capital of the great Empire State of this nation while on my way to the
Federal capital. I now thank you, Mr. Governor, 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 past it is
altogether befitting a free people, as I suppose, 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 distinguished citizens who received
the support of the people, this same honor should have greeted him that
greets me this day, in testimony of the universal, 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 the institutions of this great and
glorious country.
ADDRESS TO THE LEGISLATURE OF NEW YORK, AT ALBANY,
FEBRUARY 18, 1861.
MR. PRESIDENT AND GENTLEMEN OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF NEW
YORK:--It is with feelings of great diffidence, and, I may say, with
feelings 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 those great men who have stood here, and have spoken here, and have
been heard here, all crowd around my fancy, and incline me to shrink from
any attempt to address you. Yet I have some confidence given me by the
generous manner in which you have invited me, and by the still more
generous manner in which you have received me, to speak further. You
have invited and received me without distinction of party. I cannot for
a moment suppose that this has been done in any considerable degree with
reference to my personal services, but that it is done in so far as I am
regarded, at this time, as the representative of the majesty of this great
nation. I doubt not this is the truth, and the whole truth of the case,
and this is as it should be. It is much more gratifying to me that this
reception has been given to me as the elected representative of a free
people, than it could possibly be if tendered merely as an evidence of
devotion to me, or to any one man personally.
And now I think it were more fitting that I should close these hasty
remarks. It is true that, while I hold myself, without mock modesty,
the humblest of all individuals that have ever been elevated to the
Presidency, I have a more difficult task to perform than any one of them.
You have generously tendered me the support--the united support--of the
great Empire State. For this, in behalf of the nation--in behalf of the
present and future of the nation--in behalf of civil and religious liberty
for all time to come, most gratefully do I thank you. I do not propose
to enter into an explanation of any particular line of policy, as to our
present difficulties, to be adopted by the incoming administration. I deem
it just to you, to myself, to all, that I should see everything, that I
should hear everything, that I should have every light that can be brought
within my reach, in order that, when I do so speak, I shall have enjoyed
every opportunity to take correct and true ground; and for this reason I
do not propose to speak at this time of the policy of the Government. But
when the time comes, I shall speak, as well as I am able, for the good of
the present and future of this country for the good both of the North and
of the South--for the good of the one and the other, and of all sections
of the country. In the meantime, if we have patience, if we restrain
ourselves, if we allow ourselves not to run off in a passion, I still have
confidence that the Almighty, the Maker of the universe, will, through
the instrumentality of this great and intelligent people, bring us through
this as He has through all the other difficulties of our country. Relying
on this, I again thank you for this generous reception.
ADDRESS AT TROY, NEW YORK,
FEBRUARY 19, 1861
MR. MAYOR AND CITIZENS OF TROY:--I thank you very kindly for this great
reception. Since I left my home it has not been my fortune to meet
an assemblage more numerous and more orderly than this. I am the more
gratified at this mark of your regard since you assure me it is tendered,
not to the individual but to the high office you have called me to fill.
I have neither strength nor time to make any extended remarks on this
occasion, and I can only repeat to you my sincere thanks for the kind
reception you have thought proper to extend to me.
ADDRESS AT POUGHKEEPSIE, NEW YORK,
FEBRUARY 19, 1861
FELLOW-CITIZENS:--It is altogether impossible I should make myself heard
by any considerable portion of this vast assemblage; but, although I
appear before you mainly for the purpose of seeing you, and to let you
see rather than hear me, I cannot refrain from saying that I am highly
gratified--as much here, indeed, under the circumstances, as I have been
anywhere on my route--to witness this noble demonstration--made, not
in honor of an individual, but of the man who at this time humbly, but
earnestly, represents the majesty of the nation.
This reception, like all the others that have been tendered to me,
doubtless emanates from all the political parties, and not from one alone.
As such I accept it the more gratefully, since it indicates an earnest
desire on the part of the whole people, with out regard to political
differences, to save--not the country, because the country will save
itself but to save the institutions of the country, those institutions
under which, in the last three quarters of a century, we have grown to
a great, and intelligent, and a happy people--the greatest, the
most intelligent, and the happiest people in the world. These noble
manifestations indicate, with unerring certainty, that the whole people
are willing to make common cause for this object; that if, as it ever must
be, some have been successful in the recent election and some have been
beaten, if some are satisfied and some are dissatisfied, the defeated
party are not in favor of sinking the ship, but are desirous of running it
through the tempest in safety, and willing, if they think the people have
committed an error in their verdict now, to wait in the hope of reversing
it and setting it right next time. I do not say that in the recent
election the people did the wisest thing, that could have been
done--indeed, I do not think they did; but I do say that in accepting the
great trust committed to me, which I do with a determination to endeavor
to prove worthy of it, I must rely upon you, upon the people of the whole
country, for support; and with their sustaining aid, even I, humble as I
am, cannot fail to carry the ship of state safely through the storm.
I have now only to thank you warmly for your kind attendance, and bid you
all an affectionate farewell.
ADDRESS AT HUDSON, NEW YORK.
FEBRUARY 19, 1860
FELLOW-CITIZENS:--I see that you are providing a platform for me. I shall
have to decline standing upon it, because the president of the company
tells me that I shall not have time to wait until it is brought to me. As
I said yesterday, under similar circumstances at another gathering, you
must not draw the inference that I have any intention of deserting any
platform with which I have a legitimate connection because I do not stand
on yours. Allow me to thank you for this splendid reception, and I now bid
you farewell.
ADDRESS AT PEEKSKILL, NEW YORK,
FEBRUARY 19, 1861
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN:--I have but a moment to stand before you to listen
to and return your kind greeting. I thank you for this reception, and for
the pleasant manner in which it is tendered to me by our mutual friends.
I will say in a single sentence, in regard to the difficulties that lie
before me and our beloved country, that if I can only be as generously and
unanimously sustained as the demonstrations I have witnessed indicate I
shall be, I shall not fail; but without your sustaining hands I am sure
that neither I nor any other man can hope to surmount these difficulties.
I trust that in the course I shall pursue I shall be sustained not only
by the party that elected me, but by the patriotic people of the whole
country.
ADDRESS AT FISHKILL LANDING
FEBRUARY 19, 1861
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN:--I appear before you not to make a speech. I have
not sufficient time, if I had the strength, to repeat speeches at every
station where the people kindly gather to welcome me as we go along. If I
had the strength, and should take the time, I should not get to Washington
until after the inauguration, which you must be aware would not fit
exactly. That such an untoward event might not transpire, I know you will
readily forego any further remarks; and I close by bidding you farewell.
REMARKS AT THE ASTOR HOUSE, NEW YORK CITY, FEBRUARY 19, 1861
FELLOW-CITIZENS:--I have stepped before you merely in compliance with what
appears to be your wish, and not with the purpose of making a speech. I
do not propose making a speech this afternoon. I could not be heard by any
but a small fraction of you, at best; but, what is still worse than that,
I have nothing just now to say that is worthy of your hearing. I beg you
to believe that I do not now refuse to address you from any disposition to
disoblige you, but to the contrary. But, at the same time, I beg of you to
excuse me for the present.
ADDRESS AT NEW YORK CITY,
FEBRUARY 19, 1861
Mr. CHAIRMAN AND GENTLEMEN:--I am rather an old man to avail myself of
such an excuse as I am now about to do. Yet the truth is so distinct, and
presses itself so distinctly upon me, that I cannot well avoid it--and
that is, that I did not understand when I was brought into this room that
I was to be brought here to make a speech. It was not intimated to me that
I was brought into the room where Daniel Webster and Henry Clay had made
speeches, and where one in my position might be expected to do something
like those men or say something worthy of myself or my audience. I
therefore beg you to make allowance for the circumstances in which I
have been by surprise brought before you. Now I have been in the habit
of thinking and sometimes speaking upon political questions that have for
some years past agitated the country; and, if I were disposed to do so,
and we could take up some one of the issues, as the lawyers call them, and
I were called upon to make an argument about it to the best of my ability,
I could do so without much preparation. But that is not what you desire to
have done here to-night.
I have been occupying a position, since the Presidential election, of
silence--of avoiding public speaking, of avoiding public writing. I have
been doing so because I thought, upon full consideration, that was the
proper course for me to take. I am brought before you now, and required
to make a speech, when you all approve more than anything else of the fact
that I have been keeping silence. And now it seems to me that the response
you give to that remark ought to justify me in closing just here. I
have not kept silence since the Presidential election from any party
wantonness, or from any indifference to the anxiety that pervades the
minds of men about the aspect of the political affairs of this country. I
have kept silence for the reason that I supposed it was peculiarly proper
that I should do so until the time came when, according to the custom of
the country, I could speak officially.
I still suppose that, while the political drama being enacted in this
country at this time is rapidly shifting its scenes--forbidding an
anticipation with any degree of certainty to-day of what we shall see
to-morrow--it is peculiarly fitting that I should see it all, up to the
last minute, before I should take ground that I might be disposed, by the
shifting of the scenes afterward, also to shift. I have said several times
upon this journey, and I now repeat it to you, that when the time does
come, I shall then take the ground that I think is right--right for the
North, for the South, for the East, for the West, for the whole country.
And in doing so I hope to feel no necessity pressing upon me to say
anything in conflict with the Constitution, in conflict with the continued
union of these States, in conflict with the perpetuation of the liberties
of this people, or anything in conflict with anything whatever that I have
ever given you reason to expect from me. And now, my friends, have I said
enough? [Loud cries of "No, no!" and, "Three cheers for LINCOLN!"] Now, my
friends, there appears to be a difference of opinion between you and me,
and I really feel called upon to decide the question myself.
REPLY TO THE MAYOR OF NEW YORK CITY,
FEBRUARY 20, 1861
Mr. MAYOR:--It is with feelings of deep gratitude that I make my
acknowledgments for the reception that has been given me in the great
commercial city of New York. I cannot but remember that it is done by
the people who do not, by a large majority, agree with me in political
sentiment. It is the more grateful to me because in this I see that for
the great principles of our Government the people are pretty nearly or
quite unanimous. In regard to the difficulties that confront us at this
time, and of which you have seen fit to speak so becomingly and so justly,
I can only say I agree with the sentiments expressed. In my devotion to
the Union I hope I am behind no man in the nation. As to my wisdom in
conducting affairs so as to tend to the preservation of the Union, I fear
too great confidence may have been placed in me. I am sure I bring a
heart devoted to the work. There is nothing that could ever bring me to
consent--willingly to consent--to the destruction of this Union (in which
not only the great city of New York, but the whole country, has acquired
its greatness), unless it would be that thing for which the Union
itself was made. I understand that the ship is made for the carrying and
preservation of the cargo; and so long as the ship is safe with the cargo,
it shall not be abandoned. This Union shall never be abandoned, unless the
possibility of its existence shall cease to exist without the necessity of
throwing passengers and cargo overboard. So long, then, as it is possible
that the prosperity and liberties of this people can be preserved within
this Union, it shall be my purpose at all tunes to preserve it. And now,
Mr. Mayor, renewing my thanks for this cordial reception, allow me to come
to a close.
ADDRESS AT JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY
FEBRUARY 21, 1860
MR. DAYTON AND GENTLEMEN OF THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY:--I shall only thank
you briefly for this very kind reception given me, not personally, but as
the temporary representative of the majesty of the nation. To the kindness
of your hearts, and of the hearts of your brethren in your State, I should
be very proud to respond, but I shall not have strength to address you
or other assemblages at length, even if I had the time to do so. I appear
before you, therefore, for little else than to greet you, and to briefly
say farewell. You have done me the very high honor to present your
reception courtesies to me through your great man a man with whom it is an
honor to be associated anywhere, and in owning whom no State can be poor.
He has said enough, and by the saying of it suggested enough, to require a
response of an hour, well considered. I could not in an hour make a worthy
response to it. I therefore, ladies and gentlemen of New Jersey, content
myself with saying, most heartily do I indorse all the sentiments he has
expressed. Allow me, most gratefully, to bid you farewell.
REPLY TO THE MAYOR OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY,
FEBRUARY 21, 1861.
MR. MAYOR:--I thank you for this reception at the city of Newark. With
regard to the great work of which you speak, I will say that I bring to it
a heart filled with love for my country, and an honest desire to do what
is right. I am sure, however, that I have not the ability to do anything
unaided of God, and that without His support and that of this free, happy,
prosperous, and intelligent people, no man can succeed in doing that
the importance of which we all comprehend. Again thanking you for the
reception you have given me, I will now bid you farewell, and proceed upon
my journey.
ADDRESS IN TRENTON AT THE TRENTON HOUSE,
FEBRUARY 21, 1861
I have been invited by your representatives to the Legislature to visit
this the capital of your honored State, and in acknowledging their kind
invitation, compelled to respond to the welcome of the presiding officers
of each body, and I suppose they intended I should speak to you through
them, as they are the representatives of all of you; and if I were to
speak again here, I should only have to repeat in a great measure much
that I have said, which would be disgusting to my friends around me who
have met here. I have no speech to make, but merely appear to see you and
let you look at me; and as to the latter I think I have greatly the best
of the bargain. My friends, allow me to bid you farewell.
ADDRESS TO THE SENATE OF NEW JERSEY
FEBRUARY 21, 1861
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 Revolutionary struggle few of the States among the
Old Thirteen had more of the battle-fields of the country within their
limits than 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's Life of Washington. I remember all the
accounts there given of the battle-fields and struggles for the liberties
of the country; and none fixed themselves upon my imagination so deeply as
the struggle here at Trenton, New Jersey. The crossing of the river, the
contest with the Hessians, the great hardships endured at that time, all
fixed themselves on my memory more than any single Revolutionary event;
and you all know, for you have all been boys, how these early impressions
last longer than any others. I recollect thinking then, boy even though I
was, that there must have been something more than common that these men
struggled for. I am exceedingly anxious that that thing that something
even more than national independence, that something that held out a
great promise to all the people of the world to all time to come--I am
exceedingly anxious that this Union, the Constitution, and the liberties
of the people shall be perpetuated in accordance with the original idea
for which that struggle was made; and I shall be most happy indeed if I
shall be a humble instrument in the hands of the Almighty, and of this his
almost chosen people, for perpetuating the object of that great struggle.
You give me this reception, as I understand, without distinction of party.
I learn that this body is composed of a majority of gentlemen who, in the
exercise of their best judgment in the choice of a chief magistrate,
did not think I was the man. I understand, nevertheless, that they come
forward here to greet me as the constitutionally elected President of the
United States--as citizens of the United States to meet the man who, for
the time being, is the representative of the majesty of the nation--united
by the single purpose to perpetuate the Constitution, the union, and the
liberties of the people. As such, I accept this reception more gratefully
than I could do did I believe it were tendered to me as an individual.
ADDRESS TO THE ASSEMBLY OF NEW JERSEY,
FEBRUARY 21, 1861
MR. SPEAKER AND GENTLEMEN: I have just enjoyed the honor of a reception
by the other branch of this Legislature, and I return to you and them my
thanks for the reception which the people of New Jersey have given through
their chosen representatives to me as the representative, for the time
being, of 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 a 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 best and
safest, and from which I may have no occasion to swerve. I shall endeavor
to take the ground I deem most just to the North, the East, the West, the
South, and the whole country. I shall take it, I hope, in good temper,
certainly with no malice toward 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? [Loud
cheers, and cries of "Yes, yes; we will."] Received as I am by the members
of a Legislature the majority of whom do not agree with me in political
sentiments, I trust that I may have their assistance in piloting the ship
of state through this voyage, surrounded by perils as it is; for if it
should suffer wreck now, there will be no pilot ever needed for another
voyage.
Gentlemen, I have already spoken longer than I intended, and must beg
leave to stop here.
REPLY TO THE MAYOR OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA,
FEBRUARY 21, 1861