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ABRAHAM LINCOLNwas born “and g rew to manhood in an ad"oin ing Coun
.y , I attended Co l lege three years in the sam e county , and
vithin a very few m i les o f the b i rthp lace of Abraham Lin
zolu , yet i t nev eroccur red to me that i t wou ld b e worth thezime and troub le required to v is i t th i s h istor i c p lace unt i l I
i ad moved a thousand m i les away .
Later , however , I had the opportun i ty , or ra ther , made
;he opportun ity to v is i t th is homestead , and as I stoo d and
ga z e d upon the l i t t l e on e room log cab in in wh i ch he wasooru and no ted i ts rugged simp l i c i ty ; as I v i ewed the surround ing country and ob served that , even to th is day, i tloes not rank above an ave rage in educa t i onal advantages ;as I contemp late d the fac t tha t h i s parents , though goodand honest peop le , were who l ly uneducated , and that thefa th er
,a t least was o f a rest less rov ing d ispos i t ion , wi th
li t t l e amb i t ion never ac cumu lat i ng any of th is world’
s goodsabotv e a very scan ty sub s is tance ; as I ca l led to min d thefac t that L inco ln h imsel f was a tal l
,gawky , ungainy uh
p romis ing lad w i thout any educat iona l advan tages ; I say asI took a l l these facts in to cons i derat ion , I cou ld bu t wonderwhat c ha rac ter i s t i c or comb inat ion o f character ist i cs h epossessed that woul d enab l e h im , in spi te of th es e adverse
c ond i t i ons , to r ise to th e very h ighest o ffi ce in th e gi ft o fthe Ameri can peop l e . and to con duc t the offi ce in such manne r as to cause h im to b ecome r ecogn i z ed by the en tire c ivili z ed wo r ld as having been one of th e greatest statesman .
not on ly of h i s own ag e and coun try , but of a l l ages and of
all coun tr ies .
The story o f the l i fe of Lin co ln wou ld b e very incomple tewi thout some s tudy of th e l i fe o f the sturdy p ioneers fromwhich h e Sp rang . Th e s tory of h i s l i fe b eg i ns an d ends i nt ragedy . About the year 1 7 8 0 h i s grandfather , w i th h isfami ly , con s i s t i ng o f a wi fe and f ive ch i l dren , th ree b oysand two gi r ls , em ig ratd from V i rgin i a to Kentucky an d proceeded to c lea r a farm in th e vas t W i l derness
,i nhab i ted on ly
by the savage beas ts of th e fo re st an d by the st i l l more savage In d ian s that roamed at wi l l through that part o f th ecoun try
Four y ear s late r wh i l e c lea r i ng land w i th th e ass istan cecf h is three boys , near h i s l i t t le log cab in , a
'
band o f In d i ansconceal ed in th e b rush nearby , sho t an d k i l le d h im . Thee ldest boy rushed to th e cab in , se i z ed the ever ready r if l efrom i ts accustomed rest ing place above the door
,and turn
ed in t ime to see an Ind ian a l l decorat ed in war pai n t reach
til t to se i z e Thomas h i s six year o l d bro ther whoined by the s ide o f h i s dying father . Tak ing c
ieadly aim , he f i red , k i l led the savage ere h e ha"r igh tened boy , who , in turn , f led to th e cab in for p lBy h is undaunted courage a nd h i s super i or ma
;h i p th is b oy—a mere lad—succeeded i n hol d ing thesat a safe d i s tance unt i l a id a rr ived from the n ez
wh ere Josiah , the second'
boy had rushed wi th utz
1 at the fir ing of th e fatal shot wh ich ki l led h is fatii t was that Thomas Linco ln ; the father of th e subr d iscuss i on , was le f t an orphan at
‘
the ten der age'
earsNot long after the occurence o f th is i n c ident there arate d from V i rg in ia to th i s part o f Ken tucky sevefam i l i es , among who were Joseph and Nancy Hanbrought wi th them young Nancy , a ch i ld o f some fi
(“
y earsImmed iate ly there sprang up be tween th is l i t t le gI‘
homas L incoln an innocent , ch i ld ish l ove wh ich nevred notw i thstanding the fac t , that Fate had so decret
th ey were soon to b e seperated , an d that they were ne e ach other aga in for twe lve years
,at whi ch time bot
reached matur i ty .
In the meant ime , Joseph Hanks s ickened and dietin the m onth , Nancy , the mother , overcome by grie ;
passed away . Thus we see that both the father and ther of th e future Pres ident were thrown upon th e met
»f a co l d and unapprec iat ive world at a very ten de r agth e death o f her paren ts , Nancy was taken to the homunc le , and grew in to womanhood in h is home n easeth town , Kentucky .
h e was admi red and courted by m any o f th e younf the ne ighboring town , among whom were some 0
3st p rom inen t young men o f that part o f th e s ta tee had neve r fo rgotten the boy from whom she haep arated twe l ve years be fore .
te day wh i le conversi ng wi th fr iends i n El i z abethhere appeared upon the scen e the l ike o f wh ich han seen there for years . A ta l l b road-shouldereman with deersk i n b reech es tucked i n the top o f h ite boots , an old fash ion ed ri f le in one han d and a k ien ter tools in the other , on h is head a coon skin ca
'
e rear of wh i ch st i l l p rotruded the ta i l o f the an imari ch the cap was made . Truly n ot an impos i ng f i g urcy Hanks immediate ly rushed from the c rowd oten , d ressed in b road c loth though they were , to thi e newcomer , for i t was none o th er than Thomath e lover o f her ch i l dhood days
.
o f these adm irers , a man o f weal th an d pos i t ionupon her to forsake her l over and marry h im
,bu
11. Accord ing to the records o f the County C l erk ’
offi ce of Wash ington Coun ty , Ke n tucky , a cert i fied copy of
which I have i n my possessi on .these two , the parents o f
Abraham Linco ln,were un i te d in matr imony , on June 1 2 ,
1 8 0 6 .Here
,out o f respec t o f the memo ry of Nancy Hanks as
we l l a s that o f her i l lus tr ious son , I fee l tha t duty compel sme to ment ion one th ing that I would prefer to leave bur ie dwi th th e dead
,an d I o ffer as my only excuse for al low i ng i t
to enter th is discuss i on , i s the fact that almos t every one
w i th whom I have ta lked upon the sub"ec t have h eard the
damag ing charges .
Some have never heard the charge di sputed , and therefo re be l i eve i t to b e true . Others w i l l say they have heardi t d i spu ted but frankly say th ey do n ot know whether i t ist rue or not . During one o f L inco l n
’
s heated pol i t i cal cam
p aig ns,
-some person for whom I do no t find su i tab l e wordsi n the Eng l i sh language to express my con tempt , m ade thecha rge that L inco ln
’
s b i rth was not an honorab le on e Im
med ia te ly the fa lse accusat ion was spread th roughou t theland . H i s fr i en ds , among whom was the Hon . Henry W at
te rson , though a po l i t i cal en emy took upon themse lves th etask o f making a personal invest i gat ion , and proved beyonda shadow o f doub t that the charge was as false as th e hearto f the in famous i nd ivi dua l who made i t . Mo re than threequarters o f a century have b een recorded on the scro l l oft ime si nce th is damnab l e l ie was started ; more than a hund red years have passed s in ce th e death of th is sa inted mother to whom L inco ln sa id h e owed al l that he was or everh o ped to be . and though i t has b een p roven to b e abso lu te lyfa lse . ye t a fter al l th is lapse of t ime there are many wh ost i l l b e l ieve i t to b e t rue .
Oh how easy i t i s , by some tr i f l ing remark , some exag
gerated in sinua t ion of some d i re c t charge , to injure ord isrup t th e reputat ion o f th e b est o f men or the purest ofwom en , but oh how difficu l t i t is to rebui ld that repu ta t ionwhen once destroyed .
Lin co l n on an o c cas ion sa i d , D ie when I‘
may,I wan t
i t sa i d of me by those who kn ew me b es t tha t I a lwaysp lucked a th i s tl e and plan ted a f lower wherever I though t af l owe r w e n " g
r ew .
If all men and a l l women wou ld ac t in accordan ce w i ththe thoug ht exp ressed in th is sentence , many a tear wouldremain unsh ed , many a good and nob le heart wou ld rema inunb roken . Th e firs t year o f th e marr ied l i fe o f the L i ncol n
’
s was spen t i n El i z ab eth town wh ere Sarah the o ldestch i l d was b orn . S hortl y a fte r the b irth no doub t
,on ao
count of pov erty'
and partly on account of the an imos i ty h ehad aroused by h is pers i stent antagon ism to slavery
,he r e
moved to a l i t t le farm th irteen m i l es away near th e town o fHodg ensv ille . It was here in the l i t t le log cab in wh ichst i l l stan ds , that Ab raham was born Feb . 1 2 , 1 8 0 9 .
The boyhood days o f Linco ln were spen t very muc h as
were the days o f o ther boys of the t ime w i th th i s notab le
excep t ion . A t th is ear ly date , game o f a l l k i nds was p len
t i ful and i t was the spec ial del igh t o f most b oys to spen d
thei r leisure momen ts in hunti ng . Not so wi th Linco ln.
He was adve rse to taking l i fe i n any manner , the refore
hunt ing had no attract i on for h im,and so we f i nd h im at a
very ear ly age , devot ing h i s l e isure moments to s tudy .
There were no educat iona l advan tages in those days .
According to h is own test imony al l th e schoo l i ng he r ece iv
ed in the school room d i d not exceed ten or twe lve months
and , under teachers who made no pretens ions toward teach
i ng anyth ing beyond the three R’
s"
. No t on account of
th ese ear ly d i sadvantages bu t i n spi te o f them by h is un
t i r i ng and pers isten t app l icat ion to study ,he succeeded in
acqu i r i ng a fa i r ly good educat ion
As we have sa i d be fo re th e fath er was of a res t less ,
rov ing d isposi t i on so we fin d“h im becom ing dissat is f ied
with h is l i t t l e home in Kentucky . In th e fa l l o f 1 8 1 6 hemoved to Spen cer Coun ty Ind iana whe re he agai n exp er i enc
ed the hardsh ip s of front ie r l i fe . Here i t was that NancyHanks Linco ln s i ckened and d ied .
I t b ecame the pa in fu l du ty of the husband to go i n tothe forest , cut down on e of th e g iganti c trees wh i ch grew inabundan ce , saw i t in to lumbe r with th e old fa sh i on ed wh i psaw , and manufacture th e co ff i n i n wh i ch sh e was laid torest .
In due t ime , rea l i z i ng that h i s ch i ldren nee ded the
gu id i ng hand of a mother , he re tu rned to Kentucky and
ma r r i ed a M rs . Johnson a lady wi th whom h e was ac q uain ted befo re e i ther was marr i e d . A warm fri endsh i p g r e w upbetween her and young Abraham , and she be i ng an educat
ed and cu l tured lady for that day and t ime,the re i s l i t t l e
doub t that she exe r te d over him an in fluence whi ch hadmuch to do in p reparing h im for th e h igh p os i t i on i n l i fe towh i ch he was to be ca l led .
About th e t ime of Linco ln ’s 2 1 st b ir thday ,
‘
the father wasag ai n se i z ed w i th the wander - lus t
,th i s t ime wend ing h i s
way no r thwa rd t rave l in g by ox—team and wagon,on e of
t h e m b e i ng d r iven by Ab raham h imse l f . They sett led nearNew Salem , some 1 5 mi les from Sp r i ngfie l d
, 111 wh ere thefath e r and son bu i l t a log cab i n
,made rai l s and fen ce d ten
acres o f lan d , and p laced i t unde r cu l t ivat i on the fi rst year.
0
A trader o f th e commun i ty see ing L inco ln ’s robustbu i ld and a lmos t g ian t strength
,and having imp l i c i t confi
de nce in h i s hon es ty , emp loyed h im fo r th e pa l t ry suma
per month to bu i ld a boat , and loa d ing i t w i th suchgoods and pov isions as would f in d ready sale a t the var iousplan tat ions
,sent h im and another youth down the I l l ino is
river to the Miss i ss ipp i and down th i s r iver to New Or leans .I wi l l burden you wi th but one in c i dent of that or rath er
a preceed ing voyage . One n igh t wh i le anchored at th e water ’s edge
,b e ing wrapped in peaceful slumb er they were
attacked by seven stalwart negroes whose ob j ec t was tomurder them and take possess ion of their goods . By the irsuperio r strength and ski l l however they succeeded in van
quishing th e i r assa i lan ts wi th on ly s l ight injury to th emse lves and cu tt i ng anchor dr ited on down the r iver in safe
ty . Thirty years later these same n egroes , i f a l ive , tog eth
e r w i th four mi l l i on o f the i r race , rece ived their freedom atthe hands of him whom they sough t to murder .
The rest of th e tr ip was made in safety and a fter havingd i spose d of a l l th e i r sto res they re turne d part o f the way bysteamboat and par t o f th e way on foot . Upon h i s a rr iva lhome h e accounted for every penny o f the money taken i n ,
and thus bui l t a reputa t ion for honesty whi ch , no doub t,had much to dow i th h i s fu ture success .
After work ing in th e s tore o f th e man for whom h e hadmade h is voyage down th e r iver , he and a man by the nameof Berry bough t a s tore from the Herndon Brothers , g ivin gthe i r p romissory note in paymen t for same . Tho unknown
to th em at the t ime they made the purchase , the store wason th e verge of b ankrup tcy . The bus in ess fa i led , and Ber ryf led l eavi ng th e who le responsib i l i ty on Lin co ln who thoughnot ab le to pay at the t ime
,assumed no t on ly h i s deb t bu t
a iso that o f h i s worthless partne r,a deb t wh i ch took h im
seven teen yea rs to l i qu i da te . Th is deb t could no t haveb een co l l ected b y law , ye t th is man whose honesty I havenever heard quest i one d , pai d i t to a farth i ng wi th i n teres t ,thus again demonstra t ing that h e was a man in whom th emost impl ic i t con f idence could b e p l aced . On May 7 ,
1 8 3 3
he was appo in ted pos t-master o f New S alem ,a posi t i on
wh i ch he held un t i l 1 8 3 6 when New Salem seems to haved i sappeared a n d th e p os
tr ffice was moved to a ne ighbor
ing town . a g ain th r own out of employmen t he faced th emost c r i t i cal per i od o f h is h isto ry , for he rea l i z ed as a l l menwho ever r each any ma rked degree o f success must soon e ror later rea l i z e , that in order to accomp l ish anyth ing worthwh i le h e must specia l i z e in one part icu lar l in e o f industry .
H is natura l in c l inat i on was toward the study o f law ,
bu t on accoun t o f h is lack o f educat ion he hes i tate d , feari ng that he coul d no t compet e w i th the mo re h ighly educat
e d lawyers of h i s t ime . As we look b ack over the b ri l l ian taccomp l i shments o f his future l i fe
,i t is amus i ng , in deed , to
th ink tha t he hes i t ate d fo r two years i i a cho i ce b e tweenthe professi on o f law and the t rad e o f a b lacksm i th . Had
a oss to h imse l f and to h is coun try .
th ink that o ther men , i f not al l men , are created . fo rspec i fic l ine o f work and that if they use the i r t ime inarat ion , and ho l d themse lves in read iness to d o tha t wo
the Div in e "Cr eator in H is own t ime and in hi s own wwi l l poi n t th e pr oper p roceedur e for the accompl i shmentthi s work . I be l ieve th is was true in the case of AbrahLin co ln . Prior to his appointment as Postmaste r atSal em , to b e more exact in the year 1 8 3 2 at the age o fhe entered the race for the leg islature , and the he was 1known outsi de of h is immediate commun i ty , and tho heon ly ten days in wh ich to make a canvass of the d istand notwi thstanding , the fact that he was defeated , he mada showing for which he had no reason to be ashamed .
migh t add that th is was the on ly t ime i n h is h istory that hmet defeat at the han ds of th e peop le .
Two years later encouraged by the vo te , he hadce iv ed at . the p revi ous e lec t ion , he agai n entered therace an d was e lected. Be ing brought int-o contact w i thmen more high ly educated than any wi th whom he had eve rbefore assoc i ate d an d hav ing plen ty o f spare t ime fo r study ,
an d rece ivi ng encouragement from h is assoc iates , he dec idedto b egin th e study o f law .
He was re- e lected in the e lect ion s o f 3 6-3 8 and 4 0 a tthe en d o f wh i ch he volun tar ily re t ired I t canno t b e sa idthat he made a spec ial ly b r i l l ian t record dur ing h is ca ree ras a l egislator ; ye t he must have s tood we l l wi th hi s co ll eagues for at the last two terms o f wh ich h e was a memberh e was the cho ice of h is party for speaker
,but b e i ng in the
m inor i ty , he of course was defeated .
Upon h is re t i remen t from the legis lature he devo ted h isen t ire t ime to the study and pract ice of l aw ; though i t i strue that i n convent ions wh ich nom inated candi dates forCongress i n the year 1 8 4 2 and also in 1 8 4 4 h e was an asp ir
ant for that of fice .
Two Years later h is po l i t i cal asp ira t i ons were gra t i fie das he was e l ec ted and took h is seat as. a memb er o f the th i rtieth congress . Here as in the Leg is l ature he did not d isp lay any unusual ab i l i ty bu t was a hard, worker and stoodfirm for h is convict ions .
I shal l not d ea l exten s ive ly wi th h is congress ional reco rdbut there is one th ing I cannot refra in from men tion ing because i t shows the trend of h is m ind a t that ear ly date andbecause i t leads up to some of h is great deeds in a fter l ife .
The slavery quest ion was becoming on e o f nat i onal promi
nence . I t was agi tated in the minds of the leaders of bo thnorth and south . The issues be tween them were soclear lyd rawn tha t any on e cou ld unders tan d . Th e North demanded that slav ery be con fined to the S tates in wh i ch i t al readyx isted,
th e S outh c la imed that i t cou ld be l awfu l ly exten ded to any part o f th e coun try . In al l the h istory of L i n co lnwh i ch I have read I do no t f in d a s ing le instance in which
h e c laimed that Congress had any const i tut iona l r ig h t top roh ib i t s lavery in th e sta tes where i t al ready ex i sted.
Maryland and V i rgin ia were both slave states . Th ey hadceded to the federa l government a s tr ip of land on e i ther s i de
of the Potomac as a loca . ion o f th e Nationa l Capi tal , and indoing so gave up al l r ights they had as s tates , and i t natura l ly fe l l under the jur isd ict ion of the Nat i ona l Congress.
Accord ing to Linco l n’
s own sta temen t there had beenmain ta ined for fi f ty years wi th in s ight of the windows of
'
th e Cap i ta l , a sort o f negro l ive ry stab l e , where drov es o fnegroe s we re co l lected , temporar i ly kep t , and final ly takento southern ma rkets , pre c ise ly l ike droves o f horses . H i svery na ture revo l ted at th is traffic in hum an l ives .
He already en ter ta ined the i dea wh i ch he la ter , dur ingh i s term as pres i dent , urged upon b oth houses of Congress ,that the on ly "ust mo de o f ge t t ing r i d o f the inst i tu t ion ofs lav ery was by a sys tem of compensated emancipat ion , g iv
i n g freedom to the s lave an d a money indemn i ty to the
own er . Be l i ev ing th i s to b e the on ly j ust and cons isten t wayo f se tt l ing th e con trov ersy h e i ntroduced in congress a carefu l ly prepared b i l l provi d ing for the abo l ishmen t of sl averyi n the Dist r ict of Co lumb ia upon the fo l lowing terms :
Fi rst : Tha t the laws should b e adop ted by a popu larvote i n the dis t ri ct .
Secmi d : A temp o ra ry sys tem of apprent i c esh ip andgr adua l emanc ipat ion for ch i l d ren born o f slave mo thersa fte r Janua ry 1 , 1 8 5 0 .
Th i rd : The governmen t to pay cash value for s lavesvo lun tar i l y manum i t ted by thei r owners .
Fourth : Proh ib i t ing b ringing s laves into the D istr i c to r se l l ing them ou t o f i t .
Fi fth : Provi d ing that governmen t of f i cers,ci t i z ens o f
slave states m ight br ing wi th them and take away aga inthe i r slave house-servan ts .
S ix th : Leaving the exist ing fugi t ive-s lave l aw in force .
In spi te of the jus t ice and s imp l i c i ty of th is b i l l,in
spi te o f the fac t that a ma"or i ty o f the c i t i z ens of the D ist r iet were anxious for i ts passage , the b i l l was never a l lowedto come to a vo te .
Mr . Linco l n re t i red at the c lose of «the term,and resum
ed th e p ract ice of law . For a t ime he seems to have lost a l lin teres t in po l i t i cs , and no doub t woul d have spen t the re
ma i nd er o f h is l i fe in the p ract i ce o f law,had no t congress
at th is t ime r epea led th e famous M issou r i Comp romi se B i lwh i ch aga in threw both Nor th and South i n to a tev e r is
h eat of exc i tement an d wh ich acco rd ing to Linco ln'
s owword s , aroused h im a s h e had neve r been aroused before .
Th e repea l of th e M i ssour i Compromise was not
ed unt i l May 1 8 5 0 and f rom that t ime t i l l th e e lect i on sfo l lowing fal l , i n tense exc i temen t p reva i led through outcoun t ry . Upon two p revious occa s i on s tha t great peace
lovin g stat esman ,Hen ry C lay . by h i s supreme e loquence had
succeeded‘
in having a b i l l passed wh i ch for a t ime lu l led torest th e passi on s o f h is coun tr ymen , thu s pos tpon ing for a
t im e the war that in ev i ta‘
o 3: must come . Th e t ime had ai
m ost i f not qu i te ar r ived wh en th e i ssue wou ld down at noman
's b i dd in g . Linco ln seems to have taken no par t in th epubl i c d i scuss i ons un t i l S ep tembe r fo l lowing th e repea l o f
th e M i ssou r i Com p romi se i n May ,though i t may be assumed
that h e used the in te rven ing t ime in study and preparat ionfor the Hercu lean task wh i ch h e later vo lun tar i l y took uponh im se l f . Exci t emen t ran h i gh everywhe re : n en w h o had
ti l i fe lon g fr iend s we r e at dagge r'
s poin t . In some casesm a s t ers of th e same
“fam i l y we r e at each o th e r
’
s throat .
Th e t ime had passed when it was wi th i n th e powe r o f an ym an to al lay th e pass ion s of th e d i fferent fac t i ons . IVith
th is state o f af fa i rs ex i sti ng and with th e regu lar e lect ion scoming on we f in d th e m a
. p romin en t l eaders o f all fac
t i ons assemb l i ng at th e fai r g rounds a t Sp r i ngf i e l d . I l l in oi s .
Judge S teven A . Douglas . th e leading fa ctor in the rep eal o fth e M issou r i Compromise . had an appoin tmen t to sp eak on
that occas ion and in th e i r sear ch for some on e toop pose h imth e oppos i t i on unan imous ly se lec ted Ab raham Lin co ln .
T ru l y two great in te l l ects had c lash ed .
Douglass was kn own th roughout the Coun t ry as an ab leand for ce fu l speaker . Linco ln at that t ime was car ce ly
known outs i d e th e b orders of h i s own s tate . As to -v ho got
th e b etter of th i s debate and th e oth ers wh i ch - fo l lowed wi l lbe determ in ed by each in d ivi dual accord ing to wh eth e r h e
i s in sympath y wi th th e one or the oth e r . At any ra te soconvin c ing w ere h i s argument s so fo rc ib l e h i s language thatLin co ln . qui te unexpected to h im se l f
,immediate l y found
h im se l f th rust forward as a powe r i n na t iona l po l i t i cs . Someof the i deas exp re ssed in th e se debat es w i l l l ive as long as
the wor ld s tan ds .
In h is Peer ia sp eech i n speak in g of the slave ry quest ionh e used th e fo l lowin g language :
I hate S lav er v be cause o f the monst rou s i n j ust i ce o f
s lavery i tse l f . I hate slave ry because i t depr ives our repub
l i can examp le of i ts jus t i n f luence i n the wor l d ; enab les th eenemies of fr ee i ns t i tuti ons , wi th p laus ib i l i ty , to taunt us ashypocri te s ; causes the rea l f r i en ds o f freedom to doub t oursin cer i ty
,an d espec i a l ly because i t fo rces so many good men
among ourse lve s i n to an open war wi th th e very fundamn tal
p r i n c ipa ls of c ivi l l ib e r ty , cr i t i c i z i ng th e Declara t i on o f Independence , an d in si st i ng that there i s no righ t p ri nc i p al o rac t ion but se lf- in terest S lavery is founded in the se l f ishn ess o f man ’s natu re , oppos i t ion to i t i n h is love of jus t i ce
Th ese prin c i p les are an e terna l an tagon ism an d wh enb rough t i n to co l l i s i on so f i erce ly as slave ry extension b r i ngsth em , shakes an d throes and convu l s ion s mus t cease less lyfo l l ow . Repea l th e M issouri Compromise , repeal a l l comp romises , repea l the D eclara t ion o f In dependence , repeal allpast h isto ry ,
"you st i l l cannot repea l human nature . It s t i l lwi l l be th e abun dance of man
’
s h ear t that s lavery extens ioni s wrong
,and out of th e abundance o f h i s h ear t h is mouth
w i l l cont inue to speak .
gain he sa i d :“Th e doctr i n e o f se lf-governmen t is r igh t— ab so lute ly
nd etrnally r igh t «but i t has no j us t app l i cat ion as here attemp ted . Or pe rhaps I shoud ra the r say ,
that wheth er i thas such app l i cat ion depen ds upon wh e th er a negro is notor is a man . I f h e is no t a man
,in that case h e who i s a
man may as a matter of se l f- governmen t do "ust what hep . eases with h im , but i f th e n egro is a man ,
i s i t no t t o tha tex ten t a to ta l des t ruct i on o f se l f gove rnment to say tha t hetoo shall not gove rn h imse l f" Wh en th e wh i t e man governsh imse l f an d a lso gove rns ano ther man that i s more thanse l f-governmen t— that is despot ism .
I par t i cu lar l y ob j ec t to the n ew pos i t ion whi ch the avowed p r i n c ipal of th i s Neb raska law g ives to s lavery i n th ebody pol i t i c . I ob j e ct to i t b ecause i t assumes that th erecan b e mora l r ight i n the ens lav ing o f one man by an oth e r .
I obj ec t to i t as a dangerous al l ian ce for a free peop le,a sad
evi dence that fee l ing prosper i ty , we forge t r i gh t ; that l ib erty as a p r i n c i pa l we have ceased to revere . it'tle by l i t t l ebut steadily m an z z z arch to the grav e
,we have b een giv
ing up th e O l d for th e n ew fa i th . Near eighty years ago webegan by dec la r i ng that a l l men
‘
are created equal ; bu t nowfrom that beginn ing we have run down to th e o ther decla
rat i on that for some men to ens lave o thers,i s a sacred
r igh t o f se l f-government .
"These pri n c i pals cannot s tan d
toge th er . Th ey are as oppos i t e as "od and Mammon .
Again on anoth e r occasi on he use d the fo l lowing fo rc i b l e language“
A house d ivided against i tse l f canno t stand.
I bel i eve th i s gove rnmen t cannot endure pe rmanen t ly
,ha l f s lave
and hal f free . I d o not expec t th e Un ion to be d i s so lved
I do not expect th e“house to fa l l b ut I do exp ec
to be d ivi ded . I t wi l l become a l l one th i ng r
E i ther th e opponent s o f s lavery wi l l arr estspread of i t
,and p lace i t wh ere the pub l i c min t
in the be l i ef that i t i s i n course o f u l t i n-ate e
i ts advocates wi l l push forward t i l l i t sha l l bin all the S tate s , o ld as we l l as n ew, Nor th
South .
Li tt le d i d h e d ream at th is t ime that i n h i sbe p laced the powe r
,and upon h is shou l ders ti
b i lity of determin ing wh ether or no t s lavery Sh (
ex i s t . we wi l l pass rap i d ly over th e succeedi i
the next Presi den ti a l e lect ion .
Though he was a lmost the last man to rea l ib ecome by h i s ab le d iscuss i on of the s lave r y queure of nat ional p romin en ce . Almost a year befor
i ng of th e Nat ional conven t i on an en thus iast i c fr
i tor of one o f the lead ing papers o f I l l i no is , hadpermi ssi on to announce h im a can d idate for th ebu t Linco ln d i scouraged such act i on by answer ir
tain ly am flattere d and g rati f i e d that some parth ink of me in that connect i on ; but I rea l ly th infor our cause that no concerted e ffort such as yoshou ld be made .
As th e t ime of the meet ing of th e convent i ona body o f inf luen t ia l fr iends waite d upon h im athat th e al low th em to enter h i s nam e i n the conhe f i nal ly agreed to do , no t wi th an y hop e of seccove ted p r i z e , but b e l i ev in g that i f he could make rab le showing of strength i n th e conven t ion , i tab le h im to secure a senatorsh i p o f h is s tate . Li i
h i gh with th e c i t i z en sh i p o f h is own state so the l
at Sp r i ngf i e ld as de l egates to the nat iona l conventcago, were h i s fr i e nds and were men of ab i l i ty tb l e to exert a great in flune e i n h i s b eha l f amon
"
ates at th e Nat iona l Conven t ion . Lin co ln did. he Ch i cago conven tion humorous ly saying that hn uch of a cand idate to at ten d and not enough 0
lat e to stay away .
Th e de legates assemb led in th e Wigwam,a la
ary bu i ld ing erec ted espec ia l ly for th e purpose .
ittle doub t that W i l l i am H . S eward was th
hoice of a majori ty cf th e membe rs of th e conv11 accoun t of h is st rong an t i -s lavery views he hebnox ious to a few of th e p ivota l stat e s ; thus male
feat C u r a m i n case or ais n ominat ion . Lin co ln was an t i
slah ry but not an abo l i t ion is t . Each had a strong fo l low
in g . The ba l lot in g b egan on th e th i rd day . The f i rs t ba l
lot g aw S eward 1 7 3 s votes , Linco ln 1 0 2 , th e remai nde r goi ng to ta xor i te sons o f d i f feren t s tate s . Etvidently the bat
t le was between th ese two . On secon d th e de legat ion o f va
r ion s s tate s after having cast a comp l imentary vote for th e i rfavor i te
,b egan to dr i ft to th e on e or the oth er of th e l ead
ing cand idates .
Th e c lose o f th e second bal lot d i sc losed the fac t that
S eward had rece ived 1 8 4 vote s and Lin co ln 1 8 1 , an d a burs to f app lause wh i ch was ch ecked with d i f f i cu l ty by the chai r
man ,shook th e bui l d in g to i ts very foundat ion . "u iet be
in g restore d , and afte r a has ty and exc i t ed consul tat ion o fvar i ous vote de l egat i ons , the th i rd bal lo t began , an d afte rc oun t ing up th e vote s i t wa s found that Lin col n had 3 2 1 g ,
S eward 1 8 0 .Two hund red and th i rty three votes b eing
necessary to a cho i ce , i t was ob serve d that Linco ln was
w i th—in 1 1 % votes of th e nominat i on . A death - l ik e quie t
p r a l led i n th e room , each wonde r i n g what th e next movewou l d be . Th ey had not long to wai t , fo r Davi d K . Carte rsp r a ng from h is seat and rep or te d th e change o f 4 Oh i o
votes from Chase to Lin co ln .
Pan-dimon ium b r oke loose , meen cheere d ,cannon s roar
ed and te legrap h wi res spread th e news th rough the coun t ryth e. Linco ln th e rai l sp l i t te r was th e nominee fo r pre s i d en tof the Un i te d S tates . In th e mean time th e Democrati c partyas se mb led in conven t i on and foun d th emse lve s hope lessly
di v i d ed on the s lavery quest ion . One fac t ion nominatedJudge Doug las who regarded s lavery as b e ing pure ly a statequest i on , and that eao s tate had r ig h t to accep t o r rej ec ti t as they saw fi t . Anoth e r fac t ion
,th e Buchanan , declar
ed slave ry to b e righ t an d b en efi c i a l,an d p le dgi ng i ts exten
sron , nominated John C . Brecken r i dge o f Ken tucky . S t i l lanother fac t i on ignor i ng th e quest ion en t i re l y nom iated
John Be l l o f Tennessee . Th ese four en tered the batt le fo rth e Presiden cy wh i ch resu l t e d in th e e l ec t ion o f Abrah-
amL i nco ln .
Even be fore h is inaug uraton war c louds hung ominously on th e Th i s bei ng in ten de d a s a d i scourse on th el i fe of Li z i f oln and not a d i scuss i on of th e c ivi l war ; and
havi ng n e i th er time no r the in c l inat i on to b ri ng be fo re youth e man y un p leasan t happen ings of that te rr i f i c s trugg le
, ll
sha l l con ten t myse l f wi th ment i on ing on ly those th ingswh i ch have a ten den cy to port ray -th e b eaut i es an d n ob l en ess of charact e r i n th e l i fe o f h im whom I am so fe eb lv
t ry i n g to eu logi z e . M uch as I admi re,love and hono r the
memory o f Linco ln , I say to you frank ly that I wou l d rath e r
‘
rom my body,rath er than knowing ly ,
h im , utter one word that would cast ahones ty , i n tegr i ty or cou rage of theith who opposed h im .
he No rth and those o f the South had. ir el'y d i ffe ren t environment s . Those«wn up surrounded by s lavery wh ich wastioned by the na t iona l Government , un
very as an ina l i enab l e r igh t with wh i chmen , had a r ight to interfere .
ind, those of th e Nor th not com ing inslavery , and no doub t h ear ing many exf cruel t ies p rep etrated on th e s l aves o fan d b e l iev ing that slavery had no p laceose very foundati on rock was bui l t upon111 men are created free and equa l ,l eas t to preven t i ts spread ing to sta tess t .i i tions exis t ing , and wi th the two facWar Abraham Linco ln was i nauguratedte d S tates at th e most c r i t i ca l per io d o f
sire was to avo i d war . In substan ti aote from his inaugura l address , in wh i chnest p lea against the fo l ly o f d i sun i oni tain ing peace an d fra terna l good w i l l ,g language :I our coun try be l ieves slavery is r i gh ten ded , wh i le th e other b e l i eves i t ist b e exten ded ; that is the on ly substan
:a l ly speaking , we cannot separate . Wee sp ect iv e sec t i ons from each o th er , andv e wa l l between them . A husband andl and go out o f the p resence and b eyon daer ; but the differn t part s o f our counTh ey canno t but remain face to face
,
er amicab le or host i le mus t con t i nue
poss ib l e , th en , tomake that i n tercoursei r mo re sat is factor y a fter separat ioniens make treat i es eas i er than fr i endsit t reat ies b e more fa i th ful ly en forcedlaws can among fr i ends" Suppose you)t f ight a lways ; an d when ,
after muchd n o ga in on e i ther you cease f igh t ing
,
s t ich s as to terms of intercourse ar e
Your hands , my dissat is fi e d fel lowih mine , i s th e momentous issue o frnmen t wil l not assai l you . You canrou t {b e i n g yourse lves the aggressors
.I
are no t en em ies , but fr iends . We mustiug h passion may have stra i ned
,i t
ends of affec ti on .
But war was on an d i t was b eyond th e power of anyman to stop i t . I question i f ther e was a man in Lincoln
’
scab inet who in th e start , di d not b e l i eve h imse l f to be eu
p er ior to h i s ch i e f , and b et ter ab le to grapp l e wi th th emigh ty quest ion s that constan tly come up for adjustmen t ,
bu t the re n ever was a t ime , from th e day h e took h is seatunt i l th e day h e d i ed at th e hand o f a cowardly assass intha t h e d i d no t have comp lete contro l o f the s i tuat i on .
He was born a leader , an d though ever ready to advisewith th e membe rs of h i s cab in et , h e reserved unto h imse l fth e f ina l dec is i on of all important quest ions . The f ir st tohave th i s fact forc ib ly th rust upon h im was Mr . S eward ,
S ecre tary o f S tate . Bare ly a mon th had e lapsed a fter th ei naugu ra t i on o f M r . L inco ln , when Mr . Seward han ded h ima document enti tled ,
“Some thoughts for the pres ident
’
scon s iderat i on . Never in al l h istory before o r s ince has suchin strumen t o f wr i t i ng passed b etween a cab ine t officer an dh i s ch i e f . Ve have not space to g ive th e no te in ful l b uti t sai d in sub stance , Mr . Pres ident you have reach ed th e en do f the f i rst month o f your adm in istrat i on , an d are yet wi thout a pol icy , e i ther domest i c or fore ign . The adm inistrat ion shou ld cease ta lkin g abou t s lavery and emphas i z e th eques t ion o f un ion o r d i sun ion . You shoul d demand an exp lanat i on o f Fran ce and Spain , and i f they do not g ive satisfactor y rep l i es you shou l d convene congress an d dec larewar on the n at once . But whateve r po l icy we adop t , theremus t b e an en erge tic p rosecut ion in i t . Fo r th is purpose i tmus t b e somebody
’
s bus i n ess to pu rsue and direc t i t inces
san tly . E ith e r the Pres i d en t mus t do i t h imelf, an d be a l lth e wh i l e ac t ive in i t . or devo lve i t on some memb er of h iscab ine t . Once ad op ted , d ebate on i t must en d , and al l agreeand ab ide . i t i s not in my espec i a l p rovince . Bu t
,n e i ther
eek to ev ade no r assume respons ib i l i ty .
Cou ld you fo r a moment imag i n e a more ego t ist i c o ri n s u l t i ng le tter . M os t men under s im i lar ci rcumstan ceswou l d have b ecome en raged , and answered wi th the mos tabus ive language at h is command . Not so wi th L incoln .
In spi te o f the glow ing insul t th i s d i amond in the roughth is un educated schola r , th i s even tempered statesman ,
wi thou t th e l eas t show of resen tment , and w i th coo l h ead an d acalm heart , answered that le tter that very n ight , as on ly astatesman of th e h ighes t and nob l est ch arac ter cou ld haveanswered .
Not a word needed to b e added , and no t a word cou ldhave been l eft un sa id w i thout l essen ing i ts effec t as awho le . I t i s w orth repeat i ng i f fo r no o ther reason than toshow how a great man con ducts h imsel f under trying ci rcumstances . I r ead h is answer :
E"ECUTIVE MANS ION ; Ap ri l 1 ,1 8 6 1 .
—Hon. W .
H.
Seward—“My Dear S ir : S i n ce part i ng w i th you I have beencons idering your paper dated th i s day and en t i t led somethough ts for the Presi den t's cons i derat ion .
" The fi rstpropos i t ion in i t is ,
“we are at the end o f a month ’s adm in
istration and ye t are wi thout a po l i cy ,e i ther dom est ic , or
fore ign .
"
A t the b eg inn ing of that month in the inaugura l I sa idThe power comfided tome wi l l be used to. hold , occupy andpossess the property and p laces b e long ing to the Government , and to col lec t the dut i es and impor ts
’
. Th is had yourapprova l at the t ime ; and taken in connect ion wi th the orde r I immed ia te ly gave Gener a l Scott , dire c t ing h im to emp loy every means ln h is powe r to strengthen and hol d thefor ts , comp r i ses the exact domesti c pol i cy you urge , w i ththe s i ng l e excep ti on tha t i t does not propose to abandonFort Sumter .
Th e n ews rece ived yesterday in regard to San to Domingo certa in ly b r i ngs a new i tem w i th in the range o f our fore g n po l i cy , but up to that t ime we hav e been prepa r i ng c i rL i l é al
'
S and i ns truct ions to,mi n i ste rs and th e l ike al l i n per
fe e t harm ony wi thout even a sug ges ti on that we had no fore igh po l i cy .
Upon your closi ng propos i t ion That Whatever po l icywe adopt th ere must be an energet ic p rosecut ion of i t .
For th i s purpose i t must be somebody ’s bus iness to pursue and direc t i t incessan t ly .
E ither the Pres ident must do i t himsel f , and be a l l th ewh i le aci tv e i n i t , or devo lv e it upon some member o f h i scab ine t .“
Once adopted , debates mus t end , and a l l agree and
ab i de . I remark that i f th is be d one , I must do i t . Wh ena gen era l l i ne of po l i cy i s adop ted,I apprehend th e re is nodanger o f i ts b e i ng changed w ithout good reason
,o r con t in
u ing to be a sub j ec t o f unnecessary deb-ate . S t i l l uponpo in ts aris ing in i ts p rogress , I wi sh ,
and suppose I am en
t i t led to have th e advi ce o f a l l the Cab ine t.
Your obedi en t servan t,
A Li nco ln .
So k ind , ye t so consclusiv e was the argument that Mr .
S eward s tepped back in to h is place , no doub t real i z ing tha tM r . Linco ln was fu l ly capab l e of conduct ing h is own affa i rsand so far as i s known neither eve r refe rred to the corresponden ce agai n .
As fu rthe r ev id en ce o f the fac t that Seward rea l i z ed thath e had come i n con tac t wi th a rea l l eader of men
,In
speak i ng o f a Cab inet mee ting a short t ime a fter,he sa i d
the r e was but one vote cast an d that was b y Lincoln .It i s
t rue that he took upon h imself the respons ib i l i ty of deci ding a ll importan t ques t i on s dur ing the ent ire war , no t sh i fti ng i t upon any oth er man
’
s shou l der s , never waver ing fromwhat he b e l i eve d to be right .
Anoth er matter of conti nuous annoyance be tween h imand membe rs o f h i s Cab inet , as wel l as some of th e lead inggenerals o f th e army was what they p leased to term his
abuse o f the pardon ing power . With al l h is s trength and
power,h i s heart was as tender as that o f a woman , somuch
so that he granted many p ardons almost i f no t ent ire ly ,wi thout apparen t reason . Th is p roceedure was strong l yopposed by those in command o f th e army who c laimed i t
to b e imposs ib le to main tai n ob ed i e nce to the rul es an d reg
ulatns o f th e army , so long as such len i ency was extendedto the transgressors of those ru les an d regulat ion s .
I t i s sa id that on one occas ion a commander actual lycut the wire l ead ing from the Execu t ive Mans ion to h i s of
f i ce in o rder to p reven t exe cu t ive c lemency b eing exten dedsome prisoners who had b een condemned to death . Th i slove l y tra i t o f his charac te r is beau t i ful ly portraye d in th estory to l d by Mr . John B . Al ly of Boston who hav ing occas i on to vis i t the Whit e House on thre e consecu t ive days not i ce d , on each occas ion an old wh i te ha ire d man wa i t ing inn outer ha l l s i len t ly weep i n g . The th i rd day , touch ed byth e sad spectac le , h e accosted the man , and ascerta ined thath e had a son sen tence d to death and was try ing to reachth e Pres iden t .
“Come along , sa i d A l ly“and I w i l l take you
to the P res iden t . Mr . L inco ln l istened pat ien t ly to. th eold man
’
s s tory , and wi th tears in h is own eyes , rep l i ed ,
that he“had j us t rece ived a te legram from the command ing
Gene ra l imp loring h im not to in terfere . The broken hearted o l d m an , b e l i evin g al l was lost ,
cast a last despa iringl ook a t the President an d started toward th e door . Ere hehad cach ed i t however , the Pres i dent cal led h im back ,
an dsa id , The Genera l may te l egraph and te l egraph , but I amgo ing to pardon that young man He immed iate ly sen t ad ispatch d i rec t ing that sen tence b e suspended unt i l such at ime as he h imse l f shoul d order execu t ion . Upon hear ingthi s , the o ld man aga in burst into tears , exc la im ing be tweensob s ,“Mr . Pre siden t , th at i s no t a pardon , you mere ly ho ld
up the sen tence o f my boy un t i l you can order h im to b eshot . Linco ln turne d qu i ck l y an d in a tender voic e calcu
lated to a l lay h is gravest fears sa id :“Go along
, old man ,
go in peace . If your son l ives t i l l I order h im sho t he wi l ll ive to b e as o ld as M ethuse lah .
Time w i l l not perm i t m e to enumerat e th e many simi lar inc i den ts in h is l i fe , fo r th ey were of a lmo st da i ly occu rren ce . Always showing streng th and power , ye t ever tern
per ing j ust ice w i th sympathy and t o l erance .
A beaut i fu l tra i t of h i s character is very forc ib ly b rough tout in hi s l etter to h i s s tep b roth er , who i t seems , was continually calling upon h im for pecun iary a id . I am go
ing to read th i s l e tter not b ecause i t con tains any speci a lvalue from a l i terary stan dp o in t but b ecause of t he v i ta ltruth-
s expressed there in ,tru ths "ust
“as app l i cab le to l i feto day as i n th e days o f Linco ln and wi l l be j u st as appl i cb le to l i fe f i fty or a hun red years hence , as i t is today .
Here is the letter :Spri ngfi e ld ,
Jan . 2 , 1 8 5 1— D ear Br other : Your requestfor e igh ty do l lars I do not th i nk i t best to com p ly wi th . Atth e var ious t imes I have he lped you a l i t t l e you have sa i d :“e can g et along very wel l but
'
i n a shor t t ime I f indyou in the same d i ff i cul ty again . Now th is can on ly happen th rough some defe c t in you . What that defect is Ith ink I know . You a re not la z y , and st i l l you a r e an i d ler .
I doub t wh ethe r s i nce I saw you ,you hav e don e a good ,
wh o le day ’s wo rk , i n any one day . You do not very m uchd isl ike to work , and st i l l you do not work much , merely be
cause it doe s no t seem to you you get enough for i t . Th lS
hab i t o f use l ess ly "wasting t ime i s the who l e d i f ficu l ty . I ti s vast ly impor tant to you , and st i l l more toy-our ch i l drenthat you break the hab i t .
You ar e now in need of some mon ey ,an d what I p ro
pose is that you go to work“too th and nai l"
,for somebody
who wi l l give you money for i t . Let fath er an d your boy-stake charge of your th i ngs a t home , - prepare for a cr0 p and
make the crop , and you go work for th e best money wagesyou can ge t , or in d ischarge o f any deb t you owe , and to secure you a fa i r reward fo r your labor , I prom i se you that forevery do l lar you wi l l get for your labor b etween th is an dthe l st of May , e i ther i n mon ey or on your indeb tedness Iwi l l then give you one other dol lar . By th is i f you h i reyourse l f for ten do l lars a mon th ; from me you wi l l ge t tendo l lars more , making twenty do l lars .
I n th i s I do not mean that you shal l go off to S t . Lou i sor th e l ead min e s i n M issour i , or the g o l d m ines in Californ ia
, but I mean for you to go at i t for the b est wages youcan g e t c lose to home i n Co les Coun ty . If you wi l l do th isyou w i l l soon be out o f deb t , and , what i s b etter , you wi l lhave acqu ire d a hab i t wh i ch w i l l ke ep you from ge tt i ng indeb t again . But i f I should now clear you out of deb t , n extyear you wou ld b e j ust as desp
'
i n d eb t as ever .You say you wou l d almost g ive your p lace in Heaven
for seventy or e ighty do l lars" Th en you value you-r p lacein He aven very ch eap , for I am sure you can
,wi th the offe r
I make , get th e setventy or e ighty do l lars for four or fivemon ths work .
You sa i d i f I wi l l lend you the money,you wi l l deed
me the lan d and i f you don ’ t pay the money back,you wi l l
mon ey has been pa id out to have bought ever) slave i
un ion and st i l l have a large surp lus left .From th e t ime war was dec lared un t i l the day 0
death the s lavery questi on was of secondary cons ide .
toLinco l n ,h is ma in ob j ect , in fact h is only ob j ect , b e
save th e un ion wh ich h e had sworn to preserve and dI f you doub t th is statemen t I have but to ref er you tremark to Alexan der H . S tephens , v ice presiden t 0 :
S outhern Con federacy , who was on e of the de legate:
p o in ted(to con fer wi th the nat i onal au thor i t ies to 8
some means cou l d not b e devised to restore peace . I
th e con ference whi ch came to naugh t , Linco ln hande‘
s a b lank shee t o f paper and sa i d , S t ephens it
wi l l l e t me wr i te“un ion" at the top of that pag e , yo :
wr i te b e l ow i t whatever you p lease .
Aga in i f you st i l l have a doub t that h is mo t ivesave the Un ion and not d estroy slavery read h is le t tHorace Gree l ey under date o f Aug . 2 2 , 1 8 6 2 .
As to the po l i cy I seem to b e pursuing , as youhave not mean t to leave any on e in doub t .
I wou l d save the Un ion . I wou ld save i t the st
way under the Const i tu t ion . The sooner the nat ionalor ity can b e restored , the nearest the Un i on wi l l be
Un i on as i t was . If there be those who would no t s-a
Un i on un less th ey cou ld a t the same t ime save slay er :not agree w i th them . If there b e those who would noth e Un ion unl ess they cou ld , at the same t ime , destrcvery , I do not agree wi th them . My paramount objth is struggle is to say s th e Union , an d is not ei ther tor destroy s lavery . I f I cou ld save the Un i on withou
'
i ng any s laves , I would do i t , i f I could save i t by freeithe slaves, I would do i t ; an d i f I cou ld save it by fsome and leav ing o thers a lon e I wou ld also do that .’
I do about s lavery and th e co lored race,I do b ecause
l i eve i t he lps to save the Un ion,and what I for lbear , l
bear b ecause I do not b e l i eve i t wi l l save the Un isha l l do less when-ever I shal l be l i eve what I amhurts the cause , and I shal l do more when ever I shail i eve do ing more wi l l he lp th e cause . I shal l try toerrors when shown to be erro rs , and I shal l ado1Vi ews sofas t as they shal l appear to b e t rue views
.
I have here stated my purpose accord ing to my v
o ff i c i a l duty ; and I intend nomod ificat ion o f my 1
p ressed w ish that a l l men everywhere cou ld be free .
Yours ,A Linco ln
On S ep tember 2 2 , 1 8 6 2 , a fter long and carefu l t"be l i eving the t im e had come when the freedom
s lave wou l d add to chance for suc cess of the Northern Armyhe exerc i sed h is r igh t as a war measure , i ssuing a p rocla
mat ion that in a l l states wh e re in rebe l l ion st i l l e x is te d onJan 1 , 1 8 6 3 ,
a l l s l aves should then and forever b e free . So
on th i s memorab le Jan . 1 ,the s ta tes st i l l be ing in a state
o f war,he issued h is fina l emanc ipat ion procl amat ion free
ing th e s laves of the ent i re coun try .
Do you doub t for a momen t tha t i t was h is inten t i on topay for those s laves ; i f so then l isten , on .Feb . "ust6 9 days prior to the day of h is death when the f i na l resu l to f the war must have b een apparen t to a l l , he cal led h i sCab ine t togeth er , and read th em a draf t of resolu t ion an dp rocl amat ion embody i ng h i s i dea , o ffer ing th e S outh ernst ates four hundred mi l l ion dol lars , a sum equa l to the costo f the war {for two hun dre d days , on con d i t ion that host i li t i e s cease by th e f i rst d ay of Apr i l . The Cab in e t unan imously d isagreed wi th him ,
however,and he very re luct
an tly lai d th e matter as ide .
I wan t to say to you here the greatest b low that everbofell the South was when Abraham Liscoln fe l l , at thehands of a coward ly assas in , fo r had he l ived ,
dur ing therecons truc t i on days , the South wou ld have rece ived manyadvan tages , wh i ch they d id no t re ce ive under changed adm i n i st rat ion , one of wh ich wou ld have b een payment fore xe ry s lave set free . No t wish ing to burden you w i th afu r the r d i scus s ion o f the sub j ec t , I now inv i te you to ac
company me to th e C i ty o f W ash ington ,and wi tness the
las t t ragedy in the l i fe o f th is i l lustr ious s tatesman .Th e
war i s p ract i ca l ly over . Lee has su rrend ered,an d al l VV
ashing ton , i f no t th e whole coun try
, is rejoi c ing in the hope o fan ear ly peace .
I t is Ap ri l 1 4 th , that season o f the year when al l nature has taken on new l i fe . At noon of th i s memo rab l e dayi t becomes known throughout the C i ty
,that th e Pres iden t
would v i s i t Ford’
s Theatre in the even ing.General Gran t
and w i fe ars in th e C i ty , an d are invi ted by M rs .Linco l n to
ac company the Presi den t ial party as guests o f honor.They
accept . but at th e last moment are cal led ou t o f the C i ty ,
and Mr s .
I i M ‘“t h a n inv i te d Maj o r Rathborne and fian ce eMISS Harr is , i n stead . Being de ta in ed b y vis i tors , the p layhad made some progress when th e party appeared .
Theban d st r ike s up , Hai l to the Ch ie f the a ct ors cease for amomen t , th e audience r ises , and cheers tumultuusly thePresiden t b ow i ng in acknowledgmen t takes h is seat in h isbox W i th th e res t o f the party an d the p lay goes merri ly on .
I l eave you h e re , oh nob le soul that you are,t o en j oy as
best you can the few rema in ing momen ts of a .
wel l tl i fe for as I sh i ft the
speuscen ery to another part o f the Ci ty I
see fo rm i ng agai nst you a consp i ra cy the awfu ln ess o fwhi ch makes my very b lood tu rn co l d
.In the house o f
Llfi , ""L t rimthe presi dent
,but severa l members o f h is
Le t us say here that the S outh“had noth
h i s con sp i racy . At th e very momen t L i nsuch a hea rt fe l t ovation at th e theatre , weBooth , the
‘
l eader o f the consp i racy a youngng appearance , en ter a l ivery stab l e ande t- footed an ima l to b e had . He r i des uptheatre every part of which i s fami l iar
g an actor,an d leaving hi s horse i n charge
en ters a. n earby sa l oon and takes a d ri nk o fss to strengthen h is nerves for th e dastard lyut to commi t . I see h im enter th e th eat re ,dams an d actors , caus ing no susp i c ion ,
l i ar figure around th ere . Al l are intense lye p lay consequntly no one observes h im as hetoward the Pres iden t
’
s Box .
a card to th e attendan t an d is a l lowed to
me to d igre ss long enough to remark tha ted , th e li fe of each p rove d to beb e it known that one was to d i e
another day , one was to b e hunted fromf i nal ly s h ot wh i le a ba rn was bu rn i nge anoth er was to pass h er remai n i ng dayssadne ss ove r th e t i ll §"lC death o f h er hus
two love rs on e wa s to slay th e o ther and lat e r.ving man i ac . But ag ain to th e p i c tu re . A scowa rd ente rs th e box , I see h im d raw f romevo lve r , from the othe r a long dangerousrody be i ng in tense l y i nte rested i n th e p lay onne noti ces th e ho rr ib l e scen e be ing enacted inP lac i ng th e revo lver c lose to the back of thed h e fi re s . "u i ck l y M aj o r Rathborn e sp r i ngsse h im , and rece ives a seve re kn i fe wound in
e i z ed th e aud i ence,eve rybody rea l i z ing tha t
a strop he has happened , yet , at th e t ime no ti t i s . Amid th i s con fusion th e ch i e f ac tor in1sh es to th e rea r and with a s i ng l e bound
g e . As I ga z e upon the p i c ture i t seem s thats i on , he wi l l make h i s escape wi thout h i nde rlup r eme power in t e rvenes , fo r as h e rush escan F lag , w i th wh i ch th e stage i s deco ratedand h e i s th rown vio len t l y to th e f loo r
,
b in th e fa l l . In sp i te of th i s acc i den t howas th e rear o f the bu i ld ing
,and m oun t ing
h is steed r i d e s rap idl y away in to th e n igh t .
W e have not th e t ime to fo l low as h e is pu rsued fromp lace to p lace
, un ti l h e i s f i na l l y surrounded an d sho t i n abu rn ing ba rn . Th e P res i den t l i ngere d , unconsc ious l y unt i ldawn of th e fo l lowing day when h e qu ie t ly passe s in toetern i ty loved , honored and respected by a l l .
Let me say i n conc lus i on espec ia l ly to the youth of thecoun t ry , you cannot a l l b e ca l le d to f i l l h igh posi t ion s i nl i fe such a s Linco ln was ca l led , but you can f i l l your posi tion i n l i fe whateve r i t may b e wi th hone sty an d e ff i c i encyYou can p luck a th i s t le an d p lan t a f lowe r W h erever youth i nk a f lowe r wi l l grow . You can b e t rue to yoursef, toyour coun t ry and to your God , i n do ing the se th i ngs youwi l l b e an asse t to whatever commun i ty you choose to castyou r lot .
Las t but not l eas t , wh en you have r i gh teous l y fu l f i l l edyour m i ss i on i n th is l i fe and f i n d you r s e l f confron ted b ythat gr im mon st e r , death , th e re wi l l b e an ou tstr e tctedhand ready to gu ide you ac ro ss to th e oth e r sho re wh e re a l lyou r tr i a l s an d t roubles wi l l come to an en d . and wh ere a l lw i l l b e peace and fo reve r an d forever
.
