among the employees of the theatre, had
insured a clear and unobstructed passage to their victim,
by such an arrangement of the chairs and sofas as
would place thfe other occupants at some distance from
him, and in positions not to observe an entrance. Mr.
Lincoln's chair was placed in the front comer, furthest
from the stage ; that of Mrs. Lincoln was more remote
from the front, and just by the column in the centre ;
while the other chairs and a sofa were all placed on the^
side nearest the "stage, leaving the centre of the spacious
box clear for the assassin's operations, and enabling him
to enter unseen. For the criminal act. Booth had
selected a small silver-mounted Derringer pistol, and a
bowie knife. He had previously often exhibited a
nicked bullet, with which he declared that his intention
was to kill the President; and during ja recent visit to
Boston, spent much of his time at a pistol gallery, prac
tising firing behind his neck, between his legs, and
in many strange and awkward positions. For his
escape he had no less carefully provided. He took
a stable in the alley in the rear of the theatre, and on
608 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
the afternoon of Friday hired a fine bay mare, and
taking it to the stable, employed Spangler, the stage
carpenter, to watch it. It was saddled ready for an
instant mount, and placed in charge of Spangler, who
also prepared the scenes so that he could readily reach
the back door. Of this door Spangler took charge,
relieving the boy who was sent to hold Booth's horse
during the performance. All these preparationis bore
the unmistakeable evidence of ingenuity, industry and
perseverance, in the perfect accomplishment of a delibe
rate murder.
A son of the celebrated English actor, Lucius Junius
Booth, John Wilkes seems to have inherited a less
share of his father's talent than of his eccentricity and
madness. Aged about twenty-seven ; handsome, but in
tensely vicious and perverse, his wild and dissipated life,
his unsteadiness and low associations, had lost him the
respect of many who would have been his friends ; and
had lessened the importance which might otherwise
have been attached to his threats and boasts.
During the whole of that eventful Friday, his m.anner
was full of excitability, and attracted the attention of
several, who, knowing his peculiarities, supposed him to
be simply in one of his wild moods. In answer to the
inquiry of the clerk at his hotel, whether he was ill, he
answered quickly, "No," and asked, "Are you going to
Ford's theatre to-night?" immediately adding, "You
ought to go ; there is to be some splendid acting there
to-night." Much of his time, during the day, was spent
iu drinking frequently at the bar of. a saloon next door
to the theatre. During the afternoon, he called at the
THE ASSASSINATION. 6^9
Kirkwood House, where Vice President Johnson resided,
and sent up a card, with these words :
" I don't wish to disturb you, but would be glad to have an
interview. J. Wilkes Booth."
Mr. Johnson was fortunately, not within, and to this,
possibly, owes his life. The object of Booth in seeking
this interview, however, may not have been to kill the
Vice President, as such an act would have probably
foiled the contemplated attack on the President. It
may have been, therefore, simply an attempt to involve
the Vice President, and cast suspicion upon him. To
get him to write a note — a simple response to his card
would do — " I shall be happy to have an interview with
Mr. Booth on ." This card, dropped on the scene
of the murder in the theatre, would have furnished an
evidence of collusion with Mr. Lincoln's destined suc
cessor — a shallow device, it is true, but one in the
fashion of a hundred stage plots. If we discard the
idea of an intended murder of the Vice President by
Booth (and we know that the arrangement of the con
spiracy had appointed the work to another assassin),
this seems to be the only remaining conjecture. Be that
as it may. Booth, failing to reach Mr. Johnson, returned
to his hotel about four o'clock, and wrote a letter to
his mother, apparently under great excitement. He
took his tea at the hotel at the usual hour, and the next
heard of him was a little after seven o'clock, when, in
company with five others, he entered the drinking
saloon before mentioned, and all drank together. The
emphasis of their manner in drinking attracted atten
tion, and after drinking, they formally shook hands
39
610 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
with each other, bidding one another good-bye. Upon
leavmg the bar-room, two of the party rode off" on
horseback. At a later hour, some colored people hving
on the alley of the theatre, saw him in conference
with Spangler, and placing his horse in position after
the performance had commenced. Others saw him
around the entrance soon after. An ofiicer, as we shall
see, saw him enter the passage leading to the state box,
but neither the police in front, the soldier who over
heard his language full of menace against the President,
nor the ofiicer whom his apparent rudeness shocked, nor
the President's otvn attendant, seemed to have had the
slightest suspicion of the coming tragedy. No angel
whispered a word of warning. Providence permitted
the lull of security to surround all.
But we will now follow President Lincoln in the
events of the day which closed his mortal career with
such appalling suddenness.
His son. Captain Robert Lincoln, who is on General
Grant's staff, breakfasted with him on Friday moming,
having just returned from the capitulation of Lee, and
the President passed a happy hour listening to all the
details. While at breakfast, he heard that Speaker
Colfax was in the house, and sent word that he wished
to see him immediately in the reception-room. He con
versed with him nearly an hour about his future pohcy
as to the rebelhon, which he was about to submit to the
Cabinet. Afterward, he had an interview with Mr.
Hale, minister to Spain, and several Senators and Repre
sentatives. At eleven o'clock, the cabmet and General Grant met
with him; and, in one of the most satisfactory and im-
THE ASSASSINATION. 611
portant Cabinet meetings held since his first inauguration,
the future policy of the Administration in the great work
of reconstruction, and restoring the southern States to
their ancient place beside their sister States, was harmo
niously and unanimously agreed on. When it adjourned.
Secretary Stanton said that he felt that the government
was stronger than at any previous period since the
rebelhon commenced ; and the President is said, in his
characteristic way, to have told them that some import
ant news would soon come, as he had a dream of a ship
sailing very rapidly, and had invariably had that same
dream before great events in the war. Bull Run, Antie
tam, Gettysburg, &c.
In the afternoon, the President had a long and pleasant
interview with Governor Oglesby, Senator Yates, and
other leading citizens of his State. In the evening, Mr.
Colfax called again at his request, and Mr. Ashmun, of
Massachusetts, who presided over the Chicago Convention
of 1860, was present. To them he spoke of his visit to
Richmond, and when they stated that there was much
uneasiness at the North while he was at the rebel capi
tal, for fear that some traitor might shoot him, he replied
jocularly that he would have been alarmed himself if
any other person had been President, and gone there,
"but that he did not feel any danger whatever. Conver
sing on a matter of business with Mr. Ashmun, he made
a remark that he saw Mr. Ashmun was surprised at ;
and immediately, with his well-known kindness of heart,
said, " You did not understand me, Ashmun ; I did not
mean what you inferred, and I will take it all back, and
apologize for it." He afterwards gave Mr. Ashmun a
612 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
card, written on his knee, to admit himself and friend
early the next morning to converse further about it.
Turning to Mr. Colfax, he said, " You are going with
Mrs. Lincoln and me to the theatre, I hope." But Mr. '
Colfax had other engagements, expecting to leave the
city the next morning.
He then said to Mr. Colfax, " Mr. Sumner has the
gavel of the Confederate Congress, which he got at Rich
mond to hand to the Secretary of War, but I insisted
then that he must give it to you ; and you tell him for
me to hand it over." Mr. Ashmun alluded to the gavel
which he still had, and which he had used at the Chicago
Convention, and the President and Mrs. -Lincoln, who
was also in the parlor, rose to go to the theatre. It was
half an hour after the time they had intended to start,
and they spoke about waiting half an hour longer, for the
President went with reluctance, as General Grant had
gone north, and he did not wish the people to be disap
pointed, as they had both been advertised to be there.
At the door he stopped, and said : — " Colfax, do not
forget to tell the people in the mining regions, as you
pass through them, what I told you this morning about
the development when peace comes, and I will telegraph
you at San Francisco."
Mr. Lincoln finally stated that he must go to the
theatre, and warmly ¦ pressed Speaker Colfax and Mr.
Ashmun to accompany him; but they excused them
selves on the score of previous engagements, and about
8 p. M., Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln entered the carriage.
As they proceeded at once to the residence of Senator
Harris, for Miss Harris, we give the following detailed
and authentic statement delivered under oath by Major
THE ASSASSINATION. 613
Rathbone, the step-son,of the Hon. Mr. Harris, and which
is confirmed by Miss Harris in every particular.
"Henry E. Eathbone, brevet Major in the army of the
, United States, being duly sworn, says, that on the 14th day of
April, instant, at about twenty-minutes past eight o'clock in the
evening, he, with Miss Clara H. Harris, left his residence at the
corner of Fifteenth and H streets, and joined the President and
¦Mrs. Lincoln and went with them in their carriage to Ford's
theatre in Tenth gtreet. The box assigned to the President is
in the second tier on the right.-hand side of the audience, and
was occupied by the President and Mrs. Lincoln, Miss Harris,
and this deponent, and by no pther person. The box is entered
by passing from the front of the building in the rear of the dress
circle to a small entry or passageway, about eight feet in
length and four feet in width. This passageway is entered by
a door which opens on the inner side. The door is so placed
as to make an acute angle between it and the wall behind it on
the inner side. At the inner end of this passageway is another
door, standing squarely across, and opening into the box. On
the left-hand side of the passageway, and being near the inner
end, is a third door, which also opens into the box. This latter
door was closed. The party entered tbe box through the door
at the end of the passageway. The box is so constructed that
it may be divided into two by a raovable partition, one of the
doors described opening into each. The front of the box is
about ten or twelve feet in length, and in the centre of the rail
ing is a small pillar overhung with a curtain. The depth of
the box from front to rear is about nine feet. The elevation
of the box above the stage, including the railing, is about ten
or twelve feet.
' When the party entered the box, a cushioned arm-chair
was standing at the end of the box farthest from the stage and
nearest the audience. This was also the. nearest point to the
door by which the box is entered. The President seated him
self in this chair, and, except that he once left the chair for the
614 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
purpose of putting on his overcoat, remained so seated untU he
was shot. Mrs. Lincoln was seated in a chair between the
President and the pillar in the centre above described. At
the opposite end of the box, that nearest the stage, were two
chairs, in one of these, standing in the corner. Miss Harris was
seated. At her left hand, and along the wall running from that
end of the box to the rear, stood a small sofa. At the end of
this sofa, next to Miss Harris, this deponent was seated. The
distance between this deponent and the President, as they were
sitting, was about seven or eight feet, and the distance between
this deponent and the door was about the same. The distance
between the President, as he sat, and the door Avas 'about four
(jr five feet. The door, according to the recollection of this
deponent, was not closed during the evening.
"When the second scene ofthe third act was being per
formed, and this deponent was intently observing the proceed
ings upon the stage, with his back towards the door, he heard
the discharge of a pistol behind him, and looking around, saw
through the smoke a man between the door and the President.
At the same time deponent heard him shout some word which
deponent thinks was 'Freedom.' This deponent instantly
sprang towards him and seized him. He wrested himself from
the grasp and made a violent thrust at the breast of deponent
with a large knife. Deponent parried the blow by striking it
up, and received a wound several inches deep in his left arm
between the elbow and the shoulder. The orifice of the wound
is about an inch and a half in length, and extends upwards
towards the shoulder several inches. The man rushed to the
front of the box and deponent endeavored to seize him again,
but only caught his clothes as he was leaping over the railing
of the box. The clothes, as deponent believes, were torn in this
attempt to seize him. As he went over upon the stage, de
ponent cried out with a loud voice, ' Stop that man.' Deponent
then turned to the President. His position was not changed.
His head was slightly bent forward .and his eyes were closed
THE ASSASSINATION. 615
Deponent saw that he was unconscious, and, supposing him
mortally wounded, rushed to the door for the purpose of calling
medical aid. On reaching the outer door of the passageway as
above described, deponent found it barred by a heavy piece of
plank, one end of which was secured in the wall and the other
rested against the door. It had been so securely fastened that
it required considerable force to remove it. This wedge or bar
was about four feet from the floor. Persons upon the outside
were beating against the door for the purpose of entering. De
ponent removed the bar and the door was opened. Several
persons who represented themselves to be surgeons were allowed
to enter. Deponent saw there Lieut. Crawford, and requested
him to prevent other persons from entering the box. Deponent
then returned to the box and found the surgeons examining the
President's person. They had not yet discovered the wound.
As soon as it was discovered it was determined to remove him
from the theatre. He was carried out, and this deponent then
proceeded to assist Mrs. Lincoln, who was intensely excited, to
leave the theatre. On reaching the' head of the stairs deponent
requested Major Potter to aid him in assisting Mrs. Lincoln
across the street to the house to which the President was being
conveyed. The wound which deponent had received had been
bleeding very profusely, and, on reaching the house, feeling
very faint from the loss of blood, he seated himself in the hall,
and soon after fainted away and was laid upon the floor. Upon
the return of consciousness deponent was taken in a carriage to
his residence.
" In the review of the transaction, it is the confident belief
of the deponent that the time which elapsed between the dis
charge of the pistol and the time when the assassin leaped from
the box, did not exceed thirty seconds. Neither Mrs. Lincoln
nor Miss Harris had left their seats.
"H. E. Eathbone."
" Subscribed and sworn before me, )
this 17th day of April, 1866. j "A. B. Olin,
"Justice of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia."
616 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
Such is the account of the brief but tragic act, given
by one withm the box. An actor, who was at the
moment on the stage, makes the following statement,
showing what was seen from his position ; and he was
the only one of the company on the stage at the time,
Miss Laura Keene being about to enter :
"I was," says Mr. Hawke, "playmg 'Asa Trenchard' in the
'American Cousin.' The 'old lady' of the theatre had just
gone off the stage, and I was answering her exit speech when
I heard the shot fired. I turned, looked up at the President's
box, heard the man exclaim 'Sic semper tyrannis,' saw him
jump from the box, seize the flag on the staff, and drop to the
stage. He slipped when he gained the stage, but got upon his
feet in a moment, brandished a large knife, saying ' The South
shall be free !' turned his face in the direction I stood, and I
recognized him as John Wilkes Booth. He ran towards me,
and I, seeing the knife, thought I was the one he was after, ran
off the stage and up a flight of stairs. He made his escape out
of a door directly in the rear of the theatre, mounted a horse
and rode off.
"The above all occurred in the space of a quarter of a
minute, and, at the time, I did not know that the President was
shot — although if I had tried to stop him he would have
stabbed me."
Few of the audience had any idea of what was oc
curring, but Captain Theodore McGowan, A. A. G. to
General Augur, makes this statement :
" On the night of Friday, April 14th, 1865, in company with
a friend, I went to Ford's theatre. Arriving there just after
tlie entrance of President Lincoln and the party accompanying
him, my friend. Lieutenant Crawford, and I, after viewing the
Presidential party from the opposite side of the dress circle,
THE ASSASSINATION. 617
went to the right side and took seats in the passage above the
seats of the dress circle, and about five feet from the door of
the box occupied by President Lincoln. During the perform
ance the attendant of the President came out and toolc the chair
nearest the door. I sat, and had been sitting, about four feet
to his' left and rear, for some time.
" I remember th'at a man, whose face I do not distinctly
recollect, passed me, and inquired of one sitting near who the
President's messenger was ; and learning, exhibited to him an
envelope, apparently oificial, having a printed heading, and
superscribed in a bold hand. I could not read the address, and
did not try.. / think now it was meant for Lieutenant-General
Grant. That man went away.
" Some time after, I was disturbed in my seat by the ap
proach of a man who desired to pass up on the aisle in which
I was sitting. Giving him room by bending my chair forward,
he passed me and stepped one step down on the level below me.
Standing there, he was almost in my line of sight, and I saw
him while watching the play. He stood, as I remember, one
step above the messenger, and remained perhaps one minute
apparently looking at the stage and orchestra below. Then he
drew a number of visiting cards from his pocket, from which,
with some attention, he drew or selected one. These things I
saw distinctly. I saw him stoop, and, I think, descend to the
level of the messenger, and by his right side. He showed the
card to the messenger ; and as my attention was then more
closely fixed upon the play, I do not know whether the card
was carried in by the messenger, or his consent given to the
entrance of the man who presented it. I saw, a few moments
after, the same man entering the door of the lobby leading to
the box and the door closing behind him. This was seen be
cause I could not fail from my position to observe it — the door
side of the proscenium box and the stage were all within the
direct and oblique lines of my sight. - How long I watched the
play after entering I do not know. It was, perhaps, two or
618 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
three minutes, possibly four. The house was perfectly still,
the large audience listening to the dialogue between 'Florence
Trenchard' and ' May Meredith,' when the sharp report of a
pistol rang through the house. It was apparently fired behind
the scenes, on the right of the stage. Looking towards it and
behind the Presidential box, while it startled aU, it was evi
dently accepted by every one in the theatre as an introduction
to some new passage, several of which had been interpolated
in the early part of the play. A moment after a man leaped
from the front of the box, directly down nine feet on the stage,
and ran rapidly across it, bare-headed, holding an unsheathed
dagger in his right hand, the blade of which flashed brightly
in the gaslight as he came within ten feet of the opposite rear
exit. I did not see his. face as he leaped or. ran, but I am con
vinced he was the man I saw enter. As he leaped he cried
distinctly the motto of Virginia, 'Sic semper tyrannis.' The
hearing of this, and the. sight of the dagger, explained fully to
me the nature of the deed he had committed. In an instant
he had disappeared behind the side-scene. Consternation seemed
for a moment to rivet every one to his seat ; the next moment
confusion reigned supreme. I saw the features of the man
distinctly before he entered the box, having surveyed him con
temptuously before he entered, supposing hira to be an ill-bred
fellow who was pressing a selfish raatter on the President in
his hours of leisure. The assassin of the President is about
five feet nine .and a half inches high, black hair, and I think
eyes of the same color. He did not turn his face more than
quarter front, as artists term it. His face was smooth, as I
remember, with the exception of a moustache of moderate size,
but of this I am not positive. He was dressed in a black coat
approximating to a dress-frock, dark pants, and wore a stiflf-
riramed, flat-topped, round-crowned black hat, of felt, I think.
He was a gentleraanly -looking person, having no decided or
obtruding raark. He seeraed for a moment or two to survey
the house with the deliberation of an habitue of the theatre."
THE ASSASSINATION. 619
Several persons, indeed, had observed Booth loitering
around the entrance of the theatre and the boxes ; but
neither this, nor his leaving his horse in the rear, from
his profession and actual occasional appearance on the
boards of the theatre, could or did excite the slightest
euspicion. A soldier, however, states that he heard him
and another man in front of the theatre speaking as
though they intended to attack the President as he came
out ; and that men, stationed apparently at intervals in
the audience, along the corridors, and at the door of
the theatre, kept calling out the time every few min
utes, evidently to notify confederates in the rear. All
the preparations, however, show that the box was the
place appointed in the councils of the conspirators.
At the moment of the fearful deed the President was
seated in a large and comfortable crimson velvet patent
rocking-chair, his right elbow upon the arm of the
chair, and his head resting upon his hand, while- the
left hand was extended to pull aside the flag (belonging
to the Treasury Guard), which draped the side of the
box nearest him. One may imagine the President, who
had a childish simplicity in his moments of relaxation,
indulging in the contented chuckling laughter peculiar
to him, as, with his great gaunt body leaning forward,
his brawny hands thrust through his thick black locks,
his full dark eyes fixed on the stage, he listened to the
exaggerated eccentricities of "Our American Cousin,"
whilst the murderer was hovering in the passage be
hind the box, or peeping, through the crevice he had con
trived, at every movement of his intended victim. At
this instant Booth burst open the door immediately be
hind the President, and deliberately shot him, as already
620 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
stated. It was all the work of a moment ! The audi
ence, waiting for the appearance of a favorite actress on
the stage, were suddenly startled by the report of a
pistol, and by the fall or leap of a man from the
President's box upon the stage. As the intruder struck
the stage, he fell forward, but soon gathering himself
up he turned, erect, in full view of the audience, and
with singular audacity, and with a calmness which
only could come of careful premeditation, uttered the
words "/S'l'c Semper Tyrannis !" in tones so sharp and
clear that every person hi the theatre heard them.
He said something more, but in that second of time
Mrs. Lincoln had screamed in horror, the unusual occur
rences had created an excitement, the audience begun
to rise, and no one heard the words distinctly. Booth
now rushed across the stage, by DuTidreary, by Florence
Trencliard, at the wing, rudely pushing Miss Keene out
of his way, as she stood ready to come ujDon the stage,
down the long passage behind the scenes, thrusting
his knife at a man who . seemed to interrupt his flight,
and out by the stage door into the darkness. ' Only one
man, Mr. J. B. Stewart, of the Washington bar, had
presence of mind to pursue him ; but unfamiliar with the
theatre. Booth reached the back door before him, and
closing it, was enabled to thrust aside the boy ahd
spring to his saddle, before Mr. Stewart could open it.
All was instantly confusion. Both before and behind
the scenes every one knew that the President had been
shot. Actors rushed upon the stage, and the audience
into the orchestra. Mr. Lincoln had sunk down without
a groan or a struggle. Mrs. Lincoln had fainted after her
first shriek — Major Rathbone was disabled by a stab
THE ASSASSINATION. 621
which Booth's knife had given him in the struggle —
Miss Harris was bewildered, by the sudden and fearful
occurrence. The audience surged to and fro in frantic
excitement. Some attempted to climb up the supports
and into the box. Then came those clear and distinct
tones of Laura Keene, first in the theatre to understand '
and appreciate the emergency — "Keep quiet in your
seats — give him air." In another moment certain gen
tlemen found presence of mind to order the throng to
leave the theatre. The gas was turned down. The
crowd at last, animated by a common impulse, pushed
for the outer doors.
As they emerged from the building, and surged up
Pennsylvania Avenue toward Willard's, bearing the
news of the President's death, they met another panic-
stricken crowd sweeping dowm the ' avenue, with the
tidings of the attack upon Secretary Seward. Instantly,
a wild apprehension of an organized conspiracy and
of other murders, took possession of the people. The
streets of Washington on that awful night, presented a
scene of wild terror, passion, and gloom, such as was
never known before, and, we trust, will never again be.
The successful attempt to murder the President took
place before thousands of spectators; the unsuccessful
assault on Mr. Seward had been perpetrated under
more extraordinary if not desperate circumstances.
Through the streets of Washington, filled with soldiers,
surrounded by fortifications and patrols, there rode,
whilst the citizens were still awake and stirring, a soli
tary man to the house of the Secretary of State, then
lying on his sick-bed from the effects of an accident
which rendered him as helpless as a child, but which, at
622 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
the same time, as the assassin welL knew, rendered it
necessary for him to have the aid of others. Two of
Mr. Seward's sons and two male attendants were
actually about his bed, or in the adjoining room, when
the desperado, under a plea which at once provoked sus-
•picion and resistance, forced his way up from the hall, and
with incredible strength, fury, and rapidity, struck
down every obstacle between him and his victim, whose
throat he attempted to cut. He only succeeded, how
ever, in inflicting severe gashes upon his face, his blows
being partially warded off" by the bed-clothes about the
Secretary's neck, and by the additional fact that Mr.
Seward rolled out upon the floor. Then stepping over
the bleeding bodies of Mr. Seward's two sons and of his
two attendants, the man rushed into the street, ex
claiming, "Sic Semper Tyrannis," leaped upon his horse,
and galloping along the side of the square in which the
Secretary's house is situated, was lost to sight.
But to return to Mr. Luicoln. The surgeons who
entered the box, found him insensible, and were satis
fied the wound was mortal. The body was immediately
borne out of the theatre and across the street to the
house of a Mr. Peterson. Around the dying President
were soon gathered the various members ofthe Cabinet,
and other prominent military ofiicers and civilians.
Secretary Stanton, just arrived from the bedside of Mr.
Seward, asked Surgeon-General Barnes what was Mr.
Lincoln's condition. " I fear, Mr. Stanton, that there
is no hope." " Oh, no, general; no, no;" and the man,
of all others, apparently strange to tears, sank down
lieside the bed, the hot bitter evidences of an awful
sorrow trickling through his fingers to the floor. Sena-
THE ASSASSINATION. 623
tor Sumner sat on the opposite side of the bed, holding
one of the President's' hands in his own, and sobbing
with kindred grief Secretary Welles stood at the foot
of the bed, his face hidden, his frame shaken with
emotion. General Halleck, Attorney-General Speed,
Postmaster-General Dennison, General Meigs and others,
visited the chamber at times, and then retired.
Thus, all through the night, while the horror-strick6n
crowds outside swept and gathered along the streets,
while the military and police were patrohng and weav
ing a cordon around the city ; while men were arming,
and asking one another, "What victim next?" whiL
the telegraph was sending the news from city to city
over the continent, and while the two assassins were
speeding unharmed upon fleet horses far away — his
chosen friends watched about the death-bed of the
highest of the nation.
The Hon. M. B. Field, Assistant Secretary of the
Treasury, in a letter, thus describes the place and the
sad scene enacted there :
" I proceeded at once to the room in which the President was
lying, which was a bedroom in an extension, on the first or
parlor floor of the house. The room is small, and is ornamented
with prints, a very familiar one of Landseer's, a white horse,
being prominent, directly over the bed. The bed was a double
one, and I found the President lying diagonally across it, with
his head at the outside. The pillows were saturated with
blood, and there was considerable blood upon the floor imme
diately under him. There was a patch- work coverlet thrown
over the President, which was only so far removed, from time
to time, as to enable the physicians in attendance to feel the
arteries of the neck Or the heart, and he appeared to have been
divested of all clothing. His eyes were closed and injected
624 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
with blood, both the lids and the portion surrounding the eyes
being as black as if they had been bruised by violence. He
was breathing regularly, but with effort, and did not seem to be
struggling or suffering. . . .
" For several hours, the breathing above described continued
regularly, and apparently without pain ot consciousness.
But about seven o'clock a change occurred, and the breathing,
which had been continuous, was interrupted at intervals.
These intervals became more frequent and of longer duration,
and the breathing more feeble. Several times the interval was
so long, that we thought him dead, and the surgeon appUed his
finger to the pulse, evidently to ascertain if such was the fact.
But it was not until twenty-two minutes past seven o'clock in
the morning that the flame flickered out. There was no ap
parent suifering, no convulsive action, no rattling of the throat,
none of the ordinary premonitory symptoms of death. Death
in this case was a mere cessation of breathing.
" The fact had not been ascertained one minute, when Dr.
Gurley offered up a prayer. The few persons in the room
were all profoundly affected. The President's eyes, after death,
were not, particularly the right one, entirely closed. I closed
them rayself, with my fingers. The expression immediately
after death was purely negative; but in fifteen minutes there
came over the mouth, the nostrils, and the chin, a smile that
seemed almost an effort of life. I had never seen upon the
President's face an expression more genial and pleasing.
"About fifteen minutes before the decease, Mrs. Lincoln came
into the roora, and threw herself upon her dying husband's
body. She was allowed to remain there only a few minutes,
when she was removed in a sobbing condition, in which,
indeed, she had been during all the time she was present."
The Rev. Dr. Gurley, of the New York Avenue Pres
byterian church, immediately on its being ascertained
that life was extinct, knelt at the bedside, and offered
THE ASSASSINATION. 625
t
an impressive prayer, which was responded to by all
present. He then proceeded to the front parlor, where
Mrs. Lincohi, Captain Robert Lincoln, Mr. John Hay,
the private secretary, and others were waiting, where
he again offered a prayer for the consolation of the
family. Shortly after nine o'clock the remains were removed
m a coffin to the White House, attended by a dense
crowd, and escorted by a squadron of cavalry and
several distinguished ofiicers. At a later hour a post
mortem examination was made of the remains, by Sur
geon-General Barnes, Dr. Stone, the late President's
family physician, Drs. Crane, Curtis, Woodward, Taft,
and other eminent medical men.
The appalling tragedy at Washington, like a sudden
and profound eclipse, darkened the whole land. Its
hideous details seemed more the inventions of a morbid
imagination than the stern realities which they were.
In the midst of national rejoicings and congratulations
over the downfall of the rebelhon, and the cheering
prospects of a glorious peace, under the generous and
forgiving pohcy of restoration foreshadowed by President
Lincoln, the dreadful tidings of his death by the hands
of an assassin, carried a sudden and heavy weight of
anguish through the length and breadth of the land.
Every man felt as though the blow had fallen at his own
hearthstone ; to every hbart it came as a personal afflic
tion. The startling intelligence created a keener sor
row, a deeper, broader, and more universal sense of public
loss, than perhaps was ever before experienced in any
age, in any country, or by. any people, over the death
of one man. The simple, genial, and generous charac-
40
626 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
ter of Mr. Lincoln had taken a closer hold upon the
affections of the masses of the American people than
that of any of their chosen favorites since the days of
Washington. From every heart, and from every family
circle there went up a cryof anguish, " The President
is murdered," and the terrible news stunned and para
lyzed every one who heard it.
At eleven o'clock on the following morning, April 15,
1865, Vice President Johnson was inaugurated President
of the United States, receiving the oath at the hand of
Chief Justice Chase, at the rooms of the Vice President
at the Kirkwood House, in the presence of the Cabinet
and several prominent members of Congress. His brief
remarks were appropriate to the peculiar and gloomy
circumstances under which they were assembled, and
were expressive of his solemn sense of the duties and
obligations thus suddenly devolved upon him by the
death of Mr. Lincoln.
A general gloom pervaded every circle of society, and
every face wore a look of deepest sorrow at the loss of
one who, wise and beyond reproach, had just carried the
country through its terrible struggle.
In our great cities men went, as usual, from their
homes to their places of business and labor; but as with
one accord, when the certainty of the President's death
was announced, all business was at an end. At the
earliest tidings, the fiags and streamers which in exultor
tion over Sumter's restoration, had, the day before, been
fluttering so victoriously in the breeze, were silently
lowered ; and when Mr. Lincoln breathed his last, flags
hung at half-mast, and the fronts of pubhc buildings and
of stores were draped in black. Before sunset, almost
THE ASSASSINATION. 627
every dwelling was darkened with the habiliments of
woe. Meanwhile the heads of departments, commanders of
armies, governors of States, and mayors of cities, issued
orders expressing their sense of the loss, and calling on
those'under their direction to join in the universal sor
row. All party feeling was forgotten. There was, in
fact, a rivalry of grief among those who opposed the
party of which Abraham Lincoln was the chosen head,
and those who were his most ardent admirers and sup
porters. The papers everywhere paid their tribute to
the worth of Mr. Lincoln, and most appreciative, per
haps, of all these utterances was the editorial in the New
York World, ever noticeable for its persistent and relent
less opposition to the course and policy of the murdered
President. "the late PEESIDENT LINCOLN.
' Never before in history has there been an occasion so
fraught with public consequences that was, at the same time,
so like an overwhelming doraestic affliction. This portentious
national calamity, conscious as we all are of its weighty and
inscrutable significance in the future politics of the country, is
also so full of affecting pathos and tragic horror that a smitten
people are overborne by a flood of sensibility, like a bereaved
family who have no heart to think on their estate and prospects
when the tide of sudden affliction has swept away the support
ing prop of the household. By no other single achievement
could death have carried such a feeling of desolation into every
dwelling, and have caused this whole land to mourn as over
the sundering of some dear domestic tie.
"The terrible deed which has filled the -national heart with
grief and consternation, lacks no conceivable accessory of tragic
628 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LIN"COLN.
horror. When the storm which has gone over us seemed to
have spent its force, there is suddenly shot from an unexpected
quarter, without warning or preparation, a swift thunderbolt,
which strikes away the chief pillar of the state and shakes the-
whole edifice to its foundations. Death, always affecting, be
comes horrible when dealt by the hand of an assassin ; even
though the victim be but a private individual, the deed of
violence spreads a feeling of uneasiness and alarm through an
excited community. The demise of the chief magistrate of a
great nation, even though he die calraly in his bed, in the most
tranquil times, is an awful and affecting event ; when an assas
sin deals the blow, the surcharge of horror is naturally as great
in proportion as in the case of a murdered individual ; but if
the calamity comes in a crisis when that particular life is
unusually felt to be of suprerae value to a nation's hopes and
prospects, the awfulness of the tragedy is heightened by all the
considerations that can give overwhelraing poignancy to a
nation's grief. Even the unimportant circumstances and sur
roundings of this foul deed have a tragic coraplexion. Perpe
trated on the anniversary of the opening of the war ; in a place
of public amusement ; in the presence of a paralyzed multitude,
who had come clustering together to witness a spectacle ; the
murderer an actor by profession, trained to an exaggerated
admiration of certain historic characters, whose suggestive
names had become prefixes in his family ; his escape from a
crowded assembly by leaping upon the stage and disappearing
behind the scenes with a Latin raotto in his mouth, while the
coasort of his illustrious victim was swooning in an agony of
wliich no imagination can measure the depth ; — and then the
cry that arose at midnight in all the cities of this afflicted land,
and the horror and consternation that fell upon all hearts as the
sun heaved up his orb into the morning sky — all this together
completes a spectacle for the horror-struck imagination such as
history, even with the trappings of the tragic muse to set it off,
has seldom or never 'approached. What has the Eternal Mind,
'the ASSASSINATION. 629
that presides over and shapes out the course of human history,
in store for us, that He has thus permitted to be spread upon
the canvas allotted to this country and this century a scene so
affecting and awful that none of its colors can fade till both
continents are engulfed in the all-effacing ocean ?
"Whatever a wise and unsearchable Providence may bring
out of this appalling visitation, we Can, as yet, see nothing in it
but calamity. It is a terrible proof of the depth, intensity, and
danger of those passions which have been awakened into such
fearful vigor by the events of the war. An ardent young man,
not personally predisposed to crime ; brought up to an art
which stands aloof from political associations ; accustomed to
view the events of history only on their pathetic or their scenic
side ; trained to regulate every gesture and raould every linea
ment of his face to court public admiration ; this young man,
with this imaginative training, is not transformed into an assas
sin by the vulgar impulses of an ordinary raurderer. In this
terrible deed, as in the ordinary exercise of his profession, he
has been a candidate for sympathy and approbation. It was
his instinctive and sympathetic knowledge of what lurks in the
hearts of the baffled secessionists, which made him see that this
unavailing act of vengeance would enshrine him in their affec
tions, and raake his a dear and canonized name. His dreadful
act is an awful coraraentary on the consequences of party pas
sions when they are fanned into such rage that they strip the
most odious crimes of their horror and clothe thera in the
seductive drapery of public virtue. While the disabled half
of the country is yet a cauldron of unsubdued and seething pas
sions, it is laraentable that there should be taken from us a mild
and paternal chief magistrate who was preparing to pour over
these agitated passions the soothing influence of his natural
clemency. As soon as the war-cloud visibly lifted, he set him
self to the performance of acts which commanded the approval
even of his former opponents ; and the day which preceded his
dfeath was passed in employments more full of promise than any
630 . THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
other in the calendar of his momentous era. There will fall
into his opening and honored grave no warmer.or more plenti
ful tribute of honest sensibility than is shed by those of his
loyal fellow-citizens who' did not contribute to his re-election.
" Of the career brought thus suddenly to this tragic close it
is yet too early to make any estimate that wiU not require
revision. It is probable that the judgment of history will differ
in many respects from that of Mr. Lincoln's contemporaries ;
and in no respect, perhaps, more than in reversing the current
tenor of the public thinking on what has been considered the
vacillation of his character. It must never be overlooked that
Mr. Lincoln was elevated to the Presidency without previous
training ; that he was a novice in the discharge of high execu
tive functions. Confronted at the very threshold with problems
of a novelty, raagnitude, and difficulty which would have caused
the most experienced statesman to quail, beset on all sides by
the most conflicting advice, it would not have been wisdom,
but shallow and foolhardy presumption, indicating unseemly
levity of character, if he had affected a display of the same kind
of confident decision with which an old sailor manages a cock
boat in fair weather. If, under such circumstances, he had
played the role of a man of decision, he would have forfeited all
title to be considered a man of sense. When the most experi
enced and reputable statesmen of the country came to opposite
conclusions, it is creditable to the strength, solidity, and raodesty
of Mr. Lincoln's mind, that he acted with a cautious and hesitat
ing deliberation, proportioned rather to a sense of his great
responsibilities, than to a theatrical notion of political stage
effect. " Had the country, previous to Mr. Lincoln's first election,
foreseen what was coming, it would not have chosen for Presi
dent a man of Mr. Lincoln's inexperience and peculiar type of
character. But if his party was to succeed, -we doubt whether
foresight and deliberation would have made so good a choice.
With the Eepublican party in power, this terrible struggle wfts
THE ASSASSINATION. 631
inevitable ; and, with a man of fixed views and inflexible pur
pose at the head of the government, it would probably have
resulted either in a dissolution of the Union or civil war in the
North. In either event, we should have lost our institutions.
The stability of a republican government, and, indeed, of any
form of free government, depends upon its possessing that kind
of flexibility which yields easily to the control of public opinion.
In this respect the English government is more pliable than our
own, the administration being at all times subject to immediate
change by losing the confidence of the representatives of the
people ; whereas, under our Constitution, an iron inflexibility
can maintain itself in office for the full period of four years,
without any J)ossibiUty of displacing it except by revolution.
" In ordinary times, this works well enough ; for the growth
of opinion in any ordinary four years, could not be so rapid as
to indispose the people to await the Presidential election. But
when there was let loose upon us, at the beginning of the last
Administration, the wild outbreakings of turbulence and trea
son, the development of opinion went forward with gigantic
strides, corresponding in some degree to the violence and raag
nitude of the contest. Any policy which a Eepublican Presi
dent might have adopted with decision in the spring of 1861,
and adhered to with steadiness during the four years, would
have exposed the government to be shivered into fragments by
the shocks of changing opinion. What was wanting in the
flexibility of our political system was made up in the character
of Mr. Lincoln. Whatever may be thought of the absolute
merits of the late President's administration — on which it would
not be decorous to express our views on this occasion — it can
not well be denied that it has been, throughout, a tolerably
faithful reflex of the predominant public opinion of the country.
Whether that opinion was, at any particular stage, right and
wise, is a different question ; but it cannot be doubtful that the
predominant opinion carries with it the predominance of physi-
• ' strength. A government against which this is arrayed in
632 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
gathering force, must yield to it or go to pieces. Had Mr. Lin
coln started with his emancipation policj' in the spring of 1861,
his administration would have been wrecked by the moral aid
which would have been given the South by the northern con
servatives, including a large part of the Eepublican party. Had
he refused to adopt the emancipation policy much beyond, the
autumn of 1862, the Eepublican party would have refused pub
lic support to the war, and the South would have gained its
independence by their aid. With a stiff Eepublican Senate, the
government would have been at a dead lock, and the violence
of opinion would have wrenched its conflicting parts asunder.
Eegarding the growth of opinion simply in the light of a fact,
we must concede that Mr. Lincoln's slowness, indecision, and
reluctant changes of policy have been in skillful, or at least
fortunate, adaptation to the prevailing public sentiment of the
country. Some have changed raore rapidly,- some more slowly
than he ; but there are few of his countrymen who have not
('banged at all.
"If we look for the eleraents of character which have con
tributed to the extraordinary and constantly growing popularity
of Mr. Lincoln, they are not far to seek. The kindly, com
panionable, jovial turn of his disposition, free from every taint
of affectation, puerile vanity, or parvenu insolence, conveyed a
strong irapression of worth, sense, and solidity, as well as good
ness of heart. He never disclosed the slightest symptom that
he was dazzled or elated by his great position, or that it was
incumbent upon him to be any body but plain Abraham
Lincoln. This was in infinitely better taste than would have
been any attempt to put on manners that did not sit easily upon
training and habits, under the false notion that he would be
supporting the dignity of his office. No offence in manners is
so intolerable as affectation ; nor any thing so vulgar as a soul
haunted by an uneasy consciousness of vulgarity. Mr. Lincoln's
freedom from any such upstart affectations was one of the good
THE ASSASSINATION. 633
points of his character ; it betokened his genuineness and sin
cerity. "The conspicuous weakness of Mr. Lincoln's mind on the
side of imagination, taste, and refined sensibility, has rather
helped hira in the estimation of the multitude. Except so far
as they contribute sornething to dignity of character, these
qualities have little scope in the pursuits of a statesman ; and
their misplaced obtrusion is always offensive. They are a
great aid, to be sure, in electric appeals to the passions ; but in
times like these through which we have been living, the pas
sions have needed sedatives, not incentives; and the cool
mastery of eraotion has deserved to rank among the chief
virtues. Mr. Lincoln had no need of this virtue, because the slug
gishness of his emotional nature shielded him against the cor
responding temptation ; but this defect has served hira as well
as the virtue amid» the more inflammable natures with which
he has been in contact. His character was entirely relieved
from repulsive matter-of-fact hardness by the unaffected kindli
ness of his disposition and the flow of his homely and some
what grotesque mother-wit — the most popular of all the minor
mental endowments.
" The total absence from Mr. Lincoln's sentiments and bear
ing of any thing lofty or chivalric, and the hesitating slowness
of his decisions, did not denote ^ny feebleness of character.
He has given a signal proof of a strong and manly nature in
the fact that although he surrounded hiniself with the most
considerable and experienced statesmen of his party, none of
them were able to take advantage of his inexperience and gain
any conspicuous ascendancy over him. All his chief designs
have been his own ; formed indeed, after much anxious and
brooding consultation, but, in the final result, the fruit of
his own independent volition. He has changed or retained
particular members' of his Cabinet, and indorsed or rejected
particular dogmas of his party, with the same ultimate reliance
on the decisions of his own judgment. It is this feature of hia
634 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
character, which was gradually disclosed to the public view,
together with the cautious and paternal cast of his disposition,
that gave his strong and increasing hold on the confidence of
the raasses.
"Araong the sources of Mr. Lincoln's influence, we must not
omit to, mention the quaint and peculiar character of his
written and spoken eloquence. It was as completely his own,
as much the natural outgrowth of his character, as his personal
manners. Formed on no model, and airaing only at the most
convincing stateraent of what he wished to say, it was terse,
shrewd, clear, with a peculiar twist in the phraseology which
more than made up in point what it soraetimes lost by its
uncouthness. On the multitude, who do not appreciate
literary refinement, and despise literary affectation, its effect
was as great as the same ideas and arguments could have pro
duced by any form of presentation. His style had the great
redeeming excellence of that air of straightforward sincerity
which is worth all the arts of the rhetorician.
" The loss of such a raan in such a crisis — of a man who
possessed so large and growing a share of the public confi
dence, and whose Administration had recently borrowed new
lustre from the crowning achievements of our armies — of a
ruler whora victory was inspiring with the wise and paternal
magnanimity which soughff to make the conciliation as cordial
as the strife has been deadly ; the loss of such a President, at
such a conjuncture, is an afflicting dispensation, which bows a
disappointed and stricken nation in sorrow more deep, sincere,
and universal than ever before supplicated the compassion of
pitying heaven."
In New York, where countless banners waved in the
sunlight of Good-Friday, whose citizens were holding a
peerless carnival over the restoration of peace and union,
the transition was as sudden as the assassination which
called it forth. Within twenty-four hours the metropolis
THE ASSASSINATION. 635
seemed hke a vast cemetery which held a million of
pall-bearers. One ofthe principal features ofthe display
Avas the rapidity with which it appeared. There was
no preconcerted action among the community; each
citizen felt, by instinct, his duty to the occasion ; and
the crape, sable cloth, and other emblems of mourning,
sprung, as if by magic, from the stores and dwellings of
rich and poor. Never did a city give greater evidence
of sorrow. The silent thousands "who walked with
downcast heads and sad countenances through the
streets, wore the mien of men who wander through a
graveyard. Wall street forgot its gold, and organized
an immense and grief-stricken public meeting, at which
resolutions were passed, and stirring addresses made by
General B. F. Butler, Hon. D. S. Dickinson and others.
The theatres and other places of amusement were
closed, and remained so until after the final interment '
of the President's remains. In obedience to a proclama
tion of the Mayor, places of business were closed, as
indeed, they might have been without any ofiicial
intimation, for business made no part of the doings of
the busy metropolis on this day of overwhelming public
grief The courts. Boards of Aldermen, Common Coun
cils, and other public bodies, adjourned, after passing
resolutions of condolence with the nation upon its be
reavement; and all the festivities which were in pro
cess of preparation for the next week, in celebration of
the recent victories, were at once, by common consent,
indefinitely postponed.
And the same scene was enacted in every city, in
every town, village and hamlet of the land, from the
Aroostook to the Land of Gold on the Pacific shore.
636 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM UNCOLN.
At Nashville, the procession, postponed from the pre
vious day, was just forming when the news was received.
Joy gave place to sorrow, the strains of exultation
changed to funeral marches, and the military, with arms
reversed, returned to their camps.
At Cincinnati, Columbus, Wheeling, Louisville, St.
Louis, and even at San Francisco and the cities of Cali
fornia, the same scenes were repeated; and the spon
taneous cessation of business, the closing of courts, the
draping of the towns in mourning, evinced the sorrowful
emotion of grief.
Even in the British Provinces marks of respect were
shown. In Nova Scotia, the Governor was about to
visit the Legislative Council, to give assent to the laws
with the usual ceremonies, but on hearing of the sad
news sent the following message to the Council :
" Government House, Halifax, N. S.,
Saturday, April 15, 1865.
"My Dear Sir : — Very shocking intelligence which has just
reached me of the murder of President Lincoln by the hand
of an assassin, and my sense of the loss which the cause of
order has sustained by the death of a man whom I have always
regarded as eminently upright in his intentions, indisposes me
to make any public ceremony such as I had contemplated in
my intended visit to the Legislative Council to-day. I beg,
therefore, to notify to you the postponeraent of that visit, and,
perhaps, under the circumstances, men of aU parties may feel
the suspension of further public business for the day would be
a mark of sympathy not unbecoming the Legislature to offer,
one which none could misconstrue. — Believe me to be, very
dear sir, your obedient servant,
"EicHAED Groves McDowell.
" To Edward Kinney,
"President of the Legislative Council,"
THE ASSASSINATION. 637
At Toronto, the flags on the custom house, and the
shipping were displayed at half-mast, and Canadians
there and elsewhere shared in the expressions manifested
by resident Americans.
The bishops of "the Catholic and Episcopal Churches,
as well as the heads of other denominations, all promptly
came forward to join in the public grief, and appointed
special services for Wednesday, which had been set apart
for the funeral.
In many of the Jewish synagogues, on the day of his
death, prayers were offered for Mr. Lincoln, according
to the ritual of that ancient people.
Among the many eloquent discourses pronounced on
the following day, Sunday, we select a portion of the
eloquent sermon delivered by the Rev. Henry W.
Bellows, D.D., in All Souls' Church, New York, on
Easter morning :
"It is, dear brethren, the faith and hope and trust of those
inspired by the Comforter Jesus sent, that enables us to con
front without utter dismay, the appalling visitation that has
just fallen with such terrible suddenness upon the country and
the national cause ! With a heart almost withered, a brain
almost paralyzed by the shock, I turn in vain for consolation
to any other than the Comforter I Just as we were wreathing
the laurels of our victories and the chaplets of our peace, in
with the Easter flowers that bloom around the empty sepulchre
of our ascended Lord; just as we were preparing the fit
and luminous celebration of a nation's joy in its providential
deliverance from a most bloody and costly war, and feeling that
the resurrection of Christ was freshly and gloriously inter
preted by the rising of our smitten, humiliated, reviled, and
crucified country, buried in the distrust of foreign nations and
the intentions of rebel hearts ; a country rising from the tomb,
638 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN,
where she had left, as discarded grave-clothes, the accursed
vestments of slavery, that had poisoned, enfeebled, and nearly
destroyed her first life ; a country rising to a higher, purer
existence under the guidance of a chief whora it fondly
thought sent from above to lead it cautiously, wisely, conscien
tiously, successfully, like another Moses, through the Eed Sea
into the promised land ; just then, at the proud moment when
the nation its four years of conflict fully sounded, had
announced its ability to diminish its armaments, withdraw
its call for troops and its restrictions on intercourse, comes as
out of a clear heaven the thunderbolt that pierces the tender,
sacred head that we were ready to crown with a nation's
blessings, while trusting to its wisdom and gentleness, its faith
fulness and prudence, the closing up of the country's wounds,
and the apparelling of the nation, her arraor laid aside, in the
white robes of peace.
"Our beloved President, who had enshrined himself not
merely in the confidence, the respect, and the gratitude of the
people, but in their very hearts, as their true friend, adviser,
representative, and brother ; whora the nation loved as much
as it revered; who had soothed our angry impatience in
this fearful struggle with his gentle moderation and passionless
calm ; who had been the head of the nation, and not the chief
of a successful party ; and had treated our enemies Uke rebel
lious children, and not as foreign foes, providing even in their
chastisement for mercy and penitent restoration ; our prudent,
firm, humble, reverential. God-fearing President is dead!
" The assassin's hand has reached him who was belted round
with a nation's devotion, and whom a million soldiers have
hitherto encircled with their watchful guardianship. Panoplied
in honesty and simplicity of purpose, too universally weU-
disposed to believe in danger to himself, free from ambition,
self consequence, and show, he has always shown a fearless
heart, gone often to the front, raade himself accessible to all at
home, trusted the people, joined their amusements, answered
THE ASSASSINATION. 639
their summons, and laid himself open every day to the malice
and murderous chances of domestic foes. It seemed as if no
man could raise his hand against that meek ruler, or confront
with purpose of injury that loving eye, that sorrow-stricken
face, ploughed with care, and watchings, and tears ! So marked
with upright patient purposes of good, to all, of justice and
mercy, of sagacious roundabout wisdom, was his homely
paternal countenance, that I do not wonder that his murderer
killed him from behind, and could not face the look that would
have disarmed him in the very moment of his criminal mad
ness. "But he has gone! Abraham Lincoln, President of the
United States during the most difficult, trying, and important
period of the nation's history ; safe conductor of our policy
through a crisis such as no other people ever had to pass ; suc
cessful summoner of a miUion and a quarter of Araerican
citizens to arms in behalf of their flag and their Union ; author
of the Proclamation of Emancipation ; the people's President ;
the heir of Washington's place at the hearths and altars of the
land ; legitimate idol of the negro race — the perfect type of
American democracy — the astute adviser of our generals in
the field ; the careful student of their strategy, and their per
sonal friend and inspirer ; the head of his Cabinet, prevailing
by the passionless siraplicity of his integrity and unselfish
patriotisra over the larger experience, the more brilliant gifts,
the more vigorous purposes of his constitutional advisers;
a President indeed ; not the raere figure-head of the State, but
its helmsman and pilot ; shrinking from no perplexity, ma,"--
nanimous in self-accusation and in readiness to gather into his
own bosom the spears of rebuke aimed at his counsellors and
agents ; the tireless servant of his place ; no duty so small and
wearisome that he shirked it, none so great and persistent that
he sought to fling it upon others ; the man who fully tried (not
without fitful vacillations of public sentiment which visited on
him the difficulties of the times and situation), tried through
640 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
four years in which every quality of the man, the statesman,
the Christian, was tested; in the face of a jeering enemy
and foreign sneers and domestic ribaldry, elected again by
overwhelming majorities, to be their chief and their repre
sentative during another term of office, in which it was sup
posed even superior qualities and services would be required to
meet the nation's exigencies. This tried, this honored, this
beloved head of the government and country is, alas 1 suddenly
snatched from us at the moment of our greatest need and our
greatest joy, and taken up higher to his heavenly reward!
Thank God, he knew how the nation loved and reverenced
him ! His re-election was the most solid proof of that which
could possibly have been given. He has tasted, too, the negro's
pious gratitude and tearful, glorious affection ! He had lived.
to give the order for ceasing our preparations for war — an act
almost equivalent to proclaiming peace ! He had seen of the
travail of his soul, and was satisfied. He had done the work
of a life in his first term of service ; almost every day of his
second terra, not forty days old, had been marked with victories,
until no good news could have been received that would have
much swelled his joy and honest pride ! And now, as the
typical figure, the historic name of this great era, its glory
roundted and fuU, the Alraighty Wisdom has seen fit to close
the record, and isolate the special work he has done, lest by any
possible mischance the flawless beauty and symmetric oneness
of the President's career should be impaired, its unique glory
compromised by after issues, or its special lustre mixed with
rays of another color, though it might be of an equal splendor !
"The past, at least, is secure! Nothing can touch him
further. Standing the central form in the field of this mighty,
providential struggle, he fitly represents the purity, calmness,
justice, and mercy of the loyal American people ; their uncon
quered resolution to conquer secession and break slavery
in pieces; their sober, mild sense; their reUgious confidence
that God is on their side, and their cause the cause of universal
THE ASSASSINATION. 641
humanity ! Let us be reconciled to the appointment which has
released that weighty and patient head, that pathetic tender
heart, that worn and weary hand, from the perplexing details
of national rehabilitation. Let the lesser, meaner cares and
anxieties of the country fall on other shoulders than those
which have borne up the pUlars of the nation when shaken
with the earthquake.
"And seeing it is God who has afflicted us, who doeth
all things well, let us beUeve that it is expedient for us thp,t
our beloved chief should go away. He goes to consecrate his
work by flinging his life as well as his labors and hjs conscience
into the nation's cause. He that bas cheered so many on to
bloody sacrifice, found unexpected, surprising opportunity to
give also his own blood ! He died, as truly as any warrior
dies on the battle-field, in the nation's service, and shed his
blood for her sake! It was the nation that was aimed at by
the bullet that stilled his aching brain. As the representative
of a cause,, the type of a victory, he was singled out and slain !
His life and career now have the martyr's palm added to
the statesman's, phUanthropist's, and patriot's crowns. His
place is. sure in the innermost shrine of his country's gratitude.
His name will match with Washington's, and go with it laden
with blessings down to the remotest posterity !
" And may we not have needed this loss, in which we gain a
national martyr and an ascended leader, to inspire us from his
heavenly seat, where with the other father of his country he
sits in glory, while they send united benedictions and lessons
of comfort and of guidance down upon their common children —
may we not have needed this loss to sober our hearts in the
midst of our national triumph, lest in the excess of our joy and
our pride we should overstep the bounds of that prudence
and the limits of that earnest seriousness which our affairs
demand ? We have stem and solemn duties yet to perform,
great and anxious tasks to achieve. We must not, after
ploughing the fields with the burning share of civU-war, and
41
642 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
fertilizing them with the blood and bones of a half million
noble youth, lose the great harvest by wasting the short season
of ingathering in festive joy at its promise and its fulness !
We have, perhaps, been prematurely glad. In the joy of
seeing our haven in view, we have been disposed to slacken
the cordage and let the sails flap idly, and the hands go below,
when the storra was not fairly over, nor all the breakers out of
sight ! God has startled us, to apprize us of our peril ; to warn
us of possible mischances, and to caution us how we abuse our
confidence and overtrust our enemy. I hope and pray that the
nation may feel itself, by the dreadful calamity that has befallen
it, summoned to its knees ; called to a still more pious sense
.-^if its dependence, toned up to its duties, and corapelled to
watch with the most eager patience the course of its generals,
its statesmen, and its press. It cannot be for nothing vast and
important 1;hat the venerated and beloved head of this people
and his chief counsellor and companion have thus been brought
low in an hour, one to his very grave, the other to the gates
of death !
"It would seem as if every element of tragic power and
pathos were fated to enter this rebellion and mark it out forever
as a warning to the world. It reaUy began in the Senate
House, when the bludgeon of South Carolina felled the State
of Massachusetts and the honor of the Union in the person of a
brave and eloquent Senator. The shot at Fort Sumter was not
so truly the fatal beginning of the war as the blow in the Senate
Chamber. That blow proclaimed the barbarism, the cruelty,
the stealthiness, the treachery, the recklessness of reason and
>iustice, the conterapt of prudence and foresight which a hundred
years of legalized oppression and inhumanity had bred in the
South 1 And now, that blow, deepening into thunder, echoes
from the head of the Chief Magistrate, as if slavery could not
be dismissed forever, until her barbaric cruelty, her reckless
violence, her poUtical blasphemy, had illustrated itself upon the
most conjspicuous arena, under the most damning Ught and the
THE ASSASSINATION. 643
most memorable and unforgetable circumstances in which crime
was ever yet committed ! -
" And in the same hour that the thoughtful, meek, and care
worn head of the President was smitten to death — a head that
had sunk to its pillow for so many months full of unembittered,
gentle, conciliatory, yet anxious and watchful thoughts — the
neck on which the President had leaned with an affectionate
confidence that was half womanly, during all his administration,
was assailed with the bowie-knife, which stands for southern
vengeance, and slavery's natural weapon! The voice of the
free North, the tongue and throat of liberty, was fitly assailed,
when slavery "and secession would exhibit her dying feat of
malignant revenge. Through the channels of that neck had
flowed for thirty years, the temperate, persistent, strong, steady
currents of this nation's resistanc^e to the encroachments of the
slave-power, of this people's aspirations for release from the
curse and the peril of a growing race of slaves. That throat had
voiced the nation's argument in the Senate Chamber. The
arm that had written the great series of letters which defended
the nation from the schemes of foreign diplomatists, was already
accidentally broken ; the jaw that had so eloquently moved
was dislocated too ; but slavery reraerabered the neck that bowed
not when most others were bent to her power ; remembered
the throat that was vocal in her condemnation when most others
in p ublic life were silent from policy or fear : remembered the
words of him, who more than any man, slew her with his tongue ;
and so her last assault was upon the jugular veins of the Secre
tary of State. Her bloodhounds sprang at the throat of him
who had denied their right and broken their power to spring
at the neck of the slave himself !
" But thus far, thank God, slavery^is baffled in her last effort.
Mr. Seward , lives to tell us what no man knows so well, the
terrible perils through which we have passed at home and
abroad ; lives to tell us the goodness, the wisdom, the piety of
the President hewas never weary of praising. "He is the best
644 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
jTian I ever knew," he said to me a year ago. What a eulogy
from one so experienced, so acute, so wise, so gentle ! Ah,
brethren, the head of the government is gone ; but he who
knew his counsels, and was his other self, still Uves, and may
God hear to-day a nation's prayer for his life.
"Meanwhile heaven rejoices this Easter morning in the
resurrection of our lost leader, honored in the day of his death ;
dying on the anniversary of our Lord's great sacrifice, a mighty
sacrifice himself for the sins of a whole people.
" We will not grudge him his release, or selfishly recall him
from his rest and his reward ! The only unpitied object in this
national tragedy, he treads to-day the courts of light, radiant
with the joy that even in heaven celebrates our Saviour's resur
rection from the dead ! The sables we hang in our sanctuaries
and streets have no place where he is ! His hearse is plumed
with a nation's grief; his resurrection is hailed with the songs
of revolutionary patriots, of soldiers that have died for their
country. He, the comraander-in-chief, has gone to his army of
the dead ! The patriot President has gone to our Washington I
The meek and lowly Christian is to-day with him who said on
earth, " Corae unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest," and who, rising to-day, fulfills his
glorious words, " I am the resurrection and the life ; he that
believeth in me, though he were dead, yet .shall he Uve : and
whoso liveth and believeth in me shall never die."
At St. Patrick's (Roman Catholic) Cathedral, New
York, after the pontifical mass was finished. Archbishop
McCloskey, from the steps of the altar, spoke as fallows :
" You will, I trust, beloved brethren, pardon me if, notwith
standing the length of the services at which you have been
assisting, I should ask the privilege of trespassing for a few
moments more upon your patience. The privilege I ask is,
indeed, a sad and mournful one, a privilege that I have reserved
for myself alone ; for the reason that I could not, and that I
THE ASSASSINATION, 645
cannot, without injustice to my own feelings, and, I am sure, to
your feelings also, allow myself to forego it ; and that privUege,
as you doubtless already anticipate, is of addressing to you at
least a few brief and imperfect words in regard to the great,
and, I may say, the awful calamity which has so unexpectedly
and so suddenly fallen upon our beloved and now still more
than ever afflicted country. But two days ago we beheld the
rejoicings of an exultant people, mingling even with the sor
rowful memory of our Saviour's crucifixion. To-day we behold
that same people's sorrow mingling with the grand rejoicings
of our Saviour's resurrection. It is, indeed, a sad and a sudden
transformation. It is a mornful — it is even a startling contrast.
The Church could not divest herself of her habiliments of woe
in Good Friday, neither can she r^^w lay aside her festive robes,
nor hush her notes of joy, gladntss, and thanksgiving on this,
her glorious Easter Sunday. Still, although as children of the
Church we must and do participate in all her sentiraents of joy,
yet, at the same time, as chUdren of the nation, as children of
this republic, we do not less sincerely, or less feelingly, or less
largely, share in that nation's grief and sorrow. * * * *
Our hopes are stronger, far stronger, than our fears ; our trust
and confidence in a good, gracious, and merdiful God is stronger
than the foreshadowings of what may be awaiting us in the fu
ture ; and it is to him to-day, in our trials and adversities, we
raise our voices in supplication. Him we beseech to give light to
those who are and who are to be the rulers of the destinies of
our nation, that he may give life and safety and peace to our
beloved country. We pray that those sentiments of mercy, of
clemency, and of conciliation, that filled the heart of the beloved
President we have just lost, may animate the breast and guide
the actions of him who in this most trying hour is called to fill
his place. And we may take comfort, beloved brethren, in the
thought that in the latest intelligence which has reached us,
the honored Secretary of State (a man full of years and of
honors), who was, like his superior, stricken down by the hand
646 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
of a ruthless assassin, still lives, and well-founded hopes are
entertained of his final recovery. Let us pray, then, that a life
always valuable, but in this critical state of affairs dear to every
one of us, raay be long preserved, and that the new President
may have the advantage of the wisdom, the experience, and the
prudence of this honored 'Secretary of State. I need not tell
you, my beloved brethren, children of the Catholic Church, to
leave nothing undone to show your devotion, your attachment,
and your fidelity to the institutions of your country in this
great crisis, this trying hour. I need not ask you to omit
nothing in joining in every testimonial of respect and honor to
the memory of that President, now, alas ! no raore. On what
ever day may be appointed for his obsequies, although the
solemn dirge of requiem cannot resound within these walls, yet
the dirge of sorrow, of grief, and of bewailing, can echo and
re- echo within your hearts. And, on that day, whenever it
may be, the doors of this cathedral shall be thrown open, that
you, beloved brethren, may bow down before this altar, adoring
the inscrutable decrees of a just and all-wise Providence,
beseeching his mercy on us all, and imploring him, that now
at least his anger may be appeased, and the cruel scourge of
war cease, and that those rivers and torrents of human blood,
of fratricidal blood, that have been saturating for so long a time
the soil of our beloved country may no longer flow over our
unhappy land. Yes, let us pray, v/hile almost even in sight of
that deed of horror, which, like an electric shock, has come upon
and appalled our fellow-citizens in every section of the land — let
us pray to hira that we may nq,w forget our enmities, and that we
may be enabled to restore that peace which has so long been
broken. Let us take care, beloved brethren, that no spirit of
retribution or of wicked spite, or of malice, or resentment, shall,
at this moment, take possession of our hearts. The hand of
God is upon us ; let us take care that we do not provoke him
to bow us down with -misery and woe. Even over the grave
of the illustrious departed who has been taken from us, over
THE ASSASSINATION. 647
the graves of so many enemies and friends, in every section of
the land, faUen in the deadly conflict, let us hope that those who
are spared, who are still living, may come and join their hands
together in sweet forgiveness ; and let us pledge ourselves, one
to the other, that we will move and act together in unity and
in perpetual and divine peace."
The Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, who had been
aosent upon the excursion to Fort Sumter, not arriving
in season to pronounce a discourse on that day, delivered
at Plymouth Church, Brooklyn, on the ensuing Sunday,
the following sermon :
DISCOURSE OF REV. HENRY WARD BEECHER. f
"And Moses went up from the plains of Moab, unto the mountain of
Nebo, to- the top of Pisgah, that is over against Jericho : and the Lord
showed him the land of Gilead, unto Dan.
"And all Naphtali, and the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, and all the
land of Judah, unto the utmost sea,
"And the South, and the plain of the valley of Jericho, the city of
palm-trees, unto Zoar. i
"And the Lord said unto him, This is the land which I sware unto
Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, saying, I will give it unto thy
seed : I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go
over thither.
"So Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there in the Land of Moab,
according to the word of the Lord."
"There is no historic figure more noble than that of the
Jewish lawgiver. After many thousand years the figure of
Moses is not diminished, but stands up against the background
of early days, distinct and individual as if he lived but yester
day. There is scarcely another event in history more toflching
than his death. He had borne the great burdens of state for
forty years, shaped the Jews to a nation, filled out their civil
and religious polity, administered their laws, and guided their
steps, or dwelt with them in all their sojourning in the wilder-
648 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
ness, had mourned in their punishment, kept step with their
marches, and led them in wars, until the end of their labors
drew nigh, the last stages were reached, and Jordan only lay
between them and the promised land. The promised land!
Oh what yearnings had heaved his breast for that divinely
proraised place ! He had dreamed of it by night, and mused
by day ; it was holy, and endeared as God's favored spot ; it
was to be the cradle of an illustrious history. All his long,
laborious, and now weary life, he had aimed at this as the con
summation of every desire, the reward of every toil and pain.
Then came the word of the Lord to him, ' ' Thou must not go
over. Get thee up into the mountain, look upon it, and die.'
From that silent summit the hoary leader gazed to the north,
to tjae south, to the west, with hungry eyes. The dim outlines
rose up, the hazy recesses spoke of quiet valleys. With eager
longing, with sad resignation, he looked upon the promised
land that was now the forbidden land. It was a moment of
anguish. He forgot all his personal wants, and drank in the
vision of his people's home. His work was done. There lay
God's proraise fulfilled. There was the seat of coming Jeru
salem — there the city of Jehovah's King, the sphere of judges
and prophets, the mount of sorrow and salvation, the country
whence were to fly blessings to all raankind. Joy chased sad
ness from every feature, and the prophet laid him down and
died. Again a great leader of the people has passed through
toil, sorrow, battle, and war, and came near to the promised
land of peace, into which he might not pass over. Who shall
recount our martyr's sufferings for this people? Since the
November of 1860, his horizon has been black with storms.
By day and by night he trod a way of danger and darkness.
On his shoulders rested a government, dearer to him than his
own life. At its life raUlions were striking at home ; upon it
foreign eyes were lowered, and it stood Uke a lone island in a
sea full of storms, and every tide and wave seemed eager to
devour it. Upon thousands of hearts great sorrows and
THE ASSASSINATION. 649
anxieties have rested, but upon not one such, and in such
measure, as upon that simple, truthful, noble soul, our faithful
and sainted Lincoln. Never rising to the enthusiasm of more
impassioned natures in hours of hope, and never sinking with
the mercurial in hours of defeat to the depths of despondency,
he held on with unmovable patience and fortitude, putting
caution against hope, that it might not be premature, and hope
against caution that it might not yield to dread and danger.
He wrestled ceaselessly through four black and dreadful pur
gatorial years, when God was cleansing the sins of this p'?ople
as by fire. At last the watchman beheld the gray dawn. The
mountains began to give forth their forms frora out of the
darkness, and the East came rushing towards us with arms full
of joy for all our sorrows. Then it was for him to be glad
exceedingly that had sorrowed iraraeasurably. Peace could
bring to no other heart such joy, such rest, such honor, such
trust, such gratitude. He but looked upon it as Moses looked
upon the promised land. Then the wail of a nation proclaimed
that he had gone frora among us. Not thine the sorrow, but
ours. " Sainted soul, thou hast indeed entered the promised rest,
while we are yet on the march. To us remains the rocking of
the deep, the storm upon the land, days of duty and nights of
watching ; but thou art sphered above all darkness and fear,
beyond all sorrow or weariness. Eest, 0 weary heart ! Ee-
joice exceedingly, thou that hast enough suffered. Thou hast
beheld him who invariably led thee in this great wilderness.
Thou standest among the elect; around thee are the royal
men that have ennobled human life in every age ; kingly art
thou, with glory on thy brow as a diadem, and joy is upon thee
for evermore! Over all this land, over all the little cloud of
years that now, from thine infinite horizon, waver back from
tliee as a spark, thou art lifted up as high as the star is above
the clouds that hide us, but never reach it. In the goodly
company of Mount Zion thou shalt find that rest which so
650 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
many have sought in vain, and thy name, an everlasting name
in heaven, shall flourish in fragrance and beauty as long as
men shall last upon the earth, or hearts remain to revere truth,
fidelity, and goodness. Never did two such orbs of experience
meet in the same hemisphere as the joy and sorrow of the same
week in this land. The joy was as sudden as if no man had
expected it, and as entrancing as if it had fallen from heaven.
It rose up over sobriety, and swept business from its moorings,
and down through the land in irresistible course. Men wept
and embraced each other ; they sang or prayed^ or deeper yet,
could only think thanksgiving and weep gladness. That peace
was surC' — that government was firmer than ever — the land
was cleansed of plague — that ages were opening to our foot
steps, and we were to begin a march of blessings— that blood
was stanched, and scowling enmities sinking like spent storms
beneath the horizon — that the dear fatherland, nothing lost but
much gained, was to rise up in unexampled honor among the
nations of the earth — these thoughts, and that undistinguishable
throng of fancies, and hopes, and desires, and yearnings, that
filled the soul with tremblings like the heated air of midsummer
days — aU these kindled up such a surge of joy as no words
may describe. In an hour, joy lay without a pulse, without a
gleam of breath. A sorrow came that swept through the land,
as huge storms swept through the forest and field, robing
thunder along the skies, dishevelling the flames and daunting
every singer in the thicket or forest, and pouring blackness
and darkness across the land and up the mountains.
" Did ever so many hearts in so brief a time touch two such
boundless feelings ? It was the uttermost joy and the utter
most of sorrow— noon and midnight without space between.
The blow brought not a sharp pang. It was so terribla that
at first it stunned sensibility. Citizens were Uke men awakened
at midnight by an earthquake, and bewUdered to find every
thing that they were accustomed to trust wavering and faUing.
The very earth was no longer solid. The first feeUng was the
THE ASSASSINATION. _ 651
least. Men waited to get strength to feel. They wandered in
the streets as if groping after some impending dread, or undcj
veloped sorrow. They met each other as if each would ask
the other, 'Am I awake, or do I dream ?' There was a piteous
helplessness. Strong men bowed down and wept. Other and
common griefs belong to sorae one in chief, they are private
property; but this was each man's- and every raan's. Every
virtuous household in the land felt as if its first-born were
gone. Men took it horae. They were bereaved, and walked
for days as if a corpse lay unburied in their dwellings. There
was nothing else to think of They could speak of nothing but
that, and yet of that they could speak only falteringly. All
business was laid aside, pleasure forgot to smile. The city for
nearly a week ceased to roar, and great Leviathan laid down
and was still. Even Avarice ' stood still, and Greed was
strangely moved to generous sympathy with universal sorrow.
Eear to his name monuments, found charitable institutions, and
with his name above their heights, but no monument will ever
equal the universal, spontaneous, and sublime sorrow that in a
moment swept down lines and parties, and covered up aniraosi
ties, and in an hour brought a divided people. with unity of
grief and indivisible fellowship of anguish! For myself, I
cannot yet command that quietness of spirit needed for a just
and temperate delineation of a man whom Goodness had made
great. I pass, then, to some considerations aside from the
martyr President's character, reserving that for a future occa
sion, which are appropriate to this time and place. And, first,
et us not mourn that his departure was so sudden, nor fill our
magination with horror at its method. When good men pray
for deliverance from hidden death, it is only that they may not
be plunged, without preparation and all disrobed, into the
presence of the Judge. Men long eluding and evading sorrow,
when suddenly overtaken, seera enchanted to make it great to
the uttermost — a habit which is not Christian, although it is
doubtless natural. When one is ready to depart, suddenness
652 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
is a blessing. It is a painful sight to- see a tree overthrown by
a tornado, wrenched from its foundation and broken down like
a reed ; but it is yet more painful to see a vast and venerable
tree lingering with vain strife, when age and infirmity have
marked it for destruction. The process of decay is a spectacle
humiliating and painful ; but it seems good and grand for one
to go from duty done with pulse high, with strength full and
nerve strong, terminating a noble life in a fitting manner.
* * -s * * *
• " Even he who now sleeps has, by this event, been clothed
with new influence. Dead, he speaks to men who now will
ingly hear what before they shut their ears to. Like the words
of Washington will his simple, raighty words be pondered on
by your children and children's children. Men will receive a
new accession to their love of patriotism, and will for his sake
guard with more zeal the welfare of the whole country. On
the altar of this martyred patriot I swear you to be more faith
ful to your country. They will, as they follow his hearse,
swear a new hatred to that slavery which has made him a
martyr. By this soleran spectacle I swear you to renewed hos
tiUty to slavery, and to a never-ending pursuit of it to its
grave. They will admire and imitate his firmness in justice,
his inflexible conscience for the right, his gentleness and mod
eration of spirit, and I swear you to a faithful copy < f his
justice, his mercy, and his gentleness. You I can comfort, but
how can I speak to the twilight milUons who revere his name
as the name of God? Oh, there will be wailing for him in
hamlet and cottage, in woods and wilds, and the fields of the
South. Her dusky children looked on him as on a Moses come
to lead them out from the land of bondage. To whom can we
direct them but to the Shepherd of Israel, and to his care
commit them for help, for comfort, and protection? And now
the martyr is moving in triumphal march, mightier than when
alive. The nation rises up at his coming. Cities and States
are his pall-bearers, and cannon beat the hours with solemn
THE ASSASSINATION. 653
procession. Dead ! dead ! dead ! he yet speaketh ! Is Wash
ington dead? Is Hampden dead? Is David d.ead? Now,
disenthralled of flesh, and risen to the unobstructed sphere
where passion never comes, he begins his illimitable work.
His life is grafted upon the Infinite, and will be fruitful now as
no earthly life can be. Pass on, thou that hast overcome !
Your sorrows, 0 people, are his psean ! Your bells, and bands,
and muffled drum sound in his ear a triumph. You wail and
weep here. God raakes it triuraph there. Four years ago, 0
IlUnois, we took him from your midst, an untried man from
among the people. Behold, we return him a mighty con
queror. Not thine, but the nation's ; not ours, but the
world's ! ' Give him place, ye prairies ! In the midst of this
great continent, his dust shall rest a sacred treasure to millions
who shall pilgrim to that shrine, to kindle anew their zeal and
patriotism. Ye winds that move over the mighty spaces of the
West, chant his requiem. Ye people, behold a martyr whose
blood as articulate words pleads for fidelity, for law, for
liberty." In Europe the news of the President's death produced
a sensation as profound as it was unexpected. Public
attention had been already wound to the highest point
of tension, by the rush of events which preceded the
collapse of the rebellion. Information of Sherman's
gigantic and trimnphant march, of the fall of Richmond,
of the retreat and surrender of Lee, of the critical
position and paralization of Johnston — had been received
by one American steamer after another — ^till the public
were fairly breathless with astonishment. And then,
like a thunddt-clap in a clear sky, came the horrible
news that the great leader of a great nation, had been
struck down by the cowardly hand of the assassin, even
in the culminating hour of his people's triumph.
654 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
The public at large, the press, the civic bodies, the
House of Commons, nay, even the House of Lords, and
the Queen, all hastened to express their grief, horror,
and sympathy.
The London Times says :
" The intelUgence of the assassination of President Lincoln
and of the attempt to assassinate Mr. Seward, caused a most
extraordinary sensation in the city on Wednesday. Towards
noon the news becarae known, and it spread rapidly from
mouth to raouth in all directions. At first, raany were incredu
lous as to the truth of the rumor, and some believed it to have
been set afloat for purposes in connection with the stock ex
change. The house of Peabody & Co., American bankers, in
Broad street, had received early intelligence of the assassina
tion, and from there the news was carried to the Bank of Eng
land, whence it quickly radiated in a thousand directions.
Meanwhile it was being wafted far and wide by the second
editions of the morning papers, and was supplemented later in
the day by the publication of additional particulars. Shortly
after twelve o'clock it was coraraunicated to the Lord Mayor
while he was sitting in the justice-room of the Mansion House,
and about the same time the ' star-spangled banner' was hoisted
half-mast high over the American consulate, at the corner of Grace-
church street. The same flag had but a few days before floated
in triumph from the sarae place on the entry of the Federals
into Eichraond, and still later on the surrender of General Lee.
Between one and two o'clock the third edition of the Times,
containing a circumstantial narrative of the affair, made its
appearance in the city, and became iraraediately in extraordi
nary deraand. A newsvender in the Eoyal Excjhange was sell
ing it at half-a-crown a copy, and by half past three, o'clock it
could not be had for money. The exciteraent caused by the
intelligence was everywhere manifest, and in the streets, on the
rail, on the river, in the law courts, the terrible event T^as the
THE ASSASSINATION. 655
theme of conversation. Throughout the remainder of the day,
the evening papers were sold in unexampled numbers, and
often at double and treble the ordinary price, all evincing the
universal interest felt at the astounding intelUgence. On the
receipt of the melancholy intelligence in the House of Commons,
about sixty members of all parties immediately asserabled, and
signed the following address of syrapathy »to the American
Minister :
" ' We, the undersigned, members of the British House of
Commons, have learnt with the deepest horror and regret, that
the President of the United States of America has been de
prived of Ufe by an act of violence, and we desire to expres
our syrapathy on the sad event with the American minister,
now in London, as well as to declare our hope and confldence
in the future of that great country, which we trust will con
tinue to be associated with enlightened freedom and peaceful
relations with this and every other country.
" ' London, April 29, 1865.' "
On Saturday evening, the 29th of April, an immense
public meeting convened, under the auspices of the
Emancipation Society, in St. James's Hall, to express
feelings of grief and horror at the assassination of Presi-
dent Lincoln, and sympathy with the government and
people of the United States, and with Mrs. Lincoln, Mr.
Seward and family. The galleries of the hall were
draped in black, and over the end of the gallery hung
the American fiag. The hall was crowded with an
audience who manifested not merely their warm admira
tion of the character and capacity of the late President
and sincere sympathy with the people of the United
States in the loss sustained, but their hearty approval
of the great cause Mr. Lincoln represented.
The platform contained an array of Parliamentary
656 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
gentlemen, and many leading citizens of the metropohs.
Many ladies were present, a majority of whom were in
mourning. Various resolutions were carried, not merely with
unanimity, but with an intense feehng rarely seen at
public meetings^
In Liverpool the excitement was equally great.
" The scene on the Exchapge," says an English paper, " was
such as will not be forgotten for a long time. At half past
eleven it was announced that the secretary and treasurer of
the Liverpool Exchange News Eooms was in possession of the
news. A terrible rush took place from the ' flags' into the news
room ; and after a few minutes it was announced that the sec
retary would read aloud the despatch from the bar of the news
room. All was now silent. The passage wherein it was stated
that President Lincoln had been shot at, caused no great dis
may ; but when the master of the rooras read, ' The President
never rallied, and died this raorning,' there was a general ex
pression of horror. Certainly there was one dissentient voice,
which had the teraerity to exclaim ' Hurrah !' His presence in
the news room was of short duration, for, being seized by the
collar by as good a southerner as there is in Liverpool, he was
summarily ejected from the room, the gentleman who first
seized hira exclaiming, ' Be off" you incarnate fiend ! you are
an assassin at heart.' In the course of the afternoon the flags
oil the American consul's house and the Exchange buildings
were placed at half-mast; and a deputation, irrespective oL
American party feelings, proceeded to the Town Hall, in order
to consult with the- Mayor as to the desirability of holding a
public meeting for the purpose of sending out an address of
condolence to the people of the United States. The Mayor
being absent, no definite arrangement was arrived at, but the
Deputy Mayor gave orders that the Town Hall flag should be
THE ASSASSINATION. 657
at once hoisted half-mast. The American ships, in the river
and in the docks, as soon as the news. was known, hoisted 'half-
high' flags, and in many instances the union jack and the stars
and stripes were bound together with crape or black cloth.
The President of the Southern Club convened a meeting of all
the members, for the purpose of ascertaining whether it was
desirable to take any official action upon the event. The mem
bers of the club were unanimous in their expression of abhor
rence and reprobation of the foul deed."
On the afternoon of the 27th, a meeting of the mer
chants was held at St. George's Hall, at which the
Mayor presided, and several leading merchants made
speeches denouncing the crime and expressing sympathy
with the people of the United States in strong terms.
A resolution, expressing sorrow and indignation, regard
less of all differences of opinion politically, was unani
mously adopted, and ordered to be sent to the American
minister at London, to Mrs. Lincoln, and to Mr. Seward.
On the evening of the same day, and at the same
place, there was another great meeting of the working
classes, at which similar resolutions were adopted.
In the House of Lords, May 1st, Earl Russell con
cluded by moving an humble address to her Majesty to
express the sorrow and indignation of this House at the
assassination of the President of the United States, and
lo pray her Majesty to communicate these sentiments on
the part of this House to the government of the United
States ; and Earl Derby also made a feeling speech.
The Queen, also, sent to Mrs. Lincoln an autograph
letter of condolence.
In Paris on the very day the terrible news was received
M. Droujrn de L'huys, Minister of Foreign Aff'airs, de-
42
658 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
spatched a letter to Mr. Bigelow expressive of his sor
row, and immediately upon the return of our minister
from Brest (whither he had gone to participate in the
ceremony of the opening of a new line of railway), he
was waited upon by an aid-de-camp of the Emperor, who
expressed to hitn the personal regret of his Majesty at
the severe loss to the nation and his horror of the crime.
On Mr. Bigelow's return he was overwhelmed with let
ters of condolence from all parts of Europe, and received
calls from several members of the opposition in the
Corps Legislatif, as well as from a considerable number
of literary men and others who have always sjnnpa-
tliized with our cause. A large number also called at
the Consulate, and, in accordance with the custom here,
subscribed their names in token of condolence.
One of the most remarkable and noteworthy demon
strations was that made by the Jeunesse dJEcoles — the
students of the Latin quarter. Nearly a thousand of
these young men formed in procession for the purpose
of proceeding to the American minister's to present to
him an appropriate address.
Solemn services were also held at the American Epis
copal chapel, which were attended by a large assem
blage of French and Americans.
The Princess Murat, who is an American lady, was
present, as were also General Franconniere and the
Prince Napoleon, M. Berryer, Jules Favre, Ernest Picard,
Eugene Pelletan, Prevost Paradol, and a considerable
number of literary men.
Henry Martin, the historian, wrote in one of the
Parisian journals, a brilliant eulogium on Mr. Lincoln,
whom he styled "the great martyr of democracy."
THE ASSASSINATION. 659
In the Corps Legislatif, soon after the opening of
that body, the Minister of State communicated to that
body the following despatch sent by the Minister of
Foreign Affairs to their representative at Washington,
as follows: "Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
Paris, April 28, 1865.
"The. news of the crime of which President Lincoln has
fallen a victim has caused a profound sentiment of indignation
in the imperial government. His Majesty immediately charged
one of his aides-de-camp to call upon the minister of the United
States to request him to transmit the expression of this senti
ment to Mr. Johnson, now invested with the Presidency. I,
myself, desired by the despatch which I addressed you, under
date of yesterday, to acquaint you, without delay, of the painful
emotion which we have experienced ; and it becomes my duty
to-day, in conformity with the views of the Emperor, to render
a merited homage to the great citizen whose loss the United
States now deplore.
"Elevated to the Chief Magistracy of the republic by the
suffrage of his country, Abraham Lincoln exhibited in the
exercise of the power placed in his hands the most substantial
quaUties. In him firmness of character was allied with eleva
tion of principle, and his vigorous soul never wavered before
the redoubtable trials reserved for his government. At ther
raoraent when an atrocious crime removed him from the mission
which he fulfilled with a religious sentiment of duty, he waa
convinced that the triumph of his policy was definitely assured.
His recent proclamations are stamped with the sentiments of
moderation with which he was inspired in resolutely proceedino-
to the task of reorganizing the Union and consolidating pe.ice.
The supreme satisfaction of accomplishing this work has not
been accorded him ; but in reviewing these last testimonies to
his exalted wisdom, as well as the examples of good sense, jf
courage, and of patriotism, which he has given, history will not
660 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
hesitate to place him in the rank of citizens who have the raost
honored their country. By order of the Emperor, I transmit
this despatch to the Minister of State, who is charged to com
municate it to the Senate and the Corps Legislatif France wiU
unanimously associate itself with the sentiment of his- Majesty.
" Eeceive, &c., &c., Drouyn de Lhuys,
" M. DE Geofry, Charge d! Afi'aires de France a Washington"
This was followed by eloquent remarks by several
distinguished members.
In Italy, the Chamber of Deputies, at Rome, was
draped in black on the twenty-seventh, and continued
so for the three following days, in mourning for Abraham
Lincoln. The Minister of Finance moved, and the
Chamber agreed, to send the following address to the
American Congress, expressing the grief of the country
and the House at Mr. Lincoln's assassination.
" To THE President of the Congress of Eepresenta
tives OFTHE United States of America: — Sonorahh Sir:
The intelligence of the assassination of President Lincoln has
moved and profoundly grieved the deputies of the Italian
Parliament. Frora all the political factions of which this
Charaber is composed one unaniraous cry has arisen denouncing
the detestable crime that has been committed, and conveying
the expression of deep regret and sympathy for the illus
trious victim and the free people whose worthy ruler he was.
Tliis Chamber has unanimously resolved to cover its flag with
crape for the space of three days, in token of mourning, and.
has charged me to notify you in a special message its grief,
which is also that of Italy, and of all friends of liberty and
civiUzation. The news of the attempt raade to assassinate Mr.
Seward has inspired the Charaber with like sentiments. In
readily, though sadly, fulfilling the mission with which I have
THE ASSASSINATION. 661
been charged, I beg you will accept, Honorable Sir, the assur
ance of my sympathy and consideration. Cassinis,
"President of ihe Chamber of Deputies"
The King of Belgium charged one of his aides-de
camp to visit Mr. Sanford, and express the feelings his
Majesty experienced at the attacks made upon the
President and Minister for Foreign Affairs of the United
States. The Count of Flanders also sent one of his
orderly officers to the American minister for the same
purpose. The Minister for Foreign Affairs and the
other members of the Cabinet also lost no time in pay
ing their respects to Mr. Sanford, and instructions were
forwarded to the Belgian Legation at Washington
to express to the American government the sentiments
of regret and reprobation excited by such disgraceful
acts. At Saturday's sitting of the Chamber of Deputies,
M. le Hardy de Beaulieu stated, in the most sympathiz
ing terms, the emotion produced in Belgium by the
news of the tragic event, and recalled all the claims of
President Lincoln to general consideration. M. de
Haerne spoke in the same sense with much feeling.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs said that the govern
ment fully agreed with the sentiments which had just
been expressed, and that it had already conveyed its
opinion to the government of the United States and
their representatives at Bmssels. He added his sincerest
good wishes for the recovery of Mr. Seward, whose life
he considered highly important for the definitive pacifi
cation of the country so long desolated by the war, and
whose prosperity was earnestly desired by all the friends
of hberty.
In Prussia the news of the death of Mr. Lincoln was
662 THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
received with the deepest concern. Herr Loewe, one of
the most active and influential members of the Lower
House, rose at the first sitting to devote a few solemn
and admiring words to the memory of the deceased
republican statesman, and to introduce an address of
condolence, which he had drawn up for presentation
to Mr. Judd, the American minister to that country.
He concluded by sajdng:
"Gentlemen," permit me to request your attention to a
subject which, though not coraing within the liraits of our
immediate task, is yet one of the gravest interest to us, and,
indeed, the world at large. Many of the honorable members
have felt it a duty, on the occasion of the untiraely death of
Mr. Lincoln, to give expressioa to their sincere sympathy
with the nation who now mourn his loss. Abraham Lincoln
has been taken away in the hour of triumph. I ti-ust that
the task he so faithfully conducted in the service of a great
and glorious people will be corapleted by his successor ; and
while I cannot but congratulate myself on the earnest and
most effective support he received from so raany of our coun
trymen on the other side of the ocean, I wish to assure the
Gerraan Araericans, as well as the Americans generaUy, that
we glory in their glories and sorrow in their sorrows. * * *
"As it might be contrary to rules to move for the House
entering into communication with a foreign diplomatist, I
invite such of you as are disposed to share in our condo
lences to send in your signatures privately, and pay your
respect to the deceased, who was a faithful servant no less
of his commonwealth than of civilization, of freedom and
humanity.'' At the close of the speech the House rose in token of
respectful, assent. The conservatives alone and a few
ultramontanes, who, from political motives, kept their
THE ASSASSINATION. 663
seats, also declared, through the mouths of some of their
leaders, that they shared the horror and indignation of
the other parties.
In Berlin, a solemn service was held May 2d, in the
honor of President Lincoln, at the Dorothea church ; at
which numerous deputations were present, and the King
was officially represented by his aides-de-camp. The
edifice was crowded.
664 THE LIFE OP ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
CHAPTER xvn.
THE funeral OBSEQUIES.
The Body of Mr. Lincoln lies in State in the White House.— It rests ia
the National Capitol. — Mourning throughout the land. — The Funeral
Cortege commences its route to Springfield, 111. — Scenes by the way. —
At Baltimore. — At Philadelphia.— At Newark and Jersey City.— It
reaches New York. — The Farewell Procession. — To Albany. — Prom
there to Buffalo. — At Cleveland. — At Columbus. — At Chicago. — It
. reaches Springfield, 111. — The final rites and sepulture. — The Assassin
and his end. — The fate of the other conspirators. — Punch's Tribute to
Lincoln's Memory.
Mr. Lincoln's body having been properly embalmed
and prepared for the grave, was laid in state in the
"Green Room" ofthe Presidential mansion — in a splen
did coffin, and within a grand catafalque. Here, sur
rounded by the sad emblems of woe, and covered with
the costliest and rarest fioral tributes of affection, it
rested until noon of Wednesday, the 19th of April.
Then, after appropriate funeral rites, it was removed,
with an imposing military procession, and attended by
an immense concourse of people, to the rotunda of the
national Capitol.
The corpse of the President was placed beneath a
splendid catafalque, and left in state, watched by guards
of officers with drawn swords. And so through the starry
night, in the fane of the great Union he had strengthened
and recovered, the ashes of Abraham Lincoln, zealously
guarded, lay in calm repose.
"Wednesday, the day on which these obsequies took
THE FUNEEAL OBSEQUIES. 665
place at Washington, was, in accordance with the request
of the Department of State, observed as a day of mourn
ing by the whole American people. Public authorities
and the heads of religious denominations, moved as by
a common impulse, called upon the nation to unite in
prayer in their several places of worship; while at the
Capitol of the nation the last solemn rites were offered
in the home of the lost ruler ere he was borne from the
residence of American Presidents to the Capitol, where
he was to he in state till his corpse began- its march of
hundreds of miles, before it reached the city of the West
identified vpith his earher career.
Throughout the loyal States a universal suspension of
ordinary avocations and a closing of places of business,
testified the popular respect to the departed. Every
city, town, and viUage was hung in black, while the
solemn tolhng of the bells and the booming of the
minute-guns added to the general solemnity. Stores
and offices were closed ; the noise of traffic and amuse
ment hushed; a Sabbath repose rested on the land.
Churches were crowded vdth worshippers, and the clergy
in fitting discourses paid their homage to departed great>
ness, their testimony of affection to a bereaved country,
their words of sympathy to her who felt more keenly
even than the nation her sudden loss.
Never before was such a general sadness ; never again,
we trust, will there be such a cause. It was no lip
service ; the grief was deep and heartfelt. The people
were bereaved, and they knew it.
In Montreal, C. E., the Mayor by proclamation in
vited the citizens to close their places of business, "as a
tribute of respect to the memory of the late President of
666 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
the United States, and of sympathy with the bereaved
members of his family, and also as an expression of the
deep sorrow and horror felt by the citizens of Montreal
at the atrocious crime by which the President came to
an untimely end," and a large public meeting was held,
in which addresses were delivered in French and Eng
hsh. At Quebec, also, a similar proclamation was issued by
the Mayor, was promptly and completely responded to.
Toronto, Prescott, and other Canadian towns, also testi
fied their sympathy with the neighboring republic.
San Francisco honored the day by the grandest pro
cession ever witnessed on the Pacific coast ; and in the
South, even, similar marks of respect were paid. In
Memphis, a solemn mihtary and civic procession, num
bering twenty thousand persons, formed an imposing
part of the ceremony, and an impromptu meeting was
held, at whicii eloquent addresses were delivered by
Generals Banks and Washburn.
The procession at Nashville numbered upwards of
fifteen thousand persons, among them Generals Thomas,
Rousseau, Miller, Whipple, Fowler, and Donelson. Over
ten thousand troops joined in the procession; besides
Governor Brownlow, both Houses of the Legislature, the
Quartermaster and Commissary Departments, and Fire
Department, and other organizations.
At Little Rock, Ark., on receipt of the news, the
Legislature adjourned, and an impressive address was
delivered by Senator Snow.
At Detroit, on the 25th of April, the obsequies of Pre
sident Lincoln were observed with imposing ceremonies,
and a procession, more than four miles in length, in
THE FUNEEAL OBSEQUIES. 667
which even the officers of the British army, and the
Canadian civil officers participated. The ceremonies
concluded with an oration by Senator Howard.
New Orleans received the tidings a little later, and
the city was at once arrayed in mourning. A procession
was held on the 22d, composed of the Fire Department,
societies and citizens ; and an immense mass of people.
Addresses were also dehvered by Generals Banks and
Hurlbut. On the 20th, the body of the murdered President lay
in state in the Capitol, where it was visited by more than
twenty-five thousand persons, among whom were thou
sands of soldiers, many coming from the hospitals to
gaze once more upon their commander-in-chief. At six
o'clock, on the morning of the 21st, the members of the
Cabinet, Lieutenant-General Grant and stafi", several
Senators, the Illinois delegation, and a number of army
ofiicers, arrived at the Capitol, and took their farewell
look at the face of the deceased. Then, after an impres
sive prayer by Rev. Dr. Gurley, the remains were borne,
without music, but accompanied by an escort, to the
railroad station, and placed in the hearse car, to which
the remains of his son Willie had been previously
removed. After a prayer and benediction, the tram
slowly moved from the depot, the engine-bell tolling, the
immense assemblage reverently uncovering their heads
— and thus Abraham Lincoln passed away from Wash
ington, the scene of his life's-work and his glory. '
The funeral cortege was conveyed on a special through
train, on the same route (with one or two exceptions) as
that taken by Mr. Lincoln on his way to Washington
in 1861. The car, also, which bore the body and its
668 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
attendants, was the same which had been especially con
structed for the late President's especial use when travel
ling over the military roads — a superb piece of construc
tion, and now appropriately draped, as were also the
other six cars forming the train.
To prevent accidents, the rate of speed was limited.
No stoppage was made between Washington and Balti
more. In out-of-the-way places, little villages, or single
farm-houses, people came out to the side of the track and
watched, with heads reverently uncovered and faces full
of genuine sadness, the passage of the car bearing the
ashes of him who loved the people and whom the people
loved. Along the whole line were seen these mourning
groups, some on foot and some in carriages, wearing
badges of sorrow, and many evidently having come a
long distance to pay this little tribute of respect, the
only one in their power, to the memory of the murdered
President. Baltimore, through which city, four years before, the
late President had hurried incognito, on his inaugural
trip, now received the honored remains of the chief
magistrate with every mark of reverence. Escorted by
a splendid procession, the body was conveyed to the
rotunda of the Exchange, where upon a gorgeous cata
falque, and surrounded by fiowers, it rested for several
hours, receiving the silent homage of thousands who
crowded to take their last look at the features of the
illustrious patriot.
As the cars passed along their route, entire neighbor
hoods, old and young, men and women with infants in
their arms, and youths, turned out by the roadside and
earnestly wiitclied-the funeral train. Flags at half-mast.
THE FUNEEAL OBSEQUIES. 669
mourning inscriptions, funeral arches, testified the sor
row that was felt in every bosom. Some of the most
notable and affecting scenes were of exceedingly plain
and poorly dressed men and women, at different places
on the route, with handkerchiefs at their eyes, and
having the appearance of weeping. Clusters of men, at
various points, raised their hats as the funeral car glided
before them, and the deepest sorrow was expressed in
every countenance.
At York, Pa., at the request of the ladies of that town,
a beautiful wreath was placed with due solemnity upon
the coffin, while a dirge was performed by tho band,
amid the tolling of bells, and the uncovered heads of
the multitude.
At Harrisburg, owing to the heavy rain, the intended
military and civic display was dispensed with. Throngs
of people, however, lined the streets and followed the
remains to the State Capitol, where the body lay in state,
in the House of Representatives, upon a fine catafalque,
surrounded with a circle of white flowering almonds ;
and during a part of the night the citizens were allowed
to obtain a view of the President's features.
From Baltimore to Philadelphia, it may be said that
the entire route was amid crowds of sorrowing people,
for between villages and towns, all the way, farmers and
their families assembled in fields and about houses, seri
ously and reverently gazing at the fieeting funeral
cortege. At Philadelphia, where they were received by a great
procession, the ashes of the martyr found a resting-place
in Independence Hall, around which cluster so many
historical memories, and over which, four years ago, the
670 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
then President-elect hoisted the American flag, with a
declaration of his willingness to sacrifice his life rather
than abandon the cause which he has at length fallen in
defending. The bier was close to the famous old liberty
bell which first sounded forth in 1776 the tidings of in
dependence. The interior of the hall, as well as exterior, was heavily
draped and most artistically illuminated. Around the
remains were appropriate decorations, leaves of exquisite
evergreens and flowers of an exquisite crimson bloom.
At the head of the corpse were bouquets, while flaming
tapers were at the feet ; and from the elaborately hung
walls the portraits of the great and good dead, eloquent
in their silence, looked down upon the sad scene.
The next morning, waiting thousands were admitted
to see the corpse. Before dayhght lines were formed
east and west of Independence Hall, and by ten o'clock
these lines extended at least three miles, from the Dela
ware to the Schuylkill river, thousands occupying three
or four hours before accomplishing their object — seeing
the remains.
The funeral train left Philadelphia at 4 A. M., on the
24th of April, 1865. The incidents of the journey were
similar to those seen elsewhere. Sometimes the track
was hned on both sides for miles with a continuous
array of people. The most impressive scene of the whole
route thus far was furnished by the city of Newark,
where it seemed as if the inhabitants had resolved to
turn out en masse to pay their brief tribute of respect to
the memory of the departed as his coffin passed by.
For a distance of a mile, the observer on the train could
THE FUNEEAL OBSEQUIES. 671
perceive only one sea of human beings. Words can do
no justice to the spectacle.
Of a grander character was the reception given to the
remains at Jersey City. The depot, one of the largest
halls in the country, was draped in an imposing manner,
bells tolled, cannon echoed solemnly, and as the remains
were removed from the cars to the boat, a choir of singers
chanted a solemn dirge. Again, as the ferry boat neared
the New York side, solemn strains of funeral music
pealed from their united voices, and mingled with the
sound of canflon and tolling bells.
In the metropohs of New York the scene was im
posing beyond comparison. As far as the eye could
see, a dense mass of heads filled the streets, and pro
truded from every window. The fronts of the houses
were tastefully draped with mourning, and the national
ensign was displayed at half-mast from almost every
housetop. The remains were received by an immense procession,
which passed along its route, amid such a crowd of sor
rowing faces as New York never saw before ; while from
distant batteries the cannon belched each minute their
thunder-tones of woe, from all the steeples came forth
the wailing of bells, and from old Trinity's lofty spire
floated upon the breeze the tuneful chimings of " Old
Hundred." Arrived at the City HaU, the coffin was
borne into the rotunda, amid the solemn chantings of
eight hundred choristers, and placed upon the catafalque
prepared for it. Here, amid gorgeous emblems of woe,
mUitary display, and fioral emblems of affection, the
dead President rested, while, during the day and all
night long the tide of people passed hurriedly but rever-
672 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
ently by, taking a hasty glance at those ghastly and
upturned features. At the solemn hour of midnight, the
German musical societies performed a funeral chant in
the rotunda of the hall, with an effect which was har-
moniou^ grand and sublime. On the 25th of April,
the great metropolis took its final leave of the remains
of Abraham Lincoln, and after a farewell more grand
and imposing than any demonstration in the previous
experience of this country, the sacred ashes started on
their journey westward.*
At the same time, a vast concourse assembled in
Union Square, where an elegant oration was delivered
by the eminent historian, the Hon. George Bancroft,
and an ode, composed by William Cullen Bryant, was
recited. From New York -the same scenes of popular grief and
the deepest respect were witnessed. Arches, columns,
monuments, banners, etc., arrayed with tasteful and
loving care, lined the entire route of the funeral train,
* The military pageant was grand. The city regiments in the parade,
with their batteries and officers, made a force of at least ten thousand men.
Those from Brooklyn and the regulars were nearly half that numbei, the
whole in line of formation, or double line, extending a distance in all of
four miles and a half. The procession was closed by the colored popula
tion of New York, who, though deprived of an invitation to join the grand
pageant, nevertheless, when informed of the action taken by the m'litary
authorities, were only too glad to pay the last sad tributes of respect to
their great benefactor. They numbered at least two thousand persons,
and were preceded by a banner bearing the following inscription
"abkaham LnsrcoLW, cub EMABTCIPATOB."
On the reverse side of which were the following words :
"TO MILLIGETS OP BOlSTDMEli HE LIBEBTV GAVE."
All along the route, and particularly in the Fifth Avenue, and in Union
Square, the colored people joining in the procession, were vehemently ap
plauded by the crowded assemblages.
THE FUNEEAL OBSEQUIES. 673
as it sped its way among crowds of heart-stricken men
and women, heralded on its onward course by the tolhng
of bells, and the echoes of minute guns. At Albany,
the corpse was escorted across the river by a torch-light
procession of military and firemen, and placed in the
Capitol of the State, where it rested until 2 p. m. of the
next day — visited by thousands. Accompanied by a
grand procession, it was then escorted to the train of
newly finished, and tastefully draped cars, furnished by
the New York Central Railroad Company, and com
menced its sad journey through the Empire State.
Notwithstanding the greater part of the trip between
Albany and Buffalo was made at night, all along the
hne mournful crowds were collected to catch a view of
the passing cortege. The buildings were appropriately
draped, fiags were half-masted, and bonfires and torches
illumined the sad pageant. All through the dark hours,
as the train sped- on, at each city, town, village, and
station, these testimonies of the people's affection and
grief were repeated.
At Buffalo and Cleveland, the body was appropriately
received amid every possible demonstration of grief and
respect. At Columbus, Ohio, the remains were placed
in the rotunda of tfie State Capitol, which was appro
priately draped. The coffin rested upon a mound of
moss, thickly dotted with the choicest flowers, and was
surrounded by elegant vases of rare flowers. The walls
were adorned with Powell's great painting of " Perry's
Victory;" and with various banners which had been
carried by the Ohio troops during the war, torn and
riddled by bullets in many a deadly conflict. Bands of
music played during the afternoon, on the terraces of
43
674 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
the Capitol, most solemn dirges, and guns were fired at
intervals during the day.
Indianapolis also gave a worthy reception to the de
parted chief. At Chicago the remains of the President
were received under a magnificent funeral arch, and were
thence conveyed to the rotunda of the court house, where
they were laid in state upon a catafalque as beautiful as
any we have hitherto described, and visited by thousands
of persons, who thus, in sadness, welcomed back their
late beloved ruler to his native State. The number of
people in the city, at the time, was estimated to have
been not less than two hundred and fifty thousand. At
night the coffin, strewn with fresh fiowers placed by
Adrgin hands, with chant and torch-light, was borne to
the depot.
Taking all in all, Chicago made a deeper impression
upon those who had been with the funeral from the first
than any one of the ten cities passed through before had
done. It was to be expected that such would be the case,
yet, seeing how other cities had honored the funeral, there
seemed to be no room for more, and the eastern members
of the cortege could not repress surprise when they saw
how Chicago and the Northwest came, with one accord,
with tears and with ofiferings, to help to bury "this
Duncan," who had " been so clear in his great office. '
At last, on the 3d of May, the funeral train, after
travelling, by a circuitous route, about seventeen hun
dred mUes, reaehed Springfield, the home of the fallen
President, where he had been so long personally known
and admired. The remains were received by a proces
sion, and were carried to the State House, where they
they were deposited in the Hall of Representatives, under
tomb op ABRAHAM LINCOLN AT SPRINGFIELD.
THE FUNEEAL OBSEQUIES. 675
a canopy of exquisite design and finish ; while, promi
nent amid the tasteful decorations of the place, were the
words of President Lincoln at Independence Hall,
Philadelphia, February 22d, 1861 : " Soonee than sue-
EENDEE THESE PEINCIPLES, I WOULD BE ASSASSINATED ON
THE SPOT."
Here, as elsewhere, the citizens of the place, with
thousands who came pouring in by every mode of con
veyance, sought to gaze on the face of the corpse. All
night ^ong the streets of the city resounded with the
tramp of feet. It was estimated that more than seventy-
five thousand passed into the hall.
During the momiiig minute-guns were fired by Bat
tery K, Missouri light artillery. About ten o'clock the
coffin was closed forever. MeanwhUe a choir two of
hundred and fifty voices, and Lebrun's band from St.
Louis, sang Paesello's " Peace, Troubled Soul," and as the
coffin was borne out, Pleyel's Hymn, " Children of the
Heavenly King."
The procession moved to Oak Ridge Cemetery, under
the immediate command of Major-General Joseph
Hooker, Marshal-in-Chief ; and on its arrival at the
cemetery, the remains were placed in the tomb, and
after the simple but touching ceremonies of interment,
and an eloquent funeral discourse by Bishop Simpson,
of the M. E. Church, the immense throng sUently dis
persed. Henceforth, the name and the fame of Abraham Lin
coln, sixteenth President of the United States, is the
priceless inheritance of the country which he loved so
well, and which he so faithfully served, even to a
martyr's death.
676 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
THE assassin's END.
While the honored remains of the murdered President
were thus journeying on, meeting vnth such a spontane
ous and magnificent reception as had never, on this con
tinent, been hitherto accorded to any man living or dead,
what had become of the cowardly assassin ? In the leap
which he made from the box to the stage, on the events
ful night of the .murder, he fractured the bones of one
of his legs ; yet in spite of this mashap, he contrived to
make his way, on horseback, into St. Mary's county,
where he was concealed for some days, eluding all pur
suit, although the rewards for his capture amounted, in
the aggregate, to over one hundred thousand dollars. It
being, however, pretty conclusively ascertained that he
-was in this locality, parties of cavalry finally closed in
around him, so as to compel him to beat a retreat. Thus
surrounded, although disabled by his fractured leg, for
which he had obtained but indifferent treatment, he
worked his way across the Potomac and Rappahannock
rivers into Virginia, and on the morning of the 26 th of
April, 1865, a party of cavalry, under command of Lieu
tenant Dougherty, traced him to a barn on the farm of
Henry Garrett, between Bowling Green and Port Royal,
and near Fredericksburg, where, with an accomplice
named David C. Harrold, he was concealed.
The cavalry surrounding the bam, called upon the
fugitives to surrender, and Harrold complied ; but Booth
refusing to do so, the barn was set on fire in the rear.
Booth then, after theatrically challenging the lieutenant
and the entire party of cavalrymen to combat, prepared
tofire.amolig them. Sergeant Boston Corbett immedi-
THE assassin's END. 677
ately leveled his piece and fired, shooting the wretched
assassin in the head, and causing very much such a
wound as Booth had infiicted upon the President less
than two weeks before. Booth lived for two or three
hours after receiving his wound, and his body, with the
person of Harrold, was at once removed to Washington.
Thus, even before the remains of his illustrious vic
tim had reached their final destination, the miserable
assassin had met the death of a dog, despised and exe
crated by millions on both continents.
Payne, the attempted murderer of Mr. Seward ; David
C. Harrold, the accomplice of Booth in his fiight ; Atze-
roth, to whom it is said had been assigned the assassina
tion of President Johnson ; Mrs. Surratt, who harbored
the assassins during the progress of their plottings, were
all captured, tried before a military court>martial, and
by its order hung, on the 7th of July. By the decree
of the same court. Dr. Samuel Mudd, who assisted Booth
in his escape ; Samuel Arnold, proved to have been in
the conspiracy to abduct the President, and Michael
O'Laughlin, to whom, it was alleged, was assigned the
murder of General Grant, were sentenced to imprison
ment for life on the Dry Tortugas. Spangler, the stage-
carpenter of Ford's theatre, was sentenced to six years
imprisonment in the Albany (N. Y.) penitentiary. Thus
faUs the curtain upon the actors in this fearful tragedy.
678 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
FOULLY ASSASSINATED, APEIL 14, 1865.
[D'om the London Punch.)
Tou lay a wreath on murdered Lincoln's»bier,
Tou, who with mocking pencil wont to trace,
Broad for the self-complacent British sneer.
His length of shambling limb, his furrowed face ;
pis gaunt, gnarled hands, his unkempt, bristling hair,
His garb uncouth, his bearing ill at ease,
His lack of all we prize as debonair,
Of power or will to shine, of art to please.
Tou, whose smart pen backed up the pencil's laugh.
Judging each step, as though the way were plain ;
EecUess, so it could point its paragraph.
Of chief's perplexity, or people's pain.
Beside this corpse, that bears for windiiig-sheet
The stars and stripes he lived to rear anew,
Between the mourners at his head and feet,
Say, scurrile jester, is there room for you?
Tes, he had lived to shame me from my sneer,
To lame my pencil, and confute my pen —
To make me own this hind of princes peer,
This rail-spHtter a true-born king of men.
My shallow judgment I had learnt to rue.
Noting how to occasion's height he rose.
How his quaint wit made home-truth seem more true,
How, iron-like, his temper grew by blows.
How humble, yet how hopeful he could be^
How in good-fortune and in ill the same :
Nor bitter in success, nor boastful he.
Thirsty for gold, nor feverish for fame.
He went about his work — such work as few
Ever had laid on head and heart and hand —
As one who knows, where there's a task to do,
Man's honest will must Heaven's good grace command ;
punch's teibute to his memo'et. 679
Who trusts the strength will with the burden grow, ¦
That God makes instruraents to work his will,
If but that will we can arrive to know,
Nor temper with the weights of good and ill.
So he went forth to battle, on the side
That he felt clear was Liberty's and Eight's,
As in his peasant boyhood he had plied
His warfare with rude Nature's thwarting mights ;
The uncleared forest, the unbroien soil,
The iron bark tfiat turns the lumberer's axe,
The rapid, that o'erbears the boatman's toil,
The prairie, hiding the mazed wanderer's tracks ;
The ambushed Indian, and the prowling bear —
Such were the needs that helped his youth to train ;
Rough culture — but such trees large fruit may bear.
If but their stocks be of right girth and grain.
So he grew up, a destined work to do,
And lived to do it : four long-suffering years,
lU-fate, ill-feeling, ill-report lived through.
And then he heard the hisses changed to cheers ;
The taunts to tribute, the abuse to praise,
Ajid took both with the same unwavering mood :
Till, as he came on light, from darkling days,
And seemed to touch the goal from where he stood ;
A felon had, between the goal and him,
, Reached from behind his back, a trigger prest —
And those perplexed and patient eyes were dim.
Those gaunt, long-labored limbs were laid to rest !
«
The words of mercy were upon his lips.
Forgiveness in his heart and on his pen,
When this vile murderer brought swift eclipse
To thoughts of peace on earth, good-will to men.
The Old World and the New, from sea to sea.
Utter one voice of sympathy and shame !
Sore heart, so stopped when it at last beat high ;
Sad life, cut short just as its triumph came.
680 THE LIFE OP ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
CHAPTER XVIII.
eeminiscences and anecdotes of PEESIDENT LINCOLN.*
Mr. Lincoln's Christian Experiences, and Christian Sentiments. — His
firmness. — The Pardoning Power. — Mr. Lincoln's love of Homer. — His
Memory. — His aptness of Expression. — The Emancipation Proclamation.
— His " Little Story,'' at the Peace Conference. — His Justification of
the Amnesty Proclamation. — He loses his temper /or once. — His rela
tions with the People. — His tenderness of heart. — His faithful admo
nition. — Mr. Lincoln " Pokes " on Kentucky neutrality. — Reminis
cences of President Lincoln by an 'old associate and friend. — His
simplicity and artlessnesss of character. — His native dignity. — His ,
desire for knowledge. — His modesty. — His personal fearlessness of
danger. — His kindness of heart. His honesty. — Incidents of his visit
to the Army of the Potomac. — Absence of mind. — He watches events. —
He remembers his friends. — His little stories. — His power of memory. —
His literary tastes and habits.
ME. Lincoln's christian experiences and sentiments.
" A lady interested in tbe work of tbe Cbristian Commission,
bad occasion, in tbe prosecution of ber duties, to bave several
interviews witb tbe President of a business nature. He was
mucb impressed witb tbe devotion and earnestness of purpose
she manifested, and on one occasion, after sbe bad discharged
the object of her visit, he leaned back in bis chair and said to
her : ' Mrs. , I have formed a very high opinion of your
Christian character, and now, as we are alone, I have a mind to
I ;
* For most of the anecdotes, forming the first portion of this chapter,
we are indebted to Mr. Carpenter's interesting papers in the Independent
and elsewhere. Mr. Carpenter's excellent opportunies of free and unre
strained intercourse with Mr. Lincoln, while an inmate of his family, give
an especial value to his recollections, which does not attach to many of
the stories and sayings which popular rumor attributes (tliough errone
ously) to the late President.
eeminiscences and anecdotes. 681
ask you to give me, in brief, your idea of what constitutes a
true religious experience.' The lady replied at some length,
stating that, in her judgment, it consisted of a conviction of one's
own sinfulness and weakness, and personal need of the Saviour
for strength and support ; that views of mere doctrine might
and would differ, but when one was really brought to feel his
need of divine help, and to seek the aid of the Holy Spirit for
strength and guidance, it was satisfactory evidence of his having
been born again. This was tbe substance of her reply. When
she had concluded, Mr. Lincoln was very thoughtful for a few
moments. He at length, said very earnestly, ' If what you have
told me is really a correct view of this great subject, I think I
can say with sincerity, that I hope I am a Christian. I had
lived,' he continued, 'until my boy Willie died, without re
alizing fully these things. That blow overwhelmed me. It
showed me my weakness as I had never felt it before, and if I
can take what you have stated as a test, I think I can safely say
that I know something of that change of which you speak, and
I will further add, tbat it has been my intention for some time,
at a suitable opportunity, to make a.public religious profession !' "
" As a ruler," says Bishop Simpson, " I doubt if any President
has ever showed such trust in God, or in public documents so
frequently referred to divine aid. Often did he remark to
friends and delegations that his hope for our success rested in
Ms conviction that God would bless our efforts, because we were
trying to do right. To the address of a large religious body, he
replied, 'Thanks be unto God, who in our national trials
giveth -us the churches.' To a minister who said ' he hoped
the Lord was on our side,' be replied 'that it gave him no
concern whether the Lord was on our side or not,' for be added,
'I know tbe Lord is always on the side of right;' and with
deep feeling added, 'but God is my witness that it is my
constant anxiety and prayer that both myself and this nation
should be on the Lord's side.'
. > II
6S2 the life of abeaham Lincoln.
" Once, be soliliquized, half unconsciously, after he had been
waited upon by a committee or delegation, with reference to
securing his co-operation in having the name of God inserted
in the Constitution : ' Some people seem a great deal more
concerned about tbe letter of a thing, than about its spirit,^ or
words to this effect." HIS FIRMNESS.
" Late one afternoon a lady with two gentlemen were admitted.
She had come to ask that her husband, who was a prisoner of
war, might be permitted to take tbe oath and be released from
confinement. To secure a degree of interest on the part of the
President, one of the gentlemen claimed to be an acquaintance
of Mrs. Lincoln ; this however received but little attention, and
the President proceeded to ask what position the lady's husband
held in the rebel service. ' Oh,' said she, ' he was a captain.'
'A captain,' rejoined Mr. Lincoln, 'indeed, rather too big a
fish to set free simply upon his taking the oath ! If be was an
of&cer, it is proof positive that he has been a zealous rebel ; I
cannot release him.' Here the lady's friend reiterated the
assertion of his acquaintance witb Mrs. Lincoln. Instantly, the
President's hand was upon the bell-rope. The usher in attend
ance answered the summons. . ' Cornelius, take this man's
name to Mrs. Lincoln, and ask her what she knows of him ?'
The boy presently returned with the reply that ' the Madam '. (as
she was called by the servants) knew -nothing of bim whatever.
'It is just as I suspected,' said the President. The party made
one more attempt to enlist his S3'mpathy, but without effect.
It is no use,' was the reply. ' I cannot release him 1' and
the trio withdrew in high displeasure."
the pardoning power.
"One day tbe Hon. Thaddeus Stevens called with an elderiy
lady, in great trouble, whose son had been in the army, but for
some offence had been court-martialed, and sentenced either to
death or imprisonment at hard labor for a long term, I do not
EEMINISCENCES AND ANECDOTES. 683
recollect which. There were some extenuating circumstances,
and after a full hearing the President turned to the representa
tive and said : ' Mr. Stevens, do you think this is a case which
wiU warrant my interference?' 'With my knowledge of the
facts and parties,' was the reply, ' I should have no hesitation
in granting a pardon.' ' Then,' returned Mr. Lincoln, ' I will
pardon him,' and he proceeded forthwith to execute the paper.
The gratitude of the mother was too deep for expression, save
by ber tears, and not a word was said between her and Mr.
Stevens until tbey were half way down the stairs on their
passage out, when she suddenly broke forth in an excited man
ner with the words, ' I knew it was a copperhead lie !' —
' What do you refer to, madam ?' asked Mr. Stevens. ' Why,
they told me he was an ugly looking man,' sbe replied with
vehemence. ' He is the handsomest man I ever saw in my life !'
And surely for tbat mother, and for many another, throughout the
land, no carved statue of ancient or modern art, in all its sym
metry, ever can have the charm which will forevermore encircle
that care-worn, but gentle face, expressing as was never ex
pressed before, ' Malice toward none — Charity for all.' "
"One example of bis exercise of the pardoning power, may
excite a smile, as well as a tear ; but it may be relied upon a^
a veritable relation of what actually transpired. A distinguished
citizen of Ohio had an appoiotment with the President one
evening at six o'clock. As he entered the vestibule of the
White House, his attention was attracted by a poorly-clad
young woman whb was violently sobbing. He asked ber the
cause of ber distress. ' She said tbat sbe had been ordered away
by tbe servants, after vainly waiting many bours to see the Presi
dent about ber only brother, who had been condemned to death.
Her story was this : She and her brother were foreigners, and
orphans. They had been in this country several years. Her
brother enlisted in the army, but, through bad influences, was
induced to desert. He was captured, tried and sentenced to be
shot— tbe old story. Tbe poor girl had obtained the signatures
684 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
of. some persons who had formerly known bim, to a petition for
a pardon, and, alone, had come to Washington to lay the case
before the President. Thronged as the waiting rooms always
were, sbe had passed the long hours of two days trying in vain
to get an audience, and had at length been ordered away.
"The gentleman's feelings were touched. He said to her
tbat he had come to see the President, but did not know
as he should succeed. He told her, however, to follow him
up-stairs and he would see what could be done for her.
Just before reaching the door Mr. Lincoln came out, and meet
ing his friend said good-humoredly, ' Are you not ahead of
time ?' The gentleman showed him his watch with the hand
upon the hour of six. ' Well,' returned Mr. Lincoln, ' I have
been so busy to-day that I have not bad time to get a lunch.
Go in and sit down, I will be back directly.'
" The gentleman made the young woman accompany him into
the ofB.ce, and when they were seated, said to her, ' Now my-
good girl, I want you to muster all the courage you have in
the world. When the President comes back, he will sit down
in that arm-chair. I shall get up to speak to him, and as I do
so, you must force yourself between us, and insist upon bis
examination of your papers, telling him it is a case of life and
death, and admits of no delay.' These instructions were carried
out to the letter. Mr. Lincoln was at first somewhat surprised
at the apparent forwardness of the young woman, but observing
her distressed appearance, he ceased conversation with his
friend, and commenced an examination of the document she had
placed in his hands. Glancing from it to the face of the peti
tioner, whose tears had broken forth afresh, he studied its ex
pression for a moment and then his eye fell upon her scanty,
but neat dress. Instantly his face lighted up. ' My poor girl,'
said he, ' you bave come here witb no Governor, or Senator, or
member of Coiigress, to plead your cause. You seem honest
and truthful ; and you don't wear hoops — and I will be whipped,
but I will pardon your brother.' "
EEMINISCENCES AND ANECDOTES. 685
MR. LINCOLN'S LOVE OF HOMER.
"Mr. Lincoln 'thought in figures,' or, in other words, ap.
argument habitually took on that form in his mind. The
' points' of bis argument were driven home in this way, as they
could be in no other. In the social circle this characteristic
had full play. I never knew him to sit down with a friend for
a five minutes' chat, without being ' reminded' of something
about somelDody alluded to in the course of the conversation.
In a corner of his desk be kept a copy of some humorous
work, and it was frequently his habit, when greatly fatigued,
annoyed, or depressed, to take this up and read a chapter, with
great relief.
" The Saturday evening before be left Washington to go to
the front, just previous to the capture of Eichmond, I was with
him from seven o'clock until nearly twelve. It had been
a very hard day with him. The pressure of office-seekers was
greater at- this juncture than I ever knew it to be, and he was
almost worn out. Among the callers that evening, was a party
composed of a Senator, a Eepresentative, an ex-lieutenant-
governor of a western State, and several private citizens. They
had business of great importance, involving the necessity of
the President's examination of voluminous documents. Push
ing every thing aside,, be said to one of the party, ' Have you
seen the Nasby papers ?' 'No I have not,' was the answer ;
'who is Nasby?' 'There is a chap out in Ohio,' returned
the President, ' who has been writing a series of letters in the
newspapers over the signature of Petroleum V. Nasby. Some
one sent me a pamphlet collection of them the other day. I am
going to write to ' Petroleum '- to come down here, and I intend
to tell bim if he will communicate his talent to me, I will swap
places witb him !' Thereupon he arose, went to a drawer in
his desk, and, taking out the ' Letters,' he sat down and read
one to the company. The instant he had ceased, the book was
thrown aside, his countenance relapsed into its habitual serious
686 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
expression, and tbe business was entered upon with the utmost
earnestness." HIS MEMORY.
"Mr. Lincoln's memory was very remarkable. With the
multitude of visitors whom he saw daily, I was often amazed
at the readiness with which be recalled faces and events, and
even names. At one of the afternoon 'receptions,'- a stranger
shook hands with him, and, as he did so, remarked, casually,
that he was elected to Congress about the time Mr. Lincoln's term
as Eepresentative expired. 'Yes,' said the President: 'you are
from ,' mentioning tbe State. ' I remember reading of your
election in a newspaper one morning on a steamboat going
down to Mount Vernon. At another time a gentleman
addressed him, saying, ' I presume, Mr. President, that you
have forgotten me ?' 'No,' was the prompt reply ; ' your name
is Flood. I saw you last, twelve years ago, at ,^ naming
the place and the occasion ; ' I am glad to see,' he continued,
' that the Flood is still running !' A deputation of bankers from
various sections were introduced one day by the Secretary of
the Treasury. After a few moments' general conversation, Mr.
Lincoln turned to one of them, and said : ' Your district did
not give me as strong a vote at the last election as it did in '60.'
' I think, sir, that you must be mistaken,' replied the banker.
' I have the impression that your majority was considerably
increased at the last election.' 'No,' rejoined tbe President;
' you fell off about six hundred votes.' Then taking down from
the bookcase the official record of the presidential canvass of ''60
and '64, he referred to the vote of the district named, and
proved to be almost exactly right in his assertion."
HIS APTNESS OP EXPRESSION.
" It will be remembered that an extra session of Congress was
called in July following Mr. Lincoln's inauguration. In the
message then sent in, speaking of secession, and the measures
EEMINISCENCES AND ANECDOTES. 687
taken by tbe southern leaders to bring it about, there occurs
the following remark : ' Witb rebellion thus sugar-coated, they
have been drugging the public mind of their section for more
than thirty years, until, at length, they bave brought many
good men to a willingness to take up arms against the govern
ment,' etc. Mr. Defrees, the government printer, told me that,
when the message was being printed, he was a good deal dis
turbed by the use of the term ' sugar-coated,' and finally went
to the President about it. Their relations to each other being
of the most intimate character, he told Mr. Lincoln frankly,- that
be ought to remember that a message to Congress was a different
affair from a speech at a mass meeting in Illinois — that the mes
sages became a part of history, and should be written accord
ingly- "'What isthe matter now?' inquired the President.
" ' Why,' said Mr. Defrees, ' you have used an undignified
expression in the message ;' and then, reading the paragraph
aloud, be added, ' I would alter the structure of that, if I were
you.' " ' Defrees,' replied Mr. Lincoln, ' that word expresses pre
cisely my idea, and I am not going to change it. The time
¦will never come in, this country when the people won't know
exactly what sugar-coated means !'
" On a subsequent occasion, Mr. Defrees told me, a certain -
sentence of another message was very awkwardly constructed.
Calling tbe President's attention to it in the proof-copy, the
latter acknowledged tbe force of tbe objection raised, and said,
' Go home, Defrees, and see if you can better it.' The next
day Mr. Defrees took in to him his amendment. Mr. Lincoln
met him by saying : ' Seward found the same fault that you
did, and he h'as been re-writing the paragraph also.' Then
reading Mr. Defrees' version, be said, 'I believe you have
beaten Seward; but I think I can beat you both.' Then,
taking up bis pen, be wrote the sentence as it was finally
printed."
688 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
" His sagacity," says an eloquent divine, " was shown, almost
as much as in his policy itself, in tbe modes and means, in the
very forms of statement and illustration, by which be presented
it to the public. He could be eloquent, if he would. Eemem
ber the close of his Ohio Jetter : ' Peace does not appear so dis
tant as it did. I hope it will come soon, and come to stay ;
and so come as to be worth the keeping. It will then have
been proved tbat among freemen there can be no successful
appeal from the ballot to the bullet, and that they who take
such appeals are sure to lose their case and pay the cost. And
then there will be some black men who can remember that with
silent tongue, and clenched teeth, and steady eye, and well-
poised bayonet, they have , helped mankind on to this great
consummation ; while I fear that there will be some white men
unable to forget that, with malignant heart and deceitful speech,
they have striven to hinder it.'
" But generally the most marked feature of his style was its
utter simplicity. The usual plethoric platitudes of state papers
were curiously contrasted by his brief, simple, sinewy sentences.
If an editor wrote to him, he wrote back to the editor, and pub
lished his answer. And when the people bad got over their
astonishment at his .audacity, they believed all the more in his
utter sincerity. No man ever lived who spoke more directly
to the heart of the -people. Critics might quarrel witb his
rhetoric sometimes ; but critics themselves could not gainsay
the fact that his homely and pithy words had a power beyond
all ornate paragraphs. ' We must keep still pegging away,'
he said, in the gloomiest period of the war ; and every plain
man saw his duty and was nerved to perform it. ' One war at
a time.' All the orators could not answer it ; a unanimous
press could not have outborne the impression it made. ' The
United States government must not undertake to run the
churches.' The dictum is worth a half-dozen duodecimos on
the complex relations of Church and State. 'You needn't cross
a bridge until you bave got to it.' If men's minds were not
EEMINISCENCES AND ANECDOTES. 689
discharged of their fears concerning the effect of a general
emancipation, they were at least widely persuaded to postpone
these by the pithy advice.
" ' The central idea of secession,' he said, in one of his mes
sages, ' is the essence of anarchy ;' and elaborate pages could
not have said more than that one apothegm. It is a head-line
for copybooks for all time to come. Always, the sagacity
which had selected his policy, and which usually chose with
great final correctness the men and the times for putting it in
practice, was shown as well in the homely phrase, or proverb,
or anecdote, which made it familiar throughout the land. More
than his opponents knew at the time, more than the people
themselves were aware, he argued the questions of his Admin
istration, he carried the public judgment to bis conclusions by
those quaint words which all remembered, and which were
repeated with laughing satisfaction at thousands of firesides.
His maxims were more effective than his messages, .and a score
of presses could not rival the service of some of his stories."
THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION.
'At another time, speaking to Governor Morgan of the
adoption of the emancipation policy, shortly after the issue of
the proclamation, be said : ' There are those who have been
asserting for some time, that slavery is dead. This is very far
from being true. I think we are a good deal like whalers who
have been long on the chase. We have at last got the harpoon
into the monster, but we must now look how we steer, or with
one /op of his tail be will yet send us all into eternity !'
"By the act of emancipation, Mr. Lincoln built for himself
forever, the first place in the affections of the African race in
this country. The love and reverence manifested for him
by many of these poor, ignorant people has, on some occasions,
almost reached adoration. One day Colonel McKaye, of New
York, who had been one of a committee to investigate the con
dition of the freedmen, upon his return from Hilton Head and
44
690 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
Beaufort, called upon the President, and, in tbe course of the
interview, mentioned the following incident :
"He had been speaking of tbe ideas of power entertained by
these people. They had an idea of God, as the Almighty, and
they bad realized, in their former condition, the power of their
masters. Up to the time of the arrival among them of the
Union forces, they bad no knowledge of any other power.
Their masters fled upon the approach of our soldiers, and this
gave the slaves a conception of a power greater than their
masters exercised. This power they called 'Massa Linkum.'
Colonel McKaye said that their place of worship was a large
building which they called ' the praise house,' and the leader of
the 'meeting,' a venerable black man, was known as 'the praise
man.' On a certain day, when there was quite a large gather
ing of the people, considerable confusion was created by
different persons attempting to tell who and what 'Massa
Linkum' was. In the midst of the excitement, the white-
headed leader commanded silence. ' Brederin,' said he, ' you
don't know nosen' what you'se talkin' 'bout. Now, you just
listen to me. Massa Linkum, he ebery whar. He know ebery
ting.' Then, solemnly looking up, he added : ' Re walk de earf
like de Lord!'
" Colonel McKaye told me that Mr. Lincoln was very much
affected by this account. He did not smile, as another might
have done, but got up from his chair, and walked i'n silence, two
or three times across the floor. As he resumed his seatj he
said, very impressively, 'It is a momentous thing to be the
instrument, under Pro-vidence, of the liberation of a race !' "
HIS "LITTLE story" AT THE PEACE CONFERENCE.
"Among bis stories freshest in my mind, one which he
related to me shortly after its occurrence, belongs to tbe history
of the famous interview on board the Eiver Queen at Hampton
Eoads, between himself and Secretary Seward, and the rebel
peace commissioners. It was reported at the time, that the
EEMINISCENCES AND ANECDOTES. 691
President told a ' little story' on that occasion, and the inquiry
went around among the newspapers, ' What was it ?' Being in
Washington a few days subsequent to the interview with the
commissioners (my previous sojourn there having terminated
about the first of last August), I asked Mr. Lincoln one day,
' if it was true that be told Stephens, Hunter and Campbell, a
story?' ' Why yes,' he replied, manifesting some surprise, ' but
has it leaked out? I was in hopes nothing would be said
about it, lest some over-sensitive people should imagine there
was a degree of levity in tbe intercourse between us.' He then
went on to relate the circumstances which called it out. ' You
see,' said he, ' we had reached and were discussing the slavery
question. Mr. Stephens said substantially, that th.e slaves,
always accustomed to an overseer, and to work upon com
pulsion, suddenly freed, as tbey would be if the South should
consent to peace on the basis of the Emancipation Proclama
tion, would precipitate not only themselves, but the entire
southern society into irremediable ruin. No work would
be done, nothing would be cultivated, and both blacks and
whites would starve !' Said the President, 'I waited for Seward
to answer that argument, but as he was silent, I at length said :
Mr. Stephens, you ought to know a great deal better about this
matter than I for you have always lived under the slave
system. I can only say in reply to your statement of the case,
that it rerainds me of a man out in Illinois by the name of
Case, who undertook, a few years ago, to raise a very large herd
of hogs. It was a great trouble to feed them, and how to get
around this was a puzzle to him. At length he hit on the plan
of planting an immense field of potatoes, and, when they were
sufaciently grown, he turned the whole herd into the field, and
let them have full swing, thus saving not only the labor of
feeding tbe hogs, but also that of digging the potatoes!
Charmed with bis sagacity, he stood one day leaning against
the fence counting bis hogs, when a neighbor came along.
'Well well,' said be, 'Mr. Case, this is all very fine. Your
692 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
bogs are doing very well just now, but you know out here in
Illinois the frost comes early, and the ground freezes for a foot
deep. Then what are they going to do ?' This was a view of
tbe matter Mr. Case had not taken into account. Butchering
time for bogs was way on in December or January ? He
scratched his head, and at length stammered, ' Well, it may
come pretty hard on their snouts, but I don't see but that it will
be root hog or die!' He did not tell me that either of the
' Commissioners' made any reply to this way of ' putting
things.' It is very evident that there was little more argument
necessary on one side of the question at least !"
MR. Lincoln's justification of the amnesty proclam.4.tion.
" One day I took a couple of friends, from New York, up
stairs, who wished to be introduced to the President. It was
after the hour for business calls, and we found him alone, and,
for once, at leisure. Soon after the introduction, one of my
friends took occasion to indorse, very decidedly, the President's
Amnesty Proclamation, which bad been severely censured by
many friends of the Administration. Mr. S 's approval
touched Mr. Lincoln. He said, with a great deal of emphasis,
and with an expression of countenance I shall never forget,
' When a man is sincerely penitent for his misdeeds, and gives
satisfactory evidence of the same, be can safely be pardoned,
and there is no exception to the rule !' "
HE loses his temper FOR ONCE.
" I believe there is but one instance of the President's losing
his temper. Many of the northern people were scandalized
that Kentucky should, in the beginning of the war, declare
herself neutral in the contest ; and also that, in dealing with
slavery, the opinion of that State should be so much consulted
by the President. On one occasion, when a Senator of very
decided opinions was in consultation with the chief magistrate,
tbe latter said, concerning some proposition, 'But will Ken-
eeminiscences and anecdotes. 693
tucky stand that ?' ' Damn Kentucky I' exclaimed the Senator.
'Then damn youP cried Mr. Lincoln, with warmtn. But,
much as he loved his native State, there were points on which
he^ would 'put his foot down,' even to her. A Kentuckian.
wishing some governmental aid in recovering his slaves, escaped
and escaping, 'reminded him,' he said, 'of a little story. When
I was going down the Ohio once on a steamer, a little boy
came up to tbe captain, and said, ' Captain, please stop the boat
a bttle while ; I've lost my apple overboard !' "
his relations with the PEOPLE.
"The following. incident illustrates the strong attachment
felt for him by the people. On the 3d of July, 1861, a review
of a New Jersey brigade occurred in front of the President's
house. As the column approached, Mr. Lincoln, with a few
attendants, took bis stand on the walk, and with a countenance
of extreme sadness, received the salutations from the swords
and. banners of the passing troops, in their ga.y uniforms.
Immediately after tbe last company had passed, a promiscuous
crowd, which the then novel scene bad collected, began to
gather closely around the President — for whose safety not a
little anxiety was felt, as the rebel army was then crouching at
Manassas, within a single leap of Wasshington, and traitors
were then lurking in many corners of the city. His body
guard of three or four soldiers soon found themselves outside
of a crowd of several hundred, in the centre of which was Mr.
Lincoln's tall figure. The great majority of those around him
were laboring men in rough attire, all striving to reach him.
His sad looks vanished as he shook their broad hands, and
heard them greet bim in terms freely used just before his
election. 'Hurrah for Old Abe!' and 'Hurrah for the Eail-
Splitter!' were exclamations frequently heard from tongues of
various brogue. He, seeing them pressing around him as if
to keep him there, rushed through their midst, and at a short
distance from them stationed himself by a stone pillar, and
good-naturedly said to them: 'Now come on!'
694 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
" They immediately formed a procession, and began to pass
him, each shaking his hand, while he, with his long arms
crossed, shook the hands of two men at the same time. They
joked him and he joked them, and all laughed loudly, while
many exclaimed, ' God bless you. Old Abe !.' At first the scene
was to me somewhat mortifying, as I Idoked upon the chief
magistrate of our nation in that crowd. I could remember of
nothing like it in history, nor could I think of a ruler in the
old world who would thus place himself on a level with the
common people. But there the conviction was firmly estab
lished, i-n the minds of all who rightly interpreted this incident,
that the President, whose honest simplicity and cheerful faith
under momentous responsibilities thus united the masses in
sympathy with himself, would not be in want of co-operation
and esteem ; and the impression upon my feelings then, as his
band grasped mine, as I looked into his face and heard his
voice, was harmonious with those awakened by the immortal
words, ' With malice towards none, with charity for all.'
" ' His sympathy with men,' says another friend, .' was shown
not only in bis singularly warm personal attachments to his
family and his friends, to all who for any considerable time
were confidentially associated with him ; it was shown as well
in that kindness to the poor, the sorrowful, the imperilled, with
instances of which the journals of the country for four years
past bave been running over. The wearied, sick, or wounded
soldier found always a friend in him as solicito.us for his welfare
as if he had been his kinsman by birth. The little children in
the Home for the Destitute were touched by the tearful tender
ness and dignity, the instructive clearness, and the quickening
playfulness with which he addressed tbem. The poor freed
people who bad escaped from the slavery through which his
armies crushed their way, but had escaped to communities that
seemed ' less friendly than those they had left, and had passed
from a bondage which at least bad given them shelter and food
to a liberty tbat threatened to doom them to idleness and to
EEMINISCENCES AND ANECDOTES. 695
overwhelm them in an absolute want — it was not witb osten-,
tatious charity, it was with no splendid pbilanthropioal theory,
it was with a tender, welooming respect, tbat he heard theii
storj;-, examined their condition, and opened the way for escape
from their fears. After four years of incessant, bloody,
desperate struggle, he entered Eichmond, with characteristic
unostentation, not at the bead of marshalled armies, with
banners advanced and trumpets sounding, but as a private
gentleman, on foot, witb an officer on one side, holding the
hand of his boy on the other. An aged negro met him on the
street and said, with the tears streaming down his face as he
bowed low his uncovered liead, .'God bress you, Massa Lincoln!'
The President paused, raised his hat on the instant, and with a
hearty 'I thank you, sir,' acknowledged with a bow the
greeting. Instinctively he recognized the poorest as his peer,
and the black man as his brother.
" The same spirit was revealed, in a more xmique exhibition,
in his sympathetic regard for his opponents. He laughed at
the jokes which were made about himself; was tolerant, to a
degree before unexampled, of attacks on his policy ; and never
took a particle of venom into his nature from all the virulent
assaults that were made on him. While holding tenaciously to
his own views of truth, he never failed to do generous justice
to the reasons and the motives of those who combatted tbem ;
to recognize in them wherever he could, and sometimes where
none of his coUeagues could, a patriotism as genuine as his
own, and a purpose as true to secure and. promote the general
welfare. He talked with, reasoned witb, wrote to them, in this
spirit, was not moved from bis position of friendliness toward
them by their misconceptions or their abuse, and never could
believe them traitorous in their hearts till the overt act had
compelled bim to see it. Toward even those who had-
dangerously offended against the laws, he hardly could bring
himself to adopt any course save one of the utmost clemency
and gentleness. He pardoned with so much eagerness and
696 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
frequency that one of his own Cabinet officers declared that the
power of pardoning should be taken from him."
¦• The first time I saw Mr. Lincoln at Washington," says a
distinguished lawyer, '' was in the summer of '62. McClellan's
army was at that time resting at Harrison's Landing. A party
of us were invited to go down to the Navy Yard and witness
the testing of some inventions by Colonel Dahlgren and others.
It was a very bot day, and as we passed down to the steamboat
dock one of our party made desperate efforts to raise an umbrella
right over the head of Mr. Lincoln. After a while the Presi
dent turned and said — ' Well, really, this is a very comraendable
enterprise of yours, but it is the first time I have had an um
brella held over my head to keep off the sun.' We afterwards
heard from him a full account of the Chickahominy campaign.
Mr. Lincoln said — ' If you will promise not to put any thing in
the newspapers, I will give you the facts of the campaign — and
he did, without saying a single unkind word against McClellan.
Coming up on the steamboat afterwards we saw some heavy
axes on board. Mr. Lincoln suddenly rose and said — -' You
may talk about your rifle repeaters and your eleven inch
Dahlgrens, but I guess I understand that there institution as
well as any thing else. There was a time when I could bold
out one of these things at arm's length.' The President then
took hold of one of the axes, and held it out horizontally by
the handle at arm's length. Several gentlemen present essayed
to do the same but failed. I was in Washington during the riots
in Brooklyn, during which a tobacco factory had been destroyed,
ind some one spoke of it to Mr. Lincoln. He said — What is
it they have been at?' Our -worthy friend who was postmaster
at that time referred him to me. Mr. Lincoln said, ' Then your
rioters deny tbe right of man to work for a living, do they ? I
think that is one of the plainest of human rights.' There was
an impression that Mr. Lincoln failed to understand the senti
ment of the people, and a flippant reporter once sent a telegram
from Washington that Mr. Lincoln never read the newspa-
EEMINISCENCES AND ANECDOTES. 697 !
pers. I am satisfied that he was a judicious reader of the
newspapers.' "
" The invention of the ' Eaphael Eepeater ' was once brought
up in conversation. Its peculiarity was that it prevented the
escape of gas. Mr. Lincoln had seen it tried and after writing
to the Secretary of War asking him to give it a trial, he said,
' Yes, I believe this does fairly prevent tbe escape of gas. Now,
have any of you heard of any machine or invention which
will prevent the escape of gas from newspaper establishments ?'
This was doubtless an allusion to an article which had appeared
the previous evening in the New York Evening Post, and it
was very evident that he had been reading it."
HIS TENDERNESS OF HEART.
" 1 remember at one tijue, when going towards the White
House, meeting Mr. Sweat, a distinguished politician from
Illinois. He said he had left Mr. Lincoln in tears. He had
been describing the death of a friend from Illinois, who had
been mortally wounded at Shiloh. After the President had
heard the narration, he said, ' Sweat, you must stop just there.
I can't hear any more of this,' and he burst into tears."
HIS FAITHFUL ADMONITION.
" In a recent discourse in Cambridgeport, Massachusetts, Eev.
Henry C. Badger related the following anecdote, one of the
thousands that are to be as household words in this country for
many generations to come : A friend of mine, who bad been
unjustly dismissed from the army, was reinstated on appealing
to the ever-patient head of the nation, whose task it was to
undo the evil deeds others had done ; but as the President
restored to him his commission, perceiving the young man's
fault, he said kindly, and with a father's faithful rebuke. ' I
fear, my young friend, that you are inclined to be quarrelsome.^-
And when the young man, willing to justify himself, saiid that
might not be so grave a fault ia a soldier, whose business was
^ghting, the President rejoined, 'No sir, you are mistaken; I
698 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
find that the quiet and peaceable young men make the best
officers and bravest soldiers.' "
Albert D. Richardson, the well-known war correspon
dent of tbe Tribune, relates the following incidents,
which occurred in a visit to the President, in 1861.
"I reached Washington on the historic 19th of April. Just
after my arrival, the Baltimore streets were stained with Massa
chusetts blood, railroads torn up, telegraph wires cut, and the
panic-stricken city virtually blockaded.
" As I was the last man from the South, two Senators insisted
upon taking me to the White House. The President received
us with great kindness, but his countenance' was almost ghastly
with care. ' Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown,'
though it were only the chaplet of a republic. This man has
filled the measure of American ambition. There was the same
geniality, the same tendency to anecdote, but the old ringing
laugh was dull and mechanical ; the remembered brightness of
the face was gone, and his blushing honors seemed pallid and
ashen. "He questioned me very minutely about the resources and
immediate designs of the rebels, the public temper in the South,
and the probabilities of the hour.
" ' Douglas,' said he, ' spent three hours with me this morning.
For several days he has been ill, unable to attend to business.
So he bas been studying the points until he understands the
military situation, I think, better than any of the rest of us.
By the way ' (with his peculiar twinkle of the eye), ' he talked
a little about the old subject in a new tone. ' You know,' said
Douglas, ' I have always been very sound on the negro ques
tion. I have believed in enforcing the Fugitive Slave Law in
all instances, with its true intent and meaninar. But after a
careful study I have about concluded that a Slave insurrection
would be a case to which it does not apply !' " * * *
EEMINISCENCES AND ANECDOTES. 699
MB. LINCOLN " POKES" ON KENTUCKY NEUTRALITY.
" While Eousseau was urging the necessity of enlisting troops
he remarked :
« "'I have half pretended to submit to Kentucky neutrality,
but, in discussing the matter before the people, while apparently
standing upon tbe line, I bave almost always poked.'
" This word was not in the Cabinet vocabulary. Cameron
looked inquiringly at Mr. Lincoln, who -was supposed to be
familiar with the dialect of bis native State.
" ' General,' said the President, ' you don't know what poke '
means ? Why, when you play marbles, you are required to
shoot from a mark on the ground ; when you reach over with
your hand, beyond the line, tbat is poking.'
" Cameron favored enlistments in Kentucky, without delay.
Mr. Lincoln replied : ' Don't be too hasty : we should act witb
caution.' Eousseau explained : ' The masses in Kentucky are
loyal. I can get as many soldiers there as are wanted ; but if
the rebels raise troops, while we do not, our young mpn will
go into their army, taking the sympathies of kindred aud friends,
and may finally cause the State to secede. It is of vital impor
tance that we give loyal direction to the sentiment of our
people.' " AN INTERVIEW WITH MR. LINCOLN.
"Of an interview, Mr. E., thus speaks: 'Despondent and
weighed down with his load of care, he sought relief in frank
speaking. He said, with great earnestness, ' God knows that I
want to do what is wise and right, but sometimes it is very
difficult to determine.'
" He conversed freely of military affairs, but suddenly re
marked, ' I am talking again ! Of course you will remember that
I speak to you only as friends ; that none of this must be put
in print.'
" Touching an attack upon Charleston, which had long been
contemplated, he said that Du^Pont had promised some weeks
700 THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
before, if certain supplies were furnished, to make the assault
upon a given day. The supplies were promptly forwarded, the
day came and went without, any intelligence. Some time after,
he sent an officer to Washington, asking for three more iron
clads and a large quantity of deck-plating as indispensable to
the preparations.
" ' I told the officer to say to Commodore Du Pont,' observed
Mr. Lincoln, 'that I fear be does not appreciate at all, the
value of time.'
" We inquired about the progress of the Vicksburg campaign.
Our armies were on a long expedition up the Yazoo Eiver,
designing, by digging canals and threading bayous, to get in the
rear of the city and cut off its supplies. Mr. Lincoln said :
" ' Of course, men who are in command and on the spot,
know a great deal more than I do. But immediately in front
of Vicksburg, where the river is a mile wide, tbe rebels plant
batteries, which absolutely stop our entire fleet ,' therefore, it
does seem to me that upon narrow streams like the Yazoo,
Yallabusa and Tallahatchie, not wide enough for a long boat to
turn around in, if any of our stearaers which go there ever
come back, there must be some mistake about it. If the enemy
permits them to survive, it must be either through lack of
enterprise or lack of sense.'
" A few months later, Mr. Lincoln was able to announce to
the nation : ' The Father of Waters again flows unvexed to the
sea.' " Our interview left no grotesque recollections of the Presi
dent's lounging, his huge hands and feet, great mouth or angular
features. We remembered, rather, the ineffable tenderness
which shone through his geiitle eyes, his childlike ingenuous
ness, his utter integrity, and his absorbing love of country.
"Ignorant of etiquette and conventionalities, without the
graces of form or of manner, his great reluctance to give pain,
his beautiful regard for the feelings of others, made him
' Worthy to bear -sjithout reproach,
The grand old name of G-entleman.' "
EEMINISCENCES AND ANECDOTES. 701
BEMINISOENCES OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN BY AN OLD ASSOCIATE
AND FRIEND.
At a meeting of the Bar of Chicago, held on the 17th,
to take appropriate action with regard to the national
affliction, Mr. U. F. Linder, one of the leading Demo
crats of Illinois, delivered an eloquent tribute to the
memory of the departed President. Mr. Linder had
kno-wn Mr. Lincoln intimately from boyhood. Both
were born near the same place in Kentucky ; they had
removed to Illinois at nearly the same time ; had prac
tised law together, and for many years were warm
hearted friends. The reminiscences of Mr. Lincoln,
which Mr. Linder narrated in his remarks, were affect
ing beyond account, and more than one, as he listened
to the tremulous tones of the speaker, was visibly moved
to tears. He said :
' " I feel I cannot let this occasion go by without laying a
tribute — an bumble tribute — of mine upon the grave of him
whom I so long since learned to love. It is but little I can say
of Abraham Lincoln, because all of his bfe and character has
become as household words, and was perhaps better known
than any other man, alive or dead.
"It was my lot fortunately to know Abraham Lincoln before
he was known to the nation. I knew bim, or became ac
quainted with him, about or a little before the commencement of
his career as a lawyer and a public man. I was introduced to
him at the hotel in Charleston, in this State, in the year 1835.
He was dressed in a plain suit of jean, and looked like a quiet,
unassuming farmer. There struck me then, more than any
thing else in tbe man, the expression of goodnes's and kindness
which gleamed in his eyes, and which sat there all the days of
his life ; and it has seemed, to- me a hundred times since I heard
of his assassination, that no man could have boked in his face
and assassinated him. There was too mucb tbat commanded
702 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
respect and too much of mercy for any man facing him to do
him harm. Wherever he came he brought sunshine. All men
hailed him as an addition to their circle. He was genial ; he
was humorous ; he was clear in the expression of his senti
ments ; he was honest. But in all his career, in all bis humor,
there was nothing that ever came from him that planted a thorn
or a dagger in any man's heart.
" I have known him intimately since I came to .the State of
Illinois. I knew bis father and his relatives in Kentucky.
They were a good family. They were poor, and the very
poorest people, I might say, of the raiddle classes, but they were
true. No man who has known Lincoln as a friend, as I have
known hira, was ever afraid to call upon hira for his aid, or was
ever afraid to ask of hira a kindness."
The speaker, much moved Avith emotion, then referred
to an incident of his acquaintance with Mr. Lincoln,
when, a son of his being in difficulty growing out of a
homicide, he had occasion to test the friendship of the
late President. He said :
"On that occasion many seemed to avail themselves of the
opportunity to wreak vengeance upon me in the death of ray
son. I wrote to Mr. Lincoln. I was in a quarter of the country
where I knew he was a to-sver of strength ; where his name
raised up friends ; where his arguments at law had more power
than the instructions of the Court. I feared, many of his pobti-
cal friends being united against my son, that his services and
his talents might be enlisted against bim. I wrote to him,
giving him all the circumstances, telbng him of my wife's grief
and my own, and soliciting that be would come and assist me
to defend my son ; that I thought he had been employed against
him. I preserved bis letter for a long time ; I wish I had it
now ; I should uejoice ia its possession ; I -would work hard to
obtain the means to frame it in gold. The sum of it was this :
He condoled with me and my wife in our misfortune, and
EEMINISCENCES AND ANECDOTES. 706
assured us tbat, no matter what business he might be engaged
in, he would come, and he was truly sorry that I had supposed
that he would take part in the prosecution of tbe son of a friend
of his. I had offered him a fee, and in that letter be also said
he knew of no act of his life that would justify me in supposing
that be would take money from me or any dear friends for
assisting in the defence of the life of a child.
" I wish to say tbat his friendship to me bas continued up to
a recent period. It was the fortune of the same son to move
south before this rebellion broke out. By some means, be
was enlisted in the service of the rebel army. .My friends here
know, as you judges, who sit upon the bench know, that I
called upon them to unite with me in adding your influence to
mine to prevail upon President Lincoln to induce him to release
my boy from prison. He was captured a year and a half ago.
Mr. Lincoln did so without any hesitation, and he took the
pains — it was the day before Christmas a year ago, and it made
my home happy — to telegraph me of tbe fact, which he stated
(he always said things short, as he said, I believe, things better
than anybody else,) in his usual manner. He said to me:
'Your son has just left me with my order to the Secretary of
War to administer the oath of allegiance. I send him home
to you and his mother.' I wish I had his telegram here. The
mother of my boy still preserves it, and I left it to-day to be
framed in the most gorgeous style my means will afford." * *
The following interesting reminiscences of the late
President are from Harpers Magazine, and from the
pen of Mr. Noah Brooks, who was to have been Mr.
Lincoln's private secretary :
HIS SIMPLICITY AND ARTLESSNESS OF CHARACTER.
" All persons agree that the most marked oharacteristic of
Mr. Lincoln's manners was his siropbcity and artlessness ; this
immediately impressed itself upon the observation of those
who met bim for tbe first time, and each successive interview
704 .THE LIFE .OF. ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
deepened the' impression. People seemed delighted to find in
the ruler of the nation freedom from pomposity and affectation,
mingled with -a certain simple dignity which never forsook him.
Though, oppressed with the, weight of responsibility resting
upon him asPresident of' the. United States, he shrunk from
assuming any of tbe honors, or even the titles, of tbe position.
After years of intimate , acquaintance "with Mr. Lincoln the
writer, cannot now recall a single instance in which he spoke of
himself as President, or. used that title for himself, except when
acting in an . official capacity. He always spoke of his position
and office vaguely, as 'this place,' 'here,' or other modest
phrase. Once, speaking of the room in the Capitol used by
¦the Presidents of the United States during the close of a session
of Congress, he said, 'That room, you know, tbat they call' —
dropping his voice and hesitating: — 'the President's room.' To
an intimate friend who addressed hira always by his own pro
per title he said, 'Now call meiLincoln, and I'll promise not to
tell of -the breach of etiqiiette — if you won't — and I shall have
a resting-spell from '' Mister President.' "
HIS ¦ NA-riVE DIGNITY.
" With all bis simplicity and unacquaintance -mth courtly
manners, his native dignity never forsook him in the presence
of critical or polished strangers ; but mixed with his angulari
ties and Jb?^/^o'?n^¦e 'was -something which spoke the fine fibre of
the man ; -and; while his sovereign dif^-egard of courtly conven
tionalities .was somewhat ludicrous, liis native sweetnessialand
straightforwardness of manner served to disarm criticism, and
impress the visitor that he was beforo a man pure, self-poised,
collected, ' and - strong in unconscious strength. Of him an
accomplished foreigner, whose knowledge of the courts was
raore perfect than that ofthe English language, said, 'He seems
to me one grand gentilhomme in disguise.' "
HIS DESIRE FOR KNOWLEDGE.
' In bis eagerness to acquire knowledge of common things
he sometimes surprised bis distinguished visitors by inquiries
EEMINISCENCES AND ANECDOTES. 705
about matters that tbey were supposed to be acquainted with,
and those who came to scrutinize went away with a vao-ue sense
of having been unconsciously pumped by the man whom they
expected to pump. One Sunday evening last winter, while
sitting alone with tbe President, the cards of Professor Agassiz
and a friend were sent in. The President had never met Agas
siz at that time, I bebeve, and said, ' I would like to talk with
that raan ; be is a good man, I do believe ; don't you think so ?'
But one answer could be returned to the query, and soon after
the visitors were shown in, the President first whispering, ' Now
sit still, and see what we can pick up that's new.' To my sur
prise, however, no questions were asked about tbe Old Silurian,
the Glacial Theory, or the Great Snow-storm, but, introductions
being over, the President said : ' I never knew how to properly
pronounce your name ; won't you give me a little lesson at
that, please ?' Then he asked if it were of French or Swiss
derivation, to which the Professor replied that it was partly of
each. That led to a discussion of different languages, the Pre
sident speaking of several words in different languages which
had the same root as sirailar words in our own tongue ; then he
illustrated that by one or two anecdotes, one of which he bor
rowed from Hood's ' Up the Ehine.' But he soon returned to
his gentle cross-examination of Agassiz, and found out how the
Professor studied, how he composed, and how he delivered his
lectures ; how he found different tastes in his audiences in differ
ent portions of tbe country. When afterwards asked why he
put such questions to his learned visitor he said, ' Why, what we
got from bim isn't printed in the books ; the other things are.' "
HIS MODESTY.
" Tbe simplicityof manner which shone out in all such inter-
¦views as that here noticed was marked in his total lack of con
sideration of what was due his exalted station. He bad an
abnost morbid dread of what he called ' a scene' — that is, a
demonstration ot applause such as always greeted his appear
ance in pubbc; The first sign of a cheer sobered him ; he ap-
45
706 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
peared sad and oppressed, suspended conversation, and looked
out into vacancy ; and when it was over resumed the conversa
tion just where it was interrupted, with an obvious feeling of
relief Of the relations of a Senator to him be said, ' I think
that Senator 's manner is more cordial to me than before.'
The truth was the Senator had been looking for a sign of cordi
ality frora his superior, but the President had reversed their
relative positions. At another time, speaking of an early
acquaintance, who was an applicant for an office which he
thought him hardly qualified to fill, the President said, ' Well,
now, I never thought M had any more than average ability
when we were young men together ; really I did not' — a pauae.
¦ — 'But, then, I suppose he thought just thesame about me ;
be had reason to, and — here I ara !' "
HIS PERSONAL FEARLESSNESS OF DANGER.
" The simple habits of Mr. Lincoln were so well kno-wn that
it is a subject for surprise that watchful and malignant treason
did not sooner take that precious life which he seemed to hold
so lightly. He had an almost morbid dislike for an escort, or
guard, and daily exposed hiraself to the deadly aira of an assas
sin. One suraraer morning, passing by the White House at an
early hour, I saw the President, standing at the gateway, look
ing anxiously down the street ; and, in reply to a salutation, he
said, ' Good-morning, good-morning ! I am looking for a news
boy ; when you get to that corner I wish you would start one
up this way.' There are American citizens who consider such
things beneath the dignity of an official in high place.
" In reply to the remonstrances of friends, who were afraid
of his constant exposure to danger, he had but one answer : ' If
they kill rae, the next man will be just as bad for them ; and in
a country like this, where our habits are simple, and must be,
assassination is always possible, and will corae if they are
determined upon it.' A cavalry guard was once placed at the
gates of the White House for a while, and he said, privately,
that he 'worried until he got rid of it.' While the President's
EEMINISCENSES AND ANECDOTES. 707
family were at their summer-bouse, near Washington, he rode
into town of a morning, or out at night, attended by a mounted
escort ; but if he returned to town for a while after dark, he
rode in unguarded, and often alone, in his open carriage. Ou
more than one occasion tbe writer has gone through the streets
of Washington at a late hour of tbe night with the President,
without an escort, or even the company of a servant, walking all
of the way, going and returning.
" Considering the many open and secret threats to take his
life, it is not surprising that Mr. Lincoln bad raany thoughts
about his coming to a sudden and violent end. He once said
that he felt the force of the expression, ' To take one's life in his
hand,' but that be would not like to face death suddenly. He
sftid that he thought himself a great coward physically, and was
sure that he should make a poor soldier, for, unless there wag
something in the excitement of a battle, he was sure that be
would drop his gun and run at the first symptom of danger.
That was said sportively, and he added, ' Moral cowardice is
something which I think I never had.' Shortly after the Pre
sidential election, in 1864, be related an incident which I will try
to put upon paper here, as nearly as possible in his own words :
" 'It Vas just after my election in 1860, when the news bad
been coming in thick and fast all day, and there had been a
great " Hurrah, boys !" so that I was well tired out, and went
home to rest, thro-wdng myself down on a lounge in my cham
ber. Opposite where I lay was a bureau, with a swinging-glass
upon it' — (and here he got up and placed furniture to illustrate
the position) — ' and, looking in that glass, I saw myself reflected,
nearly at full length ; but my face, I noticed, had two separate
and distinct images, the tip of the nose of one being about three
inches from the tip of the other. I was a little bothered, per
haps startled, and got up and looked in the glass, but the illu
sion vanished. On laying down again I saw it a second time-
plainer, if possible, than before; and then I noticed that one
of the faces was a little paler, say five shades, than the other.
708 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
I got up and tbe thing melted away, and I went off, and, in the
excitement of the hour, forgot all about it — nearly, but not
quite, for the thing would once in a while come up, and give
me a little pang, .as though soraething uncomfortable had hap
pened. When I went home I told my wife about it, and a few
days after I tried the experiment again, when [with a laugh],
sure enough, the thing came again ; but I never succeeded in
bringing the ghost back after that, though I once tried very
industriously to show it to my wife, who was worried about it
soraewhat. She thought it was a sign that I was to be elected to
a second term of office, and that the paleness of one of the faces
was an omen that I should not see life through the last term.'
" The President, with bis usual good sense, saw nothing in
all this but an optical illusion ; though the flavor of super
stition which hangs about every raan's composition, raade hira
wish that be had never seen it. But there are people -who will
now believe that this odd coincidence was ' a warning.' "
HIS KINDNESS OF HEART.
" He was often waylaid by soldiers importunate to get their
back-pay, or a furlough, or a discharge; and if the case was
not too complicated, would attend to it then and there. Going
out of the main door of the White House one morning, be met
an old lady who was pulling vigorously at the door-bell, and
asked her what she wanted. She said that she wanted to see
'Abraham the Second.' The President, amused, asked who
Abraham the Pirst might be, if there was a second ? The old
lady replied, ' Why, Lor' bless you ! we read about the first
Abrahara in the Bible, and Abraham the Second is our
President.' She was told that the President was not in his
office then, and when she asked where he was, she was told,
'Here be is!' Nearly petrified with surprise, the old lady
managed to tell her errand, and was told to come next morning
at nine o'clock, when she was received and kindly cared for by
the President. At another time, hearing of a young man who
EEMINISCENCES AND ANECDOTES. 709 '
had determined to enter tbe navy as a landsman, after three
years of service in the army, be said to the writer, ' Now do
you go over to tbe Navy Department and mouse out what he
is fit for, and be shall have it, if it's to be had,' for that's the
kind of men I like to hear of.' The place was duly 'moused
out,' "Vfith the assistance of the kind-hearted Assistant Secretary
of the Navy ; and the young officer, who may read these lines
on his solitary post off the mouth of the Yazoo river, was
appointed upon the recomraendation of the President of the
United States. Of an application for office by an old friend,
not fit for the place he sought, he said, ' I bad rather resign my
place and go away from here than refuse him, if I consulted
only my personal feelings; but refuse him I must.' And he
did. "This same gentleness, mixed with firmness, characterized
all of Mr. Lincoln's dealings witb public men. Often bitterly
assailed and abused, be never appeared to recognize the fact
that he had political enemies ; and if his attention was called to
unkind speeches or remarks, he would turn the conversation of
his indignant friends by a judicious story, or the remark, 'I
guess we won't talk about that now.' He has himself put it on
record, that be never read attacks upon himself, and if they
were brought persistently before him, he had some ready
excuse for their authors. Of a virulent personal attack upon
his official conduct, he mildly said tbat it was ill-timed ; and of
one of bis most bitter political enemies he said : ' I've been
told that insanity is hereditary in his family, and I think
we will admit the plea in his case.' It was noticeable that Mr-
Lincoln's keenest critics and bitter opponents studiously avoided
his presence ; it seemed as though no man could be famfliar
with his homely, heart-lighted features, his single-hearted
directness and manly kindliness, and reraain long an enemy, or
be any thing but bis friend. It was this warm frankness of
Mr. Lincoln's manner that made a hard-headed old 'hunker'
once leave the hustings where Lincoln was speaking, in 1856,
710 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
saying, ' I won't hear him, for I don't like a man tbat makes me
believe in hira in spite of myself "
HIS HONESTY.
" ' Honest Old Abe' has passed into the language of our time
and country as a synonym for all that is just and honest in
man. Yet thousands of instances, unknown to the world,
might be added to those already told of Mr. Lincoln's great
and crowning virtue. He disliked inuendoes, concealments,
and subterfuges ; and no sort of approach at official 'jobbing'
ever had any encouragement from him. With him the question
was not, ' Is it convenient ? Is it expedient ?' but, ' Is it right ?'
He steadily discountenanced all practices of government officers
using any part of the public funds for temporary purposes;
and he loved to tell of his own experience when he was saved
from erabarrassment by his rigid adherence to a good rule. He
bad been postraaster at Salem, Illinois, during Jackson's ad
ministration, William T. Barry being then Postmaster-General,
and resigning his office, removed to Springfield, having sent a
statement of account to the Department at Washington. No
notice was taken of his account, which showed a balance due
the government of over one hundred and fifty dollars, until
three or four years after, when, Amos Kendall being Post
master-General, he was presented with a draft for the amount
due. Some of Mr. Lincoln's friends, who knew that he was in
straitened circumstances then, as he had always been, heard of
the draft, and offered to help him out with a loan ; but he told
them not to worry, and producing frora his trunk an old
pocket, tied up and marked, counted out in sixpences, shillings
and quarters, the exact sum required of hira, in the identical
coin received by him while in office years before.
"The honesty of Mr. Lincoln appeared to spring from religious
convictions, and it was his habit, when conversing of things
which raost intimately concerned himself, to say that, however
be might be misapprehended by men who did not appear
EEMINISCENCES AND ANECDOTES. 711
to know him, he was glad to know tbat no thought or intent of
his escaped tbe observation of that Judge by whose final
decree he expected to stand or fall in this world and the next.
It seemed as though this was his surest refuge at times when he
was most misunderstood or misrepresented. There was some-
ibing touching in his child-like and simple reliance upon
Divine aid, especially when in such extremities as he sometimes
fell into; then, though prayer and reading of the Scriptures
was his constant habit, he more earnestly than ever sought that
strength which is promised when mortal help faileth. His
address upon tbe occasion of bis re-inauguration has been said
to be as truly a religious document as a state paper ; and his
acknowledgment of God and his providence and rule, are
interwoven through all of bis later speeches, letters and mes
sages. Once he said : ' I have been driven many times upon
my knees by the overwhelraing con-viction that I had nowhere
else to go. My own wisdora and that of all about me, seemed
insufficient for that day.'
"Just after the last Presidential election, he said: 'Being
only mortal, after all, I should have been a' little mortified if I
had been beaten in this canvass before the people ; but that
sting would have been more than corapensated by the thought
that the people had notified rae that all my official responsi
bilities were soon to be lifted off ray back.' In reply to the
remark that he raight remeraber that in all these cares he was
daily reraerabered by those who prayed, not to be heard
of men, as no man bad ever before been remembered, he caught
at the homely phrase and said : ' Yes. I like that phrase, " not to
be heard of men," and guess it's generally true, as you say ; at
least I have been told so, and I have been a good deal helped by
just that thought.' Then he solemnly and slowly added: 'I should
be the most presumptuous blockhead upon this footstool, if I for
one day thought that I could discharge the duties which have
come upon me since I came into this place, without the aid and
enlightenment of One who is wiser and stronger than all others.'
712 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
" At another time he said, cheerfully, ' I am very sure that
if I do not go away from here a wiser man, I shall go away a
better man, for having learned bere what a very poor sort of a
man I am.' Afterward, referring to what he called a change
of heart, he said that he did not remember any precise time
when he passed through any s'peeial change of purpose or of
heart ; but he would say that his own election to office, and the
crisis immediately following, influentially deterrained him in
what he called 'a process of crystallization,' then going on in
his mind. Eeticent as he was, and shy of discoursing much of
his own mental exercises, these few utterances now have a valua
with those who knew him whicb his dying words would
scarcely have possessed.
" No man but Mr. Lincoln ever knew bow great was the
load of care which he bore, nor the amount of mental labor
which he daily accomplished. With the usual perplexities of
the office — greatly increased by the unusual multiplication of
places in his gift — he carried the burdens of the civil war,
which he always called 'This great trouble.' Though the
intellectual man had greatly grown meantime, few persons
would recognize the hearty, blithesome, genial, and wiry
Abraham Lincoln of earlier days,- im the sixteenth President of
the United States, with his stooping figure, dull eyes, care-worn
face, and languid frame. The old, clear laugh never came
back; the even temper was soraetimes disturbed; and his
natural charity for all was often turned into an unwonted sus
picion of the motives of men, whose selfishness cost him so
much wear of mind. Once he «aid, 'Sitting bere, where
all the avenues to public patronage seem to corae together in a
knot, it does seem to me that our people are fast approaching
the point where it can be said that seven-eighths of them were
trying to find how to live at the expense of the other eighth.'
'' It was this incessant demand upon his time, by men who
sought place or endeavored to shape bis policy, tbat broke
down his courage and his temper, as well as exhausted his
EEMINISCENCES AND ANECDOTES. 713
strength. Speaking of the 'great flood-gates' which his doors
daily opened upon him, he said, 'I suppose I ought not to
blame the aggregate, for each abstract man or woman thinks
hia or her case a peculiar one, and must be attended to, though
all others be left out ; but I can see this thing growing every
day.' And at another time, speaking of the exhaustive de
mands upon hira, whicb left bira in no condition for more
important duties, he said, ' I sometimes fancy that every one of
the numerous grist ground through here daily, from a Senator
seeking a war with France down to a poor woman after a pla ;e
in the Treasury Department, darted at me with thumb and
finger, picked out their especial piece of ray vitab'ty, and
carried it off. When I get through with such a day's work
there is only one word which can express my condition, and
that is— ^abbiness.' There are some public men who can now
remember, with self-reproaches, having in.creased with long
evening debates that reducing 'flabbiness' of the much-enduring
President." ' INCIDENTS OP HIS VISIT TO THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC.
" Mr. Lincoln -visited the Army of the Potomac in the spring
of 1863, and, free frora the annoyances of office, was consider-,
ably refreshed and rested ; but even there the raental aqxieties
which never forsook him seemed to cast hira down, at times,
with a great weight. We left Washington late in the afternoon,
and a snow-storm soon after coming on, the steamer was an
chored for the night off Indian Head, on the Maryland shore
of the Potomac. The President left the little knot in the cabin,
and sitting alone in a corner, seeraed absorbed in the saddest
reflections for a time ; then, beckoning a companion to him,
said, ' What will you wager that half our iron-clads are at the
bottom of Charleston harbor ?' This being the first intimation
which the other had had of Dupont's attack, which was then
begun, hesitated to reply, when the President added, ' The •
people will expect big things when they hear of this ; but it is
too late — too late /'
714 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
" During that little voyage the captain of the steamer, a frank,
modest old sailor, was so much affected by the care-worn ap
pearance of the President, that he came to the writer and con
fessed that he had received the same impression of the chief
magistrate that many had ; hearing of his ' little stories ' and bis
humor, he had supposed bim to have no cares or sadness ; but
a sight of that anxious and sad face had undeceived him, and
be wanted to tell the President how much he had unintention
ally wronged hira, feeling that he had committed upon him a
personal wrong. The captain was duly introduced to the Pres
ident, who talked to hira privately for a space, being touched
as well as araused at what he called ' Captain M 's freeing
his raind.'
" The following week, spent in riding about and seeing the
army, appeared to revive Mr. Lincoln's spirits and to rest his
body. A friend present observed as much to him, and he
replied, ' Well, yes, I do feel some better, I think ; but,
somehow, it don't appear to touch the tired spot, which can't be
got at.' •
" Another reminiscence of his early life, which be recalled
during tbe trip, was one concerning his experience in rail-split
ting. We were driving through an open clearing, where the
Virginia forest had been felled by the soldiers, when Mr. Lincoln
observed, looking at the stumps, ' That's a good job of felling ;
they have got some good axemen in this army, I see.' The
conversation turning upon his knowledge of rail-splitting, he
said, ' Now let me tell you about that. I am not a bit anxious
about my reputation in that line of business ; but if there is
any thing in this world that I am a judge of, it is of good felling
pf timber, but I don't remember having worked by myself at
splitting rails for one whole day in my life.' Upon surprise being
expressed that his national reputation as a rail-splitter should
have so slight a foundation, he said, 'I recollect that, some time
during the canvass for the office I now hold, there was a great
mass meeting, where I was present, and with a great flourish
EEMINISCENCES AND ANECDOTES. 715
several rails were brought into the meeting, and being informed
where they came from, I was asked to identify them, which I
did, with some qualms of conscience, having helped my father
to split rails, as at other odd jobs. I said if there were any
rails which I had split, I shouldn't wonder if those were the
rails.' Those who may be disappointed to learn of Mr. Lincoln's
limited experience in splitting rails, may be relieved to know.
that he was evidently proud of his knowledge of the art of cutting
tinaber, and explained minutely how a good job differed from
a poor one, giving illustrations from the ugly stumps on either
side." ABSENCE OF MIND.
"An amusing yet touching instance of the President's pre
occupation of mind occurred at one of his levees, when he was
shaking hands with a host of visitors, passing him in a contin
uous stream. An intimate acquaintance received the usual
conventional hand -shake and salutation ; but, perceiving that
he was not recognized, kept his ground, instead of moving on,
and spoke again ; when the President, roused by a dim con
sciousness that something unusual had happened, perceived
who stood before him, and seizing his friend's hand, shook it
again heartily, saying, ' How do you do ? How do you do ?
Excuse me for not noticing you at first ; the fact is, I was
thinking of a man down South.' He afterward privately
acknowledged that the ' man down South ' was Sherraan, then
on his march to the sea.
" Mr. Lincoln bad not a hopeful temperament, and, though
e looked at the bright side of things, was always prepared for
disaster and defeat. Witb his wonderful faculty for discerning
results he often saw success where others saw disaster, but often
perceived a^ failure when otbers were elated with victory, or
were temporarily deceived by appearances. Of a great cavalry
raid, which filled the newspapers with glowing exultation, but
failed to cut ihe comm-.unications which it had been designed
to destroy, he briefly said : ' That was good circus-riding ; it
716 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
will do to fill a coluran in the newspapers ; but I don't see that
it has brought any thing else to pass.' He often said that the
worst feature about newspapers was that they were so sure to
be ' ahead of the hounds,' outrunning events, and exciting expec
tations which were sure to be disappointed. One of the worst
effects of a victory, he said, was to lead people to expect that
the war was about over in consequence of it ; but he was never
weary of commending the patience of the American people,
which he thought something matchless and touching. I have
seen him shed tears when speaking of the cheerful sacrifice of
the light and strength of so many happy homes throughout the
land. His own patience was marvelous ; and, never crushed at
defeat or unduly' excited by success, his demeanor under both
was an example for all men. Once he said the keenest blow
of all the war was at an early stage, when the disaster of Ball's
Bluff and the death of his beloved Baker smote upon him like
a whirlwind from a desert."HE WATCHES EVENTS.
"His practice of being controlled by events is well known.
He often said that it was wise to wait for the developments of
Providence; and the Scriptural phrase that 'the stars in their
courses fought against Sisera,' to him had a depth of meaning.
Then, too, he liked to feel that be was the attorney of the peo
ple, not their ruler ; and I believe that this idea was generally
uppermost in his raind. Speaking of the probability of his
second nomination, about two years ago, he said : ' If the peo
ple think that I have managed their case for them well enough
to trust me to carry up to the next terra, I am sure that I shall
be glad to take it.' "
HE REMEMBERS HIS FRIENDS.
"He liked to provide for his friends, who were often remem
bered gratefully for services given him in his early struggles
in life. Sometimes he would ' break the slate,' as he called it,
EEMINISCENCES AND ANECDOTES. 717
of those who were making up a list of appointments, that he
might insert the name of some old acquaintance who had be
friended bim in days when friends were few. He was not
deceived by outside appearances, but took the measure of those
he met, and few men were worth any more or any less than the
value whicb Abraham Lincoln set upon them.
" Upon being told that a gentleman upon wbom he was about
to confer a valuable appointment had been bitterly opposed to
his renomination, he said : ' I suppose that Judge , having
been disappointed before, did behave pretty ugly; but that
wouldn't make him any less fit for this place, and I have a
Scriptural authority for appointing hira. You recollect that
while the Lord on Mount Sinai was getting <tu.t a commission
for Aaron, that same Aaron was at the foot of the raountain
making a false god, a golden calf, for the people to worship ;
yet Aaron got bis coramission you know.' At another tirae,
when remonstrated with upon the appointment to place of one of
his former opponents, be said : ' Nobody will deny that he is a
first-rate man for the place, and I am bound to see that his
opposition to me personally shall not interfere with ray giving
the people a good officer.' "
HIS LITTLE STORIES.
"The world will never bear the last of the 'little stories'
with which the President garnished or illustrated bis conversa
tion and his early sturap speecbes. He said, however, tbat as
near as he could reckon, about one-sixth of those which were
credited to bim were old acquaintances ; all of the rest were
the productions of other and better story-tellers than himself
Said be : ' I do generally remember a good story when I hear
it, but I never did invent any thing original; I ara only a
retail dealer.' His anecdotes were seldom told for the sake of
the telling, but because they fitted in just where they came, and
shed a hght on the argument that nothing else could. He was
not witty, but brimful of humor ; and though be was quick to
718 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
appreciate a good pun, I never knew of his making but one,
which waa on the Christian narae of a friend, to wbom he said :
' You have yet to be elected to the place I hold ; but Noah's
reign was before Abraham.' He thought that the chief char
acteristic of American humor was its grotesqueness and ex
travagance ; and the story of a man who was so tall that he
-was ' laid out ' in a rope- walk, the soprano voice so high that
it had to be climbed over by a ladder,, and the Dutchman's ex-
jiression of ' somebody tying his dog loose,' all made a perma
nent lodgment in his mind."
HIS POWER OF MEMORY.
"His accuracy and memory were wonderful, and 'one illus
tration of the former quality may be given in the reraarkable
correspondence between the figures of the result of the last
Presidential election and the actual sum total. The President's
figures, collected hastily, and partially based upon bis own
estimates, made up only four weeks after the election, have
been found to be only one hundred and twenty-nine less in
their grand total than that made up by Mr. M'Pherson, the
Clerk of the House of Eepresentatives, who has compiled a
table from the returns furnished him from the official records
of all the State capitals in the loyal States."
HIS LITERARY TASTES AND HABITS.
"Latterly Mr. Lincoln's reading was with the humorous
writers. He liked to repeat from meraory whole chapters from
these books ; and on such occasions, he always preserved his
own gra-vity though his auditors might be convulsed with
laughter. He said that he had a dread of people who could not
appreciate the fun of such things ; and he once instanced a
member of bis own Cabinet, of wbom he quoted the saying of
Sydney Smith, 'that it required a surgical operation to get a,
joke into his bead.' The light trifles spoken of, diverted his
mind, or, as he said of his theatre-going, gave him refuge from
EEMINISCENCES AND ANECDOTES. 719
himself and his weariness. But he also was a lover of many phi
losophical books, and particularly liked Butler's Analogy of
Eebgion, Stuart Mill on Liberty, and he always hoped to get
at President Edwards on the Will. These ponderous writers
found a queer companionship in the chronicler of the Mackerel
Brigade, Parson Nasby, and private Miles O'Eeilly. The Bible
was a very familiar study with the President, whole chapters
of Isaiah, the New Testaraent and the Psalms being fixed in his
memory, and he would sometimes correct a misquotation of
Scripture, giving generally the chapter and verse where it could
be found. He liked the Old Testament best, and dwelt on the
simple beauty of the historical books. Once, speaking of hia
own age and strength, he quoted with admirati'on, that passage
' His eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated.' I do not
know that he thought then, how, like that Moses of old, he was
to stand on Pisgah and see a peaceful land which he was not to
enter. " Of the poets, the President appeared to prefer Hood and
Holmes, tbe mixture and pathos in their writings being attrac
tive to him beyond any thing else which he read. Of the
former, author he liked best the last part of ' Miss Kilmansegg
and her Golden Leg,' 'Faithless Sallie Brown,' and one or t-wo
others not generally so popular as those whicb are called Hood's
best pDems. Holmes's 'September Gale,' 'Last Leaf,' 'Cham
bered Nautilus,' and 'Ballad of an Oysterman,' were among his
very few favorite poems. Longfellow's 'Psalm of Life,' and
'Birds of Killingworth,' were the only productions of that author
he ever mentioned with praise, the latter of which he picked
up somewhere in a newspaper, cut out, and carried in his vest
pocket until it was committed to memory. Jaraes Eussell
Lowell he only knew as ' Hosea Biglow,' every one of w-hose
effusions he knew. He sometimes repeated, word for word,
the whole of 'John P. Eobinson, he,' giving the unceasing
refrain with great unction and enjoyment. He once said that
720 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
originality and daring irapudence were sublimed in this stanza
of Lowell's : ' Ef yon take a sword and dror it.
An' stick a feller creetur thru,
Gov'ment hain't to ans-wer for it,
God'll send the bill to you.'
" Mr. Lincoln's love of music was something passionate, but
his tastes were simple and uncultivated, his choice being old
airs, songs and ballads, araong which the plaintive Scotch songs
were best liked. 'Annie Laurie,' ' Mary of Argyle,' and especi
ally 'Auld Eobin Gray,' never lost their charra for hira ; and all
songs which had for their therae the rapid flight of time, decay,
the recollections of early days, were sure to make a deep im
pression. The song which he liked best, above all others, was
one called ' Twenty Years Ago' — a simple air, the words to whicb
are supposed to be uttered by a raan who revisits the play-ground
of his youth. He greatly desired to find music for his favorite
poem, 'Oh, why should the spirit of mortal be proud ?' and said
once, when told that the newspapers had credited him with the
authorship of the piece, ' I should not care much for the reph-
tation of having written that, but would be glad if I could
compose music as fit to convey the sentiment as the words now
do.' " He wrote slowly, and with the greatest deliberation, and
liked to take his time ; yet some of his despatches, written
without any corrections, are models of compactness and finish.
His private correspondence was extensive, and be preferred
writing his letters witb his own hand, making copies himself,
frequently, and filing every thing away in a set of pigeon-holes
in his office. When asked why he did not have a letter-book
and copyingpress, he said, 'A letter-book might be easily
carried off, but that stock of filed letters would be a back load.'
He conscientiously attended to his enormous correspondence,
and read every thing that appeared to demand his own atten
tion. He said that he read with great regularity the letters of
an old friend, who lived on the Pacific coast, until be received
EEMINISCENCES AND ANECDOTES. 721
a letter of seventy pages of letter paper, when he broke down and
never read another.
"People were sometimes disappointed, because be appeared
before them with a written speech. The best explanation of
that habit of his was his remark to a friend who noticed a roll
of manuscript in the hapd of the President as be came into the
parlor while waiting for the serenade which was given him on
the night following his re-election. Said he : ' I- know what you
are thinking about ; but there's no clap-trap about me, and 1
am free to say tbat in tbe excitement of the moment I ara sure
to say something which I am sorry for when I see it in print ;
so I have it here in black and white, and there are no mistakes
made. People attach too much importance to what I say any
how.' Upon another occasion, hearing that I was in the parlor,
he sent for me to come up into the library, where I found him
-writing on a piece of comraon stiff" box-board with a pencil.
Said he, after he had finished, ' Here is one speech of mine whicb
has never been printed, and I think it worth printing. Just see
what you think.' He then read the following, which is copied
verbatim from tbe familiar handwriting before me :
" ' On Thursday, of last week, two ladies from Tennessee,
came before the President, asking the release of their husbands,
held as prisoners of war at Johnson's Island. Tbey were put
off until Friday, when tbey came again, and were again put off
until Saturday. At each of the interviews, one of the ladies
urged that ber husband was a religious man. On Saturday,
when the President ordered the release of the prisoners, he said
to this lady : " You say your husband is a rebgious man ; tell
him, when you meet him, that I say I am not much of a judge
of religion, but tbat, in my opinion, the religion that sets men
to rebel and fight against their government because, as they
think, that government does not sufficiently help some men to
eat their bread in the sweat of other men's faces, is not the sort
of religion upon which people can get to heaven.' "
" To this, the President signed bis name at my request, by
way of joke, and added for a caption, ' The President's Last,
4o
722 THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
shortest, and best speech,' under which title it was duly pub
lished in one of the Washington newspapers. His message to
the last session of Congress was first written upon the same sort
of white pasteboard above referred to, its stiffness enabling him
to lay it on bis knee as he sat easily in bis arm-chair, writing
and erasing as he thought and wrought .out bis idea."
One of the most interesting recorded conversations
with Mr. Lincoln, both £ts illustrating the character of
his mind, and in view of the sudden and tragic manner
of his death, is that described by Colonel Charles G.
JIalpine, a member of General Halleck's staff, and who
had frequent occasion, during the fall of 1862, to wait
upon the President, both during official hours and at
other times.
" Once," says Mr. H., " on what was called ' a public day,'
when Mr. Lincoln received all applicants in their turn — the
writer was struck by observing, as he passed through the
corridor, the heterogeneous crowd of men and women, repre
senting all ranks and classes, who were gathered in tbe large
waiting-room outside the President's suite of offices.
"Being ushered into the President's chamber by Major
Hay, tbe first thing he saw was Mr. Lincoln bo-wing an elderly
lady out of the door — the President's remarks to her being, as
she still lingered and appeared reluctant to go : 'I am really
very sorry, madame ; very sorry. But your own good sense
must tell you that I ara not here to collect smaU debts. You
must appeal to tbe courts in regular order.'
"When she was gone, Mr. Lincoln sat down, crossed his
legs, locked his hands over his knees, and coramenced to laugh
this being his favorite attitude when much amused.
" ' What odd kinds of people come in to see me,' he said
'and w;hat odd ideas they must have about my office! Would
you believe, major, that the old lady who has just left came in
EEMINISCENCES AND ANECDOTES. 723
here to get from me an order for stopping the pay of a Treasury
clerk, who owes her a board bill of about seventy dollars?'
And the President rocked himself backward and forward, and
appeared intensely amused.
" She may bave come in here a loyal woman,' continued Mr.
Lincoln, ' but I'll be bound she has gone away believing that
the worst pictures of me in tbe Eichmond press only lack truth
in not being half black and bad eijougb.'
" This led to a somewhat general conversation, in which I
expressed surprise that be did not adopt the plan in force at all
military headquarters, under whicb every applicant to see the
general commanding had to be filtered through a sieve of
officers — assistant adjutant-generals, and so forth, who allowed
none in to take up the general's time save such as they were
satisfied had business of sufficient iraportance, and which could
be transacted in no other manner than by a personal interview.
" Of every hundred people who come to see the general-in-
chief daily, I explained, not ten have any sufficient business
with bim, nor are they adraitted. On being asked to explain
for what purpose tbey desire to see hifa, and stating it, it is
found, in nine cases out of ten, tbat the business properly
belongs to some one or other of the subordinate bureaux.
They are then referred, as the case may be, to the quartermaster,
commissary, medical, adjutant-general, or other departments,
with an assurance that, even if tbey saw the general-in-chief, he
could do nothing more for them than give them the same
direction. With these points courteously explained, I added,
tbey go away quite content, although refused admittance.
" 'Ah, yes !' said Mr. Lincoln, gravely — and bis words on this
matter are important as illustrating a rule of his action, and to
some extent, perhaps, the essentially representative character
of his mind and of bis adrainistration. 'Ah, yes! such things
do very well for you military people, with your arbitrary rule,
and in your camps. But the office of President is essentially a
civil one, and the affair is very different. For myself, I feel,
724 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
though tbe tax on my time is heavy, that no hours of my day
are better employed than those whicb thus bring me again
within the direct contact and atmosphere of the average of our
whole people. Men moving only in an official circle are apt
to become merely official, n&t to say arbitrary in their ideas,
and are apter and apter, with each passing day, to forget that
they only hold power in a representative capacity. Now this
is all wrong. I go into thgse promiscuous, receptions of- ..all
who claim to have business with me twice each week, and
every applicant for audience has to take his turn as if waiting
to be shaved in a barber's shop. Many of tbe matters brought
to my notice are utterly frivolous, but others are of raore or
less importance, and all serve to renew in rae a clearer and
more vivid image of that great popular assemblage out of which
I spJ-ang, and to which at tbe end of two years I must return.
I tell you, major,' he said — appearing at this point to recollect,
I was in the room, for the former part of these remarks had
been made witb half-shut eyes, as if in soliloquy — ' I tell you
that I call these receptions my public-opinion baths, for I have
but little time to read' the papers and gather public opinion
tbat way ; and though they may not be pleasant in all their
particulars, the effect, as a whole, is renovating and invigorating
to my perceptions of responsibility and duty. It would never
do for a President to have guards with drawn sabres at his
door, as if he fancied he were, or were trying to be, or were
assuming to be an emperor.'
" This remark about ' guards with drawn sabres at his door,'
called my attention afresh to what I had remarked to myself
almost every time I entered the White House, both then and
since, and to which I had very frequently called the attention
both of Major Hay and General Halleck — the utterly unpro
tected condition of the President's person, and the fact that any
assassin or maniac, seeking his life, could enter his presence
without the interference of a single armed man to bold him
back. The entrance doors, and all doors on the official side of
EEMINISCENCES AND ANECDOTES. 725
tbe building, were open at all bours of tbe day, and very late
into the evening: and I have many times entered the mansion
and walked up to the rooms of the two private secretaries as
late as nine or ten o'clock at night, without seeing or being
challenged by a single soul. There were, indeed, two attend
ants, one for the outer door and the other for the door of the
official chambers ; but these, thinking, I suppose, that none
would call after office hours save persons who were personally
acquainted, or had the right of official entry, were, not unfre
quentiy, somewhat remiss in their duties.
" To this fact I now ventured to call the President's attention,
saying that to me — ^perhaps from my European education — it
appeared a deliberate courting of danger, even if the country
were in a state of tbe profoundest peace, for the person at the
head of the nation to remain so unprotected.
" 'Even granting, Mr. Lincoln,' I said, ' that no assassin should
seek your bfe, the large number of lunatics always in a com
munity, and always lai-ger in times like these, and the tendency
which insanity has to strike at shining objects, or whomsoever
is most talked about, should lead — I submit — to sorae guards
about the place, and to some permanent officers witb the power
and duty of questioning all who seek to enter.' To this I added
some brief sketch of the all but innumerable crazy letters and
projects which were continually being received at (jeneral
HaUeck's headquarters, and which he had, one day, laughingly
turned over to me, on the ground that I now and then wrote
verses. " ' There are two dangers, therefore,' I wound up by saying ;
' the danger of debberate pobtical assassination, and the mere
brute violence of insanity.'
"Mr. Lincoln bad heard me witb a smile, bis bands still
locked across bis knees, and his body still rocking back and
forth— the common indication that he was amused.
"'Now, as to political assassination,' he said, 'do you think
the Eichmond people would like to bave Hannibal Hamlin here
726 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
any better than myself? In that one alternative, I have an
insurance on my life worth half the prairie land of Illinois.
And beside,' — this more gravely — ' if there were such a plot,
and they wauted to get at me, no vigilance could keep them out.
We are so mixed up in our affairs, that — no matter what the
system established — a conspiracy to assassinate, if such there
were, could easily obtain a pass to see me for any one or more
of its instruments.
" ' To betray fear of this, by placing guards or so forth, would
only be to put the idea into their heads, and perhaps lead to the
very result it was intended to prevent. As to the crazy folks.
Major, why I must only take my chances — the worst crazy
people at present, I fear, being sorae of my own too zealous
adherents. That there may be such dangers as you and raany
others have suggested to me, is quite possible ; but I guess it
¦wouldn't improve things any to publish that we were afraid of
them in advance.'
"At this point, the President turned to the papers I had
brought over for his signature, and, signing them, handed them
to me with some message for General Halleck. Whereupon I
bowed myself out, and the stream of omnium-gatherum hu
manity, from the waiting-rooms, again commenced flo-wing in
upon hira — sometimes in individual — sometimes in deputational
ur collective waves.
"The whole interview I have here narrated, though taking
so much longer to tell,. had probably not endured over ten or
fifteen minutes ; and it was the first, although not the only time
that I heard Mr. Lincoln discuss the possibility of an attempt
to assassinate him.
" The second time was when he came oyer, one evening, after
dinner, to General Halleck's private quarters to protest — half
jocularly, half in earnest — against a small detachment of cav
alry which had been detailed without his request, and partly ^
against his wiU, by the lamented General Wadsworth, as a
guard for his carriage in going to and returning from the Sol-
EEMINISCENCES AND ANECDOTES. 727
diers' Home. The burden of bis complaint was that be and
Mrs. Lincoln ' couldn't hear themselves talk,' for the clatter of
their sabers and spurs ; and that, as many of them appeared new
hands and very awkward, be was more afraid of being shot by the
accidental discharge of one of their carbines or revolvers, than
of any attempt upon his life or for his capture by the roving
squads of Jeb Stuart's cavalry, then hovering all round the
exterior works of the city."
" Mr. Lincoln," says the Eev. M. D. Conway, " answered well
Frederick the Great's definition of a prince — the first of sub
jects. His confidence in the people wais as simple and unhesi
tating as bis loyalty to tbem was perfect. He believed that
there was, under all parties, a substrat-am of patriotism ; and I
never saw his eye shine more, than when some one told of a
town in Ohio, where, up to the tirae of the war, two party-
flags had been flying, and whose inhabitants, when tbey heard
of the attack upon Fort Sumter, cut down the two poles, with
their flags, and raaking tbe two into one, hoisted it with the
stars and stripes, alone, at its head.'
" A few days before tbe advance of the Array of the Potomac,
previous to the Bull Eun battle in 1861, thirty thousand new
troops passed through Washington, and were reviewed by the
President and his Cabinet. In connection with this, the im
posing ceremony was to be performed of raising a flag near the
Treasury Department, and this was a kind of work that Lincoln
loved to do with his own hands. A platforra had been erected
at the foot of the flag-staff, and when the President took his
place upon it, thousands of loyal citizens gathered around to
see the glorious emblem hoisted in mid-air. It was an im
posing sight, when the President's tall figure appeared standing
in the midst of his councillors with the halyards in his hands
ready to send the stars and stripes aloft. With bis band up
lifted and his face raised toward the sky, he ran the flag up,
and saw it catch the wind and float slowly out between him and
the blue sky. He stood looking at it a moment, then turned
728 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
- bis bright earnest eyes upon tbe uplifted faces of tbe crowd.
' My friends,' be said, in a clear, full voice, ' it is an easy thing
for me to run this flag up to the top of tbe staff, but it will take
the whole nation to keep it there.'
"A shout rung out from the multitude, one of those wild
impulsive echoes of a thousand hearts, which bespeak the en
thusiasm of untried strength. It seemed an easy thing to the
people, with the tramp of those thirty thousand new troops in
their ears, to keep thousands of star-spangled banners skyward ;
but before raany days had passed, the rush of fugitive feet, as
they fled along those very pavements, proved how prophetis
was tbat simple speech of President Lincoln."
HIS LIFE, CHAEACTEE AND WOEK. 729
CLOSING CHAPTER.
ESTIMATE OF ME. LINCOLN'S LIFE, CHAEACTEE AND WOEK.
We can, in conclusion, offer our readers no clearer
analysis, and no more appreciative resume of the char
acter of our distinguished subject, whose career we have
thus traced from his humble cradle to his thrice-honored
grave, than is contained in the sermon preached on
Sabbath, April 30th, 1865, by the Rev. Joseph P.
Thompson, D. D., Pastor of the Broadway Tabernacle
Church, of New York city, on
ABRAHAM LINCOLN, HIS LIFE AND ITS LESSONS.
« » * * "An analysis of the mental and moral traits
of Mr. Lincoln, will show us how complete was his adaptation
for that very period of our national history which he was
called to flll, and whicb he has made so peculiarly his own.
His mental processes were characterized by originality, clear
ness, complehensiveness, sagacity, logical fitness, acumen, and
strength. He was an original thinker ; not in the sense of
always ha-ving new and striking ideas, for such originality may
be as daring and dangerous as it is peculiar and rare ; but he
was original in that his ideas were in some characteristic way
his own. However common lo other minds, however simple
and axiomatic when stated, tbey bore the. stamp of indi
viduality. Not a message or proclamation did he write, not a
letter did he pen, whicb did not carry on the face of it
'Abraham Lincoln, his mark.' He thought out every subject
for himself; and he did not commit himself in public upon any
subject which he bad not made his own by reflection. Hence
even famibar thoughts coming before us in the simple rusttc
730 THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
garb of his homely speech, seemed fresh and new. He took
from the mint of political science the bullion which philosophers
had there deposited, and coined it into proverbs for the people.
Or, in the great placer of political speculations, he sometimes
struck a lode of genuine metal, and wrought it with his
own hands.
'"The Union is older than the Constitution;' 'The Union
made the Constitution, and not the Constitution the Union.'
'"Can aliens make treaties easier than friends can make
laws ?'
" ' Capital is the fruit of labor, and could never have existed
if labor bad not first existed.'
" ' In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the
free: " ' Often a limb must be amputated to save a life ; but a life
is never wisely given to save a limb.'
"What volumes of philosophy, of history, of political
economy, of legal and ethical science, are condensed into these
pithy sentences, each bearing the mark of Mr. Lincoln's
individuality. Much of this individuality of thought was due
to the seclusion of bis early life from books and schools, and to
the meditative habit induced by the solitude of the forest.
*•»¦»*•»-»-»* " The simplifying of thought was a passion with him ; and
in his own pithy words, 'I was never easy until I had a
thought bounded on the north, and bounded on the south, and
bounded on the east, and bounded on the west.'
" How much the American people will hereafter owe to him
for having staked out the boundaries of political ideas hitherto
but vaguely coraprehended. How conclusive against the right
of secession is this clearly-bounded statement of the first
inaugural :
" ' I hold that in the contemplation of universal law and of
the Constitution, the union of these States is perpetual. Per
petuity is implied, if not expressed, in the fundaraental law of
HIS LIFE, CHAEACTEE AND WOEK. 731
all national governments. It is safe to assert that no govern
ment proper ever had a provision in its own organic law for its
own termination. Continue to execute all the express pro
visions of our national Constitution, and the Union will endure
for ever, it being impossible to destroy it, except by sorae
action not provided for in the instrument itself.'
"The opening sentence of his Springfield speech, June 17
1858, which was tbe foundation of his great debate witb Doug
las, bounded the question of nationalizing slavery so clearly
and sharply, that Mr. Lincoln had only to repeat that statement
from time to time, to clinch every argument of every speech :
'A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this
government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free.
I do not expect the Union to be dissolved. I do not expect
the house to fall ; but I do expect it will cease to be divided.
It will become all one thing or all the other.'
" Mr. Douglas's policy was fast niaking it ' all one thing ;' Mr.
Lincoln lived to make it, and to see it ' all the other !'
"Imagination and a poetic sensibility were not wanting in a
soul that could conceive the last inaugural or could indite the
closing sentence of the first : ' The mystic chords of memory,
stretching from every battle-field and patriot grave to every
bving 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.'
" He was an ardent admirer of Burns, and a discriminating
student of Shakespeare.
" Enthusiasm was not lacking in a mind that, in the midst
of a wasting civil war, could prophecy : ' There are already
those among us, who, if the Union be preserved, will live to
see it contain two hundred and fifty millions. -The struggle of
to-day is not altogether /or to-day; it is for a vast future-also.'
"But neither enthusiasm nor imagination ever mastered that
calm, clear judgment, trained to a cautious self-reliance by the
early discipline of the forest school.
732 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
"Comprehensiveness was equally characteristic of Mr. Lin
coln's views, upon questions where breadth was as important
as clearness of vision. Those who have had occasion to con
sult with hira upon public affairs have often reraarked, that
even in the course of protracted and able deliberations, there
would arise no aspect of the question which had not already
occurred to the mind of the President, and been allowed its
weight in forming his opinion. His judgraent was roundabout,
encorapassing the subject upon every side; it was circumspect —
attending to all the circumstances of the case, and patiently
investigating its minutise. He would not approve the finding
of a court-martial without reading over carefully the details of
the evidence, and hearing the pleas of the condemned and his
friends ; and this conscientious legal andjudicial habit, applied
to questions of state policy, gave to his views a breadth and
solidity beyond the grasp of the mere speculative politician.
Hence came that reputation for sagacity and insight, which
grew with our observation of the man and with the un/olding
of events ratifying his judgraent. How often where his seeming
hesitancy had tried our patience, have we come to see that be
bad surveyed the whole question, had anticipated what lay be
yond, and was biding bis time. His studied silence touching
his own intentions, in his replies to speeches of welcome along
the route from Springfield to Washington in 1861, was dictated
by his comprehensive wisdora. At every point he baffled
ouriosity and rebuked irapatience by avowing his deterraina
tion not to speak at all upon public questions until he could
speak advisedly. ' I deem it just to you, to myself, and to all,
that I should see every thing, that I should bear every thing,
that I should have every light that can be brought within my
reach, in order' that when I do speak, I shall have enjoyed
every opportunity to take correct and true grounds ; and for
this reason I don't propose to speak, at this time, of the policy
of the government."* This was not the evasiveness of the
politician, but the wise reserve of the statesman.
¦* Speech to the Legislature of Ne-vy York.
HIS LIFE, CHAEACTEE AND WOEK. 733
"He maintained the same reticence upon the difficult problem
of re-organization, which was tbe burden of his latest pubbc
utterance, after the fall of Eichmond. His adroit substitution
of a story or a witticism for a formal speech, at times when his
words were watched and weighed, was but another illustration
of his practical sagacity. And when the secret history of the
dark periods of the war shall be disclosed, Mr. Lincoln will
stand justified before tbe world, alike for his reticence while
waiting for light, and for a pobcy guided by an almost pro
phetic insight, when, by patient waiting, he had gained clear
ness and comprehensiveness of view.
" The mental processes of Mr. Lincoln were characterized,
moreover, by a logical fitness, keenness, and strength. Not
for naught did be master the science of demonstration. His
speeches are a catena of propositions and proofs that bind the
mind to his conclusions as soon as his premises are conceded.
In his great debate with Mr. Douglas — a debate accompanied
with all the excitements of a political canvass, and in which he
was called upon to reply to his opponent in the hearing of eager
thousands — ^it is remarkable that he never had occasion to
retract or even to qualify any of his positions, that he never
contradicted himself nor abandoned an argument that he had
once assumed. His caution and circumspection led him to
choose his words and to state only that which he could main
tain. His clear and comprehensive survey of his subject made
him the master of his own position ; and his calm, strong logic,
and his keen power of dissection, made hira a formidable anta
gonist. He who had such force of resolution, that in full man
hood, after he had been a member of the State legislature, he
could go to school to Euclid to learn bow to demonstrate, was
likely to reason to some purpose when he had laid down his
propositions. "But itwas mainly his adherence to ethical principles in
political discussions that gave such point and force to his rea
sonings ; ^r no politician of this generation bas applied Chris-
734 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
tian ethics to questions of public policy with more of honesty,
of consistency, or of downright earnestness. Standing in the
old Independence Hall at Philadelphia, he said, ' All the politi
cal sentiments I entertain have been drawn, so far as I have
been able to draw them, frora the sentiments which originated
in and were given to the world from this hall. I have never
had a feeling, politically, that did not spring from the senti
ments embodied in the Declaration of Independence.'* But the
sentiraents of the Declaration which Mr. Lincoln emphasized
are not siraply political ideas — they are ethical principles. That
' all raen are created equal ; that they are endowed by their
Creator with certain inalienable rights ; that araong these are
life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness' — these are prin
ciples of natural ethics, sustained by the august sanctions of
that God who is ' no respecter of persons.' And it was as
truths of moral obligation that Abraham Lincoln adopted them
as the rule of bis political faith. He entered into public life,
thirty years ago, with the distinct avowal ofthe doctrine whose
final ratification by the people he has sealed with his blood —
that 'the institution of slavery is founded on both injustice and
bad policy.'f His whole life was true to that conviction. His
great campaign for the senatorship, • in 1858, was conducted
throughout upon moral grounds. ' I confess myself as belong
ing to that class in the country who contemplate slavery as a
moral, social, and political evil, having due regard for its actual
existence among us and the difficulties of getting rid of it in
any satisfactory way, and to all the constitutional obligations
which have been thrown about it ; but nevertheless, desire a
policy that looks to the prevention of it as a wrong, and looks
hopefully to the time when as a wrong it may come to an end.'J
' If slavery is not wrong nothing is wrong.'§
* Speech of 21st of February, 1861.
t Protest in Illinois House of Eepresentatives, March 3, 1837.
J Speech at Galesburg, October 7, 1858.
I Letter so A. G. Hodges, Esq., of Kentucky.
HIS LIFE, CHAEACTEE AND WOEK. 735
" ' Only one thing,' said he, in his speech at Cooper Institute,
' will satisfy our opponents. Cease to call slavery wrong, and
join them in calling it right. 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 sophistical contrivances where
with we are so industriously plied and belabored — contrivances,
such as groping for some middle ground between the right
and the wrong, vain 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 sin
ners, but the righteous to repentance — such as invocations of
Washington, imploring men tO unsay what Washington said, ,
and undo what Washington did. Neither let us be slandered
from our duty by false accusations against us, nor frightened
from it by menaces of destruction 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.'
"Mr. Lincoln's logic was pointed with wit, and his ethical
reasoning was often set home by a pithy story. The reputation
of a story-teller and a jester was turned by his opponents to
his disparagement; but bis stories' were philosophy in parables,
and his jests were morals. If sometimes they smacked of
humble life, this was due not to his tastes but to his early asso
ciations. His wit was always used with point and purpose ; for
the boy who committed all Esop's fables to memory had learned
too well the use of story and of parable to forego that keen
weapon in political argument. The whole people took his
witty caution 'not to swop horses in the middle of the
stream.' " The base-born plea that social amalgamation would follow
the emancipation of the negro, be met by a rare stroke of wit .
'I do not understand that because I do not want a negro
736 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
woman for a slave, I must necessarily want ber for a wife. My
understanding is that I can just let ber alone. I am now in
my fiftieth year, and I certainly never have bad a black woman
for either a slave or a wife. So it seems to me quite possible
for us to get along without making either slaves or wives of
negroes. I recollect but one distinguished advocate of the
perfect equality of the races, and that is Judge Douglas's old
friend. Colonel Eichard M. Johnson.'*
"Yet Mr. Lincoln's wit was never malicious nor rudely
personal. Once when Mr. Douglas had attempted to parry an
argument by impeaching tbe veracity of a Senator whom Mr.
Lincoln had quoted, he answered, that the question was not
one of veracity, but siraply one of argument. ' By a course
of reasoning, Euclid proves that all the angles in a triangle are
equal to two right angles. Now, if you undertake to disprove
that proposition, would you prove it to be false by calling
-Euclid a Har ?'t
" Passing frora the intellectual traits of Mr. Lincoln to his
moral qualities, we find in these tbe same providential prepara
tion for his work, through long years of hardy training. He
was of a meek and a patient spirit — both prime elements in a
strong character. It might almost be said of him, as it was
said of Moses, that 'he was meek above all tbe men which
were upon the face of the earth.' The early discipline of
poverty, toil, and sorrow, accompanied witb maternal lessons
of submi.'^sion to God, had taught him to labor and to wait in
the patieuce of hope. It was a household saying of his mother,
when times were hard and days were dark, 'It isn't best to
borrow too much trouble. We must liave faith in God.' And
so Abraham learned tbat ' it is good for a man that he bear the
yoke in his youth ; and it is good that a man should both hope
and quietly wait for tbe salvation of the Lord.' And when the
* Speech at Columbus, February, 1859.
t Speech at Charleston, September 18, 1858.
HIS LIFE, CHAEACTEE AND WOEK. 737
yoke of a nation's burdens and sorrows was laid upon bis
shoulders, his gentle, patient spirit accepted it without faltering
and without repining. He did not borrow too much trouble,
but had faith in God. Neither the violence of enemies, nor the
impatience and distrust of friends, could irritate him ; neither
the threats of traitors, nor the zeal of partisans, could disturb
his equanimity, or urge him faster than Providence, speaking
through the logic of events, would seem to lead him. ' Thy
gentleness,' said the Psalmist, 'hath made me great;' and a
certain divine gentleness had possessed and fortified the soul
of Abraham Lincoln.
" Cheerfulness was with him a moral quality as well as the
native cast of his temperament. It sprang from the conscious
ness of sincerity, from good will toward men, and from habitual
trust in God. His playful humor sometimes belied him ; since
no man was farther removed from levity and frivolity of mind.
A thoughtful earnestness prevaded his being — an earnestness
that sometimes verged upon sadness, yet never sank into
moroseness. It was a cheerful earnestness : and while cheer
fulness was t>he tone of his temperament, he cultivated this
quality for the relief of his own mind, and for the stimulation
of others against despondency.
"I shall ever cherish among the brightest memories of life,
an hour in his working-room last September, which was one
broad sheet of sunshine. He had spent the morning poring,
over the returns of a court-martial upon capital cases, and
studying to decide thera according to truth ; and upon tbe
entrance of a friend, he threw hiraself into an attitude of relax
ation, and sparkled witb good-huraor. I will not repeat, lest
they should be misconstrued, his trenchant witticisms upon
political topics now gone by ; yet one of these can wound no
bving patriot. I spoke of the rapid rise of Union feeling since
the promulgation of the Chicago platform, and the victory at
Atlanta ; and the question was started, which had contributed
tbe most to the reviving of Union sentiment — tbe victory or
47
738 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
the platform. ' I guess,' said tbe President, ' it was the victory ;
at any rate I'd rather have that repeated.'
" Being informed of the death of Jobn Morgan, he said, ' Well,
I wouldn't crow over any body's death ; but I can take this as
resignedly as any dispensation of Providence. Morgan was a
coward, a nigger-driver ; a low creature such as you northern
men know nothing about.'
" The political horizon was still overcast, but he spoke with
unaffected confidence and cheerfulness of the result ; saying
with emphasis, ' I rely upon the religious influence of the coun
try, which I am told is very largely for me.'
" Even in times of deepest solicitude, be maintained this
cheerful serenity before others. It may be said of bim, as of
his great prototype, William of Orange, ' His jocoseness was
partly natural, partly intentional. In the darkest hours of his
country's trial, he affected a serenity which he did not always
feel, so that his apparent gayety at momentous -epochs was even
censured by dullards, who could not cornprehend its philosophy.
He went through life bearing the load of a people's sorrows
upon his shoulders with a smiling face.' *
" It is pleasant to know that what was, perhaps, the last offi
cial act of the President, before the fatal night, was performed
in this spirit of joyousness. The Governor of Maryland called
upon bim witb a friend late on Friday, and found hira very
^ cheerful over the state of the country ; at the close of the inter
view, one of the visitors asked a little favor for a friend ; the
President wrote the necessary order, and said, ' Any thing now
to raake the people happy.'
" His kindness and sensibility were proverbial almost to a
fault. Yet no other single trait so well exhibits the majesty
of bis soul ; for it was not a sentimental tenderness — -the mere
weakness of a sympathetic nature — but a kindness that pro
ceeded from an intelligent sympathy and good will for human
ity, and a Christian hatred of all injustice and wrong. He once
said, in a political speech : ' The Saviour, I suppose, did not ex-
HIS LIFE, CHAEACTEE, AND WOEKS. 739
pect that any human creature could be perfect as tbe Father in
heaven ; but he said. As your Father in heaven is perfect, be
ye also perfect. He set that up as a standard, and he who did
most toward reaching that standard attained the highest degree
of moral perfection.' With a noble contempt for political
prejudices, and -with a touching moral simplicity, Mr. Lii.coln
avowed this principle in his treatment of the negro : ' In point
ing out that more has been given you (by the Creator), you
cannot be justified in taking away tbe little which has been given
him. 'If God gave him but bttle, that little let him enjoy. In
the right to eat the bread, without the leave of any body eise,
which his own hand earns, he is my equal, and the equal of
Judge Douglas, and the equal of every living man.'
" In his highest prosperity he never forgot his kindred with
men of low estate. Amid all the cares of office his ear was
always open to a tale of sorrow or of wrong, and his hand was
always ready to relieve suffering and to remedy injustice. I
seem to see him now, leaning against the railing that divides
the war-office from the White House, while the carriage is
waiting at the door, and listening to _the grievance of a plain
man, then sitting down upon the coping and writing on a card
an order to have the case investigated and remedied. An un
dignified position, do you say ? It was the native dignity of
kindness. * * * * * *
"Akin to this kindliness and sensibility was bis magnaminity
of souL 'I would despise myself,' said he in his debate with
Douglas, 'if I supposed myself ready to deal less liberally witb
an adversary than I was willing to be treated myself And
again be said: 'If I have stated any thing erroneous— if I
have brought forward any thing not a fact— it needed only that
Judge Douglas should point it out, it will not even ruffle me to
take it back. I do not deal in that way.'
'•How magnanimously he disclaimed personal praise, and
740 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
accorded honor to others. You will at once recall his letter to
General Grant after the capture of Yicksburg :
" ' I do not remember that you and I ever met personally.
I write this now as a grateful acknowledgment of tbe almost
inestimable service you have done the country. I write to say
a word further. . . . When you 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.' " How gently he assuaged the tumult of party strifes by his
tone of magnanimity toward his defeated opponent, in acknow
ledging a popular ovation rendered him upon his re-election to
the Presidency.
" Such was the whole spirit of his public life, culminating at
last in an utterance which shall be iraraortal — ' with malice
TOWARD NONE, WITH CHARITY FOR ALL.'
" The inflexible integrity of Mr. Lincoln has iraprinted itself
upon the beart and the history of the American people, in that
familiar, but honorable epithet, ' Honest Abe.' His was not
simply a commercial honesty, in dollars and cents, but honesty
in opinion, honesty in speech, honesty of purpose, honesty in
action. ' Always speak the truth, my son,' said his mother to
bim, when in her Sabbath readings she expounded tbe ninth
commandment. ' I do tell the truth,' was his uniform reply.
"When Douglas attempted to impeach a statement of a brother
Senator, who was Mr. Lincoln's personal friend, Lincoln
replied, ' I am ready to indorse him, because, neither in tbat
thing nor in any other, in all the years that I have known
Lyman Trumbull, bave I known him to fail of his word, or tell
a falsehood, large or small :' and that to Abrahara Lincoln was
a certificate of character,
" His integrity carried him through arduous political cam
paigns, without the shadow of deviation from principle. He
HIS LIFE, CHAEACTEE AND WOEK. 741
adopted great principles and by these he was willing to live or
die. His debate with Douglas, as I before said, was throughout
a struggle for principle— the principle that slavery was wrong,
and therefore that the nation should not sanction it nor suffer
its extension. ' I do not claim,' he said, ' to be unselfish ; I do
not pretend that I would not like to go to the United States
Senate ; I make no such hypocritical pretence, but I do say to
you that in this mighty issue, it is nothing to you, nothing to
the mass of the people of the nation, whether or not Judge
Douglas or myself shall ever be heard of after this night ; it may
be a trifle to either of us, but in connection with this mighty
question, upon which hang the destinies of the nation perhaps,
it is absolutely nothing.'
" When about to assume the grave responsibilities of the
Presidency, he said to his feUow citizens, ' I promise you 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.'*
That bis head was equal to his task all now agree ; but it is
far more to bis honor that through all the teraptations of office,
he held fast his integrity. One who was much with him, testi
fies that ' in every thing he did he was governed by his con
science, and when ambition intruded, it was thrust aside by
his conviction of right.' What he said he did, ' without shadow
of turning.' He was as firm for the right as he was forbearing
toward the wrong-doer. How solemn his appeal to the seceders,
at the close of bis first inaugural : ' You bave no oath registered
in heaven to destroy the government; while I shall have the most
solemn one to preserve, protect and defend it.' That oath he
kept with all honesty and fidelity.
" This honesty of principle inspired bim with true moral
heroism. Abraham Lincoln always met his duty as calmly as
he met his death. He knew, at any time in the last four years,
that to do his duty would be to court death ; but in bis first
* Speech at Philadelphia, February 20, 1861.
742 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
message he laid down the moral consideration tbat overruled
all personal fears : ' As a private citizen the Executive could
not have consented that these institutions shall perish ; much
less could be, in betrayal of so vast and so sacred a trust as
these free people bad confided to bim.- He felt that be had no
moral rigbt to shrink, nor even to count the chances of his own
life in what might follow. In full view of his great responsi
bility he has so far done what he has deemed bis duty. Hav
ing 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.' "
Bishop Simpson has quoted from a speech of Mr.
Lincoln, in 1839, a declaration ofthe most heroic patri
otism :
" Of the slave power be said, ' Broken by it ? I too may be
asked to bow to it. I never will. The probability that we
may fail in the struggle, ought not to deter us from the support
of a cause which I deem to be just. It shall not deter me. If
I ever feel the soul within me elevate and expand to dimensions
not wholly unworthy of its Almighty architect, it is when I
contemplate the cause of my country deserted by all tbe world
beside, and I standing up boldly and alone, and hurling defi--
ance at her victorious oppressors. Here, without contemplating
consequences, before high heaven, and in the face of the world, I
swear eternal fidelity to the just cause, as I deem it, of the land
of my life, my liberty, and my love.'
" With what a lofty courage, too, did he stand by the rights
and liberties of those to whom he was pledged by bis procla
mation of January 1, 1863.
" What nobler words could be inscribed upon bis monument
than these from his last message : ' I repeat the declaration
made a year ago, that while I remain in my present position I
shall not attempt to retract or modify the emancipation procla
mation. Nor shall I return to slavery any person who is free
HIS LIFE, CHAEACTEE AND WOEK. 743
by the terms of that proclamation, or by any of tbe acts of
Congress. If the people should, by whatever mode or means,
make it an executive duty to re-enslave such persons, another,
and not I, must be their instrument to perform it.'
" It was that decree of emancipation that inspired the hatred
that compassed bis murder. Yet from the day of his nomina
tion he had been marked for a violent death ; and knowing
this, he had devoted his life to the cause of liberty. At Inde
pendence Hall, in Philadelphia, he said, in 1861, 'Can this
country be saved upon the basis of the sentiment embodied in
the Declaration of Independence ? If it can, I will consider
myself one of the happiest men in the world, if I can help to
save it. If it cannot be saved on that principle it will be truly
a-wful. 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. I have said nothing but what I
ara -willing to live by, and, if it be the pleasure of Almighty
God, to die by.'
" A calm trust in God was the loftiest, worthiest chara.cter-
istic in the life of Abraham Lincoln. He bad learned this long
ago. ' I would rather Abe would be able to read the Bible
than to own a farm, if he can't have but one,' said his godly
mother. That Bible was Abraham Lincoln's guide. Mr. Jay
informs me, that being on tbe steamer whicb conveyed the gov
ernmental party from Fortress Monroe to Norfolk, after the
destruction of the Merrimac, while all on board were excited
by the novelty of the excursion and by tbe incidents that it
recalled, be missed the President from the company, and, on
looking about, found him in a quiet nook, reading a well- worn
Testament. Such an incidental revelation of his religious
babits is worth more than pages of formal testimony.
"The constant recognition of God in his public documents
shows how completely his mind was under the dominion of
rebgious faith. This is never a coraraon-place formalism nor a
misplaced cant. To satisfy ourselves of Mr. Lincoln's Christian
744 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
character, we have no need to resort to apocryphal stories that
illustrate the assurance of his victories quite as mucb as the
simplicity of his faith ; we have but to follow internal evidences,
as the workings of his soul reveal themselves through his own
published utterances. On leaving Springfield for the capital,
he said :
" 'A duty devolves upon me which is, perhaps, greater than
that which has devolved upon any other man since tbe 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 hira, and on the sarae Almighty Being I place my
reliance for support; and I hope you, my friends, will all pray
that I raay receive that divine assistance, -without which I
cannot succeed, but with which success is certain.'
" He knew himself to be surrounded by a religious community
who were acquainted with his life, and bis words were spoken
in all sincerity.
"At Gettysburg, with a grand simplicity worthy of Demos
thenes, be dedicated himself with religious earnestness to the
great task yet before him, in humble dependence upon God.
Owning the power of vicarious sacrifice, be said, ' We cannot
dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground.
The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have con
secrated it far above our power to add or detract. The world
will littie note, nor long remeraber, what we say here, but it
can never forget what they did here. It is for us, the living,
rather, to be dedicated bere to the unfinished work that tbey
have thus far so nobly carried on.'
" We distinctly trace the growth of this feeling of religious
consecration in his public declarations: 'We can but press
on, guided by the best light God gives us, trusting that in his
own good tirae and wise way, all will be well. Let us not
be over-sanguine of a speedy, final triuraph. Let us be quite
sober. Let us dibgently apply the means, never doubting that
HIS LIFE, CHAEACTEE AND WOEK. 745
a just God, in bis own good time, will give us the rightful
result.'* ' The nation's condition is not what either party or
any man desired or expected. God alone can claim it
Whither it is tending seems plain. If God now wills the re
moval 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 cause to
attest and revere tbe justice and goodness of God.'f This
devout feeling culminated at length in that sublime confession
of faith, of humility, of dependence, of consecration, known as
his last inaugural. It is said, upon good authority, that had he
lived, he would bave made a public profession of bis faith in
Christ. But Abraham Lincoln needed no other confession
than that which he made on the 4th of March last in the hear
ing of all nations.
"A Christian lady, who was profoundly impressed with the
religious tone of the inaugural, requested, through a friend in
Congress, that the President would give her his autograph by
the very pen that wrote tbat now immortal document, adding
that her sons should be taught to repeat its closing paragraph
with their catechism. The President, with evident emotion,
replied, ' She shall have my signature, and with it she shall
have that paragraph. It comforts me to know that my senti
ments are supported by the Christian ladies of our country.'
" His pastor at Washington, after being near him steadily, and
with him often for more than four years, bears this testimony :
'I speak what I know, and testify what I bave often heard him
say, when I affirm tbe guidance and the raercy of God were the
props on whicb be humbly and habitually leaned ;' and that
'his abiding confidence in God and in the final triumph of
truth and righteousness through him and for his sake, was hia
noblest virtue, bis grandest principle, the secret abke of his
strength, bis patience, and bis success.'
" Thus trained of God for his great work, and called of God
^ Letter to Kentucky. t Letter to A. G. Hodges, April, 1864.
746 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
in the fulness of time, bow grandly did Abraham Lincoln
meet his responsibilities and round up his life. How he grew
under pressure. How often did his patient heroism in tbe
earlier years of the war serve us in the stead of -victories. He
carried our mighty sorrows ; while he never knew rest, nor the
enjoyment of office. How wisely did his cautious, sagacious,
comprehensive judgment deliver us from the perils of baste.
How clearly did be discern the guiding hand and the unfolding
will of God. How did be tower above the storm in his un
selfish patriotism, resolved to save the unity of the nation. And
when the day of duty and of opportunity came, how firmly did
he deal the last great blow for liberty, striking the shackles from
three raillion slaves ; while ' upon this, sincerely believed to be
an act of justice, warranted by the Constitution (upon military
necessity), he invoked the considerate judgment of mankind,
and tbe gracious favor of Almighty God.' Eightly did he re
gard this Proclamation as the central act of his administration,
and the central fact of the nineteenth century. Let it be
engraved upon our walls, upon our hearts; let the scene adorn
the rotunda of the Capitol — henceforth a sacred shrine of
liberty. It needed only that the seal of martyrdom upon such
a life should cause his virtues to be transfigured before us in
imperishable grandeur, and bis name to be emblazoned witb
heaven's' own light upon that topmost arch of farae, which shall
stand when governments and nations fall.
" Moderate, resolute,
Whole in himself, a conimon good.
Mourn for the man of amplest influence,
Yet clearest of ambitious crime,
Our greatest yet with least pretence,
Eich in saving common-sense,
And as the greatest only are,
In his simplicity sublime.
Who never sold the truth, to serve the hour,
Nor paltered -with Eternal God for po-wer —
HIS LIFE, CHAEACTEE AND IVOEK. 747
Who let the turbid streams of rumor flo-w
Thro' either babbling -world of high and lo-w ;
Whose life was work, whose language rife
With rugged maxims hewn from Hfe ;
Who never spoke against a foe."
¦*¦ ¦»'* * * * * * it
To this brilliant estimate of Mr. LincoHi's life and
character, let us add the glowing and comprehensive
" summing up" of his life's work, as presented in the
eloquent language of the Kev. Dr. E. S. Stone, in
a public oration delivered in the Brooklyn Academy of
Music, July 4th, 1865 :
"Such was the man for whom we mourn, and such the
position in whicb Providence had placed him. Think, then, a
moment of the work which he wrought in it.
* * * * » * ^ i-! *
"How singular it is among the recorded achievements of
man! How plainly is revealed in it a higher any than human
will, laying out and arranging the mighty scheme ! When he
took in hand the reins of the government, the finances of the
country seemed hopelessly deranged, and after many years of
peace it was difficult to raise money, at unprecedented interest,
for its daily use. And when he died — after such expenditures
as no man had dreamed of through four long years of devasta
ting war — the credit of the republic was so firmly established
that foreign markets were clamorous for its bonds, and the very
worst thing that could bave happened — his own destruction —
did not depress, by one hair's breadth, the absolute confidence
of our own people in them. When be came to Washington,
the navy at the command of the government was scattered,
almost beyond recall, to tbe ends of the earth, and was even
ludicrously insufficient for instant needs. He left it framed of
iron instead of oak, with wholly new principles expressed in
its structure, and large enough to bind the continent in blockade,
748 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
while it made the national flag farailiar on every sea whicb
commerce crosses. He found an array mostly dispersed, al
most hopelessly disorganized by the treachery of its officers ;
with hardly enough of it left at hand to furnish a body-guard
for his march to the capital. He left a half million of men in
arras, after the losses of fifty campaigns, with valor, discipline,
arms, and generalship unequalled in the world, and admonitory
to it. He found our diplomacy a by-word and a hissing in
most of the principal foreign courts ; he made it intelligent,
influential, respected wherever a civilized language is spoken.
In his moral and political achievements at home he was still
raore successful. He found the arts of industry prostrated,
¦almo.st paralyzed, indeed, by the arrest of commerce, the repu
diation of debts, the universal distrust. He left them so
trained, tutored, ahd developed that henceforth they are secure
amid the world's competition. He came to Washington through
a people morally rent and disorganized; of whora it was
known that a part at least were in full accord with the disloyal
plans, and concerning whom it was feared by many, and pre
dicted by some, that the slightest pressure from the govern
ment upon them would resolve thera at once into fighting
factions. He laid heavy taxes, he drafted them into armies, he
made no effort to excite their admiration, be seemed to throw
down even the ancient monuments of their personal liberty ;
and be went back to bis grave through the very sarae people,
so knit into one by their love for each other and their reverence
for him, that the cracking of the continent hardly could part
them. At his entrance on his office, he found the leaders of
the largest, fiercest, most tenacious rebellion known to history,
apparently in all things superior to himself; in capacity,
in culture, in political experience, in control over men, in
general weight with the country itself; and when he was
assassinated, he left thera so utterly overthrown and discorafited
that they fled over sea or hid theraselves in woraen's skirts.
A power it had taken fifty years to mature — a power that put
every thing into the contest — money, men, harbors, homes,
HIS LITE, CHAEACTEE AND WOEK. 749
churches, cities, States themselves — and that fought with a fury
never surpassed, he not only crushed, but extinguished in four
years. A court tbat had been the chief bulwark of slavery, he
so re-organized as to make it a citadel of liberty and light for
all time to come. He found a race immured in a bondage that
had lasted already two hundred years, and had only been com
pacted and fortified by invention and commerce, by arts, by
legislation, by social usage, by ethnic theories, and even by
what was caUed religion; he pretended to no special fondness
for the race ; he refused to make war in its behalf; but he took
it up cheerfully in the sweep of his plans, and left it a race of
free workers and soldiers. He came to the capital of an
empire severed by what seemed to the world eternal lines
-with sectional interests and irremovable hatreds forbidding re
construction. He left it the capital of an empire so restored
that the thought of its division is henceforth an absurdity ;
with its unity more coraplete than that of Great Britain ; with
its flag and its unchallenged rule suprerae again from the lakes
to the gulf Nay, he found a nation that had lost in a measure
its primitive faith in the grand ideas of its own Constitution ;
and he left that nation so instructed and renewed, so aware of
the supremacy of principles over forces, so coraraitted to the
justice and the liberty which its founders had valued, that the
era of his power has been the era of its new birth; that its
history forever will be noble and more luminous for his
inspirations. " From the topmost achievment yet realized of man, he has
stepped to the skies. He leads henceforth the hosts whora
he marshalled, and who at his word went forth to battle, on
plains invisible to our short sight. He stands side by side,
once more, with the orator, so cultured and renowned, witb
whora he stood on the heights of Gettysburg ; but now on
hills where rise no graves, and on which march in shining ranks,
with trumpet-swell and palms of triumph, immortal hosts. He
is with the fathers and founders of the republic, whose cherished
plans be carried out, whose faith and hope had, in his work,
750 THE LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
their great fruition. He is witb all the great builders of States,
who, working in earnest faith and hope, and with true conse
cration, have laid the foundations of huraan progress and made
mankind their constant debtors. The heavens are his home,
but the world and its records will take care of his fame ; for of
all whom he raeets and dwells with there, no one has held a
higher trust, no one has been more loyal to it, no one has left
a work behind more rich and vast ; and so long as the govern
ment which he re-established shall continue to endure, so long
as the continent which be made again the home of one nation,
shall hold that nation within its compass and shall continue to
attract to its bosom the liberty-loving from every land, so long
as the people which be eraancipated shall raake the palraetto
and the orange tree quiver with the hyrans of its jubilee, so long
as tbe race which he has set forward shall continue to advance
through brightening paths to the future that waits for its swift
steps, a farae as farailiar as any araong raen, a character as dis
tinguished and an influence as wide, will be the farae, the
character, and the influence of hira who came four years ago,
an unknown man from his home in the West, but who has now
written in letters of light on pages as grand and as splendid
as any in the history of tbe world, the illustrious name of
Abraham Lincoln."
THE END.
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