PRESIDENT LINCOLN.




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THE ASSASSIKATIOI~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ OF FRESIDE~~~~~~~~~~~~~TT LINCOLN AT FORD'S THEATRE-AFTER  THE ACT~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~?I11':l~we(I












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BOOTHt BEING BURtNT OUT OF Ti:E BARN,




ILLUSTRATED LIFE, SERVICES, MARTYRDOM,
AND FUNERAL OF
ABRAHAM LINCOLN,
S IXTEEN T II
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES,
With  a  Portrait  of  President Lincoln,  and  other  Illustrative
Engravings of the Scene of the Assassination, etc.
With a full history of his Life; Assassination; Death, and Funeral. His career
as a Lawyer and Politician; his services in Congress; with his Speeches, Procli.
mations, Acts, and services as President of the United States, and Commander-iD.Chief of the Army and Navy, from the time of his first Inauguration as President
of the United States, until the night of his Assassination. Only new and complete
edition, with a full history of the assassination, by distinguished eye-wit.
nesses of it. Mr. Lincoln's Death-bed scenes, and a full account of the Funeral
Ceremonies, from the time his remains were placed in the East Room at the White
House, until they were finally consigned to their last resting place, in Oak Ridge
Cemetery, at Springfield, Illinois; with Addresses and Sermons by the Hon.
Schuyler Colfax; Hon. George Bancroft; Rev. Henry Ward Beecher; General
Walbridge; Bishop Simpson, etc., with a full account of the escape, pursuit,lapprchension, and death of the assassin, Booth.
Pi )t  ti    r    I)'ia:
T. B. PETERPSON  & BROTIIERSS,
306 CHESTNUT S T REET.




Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1865, by
T. B. PETERSON  & BROTHERS,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, in and for the
Eastelrl District of Pennsylvania.




CONTENTS.
PAGN
Birth of President Abraham Lincoln, and his ancestors..,. 21
His grandfather killed by the Indians and scalped-Description of his parents..............................  22
"Abe" goes to school-The Lincoln Family remove to Indiana............................................  23
Death of Mrs. Lincoln-" Abe" learns to write-His father
marries again-" Abe" finishes his education..........  26
He becomes a hired hand on a fiatboat, and goes to New
Orleans..........................................  27
The family remove to Illinois —"Abe" seeks his fortune
among strangers...............................  28
He takes another trip to New Orleans-Becomes a miller
and salesman-His services in the Black Hawk war....  29
Is nominated for the Legislature and is defeated-Becomes
a merchant and surveyor-Is elected to the Legislature
Studies law............3.........................  30
A thrilling incident in his legal career............  31
A protest against slavery-Is a candidate for Presidential
Elector-Mr. Lincoln is elected to Congress-His votes
and speeches during his Congressional term...........  32
Becomes a delegate to the National Convention of 1848He is nominated for United States Senator, but withdraws...............................................  40
He is again nominated for the Senate-His speeches in the
celebrated Lincoln-Douglas campaign -His tribute to the
Declaration of Independence..........................  41
Pen-Portraits of Abraham Lincoln......................  43
Mr. Lincoln is defeated by Mr. Douglas —Is then named
for the Presidency-Evidence of his skill as a Railsplitter...........................................   47
His great speech at the Cooper Institute, New York......  48
Is nominated for President of the United States by the
Republican Convention.......................     64
(151




16                        CONTENTS.
PAGB
He is notified of his nomination by a Committee appointed
by the Convention...................................  65
Speech of the President of the Convention-Reply of Mr.
Lincoln-Correspondence between the Convention and
Mr. Lincoln........................................  66
Is elected President of the United States................  67
He leaves Springfield for Washington-Ovations on the
route...............................................  60
His arrival at Toledo and Indianapolis-His speeches at
each place..........................................      69
He arrives at Cincinnati, and addresses the citizens from
the Burnet House............                          70
His arrival at Columbus, with his speech................  71
His arrival at Steubenville, and his address to the peopleArrives in Pittsburg, and makes a speech to the citizens.................................................  72
Proceeds to Cleveland, and from thence to Buffalo, with his
speeches at each place...............................  74
Goes next to Albany-IIis arrival there, and speeches aS
the Capitol and to the members of the Legislature......  76
Proceeds to New York, and on his way makes a speech at
Poughkeepsie-Arrival in New York, with his speech,
on being welcomed by the Mayor of the city to that
place............................................         78
Goes next to Trenton-His speeches to the Senate and
to the Chambers of the Assembly of the State of New
Jersey............................................   79
Proceeds to Philadelphia-Is welcomed by the Mayor of
that city-Mr. Lincoln's speech in reply...............   81
He visits " Old Independence Hall"-His speech there.....  82
He raises the National Flag of the country to the top of the
flag-staff on " Old Independence Hall," on Washington's
Birth-day..........................................  83
He leaves for Harrisburg —His arrival there-Is welcomed
by both Houses of the Legislature, and his speech on
that occasion.......................................  84
A plot is made to assassinate him-H-ow it was thwarted....  85
Returns to Philadelphia in a special train, and proceeds to
Washington in disguise-His arrival there-Is welcomed'o Washington by the authorities-His speech in reply  86
Addresses the Republican Association...................  87
He is inaugurated President of the United States-Inaugural Address of Abraham Lincoln....................  88
President Lincoln's interview with the Virginia Commissioners, with his Address to them on that occasion......  95




CONTENTS.                           1 7
PAGIE
The first Proclamation for troops-Congress summoned to
assemble on the Fourth of July.......................  97
A blockade of Southern ports ordered......................  98
The President's communication  with  the Maryland  authorities.............................................  99
Blockading of Virginia and North Carolina...............  101
A  call for additional troops...................   102
Has an interview with the Maryland Legislature......;.... 103
A special order for Florida-President Lincoln's first Message to Congress...................................... 104
A day of Fasting and Prayer appointed.................  117
Commercial intercourse with the Rebellious States prohibited............................................ 118
Hie modifies an order of General Fremont's-His second
Message to Congress................................ 119
The President's Message recommending Gradual Emancipation............................................... 120
He assumes active command of the Army and Navy of the
United States.................................. 122
lie orders Thanksgiving for signal victories-Slavery abolished in the District of Columbia..................... 123
Re-opening of some of the Southern Ports —Repudiates an
emancipation order of Major-General Hunter.........   124
The President's conference with the Loyal Governors-His
interview with the Border Congressmen-He reads to
them  a powerful Appeal............................. 125
Instructions to Military and Naval Commanders........ 128
A  draft for Three Hundred Thousand Men ordered-The
President speaks at a war meeting in Washington..... 129
The Emancipation Proclamation of September 22d, 1862... 131
The Emancipation Proclamation of January 1st, 1863.... 133
Suspension of the WVrit of Habeas Corpus................. 135
He issues an Order for the observance of the Sabbath.... 136
His Annual Message of December, 1862-Important recommendations to Congress.............................. 137
Receives a Complimentary Address from Manchester, England................................................  138
The President visits the Army of the Potomac-Reviews
the troops, etc....................................... 140
The Enrolment Act and the rights of Aliens............ 142
A  National Thanksgiving ordered........................ 143
Letter fiom the President on the Emancipation Proclamation to the U nion men of Illinois...................... 145




18                       CONTENTS.
PAGA
Suspension of the Writ of Habeas Corpus in certain cases 148
A Proclamation for a National Thanksgiving............ 149
Three Hundred Thousand more men called for............  151
The President's Dedicatory Address at the Consecration of
the National Cemetery at Gettysburg.................. 152
He issues another'Thanksgiving Proclamation —His Annual
Message of December, 1863-Full pardon offered to the
Rebels............................................. 153.
Issues a Proclamation for Seven Hundred Thousand more
men.............................................. 156
Explanatory Proclamation of one issued December eighth,
1863...........................-.................... 157
An Impartial Review of the President's Policy.......... 158
Address of President Lincoln at a fair held at the Patent
Office at Washington, on March 18th, 1864............ 174
His Address to the Committee of the Workingman's Democratic Republican Association of New York, on March
21st, 1864.......................................... 175
He is the choice of the Legislatures of Fifteen States, and
of the American People for another term............ 177
Resolutions of the Union League of Philadelphia......... 179
General Grant made a Lieutenant-General............... 181
A vigorous Prosecution of the War.................... 181
Mr. Lincoln Re-nominated for the Presidency............ 182
President Lincoln visits Philadelphia.................. 185
Washington Threatened............................... 186
"To whom it may Concern"............................. 186
The Fall of Atlanta.  Mr. Lincoln is Re-elected......... 187
Mr. Lincoln makes a Speech.  Itis last Annual Message..  188
More Troops wanted.................................. 189
Mr. Lincoln has an Interview with Rebel Commissioners. 189
Mr. Lincoln is inaugurated President of the United
States for a second term............................ 191
Mr. Lincoln's Inaugural Address of March 4th, 1865..... 192
President Lincoln goes to " the Front"................ 193
Gen. Lee Surrenders.  President returns to Washington. 194
Mr. Lincoln's Last Speech............................. 195
Assassination of President Lincoln..................... 198
Scene of the Assassination of President Lincoln......... 201
The Dying Scenes of Abraham Lincoln................ 202
Tile Autopsy on the Body................. 204




CONTENTS.                        19
PAGE
The Murderer of President Lincoln, and what became of
hil................................................ 205
Statements and Affidavits in Relation to the MurderStatement of Assistant Secretary Field............... 207
Major Rathbone's Statement........................ 210
Affidavit of Miss Harris, daughter of Senator Harris..... 212
Surgeon General Barnes' Statement.................... 213
Full description of Ford's Theatre, in Washington...... 214
The Remains of Abraham Lincoln lay in State in the East
Room, at the White House.......................... 216
Funeral Services at the White House.................. 217
The whole Audience join in the Prayers, and are affected
to   tears............................................   219
Bishop Simpson's Prayer at the Funeral Ceremonies at
the White House................................... 220
The Funeral Oration by Dr. Gurley, at the White House. 221
The Funeral Procession at Washington................. 228
Arrival of the Remains at the Capitol.................. 229
The Departure of the Funeral Cortege from Washington,
on their way to Springfield, Illinois.................. 330
Route of the Funeral Cortege to Springfield............. 231
Distinguished Mourners, and Delegates from Illinois.....  232
Scenes along the route, and the arrival of the Funeral
Cortege at Baltimore............................... 233
Their arrival at Harrisburg-Arrival at Philadelphia..... 234
The Body lay in State in Independence Hall............ 235
Is visited by the Mayor, Councils, and Judges of the
Courts-The Guard of Honor in Independence Hall... 237
The Body is seen by over One Hundred and Twenty
Thousand persons in Philadelphia.................... 238
The Funeral Cortege leaves Philadelphia-Its Passage
through New Jersey-Arrival at New York, and laid in
State in City Hall.................................. 239
Leave New York for Albany-Arrival in Albany-Syracuse-Buffalo-Cleveland-Columbus-Indianapolis... 240
Leave Indianapolis for Chicago-Arrival at ChicagoLeave Chicago for Springfield-Arrival at Springfield,
Illinois..................................... 241
The Funeral Procession at Springfield-The Guard of
Honor, etc................................. 242




20.                    CONTENTS.
PAGE
Arrival of the Funeral Cortege at Oak Ridge CemeteryThe Vault-The Religious Exercises at the Tomb.....  243
Last Sad Rites at the Vault-Depositing the Body into
the Tomb-Reminiscenses of the Funeral Cortege from
Washington to Springfield.......................... 244
Bishop Simpson's Funeral Oration at the Vault at Oak
Ridge Cemetery.................................... 245
Abraham Lincoln is mourned by Twenty-five Millions of
People...................................... 254
The first plot to Assassinate President Lincoln.......... 256
Tributes to the Memory of Abraham Lincoln...........  260
The Religious Character and Nobility of Heart of Abraham Lincoln. Address of the Hon. Schuyler Colfax,
Speaker of the House of Representatives, at Chicago,
Illinois, on April 30th, 1865....................... 261
Hon. George Bancroft's Oration in the city of New York. 275
Henry WVard Beecher's Tribute to Abraham  Lincoln,
delivered in Plymouth Street Church, Brooklyn, on
Sunday, April 23d, 1865............................ 280
Address of General Hiram Walbridge, in New York, on
the death of President Lincoln....................... 288




LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES
OF
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
HIS BIRTH AND ANCESTORS.
ABRAIAM  LINCOLN, the sixteenth President of the
United States, and the skilful ruler under whose wise administration the country in its hour of peril has been enabled to combat successfully with the traitors who have
attempted its destruction, was born on the twelfth of
February, 1809, in that part of Hardin county, Kentucky,
which is now known as Larue. His father, Thomas Lincoln, and his grandfather, Abraham, were born in Rockingham county, Virginia, a section of the " Old Dominion"
to which their ancestors had migrated from Berks county,
Pennsylvania.  In the year 1780, the grandfather removed
his family to Kentucky, where, taking possession of a
small tract of land in the wilderness, he erected a rude
cabin, and proceeded to make his new home comfortable
and productive.. His daily labors were attended in their
prosecution with great personal danger. There was no
other resident within two or three miles, and the country
was infested with Indians, who allowed no opportunity to
pass to slaughter the white settlers. His gun was carried
21




22 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
as regularly to his work as was his axe or any other implement necessary to the successful clearing of the land,
and at night when he retired to the bosom of his little
flock, the faithful weapon was placed in a convenient cor
ner, where it could be quickly grasped in the event of an
attack from the wily enemy.
Individuals and whole families living in the vicinity
were murdered by the Indians, but Abraham Lincoln for
four years escaped their bloodthirsty characteristics; but
at the end of that period, while clearing a piece of land
about four miles from home, he was suddenly attacked,
and killed, and his scalped remains were found the next
morning. The loss was a severe one to the widow, who
now found herself alone in the wilderness with her three
sons and two daughters, and with but little money with
which to provide even the necessities of life for the young
members of her household. Poverty made it necessary
that the family should separate; and all the children but
Thomas bade adieu to their remaining parent, and left the
county, the second son removing to Indiana, and the others
to other sections of Kentucky.
DESCRIPTION OF HIS PARENTS.
Thomas also left home before he was twelve years old,
but subsequently returned to Kentucky, and in the year
1806, married Miss Nancy Hanks, who was also a native
of Virginia; so that it will be observed nearly all of the
immediate ancestors of the President were born upon
Southern soil. Thomas Lincoln and his wife were a plain,
unassuming couple, conscientious members of the Baptist
Church, and almost entirely uneducated. Mrs. Lincoln
could read, but not write, while her husband could do
neither, save so far as to scribble his own name in a style
of caligraphy which a few of his more intimate friends
could decipher.  He, however, appreciated the advan



LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 23
tages of education, and honored and respected the superior
learning of others. His kindness of heart was proverbial,
and he was always industrious and persevering.  His
wife, although uneducated, was blessed with much natural
talent, excellent judgment, and good sense, and these
qualifications, with her great piety, made her a suitable
partner for a man of Thomas Lincoln's attributes, and a
mother whose precepts and teachings could not fail to be
of vast benefit in the formation of her children's characters.
This estimable couple had three children-a daughter, a
son who had died in infancy, and Abraham. The sister
attained the years of womanhood, and married, but subsequently died without issue.
ABE" GOES TO SCHOOL.
When Abraham, or "Abe," as he was already called at
home and by his companions, was seven years of age, his
name was entered for the first time on the roll of an educational institution-an academy which had but little pretension in outward appearance, and the presiding genius
of which had neither ambition nor ability to impart greater
instruction than that which would enable his pupils to
read and write. His term of schooling was, however, to
be of short duration.
THE LINCOLN FAMILY REMOVE TO INDIANA.
Mr. Lincoln, although a Southerner by birth and residence, had become early imbued with a disgust for slavery.
He witnessed the evils of the "peculiar institution," and
longed to be free from the disagreeable effects of a condition of society which made a poor white man even more
degraded than the unfortunate negro, whose energies and
labors were controlled by an unprincipled and lazy master.
With these sentiments he naturally desired to change his
place of residence, and early in October, 1816, finding a




24  LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
purchaser for his farm, he made arrangements for the
transfer of the property and for his removal.  The price
paid by the purchaser was ten barrels of whiskey, of forty
gallons each, valued at two hundred and eighty dollars,
and twenty dollars in money. Mr. Lincoln was a temperate man, and acceded to the terms, not because he
desired the liquor, but because such transactions in real
estate were common, and recognized as perfectly proper.
The homestead was within a mile or two of the Rolling
Fork river, and as soon as the sale was effected, Mr. Lincoln, with such slight assistance as little Abe could give
him, hewed out a flat-boat, and launching it, filled it with
his household articles and tools and the barrels of whiskey,
and bidding adieu to his son who stood upon the bank,
pushed off, and was soon floating down the stream on his
way to Indiana, to select a new home. His journey down
the Rolling Fork and into the Ohio river was successfully
accomplished, but soon afterwards his boat was unfortunately upset, and its cargo thrown into the water. Some
men standing on the bank witnessed the accident and
saved the boat and its owner, but all the contents of the
craft were lost except a few carpenter's tools, axes, three
barrels of whiskey and some other articles. He again
started, and proceeded to a well-known ferry on the river,
from whence he was guided into the interior by a resident
of the section of country in which he had landed, and to
whom he had given his boat in payment for his services.
After several days of difficult travelling, much of the time
employed in cutting a road through the forest wide enough
for a team, eighteen miles were accomplished, and Spencer
county, Indiana, was reached. The site for his new home
having been determined upon, Mr. Lincoln left his goods
under the care of a person who lived a few miles distant,
and returning to Kentucky on foot, made preparations to
remove his family. In a few days the party bade farewell




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.  25
to their old home and slavery, Mrs. Lincoln and her
daughter riding one horse, Abe another, and the father a
third. After a seven days' journey through an uninhabited country, their resting-place at night being a blanket
spread upon the ground, they arrived at the spot selected
for their future residence, and no unnecessary delays were
permitted to interfere with the immediate and successful
clearing of a site for a cabin. An axe was placed in
Abe's hands, and with the additional assistance of a neighbor, in two or three days Mr. Lincoln had a neat house of
about eighteen feet square, the logs composing which
being fastened together in the usual manner by notches,
and the cracks between them filled with mud. It had only
one room, but some slabs laid across logs overhead gave
additional accommodations which were obtained by climbing a rough ladder in one corner. A bed, table and four
stools were then made by the two settlers, father and son,
and the building was ready for occupancy. The loft was
Abe's bedroom, and there night after night for many
years, he who now occupies the most exalted position in
the gift of the American people, and who dwells in the
"White House" at Washington, surrounded by all the
comforts that wealth and power can give, slumbered with
one coarse blanket for his mattress and another for his
covering, Although busy during the ensuing winter with
his axe, he dd not neglect his reading and spelling, and
also practised frequently with a rifle, the first evidence of
his skill as a marksman being manifested, much to the
delight of his parents, in the killing of a wild turkey,
which had approached too near the cabin.  The knowledge
of the use of the rifle was indispensable in the border
settlements at that time, as the greater portion of the food
required for the settlers was procured by it, and the family
which had not among its male members one or more who
could discharge it with accuracy, wvas very apt to suffer
from a scarcity of comestibles.




26  LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
DEATII OF MRS. LINCOLN-"ABE" LEARNS TO
WRITE.
A little more than a year after removing to Spencer
county, Mrs. Lincoln died, an event which brought desolation to the hearts of her husband and children, but to
none so much as to Abe. He had been a dutiful son, and
she one of the most devoted of mothers, and to her instruction may be traced many of those traits and characteristics for which even now he is remarkable. Soon
after her death, the bereaved lad had an offer which promised to afford him other employment during the long,
monotonous evenings, than the reading of books, a young
man who had removed into the neighborhood having
offered to teach him how to write. The opportunity was
too fraught with benefit to be rejected, and after a few
weeks of practice under the eye of his instructor, and also
out of doors with a piece of chalk or charred stick, he was
able to write his name, and in less than twelve months
could and did write a letter.
HIS FATHER MARRIES AGAIN-ABE FINISHES
HIS EDUCATION.
During the next year Mr. Lincoln married Mrs. Sally
Johnston, of Elizabethtown, Kentucky, a widow-lady with
three children, and who was admirably adapted to supply
the vacancy which existed in the Lincoln family; and a
superior woman, between whom and Abe a most devoted
attachment sprung up, which ever afterwards continued.
About the same time a person named Crawford moved into
the neighborhood, and understanding how to read and
write and the rudiments of arithmetic, was induced to
open a school, to which Abe was sent, and in which he
greatly improved his knowledge of the first two branches,
and soon mastered the second. His school-garb comprised




LIFE A-ND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.  27
a suit of dressed buckskin and a cap made from a raccoon
skin. His memory was retentive, and as he took an unusual pride in his studies, his close application made him
a favorite scholar with his teacher, while his superior
knowledge, limited though it was, caused him to be used
by the more ignorant settlers as their scribe whenever they
had letters to be written. A brief period at this school,
and to use a fashionable phrase, his education was finished.
Six months of instruction within the walls of an insignificant school house is all the education that Abraham Lincoln has received during a long lifetime, a greater portion
of which has been spent in public positions, where ability
and talent were indispensable requisites.
BECOMES A HIRED HAND ON A FLATBOAT.
For four or five years after leaving school, or until he
was eighteen, he constantly labored in the woods with his
axe, cutting down trees and splitting rails, and during
the evenings, read such works as he could borrow from
the other settlers. A year later, he was hired by a man
living near by, at ten dollars a month, to go to New
Orleans on a flatboat loaded with stores, which were
destined for sale at the plantations on the Mississippi
river, near the Crescent City, and with but one companion
started on his rather dangerous journey. At night they
tied up alongside of the bank, and rested upon the hard
deck with a blanket for a covering, and during the hours
of light, whether their lonely trip was cheered by a bright
sun or made disagreeable in the extreme by violent storms,
their craft floated down the stream, its helmsmen never for a
moment losing their spirits, or regretting their acceptance
of the positions they occupied.  Nothing occurred to mar
the success of the trip, nor the excitement naturally incident to a flatboat expedition of some eighteen hundred
miles, save a midnight attack by a party of negroes, who,




28  LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
after a severe conflict, were whipped by Abe and his
comrade and compelled to flee, and after selling their
goods at a'Handsome profit, the young merchants returned
to Indiana.
THEB FAMILY REMOVE TO ILLINOIS-ABE
SEEKS HIS FORTUNE AMONG STRANGERS.
In March, 1830, Mr. Thomas Lincoln removed his
family to Illinois, their household articles being transported
thither in large wagons drawn by oxen, Abe himself
driving one of the teams. Upon the journey, and while
crossing the bottom lands of the Kaskaskia river, the
males of the family were compelled to wade through
water up to their waists. In two weeks they reached
Decatur, Macon county, Illinois, near the centre of that
State, and in another day were at the tract of land
(ten acres) on the north side of the Sangamon river, and
about ten miles west of Decatur. A log cabin was immediately erected, and Abe proceeded to split the rails for
the fence with which the lot was to be enclosed. As a
rail-splitter, as a tiller of the soil, or as a huntsman, to
whose accuracy of aim the family depended in a great
measure for their daily food, young Abraham Lincoln
was active, earnest and laborious, and when in the following spring he signified his intention to leave his home to
seek his fortune among strangers, the tidings were received by his parents and friends with the most profound
sorrow.
Confident that a more extended field of observation and
action would be more suitable to his tastes and disposition,
he packed up what little clothing he possessed, and went
westward into Menard county. He worked on a farm
in the vicinity of Petersburg, during the ensuing summer
and winter, at the same time improving himself, in read
ing, writing, grammar, and arithmetic.




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAMT LINCOLN.  29
HE TAKES ANOTHER TRIP TO NEW ORLEANSBECOMES MILLER AND SALESMAN.
Early in the following spring he was hired by a man
named Offutt, to assist in taking a flatboat to New
Orleans; and, as it was found impossible to purchase a
suitable boat, Abe lent a willing and industrious hand in
building one at Sangamon, from whence, when completed,
it was floated into the Mississippi river. The trip was
made, and his employer was so much gratified with the
industry and tact of his hired hand, that he engaged him
to take charge of his mill and store in the village of New
Salem. In this position, "Honest Abe," as he was now
called, won the respect and confidence of all with whom
he had business dealings, while socially, he was much
beloved by the residents-young and old-of the place.
He was affable, generous, ever ready to assist the needy
or to sympathize with the distressed, and never was
known to be guilty of a dishonorable act.
HIS SERVICES IN THE BLACK HAWK WAR.
Early in the following year the Black Hawk War broke
out, and the Governor of Illinois calling for troops, Abe
determined to offer his services; and a recruiting station
being opened in New Salem, he placed his name the first
on the roll; and by his influence inducing many of his
friends and companions to do likewise, a company was
soon organized, and Abe was unanimously elected captain.
The company marched to Beardstown, and from there to
the seat of war; but during their term of enlistment —.
thirty days-were not called into active service. A new
levy was then called for, and he re-enlisted as a private,
and at the end of thirty days again re-enlisted, and re.
mained with his regiment until the war ended.
2




30  LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
IS NOMINATED FOR THE LEGISLATURE AND
IS DEFEATED.
Soon after his return from this campaign, in the progress of which he proved himself an efficient and zealous
soldier, although his regiment was not brought in conflict
with the enemy, or as he subsequently expressed it, he
" did not see any live fighting Indians, but had a good
many bloody struggles with the mosquitoes," he was
waited upon by several of the influential citizens of;New
Salem, who asked his consent to nominate him for the
uegislature. He had only been a resident of the county for
nine months, but as a thorough-going "Henry Clay man"
was needed, lie was deemed the most suitable person to run,
particularly as it was believed that his popularity would
ensure success in a county which- had, the year before,
given General Jackson a large majority for President.
There were eight aspirants for the legislative position;
but, although Abraham received two hundred and seventyseven votes out of two hundred and eighty-four, cast in
New Salem, he was not elected, the successful candidate
leading him a few votes.
BECOMES A MERCHANT AND SURVEYOR.
Soon after his political defeat he engaged in the mercantile business, but in a few months sold out, and under
the tuition of John Calhoun (in later years President of
the Lecompton Constitutional Convention) became proficient in surveying, an occupation which for more than a
year he found very remunerative for a novice. HEe was
also for a time Postmaster of New Salem.
IS ELECTED TO THE LEGISLATURE-STUDIES
LAW
In Augrrt. 1 q.34, he was again nominated for the Legislature, and wab clected by a large majority; and in 1836,




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.  81
1838, and 1840, was re-elected. While attending the proceedings of the first session, he determined to become a lawyer, and being placed in possession of the necessary books
through the kindness of the Hon. John T. Stuart, applied
himself to study, and in 1836 was admitted to practice at
the bar. In April, 1837, he removed to Springfield, and
became a partner of Mr. Stuart.
A THRILLING INCIDENT IN HIS LEGAL
CAREER.
One instance which occurred during his early legal
practice is worthy of extended publication. At a camp
meeting held in Menard county, a fight took place which
ended in the murder of one of the participants in the
quarrel. A young man named Armstrong, a son of the
aged couple for whom many years before Abraham Lincoln had worked, was charged with the deed, and being
arrested and examined, a true bill was found against him,
and he was lodged in jail to await his trial. As soon as
Mr. Lincoln received intelligence of the affair, he addressed
a kind letter to Mrs. Armstrong, stating his anxiety that
her son should have a fair trial, and offering in return for
her kindness to him while in adverse circenustances some
years before, his services gratuitously. Investigation convinced the volunteer attorney that the young man was the
victim of a conspiracy, and he determined to postpone the
case until the excitement had subsided. The day of trial
however finally arrived, and the accuser testified positively
that he saw the accused plunge the knife into the heart of
the murdered man. I-He remembered all the circumstances
perfectly; the murder was committed about half-past nine
o'clock at night, and the moon was shining brightly.
Mr. Lincoln reviewed all the testimony carefully, and
then proved conclusively that the moon which the accuser
had sworn was shining brightly, did not rise until an hour




32  LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
or more after the murder was committed. Other discrepancies were exposed, and in thirty minutes after the
jury retired they returned with a verdict of " Not Guilty."
A PROTEST AGAINST SLAVERY.
On the third of March, 1837, a protest was presented
to the House of Representatives of Illinois and signed by
"Daniel Stone' and Abraham  Lincoln, Representatives
from Sangamon county," which is the first record that we
have of the sentiments of the subject of our sketch on the
slavery question. It was in opposition to a series of resolutions which had been adopted, taking an extreme Southern view of slavery, for which Mr. Lincoln refused to vote,
and subsequently handed in the protest.
IS A CANDIDATE  FOR  PRESIDENTIAL
ELECTOR.
In every campaign from 1836 to 1852, he was a Whig
candidate for Presidential Elector, and in 1844, he stumped
the entire State of Illinois for Henry Clay; and then
crossing the line into Indiana, spoke daily to immense
gatherings, until the day of election. His style of speaking was pleasing to the masses of the people, and his
earnest appeals were not only well received, but were
productive of much benefit to his favorite candidate.
Accustomed from early childhood to the habits and peculiarities of all kinds and conditions of men-the refined
and the vulgar, the intelligent and the illiterate, the rich
and the poor —he knew exactly what particular style of
language best suited his hearers, and the result was that
be was always listened to with a degree of attention and
interest which few political speakers receive.
MR. LINCOLN  ELECTED  TO  CONGRESS -HIS
VOTES AND  SPEECHES  DURING  HIS CONGRESSIONAL TERM.
In 1846, Mr. Lincoln was elected to Congress from the




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAMI LINCOLN.  33
Central District of Illinois, by a majority of over fifteen
hundred votes, the largest ever given in that District to
any candidate opposed to the Democratic party. Illinois
elected seven [Representatives that year; and all were
Democrats but Mr. Lincoln.  lie took his seat on the
first AMonday of December, 1847, and during the exciting
session that followed, cast his vote pro or con. on every
important question, and on more than one occasion displayed his eloquence and superior argumentative ability.
One of his first votes was given on the twentieth of December in favor of the following resolution:
"Resolved, That if, in the judgment of Congress, it be necessary to improve the navig'ation of a iiver to expedite and render
secure the movements of our army, and save.fromn delay and loss
our arms and munitions of war, that Congress has the po.wer to
improve such river.
"Resolved, That if it be necessary for the preservation of the
lives of our seamen, repairs, safety, or maintenance of our vessels-of-war, to improve a harbor or inlet, either on our Atlantic
or Lake coast, Congress has the power to make such inmprovement."
On the twenty-second of the same month, he voted in
favor of a similar resolution, and on the same day offered
the following series of resolutions, which he introduced
with one of his characteristic speeches, humorous at one
moment and logical at the next. Although, like the large
majority of the Whig party opposed to the declaration of
war with Mexico by the President, he never failed to vote
for any resolution or bill which had for its object the sending of supplies to our troops who had been ordered to the
seat of war.  The resolutions read as follows:
"V7Whereas, The President of the United States, in his message of May 11th, 1846, has declared'that the Mexican Government not only refused to receive him (the envoy of the United
States) or listen to his propositions, but, after a long-continued
series of menaces, have at last invaded our territory and shed
the blood of our fellow.citizens on our own soil.'
"And again, in his message of December 8th, 1846, that'we




34 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
had ample cause of war against Mexico long before the breaking out of hostilities, but even then we forbore to take redress
into our own hands until Mexico herself became the aggressor
by invading our soil in hostile array, and shedding the blood of
our citizens.'
"And yet again, in the message of December 7th, 1847, that'the Mexican Government refused even to hear the terms of
adjustment which he (our minister of peace) was authorized to
propose; and, finally, under wholly unjustifiable pretexts, involved the two countries in war by invading the territory of the
State of Texas, striking the first blow, and shedding the blood
of our citizens on our own soil.'
" And whereas, This House is desirous to obtain a full knowledge of all the facts which go to establish whether the particular spot on which the blood of our citizens was so shed, was or
was not at that time our own soil. Therefore,
"Resolved, by the House of Representatives, That the President of the United States be respectfully requested to inform
this House,
"1st. Whether the spot on which the blood of our citizens
was shbd, as in his messages declared, was or was not within the
Territory of Spain, at least after the treaty of 1819, until the
Mexican revolution.
"2nd. Whether that spot is or is not within the territory
which was wrested from Spain by the revolutionary Government of Mexico.
" 3rd. Whether that spot is or is not within a settlement of
people, which settlement has existed ever since long before the
Texas revolution, and until its inhabitants fled before the approach of the United States Army.
"4th. Whether that settlement is or is not isolated from any
and all other settlements by the Gulf and the Rio Grande on
the south and west, and by wide uninhabited regions on the north
and east.
" 5th. Whether the people of that settlement, or a majority
of them, or any of them, have ever submitted themselves to the
Government or laws of Texas or of the United States, by con.
sent or by compulsion, either by accepting office, or voting at
elections, or paying tax or serving on juries, or having process
served upon them, or in any other way.
"6th. Whether the people of that settlement did or did not
flee from the approach of the United States Army, leaving unprotected their homes and their growing crops, before the blood
was shed, as in the message stated; and whether the first blood,
so shed, was or was not shed within the enclosure of one of tIe
people who had thus fled from it.
" 7th. Whether our citizens, whose blood was shed, as in his
messages declared, were or were not, at that time, armed officers




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.  85
and soldiers, sent into that settlement by the military order of
the President, through the Secretary of War.
" 8th. Whether the military force of the United States was or
was not so sent into that settlement after General Taylor had
more than once intimated to the lWar Department that, in his
opinion, no such movement was necessary to the defence or protection of Texas."
On several occasions during the session, he voted for
the reception of petitions and memorials in favor of the
abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia, against
the slave-trade, and advocating the prohibition of slavery
in the territory that might be acquired from Mexico.
On the seventeenth of February, 1848, ~Mr. Lincoln
voted for a Loan bill reported by the Committee of Ways
and Means, authorizing the raising of sixteen millions of
dollars to enable the Government to provide for its debts,
principally incurred in Mexico.
On the eleventh of May, in moving to reconsider a vote
by which a bill having reference to the public lands had
passed, he made the following remarks:
" He stated to the House that he had made this motion for
the purpose of obtaining an opportunity to say a few words
in relation to a point raised in the course of the debate on
this bill, which he would now proceed to make, if in order.
The point in the case to which he referred, arose on the amendment that was submitted by the gentleman from Vermont (Mr.
Collamer), in Committee of the Whole on the State of the Union,
and which was afterwards renewed in the House, in relation to
the question whether the reserved sections, which, by some bills
heretofore passed, by which an appropriation of land had been
made to Wisconsin, had been enhanced in value, should be reduced to the minimum price of the public lands. The question
of the reduction in value of those sections was, to him, at this
tine, a matter very nearly of indifference. Hle was inclined to
desire that Wisconsin should be obliged by having it reduced.
But the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. C. B. Smith), the Chairn:,,I of the Committee on the Territories, associated that question with the general question, which is now, to some extent,
agitated in Congress, of making appropriations of alternate sec
tions of land to aid the States in making internal imprQov~eent
and enhanci,ng the prices of the section reserved, and *41: go,




36   LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
tleman from Indiana took ground against that policy. He did
not make any special argument in favor of WVisconsin; but he
took ground generally against the policy of giving alternate sections of land, and enhancing the price of the reserved sections.
Now, he (Mr. L.) did not at this time, take the floor for the
purpose of attempting to make an argument on the general subject. IHe rose simply to protest against the doctrine which the
gentleman from Indiana had avowed in the course of what he
(Mr. L.) could not but consider an unsound argument.
" It might however be true, for any thing he knew, that the
gentleman from Indiana might convince him that his argument
was sound; but he (Mr. L.) feared that gentleman would not be
able to convince a majority in Congress that it was sound. It
was true, the question appeared in a different aspect to persons
in consequence of a difference in the point from which they
looked at it. It did not look to persons residing east of the
mountains as it did to those who lived among the public lands.
But, for his part, he would state that if Congress would make a
donation of alternate sections of public lands for the purpose
of internal improvement in his State, and forbid the reserved
sections being sold at $1.25, he should be glad to see the appropriation made, though he should prefer it if the reserved sections were not enhanced in price. He repeated, he should be
glad to have such appropriations made, even though the reserved
sections should be enhanced in price. He did not wish to be
understood as concurring in any intimation that they would refuse to receive such an appropriation of alternate sections of
land because a condition enhancing the price of the reserved
sections should be attached thereto. He believed his position
would now be understood, if not, he feared he should not be able
to make himself understood.
" But before he took his seat he would remark that the Senate,
during the present session, had passed a bill making appropriations of land on that principle for the benefit of the State in
which he resided-the State of Illinois. The alternate sections
were to be given for the purpose of constructing roads, and the
reserved sections were to be enhanced in value in consequence.
Wthen the bill came here for the action of this House, it had
been received, and was now before the Committee on Public
Lands-he desired much to see it passed as it was, if it could
be put in a more favorable form for the State of Illinois. When
it should be before this House, if any member from a section of
the Union in which these lands did not lie, whose interest might
be less than that which he felt, should propose a reduction of
the price of the reserved sections to $1.25, he should be much
obliged; but he did not think it would be well for those who
came from the section of the Union in which the lands lay, to
do so. He wished it, then, to be understood, that he did not
join in the warfare against the principle which had engaged the




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAIt LINCOLN.  37
minds of some members of Congress who were favorable to improvements in the western country.
" There was a good deal of force, he admitted, in what fell
from the Chairman of the Committee on Territories. It might
be that there was no precise justice in raising the price of the
reserved sections to $2.50 per acre. It might be proper that
the price should be enhanced to some extent, though not to
double the usual price; but he should be glad to have such an
appropriation with the reserved sections at $2.50; he should be
better pleased to have the price of those sections at something
less; and he should be still better pleased to have them without
any enhancement at all.
"There was one portion of the argument of the gentleman
from Indiana, the C(hairman of the Committee on Territories
(Mr. Smith), which he wished to take occasion to say that he
did not view as unsound. -lIe alluded to the statement that the
General Government was interested in these internal improvenents being made, inasmuch as they increased the value of the
lands that were unsold, and they enabled the Government to sell
lands which could not be sold without them. Thus, then, the
Government gained by internal improvements, as well as by the
general good which the people derived from them, and it might
be, therefore, that the lands should not be sold for more than
$1.50, instead of the price being doubled. I1e, however, merely
mentioned this in passing, for he only rose to state, as the principle of giving these lands for the purposes which he had mentioned had been laid hold of and considered favorably, and as
there were some gentlemen who had constitutional scruples
about giving money for these purposes, who would not hesitate
to give land, that he was not willing to have it understood that
he was one of those who made war against that principle. This
was all he desired to say, and having accomplished the object
with which he rose, he withdrew his motion to reconsider."
On the nineteenth of the following month he first had
an opportunity to record his views upon the Tariff question, by voting in favor of a resolution instructing the
Commnittee of Ways and Means to inquire int6 the expediency of reporting a bill increasing the duties on foreign
luxuries of all klinds, and on " such foreir(  manufactures
as are -now comingl into ruinous competition with Amlerican labor."  Ile subsequently voted for a resolution in.
structing the Commiittee of Ways and Means to inquire
into the expediency of reporting a Tariff bill based upon
tho principles of the Tariff of 1842.




38 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
On the 28th of July, 1848, the celebrated bill estab.
lishing Territorial governments for Oregon, California and
New Mexico, the peculiar feature of which was a provision prohibiting the Legislatures of California and New
Mexico from passing laws in favor of or against slavery,
and providing that the laws of the Legislatures should be
subject to the sanction of Congress, was argued, and after
an exciting debate, laid on the table, Mr. Lincoln voting
with Mr. Webster, Mir. Corwin, and other illustrious colleagues for this disposition of the bill.
On the sixteenth of January, 1849, Mr. Lincoln offered
the following substitute for a resolution which he had
voted against, not being satisfied with all its provisions:
"Resolved, That the Committee on the District of Columbia
oe instructed to report a bill in substance, as follows:
" Sec. 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States in Congress assembled, That no person not now within the District of Columbia, nor now owned by
any person or persons now resident within it, nor hereafter born
within it, shall ever be held in slavery within said District.
Sec. 2. That no person now within said District, or now owned
by any person or persons now resident within the same, or hereafter born within it, shall ever be held in slavery without the
limits of said District: Provided, That officers of the Government of the United States, being citizens of the slaveholding
States, coming into said District on public business, and remaining only so long as may be reasonably necessary for that object,
may be attended into and out of said District, and while there,
by the necessary servants of themselves and their families, without their right to hold such servants in service being impaired.
" Sec. 3. That all children born of slave mothers within said
District, on or after the 1st day of January, in the year of our
Lord 1850, shall be free; but shall be reasonably supported and
educated by the respective owners of their mothers, or by their
heirs or representatives, and shall serve reasonable service as
apprentices to such owners, heirs, or representatives, until they
respectively arrive at the age of  --  years, when they shall
be entirely free: And the municipal authorities of Washington
and Georgetown. within their respective jurisdictional limits,
are hereby empowered and required to make all suitable and
necessary provision for enforcing obedience to this section, on
the part of both masters and apprentices., Sec. 4. That all persons now within this District, lawfully




LIFE ANTD SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.  89
held as slaves, or now owned by any person or persons now resident within said District, shall remain such at the will of their
respective owners, their heirs or legal representatives: Pro.
vided that such owner, or his legal representatives, may at any
time receive from the Treasury of the United States the full
value of his or her slave, of the class in this section mentioned,
upon whi h such slave shall be forthwith and forever free: AnCd
provided further, That the President of the United States, the
Secretary of State, and the Secretary of the Treasury, shall be
a board for determining the value of such slaves as their owners
desire to emancipate under this section, and whose duty it shalr
be to hold a session for the purpose on the first MIonday of eacb
calendar month, to receive all applications, and, on satisfactory
evidente in each case that the person presented for valuation
is a slave, and of the class in the section mentioned, and is
owned by the applicant, shall value such slave at his or her full
cash value, and give to the applicant an order on the Treasury
for the amount, and also to such slave a certificate of freedom.
"Sec. 5. That the municipal authorities of Washington and
Georgetown, within their respective jurisdictional limits, are
hereby empowered and required to provide active and efficient
means to arrest and deliver up to their owners all fugitive slaves
escaping into said District.
" Sec. 6. T'hat the elective officers within said District of Columbia are hereby empowered and required to open polls at all
the usual places of holding elections, on the first Monday of
April next, and receive the vote of every free white male citizen above the age of twenty-one years, having resided within
said District for the period of one year or more next preceding
the time of such voting for or against this act, to proceed in
taking said votes in all respects not herein specified, as at elections under the municipal laws, and with as little delay as possible to transmit correct statements of the votes so cast to the
President of the United States; and it shall be the duty of the
President to count such votes immediately, and if a majority
of them be found to be for this act, to forthwith issue his proclamation giving notice of the fact; and this act shall only be
in full force and effect on and after the day of such proclamation.
" Sec. 7. That involuntary servitude for the punishment of
crime, vhereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall
in nowise be prohibited by this act.
" Sec. 8. That for all purposes of this act, the jurisdictional
limits of Washington are extended to all parts of the District
of Columbia not included within the present limits of Georgetown."
We have given a sufficient record of Mfr. Lincoln's ser
vices as a Representative in Congress, to show that in his




40   LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
numerous votes and remarks upon the slavery question,
he was uniformly consistent, and a determined opponent
to that peculiar institution which, Mr. Corwin truly remarked, was an exotic that blights with its shade the soil
in which it is planted. He with almost equal determination opposed the annexation of Texas, and voted mnore
than forty different times in favor of the Wihlot Proviso.
BECOMES A. DELEGATE  TO  THE  NATIO1NAL
CONVENTION  OF  1S48.
In the Whig National Convention of 1848, he was an
active delegate, and earnestly advocated the selection of
General Zachary Taylor as the nominee for the Presidency, and during the canvass which followed, he traversed
the States of Indiana and Illinois, speaking in behalf of
his favorite candidate and the choice of his party.
lIE  IS  NOMINATED  FOR  UNITED  STATES
SENATOR, BUT  WITHDRAWS.
In 1.849 he was a candidate before the Legislature of
Illinois for United States Senator, but his political opponents being in the majority, General Shields was chosen.
From that time until 1854, he confined himself almost
exclusively to the practice of his profession, but in that
year he again entered the political arena, and battled indefatigably in the celebrated campaign which resulted in
victory for the first time to the opposition of the Democratic party in Illinois, and gave that State a Republican
Legislature, and sent Mr. Trumbull to the United States
Senate. During the canvass, Mr. Lincoln was frequently
brought into controversy upon the stand with Stephen A.
Douglas, one of the discussions, that was held on the fourth
of October, 1854, during the progress of the annual State
Fair, being particularly remarkable as the great discussion
of the campaign.




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.  41
At the election of United States Senator, nine-tenths of
the majority were Whigs and in favor of Mr. Lincoln, and
the other tenth were Democrats, but not in favor of voting
for a Whig, and for the purpose of securing the success of
a man whom he knew was opposed to the Nebraska bill,
and thus preventing the election of a third person who had
little or nothing in common with the Republican party,
which was then in its conception, he entreated his friends
to vote for Mr. Trumbull. Mr. Lincoln was subsequently
offered the nomination for Governor of Illinois, but declined the honor in favor of Mr. Bissell; was also presented, but ineffectually, at the first Republican National
Convention for Vice-President; and at the next Presidential election headed the Fremont electoral ticket, and
labored industriously in support of that candidate.
AGAIN  NOMINATED  FOR  TIE  SENATE-HIS
SPEECI-IES IN- THE  CELEBWRATED LINCOLN —
DOUGLAS  CAMBPAIGN.
On the second of June, 1.85, the Republican State
Convention met at Springfield, and nominated Mr. Lincoln as their candidate for the United States Senate. At
the close of their proceedings the honored recipient of their
suffrage delivered a speech, which was a forcible exposition of the views and aims of the party of which he was
to be the standard-bearer.
The contest which followed was one of the most exciting and remarkable ever witnessed in this country. Mr
Stephen A. Douglas, his opponent, had few superiors as
a political debater, and while he had made many enemies
by his course upon the Nebraska bill, his personal popularity had been greatly increased by his independence, and
by the opposition manifested to him by the Administration.'His re-election, however, to the Senate would
have been equivalent to an indorsement of his acts and




42   LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
views by his Commonwealth, and at the same time
would have promoted his prospects for the Presidential
nomination..  The  Republicans, therefore, determined
to defeat him if possible, and to increase the probabilities
of success in the movement, selected Mr. Lincoln as the
man who was most certain of securing the election. Illinois was stumped throughout its length and breadth by
both candidates and their respective advocates, and thle
people of the entire country watched with interest the
struggle.  From county to county, township to townshil),
and village to village, the two leaders travelled, frequently
in the same car or carriage, and in the presence of
immense crowds of men, women and children-rfor the
wives and daughters of the hardy yeomanry were naturally interested —face to face, these two opposing champions argued the important points of their political belief,
and contended nobly for the mastery.
During the campaign, Mr. Lincoln paid the following
tribute to the Declaration of Independence
"These communities, (the thirteen colonies,) by their representatives in old Independence Hall, said to the world of
men,' We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are
born equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit 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 Divine 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 living, but they reached
forward and seized upon the furthest posterity. They created
a beacon to guide their children and their children's children,
ad 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




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.  43
whsile men, were entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, their posterity might look up again to the Declaration
of Independence, and take courage to renew the battle which
their fathers began, so that truth, and justice and 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 circumscribe 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 Independence; if you have listened to suggestions which would take
away from its grandeur, and mutilate the fair symmetry of its
proportions; if you have been inclined to believe that all men
are not created equal in those inalienable rights enumerated by
our chart of liberty, let me entreat you to come back —return to
the fountain whose waters spring close by the blood of the Revolution. 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 Independence.
"You may do any thing with me you choose, if you will but
heed these sacred principles. You may not only defeat me for
the Senate, but you may take me and put me to death. While
pretending no indifference to earthly 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 insignificant
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."
PEN-PORTRAITS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
As we have 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 political contests. Copious
extracts from the speeches of both Mr. Lincoln and Mr.
Dcuglas were published in the journals of the day, and
criticisms of the orators and their discussions ap~peared in
the leading magazines and newspapers.
From some of the latter we select the following, for the
purpose of showing in what estimation the talents and




44 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
ability of the honorable subject of our sketch were held
at the time of which we now more particularly speak, and
to give those readers of this work who have not had the
opportunity to see Mr. Lincoln, an idea of his personal
appearance:
One writer gives the following pen-portrait:
"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 firln, is never brisk. He steps
slowly and deliberately, almost always with his head inclined
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 oppressive. 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 heavier 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 description. It nearer resembles that of
Clay than that of Webster; but it is unlike either. It is very
large, and, phrenologically, well proportioned, betokening power
in all its developments. A  slightly Roman 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.
Hie 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.
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 indulges in any games of chance. He is particularly cautious




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.  45
about incurring pecuniary obligations for any purpose whatever,
and in debt, he is never content until the score is discharged.
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
sufficient 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 Republican 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 goodsized 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 countrymen."
Another person gives the subjoined sketch of him:
"In personal appearance, Mr. Lincoln, or, as he is more
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 indicates 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 octoroon; 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 nostrils 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 cf his face.
"As a speaker he is ready, precise, and fluent. His manner
before a popular assembly is as he pleases to m ke it, being
either superlatively ludicrous, or very impressive.    le employs
but little gesticulation, but when he desires to make a point, produces a shrug of his shoulders, an elevation of his eyebrows, a
3




46   LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
depression of his mouth, and a general malformation of countenance 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 possible to
carry on the fiercest political warfare without once descending
to rude personality and course denunciation.  We 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 call be
truthfully charged against Abraham Lincoln. 1]is 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 terrm  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-confidence
that does not a little to inspire Vbs 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 languaoe. He commenced 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 Dmitted which deserved attention,




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.  47
" He then proceeded to defend the Republican party. Here
he charged Mr. Douglas with doing nothing for freedom;  with
disregarding the rights and interests of the colored man: and
for about forty minutes he spoke with a power that we have
seldom heard equalled.'There was a grandeur in his thoughts,
a comprehensiveness in his argunments, al]d a binding force in his
conclusions, which were perfectly irresistible.'l'he vast throng
were silent as death; every eye  was fixed upon the speaker,
and all gave him serious aittention.  lie was the tall man eloquent; his counltenal)ce glowed with animination, and his eye
glistened with an intelligence that made it lustl'ous. lHe was nid
lonloer awkward and ungailllS; but gltlceful, bold, commandilng
"Mr. Douglas had been quietly s1inokiullr up to this time; but
here he forgot his cigar and listened (l  itil anxious attention.
When he rose to reply he appeared excited, disturbed, and his
second effort seemed to us vast.ly ilym-1rior to his first. Mr. Lincoln had given him a great task, and Mir. Douglas had not time
to answer him, even if he had the ability."
MR. LINCOLN DEFEATED BY lMIR. DOUGLAS.
The election-day  at length arrived, and although tho
efforts of Mr. Lincoln resulted in aln irmmense increase of
the Republican vote, whatever aspirations he had for personal success Nwere frustrated.  A  vote of 12G,084 was
cast for the Republican candidates, 121,940 for the Douglas Democrats, and 5,0)91 for the Leconipton candidates,
but Mr. Douglas was elected United States Senator by
the Legislature, in which his supporters had a majority
of eight on joint ballot.
Although defeated in the hope of securing Ar. Lincoln
as their representative in the United States Senate, the
Republicans were not discouraged, and from that time determined that their favorite leader should be rewarded
with even mnore exalted honors.
IS NAIMED FOR TIE PESDE.CYEIDENCE
OF  HIS SXAfLL  AS A  PRAIL-SPLITTEP.
lie was iimmnediately mentioned  prominently for the
Presidency, and at a mieeting   of the Illinois State Republican Convention, where he was present as a spectator, a




48 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
veteran Democrat of Macon county brought in and presented to the Convention two old fence-rails, gayly decorated with flags and ribbons, and upon which the follow
ing words were inscribed:
ABRAHAM LINCOLN,
THE RAIL CANDIDATE
FOR PRESIDENT IN 1860
Two rails from a lot of 3,000 made in 1830, by
Thos. Hanks and Abe Lincoln-whose
father was the first pioneer
of Macon county.
The event occasioned the most unbounded enthusiasm,
and for several minutes the most deafening applause resounded through the building.  Mr. Lincoln was vociferously called for, and arising from his seat, modestly acknowledged that he had split rails some thirty years previous in Macon county, and he was informed that those
before him were a small portion of the product of his
labor with the axe.
The fame of the able advocate of Republican principles
induced the members of that party in other States to secure his voice and influence in their behalf, and in behe fall
of 1859 he made several effective speeches in favor of the
cause.
HEIIS GREAT SPEECH  AT THE  COOPER  INSTITUTE, NEW YORK.
On the twenty-seventh of February, 1860, he made the
following forcible speech at the Cooper Institute, Niew
irk, before an immense audience:
"I1R. PRESIDENT AND FELLOW-CITIZENS OF NEW  YORK:
The facts with which I shall deal this evening are mainlv old




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAIAM LINCOLN. 49
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 just as well, and evee
better than we do now.'
" I fully indorse this and I adopt it as a text for this discourse
I so adopt it because it furnishes a precise and agreed starting
point for the discussion between Republicans and that wing of
emocracy 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
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 the 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 affirmative, and Republicans
the negative. This affirmative and denial form an issue; and
this issue-this question-is precisely what the text declares
our fathers understood 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 otherthe Congress of the Confederation had before them the question
of prohibiting slavery in that Territory; and four of the'thirty-nine' who afterward framed the Constitution were in that




15C LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
Coi, ~ess, and voted on that question, Of these, Roger Sher.
mn a, fihomas 1iffl;in and HIugh Williamson voted for the prohibiti,n-thus showingfr that, in their understanding, no line
dividi.ng local from  federal aurthority, nor any thing else, properly ft,,ade the Federal Government to control as to slavery in
federa! territory. The other of the four —James McHeenryvoted against the prohibition, showing that, for some cause, he
thought it improper to vote for it.
"In I T,7, still before the Constitution, but while the Convention was in session framing it, and while the Northwestern
Territory sald was the only territory owned by the United States
-the same question of prohibiting slavery in the territory
again came'iefore 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.'L'hey were
William  Blou,.t, William  Few and Abraham  Baldwin; and
they all voted lor the prohibition-thus showing that, in their
understanding, ao 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 prohibition became.a tew, being part of what is now well known as
the Ordinance of'8i.
"'l'he 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 Conetitution, an act was passed to enforce the Ordinance of'87
including the prohibition of slavery in the Northwestern Terriiory. The bill for this act was reported by one of the.'thirtynine,' Thomas Fitzsimmons, then a member of the House of
Representatives from  Penn3ylvania.  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 unanimolus passage.  In this Congress there were sixteen of the'thirty-nine' fathers who framed the original Constitution.
They were John Langdon, Nicholas Gilman, Win. S. Johnson,:Roger Sherman, Robert Morris, Thos. Fitzsimmons, William
Few, Abraham Baldwin, Rufus King, William Patterson,
George Clymer, Richard Bassett, George Read, 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
iernitory; else both their fidelity to correct principle, and their
oath to support the Constitution, would have constrained them
to oppse the prohibition.
"A&-is, George Washington, another of the'thirty-nine,




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.  51
was then President of tie 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, forbade the Federal Government to control as to slavery in federal
territory.
" No great while after the adoption of the original Constitation, 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 Iississippi and Alabama. In both deeds of cession it was
made a condition by the ceding States that the Federal Government should not prohibit slavery in the ceded country.
Besides 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,
George Read, and Abraham  Baldwin.  They all, probably,
voted for it. Certainly they would have placed their opposition
to it upon record, if, in their understanding, any line dividing
local from federal authority, or any thing in the Constitution,
properly 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 that part of it which now constitutes the State
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
thoroughly 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




52   LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
the owner, and for his own use as a settler; the penalty in all
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!he
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 recording their opposition to it, if, in their understanding, it violated
either the line proper dividing local from Federal authority or
any provision of the Constitution.                    A
"In 1819-20, came and passed the Missouri question. Many
votes were taken, by yeas and nays, in both branches of Congress, upon the various phases of the general question. Two
of thei'thirty-nine'-iRufus King and Charles Pinckney-were
members of that Congress. Mr. King steadily voted for slavery
prohibition and against all compromises, while Mr. Pinckney as
steadily voted against slavery prohibition and against all compromises. By this Mr. King showed that, in his understanding,
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' thirtynine,' 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 in
1804, and two in 1819-20-there would be thirty-one of them.
But this would be counting John Langdon, Roger Sherman,
William Few, Rufus King, and George Read, each twice, and
Abraham Baldwin four times. IThe 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.
"I Iere, 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 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  T'ius the twenty-one acted; and, as actions




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.  53
speak louder than words, so actions under such responsibility
speak still louder.
"Two of the twenty-three voted against Congressional prohibition of slavery in the Federal territories, in the instances in
which they acted upon the question. But for what reasons they
sc 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 sufficient grounds of expediency. No one who has sworn to support the Constitution, can
conscientiously vote for what he understands to be an uinconstitutional measure, however expedient he may think it; but one
may and ought to vote against a measure which he deems constitutional, if, at the same time, he deems it inexpedient. It,
therefore, would be unsafe to set down even the two who voted
against the prohibition, as having done so because, in their understanding, any proper division of local from Federal authority,
or any thing in the Constitution, forbade the Federal government to 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 territories. But there is much reason to believe that their understanding upon that question would not have appeared different
from that of their twenty-three compeers, had it been manifested
at all.
"For the purpose of adhering rigidly to the text, I have purposely omitted whatever understanding may have been manifested, by any person, however distinguished, other than the' thirty-nine' fathers who framed the original Constitution; and,
for the same reason, I have also omitted whatever understanding
may have been manifested by any of the'thirty-nine' even, on
any other phase of the general question of slavery. If we should
look into their acts and declarations on those other phases, as the
foreign slave-trade, and the morality and policy of slavery generally, it would appear to us that on the direct question of Federal control of slavery in Federal territories, the sixteen, if they
had acted at all,: would probably have acted just as the twentythree did. Among that sixteen were several of the most noted
anti-slavery men of those times-as Dr. Franklin, Alexander
Hamilton, and Governeur Morris-while there was not one now
known to have been otherwise, unless it may be John Rutledge,
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,
fr[bade the Federal government to control slavery in the Fed.




54   LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
eral territories, while all the rest probably had the same understanding.   Suclh, unquestionably, was the understanding of our
fathers who framed the original Constitution; and the text
afirirms that they understood the question better than we.
" Bit, so far, I have been considering the understanding of
the question nlanifested by the framers of the original Constitution. In and by the original instrument, a mode was provided
for anmenlding it; and, as I have already stated, the present
frame of government ulnder which we live consists of that
original, and twelve amenidatory articles framed and adopted
since. Those who now intsist that Federal control of slavery in
Federal territories violates the Constitution, point us to the
provisions which they suppose it thus violates; and, as I understand, they all fix upon provisions in these amendatory articles,
and not in the original instrument. The Supreme Court, in the
I)red Scott case, p)lant themselves upon the fifth amendment,
which provides that' no person shall be deprived of property
without due process of law;' while Senator Douglas and his
peculiar adherents plant themselves upon the tenth amendment,
providing that' the powers not granted by the Constitution are
reserved to the States respectively, and to the people.'
"Now, it so happens that these amendments were framed by
the first Congress which sat under the Constitution —the identical Congress which passed the act already mentioned, enforcing
the prohibition of slavery in the northwestern territory. Not
only was it the same Congress, but 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 progress
toward maturity, these Constitutional amendments, and this act
prohibiting slavery in all the territory the nation then owned.
FThe Constitutional 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 which that Congress deliberately
framed, and carried to maturity at the same time, are absolutely
inconsistent with each other? And does not such affirmation
become impudently absurd when coupled with the other affirmation, from the same mouth, that those who did the two things
alleged to be inconsistent understood whether they really were
inconsistent better than we-better than he who affirms that
they are inconsistent?




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.  55
"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 certa:nly include those who may be falirly called' our fathers
who framed the government under which we live.' And so assuining, 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 government to control as to
slavery in the Federal territories.  I go a step further. I defy
any one to show that any living man in the whole world ever
did, prior to the beginning of the present century (and I might
almost say prior to the beginning of the last half of the present
century), declare that, in his understanding, any proper division
of local from Federal authority, or any part of the Constitution,
forbade the Federal government to control as to slavery in the
Federal territories. T'o those who now so declare, I give, not
only'our fathers who framed the government under which we
live,' but with them all other living men within the century in
which it was framed, among whom to search, and they shall not
be able to find the evidence of a single man agreeing with them.
" Now, and here, let me guard a little against being misunderstood. 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-we reject all progress-all improvement. What I do say is, that if we would
supplant the opinions and policy of our fathers in any case, we
should do so upon evidence so conclusive, and argument so clear,
that even their great authority, fairly considered and weighed,
cannot stand; and most surely not in a case whereof we ourselves declare they understood the question better than we.
"If any man, at this day, sincerely believes that a proper
division of local from Federal authority, or any part of the
Constitution, forbids the Federal government to control as to
slavery in the Federal territories, he is right to say so, and to
enforce his position by all truthful evidence and 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 government under
which we live,' were of the same opinion-thus substituting falsehood and deception for truthful evidence and fair argument. If
any man, at this day, sincerely believes' our fathers, who framed
the government under which we live,' used and applied principles, in other cases, which ought to have led them to understand
that a proper division of local from Federal authority, or some
part of the Constitution, forbids the Federal government to
control as to slavery in the Federal territories, he is right to say
so. But he should, at the same time, brave the responsibility
of declaring that, in his opinion, he understands their principles




66   LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
better than they did themselves; and especially should he sot
shirk that responsibility by asserting that they' understoor  ihe
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 even better than we do now,' speak as
they spoke, and act as they acted upon it. This is all Republicalns ask, all Republicans desire, in relation to slavery. As
those fathers marked it, so let it be again marked, as an evil not
to be extended, but to be tolerated and protected only because
of and so far as its actual presence among us makes that toleration and protection a necessity. Let all the guaranties those
fathers gave it, be, not grudgingly, but fully and fairly maintained. For this Republicans contend, and with this, so far as
I know or believe, they will be content.
"And now, if they would listen-as I suppose they will not —
I would address a few words to the Southern people.
"I would say to them: You consider yourselves a reasonable
and a just people; and I consider that, in the general qualities
of reason and justice, you are not inferior to any other people.
Still, when you speak of us Republicans, you do so only to denounce us as reptiles, or, at the best, as no better than outlaws.
You will grant a hearing to pirates or murderers, but nothing
like it to' Black Republicans.' In all your contentions with
one another, each of you deems an unconditional condemnation
of' Black Republicanism' as the first thing to be attended to.
Indeed, such 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 and to
consider whether this is quite just to us, or even to yourselves?
"Bring forward your charges and specifications, and then be
patient long enough to hear us deny or justify.
" You say we are sectional. We deny it. That makes an
issue; and the burden of proof is upon you. You produce your
proof; and what is it?  Why, that our party has no existence
in your section-gets no votes in your section. The fact is substantially true; but does it prove the issue?  If it does, then,
in case we should, without change of principle, begin to get
votes in your section, we should thereby cease to be sectional
You cannot escape this conclusion; and yet, are you willinIg 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 sec.
tion 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




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.  57
repel you by any wrong principle or practice, the fault is ours;
but this brings us to where you ought to have started-to a discussion of the right or wrong of our principle. If our principle,
put in practice, would wrong your section for the benefit of ours,
or for any other object, then our principle, and we with it, are
sectional, and are justly opposed and denounced as such.
Meet us, then, on the question of whether our principle, put in
practice, would wrong your section; and so meet 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 your condemnation without a moment's
consideration.
" 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
warningj he had, as President of the United States, approved
and signed an act of Congress enforcing the prohibition of
slavery in the Northwestern Territory, which act embodied the
policy of the government upon that subject, up to and at the
very moment he penned that 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 fiee
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 WVashington, and we commend
it to you, together with his example pointing to the right application of it.
"But you say you are conservative-eminently conservative —
while we are revolutionary, destructive, or something of the
sort. What is 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 substituting 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; somle for Congress forbidding




58   LIFE  AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
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.  Consider, 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 is more prominent, but we deny that we made it so. It was
not we, but you, who discarded the old policy of the fathers.
We resisted, and still resist, your innovation; and thence comes
the greater prominence of the question. Would you have that
question reduced to its former proportions? Go back to that
old policy. What has been will be again, under the same conditions. If you 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 yourproof?  Harper's Ferry! John
Brown! John Brown was no Republican; and you have failed
to implicate a single Republican in his Harper's Ferry enterprise. If any member of our party is guilty in that nmatter, 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 and failed to
make the proof. You need not be told that persisting in a
charge which one does not know to be true is;3imply malicious
slander.
"Some of you admit that no Republican designedly aided or
encouraged the Harper's Ferry affair; but still insist that our
doctrines and 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 affiair. 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.'I'he elections came, and your expectations were not quite fulfillel. Every Republicatn man knew that, as to himself, at least,
your charge was a slander, and he was not much inclined by it
to cast his vote in your favor. Republican doctrines and declarations are accompanied with a continual protest against any




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHIAM LINCOLN.   59
interference whatever with your slaves, or with you about your
slaves.  Surely, this does not encourage them to revolt.  True,
we do, in common wvith our fathers, who framed the government
under which we live, declare our belief that slavery is wrong;
but the slaves do not hear us declare even this. For any thing
we say or do, the slaves would scarcely know there is a Republican party.  I believe they would not, in fact, generally know
it but for your misrepresentations of us in their hearing.  I a
your political contests among yourselves, each faction charges
the other with sympathy with Black Bepublicanism; and then,
to give point to the charge, defines Black Republicanism to
simply be insurrection, blood and thunder among the slaves.
" Slave insurrections are no more common now than they
were before the Republican party was organized.  What induced 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 Republicanism.  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 conimunication; 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 and
communicated to twenty individuals before some one of theum,
to save the life of a favorite master or mistress, would divulge
it.  This is the rule; and the slave revolution in Ilayti 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,
Dnly 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 extendi-ng to a score or so, will
continue to occur as the natural results of slavery; but no general insurrection of slaves, as I thinlk, can happen in this country
for a long( time.  Whoever much fears, or much hopes, for such
an event, will be alike disa-ppointed.
"In the lang'uage of Mr. Jefferson, uttered many years ago,'It is still in our power to direct the process of emnancipatioin.
and deportation, peaceably. and in such slow degrees, as that the
evil will wear  off insensibly; and their place be, pari passe,
filled up by free white laborers.  If, on the contrary, it is left tP




60   LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
force itself on, human nature must shudder at the prospect
held up.'
" Mr. Jefferson did not mean to say, nor do I, that the powel
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 oil any
Aminerican soil which is now free from slavery.
" John Brown's effort was peculiar. It was not a slave insurrection. It was an attempt by white men to get up a revolt
among slaves, in which the slaves refused to participate. Il
fact, it was so absurd that the slaves, with all their ignorance,
saw plainly enough it could not succeed. That affair, in its
philosophy, corresponds with the many attempts, related in history, at the assassination of kings and emperors. An enthusiast
broods over the oppression of a people till he fancies himself
commissioned by Heaven to liberate them. EIe ventures the
attempt, which ends in little else than in his own execution.
Orsini's attempt on Louis Napoleon, 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.
"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 Republican 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 sentiment which created it out
of the peaceful channel of the ballot-box, into some other channel? What would that other channel probably 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 palliated, 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




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHIAM LINCOLN.'  61
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 implication.
" 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
will say the Supreme Court has decided the disputed Constitutional 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.
W" When I say the decision was nlade 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 meaninog, and that it was
mainly based upon a mistaken s-tatement of fact —the statement
in the opinion that' the right of property v 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 the 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'ser7l.ce or labor due,' as a' debt' payable in service or labor.
Alsc, it would be open to show, by contemporaneous history,
that this mode of alluding to slaves and slavery, instead of
speaking of them, was employed on purpose to exclude from the
Constitution the idea that there could be property in man.
"To show all this is easy and certain.
"When this obvious mistake of the Judges shall be brought
to their notice, is it not reasonable to expect that they will
withdraw the mistaken statement, and reconsider the conclusion
based upon it? 4




629  LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.'"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 question
in our favor, long ago-decided it without a division among thenmselves, 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 conclusive
and final rule of political action.
" But you will not abide the election of a Republican President. 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, what the robber demanded of me-my moneywas 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 Republicans.  It is exceedingly desirable that all parts of this great Confederacy shall be at peace,
and in harmony, one with another. Let us Republicans do our
part to have it so. Even though much provoked, let us do
nothing through passion and ill temper.  Even though the
southern people will not so much as listen to us, let us calmly
consider their demands, and yield to them if, in our deliberate
view of our duty, we possibly can. Judging by all they say and
do, and by the subject and nature of their controversy with us,
let us determine, if we can, what will satisfy them?
"Will they be satisfied if the Territories be unconditionally
surrendered to them?  VWe 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 thingl 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 will satisfy them? Simply this:
We must not only let them alone, but we must, somehow, convince them  that we do let them  alone. This, we know by
experience, is no easy task.  We have been so trying to
convince them  from the very beginning of our crganization,




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  63
but with no success. In all our platforms and speeches we have
constantly protested our purpose to let them  alone; but this
has had no tendency to convince them.  Alike unavailing to
ionvince them is the fact that they have never detected a man
of us in any attempt to disturb them.
"These natural, and apparently adequate means all failing,
what will convince them? This, and this only: cease to call
slavery  wrong, and join them in calling it right. And this must
be done thoroughly-done in acts as well as in words.  Silence
will not be tolerated-we must place ourselves avowedly with
them. Dougrlas's new sedition law must be enacted and cnforced, 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 greedy
pleasure.  We  must pull down  our Free-State  Constitutions.  The whole atmosphere must be disinfected from all
taint of opposition to slavery, before they will cease to believe
that all their troubles proceed from us.
" 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,
after 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 more 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 cannot
cease to demand 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 conviction that slavery is wrong.  If slavery is right, all
words, acts, laws, and constitutions against it, are themselves
wrong, and should be silenced, and swept away. If it is right,
we can,'lll    justly object to its nationality-its universality; if it
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 not
to blame for desiring its full recognition, as being right; but,




64   LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
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 firom its actual presence in the nation; but can we,
while our votes will prevent it, allow it to spread into the
National Territories, and to overrun us here in these Free
States?
" If our sense of duty forbids this, then let us stand by our
duty, fearlessly and effectively. Let us be diverted by none of
those sophistical contrivances wherewith we are so industriously
plied and belabored-contrivances such as groping for some
middle ground between the right and the wrong, vain as the
search for a man who should be neither a living man nor a dead
man-such as a policy of' don't care' on a question about
which all true men do care-such as Union appeals beseeching
true Union men to yield to Disunionists, reversing the divine
rule, and calling, not the sinners, but the righteous to repentance-such as invocations to Washington, imploring men to
unsay what Washington said, and undo what Washington did.
" Neitherlet us be slandered from our duty by false accusations
against us, not frightened from it by menaces of destruction to
the Government, nor of dungoons 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."
IS NOMINATED FOR PRESIDENT OF THE
UNITED STATES BY THE REPUBLICAN CONVENTION.
On the sixteenth of -May, 1860, the Iepublican National
Convention assembled in Chicago, for the purpose of
nominating candidates for the Presidency and Vice-Presidency. The first day was spent in organizing, and the
second, in adopting rules for the government of the Convention and the platform  of the party, and on the third,
the body proceeded to ballot for the two candidates.
Mr. Lincoln was nominated for President by Mr. Judd,
of Illinois, and on the first ballot, received 102 votes, iMr.
Seward receiving, on the same ballot, 173.- votes, and the
balance being divided between the other candidates. On
the second ballot, the vote stood: Lincoln, 181; Seward,
184k; and on the third, Mr. Lincoln received 2301 votes,




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.  65
or within one and one-half of a nomination. One of the
delegates then changed four votes of his State, giving them
to Air. Lincoln, thus nominating him, and then, amid a
scene of the most intense excitement, vote after vote was
changed to the successful candidate, until at length the
nomination was made unanimous.  The selection was received by the IRepnblican voters of the country with the
most unbounded enthusiasm, and immediate preparations
were made for an arduous campaign. The antecedents
of their standard-bearer were of such an honorable and
noble character, that they felt convinced the different factions among the opposition-indeed, all who were inspired
more by patriotism than party predilections-would support him in the canvass and at the ballot-box. The architect of his own fortunes, he had raised himself from
obscurity to eminence and distinction. Born in a floorlesa
log-cabin, in a Kentucky wilderness; the child of humble
and uneducated, but Christian parents; and with no education save that received during six months tuition in an
unpretending school-house, and from attentive study at
home by the light of a log fire, Abraham Lincoln, by his
indefatigable perseverance and energy, rapidly rose from
one position of trust and responsibility to another, until
he attained the nomination of a great political party for
the highest office in the gift of the American people.
IS  NOTIFIED  OF  HIS NOMVINATION-THIE
ADDRESSES  ON  THIE  OCCASION.
The committee appointed by the Convention to notify
Mr. Lincoln of his nomination, performed their duty
without delay, and upon arriving at his residence in
Springfield, whither they were escorted by an immense
concourse of citizens, the President of the Convention
addressed the nominee as follows:




66   LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
SPEECH OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE CONVENTION.
"I have, sir, the honor, in behalf of the gentlemen who are
present, a Committee appointed by the Republican Convention,
recently assembled at Chicago, to discharge a most pleasant
duty. We have come, sir, under a vote of instructions to that
Committee, to notify you that you have been selected by thle
Convention of the Republicans at Chicago, for President of the
United States. They instruct us, sir, to notify you of that
selection, and that Committee deem it not only respectful to
yourself, but appropriate to the important matter which they
have in hand, that they should come in person, and present to
you the authentic evidence of the action of that Convention;
and, sir, without any phrase which shall either be considered
personally plauditory to yourself, or which shall have any reference to the principles involved in the questions which are 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 sentiments,
which the Convention adopted. Sir, at your convenience, we
shall be glad to receive from you such a response as it may be
your pleasure to give us."
REPLY O1F MR. LINCOLN.
In response, Mr. Lincoln said:
"Mr. Chairman and Gertlemen of the Committee: I tender
to you, and through you to the Republican National Convention,
and all the people represented in it, my profoundest thanks for
the high honor done me, which you now formally announce.
Deeply, and even painfully sensible of the great responsibility
which is inseparable from  this high honor-a responsibility
which I could almost wish had fallen upon some one of the far
more eminent men and experienced statesmen whose distinguished names were before the Convention, I shall, by your
leave, consider more fully the resolutions of the Convention.
denominated the platform, and without unnecessary or unreasonable delay, respond to you, Mr. Chairman, in writing, not
doubting that the platform will be found satisfactory, and the
nomination gratefully accepted. And now I will not longer
defer the pleasure of taking you, and each of you, by the hand."
CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN THE CONVENTION AND MR. LINCOLN.
The following letter was addressed to Mr. Lincoln by




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.  67
the President of the Convention, and a committee appointed for that purpose:
"CHICAGO, MCay 18th, 1860.
"To TU TE HON. ABRAIAMx LINCOLN, OF IL,LINOIS.
" SiR:  h'lhe representatives of the Republican party of the
United States, assembled in Convention at Chicago, have this
day by a unanimous vote, selected you as the Republican candidate for the office of President of the United States to be
supported at the next election; and the undersigned were appointed a Committee of the Convention to apprise you of this
nomination, and respectfully to request that you will accept it.
A declaration of the principles and sentiments adopted by the
Convention accompanies this communication.
" In the performance of this agreeable duty we take leave to
add our confident assurance that the nomination of the Chicago
Convention will be ratified by the suffrages of the people.
" We have the honor to be, with great respect and regard,
your friends and fellow-citizens."
On the 23d, Mr. Lincoln addressed the following letter
to the President of the Convention:
"SPRINGFIELD, ILLITNOIS, May 23rd, 1860.
HoN. GEORGCE ASHMAN, Ptresident of the Republican National
" Convention.
"SIR: I accept the nomination tendered me by the Convention 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 accompanies 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 views and feelings of all who were represented
in the Convention;  to the rights of all the States and Territories, and people of the nation; to the inviolability of the Constitution, and the perpetual union, harmony and prosperity of
all, I am most happy to co-operate for the practical success of.he principles declared by the Convention,
"' Your obliged friend and fellow-citizen,
"ABRAHAM LINCOLN."
On the sixth of November, 1860, the election for President
took place, with the following result: Mr. Lincoln received
491,275 over Mr. Douglas; 1,018,499 over Mr. Brecken



68   LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM' LINCOLN.
ridge, and 1,275,821 over Mr. Bell; and the vote was
subsequently proclaimed by Congress to be as follows:
For Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois.................. 180
For John C. Breckenridge, of Kentuclky............  72
For John Bell, of Tennessee....................... 39
For Stephen A. Douglas, of Illinois................ 12
To describe the various movements and projects which
were devised and consummated in the South between the
time that MIr. Lincoln was elected and the date of his inauguration, would require a much larger work than that
which we now offer to the public, and we will therefore
confine our account merely to those which it is unavoidably necessary to mention. The principal and most diabolical plot conceived and recommended by the traitors,
was to prevent the inauguration by obtaining possession
of the Federal Capital, or by assassinating Mr. Lincoln
while on his way thither, or upon the day that the ceremonies were to take place. Whatever may have been the
plan, or however large the reward offered to the villain
who would accomplish the murderous deed, the object of
their vindictiveness escaped their machinations, and still
continues to administer the government wisely and faithfully.
LEAVES SPRINGFIELD FOR WASHINGTONOVATIONS ON THE ROUTE.
The President Elect left his home in Springfield, Illinois,
on the eleventh of February, 1861, for Washington, having
before leaving the depot addressed tile following words
of farewell to the thousands of his fellow-citizens who haa
assembled at the place of departure:
"l7fyfriends: No one not in my position can appreciate the
sadness I feel at this parting. To this people I owe all that I
am. Here I have lived more than a quarter of a. century. Ilere
my children were born, and here one of them lies buried. I
know not how soon I shall see you again. A duty devolves




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAflAM LINCOLN.  bd
upon me which is perhaps greater than that which has devolved
upon any other man since the days of Washington.  He never
would have succeeded except for the aid of Divine Providence,
upon which he at all times relied. I feel that I cannot succeed
without the same Divine aid which sustained him, and 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."
Along the route, multitudes assembled at the railway
stations to greet him. At Toledo, in response to repeated
calls, AMr. Lincoln appeared on the platform and said:
" I am leaving you on an errand of national importance, attended, as you are aware, with considerable difficulties.  Let us
believe, as some poet has expressed it,' Behind the cloud the
sun is shining still.' I bid you an affectionate farewell."
He next proceeded to Indianapolis, where Mr. Lincoln
was welcomed by the Governor of the State, and escorted
by a procession composed of both Houses of the Legislature, the public officers, municipal authorities, military,
and firemen.  On reaching the Hotel he addressed the
people as follows:
"Fellow-citizens of the State of Indicana: I am here to thank
you muchk for this magnificent welcome, and still more for the
very generous support given by your State to that political
cause, which I think is the true and just cause of the whole
country and the whole world. Solomon says'there is a time to
keep silence;' and when men wrangle by the mouth, with no
certainty that they mean the same thing while using the same
words, it perhaps were as well if they would keep silence. The
words'coercion' and'invasion' are much used in these days,
and often with some temper and hot blood. Let us make sure, if
we can, that we do not misunderstand the meaning of those who
use them. Let us get the exact definitions of these words, not
from  dictionaries, but fronm the men themselves, who certainly
deprecate the things they would roepresent by the use of the
words. What, then, is' coercion?' TWhat is' invasion?' Would
the marching of an army into South Carolina, without the consent of lier people, and with hostile intent towards them, be invasion? I certainly think it would, and it would be' coercion'
also if the South Carolinians were forced to submit. But if the
United States should merely hold and retake its own forts and
other property, and:ollect the duties on foreign importations,




70   LIFE A.ND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LIN4JOLN.
or even withhold the mails from places where they were habit.
nally violated, would any or all of these things be' invasion' or'coercion?' Do our professed lovers of the Union, but who
spitefully resolve that they will resist coercion and invasion, understand that such things as these, on the part of the United
States, would be coercion or invasion of a State?  If so, their
idea of means to preserve the object of their great affection
would seem to be exceedingly thin and airy. If sick, the little
pills of the homrceopathist would be much too large for it to
swallow. In their view, the Union, as a family relation, would
seem to be no regular marriage, but rather a sort of' free-love'
arrangement, to be Inaintained on passional attraction.  By the
way, in what consists the special sacredness of a State? 1
speak not of the position assigned to a State in the Union by
the Constitution, for that is the bond we all recognize. That
position, however, a State cannot carry out of the Union with
it. I speak of that assumed primary right of a State to rule
all which is less than itself, and to ruin all which is larger than
itself. If a State and a County, in a given case, should be
equal in,xtent of territory and equal in number of inhabitants,
in what, as a matter of principle, is the State better than the
County?  W~ould an exchange of name be an exchange of
rights? Upon what principle, upon what rightful principle, may
a State, being no more than one-fiftieth part of the nation in
soil and population, break up the nation, and then coerce a proportionably larger subdivision of itself in the most arbitrary
way? What mysterious right to play tyrant is conferred on a
district of country with its people, by merely calling it a State?
Fellow-citizens, I am not asserting any thing.  I am merely
asking questions for you to consider. And now allow me to bid
you farewell."
Proceeding to Cincinnati, he received a most enthusi,
astic welcome. Having been addressed by the mayor of
the city, and escorted by a civic and military procession
to the Burnet House, he addressed the assemblage in
these words:
" Fellow-citizens: I have spoken but once before this in Cin
cinnati. That was a year previous to the late Presidential election. On that occasion, in a playful manner, but with sincere
words, I addressed much of what I said to the Kentuckians.  1
gave my opinion that we, as Republicans, would ultimately beat
them as Democrats, but that they could postpone the 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.




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHASM LINCOLN.  7]
"I also told them how I expected they would be treated after
they should have been beaten, and now wish to call their attention to what I then said:
"'When we do, as we say we will, heat 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 Washington, 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. In a word, coming back to the original proposition,
to treat you, as far as degenerate men-if we have degenerated
-may, according to the example of those noble fathers, Washington, Jefferson, and Madison. WTe mean to remember that
you are as good as we; that there is no differencee 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 to
treat you accolding'ly.'
" Fellow-citizens of Kentucky, friends, brethren: May I call
you such? 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 that the fault shall not be mine.'
In the evening he had a reception, when large crowds
called upon him.
On the next morning he left Cincinnati, and arrived at
Columbus, where he was received with every demonstration of enthusiasm.  He visited the Governor in the Executive Chamber, and was subsequently introduced to the
members of the Legislature in joint session, when he was
formally welcomed by the Lieutenant-Governor, to whom
iMr. Lincoln responded in these words:
"It is true, as has been said by the President of the Senate,
that very great responsibility rests upon me in the position to
which the votes of the American people have called me. I am
deeply sensible of that weighty responsibility. I cannot but
know, what you all know, that without a name-perhaps without
a reason why I should have a name-there has fallen upon me a
task such as did not rest upon the Father of his Country. And
so feeling, I cannot but turn and look for the support without
which it will be impossible for me to perform that great task
I turn, then, and look to'the American people, and to that God
who has never forsaken them.
"Allusion has been made to the interest felt in relation to the
policy of the new Administration. In this, I have received




T2 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
from  some a degree of credit for lhaving kept silence, from
others some depreciation. I still think I was right. In the
varying and repeatedly shifting scenes of the presenlt, without a
precedent which could enable me to judge for the past, it has
seemed fitting, that before speaking upon the difficulties of the
country I should have gained a view of the whole field. To be
sure, after all, I would be at liberty to imodify and change the
course of policy as future events might make a change
necessary.
" I have not maintained silence from any want of real anxiety.
It is a good thing that there is no more than anxiety, for there
is nothing going wrong. It is a consoling circumstance that
when we look out there is nothing that really hurts anybody.
~We entertain  different views upon political questions, but
nobody is suffering any thing. This is a most consoling circurnstance, and from it I judge that all we want is time and patience,
and a reliance on that God who has never forsaken this people."
On the 14th of February, Mr. Lincoln proceeded to
Pittsburgh.  At Steubenville, on the route, in reply to an
address, he said:
"I fear the great confidence placed in my ability is unfounded. Indeed, I am sure it is. Encompassed by vast difficulties, as I am, nothing shall be wanted on my part, if
sustained by the American people and God. I believe the
devotion to the Constitution is equally great on both sides of
the river. It is only the different understanding of that 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 must control. "Would that be right? Would
it be just or generous?  Assuredly not."  He reiterated, the
majority should rule. If he adopted a wrong policy, then the
opportunity to condemn him would occur in four years' time.
"' hen I can be turned out and a better man with better views
put in my place."
The next morning he left for Cleveland, but before his
departure he made an address to the people of Pittsburgh,
in which he said:
"In every short address I have made to the people, and in
every crowd through which I have passed of late, some allusion
has been made to the present distracted condition of the country. It is naturally expected that I should say something upon
this subject, but to touch upon it at all would involve an
elaborate discussion of a great many questions and circum



LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.  73
stances, would require more time than I can at present command, and would perhaps unnecessarily commit me upon matters
which have not yet fully developed themselves.
"The condition of the country, fellow-citizens, is an extraordinary one, and fills the mind of every patriot with anxiety
and solicitude. My intention is to give this subject all the consideration which I possibly can before I speak fully and
definitely in regard to it, so that, when I do speak, I may
be as nearly right as possible. And when I do speak, fellowcitizens, I hope to say nothing in opposition to the spirit of the
Constitution, contrary to the integrity of the Union, or which
will in any way 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 to
say nothing which will disappoint the reasonable expectations
of any man, or disappoint the people generally throughout the
country, especially if their expectations have been based upon
any thing which I may have heretofore said.
"Notwithstanding the troubles across the river, rthe speaker,
smiling, pointed southwardly to the Monongahela Pliver,] there
is really no crisis springing from any thing in the Government
itself. In plain words, there is really no crisis except an artificial one. What is there now to warrant the condition of
affairs presented by our friends' over the river'? rlTake even
their own view of the questions involved, and there is nothing
to justify the course which they are pursuing.  I repeat it, then,
there is no crisis, except such a one as may be gotten up at
any time by turbulent men, aided by designing politicians.
My advice, then, under such circumstances, is to keep cool. If
the great American people will only keep their temper on both
sides of the line, the trouble wili come to an end, and the question which now distracts the country will be settled just as
surely as all other difficulties of like character which have
originated in this Government have been adjusted. Let the
people on both sides keep their sel'-possession, and just as other
clouds have cleared away in due time, so will this, and this
great nation shall continue to prosper as heretofore."
He then referred to the subject of the tariff, and said:
"According to my political education, I am inclined to believe that the people in the various portions of the country
should have their own views carried out through their representatives in Congress. That consideration of the Tariff bill should
not be postponed until the next session of the National Legislature. No subject should engage your representatives more
closely than that of the tariff. If I have any recommendation
to make, it will be that every man who is called upon to serve
the people, in a representative capacity, should study the whole




74   LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LUNOQLN.
subject thoroughly, as I intend to do myself, looking to all:ra
varied interests of the common country, so that, when the tmls
for action arrives, adequate protection shall be extended to the
coal and iron of Pennsylvania and the corn of Illinois. Permit
me to express the hope that this important subject may receive
such consideiration at the hands of your representatives that the
interests o' no part of the country may be overlooked, but that
all sections may share in the common benefits of a just and
equitable tariff."
Mr. Lincoln, upon his arrival in Cleveland, adverted to
the same subject in the following terms:
" It is with you, the people, to advance the great cause of the
Union and the Constitution, and not with any one man. It
rests with you alone. This fact is strongly impressed on my
mind at present. In a community like this, wnuse appearance
testifies to their intelligence, I am convinced that the cause of
liberty and the Union can never be in danger. Frequent allusion is made to the excitement at present existingr in national
politics. I think 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 in politics.
There are differences of opinion even here. You did not all
vote for the person who now addresses you. And how is it with
those who are not here? Have they not all their rights as they
ever 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 common country, and have we any power to
change that position? What, then, is the matter with them?
WVhy all this excitement?  Why all these complaints? As I
said before, this crisis is all artificial. It has no foundation in
fact. It was' argued up,' as the saying is, and cannot be argued
down. Let it alone, and it will go down itself."
On Saturday he proceeded to Buffalo, where he arrived
at evening, and was met by an immense concourse of citizens, headed by Ex-President Fillmore.
Arriving at the hotel, Mr. Lincoln was welcomed in a
brief speech by the acting chief magistrate, to which he
made a brief reply, as follows:
"Mr. Mayor and Fellow- Citizens: —I am here to thank you
briefly for this grand reception given to me, not personally, but
as the representative of our great and beloved country. Your
worthy mayor has been pleased to mention in his address to me,




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.  75
the fortunate and agreeable journey which I have had from
home-only it is rather a circuitous route to the Federal Capital. I am very happy that he was enabled, in truth, to congratulate myself and company on that fact. It is true, we have
had nothing thus far to mar the pleasure of the trip.  We have
not been met alone by those who assisted in giving the election
to me; I say not alone, but by the whole population of the
country through which we have passed. This is as it should be.
Had the election fallen to any other of the distinguished caundi(ates instead of myself, under the peculiar circumstances, to say
the least, it would have been proper for all citizens to have
greeted him as you now greet me. It is an evidence of the devotion of the whole people to the Oonstitution, the Union, and
the perpetuity of the liberties of this country. I am unwilling,
on any occasion, that I should be so meanly thought of as to
have it supposed for a moment that these demonstrations are
tendered to me personally. They are tendered to the country,
to the institutions of the country, and to the perpetuity of the
liberties of the country for which these institutions were made
and created. Your worthy mayor has thought fit to express
the hope that I may be able to relieve the country from the present, or, I should say, the threatened difficulties. I am sure I
bring a heart true to the work. For the ability to perform it, I
trust in that Supreme Being who has never forsaken this ltvored
land, through the instrumentality of this great and intelligent
people. Without that assistance I should surely fail; with it
i cannot fail. When we speak of the threatened difficulties to
the country, it is natural that it should be expected that something should be said by myself with regard to particular mea
sures. Upon mnore mature reflection, however-and others will
agree with me-that, when it is considered that these difficulties
are without precedent, and never have been acted upon by any
individual situated as I am, it is most proper I should wait and
see the developments, and get all the light possible, so that,
when I do speak authoritatively, I may be as near right as possible. When I shall speak authoritatively, I hope to say nothing
inconsistent with the Constitution, the Union, the rights of all
the States, of each State, and of each section of the country,
and not to disappoint the reasonable expectations of those who
have confided to me their votes.  In this connection, allow me
to say that you, as a portion of the great American people, need
only to maintain your composure, stand up to your sober convictions of right, to your obligations to the Constitution, and
act in accordance with those sober convictions, and the clouds
which now arise in the horizon will be dispelled, and we shall
have a bright and glorious future; and, when this generation
shall have passed away, tens of thousands shall inhabit this
country where only thousands inhabit it now. I do not propose
to address you at length. I have no voice for it. Allow me




76   LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
again to thank you for this magnificent reception, and bid you
farewell."
Mir. Lincoln then proceeded from Buffalo to Albany.
Here he was met by the Mayor, the City Councils, and
the Legislative Committees, and was conducted to the
Capitol, where he was welcomed by Governor Morgan,
and responded briefly, as follows:
"Governor Morgan:-I was pleased to receive an invitation
to visit the capital of the great Empire State of this nation,
while on my way to the Federal capital. I now thank you, and
you, the people of the capital of the State of New York, for
this most hearty and magnificent welcome. If I am not at fault,
the great Empire State at this time contains a larger population
than did the whole of the United States of America at the time
they achieved their national independence;  and I was proud to
be invited to visit its capital, to meet its citizens as I now have
the honor to do. I am notified by your governor that this reception is tendered by citizens without distinction of party.
Because of this, I accept it the more gladly. In this country,
and in any country where freedom of thought is tolerated, citizens attach themselves to political parties. It is but an ordinary degree of charity to attribute this act to the supposition
that, in thus attaching themselves to the various parties, each
man, in his own judgment, supposes he thereby best advances
the interests of the whole country. And when an election is
passed, it is altogether befitting a free people that, until the
next election, they should be one people. The reception you
have extended me to-day is not given to me personally. It
should not be so, but as the representative, for the time being,
of the majority of the nation. If the election had fallen to any
of the more distingnished citizens, who received the support of
the people, this same honor should have greeted him that greets
me this day, in testimony of the unanimous devotion of the whole
people to the Constitution, the Union, and to the perpetual
liberties of succeeding generations in this country. I have
neither the voice nor the strength to address you at any greater
length. I beg you will, therefore, accept my most grateful
thanks for this manifest devotion- not to me but to the institutions of this great and glorious country."
lie was then conducted to the Legislative halls, where,
in reply to an address of welcome, he again adverted to
the troubles of the country in the following terms:
"Mr. President and Gentlemen qf the Legislatutre of the




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRLAHAM LINCOLN.  T7
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 st ood 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 representative
of a free people than it could possibly have been were they but
the evidence of devotion to me or to any one 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
Jnited States, I yet have a more difficult task to perform 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 President 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 policy to be adopted with reference
to the difficulties that stand before us in the opening of the incoming Administration. 1 deem that it is just to the country,
to myself, to you, that I should see every thing, hear every
thing, and have every light that can possibly be. brought within
my reach to aid me before I shall speak oflicially, 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 and 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 Ruler of the Universe, through the
instrumentality of this great and intelligent people, can and will
bring us through this difculty, as he has heretofore brought us
through all preceding difficulties of the country. Relying upon
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 from  the city
authorities of New York, and on the 19th started for that
5




78 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
city.  At Poughkeepsie, he was welcomed by the Mayor
of the city.  Mr. Lincoln, in reply, said:
"I am grateful for this cordial welcome, and I am gratified
that this immense multitude has come together, not to meet the
individual man, but the man who, for the time being, will humbly
but earnestly represent the majesty of the nation. These receptions have been given me at other places, and, as here, by
mnen of different parties, and not by one party alone. It shows
an earnest effort on the part of all to save, not the country, for
the country can save itself, but to save the institutions of the
country-those institutions under which, for at least threequarters of a century, we have become the greatest, the most
intelligent, and the happiest people in the world. These manifestations show that we all make common cause for these objects; that if some of us are successful in an election, and others
are beaten, those who are beaten are not in favor of sinking the
ship in consequence of defeat, but are earnest in their purpose
to sail it safely through the voyage in hand, and, in so far as they
may think there has been any mistake in the election, satisfying
themselves to take their chance at setting the matter right the
next time. That course is entirely right. I am not sure —I do
not pretend to be sure-that in the selection of the individual
who has been elected this term, the wisest choice has been made.
I fear it has not. In the purposes and in the principles that
have been sustained, I have been the instrument selected to
carry forward the affairs of this Government. I can rely upon
you, and upon the people of the country; and with their sustaining hand, I think that even I shall not fail in carrying the
Ship of State through the storm."
The reception of President Lincoln in New York City
was a most imposing demonstration. Places of business
were generally closed, and hundreds of thousands were in
the streets. On the next day, he was welcomed to the
city by Mayor Wood, and replied as follows:
"JfIr. Mayor: It is with feelings of deep gratitude that I
make my acknowledgments for the reception given me in the
great commercial city of New York. I cannot but remember
that this is done by a people who do not, by a majority, agree
with me in political sentiment. It is the more grateful, because
in this I see that, for the great principles of our Government,
the people are almost unanimous. In regard to the difficulties
that confront us at this time, and of which your Honor has
thought fit to speak so becomingly and so justly, as I suppose,
I can only say that I agree in the sentiments expressed. In mny




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.  79
devotion to the Union, I hope I am behind no man in the nation,
In the wisdom with which to conduct the affairs tending to the
preservation of the Union, I fear that too great confidence may
have been reposed in me; but I am sure I bring a heart devoted
to the work. There is nothing that could ever bring me to willingly consent to the destruction of this Union, under which not
only the great commercial city of New York, but the whole
co intry, acquired its greatness, except it be the purpose for
wl:ich the Union itself was formed. I understald the ship to
bei made for the carrying and the preservation of the cargo, and
so long as the ship can be saved with the carogo, it should never
be abandoned, unless it fails the possibility of its preservation,
and shall cease to exist, except at the risk of throwing overboard
both freight and passengers. So long, then, as it is possible that
the prosperity and the liberties of the people be preserved in this
Union, it shall be my purpose at all times to use all my powers
to aid in its perpetuation. Again thanking you for the recep-,;on given me, allow me to come to a close."
On the next day, he left for Philadelphia. At Trenton,
ne remained a few hours, and visited both Houses of the
Legislature. On being received in the Senate, he thus
addressed that body:
"Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Senate of the State of
New Jersey: I am very grateful to you for the honorable reception of which I have been the object. I cannot but remember
the place that New Jersey holds in our early history. In the
early Revolutionary struggle, few of the States among the old
Thirteen had more of the battle-fields of the country within its
limits than old New Jersey. May I be pardoned, if, upon this
occasion, I mention, that away back in my childhood, the earliest
days of my being able to read, I got hold of a small book, such
a one as few of the younger members have ever seen,' Weems'
Life of Washington.' I remember all the accounts there given
of the battle-fields and struggles for the liberties of the country,
and none fixed themselves upon my imagination so deeply as the
struggle here at Trenton, New Jersey. The crossing of the
river-the contest with the Hessians-the great hardships endured at that time-all fixed themselves on my memory more
than any single revolutionary event; and you all know, for you
have all been boys, how there early impressions last longer than
any others. I recollect thinking then, boy even though I was,
that there must have been something more than common that
those men struggled for. I am exceedingly anxious that that
thing which they struggled for-that something even more than
National Independence-that something that held out a great
promise to all the people of the world to all time to come —I am




80 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
exceedingly anxious that this Union, the Constitution, and the
liberties of the people, shall be perpetuated in accordance with
the original idea for which that struggle was made, and I shall
be most happy indeed if I shall be an humble instrument in the
hands of the Almighty, and of this, Ttis almost chosen people,
for perpetuating the object of that great strunggle. You give
me this reception, as I undlerstand, without distilction of party.
I learn that this body is composed of a majiority of gentlemen
who, in the exercise of their best judgment in the choice of a
Chief Magistrate, did not think I was the man. I understand,
nevertheless, that they came forward here to greet me as the
constitutional President of the United States-as citizens of the
United States, to meet the man who, fi>r tile time being, is the
representative man of the nation, united by a purpose to perpetuate the Union and liberties of the people. As such, I accept this reception more gratefully than I could do did I believe
it was tendered to me as an individual."
He then passed into the Chamber of the Assembly, and
upon being introduced by the Speaker, addressed that
body as follows:
"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 rlcep)tion which the
people of New Jersey have given, through their chosen representatives, to me, as the representative, for the time being, of
the majesty of the people of the United States. I appropriate
to myself very little of the demonstrations of respect with which
I have been greeted.  I think little should be given to any man,
but that it should be a manifestation of adherence to the Union
and the Constitution. I understand myself to be received here
by the representatives of the people of New Jersey, a majority
of whom differ in opinion from those with whom I have acted.
This manifestation is therefore to be regarded by me as expressing their devotion to the Union, the Constitution, and the liberties of the people. You, Mr. Speaker, have well said, that
this is the time when the bravest and wisest look with doubt and
awe upon the aspect presented by our national affairs.  Under
these circumstances, you will readily see why I should not speak
in detail of the course I shall deem it best to pursue. It is
proper that I should avail myself of all the information and all
the time at my command. in order that when the time arrives in
which I must speak officially, I shall be able to take the ground
which I deem the best and safest, and fiom which I may have
no occasion to swerve.  I shall endeavor to take the ground I
deem most just to the North, the East, the West, the South, and
the whole country.  I take it, I hope, in good temper-certainly




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.  81
with no malice towards any section. I shall do all that may be
in my power to promote a peaceful settlement of all our difficulties. The man does not live who is more devoted to peace than
I am-none who would do more to preserve it. But it may be
necessary to put the foot down firmly.  And if I do my duty,
and do right, you will sustain me, will you not?  Received, 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 shipwreck now, there will be no pilot ever needed for another voyage."
On his arrival in Philadelphia, he was received with
great enthusiasm, and the Mayor greeted him with the
following address:
"Sir: In behalf of the Councils of Philadelphia and of its
citizens, who, with common respect for their chief Magistrateelect, have greeted your arrival, I tender you the hospitality of
this city. I do this as the official representative of ninety thousand hearths, around which dwell six hundred thousand people,
firm and ardent in their devotion to the Union; and yet it may
not be withheld, that there are but few of these firesides whose
cheer is not straitened and darkened by the calamitous condition
of our country. The great mass of this people are heartily weary
and sick of thle selfish schemes and wily plots of mere politicians,
who bear no more relation to true statesmanship than do the
barnacles which incrust the ship to the master who stands by
the helm. Your fellow-countrymen look to you in the earnest
hope that true statesmanship and unalloyed patriotism may,
with God's blessing, restore peace and prosperity to this distracted land. It is to be regretted that your short stay precludes that intercourse with the merchants, manufacturers, mechanics, and other citizens of Philadelphia, which might afford
you a clear discernment of their great interests.  And, sir, it
could not be other than grateful to yourself to have the opportunity of communicating with the memories of the past, in those
historic walls where were displayed the comprehensive intellects,
and the liberal, disinterested virtues of our fathers, who framed
the Constitution of the Federal States, over which you have
bean called upon to preside."
Mr. Lincoln replied:
" Mr. Mayor and Fellow-citizens of Philadelphia: I appear
before you to make no lengthy speech but to thank you for this
reception. The reception you have given me to-night is not to
me, the man, the individual, but to the man who temporarily




82   LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
represents, or should represent, the majesty of the nation. It is
true, as your worthy Mayor has said, that there is anxiety among
the citizens of the United States at this time. I deem it a happy
circumstance that this dissatisfied portion of our fellow-citizens
do not point us to any thing in which they are being injured, or
are about to be injured; for which reason I have felt all the
while justified in concluding that the crisis, the panic, the anxiety
of the country at this time, is artificial. If there be those who
differ with me upon this subject, they have not pointed out the
substantial difficulty that exists. I do not mean to say that an
artificial panic may not A, 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 fulfl that hope. 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 to do so now. If I do speak then, it is useless for me to do
so now.  Vhen I do speak, I shall take such ground as I deem
best calculated to restore peace, harmony, and prosperity to the
country, and tend to the perpetuity of the nation, and the liberty
of these States and these people. Your worthy Mayor has expressed the wish, in which I join with him, that it were convenient for me to remain with your city long enough to consult
your merchants and manufacturers; or, as it were, to listen to
those breathings rising within the consecrated walls wherein the
Constitution of the United States, and, I will add, the Declaration of Independence, were originally framed and adopted. 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 those
walls. All my political warfare has been in favor of the teachings that come 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, now allow me to bid you good-night."
On the next morning, Mr. Lincoln visited the old " Independence 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 the wisdom, the patriot



LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.  83
ism, the devotion to principle, from which sprang the institutions
under which we live. You have kindly suggested to me that in
my hands is the task of restoring peace to the present distracted
condition of the country. I can say in return, sir, that all the
political sentiments I entertain have been drawn, so far as I
have been able to draw them, from the sentiments which originated 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 have 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 liberty, not alone to the people of this
country, but, I hope, to the world for all future time. It was
that which gave promise that in due time the weight would be
lifted from the shoulders of all men. This is a sentiment em.
bodied in the Declaration of Independence. Now, my friends,
can this country be saved upon this 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 giving up that principle, I was about to say I would rather
be assassinated on this spot than surrender it. Now, in my
view of the present aspect of affairs, there need be no bloodshed
or war. There is no necessity for it. I am not in favor of such
a course, and I may say, in 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.
" My friends, this is wholly an unexpected speech, and I did
not expect to be called upon to say a word when I came here.
I supposed it was merely to do something towards raising the
flag. I may, therefore, have said something indiscreet. I have
said nothing but what I am willing to live by, and, if it be the
pleasure of Almighty God, to die by."
The party then proceeded to a platform erected in front
of the State House, and Mr. Benton, of the Select Council,
invited the President-elect to raise the flag. Mr. Lincoln
responded in a brief speech, stating his cheerful compliance with the request, and alluded to the original flag of
thirteen stars, saying that the number flad increased as




84   LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
time rolled on, and we became a happy and a 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 as this that we can reason together, reaffirm our
devotion to the country and the principles of the Declaration of Independence.  Let us make u? our mind, that
when 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, add
star upon star, until their light shall shine upon five hundred millions of a free and happy people."
The President-elect then raised the flag to the top of
the staff.
At half-past 9 o'clock the party left for Harrisburg.
Both Houses of the Legislature were visited by iMr. Lincoln, and to an address of welcome he thus replied:
" I appear before you only for a very few brief remarks, in
response to what has been said to me. I thank you most sincerely for this reception, and the generous words in which support has been promised me upon this occasion. I thank your
great commonwealth for the overwhelming support it recently
gave, not to me personally, but the cause, which I think a just
one, in the late election. Allusion has been made to the factthe interesting fact, perhaps we should say-that I, for the first
time, appear at the Capital of the great Commonwealth 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 I-Tall, to have a few words addressed to me there,
and opening up to me an opportunity of expressing, with much
regret, that I had not more time to express something of my
own feelings, excited 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 provided 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. And
when it went up I1was pleased that it went to its place by the
strength of my own feeble arm; when, according to the arrange



LIFE  LND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.  85
ment, the cord was pulled, and it flaunted gloriously to the wind
without an accident, in the bright 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
what is to come. Nor could I help feeling then, as I often have
felt, in the whole of that proceeding, I was a very humble instrument. I had not provided the flag; I had not made the arrangements 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 cooperation of
the people of the nation, I think the flag of our country may yet
be kept flaunting gloriously.  I recur for a moment but to
repeat some words uttered at the hotel'in regard to what has
been said about the military support which the General 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.   While 1
am exceedingly gratified to see the manifestation upon your
streets of your military force here, and exceedingly gratified
at your promise here to use that force upon a proper
emergency —while I make these acknowledgments, I desire
to repeat, in order to preclude any possible misconstruction,
that I do most sincerely hope that we shall have no use for
them; that it will never become their duty to shed blood, and
most especially never to shed fraternal blood. I promise that,
so far as I may have wisdom to direct, if so painful a result
shall in any wise be brought about, it shall be through no fault
of mine. Allusion has also been made by one of your honored
speakers to some remark recently made by myself at Pittsburg,
in regard to what is supposed to be the especial interests of this
great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. I now wish only to say,
in regard to that matter, that the few remarks which I uttered
on that occasion were rather carefully worded. I took pains
that they should be so. I have seen no occasion since to add to
them or subtract from them. I leave them precisely as they
stand, adding only now, that I am pleased to have an expression from you, gentlemen of Pennsylvania, significant that they
are satisfactory to you. And now, gentlemen of the General
Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, allow me to
return you again my most sincere thanks."
PLOT TO ASSASSINATE HIM —IHOW IT WAS
THWARTED.
Arrangements had been made for his departure from




86   LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
harrisburg on the following morning, but the discovery
of a plot to assassinate him as he passed through Baltimore-a plot in which some of the principal residents of
that city were interested, although their projects were to
be accomplished by means of paid emissaries-caused a
change in the schedule, and on the evening of the day that
he had been received by the Legislature, he left in a
special train for Philadelphia, and from thence proceeded
in the sleeping-car attached to the regular midnight train
to Washington, where he arrived at an early hour on the
morning of the twenty-third.
The sudden departure of Mr. Lincoln from the Pennsylvania State Capital naturally astonished the people of
the country; and while the loyal citizens exulted in the
fact that he was safe in Washington, the traitors and their
sympathizers were greatly exasperated at the failure of
their nefarious designs, and pronouncing the movement
an act of cowardice, solemnly declared that he should
never be inaugurated.
IS WELCOMED TO WASHINGTON BY THE
AUTHORITIES.
A few days after his arrival he was waited upon by the
Mayor and other municipal authorities, who welcomed
him to the city, and to whom he made the following
reply:
"Mr. Mayor: I thank you, and through you the municipal
authorities of this city who accompany you, for this welcome.
A nd as it is the first time in my life since the present phase of
politics has presented itself in this country, that I have said
any thing publicly within a region of country where the institution of slavery exists, I will take this occasion to say that I
think very much of the ill-feeling that has existed, and still exists, between the people in the sections from whence I came
and the people here, is dependent upon a misunderstanding of
one another. I therefore avail myself of this opportunity to
assure you, Mr. Mayor, and all the gentleman present, that I
have not now, and never have had, any other than as kindly




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.  87
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 the benefits of the
Constitution, under any circumstances, that I would not feel
myself constrained to withhold from my 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."
ADDRESSES THE REPUBLICAN ASSOCIATION.
On the following evening the Republican Association
tendered him a delightful serenade, at the conclusion of
which he made the following remarks to the assembled
crowd:
"My friends: I suppose that I may take this as a compliment 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 misunderstanding.
"I hope that, if things shall go along as prosperously as I
believe we all desire they may, I may have it in my power to remove something of this misunderstanding; that I may be
enabled to convince you, and the people of your section of the
country, that we regard you as in all things our equals, and in
all things entitled to the same respect and the same treatment
that we claim for ourselves; 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 Constitution 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 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 remarks, and again returning my thanks for this
compliment, and expressing my desire to hear a little niore of
your good music, I bid you good-night."




88   LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
IS IN AUGURATED PRESIDEiT OF TIIE
UNITED STATES.
On the fourth of March, 1861, Abraham  Lincoln was
inaugurated the Sixteenth President of the United States,
the ceremonies incident to the event being of the most
imposing description.  A large number of troops participated in the procession, and every arrangement was made
to frustrate any movement the Secessionists or theii
friends might make to prevent the choice of a majority of
the voters of the nation from taking the oath of office.
From a platform erected in the usual position on the east
front of the capitol, and in the presence of not less than
ten thousand persons, Mr. Linooln delivered the following
Inaugcural Address:
INAUGURAL ADDRESS OF ABRAHATM LINCOLN.
"Fellow-citizens of 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 Republican Administration, their property and their peace and
personal security are to be endangered. There has never been
any reasonable cause for such apprehension. Indeed, the most
ample evidence to the contrary has all the while existed, and
been open to their inspection. It is found in nearly all the published speeches of him who now addresses you. I do but quote
from one of those speeches, when I declare that' I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of
slavery in the States where it exists.' I believe I have no lawful right to do so; and I have no inclination to do so.  l'hose
who nominated and elected me, did so with the full knowledge
that I had made this, and made many similar declarations, and
had never recanted them. And more than this, they placed in
the platform, for my acceptance, and as a law to themselves and
to me, the clear and emphatic resolution which I now read:
"'Resolved, That the maintenance inviolate of the rights of




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.  89
the States, and especially the right of each State to order and
control its own domestic institutions according to its own judgment exclusively, is essential to that balance of power on which
the perfection and endurance of our political fabric depend; and
we 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 fugitive
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?
"There is some difference of opinion whether this clause
should be enforced by national or by State authority; but
surely that difference is not a very material one. If the slave
is to be surrendered, it can be of but little consequence to him
or to others by which authority it is done; and slmuld any one,
in any case, be content that this oath shall go unkept on a
merely un uubstantial controversy as to how it shall be kept?
"Again, in any law upon this subject, ought not all the safeguards of liberty known in the civilized and humane jurisprudence
to be introduced, so that a free man be not, in any case, surrendered as a slave?  And might it not be well at the same time to
provide by law for the enforcement of that clause in the Constitution, which guarantees that' the citizens of each State shall be
entitled to all the privileges and immunities of citizens in tha
several States?'




90   LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
"I take the official oath to-day with no mental reservations,
and with no purpose to construe the Constitution or laws by
any hypercritical rules; and while I do not choose now to
specify particular acts of Congress as proper to be enforced, I
do suggest that it will be much safer for all, both in official and
private stations, to conform to and abide by all those acts which
stand unrepealed, than to violate any of them, trusting to find
impunity in having them held to be unconstitutional.
"It is seventy-two years since the first inauguration of a
President under our national Constitution.  During that period
fifteen different and very distinguished citizens have in succession administered the executive branch of the government.
They have conducted it through many perils, and ge:nerally
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 menaced,
is now formidably attempted. I hold that in the contemplation
of universal law and of the Constitution, the Union of these
States is perpetual. Perpetuity is implied, if not expressed, in
the fundamental law of all national governments. It is safe
to assert that no government proper ever had a provision in its
organic law for its own termination. Continue to execute all
the express provisions of our national Constitution, and the
Union will endure forever, it being impossible to destroy it except by some action not provided for in the instrument itself.
"Again, if the United States be not a government proper, but
an 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 perpetual, confirmed by the history of the Union itself.
"T rhe 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 further matured, and the faith of all the then
thirteen States expressly plighted and engaged that it should be
perpetual, by the Articles of Confederation, in 1778; and,
finally, in 1787, one of the declared objects for ordaining and
establishing the Constitution was to form a more perfect
Union. But if 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 having lost the vital element of
perpetuity.
" It follows from these Views that no State, upon its own me-e
motion, can lawfully get out of the Union; that resolves and
ordinances to that effect are legally void; and that acts of vio




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.  91
lence within any State or States against the authority of the
United States are insurrectionary or revolutionary, according to
circumstances.
"I therefore consider that, in view of the Constitution and
the laws, the Union is unbroken, and, to the extent of my
ability, I shall take care, as the Constitution itself expressly
enjoins upon me, that the laws of the 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, unless 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 authority.
" The power confided to me will be 2used to hold, occupy, and
possess the property and places belonging to the government, and
collect the duties and imposts; but beyond what may be necessary for these objects there will be no invasion, no using of force
against or among the people anywhere.
"Where hostility to the United States 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 strict legal right
may exist of the government to enforce the exercise of these
offices, the attempt to do so would be so irritating, 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 to
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 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 neither affirm nor deny. But if there be such, I
need address no word to them.
"To those, however, who really love the Union, may I not
speak, before entering upon so grave a matter as the destrue



92   LIFE AND) SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
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 ills you fly from have no real existence?  Will you, while
the certain ills you fly to, are greater than all the real ones you
fly from? Will you risk the commission of so fearful a mistake?
All profess to be content in the Union if all constitutional rights
can be maintained.  Is it true, then, that any right, plainly written in the Constitution, has been denied?  I think not.  Happily the human mind is so constituted, that no party can reach
to the audacity of doing this.
"Think, if you can, of a single instance in which a plainlywritten 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 them  by affirmations and negations, guarantees and prohibitions in the Constitution, that controversies
never rise 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?  The
Constitution does not expressly say. Must Congress protect
slavery in the territories? The Constitution does not expressly
say. From questions of this class spring all our constitutional
controversies, and we divide upon them  into majorities and
minorities.
" If the minority will not acquiesce, the majority must, or the
government must cease. There is no 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 andl divide them, for a
minority of their own will secede from them whenever a majority refuses to be controlled by such a minority. For instance,
why nbt any portion of a new confederacy, a year or two hence,
arbitarily 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 produce harmony only,
and prevent renewed secession? Plainly, the central idea of
secession is the essence of anarchy.
"A majority held in restraint by constitutional check and
limitations, and always changing easily with deliberate changes
of popular opinions and sentiments, is the only true sovereign of




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 93
a free people. Whoever reject it, does, of necessity, fly to anarchy or to despotism. Unanimity is impossible; the rule of a
majority, as a permanent arrangement, is wholly inadmissible.
So that, rejecting the majority principle, anarchy or despotism
in some form is all that is left.
" I do not forget the position assumed by some that constitutional 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 very high respect and consideration in all parallel
cases by all other departments of the government: and while it
is obviously possible that such decision may be erroneous in any
given case, still the evil effect following it, being 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 litigation between parties in personal actions, the people will have
ceased to be their own masters, unless having to that extent
practically resigned their government into the hands of that
eminent tribunal.
"' Nor is there in this view any assault upon the court or the
judges. It is a duty from which they may not shrink, to decide
cases properly brought before them; and it is no fault of theirs
if others seek to turn their decisions to,political purposes. One
section of our country believes slavery is right, and ought to be
extended, while the other believes it is wrong, and ought not to
be extended; and this is the only substantial dispute; 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 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 slavetrade, now imperfectly suppressed, would be ultimately revived,
without restriction, in one section; while fugitive slaves, now
only partially surrendered, would not be surrendered at all by
the other.
" Physically speaking, we cannot separate-we cannot remove
our respective sections from each other. nor build an impassable
wall between them. A husband and wife may be divorced, and
go out of the presence and beyond the reach of the other, but
the different parts of our country cannot do that. They cannot
but remain face to face; and intercourse, either amicable or
6




94 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
hostile, must continue between them. Is it possible, then, to
make that intercourse more advantageous or more satisfactory
after separation than before? Can aliens make treaties easier
than friends can make laws?  Can treaties be more faithfully
enforced between aliens than laws can among friends? Suppose
you go to war, you cannot fight always; and when, after much
loss on both sides, and no gaip 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 of the existing
government, they can exercise their constitutional right of
amending, or their revolutionary right to dismember or overthrow it. I cannot be ignorant of the fact that many worthy
and patriotic citizens are desirous of having the national Constitution amended. While I make no recommendation of 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 existing
circumstances, favor, rather than oppose, a fair opportunity
being afforded the people to act upon it.
"I will venture to add that to me the convention mode seems
preferable, in that it allows amendments to originate with t.he
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 understand 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 persons held to service.
To avoid misconstruction of what I have said, I depart from my
purpose not to speak of particular amendments, so far as to say
that, holding such a provision to now be implied constitutional
law, I have no objections to its being made express and irrevocable.
"The chief magistrate derives all his authority from the people, and they have conferred none upon him to fix 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 came to his hands, and to transmit it, unimpaired by him,
to his successor. Why should there not be a patient confidence
in the ultimate justice of the people? Is there any better or
equal hope in the world? In our present differences, is either
party without faith of being in the right? If the Almighty
Ruler of nations, with his eternal truth and justice, be on your
side of the North, or on yours of the South, that truth and that
justice will surely prevail by the judgment of this great tribunal,




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.  95
the American people. By the frame of the government under
which we live, this same people have wisely given their public
servants but little power for mischief, and have, with equal wis.
dom, 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 calmly and well upon
this whole subject. Nothing valuable can be lost by taking
time.
" If there be an object to hurry any of you, in hot haste, to
a step which you would never take deliberately, that object will
be frustrated by taking time; but no good object can be frustrated by it.
" Such of you as are now dissatisfied still have the old Constitution unimpaired, and, on the sensitive point, the laws of your
own framing under it; while the new administration will have
no immediate power, if it would, to change either.
"If it were admitted that you who are dissatisfied hold the
right side in the dispute, there is still no single reason for precipitate action.  Intelligence, patriotism, Christianity, and a
firm reliance on Him who has never yet forsaken this favored
land, are still competent to adjust, in the best way, all our
present difficulties.
" In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in
mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The government
will not assail you.
" You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors. You have no oath registered in heaven to destroy
the government; while I shall have the most solemn one to'preserve, protect, and defend it.'
"I am loth to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We
must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it
must not break our bonds of affection.
" The mystic cords of memory, stretching from every battlefield 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."
Chief Justice Taney then administered the oath of
office, and President Lincoln left the Capitol for the
White House, where he held a public reception.
PRESIDENT LINCOLN'S INTERVIEW WITH
THE VIRGINIA COMMISSIONERS.
On the 13th of April, 1861, Messrs. Preston Stuart and




96   LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
Randolph, a committee appointed by the Virginia Convention, were formally received by the President, and presented the resolutions under which they were appointed.
In response, Mr. Lincoln made the following address:
"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 commercial interests
of the country, tends to keep up an excitement which is unfavorable to the adjustment of the pending difficulties, and
threatens a disturbance of the public peace; therefore,
"'Resolved, That a committee of three delegates be appointed
to 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 having
as yet seen occasion to change, it is now my purpose 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 belonging to the Government, and to collect the duties and imports; but beyond
what is necessary for these objects there will be no invasion, no
using of force against or among the people anywhere.' By the
words'property and places belonging to the Government,' I
chiefly allude to the military posts and property which were in
possession of the government when it came into my hands.
But if, as now appears to be true, in pursuit of a purpose to
drive the United States authority from these places, an unprovoked assault has been made upon Fort Sumter, I shall hold
myself at liberty to repossess it, if I can, like places which had
been seized before the Government was devolved upon me, and
in any event I shall, to the best of my ability, repel force by
force. In case it proves true that Fort Sumter has been
assaulted, as is reported, I shall, perhaps cause the United
States mails to be withdrawn from all the States which claim to
have seceded, believing that the commencement of actual war
against the Government justifies and possibly demands it. I




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.  97
scarcely need to say that I consider the military posts and
property situated within the States which claim to have seceded,
as yet belonging to the Government of the United States as
much as they did before the supposed secession. Whatever
else I may do for the purpose, I shall not attempt to collect the
duties and imposts by any armed invasion of any part of the
country; not meaning by this, however, that I may not land a
force deemed necessary to relieve a fort upon the border of the
country. From the fact that I have quoted a part of the
inaugural address, it must not be inferred that I repudiate any
other part, the whole of which I reaffirm, except so far as what I
now say of the mails may be regarded as a modification."
Two days later the following proclamation was issued:
THE FIRST CALL FOR TROOPS. —-CONGRESS
SUMMONED TO ASSEMBLE.
" Whereas, The laws of the United States have been for some
time past, and now are opposed, and the execution thereof obstructed, in the States of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama,
Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, by combinations too
powerful to be suppressed by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings, or by the powers vested in the marshals by law; now,
therefore, I, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, President of the United States,
in virtue of the power in me vested by the Constitution and the
laws, have thought fit to call forth, and hereby do call forth, the
militia of the several States of the Union to the aggregate number of 75,000, in order to suppress said combinations and to
cause the laws to be duly executed.
" The details for this object will be immediately communicated
to the State authorities through the War Department. I appeal to all loyal citizens to favor, facilitate, and aid this effort
to maintain the honor, the integrity, and existence of our national Union, and the perpetuity of popular government, and to
redress wrongs already long enough endured. I deem it proper
to say that the first service assigned to the forces hereby called
forth, will probably be to repossess the forts, places, and property
which have been seized from the Union; and in every event ths
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 com.
posing the combinations aforesaid, to disperse and retire peaceably to their respective abodes, within twenty days from this
date.
" Deeming that the present condition of public affairs presents
an extraordinary occasion, I do hereby, in virtue of the power
in me vested by the Constitution, convene both Houses of C0en




96 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
gress. The Senators and Representatives are, therefore, sumrmoned to assemble at their respective chambers at twelve o'clock,
noon, on Thursday, the fourth day of July next, then and there
to consider and determine such measures as, in their wisdom, the
public safety and interest may seem to demand.
"' In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused
the seal of the United States to be affixed.
" Done at the City of Washington, this fifteenth day of April, in
the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and sixtyone, and of the independence of the United States the eighyfifth.
"By the President:             "ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
"WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State."
Within three days after the appeal had been made to
the patriots of the North, six hundred of their number
had arrived in Washington, prepared for active duty and
ready to sacrifice their lives in defence of the capital. The
avenues to the city of Washington were guarded night
and day, and cannon were placed in position. The excitement was intense, but amid all the various apprehensions
of the residents and the country, he, who really should
have been more especially anxious and fearful, was always
calm  and collected.  The murderous outbreak in Baltimore on the nineteenth only increased the excitement, but,
as if indifferent to the scenes which were in progress immediately around him, the President issued the following
Proclamation, ordering a blockade of the Southern ports:
A BLOCKADE OF SOUTHERN PORTS ORDERED.
"Whereas, An insurrection against the Government of the
United States has broken out in the States of South Carolina,
Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas,
and the laws of the United States for the collection of the
revenue cannot be efficiently executed therein conformably to
that provision of the Constitution which requires duties to be
uniform throughout the United States.
"And whereas, A combination of persons, engaged in such
insurrection, have threatened to grant pretended letters of
marque to authorize the bearers thereof to commit assaults on
the lives, vessels, and property of good citizens of the country
lawfully engaged in commerce on the high seas, and in waters
of the United States.




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAt[AM LINCOLN. 99
"And whereas, An Executive Proclamation has been already
issued, requiring the persons engaged in these disorderly proceedings to desist tllerefonm, calling out a militia force for the
purpose of repressing the same, and convening Congress in ex.
traordinary session to deliberate and determine thereon.
"Now, therefore, I, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, President of th.3
United States, with a view to the same purpose before men.
tioned, and to the protection of the public peace, and the
lives and property of quiet and orderly citizens pursuing their
lawful occupations, until Congress shall have assembled and deliberated on the said unlawful proceedings, or until the same
shall have ceased, have further deemed it advisable to set on
foot a blockade of the ports within the States aforesaid, in pursuance of the laws of the United States and of the laws of nations
in such cases provided. For this purpose a competent force will
be posted so as to prevent entrance and exit of vessels from the
ports aforesaid. If, therefore, with a view to violate such blockade, a vessel shall approach, or shall attempt to leave any of the
said ports, she will be duly warned by the commander of one of
the blockading vessels, who will indorse on her register the fact
and date of Such warning; and if the same vessel shall again
attempt to enter or leave the blockaded port, she will be cap
tured and sent to the nearest convenient port, for such proceed
ings against her and her cargo as prize as may be deemed ad
visable.
"And I hereby proclaim and declare, that if any person, under the pretended authority of said States, or under any other
pretence, shall molest a vessel of the United States, or the
persons or cargo on board of her, such person will be held
amenable to the laws of the United States for the prevention
and punishment of piracy.
" By the President:             "ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
"WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.
" Washington, April 19th, 1861."
THE PRESIDENT'S COMMUNICATION WITH
THE MARYLAND AUTHORITIES.
On the twentieth of April, the President sent the following letter to the Governor of Maryland and also to the
Mayor of Baltimore:
"WASHINGTON, April 20th, 1861.
"GOVERNOR HICKS AND MAYOR BROWN:
" 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.




LIFE AIND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
"Without any military knowledge myself, of course I must
leave details to General Scott. He hastily said this morning,
in presence of those 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 the way to seek it.
I hope you will exert your influence to prevent this. Now and
ever, I shall do all in my power for peace, consistently with the
maintenance of government
"Your obedient servant,
"A. LINCOLN."
And on the twenty-first, he sent a despatch to Mayor
Brown, requesting him to proceed immediately to Washington, a request that was obeyed, and upon arriving at
the White House the invited guest was admitted to an
interview with the Cabinet and General Scott. The President informed the Mayor, and three of the citizens of Baltimore who had accompanied him, that he recognized the
good faith of the City and State authorities, but should
insist upon a recognition of his own.
He admitted the excited state of feeling in Baltimore,
and his desire and duty to avoid the fatal consequences
of a collision with the people. He urged, on the other
hand, the absolute, irresistible necessity of having a transit through the State for such troops as might be necessary for the protection of the Federal capital. The protection of Washington, he asseverated with great earnestness, was the sole object of concentrating troops there;
and he protested that none of the troops brought through
Maryland were intended for any purpoes hostile to the
State, or aggressive as against the Southern States. Being
now unable to bring them up the Potomac in security, the
Government must either bring them through Maryland or
abandon the capital.
He called on General Scott for his opinion, which the
General gave at length, to the effect that troops might be




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 101
brought through Maryland, without going through Baltimore, by either carrying them from Perryville to Annapolis, and thence by rail to Washington, or by bringing them
to the Relay House on the Northern Central railroad, and
marching them to the Relay House on the Washington
railroad, and thence by rail to the capital. If the people
would permit them to go by either of these routes uninterruptedly, the necessity of their passing through Baltimore
would be avoided. If the people would not permit them
a transit thus remote from the city, they must select their
own best route, and, if need be, fight their way through
Baltimore, a result which the General earnestly deprecated.
The President expressed his hearty concurrence in the
desire to avoid a collision, and said that no more troops
should be ordered through Baltimore if they were permitted to go uninterrupted by either of the other routes
suggested. In this disposition the Secretary of War expressed his participation.
About this same date a deputation of sympathizers
visited the President, and demanded a cessation of hostilities until the convening of Congress, accompanying the
demand with the assertion that seventy-five thousand
Marylanders would contest the passage of troops over
their soil. Mr. Lincoln, in refusing to accede to the truce,
quietly replied that he presumed there was room enough
on her soil to bury seventy-five thousand men.
BLOCKADING OF VIRGINIA AND NORTH
CAROLINA.
On the twenty-seventh of April, the following additional
proclamation, extending the blockade, was issued:
"Whereas, For the reasons assigned in my proclamation of
the 19th instant, a blockade of the ports of the States of South
Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi,
and Texas, was ordered to be established; And whereas, Since




102  LIFE AN) SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
that date public property of the United States has been seized,
the collection of the revenue obstructed, and duly commissioned
officers of the United States, while enlgaged in executing the
orders of their superiors, have been arrested and held in custody
as prisoniers, or have been impeded in the discharge of their
official duties, without due legal process, by persons claiming to
act underi authority of the States of Virginia and North Carolina, an efficient blockade of the ports of these States will therefore also be established.
" In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and cause-'
the seal of the United States to be affixed.
"Done at the City of Washington, this 27th 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 eightyfifth.
" By the President:           "ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
"WILLIAM IH. SEWARD, Secretary of State."
Although the first call for troops had been responded to
in the most gratifying manner by the outraged citizens of
the free States, it was early ascertained that the number
asked was totally insufficient for the existing exigencies,
and on the third of MIay the following proclamation was
issued:
A CALL FOR ADDITIONAL TROOPS.
" WASHINGTON, FRIDAY, May 3d, 1861.
"Whereas, Existing exigencies demand immediate and ade.
quate measures for the protection of the national Constitution
and the preservation of the national Union by the suppression
of the insurrectionary combinations now existing in several
States for opposing the laws of the Union and obstructing the
execution thereof; to which end a military force, in addition to
that called forth by my Proclamation of the fifteenth day of
April, in the present year, appears to be indispensably necessary, now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the
United States, and Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy
thereof, and of the militia of the several States, when called into
actual service, do hereby call into the service of the United
States forty-two thousand and thirty-four volunteers, to serve
for a period of three years, unless sooner discharged, and tc be
mustered into service as infantry and cavalry. The proportions
of each arm and the details of enrolment and organization will
be made known through the Department ef War; and I also
direct that the regular army of the United States be increased
by the addition of eight regiments of infantry, one regiment ot




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM  INCOLN. 108
cavalry, and one regiment of artillery, making altogether a
maximum aggregate increase of 22,714 officers and enlisted men,
the details of which increase will also be made known through
the Department of War; and I further direct the enlistment,
for not less than one nor more than three years, of 18,000 seamen, in addition to the present force, for the naval service of
the United States. The details of the enlistment and organization will be made known through the Department of the Navy.
The call for volunteers, hereby made, and the direction of the
increase of the regular army, and for the enlistment of seamen
hereby given, together with the plan of organization adopted for
the volunteers and for the regular forces hereby authorized, will
be submitted to Congress as soon as assembled.
" In the meantime, I earnestly invoke the co-operation of all
good citizens in the measures hereby adopted for the effectual
suppression of unlawful violence, for the impartial enforcement
of constitutional laws, and for the speediest possible restoration
of peace and order, and with those of happiness and prosperity
throughout our country.
" In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and
caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
"Done at the City of Washington, this third day of May, in the
year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-one,
and of the Independence of the United States the eightyfifth.
"By the President:            "ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
" WILLIAM HI. SEWARD, Secretary of State."
AN INTERVIEW WITH THE MARYLAND
LEGISLATURE.
On the following day, the President had an interview
with a Committee of the Maryland Legislature, who admitted the right of the Government to transport troops
through Baltimore or Maryland, but expressed their belief
that no immediate efforts would be made by the State authorities at secession or resistance, and asked that the
State might be spared military occupation, or a mere revengeful chastisement for former transgressions.  The
President, in reply, promised to give their suggestions a
respectful consideration, and stated that whatever measures might be adopted, would be actuated entirely by the
public interests and not by gny spirit of revenge.




104  LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
A SPECIAL ORDER FOR FLORIDA.
On the tenth of May, 1861, the following proclamation
was promulgated:
" Whereas, An insurrection exists in the State of Florida, by
which the lives, liberty, and property of loyal citizens of the
United States are endangered.
"And whereas, It is deemed proper that all needful measures
should be taken for the protection of such citizens and all officers
of the United States in the discharge of their public duties va
the State aforesaid.
"Now, therefore, be it known that I, Abraham  Lincoln,
President of the United States, do hereby direct the Commander of the forces of the United States on the Florida coast
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 there the writ of habeas corpus,
and to remove from the vicinity of the United States fortresses
all dangerous or suspected persons.
" In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused
the seal of the United States to be affixed.
"Done at the City of Washington, this tenth day of May, in the
year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-one,
and of the Independence of the United States the eightyfifth.
"By the President:            "ABRAHAn LINCOLN.
" WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State."
PRESIDENT LINCOLN'S FIRST MESSAGE TO
CONGRESS.
On the fourth of July, 1861, Congress assembled, in
pursuance to the call of the President, and received from
the Executive the following Message:
"FELLOW-CITIZENS OF THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:-Having been convened on an extraordinary occasion,
as authorized by the Constitution, your attention is not called
to any ordinary subject of legislation. At the beginning of the
present Presidential term, four months ago, the functions of the
Federal Government were found to be generally suspended
within the several States of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama,
Missisippi, Louisiana, and Florida, excepting only those of the
Post-Office Department.




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 105
"Within these States all the Forts, Arsenals, Dock-Yards,
Custom-Houses, and the like, including the movable and stationary property in and about them, had been seized, and were held
in open hostility to this Government, excepting only Forts
Pickens, Taylor, and Jefferson, on and near the Florida coast,
and Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor, South Carolina. The
forts thus seized had been put in improved condition, new ones
had been built, and armed forces had been organized, and were
organizing, all avowedly for the same hostile purpose.
"The forts remaining in possession of the Federal Government in and near these States were either besieged or menaced
by warlike preparations, and especially Fort Sumter was nearly
surrounded by well-protected hostile batteries, with guns equal
in quality to the best of its own, and outnumbering the latter as,
perhaps, ten to one-a disproportionate share of the Federal
muskets and rifles had somehow found their way into these
States, and had been seized to be used against the Government.
" Accumulations of the public revenue lying within them had
been seized for the same object. The navy was scattered in
distant seas, leaving but a very small part of it within the immediate reach of the Government.
" Officers of the Federal army had resigned in great numbers,
&nd of those resigning a large proportion had taken up arms
against the Government.
" Simultaneously, and in connection with all this, the purpose
to sever the Federal Union was openly avowed. In accordance
with this purpose an ordinance had been adopted in each of these
States, declaring the States respectively to be separated from
the National Union. A formula for instituting a combined
Government of these States had been promulgated, and this
illegal organization, in the character of the' Confederate States,'
was already invoking recognition, aid, and intervention from
foreign Powers.
" Finding this condition of things, and believing it to be an
imperative duty upon the incoming Executive to prevent, if possible, the consummation of such attempt to destroy the Federal
Union, a choice of means to that end became indispensable.
This choice was made and was declared in the Inaugural
Address.
"The policy chosen looked to the exhaustion of all peaceful
measures before a resort to any stronger ones. It sought only
to hold the public places and property not already wrested from
the Government, and to collect the revenue, relying for the rest
on time, discussion, and the ballot-box. It promised a continuance of the mails, at Government expense, to the very people
who were resisting the Government, and it gave repeated pledges
against any disturbances to any of the people, or any of their
rights, of all that which a President might constitutionally and
justifiably do in such a case; every thing was forborne, without
which it was believed possilJle to keep the Government on foot.




108  LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
" On the 5th of March, the present incumbent's first full day
in office, a letter from Major Anderson, commanding at Fort
Sumter, written on the 28th of February and received at the
War Department on the 4th of March, was by that Department
placed in his hands. This letter expressed the professional
opinion of the writer, that reinforcements could not be thrown
into that fort within the time for its relief rendered necessary by
the limited supply of provisions, and with a view of holding possession of the same, with a force less than 20,000 good and welldisciplined men. This opinion was concurred in by all the
officers of his command, and their memoranda ol the subject
were made inclosures of Major Anderson's letter. The whole
was immediately laid before Lieutenant-General Scott, who at
once concurred with Major Anderson in his opinion. On reflection, however, he took full time, consulting with other officers
both of the army and navy, and at the end of four days came
reluctantly but decidedly to the same conclusion as before. He
also stated at the same time that no such sufficient force was
then at the control of the Government, or could be raised and
brought to the ground, within the time when the provisions in
the fort would be exhausted. In a purely military point of view,
this reduced the duty of the Administration in the case to the
mere matter of getting the garrison safely out of the fort.
" It was believed, however, that to so abandon that position,
under the circumstances, would be utterly ruinous; that the
necessity under which it was to be done would not be fully understood; that by many it would be construed as a part of a
voluntary policy; that at home it would discourage the friends
of the Union, embolden its adversaries, aud go far to insure to
the latter a recognition abroad; that, in fact, it would be our
national destruction consummated. This could not be allowed.
Starvation was not yet upon the garrison, and ere it would be
reached, Fort Pickens might be reinforced. This last would
be a clear indication of policy, and would better enable the
country to accept the evacuation of Fort Sumter as a military
necessity. An order was at once directed to be sent for the
landing of the troops from the steamship Brooklyn into Fort
Pickens. This order could not go by land, but must take the
longer and slower route by sea. The first return news from the
order was received just one week before the fall of Sumter. The
news itself was that the officer commanding the Sabine, to which
vessel the troops had been transferred from the Brooklyn, acting
upon some quasi armistice of the late Administration, and of
the existence of which the present Administration, up to the
time the order was despatched, had only too vague and uncertain
rumors to fix attention, had refused to land the troops. To now
reinforce Fort Pickens before a crisis would be reached at
Fort Sumter was impossible, rendered so by the near exhaustion
of provisions at the latter named fort. In precaution against




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHtAM LINCOLN. 107
such a conjuncture the Government had a few days before commenced preparing an expedition, as well adapted as might be, to
relieve Fort Sumter, which expedition was intended to be ultimately used or not, according to circumstances. The strongest
anticipated case for using it was now presented, and it was resolved to send it forward as had been intended. In this contingene y it was also resolved to notify the Governor of South Carolina that he might expect an attempt would be made to provision the fort, and that if the attempt should not be resisted,
there would be no attempt to throw in men, arms, or ammunition, without further notice or in case of an attack upon the
fort. This notice was accordingly given, whereupon the fort
was attacked and bombarded to its fall, without even awaiting
the arrival of the provisioning expedition.
"It is thus seen that the assault upon, and reduction of Fort
Sumter, was, in no sense, a matter of self-defence 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
so much, should provoke more. They knew that this Government desired to keep the garrison in the fort, not to assail
them, but merely to maintain visible possession, and thus to preserve the Union from actual and immediate dissolution; trusting, as hereinbefore stated, to time, discussion, and the ballotbox for final adjustment, and they assailed and reduced the fort,
for precisely the reverse object, to drive out the visible authority
of the Federal Union, and thus force it to immediate dissolution;
that this was their object the Executive well understood, 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 far from ingenious sophistry as that the world should not
misunderstand it. By the affair at Fort Sumter, with its surrounding circumstances, that point was reached.  Then and
thereby the assailants of the Government began the conflict of
arms,-without a gun in sight or in expectancy to return their
fire, save only the few in the fort sent to that harbor years
before, for their own protection, and still ready to give that protection in whatever was lawfill. In this act, discarding all else,
they have forced upon the country the distinct issue, immediate
dissolution or blood, and this issue embraces more than the fate
of these United States. It presents to the whole family of
man the question whether a Constitutional Republic or Democracy, a Government of the people, by the same people, can
or cannot maintain its territorial integrity against its own
domestic foes. It presents the question whether discontented
individuals, too few in numbers to control the Administration




108 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
according to the organic law in any case, can always, upon
the pretences made in this case, or any other pretences
or arbitrarily without any 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 Government,
and so to resist the force employed for its destruction by force
for its preservation. The call was made, and the response of
the country was most gratifying, surpassing, in unanimity and
spirit, the most sanguine expectation. Yet none of the States,
commonly called slave States, except Delaware, gave a regiment through the regular State organization. A few regiments
have been organized within some others of those States by
individual enterprise, and received into the Government service.
Of course the seceded States, so called, and to which Texas
had been joined about the time of the inauguration, gave no
troops to the cause of the Union. The Border States, so called,
were not uniform in their action, some of them being almost for
the Union, while in others as in Virginia, North Carolina,
Tennessee, and Arkansas, the Union sentiment was nearly
repressed and silenced. The course taken in Virginia was the
most remarkable, perhaps the most important. A convention,
elected by the people of that State to consider this very ques.
tion of disrupting the Federal Union, was in session at the
capital of Virginia when Fort Sumter fell.
"To this body the people had chosen a large majority of professed Union men. Almost immediately after the fall of Sumter many members of that majority went over to the original
disunion minority, and with them adopted an ordinance for withdrawing the State from the Union. Whether this change was
wrought by their great approval of the assault upon Sumter, or
their great resentment at the Government's resistance to that
assault, is not definitely known. Although they submitted the
ordinance for ratification to a vote of the people, to be taken on
a day then somewhat more than a month distant, the Convention and the Legislature, which was also in session at the same
time and place, with leading men of the State, not members
of either, immediately commenced acting as if the State was
already out of the Union. They pushed military preparations
vigorously forward all over the State. They seized the United
States Armory at Harper's Ferry, and the Navy-Yard at Gosport, near Norfolk. They received, perhaps invited into their
State large bodies of troops, with their warlike appointments,
from the so-called seceded States.
"They formally entered into a treaty of temporary alliance
with the so-called Confederate States, alnd sent members to their




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 109
Congress at Montgomery, and finally they permitted the insnrrectionary Government to be transferred to their capitol at
Richmond. The people of Virginia have thus allowed this
giant insurrection to make its nest within her borders, and this
Government has no choice left but to deal with it where it finds
it, and it has the less to regret as the loyal citizens have in due
form claimed its protection. Those loyal citizens this Government is bound to recognize and protect as being in Virginia.
In the Border States, so called, in fact the middle States, there
are those who favor a policy which they call armed neutrality,
that is, an arming of those States to prevent the Union forces
passing one way or the disunion forces the other over their soil.
This would be disunion completed. Figuratively speaking, it
would be the building of an impassable wall along the line of
separation, and yet not quite an impassable one, for under the
guise of neutrality it would tie the hands of the Union men, and
freely pass supplies from among them to the insurrectionists,
which it could not do as an open enemy. At a stroke it would
take all the trouble off the hands of secession, except only
what proceeds from the external blockade. It would do for the
disunionists that which of all things they most desire, feed them
well and give them disunion without a struggle of their own.
It recognizes no fidelity to the Constitution, no obligation to
maintain the Union, and while very many who have favored it
are doubtless loyal citizens, it is nevertheless very injurious in
effect.
" Recurring to the action of the Government it may be stated
that at first a call was made for 75,000 militia, and rapidly
following this a proclamation was issued for closing the ports
of the insurrectionary districts by proceedings in the nature
of a blockade. So far all was believed to be strictly legal.
"At this point the insurrectionists announced their purpose
to enter upon the practice of privateering.
"Other calls were made for volunteers, to serve three years, unless sooner discharged, and also for large additions to the regular
army and navy. These measures, whether strictly legal or not,
were ventured upon under what appeared to be a popular demand
and a public necessity, trusting then, as now, that Congress
would ratify them.
" It is believed that nothing has been done beyond the constitutional competency of Congress. Soon after the first call
for militia it was considered a duty to authorize the commanding
general, in proper cases, according to his discretion, to suspend
the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus; or, in other words,
to arrest and detain, without resort to the ordinary processes
and forms of law, such individuals as he might deem dangerous
to the public safety. This authority has purposely been exercised but very sparingly. Nevertheless the legality and propriety of what has been done under it are questioned, and the
7




110  LIFE AND SERVTCES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
attention of the country has been called to the proposition that
one who is sworn to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, should not himself violate them.  Of course some
consideration was given to the questions of power and propriety
before this matter was acted upon. The whole of the laws
which were required to be faithfully executed were being resisted,
and failing of execution in nearly one-third of the States.
Must they be allowed to finally fail of execution, even had it
been perfectly clear that by use of the means necessary to their
execution, some single law, made in such extreme tenderness of
the citizen's liberty that practically it relieves more of the
guilty than the innocent, should to a very great extent be
violated? To state the question more directly, are all the laws
but one to go unexecuted, and the Government itself to go to
pieces lest that one be violated? Even in such a case would
not the official oath be broken if the Government should be
overthrown when it was believed that disregarding the single law
would tend to preserve it.
"But it was not believed that this question was presented.
It was not believed that any law was violated. The provision
of the Constitution, that the privilege of the writ of habeas
corpus shall not be suspended, unless when, in cases of rebellion or invasion, the public safety may require it, is equivalent to
a provision that such privilege may be suspended when, in cases
of rebellion or invasion, the public safety does require it. It
was decided that we have a case of rebellion, and that the
public safety does require the qualified suspension of the
privilege of the writ, which was authorized to be made. Now,
it is insisted that Congress, and not the Executive, is vested
with this power.  But the Constitution itself is silent as
to which or who is to exercise the power; and as the provisioni
was plainly made for a dangerous emergency, it cannot be
believed that the framers of the instrument intended that in
every case the danger should run its course until Congress could
be called together, the very assembling of which might be prevented, as was intended in this case by the rebellion. No more
extended argument is now afforded, as an opinion at some
length will probably be presented by the Attorney-General.
Whether there shall be any legislation on the subject, and if so
what, is submitted entirely to the better judgment of Congress.
The forbearance of this Government had been so extraordinary,
and so long continued, as to lead some foreign nations to shape
their action as if they supposed the early destruction of our
national Union was probable. While this, on discovery, gave
the Executive some concern, he is now happy to say that the
sovereignty and rights of the United States are now everywhere
practically respected by foreign Powers, and a general sympathy
with the country is manifested throughout the world.
"The reports of the Secretaries of the Treasury, War, and




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 111
the Navy, will give the information in detail deemed necessary
and convenient for your deliberation and action, while the Executive and all the departments will stand ready to supply
omissions or to communicate new facts considered important for
you to know.
"It is now recommended that you give the legal means for
making this contest a short and decisive one; that you place at
the control of the Government for the work at least 400,000
men and $400,000,000; that number of men is about one-tenth
of those of proper ages within the regions where apparently all
are willing to engage, and the sum is less than a twenty-third
part of the money value owned by the men who seem ready to
devote the whole. A debt of $600,000,000 now is a less sum
per head than was the debt of our 2Revolution when we came
out of that struggle, and the money value in the country bears
even a greater proportion to what it was then than does the
population. Surely each man has as strong a motive now to
preserve our liberties as each had then to establish them.
"A right result at this time will be worth more to the world
than ten times the men and ten times the money. The evidence
reaching us from the country leaves no doubt that the material
for the work is abundant, and that it needs only the hand of
legislation to give it legal sanction, and the hand of the Executive to give it practical shape and efficiency. One of the greatest
perplexities of the Government is to avoid receiving troops
faster than it can provide for them; in a word, the people will
save their Government if the Government will do its part only
indifferently well. It might seem at first thought to be of little
difference whether the present movement at the South be called
secession or rebellion. The movers, however, well understand
the difference. At the beginning they knew that they could
never raise their treason to any respectable magnitude by any
name which implies violation of law; they knew their people
possessed as much of moral sense, as much of devotion to law
and order, and as much pride in its reverence for the history and
Government of their common country, as any other civilized
and patriotic people. They knew they could make no advancement 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 of the complete destruction of the Union.  The
sophism itself is that any State of the Union may, consistently
with the nation's Constitution, and therefore lawfully and peace
fully, 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 judge of its justice,
is too thin to merit any notice with rebellion. Thus sugar




112 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
coated, they have been drugging the public mind of their section
for more than thirty years, and until at length they have brought
many good men to a willingness to take up arms against the
Government the day after some assemblage of men have enacted
the farcical pretence of taking their State out of the Union, who
could have been brought to no such thing the day before. This
sophism derives much, perhaps the whole of its currency, from
the assumption that there is some omnipotent and sacred supremacy pertaining to a State, to each State of our Federal
Union. Our States have neither more nor less power than that
reserved to them in the Union by the Constitution, no one of
them ever having been a State out of the Union. The original
ones passed into the Union before they cast off their British
Colonial dependence, and the new ones came into the Union
directly from a condition of dependence, excepting Texas, and
even Texas, in its temporary independence, was never designated
as a State. The new ones only took the designation of States
on coming into the Union, while that name was first adopted
for 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 of the Union, but directly the contrary, as their mutual pledge and their mutual action before, at the time, and afterward, abundantly show. The
express plight of faith by each and all of the original thirteen
States in the Articles of Confederation two years later that the
Union shall be perpetuated, is most conclusive. Having never
been States either in substance or in name outside of the Union,
whence this magical omnipotence of State rights, asserting a
claim of power to lawfully destroy the Union itself. Much is
said about the so'vereignty 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 word? Would it be far wrong to define it a political community without a political superior? Tested by this, no
one of our States, except Texas, was a sovereignty, and even
Texas gave up the character on coming into the Union, by
which act she acknowledged the Constitution of the United
States; and the laws and treaties of the United States, made in
pursuance of States, have their status in the Union, made in
pursuance of the Constitution, to be for her the supreme law.
The States have their status in the Union, and they have no
other legal status. If they break from this, they can only do so
against law and by revolution. The Union, and not themselves
separately, procured their independence and their liberty by conquest or purchase. The Union gave each of them whatever of
independence and liberty it has. The Union is older than any
of the States, and, in fact, it created them, as States. Originally, some dependent Colonies made the Union, and in turn the




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHIAM LINCOLN. 113
Union threw off their old dependence for them and made ihem
States, such as they are. Not one of them ever had a State
constitution independent of the Union. Of course it is not forgotten that all the new States formed their constitutions before
they entered the Union; nevertheless, dependent upon, and preparatory to coming into the Union. Unquestionably, the States
have the powers and rights reserved to them in and by the National Constitution.
"But among these surely are not included all conceivable
powers, however mischievous or destructive, but at most such
only as were known in the world at the time as governmental
powers, and certainly a power to destroy the Government itself
had never been known as a governmental, as a merely administrative power. This relative matter of national power and State
rights as a principle, is no other than the principle of generality
and locality. Whatever concerns the whole should be conferred
to the whole General Government, while whatever concerns 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 cambated, 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 those 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. Is it just
that she shall now be off without consent or without any return?
The nation is now in debt for money applied to the benefit of
these so-called seceding States, in common with the rest. Is it
just, either that creditors shall go unpaid. or the remaining
States pay the whole? A part of the present national debt was
contracted to pay the old debt of Texas. Is it just that she
shall leave and pay no part of this herself?  Again, if one State
may secede so may another, and when all shall have seceded
none is left to pay the debts. Is this quite just to creditors?
Iid we notify them of this sage view of ours when we borrowed
their money? If we now recognize this doctrine by allowing the
seceders to go in peace, it is difficult to see what we can do if
others choose to go, or to extort terms upon which they will
promise to remain. The seceders insist that our Constitution
admits of secession. They have assumed to make a National
Constitution of their own, in which, of necessity, they have either
discarded or retained the right of secession, as they insist exists
in ours. If they have discarded it, they thereby admit that on




114  LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
principle it ought not to exist in ours; if they have retained it,
by their own construction of ours that shows 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 same act, instead of being called driving the one out,
should be called the seceding of the others from that one, it
would be exactly what the seceders claim to do, unless, indeed,
they made the point that the one, because it is a minority, may
rightfully do what the others, because they are a majority, may
not rightfully do. These politicians are subtle, and profound in
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 be well 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 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. A-t
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
illustration. So large an army as the Government has now on
foot was never before known, without a soldier in it but who has
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 whole 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
it is so much better the reason why the Government which has
conferr!d 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 tD consider in deference to what prin




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 115
ciple it is that he does it. What better he is likely to get in
its stead, whether the substitute will give, or be intended t6
give so much of good to the people. There are some foreshadowings on this subject. Our adversaries have adopted some
declarations of independence in which, unlike the good old one
penned by Jefferson, they omit the words,'all men are created
equal.' Why? They have adopted a temporary National Constitution, in the preamble of which, unlike our good old one
signed by Washington, they omit'We the people,' and substitute' We, the deputies of the sovereign and independent States.'
Why? Why this deliberate pressing out of view the rights of
men and the authority of the people? This is essentially a people's contest. On the side of the Union it is a struggle for
maintaining in the world that form and substance of Government
whose leading object is to elevate the condition of men, to lift
artificial weights from all shoulders, to clear the paths of laudable pursuit for all, to afford all an unfettered start and a fair
chance in the race of life, yielding to partial and temporary departures from necessity. This is the leading object of the Government, for whose existence we contend.
" I am most happy to believe that the plain people understand
and appreciate this. It is worthy of note that while in this, the
Government's hour of trial, large numbers of those in the army
and navy who have been favored with the offices, have resigned
and proved false to the hand which pampered them, not one
common soldier or common sailor is known to have deserted his
flag. Great honor is due to those officers who remained true
despite the example of their treacherous associates, but the
greatest honor and the most important fact of all, is the unanimous firmness of the common soldiers and common sailors. To
the last man, so far as known, they have successfully resisted.the traitorous efforts of those whose commands but an hour before they obeyed as absolute law. This is the patriotic instinct
of plain people. They understand without an argument that the
destroying the Government which was made by Washington
means no good to them. Our popular Government has often
been called an experiment. Two points in it our people have
settled: the successful establishing and the successful adminiistering of it. One still remains. Its successful maintenance
against a formidable internal attempt to overthrow it. It is now
for them to demonstrate to the world that those who can fairly
carry an election can also suppress a rebellion; that ballots are
the rightful 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




116  LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
as to what is to be the course of the government toward the
Southern States after the rebellion shall have been suppressed,
the Executive deems it proper to say it will be his purpose, then,
as ever, to be guided by the Constitution and the laws, and that
he probably will have no different understanding of the powers
and duties of the Federal Government relatively to the rights
of the States and the people under the Constitution than that
expressed in the inaugural address. He desires to preserve the
government, that it may be administered 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 government has no right to withhold or neglect it. It is not perceived that, in giving it, there is any coercion, any conquest, or
any subjugation in any sense of these terms.
" The Constitution provided, and all the States have accepted
the provision,'that the United States shall guarantee to every
State in this Union a Republican form of government;' but if a
State may lawfully go out of the Union, having done so, it may
also discard the Republican form of government. So that to
prevent its going out is an indispensable means to the end of
maintaining the guarantee mentioned; and, when an end is lawful and obligatory, the indispensable means to it are also lawful
and obligatory.
It was with the deepest regret that the Executive found the
duty of employing the war power forced upon him. In defence
of the government he could but perform this duty or surrender
the existence of the government. No compromise by public
servants could, in this case, be a cure; not that compromises are
not often proper, but that no popular government can long survive a marked precedent, that those who carry an election canl
only save the government from immediate destruction by giving
up the main point upon which the people gave the election.
The people themselves and not their servants can safely reverse
their own deliberate decisions.
"As a private citizen, the Executive could not have consented
that these institutions shall perish, much less could he in betrayal of so vast and so sacred a trust as these free people had
confided to him. He felt that he had no moral right to shrink,
nor even to count the chances of his own life in what might
follow.
" In full view of his great responsibility, he has so far done what
he has deemed his duty. You will now, according to your own
judgment, perform yours. He sincerely hopes that your views
and your actions may so accord with his as to assure all faithful citizens who have been disturbed in their rights of a cer-.tain and speedy restoration to them under the Constitution and
laws; and, having thus chosen our cause without guile, and
with pure purpose, let us renew our trust in God, and go forward without fear and with manly hearts.
" ABRAHAM LINCOLN."




LIFE AND VcERViC\ES OF LBRAHAM LINCOLN. 117
A DAY OF FASTING AND PRAYER APPOINTED.
On the twelfth of August, the following proclamation,
ippointing a day of fasting and prayer, was issued:
"1WVhereas, A joint committee of both Houses of Congress
has waited on the President of the United States, and requested
him to' recommend a day of public humiliation, prayer, and fasting, to be observed by the people of the United States with religious solemnities, and the offering of fervent supplications to
Almighty God for the safety and welfare of these States, His
blessings on their arms, and a speedy restoration of peace.'
"And whereas, It is fit and becoming in aJl people, at all
times, to acknowledge and revere the Supreme Government of
God; to bow in humble submission to his chastisements; to
confess and deplore their sins and transgressions, in the full conviction that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and
to pray, with all fervency and contrition, for the pardon of their
past offences, and for a blessing upon their present and prospective action.
"And whereas, When our own beloved country, once, by the
blessing of God, united, prosperous, and happy, is now afflicted
with faction and civil war, it is peculiarly fit for us to recognize
the hand of God in this terrible visitation, and, in sorrowful remembrance of our own faults and crimes as a nation, and as individuals, to humble ourselves before Him, and to pray for His
mercy-to pray that we may be spared further punishment,
though most justly deserved; that our arms may be blessed and
made effectual for the re-establishment of law, order, and peace
throughout the wide extent of our country; and that the inesti.
mable boon of civil and religious liberty, earned under HIi8
guidance and blessing by the labors and sufferings of our fathers,
may be restored in all its original excellence;
"Therefore I, Abraham  Lincoln, President of the United
States, do appoint the last Thursday in September next as a
day of humiliation, prayer and fasting for all the people of the
nation. And I do earnestly recommend to all the people, and
especially to all ministers and teachers of religion, of all denominations, and to all heads of families, to observe and keep that
day, according to their several creeds and modes of worship, in
all humility, and with all religious solemnity, to the end that the
united prayer of the nation may ascend to the Throne of Grace,
and bring down plentiful blessings upon our country.
"In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and
caused the seal of the United States to be affixed, this
[L. S.] 12th day of August, A. D. 1861, and of the Independence of the United States of America the eighty-sixth.' By the President:            "ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
" WILLIAM EH. SEWARD, Secretary of State."




118 LIFE AND SERVICOS OF ABRAiIAM LINCOLN.
COMMERCIAL INTERCOURSE WITH THE AE.
BELLIOUS STATES PROHIBITED.
Four days later he also promulgated the following:
"Whereas, On the 15th day of April, the President of the
United States, in view of an insurrection against the laws, Con..
stitution, and Government of the United States, which had
broken out within the States of South Carolina, Georgia, Ala.
bamna, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, and in pursuance of the provisions of the act entitled an act to provide for
calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the Union, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions, and to repeal the act
now in force for that purpose, approved February 28th, 1795,
did call forth the militia to suppress said insurrection and cause
the laws of the Union to be duly executed —and the insurgents
have failed to disperse by the time directed by the President;
and whereas, such insurrection has since broken out and yet
exists within the States of Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee,
and Arkansas; and whereas, the insurgents in all the said
States claim to act under authority thereof, and such claim is
not disclaimed or repudiated by the persons exercising the functions of government in such State or States, or in the part or
parts thereof, in which such combinations exist, nor has such
insurrection been suppressed by said States.
"Now, therefore, I, Abraham  Lincoln, President of the
United States, in pursuance of the act of Congress approved
July 13th, 1861, do hereby declare that the inhabitants of the
said States of Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama,
Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Florida, except the
inhabitants of that part of the State of Virginia lying west of
the Alleghany Mountains, and of such other parts of that State
and the other States hereinbefore named as may maintain a loyal
adhesion to the Union and the Constitution, or may be, from
time to time occupied and controlled by the forces of the
United States engaged in the dispersion of said insurgents, as
are in a state of insurrection against the United States, anu that
all commercial intercourse between the same and the inhabitants thereof, with the exception aforesaid, and the citizens of
other States and other parts of the United States, is unlawful
and will remain unlawful until such insurrection shall cease or
has been suppressed; that all goods and chattels, wares and
merchandize, coming from any of the said States, with the ex.
ceptions aforesaid, into other parts of the United States, without
the special license and permission of the President, through the
Secretary of the Treasury, or proceeding to any of the said
States, with the exception aforesaid, by land or water, together
with the vessel or vehicle conveying the same or conveying per



LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 119
sons to and from the said States, with the said exceptions, will
be forfeited to the United States; and that, from and after fifteen days from the issuing of this proclamation, all ships and
vessels belonging, in whole or in part, to any citizen or inhabitant of any of the said States, with the said exceptions, found at
sea in any part of the United States, will be forfeited to the
United States; and I hereby enjoin upon all district attorneys,
marshals, and officers of the revenue of the military and naval
forces of the United States to be vigilant in the execution of the
said act, and in the enforcement of the penalties and forfeitures
imposed or declared by it, leaving any party who may think himself aggrieved thereby to his application to the Secretary of the
Treasury for the remission of any penalty or forfeiture, which
the said Secretary is authorized by law to grant if, in his judgment, the special circumstances of any case shall require such
a remission.
" In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused
the seal of the United States to be affixed.
"Done in the city of Washington, this, the 16th day of August, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and
sixty-one, and of the Independence of the United States of
America the eighty-sixth.
"By the President:                "ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
"WILLIAM H. SEWARD."
HIE MODIFIES AN ORDER OF GENERAL FREMONT.
In the latter part of August, General Fremont declared
martial law throughout the State of Missouri, and at the
same time ordered that the property of all persons within
the limits of his Department who had been disloyal, should
be confiscated, and their slaves declared free men, but the
President promptly issued an order modifying that clause
of the proclamation in relation to the confiscation of property and the liberation of slaves, so as to conform with,
and not transcend the provisions on the same subject contained in the Act of Congress approved August 6th, 1861.
HIS SECOND MESSAGE TO CONGRESS.
On the 3d of December, 1861, Congress having convened
on the preceding day, the President sent in his Message, a
document which was eminently conservative and which




120 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
was received with great satisfaction by the loyal men of
the country. No general scheme of emancipation was
urged, and in alluding to the policy to be adopted to ensure the suppression of the rebellion, he stated that he
had been anxious and careful that the inevitable conflict
necessary for that purpose should not degenerate into a
violent and remorseless revolutionary struggle.  "I have,
therefore," he continued, "in every case, thought it proper
to keep the integrity of the Union prominent as the primary object of the contest on our part, leaving all questions which are not of vital military importance to the
more deliberate action of the Legislature."
There can never be any difficulty in ascertaining Mr.
Lincoln's views upon the exciting and absorbing topics of
the day. His messages, proclamations, and correspondence all evince the same spirit of independence and determination, while his language is so explicit that there can
be no doubt of his meaning. In his letter to Governor
Magoffin, of Kentucky, declining to remove the Union
troops from that State, and rebuking that official for his
indifference to the cause of his country-in the one to General Fremont, in reference to the modification of his proclamation, and in fact in all his correspondence on matters
connected with political movements, his views have been
of such a force and exalted character that they could not
fail to receive the hearty approbation of his fellow-countrymen.
On the nineteenth of February, 1862, he issued a proclamation requesting the people of the United States to
assemble on the twenty-second of the same month and
celebrate the day by reading the Farewell Address of the
"Father of his Country."
THE PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE RECOMMENDING
GRADUAL EMANCIPATION.
On the sixth of March, 1862. the President sent into




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 121
Congress the following Message, recommending the adoption of measures looking to "gradual, and not sudden"
emancipation:
"Fellow- Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives:
"I recommend the adoption of a joint resolution by your
honorable bodies which shall be substantially as follows:
"'Resolved, That the United States ought to cooperate with
any State which may adopt a gradual abolishment of slavery,
giving to such State pecuniary aid to be used by such State
in its discretion, to compensate for the inconveniences, public
and private, produced by such change of system.'
" If the proposition contained in the resolution does not meet
the approval of Congress and the country, there is the end; but
if it does command such approval, I deem it of importance
that the States and people immediately interested should be at
once distinctly notified of the fact, so that they may begin to
consider whether to accept or reject it. The Federal Government would find its highest interest in such a measure as one of
the most efficient means of self-preservation. The leaders of
the existing insurrection entertain the hope that the Government will ultimately be forced to acknowledge the independence
of some part of the disaffected region, and that all the slave
States north of such 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 them of this hope, substantially ends the rebellion, and the initiation of emancipation completely deprives them of it as to all the States initiating it.
" The point is not that all the States tolerating slavery would
very soon, if at all, initiate emancipation, but that while the
offer is equally made to all, the more northern shall, by such
initiation, make it certain to the more southern that in no
event will the former ever join the latter in their proposed confederacy. I say'initiation,' because, in my judgment, gradual
and not sudden 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 proposition on the part of the general Government
sets up no claim of a right by Federal authority to interfere
with slavery within State limits, referring as it does the absolute
control of the subject in each case to the State and its people
immediately interested.  It is proposed as a matter of perfectly
free choice with them.
" In the annual message last December I thought fit to say:




122  LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN;'The Union must be preserved, and hence all indispensable
means must be employed.' I said this not hastily, but deliberately. War has been, and continues to be an indispensable
means to this end. A  practical re-acknowledgment 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 all 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 is an offer only, and I hope it may
be esteemed no offence to ask whether the pecuniary consideration tendered would not be of more value to the States and
private persons concerned than are the institution and property
in it, in the present aspect of affairs.  While it is true that the
adoption of the proposed resolution would be merely initiatory,
and not within itself a practical measure, it is recommended in
the hope that it would soon lead to important results. In full
view of my great responsibility to my God and to my country,
I earnestly beg the attention of Congress and the people to the
subject.                           "ABRAHAM LINCOLN."
This important recommendation was received with the
most unbounded satisfaction in all sections of the great
North and West, and the leading loyal journals vied with
each other in the laudatory notices bestowed upon its illustrious author. The English press favorable to the preservation of the Union, were equally complimentary, and
pronounced it a fair, moderate, and magnanimous policy,
greatly in contrast with that adopted by the rebel authorities.
ASSUMES ACTIVE COMMAND OF THE ARMY
AND NAVY.
On the eleventh of March, 1862, the President gave ar
additional evidence of his independence and fearlessness
by promulgating, for the information of the service and
the country, three important military orders, assuming the
active duties of Commander-in-Chief of the Army and
Navy of the United States; ordering a general and combined movement of the land and naval forces; requiring
the Army of the Potomac to be organized into Corps; con.




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 123
fining General McClellan to the command of the Department of the Potomac; and organizing the Department of
the Mississippi and the Mountain Department.
THANKSGIVING FOR SIGNAL VICTORIES.
The triumphant success of our arms in the South and
West during the early spring months of that year of conflict and carnage, prompted Mr. Lincoln to call upon the
patriots of the nation to offer up their thanks to the Almighty for his manifold kindnesses, and for the inestimable
blessings he had showered upon them in their hour of
need. The recommendation was scrupulously observed,
and from almost every place of public worship arose upon
the following Sabbath songs of thanksgiving, mingled with
invocations for a continuance of the Divine guidance.
SLAVERY ABOLISHED IN THE DISTRICT OF
COLUMBIA.
On the sixteenth of April, 1862, Mr. Lincoln consummated an act which had for many years been one of his
most favorite projects, by sending into Congress the following Message:
"Fellow- Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives:
"The act entitled'An act for the release of certain persons
held to service or labor in the District of Columbia,' has this
day been approved and signed.'"I have never doubted the constitutional authority of Congress to abolish slavery in this District, and I have ever desired
to see the national capital freed from the institution in some
satisfactory way.  Hence there has never been in my mind any
question upon the subject except the one of expediency, arising
in view of all the circumstances. If there be matters within
and about this act, which might have taken a course or shape
more satisfactory to my judgment, I do not attempt to specify
them. I am gratified that the two principles of compensation
and colonization are both recognized and practically applied in
the act.' In the matter of compensation, it is provided that claims
may be presented within ninety days from the passage of the
act, but not thereafter, and there is no saving for minors, femmes




124  LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
coverts, insane, or absent persons. I presume this is an omis.
sion by mere oversight, and I recommend that it be supplied by
an amendatory or supplemental act.  "ABRAHAM LINCOLN."
RE-OPENING OF SOUTHERN PORTS.
During the month of May, 1862, two important proclama.
tions were published —one on the twelfth, declaring the ports
of Beaufort, Port Royal, and New Orleans open for trade;
and the second, a week later, repudiating an emancipation
order of Major-General Hunter. This last document is
too important a part of the history of the rebellion to be
omitted here, and we therefore give it in full. It is as
follows:
" Whereas, There appears in the public prints what purports
to be a proclamation of Major-General Hunter, in the words and
figures following, to wit:
"'HEAD-QUARTERS, DEPARTMENT OF THE SOUTH,
"' HILTON HEAD, S. C., May 9th, 1862.
"'GENERAL ORDERS NO. 11.
"' The three States of Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina,
comprising the Military Department of the South, having delib.
erately declared themselves no longer under the protection of
the Unites States of America, and having taken up arms against
the said United States, it becomes a military necessity to declare
them under martial law. This was accordingly done on the
twenty-fifth 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.
"' DAVID HUNTER, Major- General Commanding.
"' Official:
"' ED. W. SMITH, Acting Assistant Adjutant-General.'
"And whereas, The same is producing some excitement and
misunderstanding,
"Therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United
States, proclaim and declare that the government of the United
States had no knowledge or belief of an intention, on the part of
General Hunter, to issue such a proclamation, nor has it yet any
authentic information that the document is genuine; and further,
that neither General Hunter nor any other commander or person
has been authorized by the government of the United States to
make proclamation declaring the slaves of any State free, and
that the supposed proclamation now in question, whether
genuine or false, is altogether void, so far as respects such
declaration.




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 125
" I further make known, that whether it be competent for me
as commander-in-chief of the army and navy to declare the
slaves of any State or States free, and whether at any time, or
in any case, it shall have become a necessity indispensable to the
maintenance of the government to exercise such supposed power,
are questions which, under my responsibility, I reserve to myself,
and which I cannot feel justified in leaving to the decision of
commanders in the field. These are totally different questions
from those of police regulations in armies and 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 co-operate with
any State which may adopt a gradual abolishment of slavery,
giving to such State in its discretion to compensate for the 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 most immediately interested in the subject
matter. To the people of these States I now earnestly appeal.
I do not argue; I beseech you to make the argunments 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 personal and partisan politics.
This proposal makes common cause for a common object, casting no reproaches upon any. It acts not the Pharisee. The
change it contemplates would come gently as the dews of
Ieaven, 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 Providence of God it is now your high
privilege to do. May the vast future not have to lament that
you have neglected it.
"In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused
the seal of the United States to be affixed.
"Done at the City of Washington, this nineteenth day of
May, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and
sixty-two, and of the Independence of the United States the
eighty-sixth.
" By the President:             "ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
" W. H. SEWARD, Secretary of State."
THE PRESIDENT'S CONFERENCE WITH THE
LOYAL GOVERNORS —HIS INTERVIEW WITH
THE BORDER CONGRESSMEN.
On the first of July, 1862, the President, in accordance with the Act for the collection of direct taxes in
8




126 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
the insurrectionary districts, issued a proclamation declaring in what States and in what counties of Virginia
insurrection existed; and on the same day addressed a
letter to the Governors of the loyal States, in reply to one
received from them, asking that for the purpose of following up recent signal successes by measures which would
ensure the speedy restoration of the Union, a sufficient
number of men from  each State to fill up existing regiments and to form new organizations, might be called for.
Mr. Lincoln fully concurred in the views of the Executives
and expressed his intention to call for an additional force
of three hundred thousand men.
On the twelfth of July, an interesting interview took
place at the White House, the Senators and Representatives of the Border States having assembled there by invitation of the President, who wished to converse with
them upon the important topic of gradual emancipation.
During an extended conversation, he expressed his views
clearly and explicitly, requesting their calm consideration
of the subject, and charging them  to commend his suggestions to their constituents, and to prevent all doubt of
his meaning, read to them the following appeal:
"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
good than any other equal number of members, I feel it a duty,
which I cannot justifiably waive, to make this appeal to you.
" I intend no reproach or complaint when I assure you that,
in my opinion, if you all had voted for the resolution in the gradual
emancipation message of last March, the war would now be substantially ended. And the plan therein proposed is yet one of
the most potent and swift means of 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 them so long as you show a determination to perpetuate the
institutions 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




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 127
power is. Break that lever before their faces, and they can
shake you no more forever.
"Most of you have treated me with kindness and consideration,
and I trust you will not now think I improperly touch what is
exclusively your own, when, for the sake of the whole country,
I ask,'Can you, for your States, do better than to take the
course I urge?' Discarding punctilio and maxims adapted to
m ore manageable times, and looking only to the un precedentedly
stern facts of our case, can you do better in any possible event?
You prefer that the constitutional relation of the States to the
nation shall be practically restored without disturbance of the
institution; and, if this were done, 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 substantial compensation for that which is suro
to be wholly lost in any other event I How much better to thus
save, the money which else we sink forever in the war! How
much bVtter to do it while we can, lest the war, ere long, render us pecuniarily unable to do it! How much better for you, as
seller, and the nation, as buyer, to sell out and buy out that without
which the war could inever 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 gradutally.  Room  in South America for
colonization can be obtained cheaply and in abundance; and,
when numbers shall be large enough to be company and encouragement for one another, the freed people will not be so
reluctant to go.
"1I am pressed with a difficulty not yet mentioned-one which
threatens division among those who, united, are none too strong.
An instance of it is known to you. General Hunter is an honest
man. He was, and I hope still is, my friend. I valued him
none the less for his agreeing with me in the general wish that
all men everywhere could be 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 important point.




128  LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABitRAHAMI LINCOLN
"Upon these considerations I have again begged your atte,
tion to the message of March last. Before leaving the capital,
consider and discuss it among yourselves. You are patriots and
statesmen, and, as such, I pray you consider this proposition,
and, at the least, commend it to the consideration of your States
and people. As you would perpetuate popular government for
the best people in the world, I beseech you that you do in nowise
omit this. Our common country is in great peril, demandi.ng
the loftiest views and boldest action to bring a speedy relief.
Once relieved, its formi 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."
INSTRUCTIONS TO MEILITARY AND NAVAL
COMMANDERS.
On the twenty-second of July, he issued the following
order:
" WAR DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON, JiSly 22d, 1862.
"First. Ordered that military commanders within the States
of Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, and Arkansas, in an ordinary 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, none shall be destroyed in wantonness or malice.
"Second. That military and naval commanders shall employ
as laborers, within and from said States, so many persons of
African descent as can be advantageously used for military or
naval purposes, giving them 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, as a basis upon which
co',mnensation can be made in proper cases; and the several departments of this government shall attend to and perform their
appropriate parts toward the execution of these orders.
"By order of the President.
"EDWIN At. STANTON,
"Secretary of War."
And on the twenty-fifth of July, by proclamation, he
warned all persons to cease participating in aiding, countenancing, or abetting the rebellion, and to return to their




LIFE AND SERIVICES OF ABRAHAMII  LINCOLN. 129
allegiance under penalty of the forfeitures and seizures
provided by an Act "to suppress insurrection, to punish
treason and rebellion, to seize and confiscate the property
of rebels, and for other purposes," approved on the seventeenth of July, 1862.
A DRAFT FOR THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND
MENT ORDERED.
On the fourth of August, 1862, the following order for
a draft was issued:
" ORDERED: First, that a draft of three hundred thousand militia be immediately called into the service of the United States,
to serve for nzine morths, unless sooner discharged. The Secretary of War will assign the quotas to the States and establish
regulations for the draft.
"'Second, that if any State shall not, by the fifteenth of
August, furnish its quota of the additional three hundred thousand volunteers authorized by law, the deficiency of volunteers
in that State will also be made up by a special draft from the
militia.'he Secretary of War will establish regulations for
this purpose.
" Third, regulations will be prepared by the War Department,
and presented to the President, with the object of securing the
promotion of officers of the army and volunteers for meritorious
and distinguished services, and of preventing the nomination and
appointment in the military service of incompetent or unworthy officers.
"The regulations will also provide for ridding the service of
such incompetent persons as now hold commissions.
"By order of the President.
"EDWIN M. STANTON,
"Secretary of WVar.'
THE PRESIDENT SPEAKS AT A WAR
MEETING.
On the sixth  of August, 1862, a large and enthusiastic Union Mneeting was held in Washington, at which a
series of patriotic resolutions was adopted, and numerous
eloquent speeches delivered, among others the following
characteristic one by the Chief Magistrate of the nation:
"Fellow-citizens: I believe there is no precedent for my ap.
pearing before you on this occasion, [applause,] but it is also




130  LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN'
true that there is no precedent for your being here yourselves,
[applause and laughter,] and I offer, in justification of myself
and of you, that, upon examination, I have found nothing in the
Constitution against it. [Renewed applause.] I, however, have
an impression that there are younger gentlemen who will entertain vou better, [voices-' No, no! none can do better than
yourself. Go on!'] and better address your understanding than
I will or could, and therefo e I propose but to detain you a moment longer.  [Cries —' Go u! Tar and featthe the rebels!']
"I am very little inclined on any occasion to say any thing
unless I hope to produce some good by it.  [A voice-' You do
that; go on.']  The only thing I think of just now not likely to
be better said by some one else is a matter in which we have
heard some other persons blamed for what I did myself.
[Voices-' What is it?'] 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, at least these two gentlemen are not nearly so deep
in the quarrel as some pretending to be their friends. [Cries of'Good.']  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 comnianders in the field cannot
be successful, not only the Secretary of War, but myself, for the
time being the master of them  both, cannot be but failures.
[Laughter and applause.]  I know General McClellan wishes to
be successful, and I know he does not wish it any more than the
Secretary of War for him, and both of them together no more
than I wish it.  [Applause and cries of' Good.']  Sometimes
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 WVar 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, between the grand
total on McClellan's rolls and the men actually fit for duty; and
those who would disparage him talk of the grand total on paper,
and those who would disparage the Secretary of War talk of
those at present fit for duty.  General McClellan 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.  [Applause, laughter, and cries of'Good, good.']  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. [Wild applause, and a voice-' Give him enough
now!'] I have no accusation against him. I believe he is a
brave and able man, [applause,] and I stand here, as justice requires me to do, to take upon myself what has been charged on
the Secretary of War, as withholding from him.




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAm[Ait LIiNCOLN. 131' I have talked longer than I expected to, [cries of' No, nogo on,'] and now I avail myself of my privilege of saying no
more."
THE ElMANCIPATION PROCLAMATIONS OF
SEPTE MBER, 1862, AND  JANUARY, 1863.
On the twenty-second of September, 1862, Mr. Lincoln
issued one of the two most important proclamations ever
I enned by a President of the United States: that which
rnnounced to the negroes held as slaves in the rebellious
States that on and after the first duay of the new year, they
should be forever released from bondage.  This great document, which was read with joy by the loyal residents of the
North, and which was a source of such infinite happiness
to the unfortunate class of beings who were to be more
particularly affected by its provisions, was as follows:
"I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States of
America, and Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy
thereof, do hereby proclaim and declare that hereafter as heretofore the war will be prosecuted for the object of practically
restoring the constitutional relation between the United States
and the people thereof in those States in which that relation is,
or may be, suspended or disturbed; that it is my purpose upon
the next meeting of Congress to again recommend the adoption
of a practical measure tendering pecuniary aid to the free acceptance or rejection of all the slave States, so-called, the people whereof may not then be in rebellion against the United
States, and which States may then have voluntarily adopted, or
thereafter may voluntarily adopt, the immediate or gradual
abolishment of slavery within their respective limits, and that
the effort to colonize persons of African descent, with their consent, upon the continent or elsewhere, with the previously obtained consent of the government existinul there, will be contilnued; 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 any 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 goveitlment of the United States, including the
military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to
repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may
make for their actual freedom; that the Executive will, (on the first




132  LIFE AND  SER'VCE:i OF ABaAItAMI LINCOLN.
day of January aforesaid, by proclamation, designate the States
and parts of States, if any, in which the people thereof respectively shall then be in rebellion against the United States; and
the fact that any State, or the people thereof, shall ofn 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 Statpt shall have participated, shall, in the absence of strong countervailing testimony,
be deemed conclusive evidence that such State and the people
thereof have not been in rebellion agtainst the United States.
"That attention is hereby called to an act of Congress entitled,'An act to make an additional article of war,' approved
Mlarch 13, 1862, and which act is in the words and figures following:
"'Be it enacted by the Senate and House 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 observed and obeyed as such.
"' Article -. All officers or persons of the military or naval
service of the United States are prohibited from employing any
of the forces under their respective commands for the purpose
of returning fugitives from service or labor who may have
escaped from any persons to whom such service or labor is
claimed to be due, and any officer who shall be found guilty by
a court-martial of violating this article, shall be dismissed from
the service.
"' Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That this act shall take
effect from and after its passage.'
Also to the ninth and tenth sections of an act entitled,' An
act to suppress insurrection, to punish treason and rebellion, to
seize and confiscate property of rebels, and for other purposes,'
approved July 17, 1862, and which sections are in the words
and figures following:
"' Sec. 9. And be it further enacted, That all slaves of persons who shall hereafter be engaged in rebellion against the
government of the United States, or who shall in any way give
aid or comfort thereto, escaping from such persons and taking
refuge within the lines of the army; and all slaves captured
from such persons or deserted by them, and coming under the
control of the government of the United States, and all slaves of
such persons found on (or being within) any place occupied by
rebel forces and afterwards occupied by the forces of the United
States, shall be deemed captives of war, and shall be forever
free of their servitude and not again held as slaves.
"'Sec. 10. And be it further enacted, That no slave escaping
into any State, Territory, oir the District of Columbia, from any
of the States, shall be delivered up, or in any way impeded or
hindered of his liberty, except for crime, or some offence against




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 133
the laws, unless the person claiming said fugitive shall first make
oath that the person to whom the labor or service of such fugitive is alleged to be due, is his lawful owner, and has not:eel
in arms against the United States in the present rebellion, nor
in any way given aid and comfort thereto; and no person engaged in the military or naval service of the United States
shall, under any pretence whatever, assume to decide on the
validity of the claim of any person to the service or labor of any
other person, or surrender up any such person to the claimant,
on pain of being dismissed froml 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 the relation shall have been suspended
or disturbed) be compensated for all losses by acts of the United
States, including the loss of slaves.
"In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused
the seal of the United States to be affixed.
"Done at the city of Washington, this twenty-second day of
September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred
and sixty-two, and of the Independence of the United States
the eighty-severnth.
"' By the President:          "ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
" WVM. H. SEWARD, Secretary of State."
Such a bold movement was necessarily distasteful to
the traitors, and while the Southern journals pronounced
it to be a bid for the slaves to rise in insurrection, a bid
which none but a barbarian would devise, it was denounced
in the Richmond Congress, and a resolution was there
offered, exhorting the people to slay every UTnion soldier
and raider found within their borders, and offering a reward
to every negro, who would, after the first of January, 1863,
kill a Unionist.
The other important proclaimation was issued on the
first of January, 1863, and was worded as follows:
"Whereas, on the twenty-second day of September, in
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:




134  LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHIAMI  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, thenceforth and forever free, and the Executive Government of the United States, including the military
and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the
freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress
such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for
their actual freedom.
" That the Executive will, on the first dayof January aforesaid, by proclamation, designate the States and parts of States,
if any, in which the people therein 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 mnajority of the qualified voters
of such States shall have participated, shall, in the absence of
strong countervailing testimony, be deemed conclusive evidence
that such State and the people thereof are not then in rebellion
against the United States.
"' Now, therefore, I, Abraham  Lincoln, President of the
IUnited States, by virtue of the power in me vested as Commander-in-chief of the Army and Navy of the United States in
time of actual armed rebellion against the authority and Gov
ernment of the United States, and as a fit and necessary war
measure for suppressing said rebellion, do, on this first day of
January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred
and sixty-three, and in accordance with my purpose so to do,
publicly proclaimed for the full period of one hundred days
from the day of the first above-mentioned order, and designate,
as the States and parts of States wherein the people thereof
respectively are this day in rebellion against the United States,
the following to wit: Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, except the
parishes of St. Bernard, Plaquemines, Jefferson, St. John, St.
Charles, St. James, Ascension, Assumption, Terre Bonne, Lafourche, St. Mary, St. Martin, and Orleans, including the City
of New Orleans.  Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia,
South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia, except the fortyeight counties designated as West Virginia, and  also  the
counties of Berkeley, Accomac, Northampton, Elizabeth City,
York, Princess Ann, and Norfolk, including the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth, and which excepted parts are, for the
present, left precisely as if this proclarmation were not issued.
"And by virtue of the power and for the purpose aforesaid, I
do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said
designated States and parts of States are, and henceforwaru
shall be free; and that the Executive Government of the
United States, including the Military and Naval authorities




LIFE AND SElflViCES OF ABRAHAM3 L INCOLN. 135
thereof, will recognize  and  maintain  the  freedom  of said
persons.
"And I hereby enjoin upon the people so declared to be free,
to abstain frotn all violence, unless in necessary self-defence, and I
recommend to them, that in all cases, when allowed, they labor
faithfully for reasonable wages.
"And I further declare and make known that such persons of
suitable condition will be received into the armed service of
the United States to garrison forts, positions, stations, and
other places, and to man vessels of all sorts in said service.
"And upon this, sincerely believed to be an act of justice,
warranted by the Constitution, upon military necessity, I involke
the considerate judgment of manlkind and the gracious favor
of Almighty God.
"In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused
the seal of the United States to be affixed.
"Done at the City of Washington, this first day of
January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight
hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of
the United States of America the eighty-seventh.
"By the President:               "ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
"WILLIAM II. SEWARO, Secretary of State."
SUSPENSION OF THE WRIT OF HABEAS
CORPUS.
On the twenty-fourth  of September, 1862, two days
after the promulgation of the renowned Emancipation Proclamation, the following order was published:
W" hereas, It has become necessary to call into service, not
only volunteers, but also portions of the militia of the State 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
from giving aid and comfort in various ways to the insurrection:
"Now, therefore, be it ordered:
" First. That during the existing insurrection, and as a necessary measure for suppressing the same, all rebels and insurgents, their aiders and abettors, within the United States, and
all persons discouraging volunteer enlistments, resisting  militia
drafts, or guilty of any 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 commissio ns.
"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




136  LIFE AND SERVICES OF AIItAIIAM LINCOLN.
authority or by the sentence of any court-martial or military
commission.
" 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 VWashington, this twenty-fourth day of
Septelber, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred
and sixty-two, and of the Independence of the United States
the eighty-seventh.
"By the President.             "ABRAIAMI LINcOLN.
" WT  H. SEWARD, Secretary of State."
The suspension of the Writ of Habeas Corpus was
naturally obnoxious to Northern sympathizers with treason, and for some time their newspaper organs were daily
filled with editorial and other articles, teeming with invidious criticism and abuse.  The act placed more power
in the hands of the President than was acceptable to men
who, by their voice and pen, if not by their pecuniary
means, were aiding and abetting the enemies of the country,
and as they were not aware what moment they might be
arrested and imprisoned for their despicable crimes, in
their regard for their personal safety, they forgot their
prudence, and abused the Executive. The beneficial effects of the order were not over-estimated by Mr. Lincoln,
and with its promulgation almost entirely ceased the inteference with enlistments, which had too often before that
date delayed the organization of regiments in some of the
loyal States.
THE SABBATH TO BE OBSERVED.
On the sixteenth  of November, 1862, the following
order was issued to the soldiers and sailors of the Union:
"The President, Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy,
desires and enjoins the orderly observance of the Sabbath by
the officers and men in the military and naval service. The importance for man and beast of the prescribed weekly rest, the
sacred rights of Christian soldiers and sailors, a becoming deference to the best sentiment of a Christian people, and a due
regard for the Divine will, demand that Sunday labor in the,
Army and Navy be reduced to the measure of strict necessity.




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM[ LINCOLN. 137' The discipline and character of the National forces should
not suffer, nor the cause they defend be imperilled, by the profanation of the day or name of the Most High.'At this time of
public distress' adopting the words of Washington in 1776,'men may find enough to do in the service of God and their
country without abandoning themselves to vice and immorality.'
The first general order issued by the Father of his Country
after the Declaration of Independence indicates the spirit in
which our institutions were founded and should ever be defended:'The General hopes and trusts that every officer and man will
endeavor to live and act as becomes a Christian soldier defending the dearest rights and liberties of his country.'
".ABRAHAMI LINCOLN."
HIS ANNUAL MESSAGE.-IMPORTANT RECOMMENDATIONS TO CONGRESS.
On the first of December, 1862, MIr. Lincoln sent in to
Congress his annual message; giving a satisfactory resum6
of the events of the previous twelve months; calling the
attention of the Senators and Representatives to important
matters which should receive their notice.; recommlending
the organization of national baulki-ng associations, under
the hope and belief that they would be the means of promoting the early resumption of specie payments; re-impressed upon them the importance of his plan of " compensated emancipation;" repeated at length his views upon
the slavery question, and recommended the adoption of
the following resolutions and articles amendatory to the
Constitution:
"Resolved, By the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled, two-thirds
of both houses concurring, that the following articles be proposed to the Legislatures or Conventions of the several States,
as amendments to the Constitution of the United States, all or
any of which articles, when ratified by three-fourths of the said
Legislatures or Conventions, to be valid as part or parts of the
said Constitution, namely:
"ARTICTE -. Every State wherein slavery now exists, which
shall abolish the same therein at any time or times before the
first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand nine
hundred, shall receive compensation from the United States as
follows, to wit:




138  LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAIHAMS LINCOLN.
"The President of the United States shall deliver to every
such State, bonds of the United States, bearing interest at the
rate of -—, for each slave shown to have been therein, by the
eighth census of the United States; said bonds to be delivered
to such State by instalments, or in one parcel at the completion
of the abolishment, according as the same shall have been
gradual or at one time within such State; and interest shall
begin to run upon any such bond only from the proper time of its
delivery as aforesaid, and afterward. Any State having receivel
bonds as aforesaid, and afterward introducing or toleratinr
slavery therein, shall refund to the United States the bonds so
received, or the value thereof, and all interest paid thereon.
"ARTICLFa -. 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 rates as is provided for States adopting abolishment
of slavery-but in such a way that no slave shall be twice
accounted for.
"ARTICLE -. Congress may appropriate money, and otherwise
provide for colonizing free colored persons with their own consent, at any place or places without the United States."
The message and its recommendations were received
with the same eclat which has attended all the official
documents penned by the illustrious statesman.  The
proclamation of September had awakened the people of
the Union to the vast advantages to be derived from the
adoption of his views and suggestions on every thing relating to slavery, and as the day on which the unfortunate
blacks were to be rescued from a life of degradation approached, thousands, who had hitherto protested against
interference with the " peculiar institution," united with
their old political opponents, and awaited anxiously the
hour when the order of emancipation was to go into effect.
Residents of foreign lands were no less eager for the time
to arrive when the Federal Government should strike off
the fetters of the slave, and among other complimentary
addresses sent to the President, was one from Manchester,
Englanid, from which we make the following extracts:
B"As citizens of Manchester, assembled at the Free-Trade
Hall, we beg to express our fraternal sentiments toward you and




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 13'S
your country.  WVe rejoice in your greatness as an outgrowth
of England, whose blood and language you share, whose orderly
and legal freedom you have applied to new circumstances, 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 country and our confidence in it-we mean the ascendency of politicians who not
merely maintained negro slavery, but desired to extend and root
it more firmly.  We joyfully honor you, as 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 Federation
visibly free.  You have enforced the laws against the slavetrade, 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 humanlity to men and
women  on account of their color.  In order more 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 fieedom as the law forever in the
vast unoccupied or half unsettled Territories which are directly
subject to its legislative power.  It has offered pecuniary aid to
all States which will enact emancipation locally, and has forbidden your generals to restore fugitive slaves who seek their
protection. You have entreated thile slave-masters to accept
these moderate offers; and after long and patient waiting, you,
as Commander-in-chief of the Anrmy, have appointed to-nmorrow,
the first of January, 1863, as the day of unconditional freedom
for the slaves of the rebel States.  We implore you, for your
own honor and welf'are, not to faint in your providential 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 mnade 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 Christianitychattle slavery-during your Presidency, will cause the name of
Abraham Lincoln to be honored and revered by posterity."
In answer to this flattering letter, AMr. Lincoln sent a
happy response, in which he explained the motive which




140 LIFE  AND SERVICES 01' ABRAIIAM LINCOLN,
had prompted him to the undeviating course he has pursued since his inauguration.  He had, he said, considered
the duty of maintaining and preserving the Constitution
and the integrity of the Federal Republic paramount to
all others, and as a conscientious purpose to perform that
duty was the key to all the measures of his administra.tion, he could not, if he would, under his oath and our
frame of government, depart from that purpose.
THIE PRESIDENT VISITS THE ARMY OF THE
POTOMAC.
Early in April, 1863, the President left Washington on
a visit to the Army of the Potomac.  HIe had in the previous year, when the same noble troops were resting at
Harrison's Landing, after their campaign before Richmond,
gone thither to observe for himself their true condition,
and upon other occasions has visited their camping-grounds,
where he has been always received with great enthusiasm.
Upon the visit to which we now refer, he was accompanied
by Mrs. Lincoln and one of his sons, and an eye-witness
thus describes the proceedings incident to the entertainment of such distinguished guests:
On the morning of April seventh, 1863, a reception was
had in General Hooker's tent, the members of the staff passing in and being introduced to the President by the Chief of
Staff. Mr. Lincoln was in unusual good humor, and completely banished the constraint felt by all by his sociability
and shafts of wit. The interview lasted some time, much
to the enjoyment of all, until finally the officers one by one
dropped out, and the hour designated for the review arrived. Early in the morning the several cavalry brigades
commenced moving towards the field selected for the review, and during the forenoon were engaged forming the
lines and stationing guards to keep off the crowd. At
noon the roar of artillery announced that the cortege had




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 141
arrived. President Lincoln, mounted nn a magnificent
bay, adorned with heavy trappings, rode steadily and
rapidly along the line, with Generals Hooker and Stoneman at his side, and followed by an imposing cavalcade
of general officers, aides-de-camp and orderlies.  Having
returned to the right of the line, a position was selected for
the President upon a slight eminence, while the cavalry at
a walk passed in review before him, fhe bands playing
and the bugles sounding merrily. Mrs. Lincoln occupied
a carriage at the right of the President while the regiments passed in review, surrounded by major-generals and
stars of lesser magnitude. After the cavalry had moved
off the field, the lancers, in splendid order, wheeled around
into line fronting the President, while the light artillery
dashed at a gallop through the avenue thus formed, the
guns and caissons bounding over the irregularities as
though the wheels were of India rubber.  The cannon
were soon off the field, the lancers filed in behind the cavalcade of generals, spectators vanished, and the plateau,
torn and trodden by the squadrons, was left to the scatter.
ing working parties engaged in preparing the ground fol
the grand review of infantry. The President also rode
over to the head-quarters of several commanding officers,
and during the day reviewed the reserve artillery.
Doubtless the lady readers are anxious to know in
what dress the wife of the Chief Magistrate visited the
army, how she appeared, what she said, and how she liked
the contrast —the Executive mansion, with its costly fur
niture, and the bare floor, cot and camp stools of the field.
Mrs. Lincoln's attire was exceedingly simple-of that peculiar style of simplicity which creates at the time no impression upon the mind, and prevents one from remembering any article of dress. In this case there was nothing
to attract attention, and after she had entered the tent
there was not one in twenty of those gathered about who
9




142  LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
could tell what she wore. A rich black silk dress, with
narrow flounces; a black cape, with a broad trimming of
velvet around the border, and a plain hat of the same hue,
composed her costume. A shade of weariness, doubtless
the result of her labors in behalf of the sick and wounded
in Washington, rested upon her countenance; but the
change seemed pleasant to her, and the scenes of camp
were noted with evident interest.  The President wore a
dark sack overcoat and a fur muffler, while Master Lincoln
sported a suit of gray, and rambled about among the tents,
examining the quarters of the staff, and watched by the
orderlies and sentries with a curiosity somewhat amusing,
THE ENROLMENT ACT AND THE RIGHTS
OF ALIENS.
To enumerate all the proclamations which the President
issued during the year 1863, would be impossible in this
work, and we must therefore restrict ourselves to those
which were of more than usual interest.  The one in regard to the rights of aliens, under the act calling out the
national forces, was one of these, and reads as follows:
"Whereas, The Congress of the United States at its last
session enacted a law entitled,'An act for enrolling and calling
out the national forces and for other purposes,' which was approved on the third day of March last, and,
"Whereas, It is recited in the said act that there now exists
in the United States an insurrection and rebellion against the
authority thereof, and it is, under the Constitution of the United
States, the duty of the Government to suppress insurrection and
rebellion, to guarantee to each State a republican form of government, and to preserve the public tranquility, and
"W1 lhereas, For these high purposes a military force is indispensable, to raise and support which all persons ought willingly
to contribute; and
"Whereas, No service can be more praiseworthy and honor.
able thani that which is rendered for the maintenance of the
Constitution and the Union, and the consequent preservation
of the Government; and
" Whereas, For the reasons thus recited, it was enacted by the
said statute that all able-bodied male citizens of the United
States and persons of foreign birth, who shall have declared on




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 143
oath their intentions to become citizens, under and in pursuance
of the laws thereof, between the ages of twenty and forty-Lv
years, with certain exceptions not necessary to be here mentioned, are declared to constitute the national forces, and shall
be liable to performn military duty in the service of the United
States, when called out by the President for that purpose;
and
";' fereas, It is claimed, and in behalf of persons of foreign
birth within the ages specified ill said act who lave heretofore
declared on oath their intentions to become citizens under and
in pursuance of the laws of the United States, and who have
not exercised the right of suffrage or anlly other political franchise under the laws of the United States, or any of the States
thereof, are not absolutely precluded by their aforesaid declaration of intention from renouncing their purpose to become
citizens, and that, on the contrary, such persons under treaties
or the law of nations, retain a right to renounce that purpose
and to forego the privilege of citizenship and residence within
the United States under the obligations imposed by the aforesaid act of Congress.
"Now, therefore, to avoid all misapprehensions concerning
the liability of persons concerned to perform the service
required by such enactment, and to give it full effect, I do
hereby order and proclaim that no plea of alienage will be
received or allowed to exempt from the obligations imposed by
the aforesaid act of Congress, any person of foreign birth who
shall have declared, on oath, his intention to become a citizen
of the United States under the laws thereof, and who shall be
found within the United States at any time during the continuance of the present insurrection and rebellion, at or after
the expiration of the sixty-five days from the date of this proclanmation, nor shall any such plea of alienage be allowed in
favor of any such person who has so as aforesaid declared his
intention to become a citizen of the United States, and shall
have exercised at any time the right of suffrage or any other
political franchise within the United States, under the laws
thereof, or under the laws of any of the several States.
" In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused
the seal of the United States to be affixed.
"' Done at the city of Washington, this eighth day of May,
in the year of our Lord 18G;3. and of the independence of the
United States the eighty-seventh.'Bv the President,                 "ABRAHANM LINCOLN.
" VrILtIAMI H  SEWARD, Secretary of State."
A NATIONAL TIHANKSGIVING ORDERLED.
On the fifteenth day of July, 1863, the President ordered the sixth of the following month to be set apart as




114  LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAMI LINCOLN.
a day of National Thanksgiving. Victories had crowned
our arms on land and sea, and no greater cause for offering thanks to the Almighty ever prompted the Chief Maagistrate of a country to call the people together, and few
proclamations were ever written more chaste and beautiful than the following:
" It has pleased Almighty God to hearken to the supplications
and prayers of an afflicted people, and to vouchsafe to the army
and the navy of the United States, on the land and on the sea,
victories so signal and so effective as to furnish reasonable
grounds for augmented confidence that the union of these States
will be maintained, their constitutions preserved, and their peace
and prosperity permanently preserved.' B-it these victories have been accorded not without sacrifice
of liAe, limb and liberty, incurred by the brave, patriotic and
loyal citizens. Domestic affiiction in every part of the country
follo.s 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.
" Now, therefore, be it kn'own, that I do set apart Thursday,
the sixth day of August next, to be observed as a day for national Thanlksgiving, 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 forms approved by their own
conscience, render the homage due to the Divine Majesty for
the wonderful things He has done in the nation's behalf, and
invoke the influence of His Holy Spirit to subdue the anger
which has produced and so long sustained a needless and cruel rebellion; to change the hearts of the insurgents, to guide the
counsels of the government with wisdom adequate to so great a
national emergency, and to visit with tender care and consolation throughout the length and breadth of our land all those
who through the vicissitudes of marches, voyages, battles and
sieges, have been brought to suffer in mind, body or estate and
family, to lead the whole nation through paths of repentance
and submission to the Divine Will, back 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 affixed.
"Done at the city of Washington, this 15th day of July, in
the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixtythree, and of the independence of the United States of America
the eighty-eighth.                   "ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
" By the President:
" WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State."




LIFE AND SERVICES OF A.RAIIAM LINCOLN. 145
LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT ON THE
EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION.
The following letter, written in August, 1863, in answer
to an invitation to attend a meeting of unconditional Union
men held in Illinois, gives at length the President's views
at that time on his Emancipation proclamation:
"EXECUTiVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, August 26th, 1863.
"MY DEAR SIR:-Your letter inviting me to attend a mass
meeting of unconditional Union men, to be held at the capitol
of Illinois on the third day of September, has been received. It
would be very agreeable to me thus to meet my old friends at
my own home; but I cannot just now be absent from this city
so long as a visit there would require.  The meeting is to be of
all those who maintain unconditional devotion to the Union;
and I am sure that my old political friends will thank me for
tendering, as I do, the nation's 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
me that we do not have it. But how can we attain it?  There
are but three conceivable ways:-First, to suppress the rebellion by force of arms.'Ihis 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. If you
are, you should say so, plainly. If you are not for force, nor yet
for dissolution, there only remains some imaginable compromise. I do not believe that any compromise embracing the
maintenance of the Union is now possible. All that I learn
leads to a directly opposite belief. Thft strength of the rebellion is its military-its army. That army dominates all the
country and all the people within its range. Any offer of any
terms made by any man or men within that range in opposition
to that army is simply nothing for the present, because such
man or men have no power whatever to enforce their side of a
compromise, if one were made with them. To illustrate: Suppose refugees from the South and peace men of the North get
together in convention, and frame and proclaim a compromise
embracing the restoration of the Union. In what way can that
compromise be used to keep General Lee's army out of Pennsylvania?  General 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
General 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




146  LIFE AND SEIEVICES OF ABElA-IAM LINCOLN.
those who control the rebel army, or with the people, first liberated from the domination of that army by the success of oilr
army. Now, allow me to assure you that no word or intimation
from the rebel army, or friom any of the men controlling it, in
relation to any peace compromise, has ever come to my know.
ledge or belief. All charges and intimations to the contrary
are deceptive and groundless. And I promise you that if any
such proposition shall hereafter come, it shall not be rejected
and kept secret from you. I freely acknowledge myself to be
the servant of the people, according to the bond of service, the
United States constitution; and that, as such, I am responsible
to them. But, to be plain. 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 consistent with even your view, provided you are for the Union. I
suggested compensated emancipation, to which you replied that
you wished not to be taxed to buy negroes. Buts have not
asked you to be taxed to buy negroes, except in such way as to
save you from greater taxation, to save the Union exclusively
by other means.
"You dislike the emancipation proclamation, and perhaps
would have it retracted.  You say it is unconstitutional. I
think differently. I think that the constitution invests its commander-in-chief with the law of war in time of war. The most
that can be said, if so much, is, that the slaves are property.
Is there, has there ever been, any question that by the law of
war, property, both of enemies and friends, may be taken when
needed? And is it not. needed whenever taking it helps us or
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 cauel. Among the exceptions are
the massacre of vanquished foes and non-combatants, male and
female. But the proclamation, as law, 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 that 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, the last one hundred days of which passed under an explicit notice, that it was coming unless averted by those in
revolt returning to their allegiance. The war has certainly
progressed as favorably for us since the issue of the proclamation
as before. I know as fully as one can know the opinions of others,
that some of the commanders of our armies in the field, who




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.  147
have given us our most important victories, believe the emancipation policy and the aid 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 holding these views are some who have never had any affinity
with what is called abolitionism or with'republican party
politics.'-But who hold them purely as military opinions. I
submit their opinions as being entitled to some weight against
the objections often urged that emancipation and arming the
blacks are unwise as military measures, and were not adopted
as such in good faith. You say that you will not fight to free
negroes. Some of them seem to be willing to fight for youbut no matter. Fight you, then, exclusively to save the Union.
I issued the proclamation 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 that you will not fightt to free
negroes.  I thought that in your struggle for the Union, to
whatever extent the negroes should cease helping the enemy, to
that extent it weakened the enemy in his resistance to vou. Do
you think differently? I thought that whatever negroes can be
got to do as soldiers, leaves just so much less for white soldiers
to do in saving the Union. Does it appear otherwise to you?
But negroes, like other people, act upon motives.  Why should
they do any thing for us if we will do nothing for them? If
they stake their lives for us they must be prompted by the
strongest motive, even the promise of freedom. And the promise, being made, must be kept. The signs look better. The
Father of Waters again goes unvexed to the sea.  Thanks to
the great North-west for it.  Not 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 hand. On the spot their
part of the history was jotted down in black and white. The
job was a great national one, and let none be banned who bore
an honorable part in it; and, while those who have cleared the
great river may well be proud, even that is not all. It is hard
to say that any thing has been more bravely and better done than
at Antietam, Murfreesboro, Gettysburg, and on many fields of
less note. Nor must Uncle Sam's webfleet be forgotten. At
all the waters' 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; alid wherever the ground was a little
damp they have been and made their tracks. Thanks to all.
For the great republic —for the principles by which it lives and
keeps alive-for man's vast future-thanks to all. Peace does
not appear so far 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 fut-re




148  LIFE AND SERVICES OF AB3RAIIAM LINCOLN.
time. It will then have been proved that among freemen there
can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet, and
that they who take such appeal are sure to lose their case and
pay the cost. And 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. 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."
During September and October, 1863, the following
proclamations were published:
SUSPENSION OF THE WRIT OF HABEAS
CORPUS IN CERTAIN CASES.
" WVASINxGrON, Sept. 15th, 1863.
" Whereas, the Constitution of the United States has ordained that'the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall
not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion
the public safety may require it;' and
" Whereas, a rebellion was existing on the third day of March,
1863, which rebellion is still existing; and
" Wh7ereas, by a statute which was approved on that day, it
was enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States in Congress assembled, that during the present
insurrection the President of the United States, whenever in his
Judgment the public safety may require, is authorized to suspend
the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus in any case throughout
the United States, or any part thereof; and
" Whereas, in the judgment of the President the public safety
does require that the privilege of the said writ shall now be suspended throughout the United States in cases where, by the authority of the President of the United States, military, naval and
civil officers of the United States, or any of them, hold persons
under their command or in their custody, either as prisoners of
war, spies, or aiders or abettors of the enemy, or officers, soldiers, or seamen enrolled, drafted or mustered or enlisted in or
belonging to the land or naval forces of the United States, or as
deserters therefrom, or otherwise amenable to military law, or to
the Rules and Articles of War, or to the rules and regulations
prescribed for the military or naval service by the authority of
the President of the United States, or for resisting a draft, or
for any other offence agliust the nmilitary or naval service:




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 149
"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 throughout the United States in the several cases befora
mentioned, and that the suspension will continue throughout tile
duration of the said rebellion; or until this proclamation shall by
a subsequent one, to be issued by the President of the United
States, be modified and revoked. And I do hereby require all
magistrates, attorneys and other civil officers within the United
States, and all officers and others 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 Independence of the United
States of America the eighty-eighth.
" ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
"By the President:
" WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State."
NATIONAL THANKSGIVING PROCLAMATION.
" The year that is drawing towards its close has been filled with
the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these
bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to
forget the source from which they come, others have been added,
which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to
penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible
to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God.
" In the midst of a civil war of unequalled magnitude and
severity, which has sometimes seemed to invite and provoke the
aggression of foreign States, peace has been preserved with all
nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected
and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere, except in
the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been
greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the
Union.
" The needful diversions of wealth and strength from the fields
of peaceful industry to the national defence have not arrested
the plough, the shuttle or the ship. The axe has enlarged the
borders of our 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 con



150  LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHATI LINCOLYN.
sequences of alugmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expe.;t continuance of years with large increase of freedom.
"No human counsel hath devised, nor hath any mortal htnd
worked out these great things.'They are the gracious gifts of
the Most Hligh God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our
sins, hath nevertheless remembered mnercy.
"It has seemed to mne fit alnl  proper that they should be
solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one
heart and voice by the whole American people; I do, therefore,
invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United States, and
also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign
lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November
next as a Day of Thanksgiving and Prayer to our beneficent
Father, who dwelleth in the heavens. And I recommend to
them that, while offering up the ascriptions justly due to him for
such sing-ular 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 Almighty hand to heal the wounds of the
nation and- to restore it. as soon as may be consistent with the
Divine purposes, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity, and union.
"In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and
caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
" Done at the city of Washington this third day of October,
in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixtythree, and of the Independence of the United States the eightyeighth.                              "ABRAIIAM IIINCOLN.
"By the President:
"WILLIAmI EH. SEWARD, Secretary of State."
We have shown, in the first pages of this volume, that
the early instruction of Abraham  Lincoln was of that religious character which could not fail to have a proper
effect upon his after life, and it is not therefore surprising
hat during his Presidential career he has embraced every
opportunity  to  publicly acknowledge the source from
whence have come all the blessings the people of the
Union have received during the progress of the civil war;
and the unanimity with which his numerous requests for
a general Thanksgiving have been acquiesced in, can but
ihe gratifying to their author.




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 151
THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND MBORE MEN
CALLED FOR.
" 47Whereas, The term of service of part of the volunteer forces
of the United States will expire during the coming year; and
whereas, in addition to the men raised by the present draft, it is
deemed expedient to call out three hundred thousand volunteers,
to serve for three years or the war-not, however, exceeding
three years.
" Now, therefore, I, Abraham  Lincoln, President of the
United States and Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy
thereof, and of the militia of the several States when called into
actual service, do issue this my proclamation, calling upon the
Governors of the dillferent States to raise and have enlisted into
the United States service, for the various companies and regimnents in the field from their respective States, their quotas of
three hundred thousand men.
" I further proclaim that all the volunteers thus called out and
duly enlisted shall receive advance pay, premium and bounty, as
heretofore communicated to the Governors of States by the
War Department, through the Provost Marshal General's office,
by special letters.
"' I further proclaim that all volunteers received under this
call, as well as all others not heretofore credited, shall be duly
credited and deducted from the quotas established for the next
draft.
"1  further proclaim that, if any State shall fail to raise the
quota assigned to it by the War Department under this call;
then a draft for the deficiency in said quota shall be made in
said State, or on the districts of said State, for their due proportion of said quota, and the said draft shall commence on the
fifth day of January, 1864.
"And I further proclaim that nothing in this proclamation
shall interfere with existing orders, or with those which may be
issued for the present draft in the States where it is now in progress or where it has not yet been commenced.
"The quotas of the States and districts will be assigned by
the War Department, through the Provost Marshal General's
office, due regard being had for the men heretofore furnished,
whether by volunteering or drafting, and the recruiting will be
conducted in accordance with such instructions as have been or
may be issued by that department.
"In issuing this proclamation I address myl.1f not only to
the Governors of the several States, but also to the good and
loyal people thereof, invoking them to lend their cheerful, willing and effective aid to the measures thus adopted, w;th a view
to reinforce our victorious armies now in the field and bring our
needful military operations to a prosperous end, thus (losing
forever the fountains of sedition and civil war.




'2  LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
"In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused
the seal of the United States to be altixed.
"Done at the city of Washington, this seventeenth day of
October, ill the year of our Ilord one thousand eight hundred
and sixty-three, and of the independence of the United States
the eighty-eighth.                  "ABRAHAMI LINCOLN.
"By the President:
" Wir. H. SEWARD, Secqretary of State."
TIIE PRESIDETNT'S DEDICATORY ADDRESS AT
GETTYSBURG.
On the nineteenth of November, 1863, the President participated in the solemn and imposing ceremonies incident to
the consecration of the National Cemetery at Gettysburg.
Arriving in the town on the previous evening, he was the
recipient of a delightful serenade, which he acknowledged
in a brief speech.  On the next day he delivered the following beautiful Dedicatory Address:
"Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth
upon this continent a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and
dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that
nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long
endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We
are met to dedicate a portion of it as the final resting-place of
those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It
is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
" But in a larger sense we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living
and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our
power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long
remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they
did here. It is for us, the living, rather to be dedicated here to
the unfinished work that they have thus far so nobly carried on.
It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us-that from these 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 thalt the goverlment of the people, by
the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth."
THANKSGIVING PROCLAMATION.
On the seventh of December, 1863, the following recomnendation was made to the people of the country:




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 153
"EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHIINGTON, Dec. 7Ih, 1863. —Reliable
information bein;g received that the insurgent force is retreating
fromy East Tennessee, under circumstances rendering it probable
that the Union forces cannot hereafter be dislodged from that
important position, and esteeming this to be of high National
consequence, I recommend that all loyal people do, on the receipt of this, informally assemble at their places of worship, and
render special homage and gratitude to Almigiity God for this
great advancement of the National cause.    "A. 1,INCOLN."
THE ANNUAL MESSAGE OF 1863-FULL PARDON OFFERED TO THE REBELS.
On the ninth of December, 1863, President Lincoln sent
into Congress his Annual Message, and never were his wisdom and moderation more satisfactorily exhibited than in
this document. His review of our foreign relations and the
operations of the various departments of the Government
was comprehensive and clear, while on the subject of the
rebellion he re-affirmed all that he had written in his previous messages, and in referring to the success which had
attended the proclamation of emancipation, he said:
"While I remain in my present position, I shall not attempt to retract or modify the emancipation proclamation;
nor shall I return to slavery any person who is free by
the terms of that proclamation, or by any of the acts of
Congress."
Accompanying the Message, was a proclamation offering
for the acceptance of the traitors a fair and practicable mode,
by which they might return to their allegiance, and once
again become loyal citizens. It was worded as follows:
"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
"17Whereas, With reference to said rebellion and treason, laws
have been enacted by Congress, declaring forfeitures and con



M54  LIFE AND SEJRVIEq D'.BRAI1IAM LINCOLN.
fiscations 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 ard on such conditions
as he may deem expedient for the public welfare; and
"Whereas, The Congressional declaration for limited and
conditional pardon accords with 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 provisions 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 re-inaugurate 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
where 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 inviolate;
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 President made during the existing rebellion having reference to slaves, so long'
and so far as not modified or declared void by decision of the
Supreme Court. So help me God.'
"The persons excepted from  the benefits of the foregoing
provisions are all who are or shall have been civil or diplomatic
officers or agents of the so-called Confederate Government; all
who have left judicial stations under the United States to aid
the rebellion; all who are or shall have been military or naval
officers of said Confederate Government above the rank of
Colonel in the army or of Lieutenant in the navy; all who left
seats in the United States Congress to aid the rebellion; all
who resigned their commissions in the army or navy of the United




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHASM LINCOLN. 155
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 be found in the United States service,
as soldiers, seamen, or in any other 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 Carolina, and North Carolina, a number of persons, not less than
one-tenth in number of the votes cast ill such State at the Presi.
dential election of the year of our Lord 1S60, each having taken
the oath aforesaid and not having since violated it, and being a
qualified voter by the election law of the State existing immediately before the so-called act of secession, and excluding all
others, shall re-establish a State government which shall be Republican, and in nowise 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 pro.
vision, which declares that' the United States shall guarantee
to every State in this Union a Republican form of government,
and shall protect each of them against invasion; and, on application of the Legislature, or the executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened), against domestic violence.'
"And I do further proclaim, declare, and make known, that
any provision which may be adopted by such State Government
in relation to the freed people of such State, which shall recognize and declare their permanent freedom, provide for their
education, and which may yet be consistent, as a temporary arrangement, with their present condition as a laboring, landless,
and hoineless class, will not be objected to by the National
Executive.  And it is suggested as not improper, that, in constructing a loyal State government in any State, the name of
the State, the boundary, the subdivisions, the Constitution, and
the general code of laws, as before the rebellion, be maintained,
subject only to the modifications made necessary by the conditions hereinbefore stated. and such others, if any, }iot 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 Congress
from any State shall be admitted to seats constitutionally, rests
exclusively with the respective Houses, and not to anly extent
with the Executive. And still further, that this proclamation
is intended to present the people of the States wherein the
National authority has been suspended, and loyal State Governmeats have been subverted, a mode in and by which the Na



156 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
tional authority and loyal State Governments may be re-estab.
lished within said States, or in any of them; and, while the
mode presented is the best the Executive can suggest, with his
present impressions, it must not be understood that no other
possible mode would be acceptable.
"Given under my hand at the City of WVashington, the eighth
day of December, A. D. one thousand eight hundred and sixtythree, and of the Independence of the United States of America
the eighty-eighth.
"By the President:                "ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
" WM. H. SEWARD, Secretary of State."
CALLS MADE FOR SEVEN HUNDRED
THOUSAND MEN.
Since the beginning of the present year, 1864, two orders
have been issued by the President, with a view of augment.ing the armies of the Union to correspond with the requirements of the service.  The first, dated February first, is as
follows:
" EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, February 1St, 1864.Ordered, that a draft for five hundred thousand men, to serve
three years or during the war, be made on the tenth of March
next, for the military service of the United States, crediting and
deducting therefrom so many as have been enlisted or drafted
into the service prior to the first day of March, and not heretofore credited.
" (Signed)                       "ABRAHAM. LTNCOLN."
The other, datod March fourteenth, was worded as follows:
"EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, Macrch 14th, 1864. —In
order to supply the force required to be drafted for the navy, and to
provide an adequate reserve force for all contingencies, in addition
to the five hundred thousand men called for February 1st, 1864, the
call is hereby made, and a draft ordered for two hundred thousand men, for the military service of the army, navy, and marine
corps of the United States. The proportionate quotas for the
different wards, towns, townships, precincts, election districts,
or counties will be made known through the Provost Marshal
General's bureau, and account will be taken of the credits and
deficiencies on former quotas. The 15th day of April, 1864, is
designated as the time up to which the numbers required in each
ward of a city, town, etc., may be raised by voluntary enlistmaent; and drafts will be made in each ward of a city, town3




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAI-IAM LINCOLN. 157
etc., which shall not have filled the quota assigned to it within
the time designated for the number required to fill the said
quotas. The draft will be commenced as soon after the 15th of
April as practicable. The Government bounties, as now paid,
will be continued until April 15th, 1864, at which time the additional bounties cease. On and after that date, one hundred
dollars only will be paid, as provided by the act approved July
22nd, 1861.                           "ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
"Official.     "E. D. TOWNSEND, A. A. G."
EXPLANATORY PROCLAMATION.
On the twenty-sixth of March, 1864, the following proclamation, explanatory of the one issued on the eighth of
December, 1863, was published:
"Whereas, It has become necessary to define the cases in
which insurgent enemies are entitled to the benefits of the
Proclamation of the President of the United States, which was
made on the 8th day of December, 1863, and the manner in which
they shall proceed to avail themselves of these benefits;
"And whereas, The object 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
States, 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 confinement 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 contrary, it does apply only to those
persons who, being at large and free from any arrest, confinrment or duress, shall voluntarily come forward and take the said
oath, with the purpose of restoring peace and establishing the
national authority.
"Prisoners excluded from the amnesty offered in the said
proclamation may apply to the President for clemency, like all
other offenders, and their application will receive due consideration.
" I do further declare and proclaim that the oath prescribed
in the aforesaid proclamation of the 8th of December, 1863,
may be taken and subscribed to before any commanding officer,
civil, military or naval, in the service of the United States, or
any civil or militai'v officer of a State or territory not in insurrectiol., whlo, by the laws thereof, may be qualified for administring oathls.
10




158 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
"All offictrs who receive such oaths are hereby authorized to
give certificates thereon to the persons respectively by whom
they are made, and such officers are hereby required to transmit
the original records of such oaths at as early a day as may be
convenient to the Department of State, where they will be deposited and remain in the archives of the government.
" The Secretary of State will keep a register 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 hundred
and sixty-four, and of the Independence of the United States
the eighty-eighth.
"By the President:               "AY,RAHAM LINCOLN.
" WM. H. SEWARD, Secretary of Stare."
REVIEW OF THE PRESIDENT'S POLICY.
In the number of the North. American Review for
January, 1864, a most able article was published, reviewing the policy of President Lincoln. and from it we make
the following extracts:
"'Bare is back,' says the Norse proverb,'without
brother behind it;' and this is, by analogy, true of an
elective magistracy. The hereditary ruler in any critical
emergency may reckon on the inexhaustible resources of
prestige, of sentiment, of superstition, of dependent interest, while the new man must slowly and painfully create
all these out of the unwilling material around him, by
superiority of character, by patient singleness of purpose,
by sagacious presentiment of popular tendencies and instinctive sympathy with the national character. Mr. Lincoln's task was one of peculiar and exceptional difficulty.
Long habit had accustomed the American people to the
notion of a party in power, and of a President as its creature and organ, while the more vital fact, that the executive for the time being represents the abstract idea of
government as a permanent principle superior to all party
and all private interest, had gradually become unfamiliar.
They had so long secn the public policy more or less




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 159
directed by views of party, and often even of personal advantage, as to be ready to suspect the motives of a chief
magistrate compelled, for the first time in our history, to
feel himself the head and hand of a great nation, and to act
upon the fundamental maxim, laid down by all publicists,
that the first duty of a government is to defend and maintain its own existence.  Accordingly, a powerful weapon
seemed to be put into the hands of the opposition by the
necessity under which the administration found itself of
applying this old truth to new relations. They were not
slow in turning it to use, but the patriotism and commonsense of the people were more than a match for any
sophistry of mere party. The radical mistake of the leaders of the opposition was in forgetting that they had a
country, and expecting a similar obliviousness on the part
of the people. In the undisturbed possession of office for
so many years, they had come to consider the government
as a kind of public Gift Enterprise conducted by themselves, and whose profits were nominally to be shared
among the holders of their tickets, though all the prizes
had a trick of falling to the lot of the managers. Amid
the tumult of war, when the life of the nation was at stake,
when the principles of despotism and freedom were grappling in deadly conflict, they had no higher conception of
the crisis than such as would serve the purpose of a contested election; no thought but of advertising the tickets
for the next drawing of that private speculation which
they miscalled the Democratic party. But they were too
little in sympathy with the American people to understand them, or the motives by which they were governed.
It became more and more clear that, in embarrassing the
administration, their design was to cripple the country;
that, by a strict construction of the Constitution, they
meant nothing more than the locking up of the only
arsenal whence effective arms could be drawn to defend the
nation  Fortunately, insincerity by its very nature, by




160 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
its necessary want of conviction, must ere long betray
itself by its inconsistencies.  It was hard to believe that
men had any real horror of sectional war, who were busy
in fomenting jealousies between East and West; that they
could be in favor of a war for the Union as it was, who
were for accepting the violent amendments of Rebellion;
that they could be heartily opposed to insurrection in the
South, who threatened government with forcible resistance
in the North; or that they were humanely anxious to stay
the effusion of blood, who did not scruple to stir up the
mob of our chief city to murder and arson, and to compliment the patriotism of assassins with arms in their hands.
Believers, if they believed any thing, in the divine right
of Sham, they brought the petty engineering of the caucus
to cope with the resistless march of events, and hoped to
stay the steady drift of the nation's purpose, always setting deeper and stronger in one direction, with the scoopnets that had served their turn so well in dipping fish from
the turbid eddies of politics. They have given an example
of the shortest and easiest way of reducing a great party
to an inconsiderable faction.
"The change which three years have brought about, is
too remarkable to be passed over without comment-too
weighty in its lesson not to be laid to heart. Never did
a President enter upon office with less means at his command, outside his own strength of heart and steadiness of
understanding, for inspiring confidence in the people, and
so winning it for himself, than Mr. Lincoln.  All that was
known of him was that he was a good stump-speaker,
nominated for his availability-that is, because he had no
history-and chosen by a party with whose more extreme
opin'ons he was not in sympathy.  It might well be feared
that 1 man past fifty, against wlvhom the ingenuity of hostile partisans could rake up no accusation, must be lacking
in manliness of character, in decision of principle, in




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 161
strength of will,-that a man who was at best only the
representative of a party, and who yet did not fairly represent even that-would fail of political, much more of
popular support.  And certainly no one ever entered upon
office with so few resources of power in the past, and so
many materials of weakness in the present, as Mr. Lincoln. Even in that half of the Union which acknowledged
him as President, there was a large, and at that time dangerous minority, that hardly admitted his claim to the
office, and even inJ the party that elected him there was
also a large minority that suspected him of being secretly
a communicant with the church of Laodicea. All that he
did was sure to be virulently attacked as ultra by one side;
all that he left undone, to be stigmatized as proof of lukewarmness and backsliding by the other. Meanwhile he
was to carry on a truly colossal war by means of both; he
was to disengage the country from diplomatic entanglements of unprecedented peril undisturbed by the help or
the hinderance of either, and to win from the crowning
dangers of his administration, in the confidence of the
people, the means of his safety and their own. He has
contrived to do it, and perhaps none of our Presidents
since Washington has stood so firm in the confidence of
the people as he does after three years of stormy administration.
" Mr. Lincoln's policy was a tentative one, and rightly
so. He laid down no programme which must compel
him to be either inconsistent or unwise-no cast-iron
theorem to which circumstances must be fitted as they
rose, or else be useless to his ends. He seemed to have
chosen Mazarin's motto, Le temps et moi. The moi, to
be sure, was not very prominent at first; but it has grown
more and more so, till. the world is beginning to be persuaded that it stands for a character of marked individuality and capacity for affairs. Time was his prime-min.




162 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
ister, and, we began to think at one period, his generalin-chief also. At first he was so slow that he tired out
all those who see no evidence of progress but in blowing
up the engine; then he was so fast, that he took the
breath away from those who think there is no getting on
safely while there is a spark of fire under the boilers.  God
is the only being who has time enough; but a prudent
man, who knows how to seize occasion, can commonly
make a shift to find as much as he needs. Mr. Lincoln,
as it seems to us in reviewing his career, though we have
sometimes in our impatience thought otherwise, has always waited, as a wise man should, till the right moment
brought up all his reserves.  Semper nocuit differre paratis is a sound axiom, but the really efficacious man will
also be sure to know when he is not ready, and be firm
against all persuasion and reproach till he is.
" One would be apt to think, from some of the criticisms
made on Mr. Lincoln's course by those who mainly agree
with him in principle, that the chief object of a statesman
should be rather to proclaim his adhesion to certain doctrines than to achieve their triumph by quietly accomplishing his ends. In our opinion, there is no more unsafe
politician than a conscientiously rigid doctrinaire, nothing
more sure to end in disaster than a theoretic scheme of
policy that admits of no pliability for contingencies. True,
there is a popular image of an impossible He, in whose
plastic hands the submissive destinies of mankind become
as wax, and to whose commanding necessity the toughest
facts yield with the graceful pliancy of fiction; but in real
life we commonly find that the men who control circumstances, as it is called, are those who have learned to
allow for the influence of their eddies, and have the nerve
to turn them to account at the happy instant. Mr. Lincoln's perilous task has been to carry a rather shackly
raft through the rapids, making fast the unrulier logs as




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 163
he could snatch opportunity; and the country is to be
congratulated that he did not think it his duty to run
straight at all hazards, but cautiously to assure himself
with his setting-pole where the main current was, and
keep steadily to that. He is still in wild water, but we
have faith that his skill and sureness of eye will bring him
out right at last.
" A curious, and, as we think, not inapt parallel might
be drawn between Mr. Lincoln and one of the most
striking figures in modern history —Henry IV. of France.
The career of the latter may be more picturesque, as that
of a daring captain always is; but, in all its vicissitudes:
there is nothing more romantic than that sudden change,
as by a rub of Aladdin's lamp, from the attorney's office
in a country town of Illinois to the helm of a great nation
in times like these. The analogy between the characters
and circumstances of the two men is, in many respects,
singularly close. Succeeding to a rebellion rather than a
crown, Henry's chief material dependence was the Huguenot party, whose doctrines sat upon him with a looseness
distasteful certainly, if not suspicious, to the more fanatical among them. King only in name over the greater
part of France, and with his capital barred against him,
it yet gradually became clear to the more far-seeing even
of the Catholic party, that he was the only centre of order
and legitimate authority round which France could reorganize itself. While preachers who held the divine
right of kings made the churches of Paris ring with declamations in favor of democracy rather than submit to the
heretic dog of a Be'arnois-much as our soi-disant Democrats have lately been preaching the divine right of
slavery, and denouncing the heresies of the Declaration
of Independence-Henry bore both parties in hand till he
was convinced that only one course of action could possibly combine his own interests and those of France




164I LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
Meanwhile the Protestants believed somewhat doubtfully
that he was theirs, the Catholics hoped somewhat doubtfully that he would be theirs, and Henry himself turned
aside remonstrance, advice, and curiosity alike with a
jest or a proverb, (if a little high, he liked them none the
worse,) joking continually, as his manner was.  We have
seen Mr. Lincoln contemptuously compared to Sancho
Panza by persons incapable of appreciating one of the
deepest pieces of wisdom in the profoundest romance ever
written-namely, that, while Don Quixote was incomparable in theoretic and ideal statesmanship, Sancho, with
his stock of proverbs, the ready-money of human experience, made the best possible practical governor.  Henry
IV. was as full of wise saws and modern instances as Mr.
Lincoln, but beneath all this was the thoughtful, practical, humane, and thoroughly earnest man, around whom
the fragments of France were to gather themselves till
she took her place again as a planet of the first magnitude
in the European system. In one respect Mr. Lincoln was
more fortunate than Henry. However some may think
him wanting in zeal, the most fanatical can find no taint
of apostasy in any measure of his, nor can the most bitter
charge him with being influenced by motives of personal
interest. The leading distinction between the policies of
the two is one of circumstances. Henry went over to
the nation; Mr. Lincoln has steadily drawn the nation
over to him. One left a united France; the other, we
hope and believe, will leave a re-united America. We
leave our readers to trace the further points of difference
and resemblance for themselves, merely suggesting a general similarity which has often occurred to us.  One only
point of uelancholy interest we will allow ourselves to
touch upon. That Mr. Lincoln is not handsome nor elegant, we learn from certain English tourists who would
consider similar revelations in regard to Queen Vicioria




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 165
as thoroughly American in their want of bienseance. It
is no concern of ours, nor does it affect his fitness for the
high place he so worthily occupies; but he is certainly
as fortunate as Henry in the matter of good looks, if we
may trust contemporary evidence.  Mr. Lincoln has also
been reproached with Americanism by some not unfriendly
British critics; but, with all deference, we cannot say
that we like him any the worse for it, or see in it any,eason why he should govern Americans the less wisely.
" The most perplexing complications that Mr. Lincoln's
government has had to deal with have been the danger
of rupture with the two leading commercial countries of'Europe, and the treatment of the slavery question.  In
regard to the former, the peril may be considered as
nearly past, and the latter has been withdrawing steadily,
ever since the war began, from the noisy debating-ground
of faction to the quieter region of practical solution by
c:onvincingness of facts and consequent advance of opinion
which we are content to call Fate.
"' 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 war that was half peace in the
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
claims under the Constitution, and that slaveholders in
rebellion had alone among mortals the privilege of having
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 rebel without reason was proclaimed as one of the rights of man,
while it was carefully kept out of sight that to suppress
rebellion is the first duty of government.  All the 0eils




166 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
that have come upon the country have been attributed to
the Abolitionists, though it is hard to see how any party
can become permanently powerful except in one of two
ways,-either by the greater truth of its principles, or the
extravagance of the party opposed to it. To fancy the
ship of state, riding safe at her constitutional moorings,
suddenly engulfed by a huge kraken of Abolitionism,
rising from unknown depths and grasping it with slimy
tentacles, is to look at the natural history of the matter
with the eyes of Pontoppidan.  To believe that the
leaders in the Southern treason feared any danger from
Abolitionism, would be to deny them ordinary intelligence, though there can be little doubt that they made
use of it to stir the passions and excite the fears of their
deluded accomplices. They rebelled, not because they
thought slavery weak, but because they believed it strong
enough, not to overthrow the government, but to get possession of it; for it becomes daily clearer that they used
rebellion only as a means of revolution, and if they got
revolution, though not in the shape they looked for, is the
American people to save them from its consequences at
the cost of its own existence? The election of Mr. Lincoin, which it was clearly in their power to prevent had
they wished, was the occasion merely, and not the cause,
of their revolt. Abolitionism, till within a year or two,
was the despised heresy of a few earnest persons, without
political weight enough to carry the election of a parish
constable; and their cardinal principle was disunion, because they were convinced that within the Union the
position of slavery was impregnable. In spite of the
proverb, great effects do not follow from small causes, —
that is, disproportionately small,-but from  adequate
causes acting under certain required conditions. To contrast the size of the oak with that of the parent acorn, as
if the poor seed had paid all costs from its slender strong




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 167
box, may serve for a child's wonder; but the real miracle
lies in that divine league which bound all the forces of
nature to the service of the tiny germ in fulfilling its
destiny. Every thing has been at work for the past ten
years in the cause of antislavery, but Garrison and
Phillips have been far less successful propagandists than
the slaveholders themselves, with the constantly-growing
arrogance of their pretensions and encroachments. They
have forced the question upon the attention of every voter
in the Free States, by defiantly putting freedom and democracy on the defensive. But, even after.the Kansas
outrages, there was no wide-spread desire on the part of
the North to commit aggressions, though there was a
growing determination to resist them.  The popular
unanimity in favor of the war three years ago was but in
small measure the result of antislavery sentiment, far less
of any zeal for abolition. But every month of the war,
every movement of the allies of slavery in the Free
States, has been making Abolitionists by the thousands.
The masses of any people, however intelligent, are very
little moved by abstract principles of humanity and justice, until those principles are interpreted for them by the
stinging commentary of some infringement upon their own
rights, and then their instincts and passions, once aroused,
do indeed derive an incalculable reinforcement of impulse
and intensity from those higher ideas, those sublime traditions, which have no motive political force till they are
allied with a sense of immediate personal wrong or imminent peril. Then at last the stars in their courses begin to fight against Sisera. Had any one doubted before
that the rights of human nature are unitary, that oppression is of one hue the world over, no matter what the
color of the oppressed,-had any one failed to see what
the real essence of the contest was,-the efforts of the advocates of slavery among ourselves to throw discredit upon




168 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.'he fundamental axioms of the Declaration of Independence
and the radical doctrines of Christianity, could not fail to
sharpen his eyes. This quarrel, it is plain, is not between
Northern fanaticism and Southern institutions, but between downright slavery and upright freedom, between
despotism and democracy, between the Old World and
the New.
"The progress of three years has outstripped the expectation of the most sanguine, and that of our arms,
great as it undoubtedly is, is trifling in comparison with
the advance of opinion. The great strength of slavery
was a superstition, which is fast losing its hold on the
public mind. When it was first proposed to raise negro
regiments, there were many even patriotic men who felt
as the West Saxons did at seeing their high priest hurl
his lance against the temple of their idol. They were sure
something terrible, they knew not what, would follow.
But the earth stood firm, the heavens gave no sign, and
presently they joined in making a bonfire of their bugbear.
That we should employ the material of the rebellion for its
own destruction, seems now the merest truism. In the same
way men's minds are growing wonted to the thought of
emancipation; and great as are the difficulties which must
necessarily accompany and follow so vast a measure, we
have no doubt that they will be successfully overcome.
The point of interest and importance is, that the feeling of
our country in regard to slavery is no whim of sentiment,
but a settled conviction, and that the tendency of opinion
is unmistakably and irrevocably in one direction, no less
in the Border Slave States than in the Free. The chances
of the war, which at one time seemed against us, are now
greatly in our favor. The nation is more thoroughly
united against any shameful or illusory peace than it ever
was on any other question, and the very extent of the territory to be subdued, which was the most serious cause of




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 169
misgiving, is no longer an element of strength, but of disintegration, to the conspiracy. The Rebel leaders can
make no concessions; the country is unanimously resolved
that the war shall be prosecuted, at whatever cost; and if
the war go on, will it leave slavery with any formidable
strength in the South? and without that, need there be any
fear of effective opposition in the North?
" While every day was bringing the people nearer to the
conclusion which all thinking men saw to be inevitable
from the beginning, it was wise in Mr. Lincoln to leave
the shaping of his policy to events. In this country,
where the rough and ready understanding of the people
is sure at last to be the controlling power, a profound
common-sense is the best genius for statesmanship.
Hitherto the wisdom of the President's measures has
been justified by the fact that they have always resulted
in more firmly uniting public opinion. It is a curious
comment on the sincerity of political professions, that the
party calling itself Democratic should have been the last
to recognize the real movement and tendency of the
popular mind. The same gentlemen who two years ago
were introducing resolutions in Congress against coercion,
are introducing them now in favor of the war, but against
subjugation. Next year they may be in favor of emancipation, but against abolition. It does not seem to have
occurred to them that the one point of difference between
a civil and a foreign war is, that in the former, one of the
parties must by the very nature of the case be put down,
and the other left in possession of the government. Unless the country is to be divided, no compromise is possible,
and, if one side must yield, shall it be the nation or the
conspirators? A government may make, and any wise
government would make, concessions to men who have
risen against real grievances; but to make them in favor
of a rebellion that had no juster cause than the personal




170 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN,
ambition of a few bad men, would be to abdicate.
Southern politicians, however, have always been so
dexterous in drawing nice distinctions, that they may
find some consolation inappreciable by obtuser minds in
being coerced instead of subjugated.
"If Mr. Lincoln continue to act with the firmness and
prudence which have hitherto distinguished him, we think
he has little to fear from the efforts of the opposition.
Men without sincere convictions are hardly likely to have
a well-defined and settled policy, and the blunders they
havo-hitherto committed must make them cautious. If
their personal hostility to the President be unabated, we
may safely count on their leniency to the opinion of
majorities, and the drift of public sentiment is too strong
to be mistaken. They have at last discovered that there
is such a thing as Country, which has a meaning for
men's minds and a hold upon their hearts; they may
make the further discovery, that this is a revolution that
has been forced on us, and not merely a civil war. In
any event, an opposition is a wholesome thing; and we
are only sorry that this is not a more wholesome opposition.
" We believe it is the general judgment of the country
on the acts of the present administration, that they have
been, in the main, judicious and well-timed. The only
doubt about some of them seems to be as to their coiistitutionality. It has been sometimes objected to our
form of government, that it was faulty in having a written constitution which could not adapt itself to the needs
of the time as they arose. But we think it rather a
theoretic than a practical objection; for in point of
fact there has been hardly a leading measure of any
administration that has not been attacked as unconstitutional, and which was not carried nevertheless.
Purchase of Louisiana, Embargo, Removal of the De,




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 171
posits, Annexation of Texas, not to speak of others less
important, —on the unconstitutionality of all these, powerful parties have appealed to the country, and invariably
the decision has been against them. The will of the
people for the time being has always carried it. In the
present instance, we purposely refrain from any allusion
to the moral aspects of the question. We prefer to leave
the issue to experience and common-sense. Has any sane
man ever doubted on which side the chances were in this
contest? Can any sane man who has watched the steady
advances of opinion, forced onward slowly by the immitigable logic of facts, doubt what the decision of the
people will be in this matter? The Southern conspirators have played a desperate stake, and, if they had won,
would have bent the whole policy of the country to the
interests of slavery.  Filibustering would have been
nationalized, and the slave-trade re-established as the most
beneficent form of missionary enterprise. But if they
lose? They have, of their own choice, put the chance
into our hands of making this continent the empire of a
great homogeneous population, substantially one in race,
language, and religion,-the most prosperous and powerful of nations. Is there a doubt what the decision of a
victorious people will be? If we were base enough to
decline the great commission which Destiny lays on us,
should we not deserve to be ranked with those dastards
whom the stern Florentine condemns as hateful alike to
God and God's enemies?
"We would not be understood as speaking lightly of the
respect due to constitutional forms, all the more essential
under a government like ours and in times like these. But
where undue respect for the form will lose us the substance,
and where the substance, as in this case, is nothing less
than the country itself, to be over-scrupulous would be
unwise. Who are most tender in their solicitude that we




172 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM T!NCOLN.
keep sacred the letter of the law, in order that its spirit
may not keep us alive? Mr. Jefferson Davis and those
who, in the Free States, would have been his associates,
but must content themselves with being his political
guerilleros. If Davis had succeeded, would he have had
any scruples of constitutional delicacy? And if he has
not succeeded, is it not mainly owing to measures which
his disappointed partisans denounce as unconstitutional?
"We cannot bring ourselves to think that Mr. Lincoln
nas done any thing that would furnish a precedent dangerous to our liberties, or in any way overstepped the
just limits of his constitutional discretion.  If his course
has been unusual, it was because the danger was equally
so. It cannot be so truly said that he has strained his
prerogative, as that the imperious necessity has exercised
its own.  Surely the framers of the Constitution never
dreamed that they were making a strait waistcoat, in
which the nation was to lie helpless while traitors were
left.free to do their will. In times like these, men seldom
settle precisely the principles on which they shall act, but
rather adjust those on which they have acted to the lines
of precedent as well as they can after the event. This is
what the English Parliament did in the Act of Settlement.
Congress, after all, will only be called on for the official
draft of an enactment, the terms of which have been
already decided by agencies beyond their control. Even
while they are debating, the current is sweeping them
onward toward new relations of policy. At worst, a new
precedent is pretty sure of pardon, if it successfully meet
a new occasion. It is a harmless pleasantry to call Mr.
Lincoln'Abraham  the First,'-we remember when a
similar title was applied to President Jackson; and it
will not be easy, we suspect, to persuade a people who
have more liberty than they know what to do with, that
tlley are the victims of despotic tyranny.




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 173
"Mr. Lincoln probably thought it more convenient, to
say the least, to have a country left without a constitution,
than a constitution without a country. We have no doubt
we shall save both; for if we take care of the one, the
other will take care of itself.  Sensible men, and it is the
sensible men in any country who at last shape its policy,
will be apt to doubt whether it is true conservatism, after
the fire is got under, to insist on keeping up the flaw in
the chimney by which it made its way into the house.
Radicalism may be a very dangerous thing, and so is
calomel, but not when it is the only means of saving the
life of the patient. Names are of great influence in ordinary times, when they are backed by the vis inertice of
life-long prejudice, but they have little power in comparison with a sense of interest; and though, in peaceful
times, it may be highly respectable to be conservative
merely for the sake of being so, though without very
clear notions of any thing in particular to be conserved,
what we want now is the prompt decision that will not
hesitate between the bale of silk and the ship when a leak
is to be stopped. If we succeed in saving the great landmarks of freedom, there will be no difficulty in settling our
constitutional boundaries again. We have no sympathy
to spare for the pretended anxieties of men who, only two
years gone, were willing that Jefferson Davis should
break all the ten commandments together, and would
now impeach Mr. Lincoln for a scratch on the surface of
the tables where they are engraved."
As soon as the publication was received and read by
the President, he sent to the publishers the following
letter:
"EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, January 16th, 1864.
"Messrs. Crosby' Nichols:
"GENTLEMEN: The number for this month and year of the
North American Review was duly received and for which please
accept my thanks. Of course I am not the most impartial
11




174 LIFE AND SERVTCES OF ABRAhIAM LINCOOLN.
judge; yet, with due allowance for this, I venture to hope that
the article entitled' The President's Policy' will be of value
to the country. I fear I am not quite worthy of all which is
therein kindly said of me personally.
" The sentence of twelve lines, commencing at the top of page
252, (which in this book is~on page 165,) I could wish to be not
exactly as it is. In what is there expressed the writer has not
correctly understood me.  I have never had a theory that secession could absolve States or people from their obligations. Precisely the contrary is asserted in the inaugural address; and it
was because of my belief in the continuation of those obligatsrns
that I was puzzled, for a time, as to denying the legal rights of
those citizens who remained individually innocent of treason or
rebellion.  But I mean no more now than to merely call atten.
tion to this point.
"Yours respectfully,
"A. LINCOLN."
The sentence referred to by Mr. Lincoln, is as follows:
" 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 war that was half peace, in
the 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 claims under the constitution, and that slaveholders
in rebellion had alone among mortals, the privilege of
having 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 rebel
without reason was proclaimed as one of the rights of man,
while it was carefully kept out of sight that to suppress
rebellion is the first duty of government."
RECENT ADDRESSES OF XR. LINCOLN.
On the night of the eighteenth of March, 1864, at the
close of the successful fair held in the Patent Office at
Washington, Mr. Lincoln spoke as follows:
"Ladies and Gentlemen:-I appear, to say but a word. This




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAITAM LINCOLN. 17t;
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, all that a man hath will he give for his life; and,
while all contribute of their substance, the soldier puts his life
at stake, and often yields it up in his country's cause. The highest merit, then, is due to the soldier.
" In this extraordinary war, extraordinary developments have
manifested themselves, such as have not been, seen in former
wars; and among these manifestations nothing has been more
remarkable than these fairs for the relief of suffering soldiers
and their families. And the chief agents in these fairs are the
women of America. I am not accustomed to the use of 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 Woikingmen's Democratic Republican Association of New
York waited on the President, and presented him with an
address informing him that he had been elected a member
of that organization. After the chairman had stated the
object of the visit, Mr. Lincoln made the following reply:
"Gentlemen of the Committee:-The honorary membership in
your Association so generously tendered is gratefully accepted.
You comprehend, as your address shows, that the existing re.
bellion means more and tends to more than the perpetuation of
African slavery-that it is, in fact, a war upon the rights of all
working people. Partly to show that the 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 Government-the rights of the people. Conclusive evidence of this
is found in the most grave and maturely-considered public documents, a; well as in the general tone of the insurgents. In those
documents we find the abridgement of the existing right of suffrage, and the denial to the people of all right to participate in
the selection of public officers, except the legislative body, boldly
advocated with labored arguments, to prove that large control
of the people in government is the source of all political evil.
Monarbchy is sometimes hinted at as a possible refuge from the
power of the people. In my present position, I could scarcely




176  LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAhTAM  LINCOLN.
be justified were I to omit raising my voice against this approach
of returning despotism.
"' It is not needed or 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 with, if not above, labor in the structure of
the Government. It is assumed that labor is available only in
connection with capital; that nobody labors unless somebody
else owning capital somehow, by use of it, induces him to labor.
"' This assumed, it is next considered whether it is best that
capital shall hire laborers, and thus induce them to work by their
own consent, or buy them and drive them to it without their
consent. Having 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 relation
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 of these assumptions are false, and all inferences from them are groundless.
"'Labor is prior to and independent of capital. Capital is
only the fruit of labor, and never could have existed if labor had
not first existed. Labor is the support of capital, and deserves
much the higher consideration. Capital has its rights, which
are as worthy of protection as any other rights. Nor is it denied
that there is, and probably always will be, a relation between
labor and capital producing mutual benefits. The error is in
assuming that the whole labor of a community exists within that
relation. A few men own capital, and that few avoid labor
themselves, and with that 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 States, 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 other. It is
not forgotten that a considerable number cf persons mingle their
own labor with capital-that is, they labor with their own hands
and also buy or hire others to labor for them; but this is only a
mixed and not a distinct class. No principle stated is disturbed
by the existence of this mixed class.
"'Again. As has already been said, there is not of necessity
any such thing as the free hired laborer being fixed to that condition for'life. Many independent men everywhere in these




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 177
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 lands for himself, then
labors on his own account another while, and at length hires
another new beginner to help him. This is the just, and generous, and prosperous system which opens the way to all-gives
hope to all, and consequent energy, and progress, and improvement to all. No men living are more worthy to be trusted than
those who toil up from poverty —none less inclined to take or
touch aught with which they have not honestly earned. Let
them beware of surrendering a political power which they already
possess, and which, if surrendered, will surely be used to close
the door of advancement against sucL as they, and to fix new
disabilities and burdens upon them till all of liberty shall be
lost.'
"The views then expressed remain unchanged-nor have I
much to add. None are so deeply interested to resist the
present rebellion as the working people. Let them beware of
prejudices working disunion 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, 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
ouild one for himself; thus, by example, assuring that his own
shall be safe from violence when built."
ABRAHAM LINCOLN THE CHOICE OF THE
PEOPLE FOR ANOTHER TERM.
Within the past few months, a movement has been in
progress throughout the North and West, which can but
be as gratifying to Abraham  Lincoln as it is pleasing to
the great mass of the loyal voters of the country.
No President ever encountered the same difficulties
which have met the present incumbent of the "White
House" at every step he has taken since the day of his
inauguration. The traitors in the South have naturally
opposed every important order he has issued; have ridi



178 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
culed every proclamation he has promulgated; have criticised and sneered at every message he has written; and
have vilified and maligned the character of their author.
This was to be expected; but there have been traitors at
the North who have been no less bitter, no less strenuous
in their opposition; but, under the guidance of Divine
Providence, he has been able to repel the assaults of both
of these classes of unprincipled advocates of treason; and,
strong in his holy purpose to rescue the country from the
machinations of its enemies, he has continued steadfast in
the path of official duty.  Ile may have made some mistakes, but they have been few, and it must be remembered
that even those which have been more particularly referred to by his opponents were caused, not by ignorance,
but by the exigencies of the occasion, which compelled
him to give an important answer, or issue an important
order, without being allowed the time for reflection which
the magnitude of the subject demanded.
The importance, indeed the absolute necessity, of retaining Mr. Lincoln in his present exalted position, is now
the popular belief, and from every loyal Commonwealth
come tidings, pronouncing in language which cannot be
mistaken, that he alone is deemed the proper person to
rescue the country from its present danger.  The Legislatures of fifteen States have declared that he is their
choice and the choice of their constituents.  Union
Leagues, Conventions, and public assemblies of different
political characters, have indorsed the decision of their
legislative bodies; and the loyal people almost unanimously approve of the action which has again brought
Mr. Lincoln prominently forward as the best and only
man to nominate and elect to the Presidency. He has
been tried, and not found wanting, and no better return
for the perils encountered, the labors accomplished, and
the benefits derived to the country, could be offered, than




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 179
his re-nomination and re-election, both of which are now
almost as certain as that the Union Convention will assemble at Baltimore in June next, and that the election will
be held in November. Maine, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, Kansas, and California, have spoken, and, at the
advent of the summer solstice, the other States will reecho the popular sentiments, as so emphatically expressed
by their sister Commonwealths.  He is no longer the representative of any particular political party, but comes
before the loyal voters of the country as an indefatigable,
incorruptible, public servant, whose multiform and perplexing duties have been faithfully performed, and who
has no other ambition than to so administer the affairs of
the nation as will be most conducive to its welfare.
Throughout his Presidential career he has never failed
to prove himself equal to any emergency that might occur. To use the words of a patriotic Philadelphian, even
in the darkest hour of our struggle, when every thing
seemed lost, and the feeling of despondency with regard
to the future was so great that those who had been confident before lost all hope, he who was at the helm of
Government still maintained his self-command and a firm
reliance in an overruling Providence, which, in due time,
would order all things aright. Coolness, confidence, and
courage, are only valuable when they are needed; and he
who has passed through ordeals in which the possession
of such qualities have been manifested, in no ordinary degree, obtains a hold on the confidence of the world which
but few are fortunate enough to secure; men of extraordinary abilities, lacking these qualities, have, on great and
trying occasions, too often demonstrated their incapacity
for supreme command, like that which belongs to the head
of a great government. Considerations such as these will




180: LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
make the people loth to part with one who, in the hour of
trial, has proved himself equal to the emergency.
As an evidence of the sentiment to which we have re.
ferred, we publish the following resolutions, unanimously
adopted by the Union League of Philadelphia, on the
eleventh of January, 1864:
"Whereas, The skill, courage, fidelity and integrity with
which, in a period of unparalleled trial, ABRAHAM LINCOLN has
conducted the administration of the National Government, have
won for him the highest esteem and the most affectionate regard
of his grateful countrymen;
"And whereas, The confidence which all loyal men repose in
his honesty, his wisdom and his patriotism, should be proclaimed
on every suitable occasion, in order that his hands may be
strengthened for the important work he has yet to perform;
"And whereas, The Union League of Philadelphia, composed
as it is, of those who, having formerly belonged to various
parties, in this juncture recognize no party but their country;
and representing, as it does, all the industrial, mechanical, manufacturing, commercial, financial, and professional interests
of the city, is especially qualified to give, in this behalf, an
unbiased and authentic utterance to the public sentiment;
therefore,
"Resolved, That to the prudence, sagacity, comprehension
and perseverance of Mr. Lincoln, under the guidance of a benign
Providence, the nation is more indebted for the grand results of
the war, which southern rebels have wickedly waged against
liberty and the Union, than to any other single instrumentality;
and that he is justly entitled to whatever reward it is in the
power of the nation to bestow.
"Resolved, That we cordially approve of the policy which
Mr. Lincoln has adopted and pursued, as well the principles he
has announced as the acts he has performed, and that we shall
continue to give an earnest and energetic support to the doctrines and measures by which his administration has thus far
been directed and illustrated.
"Resolved, That as MrI. Lincoln has had to endure the largest
share of the labor required to suppress the rebellion, now
rapidly verging to its close, he should also enjoy the largest
share of the honors which await those who have contended for
the right; and as, in all respects, he has shown pre-eminent
ability in fulfilling the requirements of his great office, we recognize with pleasure the unmistakable indications of the popular
will in all the loyal States, and heartily join with our fellowcitizens, without any distinction of party, here and elsewhere, in
presenting him as the People's candidate for the Presidency at
the approaching election.




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABBRAHIAM LINCOLN. 181
"Resolved, Tha' t a Committee of Seventy-six be appointed,
whose duty it shall be to promote the object now proposed, by
correspondence with other loyal organizations, by stimulating
the expression of public opinion, and by whatever additional
modes shall, in their judgment, seem best adapted to the end;
and that this Committee have power to supply vacancies in
their own body and to increase their numbers at their own discretion.
"Resolved, That a copy of these proceedings, properly engrossed and attested, be forwarded to President Lincoln; and
that they also be published in the loyal newspapers."
GENERAL GRANT MADE A LIEUTENANTGENERAL.
On the 2d of March, 1864, President Lincoln approved
a bill passed by Congress on the 26th of February, reviving the grade of Lieutenant-General, and the same day he
nominated. for that high office Major-General Grant, the
hero of Vicksburg, and on the same day the Senate unanimously confirmed the nomination.  On the 9th of March,
General Grant, being upon official business at Washington,
was invited to the White House, where the President,
handing him his commission, addressed him as follows:
"GENERAL GRANT: —The expression of the nation's approbation 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-General of the Army of the United States.
" With this high honor devolves on you an additional responsibility. 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."
General Grant accepted the commission with characteristic modesty, responding briefly and appropriately to the
remarks of the President.
A VIGOROUS PROSECUTION OF THE WAR.
In May, 1864, the President had approved the plans of
Leutenant-General Grant; and the grand combinations
of the latter, looking to the breaking up of the Confederate




182  LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
power, and the fall of Richmond, were put in motion
Sherman was at work in the South-west, and after taking
and destroying Atlanta, he designed marching directly
through the heart of Georgia, making Savannah his first
objective point; and then, striking northward, he was to
compel the evacuation of Columbia, Charleston, and Wilmington, and co-operate with  General Grant in the
conquest of the rebel capital. Thomas was left in the
South-west to check, and if.possible, destroy Hood and
Johnston; while Grant, aided by the splendid genius and
fighting qualities of Meade, Sheridan, and Hancock, were
operating in the immediate vicinity of Richmond.  The
plans were finally all carried out almost to the letter, and
General Grant telegraphed to the President, in May, that
he "proposed to fight it out on this line if it took all summer."  These vast military operations, and the confidence
of the great mass of the people in the fidelity of the President, and in the skill of his generals, promoted a great
degree of confidence in the speedy ending of the war, with
an unconditional restoration of the authority of the UInion.
MR. LINCOLN IS RE-NOMI:NATED FOR THE
PRESIDENCY.
On the 7th of June, 1864, the National Union Conven
tion met at Baltimore. The re-nomination of Mr. Lincoln
for President of the United States was clearly foreshadowed, and the formal naming of him as the choice of the
people for a second term in his high office, was looked for
as a matter of course.  lie was re-nominated by acclamation, and Andrew Johnson of Tennessee, who, like himself, was a self-made man, was nominated for the VicePresidency.  The platform  of principles adopted by the
convention was brief and pithy. We transfer some pertinent extracts to our pages.




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 183
"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
of political opinion, we pledge ourselves as Union men, animated
by a common sentiment, and aiming at a common object, to do
every thing in our power to aid the Government in quelling 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.
"Resolved, That we approve the determination of the Government of the United States not to compromise with rebels,
nor to offer any terms of peace except such as may be based
upon an  unconditional surrender' of their hostility and a re
turn to their just allegiance to the Constitution and laws of the
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 reliance 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 government,
justice and the national safety demand its utter and complete
extirpation from the soil of the republic; 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 amendment
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 jurisdiction of the
United States.
"Resolved, That we approve and applaud the practical wis
dom, the unselfish patriotism, and unswerving fidelity to the
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."




184  LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHADM LINCOLN.
On the 29th of August of the same year, the Democratic
Convention met at Chicago, and nominated George B.
McClellan and George II. Pendleton as its banner bearers.
General McClellan being named for the Presidency ann
Mr. Pendleton for the Vice-presidency.  The platform of
the party, as laid down by this convention, set forth,
aunong 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 wai
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
countl y 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 to the
committee appointed by the Convention to notify him of
his nominat~.on, virtually ignored the portion of the platform given above, and he urged a vigorous prosecution of
the war.  Much dissatisfaction in the Democratic party
grew out of the differences between the sentiments expressed by the platform and those of the principal candidate placed upon it, and for a time it seemed as though
the party would be wrecked in advance upon the rock of
these differences.  Some of the leading peace men of the
party refused to support General McClellan, while the
War democracy denounced the platform  in unmeasured
terms.
To use an expression of General McClellan's, the campaign was " short, sharp, and decisive," and the candidates
of both parties came in for a liberal share of abuse and
ridicule.




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 185
PRESIDENT LINCOLN VTIITS PHILADELPHIA.
A series of monster fairs was held, in 1864, in the principal cities of the Union, for the purpose of aiding the funds
of the United States Sanitary Commission. Philadelphia
held her great fair in June, and on the sixteenth of the
month, the President and Mrs. Lincoln, paid a visit to the
fair buildings, in Logan square. There was a huge crowd
present for the purpose of gazing upon the features of their
beloved Chief Magistrate.   After a collation had been
partaken of, Mr. Lincoln made a characteristic address.
In 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, totally 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 privately, 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 time
come, without our being ready for the end, and for fear of disappointment 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, Gen. 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
the line of restoring the national authority over the whole national 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.]  I have never been in the habit of making
pJredictions 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 Gen. Meade and Gen. Hancock, of Pennsylvania,
and the brave officers and soldiers with him, in a position from




186  LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
whence he will never be dislodged until Richmond 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 interroga.
tory. If I shall discover that Gen. Grant, and the noble officers
and men under him, can be greatly facilitated in their work by a
sudden pouring forward of men and 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 understood when a call was made the following month for
500,000 more men.
WASHINGTON THREATENED.
Towards the middle of July, 1864, rebel raiders, under
command of the traitor Breckinridge, audaciously threatened Washington.  They approached as near the capital
as Tenallytown, burned the residence of Postmaster Blair,
at Silver Springs, destroyed passenger trains on the railroad between Baltimore and the Susquehanna, and burnt
a large part of Chambersburg.  President Lincoln remained placidly in Washington during this exciting period.
"CTO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN."
While these stirring events were in progress near the
national capital, representations were made to President
Lincoln that certain parties, who professed to represent
the rebel government, were at the Clifton House, at
Niagara Falls, and anxious to enter into negotiations with
a view to the restoration of peace.  Clement C. Clay,
Beverly Tucker, and George N. Sanders were the active
agents of the South in this business, and they succeeded
in persuading Mr. Horace Greeley that much good would
come of a conference. The project was doubtless a trick
to induce Mr. Lincoln to recognize the Southern Confederacy, and to trap him into a betrayal of his plans.
But the following manifesto issued by him overturned all
those hopes.




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.  187
"EXECUTIVE MASION, WASHINGTON, July 18, 1864.-To whom
it may concern: Any proposition which embraces the restoration of peace, the integrity of the Union, and the abandonment
of slavery, and which comes by and with 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 bearers thereof shall
have safe conduct both ways.     ABRAIIAM LINCOLN."
Mr. Clay  and Mr. Holcombe, who were among
the chief plenipotentiaries of Jefferson Davis, took high
offence at the tone and language of this paper, and they
responded to it in a tone of ill temper that evinced their
bitter disappointment at the failure of the trap set for the
feet of Mr. Lincoln. Their complaints had no other effect
than to make their authors ridiculous in the sight of the
world.
THE FALL OF ATLANTA.
In the month of September, 1864, intelligence arrived of
the fall of Atlanta, and the President appointed a day of
Thanksgiving, for the success of an event that none who
were not in the secrets of the administration could have
imagined the importance of at that time.
MR. LINCOLN IS RE-ELECTED.
The Presidential election took place upon the eighth of
November, 1864, and it resulted in the triumph of Mr. Lincoln in every loyal State except Kentucky, New Jersey and
Delaware.  In some of the States, their soldiers in the
field were allowed to vote, and the military vote was
almost invariably cast for Lincoln and Johnson. The
official returns for the entire vote polled summed up
4,034,789.  Of these Mr. Lincoln received 2,223,035,
and McClellan received 1,811,754, leaving a majority of
411,281 on the popular vote. Mr. Lincoln was elected
by a plurality in 1860. In 1864 his majority was decided
and unmistakable.
This result was considered a full endorsement of the




188   LIFE AND SERVICES OrF ABRARAM LINCOLN.
policy of Mr. Lincoln, and the war was more vigorously
prosecuted from this time, many of its opponents being
at least silenced, if they were not convinced.
MR. LINCOLN MAKES A SPEECH UPON HII
ELECTION.
At a late hour on the night of the election, the President 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:
"FRIENDS AND FELLOW-CITIZENS: Even before I had been in.
formed 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 support
of the present administration. I do not pretend to say that
you, who think so, embrace all the patriotism and loyalty of
the country; but I do believe, and I trust without personal interest, that the welfare of the country does require that such
support and endorsement 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
world, not only for the present but for all future ages. I am
thankful to God for this approval of the people; but while
deeply grateful for this mark of their confidence in me, if I
know 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 humanitu
LAST ANNUAL MESSAGE OF MR. LINCOLN.
On the sixth of December, 1864, Mr. Lincoln sent into
Congress his last annual Message. After dwelling at
length upon our foreign relations, the state of the country,
and the results of the election, which had at once demonstrated the strength of the people and their devotion to
the cause of the Union, he said:




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 189
"The public purpose to 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 nothing short of
severance of the Union-precisely what we will not and cannot
give. His declarations to this effect are explicit and oftrepeated. Hie does not attempt to deceive us. He affords us
no excuse to deceive ourselves. He cannot voluntarily reaccept the Union. We cannot voluntarily yield it. Between
him and us the issue is distinct, single and inflexible. It is an
issue which can only 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 re-accept the Union, they can. * * * *
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 anar on the part of the
government, I retract nothing heretofore said as to slavery. I
repeat the declaration made a year ago, tint while I remain in
my present position I shall not attempt to retract or modify
the Emancipation Proclamation, nor shall A return to slavery
any person who is free by the terms of that proclamation or
by any of the acts of Congress. If the people should, by
whatever mode or means, make it an Executive duty to reenslave such persons, another, and not I, must be their 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."
MORE TROOPS WANTED.
On the 19th of December, 1864, a call was made for
300,000 more men to finish up the great work on hand in
the field.
MR. LINCOLN HAS AN INTERVIEW WITH
REBEL COMMISSIONERS.
In the early part of February, 1865, application was
made to the National Government for permission for
Messrs. A. H. Stephens of Georgia, R. MI. T. Hunter of
Virginia, and J. A. Campbell of Alabama, to pass through
the Union lines as quasi commissioners from  the rebel
12




190 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
government to treat for peace. Permission was granted,
with the understanding that the parties named were not
to be allowed to land. This determination upon the part
of the Federal authorities caused much annoyance to the
rebel agents, as they made no secret of their desire to
visit Washington. Mr. Seward met the distinguished
rebels named above, at Fortress Monroe. The Secretary
of State telegraphed for the President, and Mr. Lincoln
at once repaired to that point, where an interview was
had on board the steamer River Queen.
The conference 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 occasionally taking part.  The rebel commissioners said
nothing whatever of their personal views or wishes, but
spoke solely and exclusively for their government, and, at
the outset and throughout the conference, declared 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 independence
of the Confederate States as a preliminary condition. The
President presented the subject to them in every conceivable form, suggesting the most liberal and 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
to the pride of the Southern people-but in no single particular could he induce them to swerve for a moment from
their demand for recognition. They did not present this
conspicuously as resting on their own convictions or
wishes, but as the condition which their government had
made absolutely indispensable to any negotiations or discussions whatever concerning peace.




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 191
President Lincoln, on the other hand, informed them,
at every point, that such recognition was utterly and
totally out of the question; that the United States could
stop the war and arrest, even temporarily, the movement
of its armies, only on the condition precedent, that the
authority of the National Government should be recognized and obeyed over the whole territory of the United
States.  This point conceded, he assured them that upon
every other matter of difference they would be treated
with the utmost liberality; but without that recognition
the war must and would go on.
All the conversation which took place between the respective parties came back to, and turned upon, this radical
and irreconcilable difference.  Neither side could be
swerved a hair's breadth from its position. And, therefore, the attempt at negotiation was an utter failure.
Upon separating, it was distinctly understood and explicitly stated that the attitude and action of each Government was to be precisely what it would have been if this
interview had never taken place.  So this negotiation
went for nought, and President Lincoln and Mr. Seward
returned to Washington; while the discomfited rebel
commissioners made the best of their way back to Richmond.
IS INAUGURATED PRESIDENT OF THE
UNITED STATES FOR A SECOND TERM.
On the fourth of March, 1865, Abraham Lincoln was
re-inaugurated President of the United States for a second
term of four years, the demonstrations on the occasion being
of the most imposing description. Arriving at the East
portico of the Capitol, the President, President-elect, took
a seat provided for him, and the other distinguished persons
filling the whole vast platform had places assigned to them.
The President, President-elect, then advanced to the front,
12




192  LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
and Chief Justice Chase administered the oath of office,
which the President pronounced in a clear, solemn voice,
as follows:" I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office
of the President of the United States, and will, to the best of
my ability, protect and defend the Constitution of the United
States."
The President then delivered his Inaugural Address, as
follows:
INAUGURAL ADDRESS.
Fellow-Countrymen-At this second appearing to take the
oath of the Presidential office, there is less occasion for an extended address than there was at the first. Then a statement
somewhat in detail of a course to be pursued seemed fitting and
proper. Now, at the expiration of four years, during which
public declarations have been constantly called forth on every
point and phase of the great contest which still absorbs the
attention and engrosses the energy of the nation, little that is
new could be presented. The progress of our arms, upon which
all else chiefly depends, is as well known to the public as to
myself, and it is, I trust, reasonably satisfactory and encouraging
to all.
With high hope for the future, no prediction in regard to it is
ventured.  On the occasion corresponding to this four years
ago, all thoughts were anxiously directed to an impending civil
war. All dreaded it. All sought to avert it.
While the Inaugural Address was being delivered from this
place, devoted altogether to the saving of 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 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 beneficial 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 even by war,
while the Government claimed no right to do more than to
restrict the territorial enlargement of it. Neither party expected for the war the magnitude nor the duration which it has
already attained. Neither anticipated that the cause of the




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 193
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 be not judged. The prayers of
both could not be answered; that of neither has been answered
fully. The Almighty has His own purpos3es. " Woe unto the
world because of offences, for it must needs be that offences
come, but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh."  If
we shall suppose that American slavery if3 one of those offences
which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which,
having continued through His appointed time, He now wills to
remove and that He gives to both North and South this terrible
war as the woe due to those by whom the offence came, shall we
discern therein any departure from these Divine attributes which
the believers in a loving 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 none, with charity for all, with firmness in
the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up
the Nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the
battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may
achieve and cherish a just and a lasting peace among ourselves
and with all nations.
PRESIDENT LINCOLN GOES TO'0 "THE FRONT."
On the 24th of March, 1865, Mr. Lincoln went to " the
front," just as the lines of General Grant were being drawa
tighter and tighter around Richmond.  He witnessed a
part of the assault upon Petersburg, and was at City Point
when Richmond fell into the possession of the Federal
forces on the 2d of April, 1865. He pushed on to the rebel
capital, held a levee in the mansion of the fugitive Jefferson Davis, and left the same evening for City Point, re.
turning to Washington soon after.




194  LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
GEN ERAL LEE SURRENDERS.
The fall of ZRichmond was followed speedily by the eurrender of Lee. The terms of capitulation determined upon
are embraced in the following note from General Grant to
General Lee:
"APPOMIATTOX COURT HOUSE, April 9th.-General Robert E.
Lee, Army C. S.-In accordance with the substance of my
letter to you of the 8th inst., I propose to receive the surrender
of the army of Northern Virginia on the following terms, to
wit: Rolls of all the officers and men to be made in duplicate,
one copy to be given to an officer designated by me, the other
to be retained by such officer or officers as you may designate,
the officers to give their individual paroles not to take up arms
against the Government of the United States until properly
exchanged, and each company or regimental commander to
sign a like parole for the men of their commands. The arms,
artillery, and public property to be parked and stacked, and
turned over to the officers appointed by me to receive them.
This will not embrace the side arms of the officers, nor their
private horses or baggage, This done, each officer and man
will be allowed to return to their homes, not to be disturbed by
United States authority so long as they observe their parole
and the laws in force were they may reside.
"Very Respectfully,         "U. S. GRANT,
" Lieutenant- General."
These easy terms were accepted, and it is known that
President Lincoln, in dictating them, was actuated by a
kindly spirit of conciliation.
THE PRESIDENT RETURNS TO WASHINGTON.
On the 11th of April, 1865, there was high rejoicing at
the National Capital. The public buildings were illuminated
at night, in honor of the great victories MY the Union
arms, and the people were happy at the prospect of a
speedy peace. President Lincoln was serenaded at the
White House. The President made a responsive speech,
in substance as follows:




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 195
MR. LINCOLN'S LAST SPEECH.
" We meet this evening not in sorrow, but in gladness of
heart. The evacuation of Petersburg and Richmond, and the
surrender of the principal insurgent army, give hopes of a
righteous and speedy peace, whose joyous expression cannot be
restrained. In the midst of this, however, He from whom allblessings flow must not be forgotten. A call for a national
thanksgiving is being prepared, and will be duly promulgated.
Nor must those whose harder part gives us the cause of rejoic.
ing be overlooked. Their honors must not be parceled out with
others. I myself was near the front, and had the high pleasure
of transmitting much of the good news to yon. But no part of
the honor or execution is mine. To General Grant, his skillful
officers and brave men, all belongs. The gallant navy stood
ready, but was not in reach to take active part. By these recent successes the re-inauguration of the national authorityreconstruction, which has had a large share of thought from
the first is pressed much more closely upon our attention. It
is fraught with great difficulty. Unlike a war between independent nations, there is no authorized organ for us to treat with.
No one man has authority to give up the rebellion for any other
man. We must simply begin with and mould from disorganized
and discordant elements.
"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 acceptable; and I also distinctly protested that the Executive claimed no right to say
when or whether members should be admitted to seats in Congress from such States. This plan was in advance submitted
to the then cabinet, and approved by every member of it. One
of them suggested that 1 should then and in that connection
apply the Emancipation Proclamation to the theretofore excepted parts of Virginia and Louisiana, that I should drop the
suggestion about apprenticeship for freed people, and that I
should omit the protest against my own 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, declaring emancipation for the whole State, practically applies the proclamation to the part previously excepted.
It does not adopt apprenticeship for freed people, and is silent,
as it could not well be otherwise, about the admission of members to Congress. So that, as it applied to Louisiana, every




196  LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
member of the Cabinet fully approved the plan. The message
went to Congress, and I received many commendations of the
plan, written and verbal, and not a single objection to it, from
any professed emancipationist, came to my knowledge until
after the. news reached Washington that the people of Louisiana had begun to move in accordance with it. From  about
July, 1862, I had corresponded with different persons supposed
to be interested in seeki~ng 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 cooperation, would reconstruct substantially on that plan.  I
wrote to him and some of them to try it. They tried it, and
the result is known. Such has been my only agency in getting
up the Louisiana government. As to sustaining it, my promise
is out, as before stated. But as bad promises are better broken
than kept, I shall treat this as a bad promise and break it whenever I shall be convinced that keeping it is adverse to the public
interest; but I have not yet been so convinced.
" 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 their proper practical
relation. I believe that it is not only possible, but, in fact,
easier, to do this without deciding, or even considering, whether
those States have ever been out of the Union, than with it.
Finding themselves safely at home, it would be utterly immaterial whether they had been abroad. Let us all join in doing
the acts necessary to restore the proper practical relations
between those States and the nation, and each forever after
innocently indulge his own opinion whether in doing the acts
he brought the States from without into the Union, or only
gave them proper assistance, they never having been out of it.
The amount of constituency, so to speak, on which the Louisiana Government rests, would be more satisfactory to all if it
contained 50,000, or 30,000, or even 20,000, instead of 12,000, as
it does.  It is also unsatisfactory to some that the elective
franchise is not given to the 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 qulestion is
not whether the Louisiana government, as it stands, is quite all
that is desirable. The question is, will it be wiser to take it as
it is, and help to improve it, or to reject and disperse? Can
Louisiana be brought into proper practical relation with the
)Jnion sooner by sustaining or by discarding her new State
government?  Some twelve thousand voters in the heretofore
slave State of Louisiana have sworn allegiance to the Union,
assumed to be the rightful political power of the State, held




LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 197
elections, organized a State government, adopted a Free State
constitution, giving the benefit of public schools equally to
black and white, and empowering the legislature to confer the
elective franchise upon the colored man. This Legislature has
already voted to ratify the constitutional amendment recently
passed by Congress, abolishing slavery throughout the nation.
These twelve thousand persons are thus fully committed to the
Union and to perpetuate freedom in the State; committed to
the very things, and nearly all things, the nation wants, and
they ask the nation's recognition and its assistance to make
good this committal. Now if we reject and spurn them, we do
our utmost to disorganize and disperse them. We in fact say
to the white man, you are worthless or worse; we will neither
help you nor be helped by you. To the blacks we say: This
cup of liberty which these, your old masters, held to your lips,
we will dash from you, and leave you to the chances of gathering the spilled and scattered contents in some vague and undefined when, where, and how. If this course, discouraging and
paralyzing both white and black, has any tendency to bring
Louisiana into proper practical relations with the Union, I have
so far been unable to perceive it.  If, on the contrary, we
recognize and sustain the new government of Louisiana, the
converse of all this is made true. We encourage the hearts
and nerve the arms of 12,000 to adhere to their work, and argue
for it, and proselyte for it, and fight for it, and feed it, and grow
it, and ripen it to a complete success. The colored man, too,
in seeing all united for him, is inspired with vigilance, and
energy, and daring to the same end. Grant that he desires the
elective franchise, will he not attain it sooner by saving the
already advanced steps toward it, than by running backward
over them? Concede that the new government of Louisiana
is to what it should be as the egg is to the fowl, we shall sooner
have the fowl by hatching the egg than by smashing it.
[Laughter.1     *      *      *      *      *      *
"Can Louisiana be brought into proper practical relation
with the Union sooner by sustaining or by discarding her new
State government? What has been said of Louisiana will
apply to other States. And yet so great peculiarities pertain
to each State, and such important and sudden changes occur
in the same State, and withal so new and unprecedented is the
whole case, that no exclusive and inflexible plan can safely be
prescribed as to details and collaterals. Such exclusive and
inflexible plan would surely become a new entanglement. In
portant principles may and must be inflexible. In the present
situation, as the phrase goes, it may be my duty to make some
new announcement to the people of the South. I am considering, and shall not fail to act when satisfied that action will be
proper."




198  THE ASSASSINATION OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
ASSASSINATION  OF PRESIDENT  LINCOLN.
Henceforward, the Fourteenth day of April, 1865, will
stand in the annals of our country equal in importance
with the ever memorable Fourth of July, 1776.  On the
14th of April, 1861, the national flag was lowered on the
ramparts of Fort Sumter to the overwhelming forces of
the Rebellion. On the 14th of April, 1865, just four years
after the gallant Major Anderson run the Banner down
from the flag-staff and bore it away as a holy treasure to
the care of the loyal North, the same banner vindicated
ill a thousand bloody battles, was again flung to the breeze
by the same noble hero, over the same spot whence it disappeared in 1861. The 14th of April, 1865, was a day
of jubilee throughout the nation.  Richmond had been
captured.  LEE'S army of veterans, the main stay of the
Rebellion, was defeated, broken, and prisoners.  It's surrender had sealed the fate of treason. JOHNSTON could
not hold out before the invincible legions of SHERMAN, and
Peace, walking in the footsteps of Victory, was at hand.
The nation was exultant.  Its great heart throbbed with
a joy inexpressible, and throughout the length and breadth
of the land preparations for celebrating the Fourteenth
day of April had been made. At twelve o'clock, the stars
and stripes were floating in every city, town and hamlet,
on many a mountain and hill-top, in every valley, and on
all the plains, North, East and West, in honor of their
restoration to Sumter and their triumph over the black
flag of anarchy and slavery.
Monday night, April the 17th, was designed as a night
of illumination, and there was not a loyal household in
the land that had failed to prepare its flags, its portraits
of our heroes, and its candles, lamps or bonfires for the
glorious occasion.
But if the day was to be celebrated with such wild
demonstrations of delight as our fathers and their children




THE ASSASSINATION OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 199
were used to honor the Anniversary of our Independence
of Britain, henceforth associated with the laurels of victory are to be found entwined the sombre weeds of woe,
the sighing leaves of the yew tree, and the silently waving
branches of the willow.
Assassination stalked abroad with the shadows of that
eventful night and
ABRAHAM LINCOLN, the respected, revered, and beloved
Leader and President, fell beneath the hand of one who
had not the courage to look into his manly and honest
face and commit the deed, but stealthily and cowardly approached him from behind and fired the fatal shot which
deprived the country of its best and purest magistrate
since the time of Washington.
During the day, Mr. LINCOLN had been unusually cheerful. His heart which entertained "malice toward none
and charity for all" was filled with a happiness which he
vainly tried to express in words to those around him.
His face told more than his lips could utter, and at the
Cabinet Meeting held that day, the members remarked
that he was more than ever cheerful, and seemed to feel
that the great burden which had been weighing so heavily
upon his spirits for the four years previous, was at last
lifting from his breast.
The hour had come-the long looked for, the often
prayed for hour, when the carnage which treason had
initiated was stayed, and smiling Peace again furled her
wings over a land restored to harmony. Realizing this,
as only the patriotic heart of Mr. LINCOLN could realize
so momentous a fact, he was happy in the fullest and
broadest sense of the word. Amid the glad thoughts
which rushed like waves of joy through his bosom, there
was no one which whispered of the terrible fate which
awaited him, the horrible shock which with the next
morning's dawn was to strike the rejoicing nation, his




200  THE ASSASSINATION OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
own dearly loved people, dumb with grief-speechless
with a woe that had no voice for utterance.
Late in the afternoon, the Hon. SCHUYLER COLFAX,
Speaker of the House of Representatives and a warm personal friend of Mr. LINCOLN, was with the President. Mr.
COLFAX had called to pay his last respects to Mr. LINCOLN
ere setting out on a tour to the Rocky Mountains.  The
President, ever mindful of the people, requested him to
say to the miners of Nevada and the pioneers of the Far
West, that he remembered them with much affection, and
he desired that they should be encouraged in their purposes to develope the resources of that hitherto but little
known region of our Republic. His sole ambition appeared then, as it always had during the war, and through
his whole life, to be that of a benefactor to his country.
During the day, President LINCOLN had been invited to
visit Ford's Theatre in the evening, and it was also announced in the papers that Lieutenant-General GRANT
would be present. When Speaker COLFAX rose to leave
the Presidential Mansion, Mr. LINCOLN asked him if he
would not accompany himself and Mrs. LINCOLN to the
theatre, but Mr. COLFAX wishing to leave the city in a few
hours, declined the urgent invitation, and shaking hands
with the President in earnest farewell, and receiving
his kind remembrances for the miners of the Far off West,
left never again to see his illustrious friend in conscious
life.
Mr. LINCOLN, in company with his lady, Miss HARRIS,
daughter of Senator HARRIS of New York, and Major
RATHBURN of the U. S. A., reached the theatre shortly
before nine o'clock, and was received with a perfect tempest of applause, the audience rising, cheering and waving
handkerchiefs and hats tumultuously.  The President acknowledged the compliment by bowing repeatedly from
his box, his face exhibiting a radiant pleasure, indicating




THE ASSASSINATION OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 201
the gratitude which filled his heart. It was a proud moment, and yet he was a man who felt no pride except in
the discharge and accomplishment of duty.
THE ASSASSINATION.
About ten o'clock in the evening, while the play, " Our
American Cousin," was progressing, a stranger, who proved
to be John Wilkes Booth, an actor of some note, worked
his way into the proscenium box occupied by the presidential party, and leveling a pistol close behind the head
of Mr. Lincoln, he fired, and the ball was lodged deep in
tAie brain of the President. The assassin then drew a
dirk, and cutting right and left with it, he sprang from
the box, flourishing the weapon aloft, and shouted as he
reached the stage the motto upon the escutcheon of the
State of Virginia, "Sic Senp2er Tyrannis!" The miscreant dashed across the stage, and before the audience or
the actors could recover from their amazement and bewilderment, or realize the real position of affairs, the murderer had mounted a fleet horse in waiting in an alley in the
rear of the theatre, and galloping off, he escaped for a time.
The screams of Mrs. Lincoln first disclosed to the audience the fact that the President was shot, when all rose,
many pressing toward the stage, and hundreds of persons exclaiming, " Hang him I Hang him I"  The excitement was of the wildest nature. Many rushed for the
President's box, while others cried out, " Stand back I
Give him fresh air!" and called for stimulants. It was
not known at first where he was wounded, the most of
those about him thinking that he was shot through the
heart; but after opening his vest, and finding no wound
in his breast, it was discovered that he was shot in the
head between the left ear and the centre of the back part
of the head.  In a few moments he was borne to a private
house, Mr. PETERSON'S, just opposite the theatre, where
the Surgeon-General, and several prominent physicians




202   THE DYING SCENES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
and surgeons were speedily summoned. Meanwhile the
members of the Cabinet, with the exception of Secretary
SEWARD, whose life had been attempted by an assassin at
about the same hour with the President, assembled in the
room where the Chief Magistrate of the nation lay dying.
Secretaries STANTON, WELLES, USHER, MCCULLOCIH,
Attorney-General SPEED, and Assistant Secretaries MAUNSELL B. FIELD, of the Treasury, and Judge WILLIAM T.
OTTO, of the Interior, together with Speaker COLFAX, and
several other prominent gentlemen were present.  The
scene was one of extraordinary solemnity.  The history
of the world does not furnish a parallel.  Quiet, breathing away his life serenely, unconscious of all around, sensible to no pain, lay the great MAN of the Nineteenth Century, passing hence to that immortality which has been
accorded by Providence to few of earthly mould.
THE  DYING  SCENES.
All the long, weary night, the watchers stood by the
couch of the dying President. From the moment when
the fatal bullet entered his brain he never spoke, never
evinced any consciousness, but with closed eyes rested in
a repose which appeared to be the quiet of death. Mrs.
LINCOLN and Captain ROBERT LINCOLN several times entered the chamber, but their grief was such that they tarried but a brief time, tender friends urging them to remain
in the adjoining room.
Day dawned at length, and the tide of life ebbed more
rapidly, and at twenty-two minutes past seven o'clock, on
the morning of Saturday, April 15th, 1865, the President
breathed his last, closing his eyes as if falling to sleep,
and his countenance assuming an expression of perfect
serenity. There were no indications of pain, and it was
not known that he was dead until the gradually decreasing respiration ceased altogether.




THE DYING SCENES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 203
The Rev. Dr. Gurley, pastor of the Presbyterian Church,
in Washington, which Mr. Lincoln attended regularly
with his family, immediately on its being ascertained that
life was extinct, knelt at the bedside and offered an impressive prayer, which was responded to by all present.
Dr. Gurley then proceeded to the front parlor, where Mrs.
Lincoln, Captain Robert Lincoln, Mr. John Hay, the President's Private Secretary, and others were waiting, where
he again offered prayer for the consolation of the family.
The following minutes, taken by Dr. Abbott, show the
condition of the President throughout the night: —11
P. M., pulse 44; 11'05 P. M., pulse 45, and growing
weaker; 11'10 P. M., pulse 45; 11'15 P. M., pulse 42;
11'20 P. M., pulse 45, respiration 27 to 30; 11'25 P. M.,
pulse 42; 11'32 P. M., pulse 48 and full; 11'40 P. M.,
pulse 45; 11'45 P. M., pulse 45, respiration 22; 12'08
A. Mi., respiration 22; 12'15 A. M., respiration 21, echmose
of both eyes; 12'30 A. M., pulse 54; 12-32 A. M., pulse
60; 12'35 A. M., pulse 66; 12'40 A. M., pulse 69; right
eye much swollen, and echmose; 12'45 A. M., pulse 70,
respiration 27; 12'55 A. M., pulse 80, struggling motion
of arms; 1 A. M., pulse 86, respiration 30; 1'30 A. M.,
pulse 95, appearing easier; 1'45 A. M., pulse 87, very
quiet, respiration irregular, Mrs. Lincoln present. 2'10
A. M., Mrs. Lincoln retired with Robert Lincoln to an
adjoining room; 2'30 A. M., the President is very quiet,
pulse 54, respiration 28; 2'52 A. MI., pulse 48, respiration 30; 3 A. M., visited again by Mrs. Lincoln; 3'25
A. M., respiration 24, and regular; 3 25 A. M., prayer by
the Rev. Dr. Gurley; 4 A. M., respiration 26 and regular; 4'15 A. M., pulse 60, respiration 25; 5'50 A. M.,
respiration 28 and regular, sleeping; 6 A. M., pulse failing, respiration 28; 6'30 A. M., still failing and labored
breathing; 7 A. M., symptoms of immediate dissolution;
/'22 A. M., death.




204  THE DYING SCENES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
Surrounding the death-bed of the President were Secretaries Stanton, Welles, Usher, Attorney-General Speed,
Postmaster-General Dennison, M. T. Field, Assistant
Secretary of the Treasury; Judge Otto, Assistant Secretary of Interior; General Halleck, General Meigs, Senator Sumner, F. R. Andrews, of NewYork; General Todd,
of Dacotah; John Hay, Private Secretary; Governor
Oglesby, of Illinois; General Farnsworth, Mr. and Miss
Kenny, Miss Harris, Captain Robert Lincoln, son of the
President, and Dr. E. W. Abbott, R. K. Stone, C. D
Gatch, Neal Hall, and Leiberman. Secretary McCulloch
remained with the President until about 5 A. M., and
Chief Justice Chase, after several hours attendance during
the night, returned again early in the morning.
A special Cabinet meeting was called immediately after
the President's death, by Secretary Stanton, and held in
the room where the corpse lay.  Secretaries Stanton,
Welles, and Usher, Postmaster-General Dennison, and
Attorney-General Speed, were present.
THE AUTOPSY.
After his death, a complete examination was made of
the wound with the following result: The ball entered
the skull midway between the left ear and the centre of
the back of the head, and passed nearly to the right eye.
The ball and two loose fragments of lead were found in
the brain. Singularly enough, both orbital roofs were
fractured inwardly, properly from contre-coup. The tenacity of life, was specially noticed by every surgeon
in attendance. The brain was taken out, but a considerable portion of it had already escaped from the wound.
The autopsy of the President was made in the presence
of Surgeon-General Barnes, Dr. Crane and Dr. Stone, of
Washington, and by Drs. Woodward, Notson, and Curtis,
of the regular army.
Shortly after the sorrowful event, the President's body




THE MURDERER OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.  205
was removed to the Executive Mansion in a hearse, and
wrapped in the American flag.  It was escorted by a small
guard of cavalry, General Augur and other military officers
following on foot. A dense crowd accompanied the remains to the White House, where a military guard excluded the crowd, allowing none but persons of the household and personal friends of the deceased to enter the
premises.
The corpse was laid out in the room known as the
guests' room, in the northwest wing of the White House,
dressed in the suit of black clothes worn by him at his
last inauguration. A placid smile rested upon the features, and the deceased seemed to be in a calm sleep,
while flowers were placed upon the pillow and over the
breast above the kindest heart that ever throbbed.
TEIE MURDERER OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN,
AND WHAT BECAME OF HIM.
The murderer of Mr. Lincoln was John Wilkes Booth,
an actor, and a native of Harford County, Maryland.
During the continuance of the rebellion he was an ardent
Secessionist, and he made no concealment of his warm
sympathy with armed treason. He had frequently threatened to assassinate the President, and this threat was
executed in the tragic and dramatic manner described.
The assassin made his way on horseback into St.
Mary's county, where he lay concealed for some days,
eluding his pursuers, although the rewards for his capture
amounted in the aggregate to over one hundred thousand
dollars. It was, however, pretty conclusively ascertained
that he was in this locality, and parties of cavalry finally
closed in around him, so as to compel him to beat a retreat.
On Sunday, April 23d, 1865, Colonel Baker ascertained
that Booth, and an accomplice named Harold, had crossed
the Potomac river in the neighborhood of Swann Point, and
on Monday morning, April 24th, First! Lieutenant Edward
13




206   THE MURDERtER OF ABRAHIAM LINCOLN.
Doherty, 16th New York Cavalry, with a detachment of
twenty-five cavalrymen of that regiment, and accompanied
by some of Colonel Baker's detectives, proceeded by
steamer to Belle Plain.
On Tuesday afternoon, April 25th, a man named Jett,
by whom Booth and Harold had been ferried across the
IRappahannock river. at Mathias Point, was arrested.  At
first, Jett refused to communicate anything; but upon
being threatened with instant death if he did not, he
agreed to lead the party to the place where Booth and
Harold were concealed. They were found on Tuesday
night, in a barn, on the premises of Mr. Garrett, about
three miles from Port R1oyal.  They had ridden there
from the ferry, both mounted on one horse.
The cavalry surrounded the barn and summoned the inmates to surrender.  At first Booth insisted that he was
alone.  He talked with the men for three hours through the
crevices of the barn, through which he could see plainly
all that were outside, while they could distinguish nothing
within.  lie told Lieutenant Doherty he had a bead
drawn upon him, and could shoot him if he chose; but did
not fire.
At last, as guerillas were gathering in the vicinity, and
Lieutenant Doherty feared his little party might be overpowered and lose the prisoners, he determined to burn
them out. The barn was, therefore, set on fire, when
Harold gave himself up; but Booth refused to surrender,
and prepared to use his weapons.  Sergeant Corbett then
fired through one of the crevices, and shot Booth in the
head. Upon being shot, Booth exclaimed, " It's all up
now; I'm gone."  He was found to be wounded in the
head, very nearly in the same spot where the fatal ball of
the assassin entered the head of President Lincoln.  A
doctor was sent for, and brandy administered, but he died
in about two and a half hours after he was shot. Ile did not




ASSISTANT SECRETARY FIELD'S STATEMENT. 207
deny his crime, but declared that he died for his country.
He was armed with two six-barrelled and one sevenbarrelled revolvers, and a large knife, probably the same
which he flourished on the stage on the occasion of the
assassination.  Ile had  also three packages of pistol
cartridges, some bills of exchange, but only about one
hundred and seventy-five dollars in Treasury notes. The
bills of exchange were on a Canadian bank, were dated in
October, 1864, when Booth was there, and are received
as an important link in the chain of evidence showing that
the assassination was planned in Canada. The capture
occurred about three o'clock on Wednesday morning,
April 26th. His left leg was much swollen from an injury
received when he leaped from the President's box upon
the stage at the theatre, although he had told Dr. Mudd,
who had bandaged and set it, that he had been hurt by
his horse falling upon it.
His accomplice and companion, David C. Harold, who
had been with Booth ever since the crime was consummated, was captured and taken to Washington in company with tile body of the dead assassin.
STATEM:ENTS AND AFFIDAVITS IN RELATION
TO THE MURDER.
M r. FIELD, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, describes the scene, and the moment when he received the
news of the murder, as follows:
MR. FIELD'S STATEMENT.
"On Friday evening, April 14th, 1865, at about half-past
ten o'clock, I was sitting in the reading-room  at Willard's
Hotel, engaged with a newspaper, when a person hurriedly entered the hotel and passed up the hall, announcing in a loud
tone of voice that the President had just heen shot at Ford's
T'heatre. I started to my feet, and had hardly reached the office
when two other persons came in and confirmed the reportwhich at first I was hardly able to credit. I had parted about'
fifteen minutes previously with Mr. Mellen, of the Treasury
Department, who had retired to his room for the night, and I at




208  ASSISTANT SECRETARY FIELD'S STATEMENT.
once went to him and communicated what had occurred, and
we started together for the scene of the tragedy.
"We found the streets already crowded with excited masses
of people, and when we reached the theatre there was a very
large assemblage in front of it, as well as of the opposite house,
belonging to Mr. Peterson, into which the President had been
conveyed. The people around the theatre related to us substantially the general facts connected with the assassination
which have since been communicated to the public. The impression was prevalent, however, at that time, that the President had been shot in the breast, about the region of the heart,
and that the wound might not prove fatal. After a';few minutes
we crossed the street and endeavored to gain admission into the
house where Mr. Lincoln lay. This I effected with some little
difficulty.
" The first person whom I met in the hall was Miss Harris,
daughter of U. S. Senator Ira Harris. of New York, who had
been at the theatre with the Presidential party. She informed
me that the President was dying, but desired me not to communicate the fact to Mrs. Lincoln, who was in the front parlor.
Several other persons who were there confirmed the statement
as to Mr. Lincoln's condition. I then entered the front parlor, where I found Mrs. Lincoln in a state of indescribable
agitation. She repeated over and over again, I'Why didn't he
kill me? Why didn't he kill me?'
" I asked if there was any service I could render her, and she
requested me to go for Dr. Stone, or some other eminent physician. Both Dr. Stone and Surgeon-General Barnes had been
already sent for, but neither had yet arrived. On my way out
I met Major T. T. Eckert, of the War Department, who told
me that he was himself going for Dr. Stone. I then went for
Dr. Hall, one of the most distinguished surgeons in the District.
I found him at home, and he at once accompanied me. W~hen
we again reached the neighborhood of the house access had become very difficult, guards having been stationed on every side.
"After much effort I was enabled to obtain admission for
Dr. Hall, but was not at that time permitted to enter myself;
accordingly, I returned to Willard's. The whole population
of the city was by this timex out, and all kinds of conflicting
stories were being circulated. At three or four o'clock I again
started for Mr. Peterson's house. This time I was admitted without difficulty. I proceeded at once to the room in which the President was dying. It was a small chamber, in an extension or
back building, on the level with the first or parlor floor. The
President was lying on his back, diagonally across a low double
bedstead, his head supported by two pillows on the outer side
of the bed.
" The persons in the room were the Secretaries McCulloch,
Stanton, Welles, and Harlan, Postmaster-General Dennison,
the Attorney-CGeneral, the Assistant Secretary of the Interior,




ASSISTANT SECRETARY FIELD'S STATEMENT.  209
Senator Sumner of Massachusetts, General Halleck, General
Augur, General Meigs, General J. F. Farnsworth of Illinois,
General Todd of Dacotah, the President's Assistant Private
Secretary, Major Hay, the medical gentlemen, and perhaps two
or three others. Dr. Stone was sitting on the foot of the bed.
An army surgeon was sitting opposite the President's head,
occasionally feeling his pulse, and applying his fingers to the
arteries of the neck and the heart.
"Mr. Lincoln seemed to be divested of all clothing except
the bed coverings. His eyes were closed, and the lids and surrounding parts so injected with blood as to present the appearance of having been bruised.  He was evidently totally
unconscious, and was breathing regularly but heavily, and with
an occasional sigh escaping with the breath.  There was
scarcely a dry eye in the room, and the scene was the most
solemn and impressive one I ever witnessed. After a while,
Captain Robert Lincoln, of General Grant's staff, and eldest son
of the President, entered the chamber, and stood at the headboard, leaning over his father.
" For a time his grief completely overpowered him, but he
soon recovered himself and behaved in the most manly manner
until the closing of the scene. As the morning wore on, the
condition of the President remained unchanged until about
seven o'clock. In the meantime, it came on to rain heavily,
and the scene from the windows was in dreary sympathy with
that which was going on within. Just before this, Mrs. Lincoln
had been supported into the chamber, and had thrown herself
moaning upon her husband's body. She was permitted to remain but a few minutes, when she was carried out in an almost
insensible condition.
"At about seven o'clock, the President's breathing changed
in a manner to indicate that death was rapidly approaching. It
became low and fitful, with frequent interruptions. Several
times I thought that all was over, until the feeble respiration
was resumed. At last, at just cwenty-two minutes past seven
o'clock, without a struggle, without a convulsive movement,
without a tremor, he ceased breathing-and was no more.
"Thus died this great, pure, kind-hearted man, who never
willingly injured a human being-the greatest martyr to liberty
the world has ever seen.
"Shortly after his death, finding that his eyes were not entirely closed, I placed my hands upon them. One of the
attendant surgeons first put nickel cents upon them, and then
substituted silver half dollars. It was twenty minutes or half
an hour before the body commenced to grow cold. The lower
jaw began to fall slightly, and the lower teeth were exposed.
One of the medical gentlemen bound up the jaw with a pocket
handkerchief. Mr. Stanton threw down the window-shades,
and, I left the Chamber of Death. Immediately after the




210        MAJOR RATHBONE'S STATEMENT.
decease, the Rev. Dr. Gurley had offered up a fervent and
affecting prayer in the room, interrupted only by the sobs of
those present.
" When I left the room he was again praying in the front
parlor. Poor Mrs. Lincoln's moans were distressing to listen
to. After the prayer was over I entered the parlor, and found
Mrs. Lincoln supported in the arms of her son Robert. She
was soon taken to her carriage. As she reached the front door
she glanced at the theatre opposite, and exclaimed several times,'Oh, that dreadful house!'' That dreadful house!' Immediately
thereafter guards were stationed at the door of the room in which
the President's body lay. In a few minutes I left myself. It
is hoped that some historical painter will be found capable of
portraying that momentous death-scene."
MAJOR RATHBONE'S STATEMENT.
In connection with the murder of Mr. Lincoln, we give
the statements of Major RATHBONE and Miss HARRIS, who
were in the President's box at the time. Being the only
persons, except Mrs. LINCOLN, who were present when
Booth executed his foul purpose, their statements are
of great interest, delineating as they do the scenes which
immediately transpired.  Major RATHBONE appeared before the investigating Magist-ate, and testified as follows:
" That on the 14th April, 1865, 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 }I streets, and
joined the President and Mrs. Lincoln, and went with them in
their carriage to Ford's Theatre, in Tenth street. The box
assigned to the President is in the second tier, on the righthand side of the audience, and was occupied by the President
and Mrs. Lincoln, Miss Harris, and the deponent-and by no
other 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
passage-way about eight feet in length and four feet in width.
"This passage-way 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 passage-way is another door standing squarely
across, and opening into the box. On the left-hand side of the
passage-way, and very near the inner end, is a third door, which
also opens into the box. This latter door was closed. The
party entered the box through the door at the end of the passage-way. The box is so constructed that it may be divided
into two by a movable partition, one of the doors described




MAJOR RIATITBONE'S STATEMENT.             211
opening into each. The front of the box is about ten or twelve
feet in length, and in the centre of the railing 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 furthest 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 himself in
this chair-and except that he once left the chair for the purpose of putting on his overcoat, remained so seated until 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 end of the stagewere two chairs. In one of these, standing in the corner, Mliss
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,
was about four or five feet. The door, according to the recollection. of this deponent, was not closed during the evening.
When the second scene of the third act was being performed,
and while this deponent was intently observing the proceedings
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, deponent 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. 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 passage-way as above described, deponent
found it barred by a heavy piece of plank, one end of which was




212  MISS HARRIS'S AFFIDAVIT OF THE MURDER.
secured in the wall, and the other resting 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. Deponent removed the bar, and the
door was opened.
"Several persons who represented themselves to be surgeons
were allowed to enter. Deponent saw there Colonel 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
this deponent that the time which elapsed between the discharge
of the pistol and the time when the assassin leaped friom the box,
did not exceed thirty seconds. Neither Mrs. Lincoln nor Miss
Harris had left their seats.       " H. R1. RATHUION:.
"Subscribed and sworn before me this 17th day of April, 1865.
"A. B. OLIN, Justice Supreme Couzrt, D. C."
AFFIDAVIT OF MISS HARRIS.
"District of Columbiax, City of Wlashington, ss.:-CLARA H.
HARRIS, being duly sworn, says that she has read the foregoing
affidavit of Major Rathbone, and knows the contents thereof;
that she was present at Ford's Theatre with the President, and
Mrs. Lincoln, and Major Rathbone on the evening of the 14th
of April instant; that at the time she heard the discharge of the
pistol she was attentively engaged in observing what was transpiring upon the stage, and looking round she saw Major Rathbone spring from his seat and advance to the opposite side of the
box; that she saw him engaged as if in a struggle with another
man, but the smoke with which he was enveloped prevented this
deponent from seeing distinctly the other man; that the first
time she saw him distinctly was when he leaped from the box
upon the stage; that she then heard Major Rathbone cry out,'Stop that nman 1' and this deponent then immediately repeated
the cry,'Stop that man! Wnnm't somebody stop that man?'
A moment after some one from the stage asked,' What is it?'




SURGEON GENERAL BARNES' STATEMENT.  213
or' What is the matter?' and deponent replied,'The President
is shot.' Very soon after, two persons, one wearing- the uniform
of a naval surgeon and the other that of a soldier of the Veteran
Reserve Corps, came upon the stage, and the deponent assisted
them in climbingT up to the box.
"And this deponent further' says that the facts stated in the
foregoing affidavit, so far as the same came to the knowledge or
notice of this deponent, are accurately stated therein.
"CLARA H. HARRIS.
"Subscribed and sworn before me this 1 7thl day of Apri'l, 1865.
"A. B. OLIN, Justice of Supreme Coutrt, D. C."
SURGEON GENERAL BARNES' STATEMENT.
On the night of the assassination, Surgeon General
Barnes was met in front of Willard's Hotel by an officer
pale and breathless, who informed him that the President
had been shot.  Supposing that the deed was done at the
White House, General Barnes hurried thitherward. Stopping at the Surgeon General's office to give orders for
assistance, he found a summons to the bedside of Secretary Seward, who  had  been  attacked by an assassin.
Believing that the two stories were from this, Barnes
hurried to the chamber of.Mir. Seward.  IHe found him
lying upon the bed with one cheek cut open and
part of the flesh lying upon the pillow. -The room presented a horrible scene.  Blood was everywhere.  The
attendants were helpless. A deed of horror had been
enacted; but there was no one to explain its details.  Dr.
Barnes immediately gave his attention to Mr. Seward;
but soon afterward Dr. Norris arrived, and, turning over
the Secretary to his care, the Surgeon General proceeded
to look after the Assistant Secretary, Frederick Seward,
who was lying insensible upon a sofa in the adjoining
room.  In the meantime other surgical attendants had
come, among whom  was Dr. Notson, and while ministering to the wounded at Secretary Seward's, the Surgeon-Gentieral was summoned to the dying- murdered
President.




214   FULL DESCRUPTIONr OF FORTD'S THEATRE.
DESCRIPTION  OF FORD'S THEATRE.
Ford's Theatre is situated on Tenth street, just above
E street, in Washington.  It is a large edifice, constructed
of brick, and of plain appearance. Its internal arrangements are somewhat novel, differing from those in our
large cities. There are eight private boxes instead of six,
as is the case in the Philadelphia theatres.  The four
lower boxes, two on each side of the stage, are scarcely
more than loopholes, and are very excellent points from
which those who wish to see and remain unseen may take
inspection. The apertures which appear above the stage
are about three feet square. Consequently the boxes immediatelv above them are elevated but a short distance
above the stage, a distance which any one could easily
leap, even were his nerves not freshly braced from the
commission of a murder.
The four upper boxes are the boxes of the theatre, and
are very elegant and spacious. They give a tone of elegance to the auditorium, and are sumptuously appointed.
It is in them that the most magnificent displays of toilette
are made upon nights of opera, and that at once command
the whole house, and are central points of inspection from
it. Each accommodates quite a party, and the locale is
so arranged that the greater portion of the occupants, except those in the back of the box, are in full view of the
audience.
The box which the President occupied, and which was
known as " THE PRESIDENT'S BOX," consisted of the two
upper boxes on the right hand side of the house as you
face the stage, thrown into one. Mr. Lincoln was always
accompanied by a party, which, although limited to personal friends and foreign officials, to whom courtesy required the extension of an invitation, was always sufficiently large to render more than one box necessary for
comfort.




FULL DESCRIPTION OF FORD'S THEATRE.  215
The proprietor of the theatre had, therefore, at the
commencement of the season, made arrangements by
which these two boxes could at any time be thrown
into one. They were fitted up with great elegance and
taste. The curtains were of fine lace and buff satin, the
paper dark and figured, the carpet Turkey, the seats
velvet, and the exterior ornamentations were lit up with a
chaste chandelier suspended from the outside. A winding staircase leads up to the lobbies which conduct to the
box, and unless the arrangements are more stringent than
they used to be, no decently dressed person would find
much difficulty, probably, in entering one of these boxes
after they had once been opened for the ingress of the
party using them.
The parquet consists of cane-seat chairs, rising in very
gradual elevation, so that even the most distant observers
obtain a fair view of the stage, and the entire parquette
on an opera night, viewed from the stage or private boxes,
resembles an exquisitely variegated parterre.  The first
tier or balcony is very commodious, and opens into a retiring-saloon, elegantly illuminated and appointed.  A
second tier, corresponding to the family circle, completed
the portion of the house dedicated to the accommodation
of the audience. The house would hold probably between
two and three thousand people.
There are two alleys at Ford's Theatre.  One leads
from the stage, along the east side of the theatre, between
the theatre and a refreshment saloon, and so out to Tenth
street. The alley is neatly paved, and is boarded and
papered on both sides.  The entry to it from the stage is
through a glass door, and the exit fronm it on to Tenth
street through a wooden one.
The other passage-way leads from the back of the
theatre to a small alley which communicates with Ninth
and other streets, and conducts to a livery-stable locality.




216   REMAINS, IN STATE AT THE WIITE HOUSE.
It was in this alley that the horse of the murderer was
kept waiting.
The Tenth street door would have been too public,
and escape, even temporary, a matter of impossibility.
But the escape by the alley leading from the back of the
stage was comparatively safe.
There are two doors there, one used for the egress and
ingress of the actors, and the other devoted to the accommodation of scenery and machinery. It was through the
smaller one that the assassin made his exit.
THE FUNERAL.
In Cabinet Council it was determined that Wednesday,
the 19th of April, 1865, should be devoted to the obsequies at the Capital, and acting Secretary of State, MR.
HUNTER, issued the following dispatch to the people of
the United States:
" To THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES: —The undersigned is
directed to announce that the funeral ceremonies of the late
lamented Chief Magistrate will take place at the Executive
Mansion, in this city, at 12 o'clock noon, on Wednesday, the
19th inst. The various religious denominations throughout the
country are invited to meet in their respective places of worship
at that hour, for the purpose of solemnizing this occasion with
appropriate ceremonies.
(Signed)            "WM. HUNTER,
"Acting Secretary of State.
"Department of State, 1W4ashington, April 17th, 1lt65."
Tuesday, April 18th, was set apart for the citizens of
Washington to visit the remains lying in state at the
White House, and fully twenty thousand persons, irrespective of rank or color, looked upon the face of the dead
President, and passed out with eyes weeping and hearts
overburdened with grief.
THE OBSEQUIES.
Wednesday, April 19th, dawned with a clear sky and
a genial sun. Washington was in the deepest mourning.




FUNERAL SERVICES AT THE WHITE HOUSE. 217
All the stores were closed as they had been since the
assassination.  Sadness was depicted on every countenance, and soon the streets were thronged with military,
societies, and citizens, wending their way to Pennsylvania
Avenue and the White House.  All the public buildings
were draped in black, and every house in the city hung
out the sombre crape.
At ten o'clock those invited to attend the funeral
ceremonies in the White House began to assemble, while
all the avenues leading to it were crowded with the military forming for procession, and the sidewalks were blockaded with an anxious and orderly multitude of spectators.
THE SCENES AT THE WHITE HOUSE.
By 10.30 it was almost impossible to wend one's way
to the White House.  None were admitted except by
cards, which were inscribed as follows:
GREEN ROOMI.
ADMIT THE BEARER TO THE
EXECUTIVE MANSION,
ON WEDNESDAY
THE 19TH OF APRIL, 1865,
In the centre of the East Room  was the catafalque.
Around the coffin was a large wreath of white camelias,
orange blossoms, and evergreens. At the feet was a
beautiful anchor, of choicest flowers, sent by Hon. Mrs.
Sperry, of Connecticut; at the head was a cross of white
camelias, and the delicate white exotics which, with a basket of flowers, was the present of Mrs. James H. Orne, of
Philadelphia.   A  number of wreaths were scattered
around in profusion.
Upon the centre, east side of the catafalque, was the




218   FUNERAL SERVICES AT THE WHITE HOUSE.
PRESIDENT AND CABINET.
Upon their right was the
DIPLOMATIC CORPS.
THE ASSISTANT SECRETARIES.
GOVERNORS OF STATES AND TERRITORIES.
THE JUDICIARY.
THE ARMY AND NAVY.
THE NEW YORK DELEGATION.
PALL BEARERS.
Upon the left of the President were the
SUPREME COURT.
THE SENATE.
MEMBERS OF THE }HOUSE OF ]REPRESENTATIVES.
ILLINOIS AND KENTUCKY DELEGATION.
THE CLERGY.
CITY AUTHORITIES.
Upon the west side were the Press; upon the south
side, and at the foot of the catafalque, were the family of
Mr. Lincoln.
The guard of honor, consisting of Major-General
Hunter and Brigadier-General Dyer, marched in silence
to and fro. The lilies, the orange blossoms, and the
choicest of flowers that decked the corpse filled the room
with the sweetest fragrance. The windows, shrouded with
crape, kept out the light, and made the gloom, that all felt,
seem like being in a living tomb!
The echoes of the funeral dirges in the distance sqened
like the terrible murmur of the avenging God's wrath at
the impiety of the awful crime that brought all here as
mourners. As the various delegations came in they
quietly took the places assigned them. Not a word was
spoken loudly. Whispers faint, as though the loved one
was sleeping after his weary troubles and all feared to
wake himl, were the only noises that marred the death-like
stillness of the room, which had been the scene of two
similar services. First, over the body of William Henry




FUNERAL SERVICES AT THE WHITE HOUSE.  219
Harrison, then over the gallant General Zachary Taylor,
now over Mr. Lincoln, beloved more than any man since
the days of Washington.
The exceeding great grief of Mrs. Lincoln was such
that she was unable to be present at the services, and the
chairs for herself and her sons were vacant.
The mourners present were:
Hon. J. G. Nicolay, the President's Confidential Secretary, and his colleague, Major John Hay.
Mr. N. W. Edwards and Mr. C. M. Smith, brothers-inlaw of Mrs. Lincoln.
Dr. L. Beecher Todd, of Lexington, Kentucky, and
General J. B. S. Todd, of Dacotah, cousins of Mrs.
Lincoln.
Upon the left of President Johnson, was Ex-Senator P.
King, of New York; and upon his right, Hannibal Hamlin, Ex-VTice-President.
Behind Mr. King, was Mr. Stanton, Secretary of War.
Behind the President, was Secretary McCulloch.
Behind Mr. Hamlin, were Chief Justice Chase, and
Secretaries Welles, Dennison, Speed, and Usher.
At twelve o'clock the room was filled, the President and
Cabinet having entered last.
Rev. Dr. Gurley then announced the order of exercises,
which were opened by Rev. Dr. Hall reading the funeral
service of the Episcopal Church, commencing "I am the
resurrection and the life, saith the Lord."'
THE WHOLE AUDIENCE JOIN IN THE
PRAYERS.
This was followed by a fervent prayer by Bishop Simpson, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, which was not
only appropriate but effective in all respects. He closed
with the Lord's Prayer, in which the whole audience
joined as if by one voice.  All those present were
melted to tears under its effect.




220  BISHOP SIMPSON'S PRAYER AT WHITE HOUSE.
BISHOP SIMPSON'S PRAYER.
" In the course of his prayer the Bishop said that in the hands
of God were the issues of life and death. Our sins had called
for his wrath to descend upon us as individuals and as a community. For the sake of our blessed Redeemer, forgiveness was
asked for all our trangressions, and that all our iniquities may
be washed away. While we bow under this sad bereavement
which has caused a wide spread gloom, not only in this circle but
over the entire land, an invocation was made that all might submit to God's holy will. Thanks were returned for the gift of such
a man as our Heavenly Father had just taken from us, and for
the many virtues which distinguished all his transactions; for
the integrity, honesty and transparency of character bestowed
upon him, arid for having given him counsellors to guide our
nation through periods of unprecedented sorrow. He was permitted to live to behold the breaking of the clouds which overhung our national sky, and the disintegration of the rebellic n.
Going up the mount he beheld the land of promise, with its
beauty and happiness, and the glorious destiny reserved for us as
a nation. Thanks were also returned that his arm was strengthened and wisdom  and firmness given to his heart to pen a
declaration of emancipation by which were broken the chains
of millions of the human race. God be thanked that the assassin who struck down the Chief Magistrate had not the hend to
again bind the suffering and oppressed. The name of the beloved dead woult ever be identified with all that is great and
glorious with humanity on earth. God grant that all who stand
here entrusted with the administration of public affairs may have
the power, strength and wisdom to complete the work of His
servant so gloriously begun, and may the successor of the
deceased President not bear the sword in vain.  God grant that
strength may be given to him and to our military to perfect victory, and to complete the contest now nearly closed. May the
spirit of rebellion soon pass away. May the last vestige
of slavery, which caused the rebellion, be driven from our land.
God grant that the sun may shine on a free people from the
Atlantic to the Pacific, and from the lakes to the Gulf. May
Ite not only safely lead us through the struggle, but give us
peace with all nations of the earth. Give us hearts to deal
justly with them, and give them hearts to deal justly with us, so
that universal peace may reign on earth. We raise our hearts
to Thee, to plead that Thy blessing may descend on the family
of the deceased. God bless the weeping widow as in her
broken-heartedness she bows under a sad stroke more than she
can bear. Encircle her in Thy own arms. God, be gracious with
the children left behind him. Endow his sons with wisdom from
on high; endow them with great usefulness. May they appreciate the patriotic example and virtues of their father, and walk




DOCTOR GURLEY'S FUNERAL ORATION.    221
in his footsteps. We pray Thee to make the assassination of
personal profit to our hearts, while by the remains of the
deceased, whom we had called a friend, do Thou grant us peace
and repentance of our sins. So that at the end of life we may
be gathered where assassins are not found, where sorrow and
sickness never come; but all gather in peace and love around
the Father's throne in glory. We pray Thee that our Republic
may be made the stronger for this blow. While here we pledge
ourselves to set our faces as a flint against every form of opposition which may rise up for its destruction; so that we, the
children, may enjoy the blessed advantages of a government delivered from our fathers."
THE FUNERAL ORATION.
After the prayer, the Rev. Dr. GURLEY, of the Presbyterian Church, which the President and family attended,
delivered an eloquent and impressive funeral oration, as
follows:
"As we stand here to-day mourners around this coffin and
around the lifeless remains of our beloved Chief Magistrate, we
recognize and we adore the sovereignty of God. His throne is
in the heavens, and His kingdom ruleth over all. He hath
done and hath permitted to be done whatsoever He pleased.
Clouds and darkness are round about Him; righteousness and
judgment are the habitation of His throne. His way is in the
sea and His path in the great waters, and His footsteps are not
known. Canst thon by searching find out God? Canst thou
find out the Almighty unto perfection? It is as high as heaven.
What canst thou do? Deeper than hell. What canst thou
know? The measure thereof is longer than the earth and
broader than the sea. If He cut off and shut up, or gather together; then who can hinder Him? For He knoweth vain men;
He seeth wickedness. Also, will He not then consider it. We
bow before His infinite majesty. We bow-we weep-we worship.
"'There reason fails with all her powers
There faith prevails, and love adores.'
"It was a cruel, cruel hand, that dark hand of the assassin,
which smote our honored, wise and noble President, and filled
the land with sorrow. But above and beyond that hand there
is another, which we must see and acknowledge. It is the chastening hand of a wise and faithful Father. He gives us the bitter
cup; and the cup that our Father hath given us shall we not
drink it? God of the just, Thou gavest us the cup. We yield
to Thy behest, and drink it up. Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth. Oh, how these blessed words have cheered and strength14




222    DOCTOR GURLEY'S FUNERAL ORATION.
ened and sustained us through all these long and weary years of
civil strife, while our friends and brothers on so many ensanguined fields were falling and dying for the cause of liberty and
Union. Let them cheer and strengthen and sustain us to-day.
True, this new sorrow and chastening has come in such an hour
and in such a way as we thought not, and it bears the impress
of a rod that is very heavy, and of mystery that is very deep.
That such a life should be sacrificed at such a time, by such a
foul and diabolical agency; that the man at the head of the
nation, whom the people had learned to trust with a confiding
and a loving confidence, and upon whom more than upon any
other were centered, under God, our best hopes for the true and
speedy pacification of the country, the restoration of the Union,
and the return of harmony and love; that he should be taken
from us, and taken just as the prospect of peace was brightly
opening upon our torn and bleeding country,        and just as he was
beginning to be animated and gladdened with the hope of ere
long enjoying with the people the blessed fruit and reward of his
and their toil and care and patience, and self-sacrificing devotion
to the interests of liberty and the Union-oh! it is a mysterious
and a most afflicting dispensation. But it is our Father in
heaven, the God of our fathers, who plermits us to be so suddenly
and sorely smitten, and we know that His judgments are right,
and that in faithfulness He has afflicted us in the midst of our
rejoicings.  We needed this stroke, this dealing, this discipline, and therefore He has sent it. Let us remember our affliction has not come forth of the dust, and our trouble has not
sprung out of the ground. Through and beyond all second
causes let us look and see the sovereign permissive agency of
the first great cause. It is His prerogative to bring light out of
darkness and good out of evil. Surely the wrath of man shall
praise Him, and the remainder of wrath He will restrain. In the
light of a clear day we may yet see that the wrath which planned
and perpetrated the death of the President was overruled by
Him, whose judgments are unsearchable and His ways past finding out, for the highest welfare of all those interests which are
so dear to the Christian, patriot and philanthropist, and for
which a loyal people have made such an unexampled sacrifice
of treasure and of blood. Let us not be faithless, but believing.' Blind unbelief is prone to err,
And scan his work in vain;
God is his own interpreter,
And he will make it plain.'
"We will wait for His interpretation, and we will wait in faith,
nothing doubting. He who has led us so well, and defended and
prospered us so wonderfully during the last four years of toil,
and struggle, and sorrow, will not forsake us now. He may
chasten, but Ile will not destroy. IIe may purify us more and




DOCTOR GURLEY'S FUNERAL ORATION.    223
more in the furnace of trial, but ITe will not consume us: no, no.
He has chosen us, as He did His people of old in the furnace, of
affliction, and He has said of us as He said of them,'This
people have I formed for myself: they shall show forth my
praise.' Let our principal anxiety now be that this new sorrow
may be a sanctified sorrow; that it may lead us to deeper repentance, to a more humbling sense of our dependence upon God,
and to the more unreserved consecration of ourselves and all
that we have to the cause of truth and justice, of law and order,
of liberty and good government, of pure and undefiled religion.
Then, though weeping may endure for a night, joy will come in
the morning. Blessed be God, despite of the great, and sudden,
and temporary darkness, the morning has begun to dawn-the
morning of a bright and glorious day, such as our country has
never seen. That day will come and not tarry, and the death
of a hundred presidents and their cabinets can never, never
prevent it.  While we are hopeful, however, let us also be
humble. The occasion calls us to prayerful and tearful humiliation. It demands of us that we lie low, very low, before
him who has stricken us for our sins. Oh that all our rulers and
all our people may bow in the dust to-day beneath the chastening
hand of God, and may their voices go up to Him  as one voice,
and their hearts go up to Him; as one heart, pleading with Him
for mercy and for grace to sanctify our great and sore bereavement, and for wisdom  to guide us in this our time of need.
Such a united cry and pleading will not be in vain. It will
enter into the ear and heart of Him who sits upon the throne
and He will say to us as to his ancient Israel,' In a little wrath
I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting
kindness will I have mercy upon thee, saith the Lord, thy redeemer.' I have said that the people confided in the late
lamented President with a full and a loving confidence. Probably no man since the days of Washington was ever so deeply
and firmly imbedded and enshrined in the very hearts of the
people as Abraham Lincoln.  Nor was it a mistaken confidence
and love. He deserved it-deserved it well-deserved it all.
He merited it by his character, by his acts and by the whole
tenor and tone and spirit of his life. He was simple and sincere,
plain and honest, trustful and just, benevolent and kind. His
perceptions were quick and clear, his judgments were calm and
accurate, and his purposes were good and pure, beyond a question. Always and everywhere he aimed and endeavored to be
right and to do right. His integrity was thorough, all pervading, all controlling, and incorruptible.  It was the same in
every place and relation. In the consideration and the control
of matters, great or small, the same firm and steady principle
of power and beauty, that shed a clear and crowning lustre upon
all his other excellences of mind and heart, and recommended
him to his fellow-citizens as the man who, in a time of unexam



224    DOCTOR GURLEY'S FUNERAL ORATION.
pled peril, when the very life of the nation was at stake, should
be chosen to occupy-in the country and for the country-its
highest post of power and responsibility. How wisely and well,
how purely and faithfully, how firmly and steadily, how justly
and successfully, he did occupy that post and meet its grave demands, in circnmstances of surprising trial and difficulty, is
known to you all, is known to the country and the world. He
comprehended from the first the perils to which treason had
exposed the freest and best government on the earth, the vast
interests of liberty and humanity that were to be saved or lost
forever, in the urgent impending conflict. He rose to the
dignity and momentousness of the occasion, saw his duty as
Chief Magistrate of a great and imperilled people, and he determined to do his duty and his whole duty, seeking the guidance
and leaning upon the arm of Him of whom it is written,' He
giveth power to the faint, and to them that have no might He
increases their strength.' Yes, he leaned upon His arm; he
recognized and received the truth that'the kingdom is the
Lord's, and He is the Governor among the nations.' He remembered that' God is in history,' and he felt that no where
had His hand and His mercy been so marvellously conspicuous
as in the history of this nation. He hoped and prayed that'that same hand would continue to guide us, and that same
mercy continue to abound to us in the time of our greatest need.'
I speak what I know, and testify what I have often heard him
say, when I affirm that that guidance and mercy were the prop
on which he humbly and habitually leaned; that they were the
best hope he had for himself and for his country. Hence when he
was leaving his home in Illinois and coming to this city to take
his seat in the Executive chair of a disturbed and troubled
nation; he said to the old and tried friends who gathered joyfully around him and bade him farewell,'I leave you with
this request-pray for me.' They did pray for him. And millions' of others prayed for him. Nor did they pray in vain.
Their prayers were heard, and the answer appears in all his
subsequent history. It shines forth with a heavenly radiance in
the whole course and tenor of his administration, from its commencement to its close. God raised him up for a great and
glorious mission, furnished him for his work and aided him in its
accomplishment. Nor was it merely by strength of mind and
honesty of heart and purity and pertinacity of purpose that he
furnished him in addition to these things; he gave him a calm
and abiding confidence in the overruling providence of God,
and in the ultimate triumph of truth and righteousness through
the power and blessing of God. This confidence strengthened
him in all his hours of anxiety and toil, and inspired him with
calm and cheering hope, when others were inclining to despondency and gloom. Never shall I forget the emphasis and the
deep emotion with which he said in this very room to a company



DOCTOR GURLEY S FUNERAL ORATION.    225
of clergymen and others, who called to pay him their respects in
the darkest days of our civil conflict.' Gentlemen, my hope of
success in this great and terrible struggle, rests on that immutable
foundation, the justice and goodness of God.' And when events
are very threatening, and prospects very dark,' I still hope that in
some way which man cannot see, all will be well in the end;
because our cause is just and God is on our side.' Such was
his sublime and holy faith, and it was an anchor to his soul, both
sure and steadfast; it made him firm and strong; and embold
ened him  in the pathway of duty, however rugged and perilous
it might be.  It made him valiant for the right, for the cause of
God and humanity, and it held him  in steady, patient, and unswerving adherence to a policy of administration which, he
thought, and which we all now think, both God and humanity
required him  to adopt.  We admired and loved him  on many
accounts, for strong and various reasons.  We admired his
childlike simplicity, fieedom from guile and deceit; his staunch
and sterling integrity; his kind and forgiving temper; his industry and patience; his persistent, self-sacrificing devotion to all
the duties of his eminent position, from the least to tlhe greatest:
his readiness to hear and consider the cause of the poor and
humble, the suffering and the oppressed; his charity towar(ds
those who questioned the correctness of his opinions and the
wisdom of his policy; his wonderful skill in reconciliating the
differences among the friends of the Uniion, leading them away
from obstructions, and inducing them to work together and harmoniously for the common weal; his true and enlarged philanthropy that knew no distinction of color or race, but regarded
all men as brethren and endowed alike by their Creator with
certain inalienable rights, amongst which are life, liberty, and
the pursuit of happiness; his inflexible punpose that what fieedom had gained in our terrible strife should never be lost, and
that the end of the war should be the end of slavery, and, as a
consequence, of rebellion; his readiness to spend and he spent
for the attainment of such a triumrph —a tiunmph, the blessed
fruits of which should be as wide-spreading as the earth and as
anduring as the sun. All these tlhiigs comnmanded and fixed
our admiration and the admiration of the world, and stamped
upon his character and life the unmistakable impress of greatness.  But, more sublime than any or all of these, more holy
and influential, more beautiful and stronl and sustaining was
his abiding confidence in God, and in the -final triumph of truth
and righteousness, throughll Him  and for His sake.'I'his was
his noblest virtue, his grandest principle, the secret alike of his
strength, his patience, and his success; and this, it seems to
me, after being near him  steadily anid with him often for more
than four years, is the principle by which more than by any
other, he being dead, yet speaketh.
"Yes, by his steady enduring conlfidece in God, and in the




226     DOCTOR GURLEY S FUNERA.L ORATION.
complete ultimate success of the cause of God, which is the
cause of humanity, more than in any other way does he now
speak to us, and to the nation he loved and served so well. By
this he speaks to his successor in office, and charges him to have
faith in God. By this he speaks to the members of his Cabinet,
the men with whom he counselled so often and was associated
with so long, and he charges them to have faith in God. By
this he speaks to all who occupy positions of influence and
authority in these sad and troublesome times, and he charges
them  all to have faith in God. By this he speaks to this great
people as they set in sackcloth to-clay and weep for him with a
bitter wailing, and refuse to be comforted; and he charges them
to have faith in God; and by this he will speak through the
ages, and to all rulers and peoples in every land, and his message
to them will be:-' Cling to liberty and right; battle for t.llern
bleed for them; die for them, if need be, and have confidence in
God.' Oh! that the voice of this testimony may sink down into
our hearts to-day and every day, and into the heart of the
nation, and exert its appropriate influence upon our feelings,
our faith our patience and our devotion to the cause, now
dearer to us than ever before, because consecrated by the blood
of the most conspicuous defender. its wisest and most fondly
trusted friend.  He is dead, but the God in whom  he trusted
lives, and He can guide and strengthen his successor as He
guided and strengthened him. He is dead, but the memory of
his virtues, of his wise and patriotic counsels and labors, of his
calm  and steadty fitith in God lives, is precious, and will be a
power for good in the country quite down to the end of time.
HIe is dead; but the cause he so ardently loved, so ably, patiently,
faithfully represented and defended, not for himself ornly, not for
us only, but for all people, in all their coming generations, till
time shall be no more-that cause survives his fall, and will
survive it. The light of its brightening prospects flashes cheeringly to-day around the gloom occasioned by his duties, and the
language of God's united providences is telling us that, though
the friends of liberty die, liberty itself is immortal; there is no
assassin strong enough, and no weapon deadly enough to quench
its inextinguishable life or arrest its onward march to the conquest and empire of the world.  This is our confidence and this
is our consolation as we weep and mourn to-day. Though our
beloved President is slain, our beloved country is saved, and so
we sing of mercy as well as of judgment. Tears of gratitude
mingle with those of sorrow, while there is also the dawningf of
a brighter, happier day upon our stricken and weary land. God
be praised that our fallen chief lived long enough to see the day
dawn and the day star of joy and peace arise upon the nation.
He saw it and he was glad. Alas! alasas he only saw the dawn.
Wilhen the sun has risenl full orbed, and a glorious and a happy
reunitedi people are rejoicing in its light, it will shine upon his




DOCTOR  GURLEY'S FUN'ERAL ORATION.    227
grave. But that grave will be a precious and a consecrated
spot.  The friends of liberty and of the Union will repair to it
in years and ages to come to pronounce the lnemory of its
occupant blessed, and gathering from his very ashes and from
the rehearsal of his deeds and virtues fresh incentives to patriotism. They will then renew their vows of fidelity to their country and their God. And now I know not that I can more
appropriately conclude this discourse, which is but a sincere and
simple utterance of the heart; than by addressing to our departed President, with some slight modification, the language which''acitus, in his life of Agricola, addressed to his venerated and
departed father.-in-law: —' With you we may now congratulate.
You are blessed, not only because your life was a career of glory,
but because you were released when, your country safe, it was
happiness to die. We have lost a parent, and, in our distress,
it is now an addition to our heartfelt sorrows that we had it not
in our power to commune with you on the bed of languishing
and receive your last embrace. Your dying words would have
been ever dear to us. Your commands we should have treasured
up and graved them on our hearts. This sad comfort we have
lost, and the wound for that reason pierces deeper.  From the
world of spirits behold your disconsolate family and people.
IExalt our minds from  fond regret and unvailing grief to the
contemplation of your virtues.  These we must not lament.  It
were impiety to sully them  with a tear.  To cherish their
memory, to embalm them with our praises, and so far as we can
to emulate your bright example, will be the truest mark of your
respect, the best tribute we can offer. Your wife will thus
preserve the memory of the best of husbands, and thus your
children will prove their final piety.  By dwelling constantly on
your words and actions they will have an illustrious character
before their eyes; and not content with the base image of your
mortal frame, they will have what is more valuable-the form
an(l features of your mind.  Busts and statues, like their originals, are frail and perishable. The soul is formed of finer
elements, and its inward form is not to be expressed by the
hand of an artist with unconscious matter. Our manners and
our morals may in some degree trace the resemblance. All of
Jou that gained our love and raised our admiration still subsist,
and will ever subsist, preserved in the minds of men, the register
of ages and the records of fame.  Others, matured on the stages
of life, and who were the worthies of a former day, will sink
for want of a faithful historian into the common lot of oblivion,
inglorious and unremembered; but you, our lamented friend and
head, delineated with truth and fairly consigned to posterity, will
survive yourself and triumph over the injuries of time.'"
At the conclusion of the sermon, the Rev. Dr. GRAY, of
the Baptist church, closed the solemnities by prayer.  The




228  THE FUNERAL PROCESSION AT WASHINGTON.
coffin was then closed, and carried out by twelve sergeants
of the Veteran Reserve Corps.
ORDER OF THE PROCESSION.
The following order of procession was strictly carried
out by the officers in command: —
Funeral Escort in Column of March.
One Regiment of Cavalry.
Two Batteries of Artillery.
Battalion of Marines.
Two Regiments of Infantry.
Commander of Escort and Staff.
Dismounted Officers of Marine Corps
Navy and Army in the order named.
Mounted Officers of Marine Corps.
Navy and Army in the order named.
All Military Officers to be in uniform, with Side Arms.
CIVIC PROCESSION.
Marshal.
Clergy in Attendance.
The Surgeon-General of the United States and Physicians to
the, deceased.
PALL                                  PALL
HEARSE.
BEARERS.                              BEARERS.
On the part of the Senate.    On the part of the House.
Mr. Foster, Connecticut,     Mr. Dawes, Massachusetts.
Mr. Morgan, New York,        Mr. Coffroth, Pennsylvania,
Mr. Johnson, Maryland,       Mr. Smith, Kentucky,
Mr. Yates, Illinois,         Mr. Colfax, Indiana,
Mr. Wade, Ohio,              Mr. Worthington, Nevada,
Mr. Conness, California.     Mr. Washburne, Illinois.
Army.                         Navy.
Lieut. Gen. U. S. Qrant,     Vice-Admiral D. G. Farragut,
Maj. General H. W. Halleck.   Rear-AdmiralW.B. Shubrick.
Br't Brig. Gen.W.A. Nichols.   Col. Jacob Zellin, M. C.
Civilians.                   Civzlians.
C. H. Browning,              Thomas Corwin,
George Ashmun.               Simon Cameron.
THE FAMILY.
Relatives.
The Delegations of the States of Illinois and Kentucky as
Mourners.




ARRIVAL OF THE REMAINS AT THE CAPITOL. 229
TIlE PRESIDENT.
The Cabinet Ministers.
The Diplomatic Corps.
Ex-Presidents.
The Chief Justice,
And Associate Justices of Supreme Court.
The Senate of the United States,
Preceded by its Officers.
The House of Representatives of the United States, preceded
by its Officers.
Legislatures of the several States and Territories.
The Federal Judiciary, and the Judiciary of the several States
and Territories.
The Assistant Secretaries of State, Treasury, War, Navy, and
Interior, and the Assistant Postmaster-General
and Assistant Attorney-General.
Officers of Smithsonian Institution.
The Members and Officers of the Sanitary and ChristiaL
Commissions.
Corporate Authorities of Washington and Georgetown, and
other cities.
Delegations of the several States.
The Reverend Clergy of the various Denominations.
The Clerks and Employees of the several Departments and
Bureaus,
Preceded by the Heads of such Bureaus and their respective
Chief Clerks.
Such Societies as may wish to join the Procession.
Citizens and Strangers.
The head of the column reached the Capitol at 3 P. M.,
passing up Pennsylvania Avenue upon the north side of
the Capitol. When the infantry reached the Senate door,
they filed into the yard on the east front, and opened
column, forming a hollow square in the yard in front of
the Rotunda.  The artillery and cavalry then passed on
towards the old Capitol. When they had passed, the
commander of escort and staff and the army and navy
officers passed into the east front yard, the equestrians
passing on.
The coffin was then borne into the Rotunda of the
Capitol, and a Guard of Honor assigned to duty for the
several hours of the afternoon and evening.
Never before had Washington beheld so solemn a




230  DEPARTURE OF REMAINS FROM WASHINGTON.
pageant as that which moved up Pennsylvania Avenue
on the 19th of April, 1865; a day now trebly memorable
in our annals as the day when the first blood of the Revolution was shed at Lexington, the first blood spilled by
the Rebellion at Baltimore in 1861, and the day when the
body of our martyred President, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, Was
borne through the streets of our National Capital on its
way to its resting-place in the West.
The body remained lying in state in the Capitol over
Thursday, thousands of persons visiting the corpse.
DEPARTURE FROTM WASHINGTON.
On Friday morning, April 21st, at seven o'clock, the coffin
was taken to the depot, and deposited in the funeral car.
Hon. Edwin M. Stanton, lIon. Gideon Welles, IIon. Hugh
McCulloch, Hon. Jno. P. Usher, Lieut. General U. S.
Grant, and Gen. M. C. Meigs left the escort at the depot,
and at 8 A. MI. the train left. At least ten thousand
persons were out to see the departure. A special train was
provided for the occasion, and the route to Springfield, Illinois, was designated by an order from the War Department, and the railroads over which the remains passed,
were declared military roads, subject to the order of the
WVar Department, and the railroads, locomotives, cars and
engines engaged on said transportation, were subject to
the military control of Brigadier-General McCallum.  No
person was allowed to be transported on the cars constituting the funeral train, save those who were specially
authorized by the orders of the War Department.  The
funeral train consisted of nine cars, including baggage
and hearse car, which proceeded over the entire route
from Washington to Springfield.  The time schedule for
the transportation was as follows:Leave Washington, Friday, April 21, 8 A. M.
Arrive at Baltimore, Friday, April 21, 10 A. M.
ILeave Baltimore, Friday, April 21, 3 P. AM.
Arrive at Harrisburg, Friday, April 21, 8-20 P. M.
Leave ITarrisburg, Saturday, April 22, 12 M.




ROUTE OF THE FUNERAL TO SPRINGFIELD.  231
Arrive at Philadelphia, Saturday, April 22, 4'30 P. iM.
Leave Philadelphia, Monday. April 24, 4 A. M.
Arrive at New York, Monday, April 24, 10 A. M,
Leave New York, Tuesday, April 25, 4 P. M.
Arrive at Albany, Tuesday, April 25, 11 P. M.
Leave Albany, Wednesday, April 26, 4 P. M.
Arrive at Buffalo, Thursday, April 27, 7 A. M.
Leave Buffalo, Thursday, April 27, 10'10 A. M.
Arrive at Cleveland, Friday, April 28, 7 A. M.
Leave Cleveland, Friday, April 28, midnight.
Arrive at Columbus, Saturday, April 29, 7'30 A. M.
Leave Columbus, Saturday, April 29, 8 P. M.
Arrive at Indianapolis, Sunday, April 30, 7 A. M.
Leave Indianapolis, Sunday, April 30, midnight.
Arrive at Chicago, Monday, May 1, 11 A. M:.
Leave Chicago, Tuesday, May 2, 9'30 P. M.
Arrive at Springfield, Monday, May 3, 8 A. M.
At various points on the route where the remains were
to be taken from  the hearse-car by State or municipal
authorities, to receive public honors, according to the
aforesaid programme, the authorities were to make such
arrangements as might be fitting and appropriate to the
occasion, under the direction of the military commander
of the division, department, or district; but the remains
continued always under the special charge of the officers
and escort assigned by the War Department.
The route from Columbus to Indianapolis was via the
Columbus and Indianapolis Central Railway, and from
Indianapolis to Chicago, via Lafayette and Michigan city.
In order to guard against accident, the train did not move
faster than twenty miles an hour.
Accompanying the remains were a distinguished party
of friends and mourners:  Judge David Davis, Judge
United States Supreme Court; N. W. Edwards; General
J. B  S. Todd; Charles Alexander Smith.  Guard of
ITonor —namely: General E. D. Townsend; BrigadierGeneral Charles Thomlas; Brigadier-General A. D. Eaton;
Brevet-Major-General J. G. Barnard; Brigadier-General
G. D. Rainmsay; 13rigadier-General A. P. HIowe; Brigadier-General 1. C. McCallumn;  Mlttjor-General David




232  MOURNERS AND DELEGATES FROM ILLINOIS.
Hunter; Brigadier-General J. C. Caldwell; Rear-Admiral
C. Hi. Davis, United States Navy; Captain William  R.
Taylor, United States Navy; Major T. Y. Field, United
States Marine Corps. (The foregoing constituted a guard of
honor.)  Dr. Charles B. Brown, embalmer; Frank T.
Sands, undertaker; and on the part of the Senate and
I-ouse of Representatives: Maine, Mr. Pike; New Hampshire, Mr. Rollins; Vermont, Mr. Baxter; Massachusetts,
Mr. Hooper; Connecticut, Mr. Dixon; Rhode Island,
Mr. Anthony; New York, Mr. Harris; Pennsylvania,
Mr. Cowan; Ohio, Mr. Schenck; Kentucky, Mr. Smith,
Indiana, Mr. Julian; Minnesota, Mr. Ramsay; Michigan,
Mr. T. W. Ferry; Iowa, Mr. Harlan; Illinois, Mr.
Yates, Mr. Washburne, Mr. Farnsworth, and Mr. Arnold;
California, Mr. Shannon; Oregon, Mr. Williams; Kansas,
Mr. Clarke; Western Virginia, Mr. Whaley; Nevada,
Mr. Nye; Nebraska, Mr. Hitchcock; Colorado, Mr.
Bradford; Idaho, Mr. Wallace; New Jersey, Mr. Newell;
Maryland, Mr. Phelps; George T. Brown, Sergeant-atarms of the Senate; and N. G. Ordway, Sergeant-at-arms
House of Representatives.
The delegates from Illinois were: Governor Richard J.
Oglesby; General Ishaml  N. Haynie, Adjutant-General
State of Illinois; Colonel James H. Bowen, A. D. C.;
Colonel M. H. Hanna, A. D  C.; Colonel D. B. James,
A. D. C.; Maj. S. Waite, A. D. C.; Col. D. L. Phillips,
United States Marshal Southern District of Illinois, A. D.
C.; Hon. Jesse K. Dubois; Hon. J. T. Stuart; Col.
John Williams; Dr. S. H. Melvin; Hon. S. M. Cullum;
General John A. McClernand; Hon. Lyman Trumbull;
Hon. J. S. V. Reddenburg; Hon. Thomas J. Dennis;
Lieutenant-Governor William  Bross; Hon. Francis E.
Sherman, Mayor of Chicago; I-Ion. Thomas A. Haine;
Hon. JohnjWentworth; Hon. S. S. Hays; Colonel R. M.
Hough; IIon. S. W. Fuller; Capt. J. B. Turner; Hon.
I. Lawson; Hon. C. L. Woodman; Hon. G. W. Gage;




ALONG THE ROUTE-ARRIVAL AT BALTIMORE. 233
G. H. Roberts, Esq; Hon. J. Commisky; Hon. T. L.
Talcott; Governor Morton, of Indiana; Gov. Brough, of
Ohio; Gov. Stone, of Iowa, together with their aids and
reporters for the press.
ALONG THE ROUTE.
As the train moved on to Baltimore, thousands of
Marylanders assembled by the way-side to catch a glimpse
of the car which contained the corpse of the deceased
President.
ARRIVAL AT BALTIMORE.
When the Monumental city was reached, an immense
throng crowded the streets, anxious to do homage
to all that remained of their noble chief.  The arrival
was heralded by a salvo of artillery, and the large
funeral procession which, at a short notice, had been prepared to escort the deceased and retinue through the city,
formed in column, and the line of march was taken up.
Succeeding the military was the civic procession, headed
by Governor Bradford. All the associations of Baltimore
turned out in full numbers, and the rear was brought up
byv an immense throng of colored people, all wearing
badges of mourning.
The cortege moved to the Post-office Building, where
the remains were placed in state, and an opportunity
was given the citizens to see the corpse. At 3 o'clock P. M.
the coffin was removed to the depot, and the train departed for Harrisburg, amid the firing of minute guns and
the sorrows of a people who felt that the Republic had
indeed lost its best friend.
Governor Curtin and staff met the train on the borders
of Pennsylvania, and accompanied it to Harrisburg. At
York, Pa., six ladies, dressed in deep black, were kindly
permitted by General McCallum to enter the funeral car
and place upon the coffin a beautiful wreath of white
roses, camelias, and other rare flowers. Silently they




234  ARRIVAL AT HARRISBURG -PHILADELPHIA.
performed their last tribute to the illustrious patriot, and
when they retired from the car there were no dry eyes
among the military chieftains who stood guard over the
bier.
ARRIVAL AT  HARRISBURG.
Although the train arrived at the Capital of Pennsylvania during a fearful storm of thunder, lightning, and
rain, the people were gathered on the streets and lined
the way to the Capitol building, where the body was
conveyed and placed in state until the next day, April
22d, at 12 o'clock, when it was taken to the depot, and,
amid the tears and lamentations of the whole city and
surrounding country, placed on the cars for Philadelphia.
Along the entire route, thousands of people assembled to
see the train pass by, all business in the towns and on the
farms having been suspended.
ARRIVAL AT PHILADELPHIA.
At half-past four the same afternoon, the train reached
the Baltimore depot at Broad and Washington. Hours
before, tens of thousands of men, women and children had
crowded all the streets leading to this great avenue.
The Procession was formed, and moved over the designated route to Indepbndence Hall, the coffin being carried
through the square from the Walnut street entrance, the
grounds being illuminated with calcium lights, red, white
and blue colors, and the members of the Union League
standing on each side of the main avenue, dressed in deep
black, and white gloves, with a splendid band performing
funeral dirges. The coffin was taken into Independence
I-Jall and placed on an oblong platform in the centre of
the hall, covered with black cloth, and lay directly north
and south, the head towards the south, and directly opposite " Old Independence Bell." The lid of the coffin was
removed far enough to expose to view the face and breast
of the deceased. An A.merican flag, the one used to cover




BODY IN STATE IN INDEPENDENCE HALL.  235
the coffin during the funeral procession, was thrown back
at the foot of the coffin, and a number of wreaths of exotics laid upon it. A magnificent floral device, composed
of a large wreath of brilliant-colored flowers, and containing a beautiful American shield in the centre, also composed of choice flowers, occupied a prominent position on
the lid of the coffin.
At the head of the coffin was suspended a highly
wrought cross, composed of japonicas, with a centre consisting of jet black exotics. The device contained the following inscription:
" To the memory of our beloved President, from a few
ladies of the United States Sanitary Commission."
On the " Old Independence Bell," and near the head of
the coffin, rested a large and beautifully made floral anchor,
composed of the choicest exotics. This beautiful offering came from the ladies of St. Clement's church.  Four
stands, two at the head and two at the foot of the coffin,
were draped in black cloth, and contained rich candelabras
with lighted wax candles.  Directly to the rear of these
were placed three additional stands, also containing candelabras with burning tapers; and again, another row of
iour stands, containing candelabras also, brought up the
rear, making in all eighteen candelabras and one hundred
and eight burning wax tapers. Between this flood of light,
shelving were erected, on which were placed rare vases
filled with japonicas, heliotropes, and other rare flowers.
These vases were about twenty-five in number.  A most
delicious perfume stole through every part of the hall,
which, added to the soft yet brilliant light of the wax
tapers, the elegant uniforms of the officers on duty, etc.,
constituted a scene of oriental magnificence but seldom
witnessed.
The Hall at large was completely shrouded with black




236  BODY IN STATE IN INDEPENDENCE HALL.
cloth, arranged in a very graceful and appropriate manner. The old chandelier that hangs from the centre of the
room, and which was directly over the coffin of the deceased, was entirely covered, and from it radiated in every
direction festoons of black cloth, forming a sort of canopy
over the entire room. The walls of the room presented
the appearance of having been papered with black. The
celebrated historical pictures that ornament the hall were,
with few exceptions, hid from view. The statue of Washington, at the east end of the room, stood out, however, in
bold relief against the black background. The only pictures visible were the full-length portraits of William Penn,
Lafayette, Washington, and Chevalier Gerard, and the
smaller ones of Martha Washington, Stephen Decatur, and
one or two others. Wreaths of immortelle were hung on
the black drapery that covered the walls, and were placed
about midway between the floor and ceiling.
One of the wreaths that lay near the head of the coffin
contained a card bearing the following inscription:
"Before any great national event I have always had
the same dream. I had it the other night. It is of a shp 
sailing rapidly."
These words were used by Mr. Lincoln in a conversation not long since.
And thus Abraham Lincoln, the martyr of the nineteenth century, was laid in solemn repose beneath the roof
which once covered the grand old heroes and statesmen
of the Revolution. Cold and lifeless he lay in the same
chamber where our fathers subscribed their names to the
immortal Magna Charta of our liberties, the Declaration
of American Independence. On the 22d of February, 1861,
he was in that Hall, and under the inspiration of its sacred




BODY IN STATE IN INDEPENDENCE HALL.  237
memories, while raising the national flag above its hallowed roof, he uttered these significant words:
"It was something in the Declaration of Independence, giving
"liberty not only to the people of this country, but hope to the
"world for all future time. It was that which gave promise
"that in due time the weights should be lifted from the shoul"ders of all men, and that all should have an equal chance. * * *
"Now, my friends, can the 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. But if this country cannot be
"saved without giving up that pri'nciple, 1 was about to say, I
"would rather be assassinated -upon this spot than to surren"der it."
It was proper that ABRAHAM LINCOLN, the champion
of freedom, the martyr to those principles, should rest
over the holy Sabbath in the sanctuary of the republic.
It was fitting that his remains should repose during the
sacred hours beneath the eyes of the statesmen and patriots who look down from the walls of that consecrated
temple, a temple dedicated nearly a century since by our
fathers as a shrine to human freedom, a shrine to which
all time would come with reverence and affection. It was
meet that the Sacrifice of the nineteenth century should be
laid in awful glory at the feet of his statue whose memory
we were taught to love and honor in our infancy-GEORGE
WASHINGTON.
At ten o clock in the evening, a limited number of visitors, embracing the City Councils, members of the Courts,
and citizens, to the number of two or three thousand, were
admitted, Mayor Henry occupying a position at the head
of the coffin, while the following officers of the army
formed the guard of honor.
GUARD OF HONOR.
Major-General David Hunter.
Brigadier-General E. D.Townsend.
Brigadier-General Charles Thomas.
Brigadier-General A. B. Eaton.
Brigader-General J. G. Barnard.
15




238    THE BODY SEEN BY 120,000 CITIZENS.
Brigadier-General J. G. Ramsey.
Brigadier-General A. P. Howe.
Brigadier-General D. C. McCallum.
Brigadier-General J. C. Caldwell.
Rear-Admiral C. H. Davis, U. S. Navy.
Captain W. R. Taylor, U. S. Navy.
Major T. Y. Field, U. S. Marine Corps.
Six o'clock, Sabbath morning, the 23d of April, 1865,
was fixed as the hour when the remains were to be exposed to public view. Long before the hour arrived,
thousands of people were on the streets and formed into
lines, patiently and silently awaiting the time when the
doors should be opened. The entrances were through two
windows on Chestnut street, and the exits through the
windows facing them on Independence Square, temporary
steps having been placed in position for that purpose.
By this arrangement two lines of spectators were admitted
at a time, passing on either side of the coffin. So great
was the anxiety of our citizens to view the body of their
late beloved Chief Magistrate, that hundreds of them remained around Independence Hall all night, waiting anxiously for the doors, or rather the windows, to be thrown
open.
At the hour of six o'clock a double line of applicants
were formed, extending as far west as Eighth street, and
east to Third street.  By eleven o'clock the lines extended from the Hall west as far as the Schuylkill, and east
as far as the Delaware. The residents of West Philadelphia
flocked across the Market street bridge by hundreds,
while the Camden ferry-boats apparently brought across
the Delaware about one-half of the population of New
Jersey. So it was throughout the day and night, until
one o'clock on the morning of the 24th, when the lid of
the coffin was closed down and thousands of persons
found themselves disappointed in getting a glimpse of
him whom they held so dear in memory. At least one




LEAVE PHILADELPHIA-IN NEW YORK.   239
hundred and twenty thousand people passed through the
Hall during the twenty-four hours.
At three o'clock on Monday morning, April 24th, the
mournful cortege left Philadelphia for New York. As
the draped cars passed through New Jersey, the people
of that State evinced the same grief, and paid the same
honors to the funeral train as had hitherto been done
by the people of Maryland and Pennsylvania.
Gov. PARKER, of New Jersey, and staff, met the escort at the State line, and accompanied it to New York.
At Trenton, Rahway, Elizabeth, Newark, and Jersey City,
as well as at all the intermediate points, bells were tolled,
minute guns were fired, and immense assemblages of
citizens were gathered.
ARRIVAL AT NEW YORK.
On arriving at New York, the remains were carried in
solemn procession to the City Hall, where they were
placed in state.  The interior of the City Hall was
elaborately draped and festooned with mourning emblems,
presenting a sombre and solemn appearance. The room
in which the remains of the President were deposited was
thoroughly draped in black.  The centre of the ceiling was
dotted with silver stars relieved by black; the drapery was
finished with heavy silver fringe, and the curtains of black
velvet were fringed with silver and gracefully looped
The coffin rested on a raised dais, on an inclined plane,
the inclination being such that the face of the departed
patriot was in view of visitors while passing for two or
three minutes.
The coffin was laid on the dais in the presence of Generals Dix, Burnside, Van Vliet, Peck, Ullman, Sandford,
and Townsend; Admiral Spaulding; Commodores Meade
and Rice; the members of the Press, and a number of eiminent civilians. The embalmers then re-arranged the body,
which had been somnewhat distllrbled by the journey, after




240    ALBANY-BUFFALO-COLUMBUS, ETC.
which the lid was removed, affording a view of the face
and upper portion of the breast.
The people were admitted early the same afternoon,
and from that time until twelve M., the next day, Tuesday,
the 25th, a continuous stream passed through the hall.
At one o'clock the remains were placed upon the hearse,
and an immense procession escorted them to the Hudson
River Railroad Depot, whence they departed for Albany.
ALBANY, SYRACUSE, AND BUFFALO,
At every point between the two cities, great concourses
of people assembled, and when the train arrived at the
State Capital of New York, a procession accompanied the
remains to the Capitol building, where they were placed in
State. At four P. M., on the 26th, they were again borne
to the funeral car, and the train departed on its solemn
journey to the Great West.  Syracuse. Buffalo, and each
town and village on the line paid their last tribute to the
dead statesman.
CLEVELAND AND COLUMBUS.
The same sad duties were rendered by the people of
Ohio, the body being transferred from the train at Cleveland, and also at Columbus, where it was placed in the
Capitol for several hours, giving thousands of the citizens
an opportunity to view all that remained of ABRAHAM
LINCOLN.
ARRIVAL AT INDIANAPOLIS.
In Indiana, the State in which Mr. Lincoln had spent
some ten years of his early life, the most intense exhibitions of grief and respect were evinced. Gov. MORaTN, a
warm personal friend of the deceased President, joined the
train at the State line, his suite consisting of his staff and all
the chief officers of the State, military and civil. On Sunday morning, April 30th, the train reached Indianapolis,
and though a heavy rain prevailed, the entire population




INDIANAPOLIS-CHICAGO-SPRINGFIELD.  241
of the city and the adjacent country were gathered to
receive the remains. The coffin was borne beneath a
magnificent arch, into the Capitol, and placed under the
great dome, the splendid structure being festooned with
black. The preparations here were of the most expensive
and elaborate nature, and were said to be by far the most
elegant and appropriate witnessed on the entire route.
All through the Sabbath the people passed in an almost
endless line by the coffin, the scene proving one of most
extraordinary solemnity. All the children of the Sundayschools were admitted, and the City Councils of Cincinnati and Louisville, together with Gov. BRAMLETTE of
Kentucky, were present.
ARRIVAL AT CHICAGO.
At midnight of Sunday, April 30th, the remains were
escorted to the cars at Indianapolis, and the train left for
Chicago, where it arrived at eleven A. M., May 1st, 1865.
Minute guns and the tolling of bells announced the
arrival of the remains, and the multitude stood in profound silence, with uncovered heads, as the coffin was
slowly borne to the funeral car, under a grand arch across
Park place. The arch was fifty-one feet in span, sixteen
feet deep and forty feet high, its centre draped with the
national flags and mourning emblems, and containing
several inscriptions, including one as follows: " We Mourn
the Man with Heaven-born Principles."  The remains
were conveyed to the rotunda of the Court-house. Among
the mottoes was "Illinois clasps to her bosom her slain
but glorified son." The number of people in the city at
the time the processsion moved was not less than a
quarter of a million.
ARRIVAL AT SPRINGFIELD.
At eight o'clock in the evening of May 1st, the coffin
was again closed, and borne to the cars on its journey to




242 THE FUNERAL PROCESSION AT SPRINGFIELD.
Springfield, the earthly resting-place of its sacred treasure.
The next morning, May 2d, the funeral train reached the
city, and the corpse was conveyed to the State Capitol and
revealed to the view of the dead President's late fellowcitizens. The grief expressed here surpassed that of all
other communities.  To thousands of the people MR. LINCOLN had been personally known, and their affection and
sorrow for his untimely death was of a deeper nature than
that of any of his countrymen. Bells were tolled, funeral
guns fired, and a universal woe overspread the city. Many
thousand people visited the Capitol during the day and
night.
THE FUNERAL AT SPRINGFIELD.
The funeral took place on the fourth of May, and at noon
twenty-one guns were fired, and afterward single guns at
intervals of ten minutes. About noon, the remains were
brought from the State House and placed in a hearse,
which was surrounded by a magnificent crown of flowers.
Meanwhile a chorus of hundreds of voices, accompanied
by a brass band, sang the following hymn from the. portico of the Capitol.
" Children of the heavenly King,
Let us journey as we sing."
The funeral procession was under the imediate direction
of Major-General Hooker, Marshal-in-chief, BrigadierGeneral Cook and staff, and Brevet Brigadier-General
Oakes and staff. The military and the firemen made a
fine appearance. The guard of honor consisted of General
Barnard; Rear-Admiral Davis; and Generals McCallum,
Ramsay, Caldwell, Thomas, HIowe, Townsend, and Eakin;
and Captain Field, of the Marine Corps. The relations
and family friends of the deceased were in carriages.
Among them were Judge Davis, of the Supreme Court,




ARRIVAL AT OAK RIDGE CEMIETERY           243
the officiating clergyman, Bishop Simpson, Dr. Gurley,
and others.  In the procession were the Governors of
several States, members of Congress, the State and municipal authorities, and delegations from adjoining States.
The long line of civilians was closed by the Free Malasons,
Odd Fellows, and citizens at large, including colored persons. The hearse was immediately followed by the horse
formerly belonging to Mr. Lincoln. Its body was covered
with black cloth, trimmed with silver fringe. Never before was there so large a military and civic display in
Springfield. There were immense crowds of people in
the immediate vicinity of the Capitol to see the procession
as it passed, and the people for several miles occupied the
side-ways.
The procession arrived at Oak Ridge Cemetery at one
o'clock.  On the left of the vault in which the remains of
the President were deposited immediately on their arrival,
was a platform on which singers and an instrumental band
were in place, and these united in the chanting and singing of appropriate music, including a burial hymn by the
deceased President's pastor, the Rev. Dr. Gurley. On
the right was the speaker's stand, appropriately draped
with mourning.
The vault is erected at the foot of a knoll in a beautiful
part of the grounds, which contains forest trees of all
varieties.  It has a doric gable resting on pilasters, the
main wall being rustic. The vault is fifteen feet high and
about the same in width, with semi-circular wings of
bricks projecting from the hill-sides. The material is
limestone, procured at Joliet, Illinois. Directly inside of
the ponderous doors is an iron grating. The interior walls
are covered with black velvet, dotted with evergreens.
In the centre of the velvet is a foundation of brick, capped
with a marble slab, on which the coffin rests.  The front
of the vault is trimmed with evergreens. The dead




244  LAST RITES AT THE VAULT.-REMINISCENCES.
march in " Saul" was sung, accompanied by the band, as
the remains were deposited. Thousands of persons were
assembled at the cemetery before the arrival of the procession, occupying the succession of green hills, and the
scene was one of the most intense solemnity. ~ The landscape was beautiful in the light of an unclouded sun.
The religious exercises were commenced by the singing
of a dirge. Then followed the reading of appropriate
portions of the Scriptures and a prayer. After a hymn
sung by the choir, the Rev. Mr. Hubbard read the last
inaugural of President Lincoln. Another dirge was sung
by the choir, when Bishop Simpson delivered the funeral
oration. It was in the highest degree solemn, eloquent,
and patriotic, and portions of it were applauded. Then
followed another dirge and hymn, when benediction was
pronounced By the Rev. Dr. Gurley. The procession was
then re-formed, and returned to the city.
REMINISCENCES.
We have followed the remains of President Lincoln
from Washington, the scene of his assassination, to Springfield, his former home and now to be his final restingplace. He had been absent from that city ever since he
left it in February, 1861, for the National Capital, to be
inaugurated as President of the United States. We have
seen him lying in state in the Executive Mansion, where
the obsequies were attended by numerous mourners, some
of them clothed with the highest public honors and responsibilities which our republican institutions can bestow,
and by the diplomatic representatives of foreign Governments. We have followed the remains from Washington,
through Baltimore, Harrisburg, Philadelphia, New York,
Albany, Buffalo, Cleveland, Columbus, Indianapolis, and
Chicago to Springfield, a distance in circuit of fifteen hulldred or eighteen hundred miles. On the route millioiL.




BISHOP SIMPSON'S FUNERAL ORATION.   245
of people have appeared to manifest by every means of
which they were capable, their deep sense of the public
loss, and their appreciation of the many virtues which
adorned the life of Abraham Lincoln.  All classes, without distinction of politics, spontaneously united in the
posthumous honors.  All hearts seemed to beat as one at
the bereavement; and now funeral processions are ended,
our mournful duty of escorting the mortal remains of
Abraham  Lincoln hither is performed.  We have seen
them deposited in the tomb.  The bereaved friends, with
subdued and grief-stricken hearts, have taken their adieu
and turn their faces homeward, ever to remember the
affecting and impressive scenes which they have witnessed.
The injunction, so often repeated on the way,' Bear him
gently to his rest," has been obeyed, and the great heart
of the nation throbs heavily at the portals of the tomb.
BISHOP SIMPSON'S FUNERAL ORATION.
" FELLOW-CITIZENS OF ILLINOIS AND OF MANY PARTS OF OUR
ENTIRE UNION: —Near the capital of this large and growing State
of Illinois, in the midst of this beautiful grove, and at the open
mouth of the vault which has just received the remains of our
fallen chieftain, we gather to pay a tribute of respect and drop
the tears of sorrow around the ashes of the mighty dead. A
little more than four years ago, from his plain and quiet home in
yonder city, he started, receiving the parting words of the concourse of friends who gathered around him, and in the midst of
the dropping of the gentle shower he told of the pains of parting
from the place where his children had been born and his home
had been made so pleasant by early recollections. And as he
left he made an earnest request in the hearing of some who are
present, that as he was about to enter upon responsibilities which
he believed to be greater than any which had fallen upon any
man since the days of Washington, the people would offer up
their prayers that God would aid and sustain him in the work
they had given him to do. His company left your quiet city.
But as it went snares were in waiting for the Chief Magistrate.
Scarcely did he escape the dangers of the way or the ha.lnds of
the assassin as he neared Washington, and I believe he escaped
only through the vigilance of the officers and the prayers of the
people; so that the blow was suspended for more thau four




246    BISHOP SIMPSON'S FUNERAL ORATION.
years, which was at last permitted, through the providence of
God, to fall. H-low different the occasion which witnessed his
departure and that which witnessed his return  Doubtless you
expected to take him by the hand, to feel the warm grasp which
you felt in other days, and to see the tall form walking among
you which you had delighted to honor in years past. But he
was never permitted to return until he came with lips mute and
silent, his frame encoffined, and a weeping nation following as
his mourners. Such a scene as his return to you was never witnessed among the events of history. There have been great
processions of mourners. There was one for the patriarch
Jacob, which came up from Egypt, and the Egyptians wondered
at the evidence of reverence and filial affection which came from
the hearts of the Israelites. There was mourning when Moses
fell upon the heights of Pisgah and was hid from human view.
There have been mournings in the kingdoms of the earth when
kings and warriors have fallen; but never was there in the history of man such mourning as that which has accompanied the
funeral procession and has gathered around the mortal remains
of him who was our loved one, and who now sleeps among us.
If we glance at the procession which followed him we see how
the nation stood aghast. Tears filled the eyes of many sunburned faces.  Strong men, as they clasped the hands of their
friends, were unable to find vent for their grief in words.
Women and little children caught up the tidings as they ran
through the land and were melted into tears. The nation stood
still. Men left their plows in the fields and asked what the end
would be. The hum of manufactures ceased and the sound of
the hammer was not heard. Busy merchants closed their doors,
and in the exchange gold passed no more from hand to hand.
Three weeks have passed. The nation has scarcely breathed
easily yet. A mournful silence is abroad upon the land. Nor
is this mourning confined to any class or to any district of the
country. Men of all political parties and of all religious creeds
seem united in paying this mournful tribute. The Archbishop
of the Roman Catholic Church in New York and a Protestant
minister walked side by side in the sad procession, and a Jewish
Rabbi performed a part of the solemn service. There are gathered around his tomb representatives of the army and navy,
senators, judges, governors and officers of all the branches of the
government and members of all the civic associations, with men
and women from the humblest as well as the highest occupations.
Here and there, too, are tears, as sincere and warm as any that
drop, which come from the eyes of those whose kindred and
whose race have been freed from their chains by him whom they
mourn as their deliverer. Far more have gazed on the face of
the departed than ever looked upon the face of any other
departed man. More eyes have looked upon the procession for
sixteen hundred miles or more by night and by day, by sunlight,




BISHOP SIMPSON'S FUNERAL ORATION.    247
dawn, twilight and by torchlight, than ever before watched the
progress of a procession. We ask why this wonderful mourning,
this great procession? I answer: First, a part of the interest
has arisen from the times ill which we live, and in which he that
has fallen was a principal actor. It is a principle of our nature
that feelings once excluded from the object by which they are
excited, turn readily to some other object which may for the
time being take possession of the mind. Another principle is,
that the deepest affections of our hearts gather around some
human form in which are incarnated the loving thoughts and
ideas of the passing age. If we look, then, at the times, we see
an age of excitement. For four years the popular heart has
been stirred to its utmost depths. War had come upon us, dividing families, separating nearest and dearest friends-a war,
the extent and magnitude of which no one could estimate —a
war in which the blood of brethren was shed by'a brother's hand.
A call for soldiers was made by this voice, now hushed, and
all over this land-from hill to mountain, from plain tovalleythey sprung up, hundreds of thousands of bold hearts, ready to
go forth and save our National Union. This feeling of excitement was transferred next into a feeling of deep grief, because
of the dangers in which our country was placed. Many said,
Is it possible to save our nation? Some in our own country,
and nearly all the leading men in other countries, declared it to
be impossible to maintain the Union; and many an honest heart
was deeply pained with apprehensions of common ruin; and
many, in grief, and almost in despair, anxiously inquired,' What
shall the end of these things be?' In addition, the wiles had
given their husbands, and mothers their sons. In the prile and
joy of their hearts, they saw them put on their': uniform-they
saw them take their martial step-and they tried to hide their
deep feelings of sadness. Many dear ones slept on the battlefield-never, never, to return again-and there was mourning in
every mansion and in every cabin in our broad land. Then
came a feeling to deepen sadness, as the story came of prisoners
tortured to death, or starved, through the mandates of those
who are called the representatives of the Chivalry, or who claim
to be the honorable ones of the earth; and as we read the stories
of frames attenuated, and reduced to mere skeletons, our grief
turned partly to horror, and partly into a cry for vengeance.
Tlhen, the feeling was changed to one of joy. There came signs
of the end of the rebellion.  We followed the career of our
glorious Generals.  We saw our army, under the command of
the brave officer who is guiding this procession, climb up the
heights of Lookout Mountain, and drive the rebels from their
strongholds.  Another brave General swept through Georgia,
South and North Carolina. and drove the combined armies of
the rebels before him-while the honored Lieutenant-General
held Lee and his hosts in a death-grasp. Then the tidings came




248    BISHOP SIMPSON'S FUNERAL ORATION.
that Richmond was evacuated, and that Lee had surrendered!
The bells rang merrily all over the land.  The booming of
cannon was heard. Illuminations and torch-light processions
manifested the general joy, and families were looking for the
speedy return of their loved ones from the field of battle. Just
in the midst of the wildest joy-in one hour, nay, in one moment-the tidings rang throughout the land that Abraham Lincoln, the best of Presidents, had perished by the hands of an
assassin! And then, all that feeling which had been gathered
for four years-in forms of excitement, grief, horror, and joyturned into one wail of woe: a sadness inexpressible, anguish
unutterable. But it is not the time merely which caused this
mourning-the mode of his death must be taken into account.
Had he died on a bed of illness, with kind friends around him;
had the sweat of death been wiped from his brow, by gentle
hands, while he was yet conscious; could he have had the power
to speak words of affection to his stricken widow; words of
counsel to us all, like those which we heard in his parting for
Washington-in his inaugural, which shall now be immortalhow it would have softened or assuaged something of the grief.
There might at least have been preparation for the event. But
no moment of warning was given to him or to us. He was
stricken down when his hopes for the end of the rebellion were
bright, and the prospects of a joyous life were before him.
There was a Cabinet meeting that day, said to have been the
most cheerful and happy of any held since the beginning of the
rebellion. After this meeting, he talked with his friends, and
spoke of the four years of tempest, of the storm being over, and
of the four years of pleasure and joy now awaiting him, as the
weight of care and anguish would be taken from his mind, and
he could have happy days with his family again. In the midst
of these anticipations, he left his house, never to return alive.
Though the evening was Good Friday-the saddest day in the
whole calendar for the Christian Church-henceforth in this
country to be made still sadder, if possible, by the memory of
our nation's loss. And so filled with grief was every Christian's
heart, that even all the joyous thoughts of Easter Sunday
failed to remove the crushing sorrow under which the true
worshipper bowed in the house of God. But the great cause
of this mourning is to be found in the man himself. Mr. Lincoln was no ordinary man; and I believe the conviction has
been growing on the nation's mind, as it certainly has been on
my own, especially in the last years of his administration, that,
by the hand of God, he was especially singled out to guide our
government in these troublous times. And it seems to me that
the hand of God maybe traced in many of the events connected
with his history.
" First, then, I recognize that in his physical education which
he received, and which prepared him for enduring Herculean




BISHIOP SIAMPSON'S FUNERAL ORATION            249
labors in tle toils of his boyhood and the labors of his manhood, God was giving him an iron form. Next to this, was his
identification with the heart of the great people —understanding
their feelings, because he was one of them, and connected with
them in their movements and life. His education was simple.
A few months spent in the school-house, gave him the elements
of education. He read few books, but mastered all he read.'Bunyan's Progress' and the'Life of Washington' were his favorites. In these we recognize the works which gave the bias
to his character, and which partly moulded his style. His early
life, with its varied struggles, joined him indissolubly to the
weeping masses, and no elevation in society diminished his
respect for the sons of toil. He knew what it was to fell the
tall trees of the forest, and to stem the current of the swift
-Mississippi. His home was in the growing West, the heart of
the Republic; and, invigorated by the wind which swept over its
groves, he learned the lesson of self-reliance which sustained him
in seasons of adversity. His genius was soon recognized, as
true genius always will be. He was placed in the Legislature
of a State.  Already acquainted with the principles of law, he
devoted his thoughts to matters of public interest, and began to
be looked on as the coming statesman. As early as 1849 he
presented resolutions in the Legislature asking for emancipation
in the District of Columbia, although, with rare exceptions, the
whole popular mind of his State was opposed to the measures.
From that hour he was a steady and uniform friend of humanity,
and was preparing for the conflict of later years. If you ask on
what mental characteristics his greatness rested, I answer, on a
quick and ready perception of facts, and a memory unusually
tenacious and retentive, and on a logical turn of mind which
followed sterlingly and unwaveringly every link in the chain of
thought on any subject which he was called on to investigate.
I think there have been minds more decided in their character,
more comprehensive in their scope, but I doubt if there has
been a man who could follow, step by step, withl logical power.
the points which he desired to illustrate. HIe gained the power
by the close study of geometry, and by a determination to persevere in truth. It is said of him, that in childhood, when he
had any difficulty, in listening to a conversation, to understand
what people meant, if he retired to rest he could not sleep till
he tried to understand the precise points intended, and, when
understood, to convey it in a clearer manner to those who had
listened with him. Who that has read his messages fails to
perceive the directness and the simplicity of his style; and this
very trait, which was scoffed at and derided by his opposers, is
now recognized as one of the strong points of that mighty mind
which has so powerfully influenced the destiny of the nation,
and which shall for ages to come influence the destiny of humanity. It is not, however, chiefly by his mental faculties that




250     BISHOP SIMPSON'S FUNERAL ORATION.
he gained such a control over mankind. His moral power gave
him prominence. The convictions of men that Abraham  Lincoln was an honest man, led them to yield to his guidance. As
has been said of Cobden, whom he greatly respected, he made
all men feel and own the sense of himself, and recognize in him,
individually, a self-relying power. They saw in him a man whom
they believed would do that which was right, regardless of all
consequences. It was this moral feeling which gave him the
greatest hold on the people, and made his utterances almost
oracular. When the nation was angered by the perfidy of
foreign nations in allowing privateers to be fitted out, he uttered the significant expression-' One war at a time'-and it
stilled the national heart. Wbhn his own friends were divided
as to what steps should be taken as to slavery, that simple
utterance-' I will save the Union if I can with slavery; but,
if not, slavery must perish: for the Union must be preserved'
-became the rallying word. Men felt that the struggle was fbr
the Union, and all other questions must be subsidiary. But
after all the acts of a man, shall his fall be perpetuated? What
are his acts?  Much praise is due to the men who aided him.
He called able counsellors around him, and able Generals into
the field-men who have borne the sword as bravely as any human arm has borne it. He had the aid of prayerful and thoughtful men everywhere. But under his own guiding hands the
movements of our land have been conducted.
" Turn towards the different departments.  We had an unorganized militia-a mere skeleton army; yet under his care that
army has been enlarged into a force which for skill, intelligence,
efficiency and bravery surpasses any which the world has ever
seen. Before its veterans the renowned veterans of Napoleon
shall pale-and the mothers and sisters on these hillsides and
all over the land shall take to their arms again braver men
than ever fought in European wars. The reason is obvious.
Money, or a desire for fame collected their armies, or they were
rallied to sustain favorite theories or dynasties; but the armies
ihe called into being fought for liberty, for the Union, and for
the right of self-government; and many of them  felt that the
battles they won were for humanity everywhere, and for all time
for I believe that God has not suffered this terrible rebellion to
come upon our land merely as a chastisement to us or a lesson
to our age.'There are moments which involve in themselves
eternities. There are instants which seem  to contain gerlms
which shall develop and bloom forever.  Such a moment comes
in the tide of time to our land when a question must be settled.
T''he contest was not for the republic merely, not for the Union
simply, but to decide whether the people, as a people, in their
entire majesty, were destined to be the government, or whether
they were to be subjects of tyrants, or autocrats, or to class-rule
of ally kindt. This is the great question for whlich we have been




BISHOP SIAMPSON'S FUNERAL ORATION.    201
fighting, and its decision is at hand, and the result of the contest will affect the ages to come. If successful, republics will
spread, in spite of monarchism, all over this earth.  (Exclamations of Amsen,""  Thank God!") I turn from the Army to the
Navy. What was it when the war commenced? Now we have our
ships of war at home and abroad-to guard privateers in foreign
sympathizing ports as well as to take care of every part of our
own coast.  They have taken forts that military men said could
not be taken, and a brave admiral, for the first time in the
world's history, lashes himself to the mast, there to remain as
long as he had a particle of skill or strength to watch over his
ship while it engaged in the perilous contest of taking the strong
forts of the enemy. I turn to the Treasury Department. Where
shall the money come from?  Wise men predicted ruin, but our
National credit has been maintained, and our currency is safer
to-day than it ever was before. Not only is this so, but through
our National bonds, if properly used, we shall have a permanent
basis for our currency; and they are also an investment so desirable for capitalists of other nations, that under the laws of
trade, I believe, the centre of exchange will be transferred from
England to the United States.  But the great act of the mighty
chieftian, on which his fame shall rest long after his frame shall
moulder away, is that of giving freedom to a race.  We have all
been taught to revere the sacred character of Moses, of his
power, and the prominence he gave to the moral law. How it
lasts, and how his name towers among the names in Heaven,
and how he delivered three millions of his kindred out of bondage; and yet we may assert that Abraham Lincoln, by his Proclamation, liberated more enslaved people than ever Moses set
free, and these not of his kindred or of his race.  Such a power,
or such an opportunity, God has seldom given to man.  When
other events shall have been forgotten, when this world shall
have become a network of republics, when every throne shall
have been swept from the face of the earth, when literature
shall enlighten all minds, when the claims of humanity shall be
recognized every where, this act shall still be conspicuous on
the pages of history, and we are thankful that God gave to
Abrahaul Lincoln the decision, wisdom and grace to issue that
Proclamation which stand(s high above all other papers which
have been penned by uninspired men.  Abraham Lincoln was a
good man.  He was known as an honest, temperate, forgiving
man, a just man, a man of noble heart in every way. As to his
religions experience, I cannot speak definitely, because I was
net privileged to know much of his private sentiments.  My
acquaintance with him did not give me the opportunity to he.ar
him speak on this topic. I know, however, he read the Bible
frequently; loved it for its great truths and for its profound
teachings, and he tried to be guided by its precepts. He believed in Christ, the Saviour of sinners, and I think he was sim



252      BISHOP SIMPvSON'S FUNERAL ORATION.
cerely trying to bring his life into the principles of revealed
religion.  Certainly, if ever there was a man who illustrated
some of the principles of pure religion, that man was our departed President.  Look over all his speeches; listen to his
utterances.  He never spoke unkindly of any man; even the
rebels received no words of anger from  him; and the last day
illustrated, in a remarkable manner, his forgiving disposition. A
despatch was received that afternoon, that Thompson and
Tucker were trying to make their escape through Maine, and it
was proposed to arrest them.  Mr. Lincoln, however, preferred
rather to let them quietly escape, and this morning we read the
Proclamation offering twenty-five thousand dollars each for the
arrest of these men, as aiders and abettors of his assassination.
So that in his expiring acts he was saying:' Father forgive
them; they know not what they do!' As a rule I doubt if any
President has ever shown such trust in God, or in public docurnentts so frequently referred to Divine aid. Often did he rernark to
friends and to delegations that his hope for our success rested in
his 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, he replied that it gave him no concern whether the
Lord was on our side or not, for, he added,'I know that the Lord
is always on the side of the right,' and with a 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.' In his domestic life he was exceedingly kind and
affectionate.  He was a devoted husband and father.
" During his Presidential term he lost his second son, Willie.
To an officer of the army he said not long since,' Do you ever
find yourself talking with the dead l' and added,' Since Willie's
death I catch myself every day involuntarily talking' with him;
as if he were with me.' On his widow, who is unable to be here,
I need only invoke the blessing of Almighty God that she may
be comforted and sustained.  For his son, who has witnessed
the exercises of this hour, all that I can desire is that the mantle
of his father may fall upon him.  (Exclanations of'Amen.')
Let us pause a moment in the lesson of the hour before we part.'Ilhis man, though he fell by the hand of the assassin, still he
fell under the permissive hand of God. He had some wise purpose in allowing him so to fall.  What more could he have
desired of life for himself'?  Were not his honors full?  There
was no office to which he could aspire. The popular heart
clung around him as around no other man. The nations of the
world have learned to honor him. If rumors of a desired alliance
with England be true, Napoleon trembled when he heard of the
fall of Richmond, and asked what nation would join himn to protect him against our government. Besides the gooduness of such




BISHOP SIMPSON'S FUNERAL ORATIONi.    253
a man his fame was full. his work was done, and he sealed his
glory by becomning the nation's great martyr for liberty. He
appears to have had a strange presentiment early in political
life, that some day he would be President. You see it, indeed,
in 1839. Of the slave power he 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 iust. It shall not deter me.
If I ever feel the soul within me elevate and expand to those
dimensions not wholly unworthy of its Almighty architect it is
when I contemplate the cause of my country, deserted by ail the
world besides, and I standing up boldly and alone and hurling'
defiance at her vicarious 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.' And yet secretly
he said to more than one,'I never shall live out the four ye'ars
of my term. When the rebellion is crushed my work is done.'
So it was. He lived to see the last battle fought and to dictate
a despatch from the home of Jefferson Davis. Lived till the
power of the rebellion was broken; and then, having done 1ihee
work for which God had sent him, angels, I trust, were sent to
shield him from one moment of pain or suffering, and to bear
him from this world to that high and glorious realm where the
patriot and the good shall live forever.  His example teaches
young men that every position of eminence is open before the
diligent and the worthy, to the active men of the country.  1llis
example urges the country to trust in God and do right.  Standing as we do to-day by his coffin and his sepulchre, let us
resolve to carry forward the policy which he so nobly and wholly
began.  Let us do right to all men. Let us vow in the sight of
Heaven to eradicate every vestige of human slavery, to give every
human being his true position before God and man, to crush
every form of rebellion, and to stand by the flag which God has
given us. How joyfully we ought to be that it floated over
parts of every State before Mr. Lincoln's career was ended.
How singular is the fact that the assassin's foot was caught ill
the folds of the flag, and to this we are indebted for his capture.
The flag and the traitor must ever be enemies. The traitors wilt
probably suffer by the change of rulers, for one of sterner mould,
who himself has deeply suffered from the rebellion, now wields
the sword of justice.  Our country, too, is strono'er for the trial
through which it has passed.  A  republic was declared by
monarchies too weak to endure a civil war, yet we have crushed
the most gigantic rebellion in history, and have grown in strength
and population every year of the struggle.  We have passed
through the ordeal of a popular election while swords and
bayonets were in the field, and have comne out unchanged; and
now, in an hour of excitement, with a large minority who pre.
16




254     BISHOP SIMPSON'S FUNERAL ORATION,.
ferred another man for President, and the bullet of the assassin
having laid our President prostrate, has there been a mutiny?
nas any rival proposed his claim? In an army of nearly a
million of men, no officer or soldier has uttered one word of
dissent, and in an hour or two after Mr. Lincoln's death, another
leader, with constitutional powers, occupied his chair, and the
government moved forward without one single jar. The world
will learn that republics are the strongest governments on earth.
And now, my friends, in the words of the departed,' with malice
towards none, free from all feeling of personal vengeance, yet
believing the sword must not be drawn or borne in vain, let us
go forward in our painful duty.' Let every man who was a
Senator or Representative in Congress, and who aided in beginning this rebellion, and thus led to the slaughter of our sons and
daughters, be brought to a speedy and to certain punishment.
Let every officer educated at public expense, and who, having
been advanced to position, has perjured himself and has turned
his sword against the vitals of his country, be doomed to this.
I believe in the will of the American people. Men may attempt
to compromise, and to restore these traitors and murderers to
society again; but the American people will arise in their
majesty and sweep all such compromises and compromisers
away, and shall declare that there shall be no peace to rebels;
but to the deluded masses we shall extend the arms of forgiveness. We will take them  to our hearts and walk with them
side by side as we go forward to work out a glorious destiny.
The time will come when, in the beautiful language of him whose
lips are forever closed,'The mystic cords of memory, which
stretch from every battle field and from every patriot's grave,
shall yield a sweeter music when touched by the angels of our
better nature.' To the ambitious there is the fearful lesson of
the four candidates for Presidential honors in 1860. Two of
them, Douglas and Lincoln, once competitors, but now sleeping
patriots, rest from their labors; Bell perished in poverty and
misery, a as a traitor might perish, and Breckenridge is a frightened fugitive, with the brand of traitor on his brow. That will
be vouched by the angels of our better nature. (Cries of " good,
good.")
ABRAHAM  LINCOLN IS MOURNED BY
TWENTY-FIVE MILLIONS OF PEOPLE.
Thus was laid to his silent rest the most illustriouc
citizen of the Nineteenth century.  No other mortal ever
went to his tomb amid such expressions of grief. Twentyfive millions of people mourned him as children mourn the
loss of a father.  The emancipated blacks felt that they




LIFE AND PRINCIPLES OYF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 255
had parted with their earthly saviour, the man who, under
GOD, had been raised up to redeem them from oppression.
And now, as we write, the wail of old England, the sorrows of all Europe, the sighs of every breast which contains a heart throbbing with the love of liberty, come
borne to us by every burdened breeze' from over the
Atlantic.  The world sympathizes with America in her
grief, and the world accords to our cherished dead the
meed of praise, the proud height of fame to which Mr.
Lincoln's pure life, honest heart, and unsullied private
and public character entitled him before the eyes of man
and angels.
In his career we have seen how the flat-boatman and
rail-splitter of the West clinibed step by step until he
reached the highest round of political preferment, as well
as the loftiest place in the affections of his countrymen.
We have seen how honesty of purpose won its way while
beset by the wiles of political chicanery and deceit. We
have seen how sterling principle lived down fierce opposition until the false and the wrong were forced to yield
to the true and the just.  We have seen a grand illustration of the practical democratic republicanism of our
American system, in elevating a man from the humblest
ranks of the people to the loftiest place on earth.  And,
finally, we have seen how the malignant hate of foiled
traitors sped the Parthian arrow to the murdering of the
most illustrious citizen of the Republic.
"An eagle, tower'ing in his pride of place,
Was by a mousing owl hawked at and killed."
But the principles enunciated and struggled for by
Abraham  Lincoln are as imperishable as truth itself, and
having performed his great mission upon earth, he has
gone to meet his reward in another sphere, leaving to his
fellow citizens, and to posterity, the enjoyment of the




256 FIRST PLOT TO ASSASSINATE MR. LINCOLN.
great reforms of which he was the instrument in the
hands of Providence, and to American youth the influence of his grand example.
THE FIRST PLOT TO ASSASSINATE PRESIDENT LINCOLN.
The murder of Mr. Lincoln, more than four years after
his induction into the office of President of the United
States, is not the fulfilment of a recent intention, nor is
the guilt of it confined to the actual murderer and his
present active accomplices.  Soon after the first election
of Mr. Lincoln, a plot was matured for his assassination,
which was vaguely rumored at the time of' its intended
execution, but which was never exposed in any formal
manner, and hence never obtained general credence.  As
we are in possession of its outlines, and the means by
which it was defeated, the mention of the circumstances
may now be received with a degree of interest which they
could not heretofore have excited.  It is proper to say
that we state them substantially as they were reported
some time ago, by a gentleman who was chiefly instrumental in defeating the conspiracy. In the month of
January, 1861, a gentleman, holding a position in this
city, which made him a proper agent to act on the information, was waited upon by a lady, who stated to him her
suspicions or knowledge —whence derived we are not able
to say-of a plot to assassinate Mr. Lincoln when on his
way from his home, in Illinois to Washington, to be inaugurated as President.  The active parties, or some of
them, in the business, were understood to be in Baltimore.
At all events, the gentleman considered that the intelligence had sufficient foundation to make it his duty to
satisfy himself whether it might be correct.  He accordingly employed a detective officer, a man who had in his
profession become notable for his sagacity and success, to




FIRST PLOT TO ASSASSINATE MR. LINCOLN.  257
go to Baltimore and adopt his own course to detect the
parties to and plan of the conspiracy.  The officer went
to Baltimore, and opened an office as some sort of broker
or agent, under an assumed name. Being supplied with
needful funds, he made occasions to become acquainted
with certain classes of secessionists, and by degrees was
on free and easy terms with them.  He took each nman in
his humor, dined and supped with some, gambled with
others, " treated" and seconded dissipations in more ways
than need be expressly stated, until he had secured enough
of their confidence to be familiar with the particulars of
their schemes.  Meanwhile it had been ascertained that
on the line of the Baltimore Railroad there were men engaged in military drilling.  Several other detectives were
employed by the chief to discover the purpose of those
organizations; and, disguised as laborers or farm hands,
they got themselves mustered in.  One of the military
companies proved to be loyal in its purpose; another,
under pretence of being prepared to guard one or more of
the bridges north of Baltimore, was designed for quite an
opposite purpose.  It will be remembered that some time
before Mr. Lincoln set out from his home for Wrashington,
his intended route thither was published.  A part of the
programme was that he should visit Harrisburg and Philadelphia.  We believe that Mr. Lincoln was not advised
especially of any personal danger until he was about to
go to Harrisburg, and then, at the instance of the gentleman referred to, he was urged to proceed without delay
to Washington.  He replied, however, that he had promised the people of Harrisburg to answer their invitation,
and he would do so if it cost him his life.  He accordingly visited Harrisburg on the 22d of February, 1861.
It was intended he should rest there that evening. But
under the management of "the gentleman," another arrangement was effected.  The night train from Philadel



258 FIRST PLOT TO ASSASSINATE MR. LINCOLN.
phia to Baltimore and Washington left at half past ten
o'clock in the evening.  It was determined that Mr. Lincoln should go secretly by that train on the evening of
the 23d; and to enable him to do so, a special train was
provided to bring him secretly from Harrisburg to Philadelphia. After dark, in the former city, when it was presumed he had retired to his hotel, he accordingly took the
special train, and came to Philadelphia.  Meanwhile, in
anticipation of his coming, " the gentleman" had insured
the detention of the Philadelphia and Baltimore train,
under the pretence that a parcel of important documents
for one of the departments inll Washington must be dispatched by it, but which might not be ready until after
the regular time of the starting of that train.  By a
similar representation, the connecting train from Baltimore to Washington was also detained. Owing to the
late hour at which the special train left Harrisburg with
nlr. Lincoln, it did not, as was anticipated, reach this
city until after the usual Philadelphia and Baltimore
time.  Mr. Lincoln was accompanied by the officer who
had been employed in Baltimore.  A formidable bundle
of old railroad reports had been made up in the office of
the Philadelphia and Baltimore Company, which the
officer, duly instructed, had charge of.  On the arrival of
the Harrisburg train, Mr. Lincoln took a carriage in
waiting, and with his escort was driven to the depot at
Broad and Prime streets.  The officer made some ostentatious bustle, arriving with his parcel for which the
train was detained, and passing through the depot entered the cars, Mr. Lincoln in his company.  As Mr.
Lincoln passed through the gate, the man attending it
remarked: "Old fellow, it's well for you the train was
detained to-night, or you wouldn't have gone in it."  No
one aboard the train but the agent of the company and
the officer knew of Mr. Lincoln's being in it. I-He was




FIRST PLOT TO ASSASSINATE MR. LINCOLN.  259
conducted to a sleeping car, and thus was kept out of the
way of observation.  To guard against any possible commutiiuation by telegraph at this time, the circuit was
brok:, t.o be united when it would be safe to do so.  The
plan of the conspirators was to break or burn one of the
bridges north of Baltimore, at the time of Mr. Lincoln's
anticipated approach, on the following day; and in the
confusion incident to the stoppage of the train, to assassinate him in the cars.  Hence the extra precaution above
mentioned, regarding the telegraph.  In due time the
train with Mr. Lincoln reached Washington, and he being
safe there, the officer, as previously instructed, sent a dispatch to " the gentleman" that " the parcel of documents
had been delivered."  The public, and, above all, the
conspirators, awoke on the morning of the 24th to be
astonished with the intelligence that Mr. Lincoln had
arrived in Washington.  It may be well to mention here
that the story of his disguise in a "Scotch cap" and
cloak, was untrue.  He wore his ordinary traveling cap,
and was in no sense of the word disguised.
We give this narrative, assured that in no essential
particular can it vary from the circumstant;il account of
" the gentlemen," to whose precautions may be properly
attributed the frustation of the first plot to assassinate
Abraham Lincoln.  In confirmation of the view that this
plot was within the knowledge of certain eminent secessionists in Washington, it may be stated that a gentleman, who was a member of the " Peace Convention,"
then in session, heard one of the Southern members
exclaim, when Mr. Lincoln's arrival in Washington was
mentioned, " My God! how did he get here?"  The surprise was too significant to be mistaken, when afterwards
remembered and associated with other circumstances.




260  TRIBUTES TO MEMORY OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN.
TRIBUTES TO THE MEMORY OF PRESIDENT
LINCOLN.
The history of Mr. LINCOLN'S life would be incomplete,
did we not introduce several of the eloquent tributes paid
to his memory by some of the most distinguished of our
public men and pulpit orators.  The noble sentences
uttered by SCHUYLER COLFAX, of Indiana, at Bryan Hall,
Chicago, will be read with intense interest and satisfaction
by the American people. No one knew the lamented
dead better than he. There was a unity of heart between
the two, and Mr. LINCOLN rarely took any step affecting
the interests of the nation without making known his intentions to and consulting with Mr. COLFAX, in whose
judgment he placed the utmost confidence. A strong
affection existed between them, each admiring and respecting the other, for the honesty, firmness, and integrity
of character which have made the names of ABRAHAM
LINCOLN and SCHUYLER COLFAX household words throughout the land.
GGORGE BANCROFT, the historian, also laid his tribute
of respect upon the tomb of the martyr, in a eulogy remarkable for its eloquence and sententiousness; while
HENRY WARD BEECHER, the orator of the American
pulpit, delivered in the Plymouth Church, Brooklyn, a
sermon on the death of the President which has not been
surpassed by any funeral oration called forth by the event
which threw the country into mourning.
General HIRAM WALBRIDGE, of New York, one of the
most prominent men in the North-a man who was politically opposed to the election of Mr. LINCOLN, but a
man of undoubted patriotism-at an immense meeting
held in memory of the deceased President, delivered an
address worthy of the distinguished speaker and of the
hallowed character of which he spoke.
The Orations are subjoined, and will be found complete.




HON. SCHUYLER COLFAX'S ADDRESS.    261
ABRAHAMIV LINCOLN-HIS RELIGIOUS CHAR-.
ACTER AND NOBILITY OFP HEART-ADDRESS
OF THE HON. SCHUYLER COLFAX, AT BRYAN
HALL, CHICAGO, SUNDAY, APRIL 30, 1865.
Every seat in Bryan Hall, and every inch of standing
room, was occupied by the audience, who came, notwithstanding the inclemency of tile weather, to hear ScriuYLER  COLFAX, the Speaker of the National House of
Representatives, speak of the virtues and character of
the dead President.
The Chair was occupied by JOHN V. FARWELL, Esq.,
the President of the Northwestern Pranch of the Christian Commission.  The services were opened with Prayer
by Professor F. W. FIsK, P. D., of the Chicago Theological Seminary; after which Mr. FARWELL introduced
t-he eloquent speaker, in a few befitting and appropriate
remarks.  Mr. COLFAX  was loudly applauded.  After
requesting the audience to omit all manifestations of
applause, Mr. COLFAX said:
H-ON. SCHUYLER COLFAX'S ADDRESS.
"Over two centuries and a half have passed away since the
Ruler of any great nation of the world has fallen by the murderous attack of an assassin; and, for the first time in our history,
there is blood on the Presidential Chair of the Republic.:Death is almost always saddening. The passing away of some
dear friend from  our earthly sight forever, fills the heart with
sorrow. When it strikes down one who fills honorably a position of influence and power, as in the case of our two Presidents who died of disease in the White House, the sincerest
grief is felt throughout the land. But when this affliction is
aggravated by death coming through the hand of a murderer,
it is not strange that the wave of woe sweeps gloomily over a
nation, which sits down to mourn in sackcloth, and feels in every
individual heart as if there was one dead at their own hearthstones. It seems, too, as if this wicked deed was intensified,
in all its horror, by every attendant circumstance.  r'he fatal
shot was fired on the very day when -the nation's flag was again
unfurled in triumph over that fort in Charleston harbor, which,
in four years' time, had been the cradle and the grave of the
Rebellion. It was at an hour whel) the death of' the President




262      HON. SCHUYLER COLFAX'S ADDRESS.
could not be of the slightest avail to the treasonable conspiracy
against the Republic, which its military leaders acknowledged,
at last, was powerless and overthrown.  And it was aimed,
alas, with too sure a hand, at the life of that one man in the
Government whose heart was tenderest towards the would-be
assassins of the nation's life.
" You may starch history, ancient and modern, and when the
task is ended, all will concede that Abraham  Lincoln was the
most merciful ruler who ever put down a powerful rebellion.
He had so won the hearts of the people, and so entwined himself in their regard and affection, that he was the only man
living who could have stood in the breach between the leaders
of this iniquity and the wrath of the country they had plunged
into bloody war. Feeling, as so many did, that his kindly heart
almost forgot justice in its throbbings for mercy, yet, knowing
his unfaltering devotion to his country his inflexible adherence
to principle, his unyielding determination for the restoration of
our national unity, there was a trust in him almost filial in its
loving confidence, that whatever he should finally resolve on
would prove in the end to be for the best.  Had he been an unforgiving ruler; had his daily practice been to sit in his high
place and there administer with unrelenting severity the penalties of offended law; had he proclaimed his resolution to consign all the plotters against his country to the gallows they had
earned, we might have understood why the Rebel assassins
"onspired against his life.  But no assassination in historyaot even that of Henry IV. of France, for which Ravaillac was
)oru in pieces by horses-nor William of Orange —approximates
~n utterly unpalliated infamy to this.
"In the midst of the national rejoicings over the assured triumph of the national cause-with illuminations and bonfires
blazing in every town, and the merry peal of the festive bell in
every village, our cities blossoming with flags, our hearts beating high with joy, the two great armies of Grant and Lee friaternizing together after their long warfalre, and exulting together
over the return of peace-we were brought from  the utmost
heights of felicity to the deepest valleys of lamentation.  No
wonder that Rebel Generals acknowledged that it sent down
their cause through all the coming centuries to shanieless dishonor.  For, disguise it as some may seek to do, behind the
form of the assassin as his finger pulled the fatal trigger, loollis
up the dark and fiendish Spirit of the Rebellion, which, baffled
in its work of assassinating the nation's lif'e, avenged itself on
the life of him who represented the nation's contest and the
nation's victory.  As surely as the infamous offer of twenty-five
thousand crowns, by Philip of Spain, to whormsoever would rid
the world of the pious William of Orange, the purest and bestloved ruler of his times-who, by a strikin)g' coincidence. was
called Father MWillitam, as we called our beloved President




ION. SCHUYLER  COLFAX'S ADDRESS.               263
Father Abraham-as surely as this public offer, with its false
denunciations of William's offences, inspirited the murderous
Balthazar to shoot him  through the body, so surely are the
Chiefs of this gigantic rebellion of our times responsible for the
fatal bullet that carried death to our Chief Magistrate and filled
the land with unavailing sorrow.
"Unrebuked by them, history repeated itself in the following
infamous proffer, published in the Selma (Alabama) Di/spatch
of last December, and copied approvingly into other Rebel
organs:
"'ONE MILLION DOLLARS WANTED, TO HAVE PEACE BY THE
FIRST OF AMARCH.-If the citizens of the Southern Confederacy
will furnish me with the cash, or good securities, for the sum of
One Million Dollars, I will cause the lives of Abraham Lilcoln,
William I-l. Seward, and Andrew Johnson, to be taken by the
1st of March next.  This will give us peace, and satisfy the
world that cruel tyrants cannot live in a land of liberty.  If
this is not accomplished, nothing will be claimed beyond the
sum of fifty thousand dollars, in advance, which is supposed to
be necessary to reach and slaughter the three villains.
"' I will give, myself, one thousand dollars towards this patriotic purpose.
"'" Every one wishing to contribute will address Box X, Cahawba, Ala.
"'December 1, 1864.'
"And, to fix upon them  the brand, ineffaceably and forever,
as the miscreant leaped upon the stage, his shout of Virginia's
motto,'Sic semper tyqrannis,' with his own addition,' The South is
avenged,' proclaims to the civilized world, which will be filled with
horror at the deed, as well as to posterity, which will ever loathe
the crime and the cause for whose interest it was committed,
the authorship of this unparalleled atrocity. It seems, however,
but a natural sequel to the infamous plot to murder him as he
passed through Baltimore when first elected; to the brutalities
on our dead soldiers at Bull Run, burying them face downwards,
and carving up their bones into trinkets; to the piracies on the
high seas, and attempts to burn women and children to death in
crowded hotels and theatres; to Fort Pillow massacres, and to
the systematic and inexpiable starvation of thousands of Union
prisoners in their horrid pens.
" I can scarcely trust myself to attempt the portraiture of
our Martyred Chief, whose death is mourned as never manl's was
mourned before; and who, in all the ages that may be left to
America, while time may last, will be enshrined in solemn
memory with the Father of the Republic which he saved. How
much I loved him personally I cannot express to you. IHonored
always by his confidence, treated ever by him with affectionate
regard; sitting often with him familiarly at his table; his last
visitor on that terrible night; receiviuig- his last lmessage, fill




264      HON. SCHUYLER  COLFAX'S ADDRESS.
of interest to the toiling miners of the distant West; walking
by his side from his parlor to the door, as he took his last steps
in that Executive Mansion he had honored; receiving the last
grasp of that generous and loving hand, and his last good-bye;
declining his last kind invitation to join him in those hours of
relaxation which incessant care and anxiety seemed to render
so desirable, my mind has since been tortured by regrets that I
had not accompanied him.  If the knife which the assassin had
intended for Grant had not been wasted, as it possibly would
not have been, on one of so much less importance in our national affairs, perchance a sudden backward look at that eventful instant might have saved that life, so incalculably precious
to wife, and children, and country —or, failing in that, mio'ht
have hindered or prevented the escape of his murderer.'l'he
willingness of any man to endanger his life for another's, is so
much doubted, that I scarcely dare to say how willingly I would
have risked my own to preserve his, of such priceless value to
us all. But if you can realize that it is sweet to die for one's
country-as so many scores of thousands, from every State, aind
county, and hamlet, have proven in the years that are passed,
you can imagine the consolation there would be to ally one, even
in his expiring hours, to feel that he had saved the land from
the funereal gloom which, but a few days ago, settled down upon
it, from ocean to ocean, and from capitol to cabin, at the loss of
one for whom even a hecatomb of victilms could not atone.
"Of this noble-hearted mnan, so full of genial impulses, so
self-forgetful, so utterly unselfish, so pure, and gentle, and good,
who lived for us, and at last died for us, I feel how inadequate
I am to portray his manifold excellencies, his intellectual worth,
his generous character, his fervid patriotism.  Pope celebrated
the memory of Robert Harley, the Lord of Oxford, a privy
counsellor of Queen Anne, who himself n xrowly escaped assassination, in lines that seem prophetic of Mr. Lincoln's virtues:
"'A soul supreme in each hard instanco tried;
Above all pain, all anger, and all pride,
The rage of power, the blast of public breath,
The lust of lucre, and the dread of death.'
" No one could ever convince the President that he was in
danger of violent death.  Judging others by himself, lie could
not realize that any one could seek his blood.  Or he may have
believed, as Napoleon wrote to Jerome, that no public man
could effectually shield himself from  the danger of assassination.  Easier of access to the public at large than had been any
of his predecessors;  admitting his bitterest enemies to his reception-room alonee; restive under the cavalry escort, which
Secretary Stanton insisted should accompany hirm last summer
in his daily journeys between the White 1-louse and his summer
residence, at the Soldier's Ilome, several miles froml Washington, at a time, too, as since ascertained in the details of this




HON. SCHUYLER COLFAX'S ADDRESS.    265
long-organized plot. discovered since his death, when it was in
tended to gag and handcuff him, and carry him to the Rebel
capital as a hostage for their recognitionl; sometimes escaping
from their escort by anticipating their usual hour of attendance 
walking about the grounds unattended; he could not be per
suaded that he run any risk whatever.
" Being at City Point after the evacuation of Richmond, he
determined to go thither: not from idle curiosity, but to see if
he could not do something to stop the effusion of blood and
hasten the peace for which he longed. The ever-watchfuil Sec
retary of War hearing of it, implored him by telegraph not to
go, and warned him that some lurking assassin might take his
life. But, armed with his good intentions-alas, how feeble a
shield they proved against the death-blow afterwards —he went,
walked fearlessly and carelessly through the streets, met and
conferred with a Rebel leader who had remained there, and
when he returned to City Point telegraphed to his faithful friend
and constitutional adviser, who till then had feared, as we all
did at that time, for his life —' I received your despatch last
night, went to Richmond this morning, and have just returned.
ABRAHAM LINcoLN.' Wrhen I told him, on that last night, how
uneasy all had been at his going, he replied, pleasantly, and with
a smile (I quote his exact words):'Why, if any one else had
been President and gone to Richmond, I would have been
alarmed too; but I was not scared about myself a bit.' If any
of you have ever been at Washington, you will remember the
footpath, lined and embowered with trees, leading from the back
door of the WVar Department to the White House.
"One night, and but recently too, when, in his anxiety for
news from  the army, he had been with the Secretary in the
telegraph office of the Department, he was about starting home
at a late hour by this short route, Mr. Stanton stopped him,
and said,' You ought not to go that way —it is dangerous for
you even in the daytime, but worse at night.' Mr. Lincoln replied,' I don't believe there's any danger there, day or night.'
Mir. Stanton responded, solemnly,'Vell, Mr. President, you
shall not be killed returning that dark way from my Department
while I am in it; you mv,?st let me take you round by the avenue
in my carriage.' And Mr. Lincoln, joking the Secretary on his
imperious military orders, and his needless alarm on his account,
as he called it, entered his carriage and was driven by the welllighted avenue to the White House.
"And thus he walled through unseen dangers without' the
dread of death;' his warm heart so full of good-will, even to his
enemies, that he could not imagine there was any one base enough
to slay him; and the death-dealing bullet was sped to its mark
in a theatre, where, but little over an hour before, he had been
welcomed, as he entered, by a crowded audience rising, and with
cheers and waving of handkerchiefs, honoring him with an ova



266       HON. SCHUYLER  COLFAX'S ADDRESS.
tion of which any one might well be proud.  Some regret that
he was there at all. But, to all human appearance, he was safer
there, by far, than in his own reception-room, where unknown
visitors so often entered alone. I-le found there a telnporary
respite, occasionally, from  the crowds who thronged his anterooms, relaxation from the cares and perplexities which so constantly oppressed him, keeping his mind under the severest
tension, like the bent bow, till it almost lost its spring, and, on this
fatal night —to be so black an one hereafter in our calendar —going
with reluctance, and, as he expressed it to Mr. Ashmun and
myself, only because General Grant, who had been advertised
with himself to be present, had been compelled to leave the city,
and he did not wish to disappoint those who would expect to
see him there.
" Of the many thousands of persons I have met in public or
private life, I cannot call to mind a single one who exceeded him
ill calmness of temper, in kindness of disposition, and in overflowing generosity of impulse.  I doubt if his most intimate
associate ever heard him utter bitter or vindictive language.
Ile seemed wholly free from malignity or revenge; from ill-will
or injustice.  Attacked ever so sharply, you all remember that
he never answered railing with railing.  Criticised ever so
unjustly, he would reply with no word of reproof, but patiently
and uncomplainingly, if he answered at all, strive to prove that
he stood on the rock of right.  When, from the halls of Congress or elsewhere, his most earnest opponents visited the White
House with business, they would be met as frankly, listened to
as intently, and treated as justly as his most intimate friends.
It could be said of him as Pyrrhus said of Fabricius when the
latter, though in hostile array, exposed to his enemy the treachery of his physician, who proffered to poison him —' It is easier
to turn the sun from his career than Fabricius from his honesty.'
Men of all parties will remember, when the exciting contest of
last fall ended in his triumphant re-election, his first word thereafter, from the portico of the White House, was that he could
not and would not exult over his countrymen who had differed
with his policy.
"And thus he ruled-and thus he lived-and thus he died.
The wretch who stood behind him and sent his bullet crashing
through that brain, which had been devising plans of reconciliation with the country's deadliest foes, as he leaped upon the
stage and exulted over the death of him whom he denounced as
a tyrant, uttered as foul a falsehood as the lying witnesses who
caused the conviction and the crucifixion of the Son of Man,
on the same Good Friday, nearly two thousand years ago.  I
would not compare the human with the Divine, except in that
immeasurable contrast of the finite with the Infinite. But his
whole life proves to me that if he could have had a single moment of consciousness and of speech, his great heart would




HON. SCHUYLER COLFAX'S ADDRESS.    26Ti
have prompted him to pray for those who had plotted for his
blood,'Father, forgive thenm. for they know not what they do 1'
" He bore the nations perils, and trials and sorrows, ever on
his mind. You knlew him, in a large degree, by the illustrative
stories of which his memory and his tongue were so prolific,
using them to point a moral, or to soften discontent at his decisions. But this was the mere badinage which relieved him for
the moment from  the heavy weight of public duties and responsibilities under which he often wearied. Those whom he
admitted to his confidence, and with whom he conversed of his
feelings, knew that his inner life was checkered with the deepest
anxiety and most discomforting solicitude. Elated by victories
for the cause which was ever in his thoughts, reverses to our
arms cast a pall of depression over him. One morning, over
two years ago, calling upon him on business, I found him looking more than usually pale and careworn, and inquired the
reason. I-e replied, with the bad news he had received at a
late hour the previous night, which had not yet been communicated to the press-adding, that he had not closed his eyes or
breakfasted; and, with an expression I shall never forget, he
exclaimed,' How willingly would I exchange places to-day with
the soldier who sleeps on the ground in the Army of the Potomac!'
" He was as free from deceit as from  guile.   He had one
peculiarity which often misled those with whom he conversed.
Wrhen his judgment, 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 these arguments to see if they could be
rebutted. He thus often surprised both friend and foe in his
final decisions; always willing to listen to all sides till the latest
possible moment; yet, when he put down his foot, he never took
a backward step.  Once, speaking of an eminent statesman, he
said:' When a question confronts him, he always and naturally
argues it from the stand-point of which is the better policy
but with me,' he added,'ny only desire is to see what is right.'
And this is the key to his life. His parents left Kentucky for
Indiana in his childhood, on account of slavery in the former
State; and he thus inherited a dislike for that institution.  As
he said recently to Governor Bramlette, of his native State,'if
slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong.' Moving to Illinois, he
found the prejudices here against anti-slavery men, when he
entered on public and professional life, more intense than in any
other free State in the Union.  But he never dissembled, never
concealed his opinions.
"Entering, in 1858, on that contest with his great political
rival, but personal friend, Judge Douglas, which attracted
the attention of the whole Union, he startled many of his friends




268       HON. SCHUYLER COLFAX'S ADDRESS.
by the declaration of his convictions that the Union could
not permanently endure half slave and half free, that ultimately
it would be either the one or the other, or be a divided house
that could not stand; that he did not expect the Union to
be dissolved, or the house to fall, but that it would cease to be
divided, and that the hope of the Republic was in staying
the spread of slavery that the public mind might rest in the
hope of its ultimate extinction. And, though he coupled this
with declarations against Congressional interference with it in
existing States, it was not popular, and kept him in the whole
canvass upon the defensive.  But to every argument against it
his calm reply was, in substance,'such is my clear conviction,
and I cannot unsay it.'
"His frankness in expressing unpopular opinions was manifested also, when in Southern Illinois, before an audience almost
unanimously hostile to the sentiments, he declared, in the same
close and doubtful contest, that, when the Declaration of Independence proclaimed that all men were created free and equal,
it did not mean white men alone, but negroes as well; and that
their rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, were as
inalienable as the noblest of the land.  He claimed no power
over State laws in other States which conflicted with these
rights, or curtailed them; but with unfaltering devotion to his
conscientious conviction, and regardless of its effects upon his
political prospects, he never wavered in his adherence to this
truth. And yet, when elected President of the United States,
le executed the Fugitive Slave Law, because his oath of office
as the Executive, in his opinion, required it.  When urged to
strike at slavery under the war power, he replied in a widely
published letter,'My paramount object is to save the Union,
al d I would save it in the shortest way. If I could save the
Union without freeing any slaves, I would do it. If I could
save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it; and if I could do
it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would also do
that. But I intend no modification of my oft-expressed personal wish that all men everywhere could be free.'  And, when
at last the hour arrived when, in his honest opinion, the alternative between the death of slavery and the death of the Union
confronted him, then, and not till then, he struck at the cause
of all our woes with the battle axe of the Union.
" Signing that immortal proclamation, which made him the
Liberator of America, on the afternoon of January 1st, 1863,
after hours of New Year's hand shaking, he said to me and
other friends that night-' The signature lools a little tremulous,
for my hand was tired, but my resolution was firm. I told them
in September, if they did not return to their allegiance and
cease murdering our soldiers, I would strike at this pillar
of their strength. And now the promise shall be kept; and not
one word of it will I ever recall.' And the promise was kept,




HON. SCHUYLER COLFAX'S ADDRESS.               269
and every word of it has stood. Thank God, when slavery and
treason benumbed that hand in death, they could not destroy
that noble instrument to which that hand had given a life that
shall never die. A great writer said that when Wilberforce
stood at the bar of God, he held in his hand the broken shackles
which on earth had bound hundreds of thousands of his fellowmen. But, when baffled treason hurried Abraham Lincoln into
the presence of his Maker, he bore with him  the manacles of
four millions whom he had made free; fetters that no power on
God's foot-stool is strong enough to place again on their
enfranchised limbs.
" No man, in our era, clothed with such vast power, has ever
used it so mercifully. No ruler holding the keys of life and
death, ever pardoned so many and so easily. When friends said
to him they wished he had more of Jackson's sternness, he
would say,'I ami just as God made me, and cannot change.' It
may not be generally known that his door-keepers had standing
orders from him that no matter how great might be the throng,
if either Senators or Representatives had to wait, or to be turned
away without an audience, he must see before the day closed,
every messenger who came to him with a petition for the saving
of life.  One night in February I left all other business to ask
him to respite the son of a constituent, who was sentenced to be
shot, at Davenport, for desertion. He heard the story with his
usual patience, though he was wearied out with incessant calls,
and anxious for rest, and then replied:-' Some of our generals
complain that I impair discipline and subordination in the army
by my pardons and respites, but it makes me rested, after a
hard day's work, if I can find some good excuse for saving
a man's life, and I go to bed happy as I think how joyous the
signing of my name will make him and his family and his friends.'
And with 1 happy smile beaming over that care-furrowed face,
he signed,hat name that saved that life.
"But 4 oraham Lincoln was not only a good and a just and a
genero-u and a humane man. I could not be just to that wellrounded character of his, without adding that he was also a
praying man.  He has often said that his reliance in the
gloomiest hours, was on his God, to whom  he appealed in
prayer, although he had never become a professor of religion.'l'o a clergyman who asked him if he loved his Saviour, he replied,
and he was too truthful for us to doubt the declaration:.
"'Whenl I was first inaugurated I did not love Him; when
God took my son I was greatly impressed, but still I did not
love Him; but when I stood upon the battle-field of Gettysburg,
I gave my heart to Christ, and I can now say I do love the
Saviour.'
" The Bible was always in his reception room. I have doubted
the report that he read an hour in it every day, for he often came
17




270      HON. SCHUYLER  COLFAX'S ADDRESS.
direct from his bed to his reception room, so anxious was he to
accommodate members who had important business, and it
would sometimes be two or three hours before  he would playfully say to some friend whose turn had come,'Won't you stay
here till I get some breakfast?' But he must have read the
Bible considerably, for he often quoted it.  One day that I happened to come in he said,' Mr.- has just been here attacking
one of my Cabinet, but I stopped him with this text,' and he
read from the Proverbs a text, I had never heard quoted before,
as follows:' Accuse not a servant to his master.'
"You cannot fail to have noticed the solemn and sometimes
almost mournful strain that pervades many of his addresses.
When he left Springfield in 1861 to assume the Presidency, his
farewell words were as follows:
"' MY FRIENDS:-NO one not in my position can appreciate
the sadness I feel at this parting.'To this people I owe all
that I am. Here I have lived more than a quarter of a century;
here my children were born, and here one of them  lies buried.
I know not how soon I shall see you again. A duty devolves upon
me which is, perhaps, greater than that which has devolved upon
any other man since the days of -Washinoton.  He never would
have succeeded except for the aid of Divine Providence, upon
which he at all times relied.  I feel that I cannot succeed without the same Divine aid which sustained him, and on the same
Almighty Being I place my reliance for support; and I hope
you, my friends, 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.'
"Before that murderous blow closed his eyes in death, that'success' for which he had struggled was assured; that' duty'
devolved upon him had been performed. But the friends to
whom with the,' sadness he felt at parting,' he bade this' affectionate farewell,' can only look at the lifeless corpse, now slowly
borne to their midst.'When in the same month, he raised the national flago over
Illdependence Hall at Philadelphia, he said to the assembled
tens of thousands:'It was something in the Declaration of
Independence giving liberty, not only to the people of this
country, but hope to the world for all coming time.  It was
that which gave promise that in due time the weights should
be lifted from the shoulders of all men, and that all should have
an equal chance.  *  *  *  *  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.
But if this country cannot be saved without giving up that principle, I was about to say that I would rather be assassinated
upon the spot than to surrender it. I have said nothing but
what I am willing to live by, and if it be the pleasure of
Almighty. God, to die by.'




HION. SCHUYLER  COLFAX'S ADDRESS.    271
"He seemed, as he thus spoke, to have the dark shadow of
his violent death before him.  But even in its presence he declared that he would rather be assassinated than to surrender a
principle; and that while he was willing to live by it, yet, if it
was God's pleasure, he was equally willing to die by it. He was
assassinated; but his name and principles will live while history
exists and the Republic endures.
"' So, too, in the conclusion of his first inaugural, he appealed
in the language of entreaty and peace to those who had raised
their mailed hands against the life of their father-landcl:
"' You can have no conflict without being yourselves the
aggressors.  You have no oath registered in Heaven to destroy
the Government, while I have the most solemn one to preserve,
protect and defend it. The mystic cord of memory, stretching
from every battle-field and patriot grave to every living heart
and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the
chorlus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be,
by the better angels of our nature.'
" In the funeral exercises in the East Room, on the 19th of
April, the very anniversary of the day when the blood of murde(red Massalchusetts soldiers stained the stones of the city of
Baltimore, Dr. Gurley quoted the President's solemn reply to a
company of clergymen who called on him in one of the darkest
hours of the war, when, standing where his lifeless remains then
rested, he replied to them in tones of deep emotion:
"'Gentlemen, my hope of success in this great and terrible
struggle rests on that immutable foundation, the justness and
goodness of God.  And when events are very threatening and
prospects very dark, I still hope in some way which man cannot
see, all will be well in the end, because our cause is just, and
God is on our side.'
"You cannot have forgotten this impressive invocation with
which he closed his Proclamation of Emancipation:
"'And, upon this last, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted by the Constitution on military necessity, I
invoke the considerate judgment of mankind, and the gracious
favor of Almighty God.'
"The solemn words of his last inaugural sound in my ears to.
day as L heard them fall from his lips on the steps of the Capitol.''There was no exultation over his own success, though he was
thle first Northern President who had ever been re-elected.
There was no bitterness against the men who had filled our
land with new made graves, and who were striving to stab the
nation to its death. There was no confident and enthusiastic
prediction of the country's triumph.  But with almost the
solemn utterances of one of the Hebrew Prophets; as if he felt
he was standing, as he was, on the verge of his open grave, and
addressing his last official words to his countrymen, with his
lips touched by the finger of Inspiration, he said:




272     HON. SCHUYLER  COLFAX'S ADDRESS.
"' The Almighty has his own purposes.' Woe unto the world
because of offences, for it must needs be that offences come;
but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh.' If we shall
suppose that Amlerican slavery is one of those offences, which,
in the providence of God must needs come, but which having
continued through His appointed time, He now wills to remove,
and that Hle 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 the mighty scourge of war
may soon pass away. Yet, if'God will that it continue until all
the wealth piled by the bondman's two hundred and fifty years
of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood
drawn with the lash shall be paid with another drawn with the
sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said,
T''he judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.'
"'With malice towards none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive
on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nations wounds,
to care for hinm who shall have borne the battle and for his
widow and orphans, to do all which may achieve and cherish a
just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.'
"What a portraiture of his own character he unconsciously
draws in this closing paragraph.' With malice towards none,
with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us
to see the right?' Avd yet, they slew hznm.
" Bear with me further while I quote the letter, when, in the
midst of the exciting canvass of last fall, in which he was so
deeply interested, during the very week that he was being
denounced in this city as scarcely any man had ever been
denounced before, he shut out the thoughts of these cruelly
unjust aspersions to write in this deeply impressive strain to a
Philadelphia lady, then resident in England:"' EXECUTIVE MANION, ETlshinqgton, September 6, 1864.
"' EIz.x GURNEY: —My Esteemed Friend:-I have never forgotten, probably never shall forget, the very impressive occasion, when yourself and friends visited me on a Sabbath forenoon, two years ago, nor has your kind letter, written nearly a
yenr later, ever been forgotten.
"'  n all it has been your purpose to strengthen my reliance
on God. I am much indebted to the good Christian people of
the country for their constant prayers and consolations, and to
no one of them  more than yourself. The purposes of the
Almighty are perfect and must prevail, though we erring mortals may fail to.perceive them in advance.
"' We hoped for a happy termination of this terrible war long
before this, but God knows best, and has ruled otherwise. We
shall acknowledge His wisdom  and our own errors therein.




lION. SCHUYLER COLFAX'S ADDRESS.    273
MIeanwhile we must work earnestly in the best light Te gives
us, trusting that so working still conduces to the great end Ile
ordains.  Surely lie ilktends somne great good to follow this
mi(ighty convulsion, wrhich no mortal could stay. Your peoplethe Friends-have had and are having very great trials on princip)les and faith.  Oplposed to both War and oppression, they
cazn only practically oppose o(ppression by war.  In this hard
dilemmarl  somoe have chosen one horn and some the other.
For those appealing to me on conscientious grounds, I have
done, and shall do the best I can in my own conscience, and my
oath to the law. That you believe this I doubt not, and believing it, I shall still receive, for our country and myself, your
earnest prayers to our Father in Heaven.''Your sincere friend,
"' A. LINCOLN.'
" Nor should I forget to mention here that the last act of
Congress ever siglled by him, was one requiring that the motto,
in which he sincerely believed,' In God we trust,' should hereafter be inscribed upon all our national coin.  But April came at
last, with all its glorious resurrection of spring, that spring which
lie was not to see ripening into summer. The last sands in the
hour-glass of his life were falling. His last moment drew nigh,
for his handed assassins, foiled in an attempt to poison him last
year (a plot only discovered since detectives have been tracking the mysteries of his death,) had resolved this time on striking
a surer blow. Victory after victory crowned our national armies.
A hundred captured rebel banners filled the War Department.
Scores of thousands of Rebel soldiers had surrendered, and all
over the Republic the joyous acclaim of millions hailed the promised land of Peace.
" But our beloved leader was to enter another land of rest.
Thank Heaven, though wicked men may kill the body, they can
not kill the immortal soul. And, if the spirits of the good men
who have left us are permitted to look back on the land they loved
in life, it is not presumptuous to believe that MTashington and
Lincoln, from the shining courts above, look dowxl to-day with
paternal interest on the nation, which, under P lrovidence, the
one had founded and the other saved, and which will entwine
their names together in hallowed recollection forever.' But, in his last hours, all the affectionate traits of character
nwhich I have so inadequately delineated shone out in more than
wonted brilliancy. How his kindly heart must have throbbed with
joy, as on the very day before his death he gladdened so many tens
of thousands of anxious minds by ordering the abandonment of the
impending  but now not needed draft.  With what generous magnanimity he authorized our heroic Lieuteuant-General to proffer
terms unparalleled in their liberality, to the Army of Virginia, so
long the bulwark of Rebellion.  And the very last official act




274      HON. SCHUYLER COLFAX'S ADDRESS.
of his life was, when learning by telegraph that very Friday
afternoon, that two of the leaders and concoctors of the Rebellion were expected to arrive disguised, in a few hours, at one of
our ports, to escape to Europe, he instructed our officers not to
arrest them, but let them  flee the country.  He did not wish
their blood, but their associates thirsted for his, and in a few
short hours after this message of mercy to save their friends
from death sped on the wings of lightning, with wicked hands
they slew him. No last words of affection to weeping wife and
children did they allow him. No moment's space for prayer to
God. But in order that consciousness might end with the
instant, the pistol was held close to the skull, that the bullet might
be buried in his brain.
"Thus lived and thus died our murdered President.  But, as
the ruffian shot down the pilot at our helm, just as the Ship of
State, after all its stormy seas, was sailing prosperously into port;
another, whose life, like that of Seward and Stanton, had been
marked for that very night of horrors, but who had been saved,
sprang to the rudder, and the noble ship holds on her course,
without a flutter in her canvass, or a strain upon her keel.
Andrew Johnson, to whom the public confidence was so quickly
and worthily transferred, is cast in a sterner mould than him.
whose place he fills. He has warred on traitors in his mountain
home as they have warred on him; and he insists, with this
crowning infamy filling up their cup of wickedness, that treason
should be made odious, and that mercy to the leaders who engendered it is cruelty to the nation.
"' The text of Holy Writ, which he believes in for them, is in
the twenty-sixth verse of the seventh chapter of Ezi!.' Let
judgment be executed speedily upon him, whether it be unto
death, or to banishment, or to confiscation of goods, or to imprisonment;' and to this do not all loyal hearts respond Amen.
"And thus, though the President is slain, the Nation lives.
The statesman who has so successfully conducted our foreign
correspondence as to save us from threatened and endangering
complications and difficulties abroad, and who, with the President, leaned over to mercy's side, so brutally bowie-knifed as he
lay helpless upon his bed of anguish, is happily to be spared us,
and the conspiracy which intended a bloody harvest of six
patriots' lives, reaped with its murderous sickle but one.
" But that one, how dear to all our hearts, how priceless in its
worth, how transparent and spotless its purity of character.  In
the fiery trial to which the nation has been subjected we have
given of the bravest and best of the land.  rThe South is billowed with the graves where sleep the patriot martyrs of Constitutional liberty till the resurrection morn.  The vacant chair
at the table of thousands upoii thousands tells of those who,
inspired by the sublimest spirit of self-sacrifice, have died that
the Republic might survive.  Golden and living treasures have
been heaped upon our country's altar. But, after all these




HON. GEORGE  BANCROFT'S ORATION.                 275
costly sacrifices had been offered, and the end seemed almost at
hand, a costlier sacrifice had to be made; and from the highest
place in all the land the victim  came.  Slaughtered at the monment of victory the blow was too late to rob him of the grand
place he has won for himself in history.
"'We know him now. All narrow jealousies
Are silent. And we see him as he moved,
lHow modest, kinldly, all compassionate, wise,
With what subilimne repression of himself,
And in what limits and how tenderly.
Whose glory was redressing human wrongs;
Not snaking his high place the lawless perch
Of winged ambitions, nor a vantage ground
Of pleasure. But throrugh all this tract of years,
Wearing the white flower of a blameless life.'
" Murdered, coffined, buried, and will live with those few immortal namnes who were not born to die; live as the Father of
the Faithful in the time that tried men's souls; live in the grateful hearts of the dark-browed race he lifted from under the heel
of' the oppressor to the dignity of freedom and of manhood;
live in every bereaved circle which has given father, husband,
son or friend to die, as he did, for his country; live with the
glorious company of martyrs to liberty, justice and humanity,
that trio of Heaven-born principles; live in the love of all beneath the circuit of the sun who loathe tyranny, slavery and
-roug.  And leaving behind him  a record that shows how
honesty and principle lifted him, self-made as he was, from the
humblest ranks of the people to the noblest station on the
globe, and a namle that shall brighten under the eye of posterity
as the ages roll by.
"' From the top of Fame's ladder he stepped to the sky."'
Notwithstanding  the request of the speaker that the
audience would not applaud, it was impossible to restrain
them, and MIr. COLFAX Was repeatedly interrupted.
HION. GEORGE BANCROFT'S ORATION.
"Our griCf and horror at the crime which has clothed the
continent in ni ourning, find no adequate expression in words
and no relief in tears.'The President of the United States of
America has fallen by the hands of an assassin.  Neither the
office witlh which lie was invested by the approved choice of a
mighty people, nor the most simple-hearted kindliness of nature
could save him firom the fiendish passions of relentless fanaticism.
The wailings of the millions attend his remains.as they are borne
in solemn procession over our great rivers, along the seaside, beyond the mountains, across the prairie, to their final resting-place




276       HON. GEORGE BANCROFT'S ORATION.
in the valley of the Mississippi. The echoes of his funeral knoll
vibrate through the world, and the friends of freedom of every
tongue and in every land are his mourners.
"Too few days have passed away since ABRAHAM  LINCOLN
stood in the flush of vigorous manhood, to permit any attempt
at an analysis of his character or an exposition of his career.
We find it hard to believe that his large eyes, which in their
softness and beauty expressed nothing but benevolence and gentleness, are closed in death; we almost look for the pleasant
smile that brought out more vividly the earnest cast of his features, which were serious even to sadness.  A few years ago he
was a village attorney, engaged in the support of a rising family,
unknown to fame, scarcely named beyond his neighborhood; his
Administration made hini the most conspicuous man inl his country, and drew on him  first the astonished gaze, and then the
respect and admiration of the world.
T'hose who come after us will decide how much of the wonderful results of his public career is due to his own good common
sense, his shrewd sagacity, readiness of wit, quick interpretation
of the public mind, his rare combination of fixedness and pliancy,
his steady tendency of purpose; how much to the American
people, who, as he walked with them  side by side, inspired him
with their own wisdom and energy; and how much to the overruling laws of the moral world, by which the selfishrness of evil
is made to defeat itself.  But after every allowance, it will remain that members of the government which preceded his administration opened the gates to treason, and he closed them;
that when he went to Washington the ground on which he trod
shook under his feet, and he left the republic on a solid foundation; that traitors had seized public forts and arsenals, and he
recovered them for the United States, to whom they belonged
that the capital, which he found the abode of slaves, now the
home only of the free; that the boundless public domain which
was grasped at, and, in a great measure, held for the diffusion
of slavery, is now irrevocably devoted to freedom; that then
men talked a jargon of a balance of power in a republic between
Slave States and Free States, and now the foolish words are
blown away forever by the breath of Maryland, Missouri and
Tennessee; that a terrible cloud of political heresy rose from
the abyss, threatening to hide the light of the sun, and under its
darkness a rebellion was rising into indefinable proportions;
now the atmospherle is purer than ever before, and the insurrection is vanishing away; the country is east into another mould,
and the gigantic system of wrong, which had been the work of
more than two centuries, is dashed down, we hole forever. And
as to himself personally: he was then scoffed at by the proud as
unfit for his station, and now, against the usage of later years,
and in spite of numerous competitors, he was the unbiassed and
the undoubted choice of the American people for a second term




HON. GEORGE  BANCROFT'S  ORATION.                  277
of service. Through all the mad business of treason he retained
the sweetness of;a most placable disposition; ~and the slaughtce
of myiriads of the best on the battle-field, and the more terrible
destruction of our men in captivity by the slow torture of exposure and starvation, had never been able to provoke him into
harboring' one vengeful feeling or one purpose of cruelty.
"How  shall thle nation most completely show its sorrow  at
Mr. LINCOLN'S death?  HIow shall it beet honor his memory?
There can be but one answer.  He was struck down when he
was highest in its service, and, in strict conformity with duty,
was engaged in carrying out principles affecting its life, its good
name, and its relations to the cause of freedom and the progress
of manklind.  Grief must take the character of action, and
breathe itself forth in the assertion of the policy to which he fell
a sacrifice.  The standard wl-ich le held in his hand must be
uplifted again, ligher and nmore firmly than before, and must be
carried on to triumph. Above every thing else, his proclamation
cf-the 1st day of January, 1S63, declaring throughout the parts
of the country in rebellion the freedom of all persons who had
been held as slaves, moust be afiirned and maintained.
" Events, as they rolled onward, have removed every doubt of
the legality and binding fothrce of that proclamation.  The country and the rebel government have each laid claim to the public
service of the slave, and yet but one of the two can have a rightful claim  to such service.  That rightful claim  belongs to the
United States, because every one born on their soil, with the
few exceptions of the children of travelers and transieat residents, owes them  a primary allegiance.  Every one so born has
been counted amoncg  those represented in Congress; every slave
has ever been represented in Congress-imperfectly and wrongly
it may be-but still has been counted nad represented.  The'
slave born on our soil always owed aleg'iance to the General
Government.  It may in time past hlave been a qualified allegiance, malil'ested tllr oughi Iis mrnster, as the allegiance of a
ward throun h its guar1rian or of ani infanit throug'h its parent.
But wvhen the miaster became fi-lse to his allegiarnce the slave
stood face to face with his country, and his allegiance, which
may bef'ore lhavre been a qualif(cd one, became direct and immiediate.  His chains fell off and le stood at once in the presence
of the nation, bound, like the rest of us, to its public defence. Mlr.
La(orIa's lproclarnation did but take notice of the already existirrg right of the bondlian to freedom.'he treason of the rmlaster
mlade it a public crime for the slave to continue his obedience
tihe treason of a State set free the collected borrndmien of that
State.
"This doctrine is supported by the analogy of prececdents.
In the times of fCudalismi the treason of the lord of thie nlanlor
deprived him  of his serfs; the spurious feudalism  that existed
among us differs in many respects from the feudalism of the rlid



278       HON. GEORGE BANCROFT'S ORATION.
die ages, but so far the precedent runs parallel with the present
case-for treason the master then, for treason the master now,
loses his slaves.
"In the middle ages the sovereign appointed another lord
over the serfs and the land which they cultivated: in our day the
sovereign makes them masters of their own persons, lords over
themnselves.' It has been said that we are at war, and that emancipation
is not a belligerent right.  The objection disappears befolre
analysis.  Ill a war between independent powers the invading
foreigner invites to his standard all who will give him aid,
whether bond or free, and he rewards them  according to his
ability and his pleasure with gifts or freedom; but when at a
peace he withdraws from the invaded country he must take his
aiders and comforters with him; or if he leaves them  behind,
where he has no court to enforce his decrees, he can give them
)no security, unless it be by the stipulations of a treaty. In a
civil war it is altogether different. There, when rebellion is
crushed, the old government is restored, and its courts resume
their jurisdiction.  So it is with us; the United States have
courts of their own, that must punish the guilt of treason and
vindicate the freedom of persons whom the fact of rebellion has
set free.
"'; Nor may it be said, that because slavery existed in most of
the States when the Union was formed, it cannot rightfully be
interfered with now. A change has taken place, such as MADISON
foresaw, and for which he pointed out the remedy.  The constitutions of States had been transformed before the plotters of
treason carried them away into rebellion. When the Federal
Constitution was formed, general emancipation was thought to
be near: and everywhere the respective legislatures had authority, in the exercise of their ordinary functions, to do away
with slavery; since that time the attempt has been made in
what are called Slave States to make the condition of slavery
perpetual; and events have proved with clearness of denmonstration, that a constitution which seeks to continue a caste of
hereditary bondmnen through endless generations is inconsistent
with the existence of republican institutions.  So, then, the
new President and the people of the United States must insist
that the proclamation of freemen shall stand as a reality.  And
moreover, the people must nIever cease to insist that the constitution shall be so amended as utterly to prohibit slavery on any
part of our soil for evei'more.;Alas! that a State in our vicinity should withhold its asseirt
to this last beneficent measure; its refusal was an encouragement to our enemies equal to the gain of a pitched battle, and
delays the only holeful method of pacification. rThe removal of
the cause of the rebellion is not only demanded by justice; it is
the policy of mercy, making room for a wider clemency; it is




lION. GEORGE BANCROFT'S ORATION.               279
the part of order against a chaos of controversy; its success
brings with it true reconcilement, a lasting peace, a continuous
growth of confidence through an assimilation of the social
condition.  Here is the fitting expression of the mourning of
to-day.  And let no lover of his country say that this warning
is uncalled for. The cry is delusive that slavery is dead. Even
now it is nerving  itself for a fresh struggle for coLtinuance.
"No sentiment of despair may mix with our sorrow.  We
owe it to the memory of the dead, we owe it to the cause of
popular liberty throughout the world, that the sudden crime
which has taken the life of the President of the United States
shall not produce the least impediment in the smooth course of
public affairs. rT'his great city, in the mnidst of unexampled emblemns of deeply-seated grief, has sustained itself with composure
and magnanimity.  It has nobly done its part in guarding
against the derangement of business or the slightest shock to
public credit. The enemies of the republic put it to the severest
trial, but the voice of fiaction has not been heard —doubt and
despondency have been unknowin.  In serene majesty the country rises in the beauty and strength and hope of youth, and
proves to the world the quiet energy and the durability of institutions growing out of the reason and affection of the people.
"  eaven has willed it that the United States shall live.'Ihe
nations of the earth cannot spare them.  All the worn-out aristocracies of EIurope saw in the spurious feudalism of slaveholding
their strongest outpost, and banded themselves together with
the deadly enemies of our national life. If the Old World will
discuss the respective advantages of oligarchy or equality; of
the union of church and state, or the rightful freedom of religion; of land accessible to the many or of land monopolized
by an ever-decreasing number of the few, the United States
imust live to control the decision by their quiet and unobtrusive
example. It has often and truly been observed that the trust
and affection of the masses gather naturally round an individual;
if the inquiry is made whether the man so trusted and beloved
shall elicit from  the reason of the people enduring institutions
of their own, or shall sequester political power for a suplerilltelldiiig dynasty, the United States must live to solve the probilem.
If a question is raised on the respective merlits of' TIMOLE:ON  Or
JUmIUS C(ESAR, of WASHINGTON or NAPOLEON, the United States
must be there to call to mind that there were twelve Csesars,
inmost of them the opprobrium of the human race, and to contrast
with them the line of American presidents.
"The duty of the hour is incomplete, our mourning is insincere if, while we express unwavering trust in the great principles
that underlie our government, we do not also give our support
to the man to whom the people have entrusted its administration.
" ANDREW JOHNSON  is iow, by the constitution, the President
of the United States, and he stands before the world as the most




280      HENRY  WARDl   BEEFCHIER S TRIBUTE.
conspicuous representative of the industrial classes.  Left an
orphan at four years oll, poverty and toil were his steps to honor.
His youth was -not passedl in the hallis of colleges; nevertheless
he has received a thorough  -t:litical education in statesmanship
in the school of the people and by long experience of public life.
A village functionary; member successively of each branch of
the Tennessee legislature, hearing with a thrill of joy the words:'The Union, it must be preserved;' a representative in Congress
for successive years; Governor of the great State of Tennessee,
approved as its Governor by re-election; he was at the opening
of the Rebellion a Senator from that State in Congoress.  Then
at the Capitol, when Senators, unrebuked by the government,
sent word by telegram to seize forts and arsenals, he alone from
that Southern region told them what the government did not
dare to tell them, that they were traitors, andl deserved the
punishment of treason.  Undismayed by a perpetual purpose of
public enenmies to take his life, bearing up against the still greater
trial of the persecution of his wifei and children, in due time lihe
went back to his State, determined to restore it to the Union, or
die with the Amrerican flag for his winding sheet.  And now, at
the call of the United States, lie has returned to Washington as
a conqueror, with T'ennessee as a Free State for his trophy. It
remainls for him to consummate the vindication of the Union.
"To that Union ABRAHAM LINCOLN has fallen a martyr. His
death, which was meant to sever it beyond repair, binds it more
closely and more firmly than ever.  The blow ainied at him,
was aimed not at the native of Kentucky, not at the citizen of
Illinois, but at the man who, as President, in the executive
branch of the governmentt, stood as the representative of every
man in the United States.'T'le object of the crime was the life
of the whole people; and it wounds the affections of the whole
people. From Maine to the southwest boundary oil the Pacific,
it makes us one.'The country may have needed an imperishable
grief to touch its inmost feeling.  T'he grave that receives the
remains of LINcoLN,, receives the martyr to the Union; the
monument which will rise over his body will bear witness to the
Union; his enduring memory will assist during countless ages
to bind the States together, and to incite to the love of our one
undivided, individual country.  Peace to the ashes of our departed friend, the frieiid of his country and his race. Happy
was his life, for he was the restorer of the republic; he was
happy in his death, for the manner of his end will plead forever
for the un:ion of the Sttates and the freedom of nlan."
H-IEiNRY VWARD  3-EECHER'S TRIEBUTE.
On  Sunday, April 23d, 1865, the  Plynmouth  street
Church, Brooklyn, was filled to overflowing long before




HENRIY  NWIARD  BEECI1ER'S  SERMON.                 2;1
the hour of service, it having been announced that Mr.
Beecher would deliver an appropriate sermon on the event
which  had  cast the nation  into mourning.   Thousands
were turned away, and  hundreds hung  about the outer
door in the vain hope of hearing. The church was very
neatly and effectively draped in black and white, and upon
the pastor's desk was placed a basket of beautiful flowers.
At half-past ten Mr. Beecher went to his platform, the
whole of which was occupied by men and women, while
small boys fringed the front.
After the reading of the 90th Psalm, and conducting the
ordinary services of invocation  and  praise, Mr. Beecher
delivered the following
SERMON,
Taking for his text the first five verses of the last chapter of Deuteronomy:
1. And T Moses went tiup from the pla-ins of MeoaL.), unto the Mountains of Nebo, to the
top of Pisgah, that is over against Jericlho; aLnd the Lolcl showed himn the lotnd of
Gilecad, unto Dan.
2. And all Naphtali, and the land of Ephratim and Manasseh, and all the land of
Judah, unto the utmost sea.
3. And the South, and the plain of the valley of Jericho, and the city of palm trees,
unto Zoar.
4. And the Lord said unto him,'This is the llnd AXwhich 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 thiine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither.
5. So Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there in the land of MIoab, 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 yesterday.  There
is scarcely another event in history more touching 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 wilderness, 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
wAere reached, and Jordan only lay between them  and the promised land.
"The Promised Land i  Oh, what yearnings had heaved his
breast for that Divinely promised place!  IIe 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.




282       HENRY WARD BEECHER'S SERMON.
All his long, laborious and now weary life, he had aimed at this
as the consummation 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 the 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's angluish.
He forgot all his personal wants and drank in the vision of his
people's home. His work was done. There lay God's promise
fulfilled. There was the seat of coming Jerusalem, 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 blessino s
to all mankind. Joy chased sadness from every feature, and the
prophet lay him down and died.
"Again, a great leader of the people has passed throughl 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 the people?  Since the November of
1860, his horizon has been black with storms. By day and by
night he trod its way of danger and darkness.  On his shoulders
rested a Government, learer to him than his own life. At its
life millions were striking at home; upon us foreign eyes were
lowered, and it stood like a lone island in a sea full of storms,
and every tide and wave seemed eager to devour it. Upot
thousands of hearts great sorrows and 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 the hours of
defeat to the depths of despondency, he held on with immovable
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 purgatorial years, when  God was
cleansing the sins of this people as by fire.
"At last the watchman beheld the grey dawn. The mountains began to give forth their forms firom out the darkness, and
the East came rushing toward us with arms full of joy for
all our sorrows, Then it was for him to be glad exceedingly
that had sorrowed immeasurably.  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 from 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 uplon the land, days of duty and nights of watch



HENRY WARD BEECHER'S SERMON.                283
ing; but thou art sphered high above all darkness and fear, beyond all sorrow or weariness. Rest, oh weary heart! Rejoice
exceedingly, thou that hast enough suffered. Thou hast beheld
tHim who invariably led thee in this great wilderness.  Thou
sttandest 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 thee 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
shall find that rest which so 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 one 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 ran 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 sure, that Government was firmer than ever,
the land was cleansed of plague, that ages were opening to our
footsteps and we were to begin a march of blessings, that blood
was staunched and scowling enmities sinking like spent storms
beneath the horizon; that the dear fatherland, nothing lost, 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 midsnmmer days-all
these kindled up such a surge of joy as no words may describe.
In an hour, joy lay without a pulse, without a gleam, or breath.
A sorrow came that swept thrllough the land, as huge storms sweep
through the forest and field, rolling thunder along- the skies, disheveling 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 of
joy and the uttermost of sorrow-noon and midniglht, without
space between.' "The blow brought not a. sharp pang. It was so terrible that
at first it stunned sensibility.  Citizens were like men awakenedl
at midnight by an earthquake, aiid bewildered to find every
thing that they were accustomed to trust wavering and fa.lling.
The very earth was no longer solid. The first feeling was the
least. Men waited to get strength to feel. They wandered in
the street as if groping after some impending dread or unde




281        HIENRY  WARD  BEECHER'S SERMON,
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 boswed down and wept.  Other and common griefs belong to some one in chief, they are private property; but this was each man's and every man's. Every virtuous
household in the land felt as if its first-born were gone.  Men
took it home. 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 the great
Leviathan laid down and was still. Even Avarice stood still,
and Greed was strangely moved to generous sympathy with
universal sorrow. Rear 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,
andl covered up animosities, and in an hour brought a divided
people with unity of grief and indivisible fellowship of anguish i
For myself, I cannot yet command that quietness of spirit needed
fir a just and temperate delineation of a man whom goodness
has made great.  I pass, then, to some considerations aside from
the martyr President's character.  And, first, let us not mourn
that his departure was so sudden, nor fill our imagination 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.
" Mlen long eluding and evading sorrow, when suddenly overtaken, seem  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 is a blessing.  It is a
painful sight to see a tree overthrown by a tornado, wrenched
from its foundations 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. Nor are we without Scripture warrant
for these thoughts:'Let your loins be girded about.  *    *
IBlessed are those servants whom  the Lord, when He cometh,
shall find watching.' *    - *  Not those who die in a stupor
are blessed, but they who go with all their plowers about them,
and wide awake, as to a wedding.  He died watching.  He died
with armor on. In the midst of hours of labor, in the veryheart
of patriotic consultations, just returned from camps and council,
he was stricken down.




htENRY  WARD BEECIHER'S SERMON.    285
"No fever dried hiis blood, no slow wt.astle consumed him.
All at once, in full stiren3gth and manhood, with his girdle tight
about him, ble departed, and walks with God.  Nor was the
manner of his death more shocking, if we will surround it with
higher associations.  Have not thousands of soldiers fallen on
the field of battle by the bullets of an enemy, and did not he?
All soldiers that fall ask to depart in the hour of victory, and
at such an hour he fell. There was not a poor drummer boy in
all this war, that has fallen, for whom the great heart of Lincoln
would not have bled; there is not one private soldier without
note or name slain among thousands, and hid in the pit among
hundreds, without even the memorial of a separate burial, for
whom the President would not have wept. He was a man from
and of the people, and now that he who might not bear the
march, the toil and battle, with these humble citizens, has been
called to die by the bullet, as they were, do you not feel that
there is a peculiar fitness to his nature and life, that he should
ill death be joined with them  in a final common experience?
For myself, when any event is susceptible of a nobler garnishing, I cannot understand the nature or character of those who
seek rather to drag it down, degrading and debasing, rather
than ennobling and sanctifying it.
" Secondly ~ This blow was but the expiring rebellion; and
as a miniature gives all the form and features of its subject, so,
epitomized in this foul act, we find the whole nature and disposition of slavery.  It begins in a wanton destruction of all human
rights, and in the desecration of all the sanctities of heart and
home.  It can be maintained only at the sacrifice of every right
moral feeling in its abettors and upholders.  It is a two-edged
sword, cutting both ways, desolating alike the oppressed and
the oppressor, and violently destroying manhood in the victim,
it insidiously destroys manhood in the master.  No man born
and bred under the influence of the accursed thing can possibly
maintain his manhood, and I would as soon look for a saint in
the darkness of perdition, as for a man of honor in this hot-bed
of iniquity.  The problem is solved, its demonstration is complete. Slavery wastes its victims, it wastes estates. It destroys
public morality, it corrupts manhood in its centre.  Communities in which it exists are not to be trusted.  Its products are
rotten. No timber grown in its cursed soil is fit for the ribs of
our ship of State or for our household homes.
"The people are selfish in their patriotism, and brittle; whoever leans on them for support is pierced in his hand.  Their
honor is not honor, but a bastard quality which disgraces the
name of honor, and for all time the honor of the supporters of
slavery will be throughout the earth a by-word and a hissing.
Their whole moral nature is deathl-smitten.  The needless rebellion, the treachery of its leaders to oaths Ln(ld trusts, their violations of the commonest principles of fidelity, sitting  in
18




286        HENRY  WARD BEECHER'S SERMON.
Senates, Councils and places of trust, only to betray them; the
long, general and unparalleled cruelty to prisoners, without provocation or excuse; their unreasoning malignity and fierceness,
all mark the symptoms of the disease of slavery, that is a deadly
poison to soul and body. There may be exceptions, of course,
but as a rule, malignity is the nature and the essence.  Slavery
is itself barbarous, and the nation which upholds and protects
it is likewise barbarous.  It is fit that its expiring blow should
be made to take away from  men the last forbearance, the last
pity, and fire the soul with invincible determination that the
breeding ground of such mischiefs and monsters shall be utterly
and forever destroyed.
"It needed not that the assassin should put on paper his
belief in slavery.  He was but the sting of the monster slavery
which has struck this blow, and as long as this nation lasts, it
will not be forgotten that we have had our' Martyr President,'
nor while Heaven holds high court or Hell rots beneath, will it
be forgotten that slavery murdered him.
" Third: This blow was aimed at the life of government and of
the nation.  Lincoln was slain, but America was meant.  The
man was cast down, but the Government was smitten at.  The
President was killed, but national life-breathing freedom  and
benignity was sought.  He of Illinois, as a private man, might
have been detested, but it was because he represented the cause
of just government, liberty and kindness, he was slain.  It was
a crime against universal goverllnment, and was aimed at all.
Not more was it at us than at England or France or any well
compacted government.  It was aimed at mankind.  The whole
world will repudiate it, and stigmatize it as a deed without
a redeeming feature.  It was not the deed of the oppressed,
stung to madness by the cruelty of the oppressor; it was not
th-e avenging hand against the heart of a despot; it was the
exponent of a venomous hatred of liberty, and the avowed
advocacy of slavery.
[Mr. Beecher illustrated the point by a report of the interview
between Governor Pickens and Lieutenant Talbot, a few days
prior to the attack on Fort Sumter, wherein Pickens admitted
that the South had really no cause of complaint; but that the
leaders, hoping to deceive the people, had manufactured the
necessary indignation at Northern insults, and were determined
to separate, even though confessedly without good grounds.]
"Fourth. But the blow has signally failed.  The cause is not
stricken, but strengthened; men ]late slavery the more, and love
liberty better.  The nation is dissolved, but only in tears, and
stands more square and solid to-day than any pyramid in Egypi.
The Government is not weakened, it is strengthed. hIow readily
and easily the ranks closed up. We shall be nmore true to every
instinct of liberty, to the Constitution, and to the principles
of universal freedom.  Where, in any other community-the




HE1NRY  WARD BEEClaER'S SERMON.               2~6r
crowned hea(l being stricken by the hand of an assassin —would
the funds have stood firhim, as dlid ours, not wavering the half of
one per cent?
"After four years of drastic war, of heavy drafts upon the
people, on top of all, the very head of the nation is stricken
down, and the funds never quivered, but stand as firm as the
granite ribs in the mountains. Republican institutions have
been vindicated in this very evidence.  God has said, by the
voice of his'Providence, that republican liberty, based upon
universal freedom, shall be as firm as the foundation of the
globe.
" Fifth. Even he, who now sleeps, has by this event been
clothed with new influence.  Dead, he speaks to men who now
willingly hear what before they shout their ears to.  Like the
words of Washington, will his simple, mighty 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 faithful 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
solermn  spectacle. I swear you to renewed hostility to slavery,
and to a never-ending pursuit of it to its grave.  They will adnire and imitate his firmness in justice, his inflexible conscience
for the righlt, his gentleness and moderation of spirit, and I
swear you to a faithful copy of his justice, his mercy, and his
gentleness.
"You I can comfort, but how can I speak to the twiligrht
millions, who revere his name as the name of God.  Oh, there
will be wailing for him, in hamlet and cottage, in woods and in
wilds, and the fields of the South.  Her dusky children looked
on himn, as on a Moses come to lead them out from the land of
bonlldage.  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
mnilhtier than when alive. The nation rises up at his coming.
Cities and States are his pall-bearers, and cannon beat the hours
witlh solenin procession.  Dead —dead —dead —hc  yet speaketl! Is WVashington dead?  Is Hampden  dead?  Is l)avid
dead?  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, oh people, are his pran! Your bells, and bands, and muffled drums,
sound in his ear a triumph.  You wail and weep here —God
mnakes it triumph there.  Four years ago, oh Illinois, we took
him from your midst, an untried man from among the people.
Behold, we return him, a mighty Conqueror!  Not thine, but




285      GEN. HIRAM  WALBRIDGE'S ADDRESS.
the Nation's —not ours, but the world's.  Give him  place, ye
Prairies! In the midst of this great colltine(nt, his dust sh:L11
rest, a sacred treasure to Inyriads who shall pilgrim to that
shrine to kindle anew their zeal and patrieism. 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."
At the conclusion of the discourse, during which many
of the congregation were affected to tears, Mr. Beecher
offered another Prayer-a Hymn of Victory was sungand the services closed with a Benediction.
ADDRESS BY GENERAL HIRAM WALBRIDGE.
At a large meeting of the congregation connected with
Dr. Dowling's church, New  York, General Walbridge
was introduced, and delivered the following noble address
on the death of the President:
GENERAL WALBRIDGE'S SPEECH.
"The history of a nation is nothing more or less than the
biography of its distinguished sons. Whenever, therefore, a
citizen of any community has attained such a position as to concentrate within his own person the affections of his countrymen,
whatever affects him, for the time being, affects the State. And
whenever such an individual is transferred to that list which
iiakes up the record of the distinguished dead, just in proportion to the extent of his influence while living will be the respect
paid his memory by those who shall come after him. The just
appreciation by posterity of those who have rendered eminent
services either in the Cabinet or in the field, is one of the
strongest incentives to virtue and moral worth-an obligation
which it is the highest duty of society to protect and cherish.
Thus impressed, the American people since the assassination of
their lamented President, with hearts overflowing with sadness,
have gathered in their primary assemblages in every section of
the Union, to pay appropriate tributes to the memory of the
great and good man who, springing from the loins of the people,
without adventitious aid, by the force of his eminent virtues, his
patriotic services, his strict adfherence to principle, and the
fidelity with which lie pursued his convictions on all questions
affecting the interests of the Stat.e an-d infiuencing the destiny
of the people, rose to the highest dipgnity recoglnized in the land.
The peacefnl (leath l:y tlhe ordina,.ry couerse olf nature of a citizen
occupying such an exalted position, and invested with such




GEN. HIRAMH WALBRIDGE'S ADDRESS.               289
honors, would at any time awaken the sensibilities of the people.
It is not strange, then, that the national emotion is stirred from
its innermost depths at the brutal and cowardly act of the
murderous assassin, under circumstances so peculiar as those
which surrounded the recent death of the President of the
United States. But mysterious are the ways of Providence.
Called without solicitation on his part to discharge the high
duties incident to the Presidential office at a period of unexainpled bitterness in our political history, just as he comprehended
the period had arrived when he might tender forgiveness to the
great body of the people who had been induced to engage in the
rebellion-reserving for subsequent consideration whatever
action the Government would feel called upon to take in reference to the leaders of this foul conspiracy-for purposes unknown to us the Great Infinite, at such a moment, suffered the
hand of the assassin to take the life of the Chief Magistrate.
But who is there that will say it has thereby taken the life of
the nation? For all realize at this moment, even amid this unbroken lamentation, and before the mortal remains of our illustrious President are confined to their final resting-place, that
this last dispensation of Providence has only the more thoroughly strengthened the fixed determination of the American
people to preserve intact their liberties and perpetuate their
government to those into whose keeping in the future is to be
confided the control of Constitutional government.  Upon two
former occasions in our political history, the second officer in
the Government has been called upon to discharge the duties of
Chief Magistrate.  How widely different the circumstances that
have attended the death of the late President, who by this
wicked rebellion had been prevented from exercising his legitiimate functions as President over a large number of States that
were in revolt?  Yet at the moment when the murderous blow
was struck, he stood within sight of the promised land. He
realized, doubtless, that if Providence was to continue his existence, the latter portion of his second Administration was to
h)e marked by the recognition of his authority over all the States
as they existed antecedent to the rebellion.  It is true, that
when he departed from Washington to visit the headquarters
of his most illustrious commander, just previous to that wonderful series of events which terminated not only in the surrender
of the rebel capital, but the capitulation of the vetern army of
the so-called Confederacy, many anxious prayers were offered to
heaven that, in his journey in the confines of a district so
recently infected with treason, that his life might be spared, and
that no murderous blow might be inflicted, which, robbing him
of life, should deprive the people of their legitimate representative. When consequently he returned from his late mission, to
be himself the bearer of the good tidings of the complete overthrow of the rebellion, and to give to the nation assurances that




290        GEN. HIRAM  WALBRIDGE'S ADDRESS.
peace wras not so far distant, his return to the Capital was hailed
throughout the Nation with notes of acclamation and praise.
]Tiad we not reason to believe that our great and good Preside-nt, protected by Providence, bore a charmed life, not simply
for himself, but as the representative of twenty millions of people,
engalged in the benificent mission of commending to the world
the benefits of free republican institutions.  Man proposes, but
Grod disposes. That was the instant which Providence had
selected to terminate his earthly existence. May we not reasonably conclude that the measure of his greatness was complete, and
that no lengthened years-no subsequent exertion-no additional labors, could add to the dignity and the greatness of a
life so pregnant with usefulness and renown? Such a legacy for
the unborn millions that hereafter shall speak his name and
bear his praises, as the representative of the American people,
who finally guaranteed Republican institutions to the Western
H]-emisphere? Washington severed the colonies from Great
Britain-he aided to lay broad and deep the foundations of the
Republic.  But the civilization of that age was not adequate to
fbund institutions of government which should meet all the requirerients of that higher civilization which should come when
human slavery was to be everywhere regarded an element hostile
to the true interests of a great, free, and Christian people.:Where the labors of Washington terminated, the labors of
Lincoln began.  Washington formed a Republic which assumed
to recognize political equality.  But while it declared that all
men were free and equal, it recognized within its limits an institution of human bondage.  Washington was permitted to expire, surrounded by mourning relatives, in the tranquil shades
of Mount Vernon, conscious by his own reflection that the hour
of his mortal existence had been attained.  How unlike the
death of our illustrious President.  In the enjoyment of perfect
health, seeking that relaxation essential for the strength of his
faculties,-a.fter the arduous labors in which he had been engaged,
without a moment's note of preparation, in the twinlling of
an eye the bullet of the assassin pierced that majestic brain,
whose workings blad wrought out the permanent prosperity of
this great people; and whose judicious counsels had borne
us triumphantly through the most gigantic rebellion recorded
in history.
"It is true a single arm directed the accursed bullet, but the
murderous purpose which could conceive such an atrocity could
only result from the stifled enmity of that barbaric institution,
which for centuries had enslaved millions of the human race,
and had inaugurated within the boundaries of the Rlepublic of
the United States an oligarchy of crime which fattened on the
sweat and toil and blood of the victims over which it exercised
such material power. But no single death can expiate this
great crime. Our beloved President was the representative of




GEN. IHIRAM  WALBRIDGE'S ADDRESS.             291
freedom and of free Government. Hie will live in history as the
exponent of American Republican Constitutional Government.
tHis murderous assassin was the Representative of that accursed
Rebellion, and his narne will live in immortal execration, as the
exponent of the conspiracy which had for its object the overthrow of the Government of the United States, in order that
another government might be formed in this Christian age resting on the basis of human Slavery.  Lincoln shall live with
Washington in immortal renown, while Booth and IDavis shall
forever stand in the same record of infamy to provoke the indignation of the virtuous and good. Each were the representatives of their respective civilizations.  Washington and Lincoln
illustrated the genius of free institutions-of a Government
which recognized individual political equality-which had for its
object the recognition of the rights of man —which Inade labor
dignified-which secured for all men equal privileges, and which
founded a government which permitted the humblest individual,
by the exercise of virtue, sobriety, industry, and integrity to attain the highest dignities of the Republic. Davis and Booth
represent that false civilization which has for its object the in.
stitution of a Government which divided society into classeswhich made the interests of the many subordinate to the interest
of the few, and which, while claiming to be a Government of
freedom, was the most grinding, odious, military despotism on
earth-a Government whose power was employed to enslave a
dependent race-which degraded labor in order that a favored
few, discarding the Divine injunction that by the sweat of his
brow man should earn his bread-placed itself in conflict with
our Divine religion, and in conflict with all the elements on
which the prosperity, peace and welfare of the State can safely
rest; a semi-barbarous civilization, incompatible with the fundamental principles on which the republic is based; a civilization which caused Davis to attempt the overthrow of his country,
with the utopian idea that he could rear another government
which, claiming to be free, was to retain within its limits that
refractory element which had cursed the Republic of the United
States from the day of its origin to the day when the illustrious
deceased by his verdict declared that within the limits of the
United States, slavery should no more exist forever; a civilization which stimulated this wicked and murderous assassin to
fondly imagine that by the death of the great and good President of the United States he might thereby aid the falling
fortunes of the so-called Confederacy-if, indeed, he was not
stimulated by the ignoble purpose of living forever in history by
connection with Mr. Lincoln's death, as Judas lives in infamy
in conjunction with the Prince of Peace, whom he betrayed.
It is impossible to conceive what test our institutions should be
subjected to in order to prove their ability to meet any emergency that mnay arise. Twice involved in foreign war, the




292      GEN. HIRAM  WALBRIDGE'S ADDRESS.
Government of the United States have indicated the strength
and power of institutions based upon the intelligence, virtue,
integrity, and power of the people. The question, however, still
remained-was such a Government as adequate to suppress
domestic treason as to resist foreign aggression? The Government of the United States, led by its noble, kind-hearted President, proved itself adequate to this emergency, and henceforward Republican institutions will be regarded as capable of
suppressing domestic treason as any form of government recognized among men. And yet it seems to be the will of heaven
that when this was accomplished, and the grave responsibilities
that cluster around the punishment of the bold, wicked, unscrupulous conspirators who have inaugurated this gigantic treason
had arrived, another was to be selected to determine the measure
of justice which should be meted out to them. One whose whole
life has been familiar with the machinations by which the conspirators organized a public sentiment, having for its object the
overthrow of the Government of the United States. Let us
rejoice that that selection has fallen upon one who brings to the
discharge of his high office a long and arduous caveer of unbroken fidelity to the interests of the masses, to the amelioration
of whose condition he has devoted the best energies of his
existence. Thoroughly familiar with the demoralizing effects of
that institution whose continued existence was a wrong to the
industrial classes of the whole nation, to him may be well
awarded the high prerogative of inaugurating those great reforms essential to the continued prosperity of the people as they
emerge from the desolating influence of the terrible internecine
war through which we have so recently passed. But we must
not forget that even this strong arm is powerful only as it is
invigorated with the strength and confidence of the people.
Thus sustained, who shall measure the greatness and renown.
which awaits the administration of the Government upon which
we are about to enter. Called to exercise power under circumstances so grave and unexpected, enough has already transpired
to assure the public confidence that the interests of the people
and the honor of the republic will be safe in the hands of the
present Executive. Indicating his future policy, as he points to
his past illustrious and persistent record, foreign Governments
may learn that hereafter the policy of this nation is to be that
early inaugurated by Washington, which sought to advance its
own great interests without any entangling alliances abroad:
and equally assuring them there must be incorporated upon this
continent no institutions unfriendly to the continued advancement of the G( owvrnmelnt of the United States; while the masses
abroad can claually:Ipprcciate that the Presideant of the United
States will be glad to welcome here all those who desire to
change their material condition and advance their material
prosperity by availing themselves of the benefits of that benefit




ABRAHAM  LINCOLN — Y TI[. W. BEECHTER.  293
cent legislation, which secures to each lman a hom.e —a measure
which owes its success to the sagacity andcl oresiglhlt of President
Johnson more than to that of any other living7 man. He early
comprehended that through the agency of the' IHomestead
Bill,' if it could once be established, he might make an inroad
upon the oligarchy of the South, who recognized slavery, and
by its aglency fomented the treason which ultimately struck for
tile overthrow of the Government. 1The people of the United
States themselves are to be assured that justice, though tempered with mercy, will, inevertheless, be executed upon all who
have sought to take the life of the nation, and that treason must
be regarded the most odious crime recognized in our social and
political system."
As a fitting close to this volume, we append the following powerful article, on ABRAHAM  LINCOLN, written by
Henry Ward Beecher, for the Newv  York Ledger, and
published in that paper of May 20th, 1865.  We think it
is the best utterance on the great topic of the day which
has yet seen the light of publicity.  In addition to its
power and eloquence, and splendid philosophical analysis,
it contains some startling facts which will be new to most
people.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.-BY HENRY WARD
BEECHER.
The last act of the sublime drama has at length been
finished, and the most wonderful spectacle of the age, or
perhaps of time, has been completed!
Mr. LINCOLN'S assassination is not a single act, but the
last of a series, of which it forms the consummate whole.
It is seldom that history of itself falls into such natural
and dramatic periods as may be marked in the wonderful
tragedy of five years! It will be seen, too, that the excitement of feeling, at each step seeming to have reached
its bounds, still rose, until in the last grand catastrophe
it surpasses all that man conceived possible or endurable.
And among the many other things demonstrated by this
civil revolution, is the capacity of communities to endure




294  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN-BY H. W. BEECHER.
profound excitements prolonged through wide periods of
time.  Tl'he excitement of the Kansas strugogle was only a
preface to the higher glow of the Presidential canvass of
1860.  But that was itself inferior to the profound anxiety
and feeling of the period between November, 1860, and
M'Iarch, 1861, during which Secessionism developed into
civil war.  When, in April, 1861, Fort Sumter was
assaulted, all feeling before seemed tame, compared with
that fire of patriotism which swept the land. That feeling consolidated into a determination which the various
defeats and victories of four years had no power to
change.  The flame-like character of popular feeling was
changed, but only as wood that blazes, at length grows
even hotter vet when it becomes coals.
In this last year of the war, as victory upon victory,
East, AWlest and South, foretokened the glorious consummation, thle nation grew more joyful, until, on the fall of
R]ichmond and the surrender of Lee, it seemed as if the
people had expended no vital force in former emotions,
but burst with all the freshness of unwasted hearts into
the luxuriance of tropical joy.  Was it possible that
human nature could bear another and greater strain?
No one would believe it who had not seen the grief,
horror and indignation of the weeks following Mr. LINCOLN's death.  The sorrow was like the rolling in of an
ocean tide.  It quenched the exultation of victory, and
the joy of anticipated peace, as completely as a brand is
quenched when thrown into the sea.  Men forgot that
they bad been glad.  The banners and decorations of
victory were left to mingle with exhibitions of mourning,
and one could not tell whether the vast pageantry said,
"Victory is swallowed up in Death," or "Death is swallowed up int Victory."
No voluntary sign of sorrow was half so striking as
the unconscious silence of that ever-roaring city of New




ABRAHAM LINCOLN-BY H. W. BEECHER. 295
York! A half million people thronged the city on Monday
and Tuesday, and filled the streets to suffocation.  Yet
the presence of the MIGHTY DEAD kept all so still and
gentle, that a bird flying over would be unscared by noise,
as if it were midnight, or a Sabbath day.
A martyred President was the city's king. His pulseless hand stretched out a sceptre, which awed all men to
silence! —Before that Hearse enmities died, jealousies and
rivalries coiled and hid, pleasure forgot its rules, avarice
its toils, and for more than a week, the imperial city that
disdained always before to be subdued to any common
sentiment, now silently and humbly watched and waited,
in all its streets, to offer homage and affection to him,
when dead, for whom alive it would never give a vote I
As a private citizen, Mr. LINCOLN would have lived
respected, and died lamented as a kind, faithful and honest
man, and slept with hundreds of others, in a few years
undistinguishable.  He had no such gifts of power as
would have raised him, in spite of circumstances, to eminence.  His was not a brain that dominated.  His will
was firm, but not executive nor despotic.  His mind was
broad and strong, but slow and laborious in its methods.
Truths did not break upon him with flash and instant
revelation.  Ile saw them far off, obscurely, as nebula,
and like an astronomer, he resolved them only by patient
observation.  Thus; he suspected things to be true long
before he was sure, and he was sure long before he had
made out the whole matter with distinct accuracy.  He
travailed with truth in long gestation, but when once it
was his he loved it with intense parental instinct.  Iis
wisdom  was moral wisdom.  His power and success
sprung from moral qualities. It was not intellect but
manhood that ennobled him.
Mr. LINCOLN is, perhaps, the most eminent instance
since the days of Washington of a man made great by




296  ABRAHAM LINCOLN —BY I. W. BEECIHER.
the inherent wisdom  of true goodness.  And such a
nature can scarcely be delineated apart and separate from
the events of that history which called out his virtues.
This is particularly true of Mr. LINCOLN for two reasons:
First, because his excellence did not assume the form of a
few bold qualities, but was the sum of many simpler
qualities maintained under great trial and provocation.
And secondly, because we are now but just beginning to
see the moral character of those bad men against whom
he acted.
That so soon in our history the dark crimes which
stained the later periods of Roman and mediaeval European history should have taken possession of the leading
Southern conspirators, could scarcely be imagined by
those who have been accustomed to study the effects of
slavery upon the masters, in the light of servile apologists,
rather than under the guidance of great principles of
human nature.
It is now known that a separation of the South from
the North was resolved upon as a matter simply of political ambition, without any reference to supposed grievances; that the allegations of injury, of fears for the
future, of political injustice, were deliberately framed by
Southern leaders as a means of exciting and uniting the
common people of the South, while their authors, among
themselves, never pretended to believe in the truth of
their own representations.
There is, also, the gravest reason to believe that all
moral restrictions were yielded, and that crimes the most
infamous were deliberately employed as the means of prormoting the bad ends of these conspirators.  Those who
know most of the interior of affairs, scarcely doubt that
Hlarrison was poisoned, that Tyler might fulfil Southern
plans of war with Mexico.  With even stronger conviction is it afflrmed that Taylor was poisoned that a less




ABRAHAM LINCOLN-BY H. W. BEECHER.  297
stern successor mnight' ive a suppler instrunment to Southern
managers.  W1ho dloubts, now, that it was attemlPted to
poison Buchanan at the National Hlotel, and leave ]3reckinridge in his room? It is a matter of verified history
that efforts were made to take off Mr. LINCOLN before he
should be inaugurated. And now, the whole world is
astounded by the hideous crime by which he has been
removed from life.
This perspective is needed to reveal the characters of
the chief men in this superlative infamy of secession. We
do not believe that the Southern people were privy to such
crimes, or that all who became conspicuous in the Southern councils and armies knew of such things, but that the
real leaders were men steeped in crime, and capable of the
utmost infamy, we have not a doubt.
To misguided millions, unconsciously inspired and led
by men of such a spirit, Mr. LINCOLN addressed the policy
of kindness and conciliation for nearly two years. It was
as if a Christian martyr had appealed to the reason and
kindness of lions and tigers in a Roman amphitheatre I
But, though now known to have been misplaced, we
must study Mr. LINCOLN'S forbearance and gentleness, from
his own point of view. Never was man less disturbed by
passion, by party heats, by anger or rashness.  In the
wild excitements which raged on every side, amidst
treacheries, defeats, and gloom, amid lukewarm patriots,
imbecile generals and divided counsellors, he maintained
on the whole, a straightforward and elevated course.
After Mr. LINCOLN with long and painful hesitation
determined to issue his proclamation of Liberty, a change
took place, not only in the general policy of Government,
but in the success of his-administration.
He relinquished the impractical hope of conciliating the
South; he boldly assumed the reserved powers of Governs
ment. Ile called to his aid men of nerve in the field, and,




298   ABRAHAM  LINCOLN-BY H. W. BEECHER.
freed from the toils of a doubtful expediency, and of nice
practical management, he fell back upon broad moral
grounds. There his true nature had full scope; and
every hour after he conformed his policy to moral reason
rather than to precedent, and political device, and hackneyed expedients, Mr. LINCOLN grew strong and successful.  Then began those victories which in spite of reverses
eat into the Southern power, and consumed its strength.
Then Mr. LINCOLN took his place in the estimation of eminent men in all the world, as a true and great statesman.
Then, for the first time in two-score years, America had a
President that embodied and really represented the principles of her history and her institutions I
Mr. LINCOLN'S re-election, in the midst of a civil war, by
a people burdened with taxation, smarting with bereavements, assailed by factious partisans infected by the
poison of Southern sympathy, is one of the remarkable
events of history! Even more than the sublime homage
of universal grief which waits upon his death, it is a
monument of honor to his name.  The unerring judgment
of an intelligent common people passing by the dangerous
glitter of military renown, with singular discretion put the
State again into the hands of a citizen proved to be
honest, discreet, patient, wise and thoroughly good.
The tragedy of Mr. LINCOLN'S death gives to his name a
heroic renown which his plain and unassuming manners
might have missed.  He has taken his place among the
few great men of history.  Not a stain of cruelty rests
upon it.  It is all luminous with unquestioned gentleness and lenity.  Not one act of his administration can be
censured as inspirated by Vanity, Self-interest or Pride.
Amidst the disturbances of civil war and the confusion of
a vast revolution, he is seen standing always temperate,
calm, and wise.  All his messages, letters and addresses
may now be searched for a line or a word whose spirit can




ABRAHAM  LINCOLN -BY H. W. BEECIHER.  299
be rebuked, now, in the elevation and solemnity of these
hours which follow his death!
WVe write another name in the Calendar of Great Men.
VWe place new trust in institutions and principles which
breed such men among the common people!
His form has fallen but his name abides forever. The
bad men who have filled our times with infinite mischiefs
are passing away to eternal infamy.  The Patriot and
Christian Statesman, in bright apposition, shall rise to
shine forever, like the stars in the firmanent.
THE END.




LIVES OF  PRESIDENTS AND GENERALS.
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THE LIFE AND SERVICES OP MVAJOR-GENERAL GEORGE G.
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With his Portrait. Price 25 cents. Agents supplied at "1.50 a dozen, or $10.00 a hundred.
THE LIFE  Or ARCHBISHOP  HUGHES, first Arcllbishop of New York;
with a full account of his Life, Death, and Burial. With his Portrait. Price 25 cents.
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