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 represents, or should represent, the majesty of
the nation. It is true, as your worthy mayor has said, that there is great
anxiety amongst the citizens of the United States at this time. I deem it
a happy circumstance that this dissatisfied portion of our fellow-citizens
does not point us to anything in which they are being injured or about
to be injured; for which reason I have felt all the while justified in
concluding that the crisis, the panic, the anxiety of the country at
this time is artificial. If there be those who differ with me upon this
subject, they have not pointed out the substantial difficulty that exists.
I do not mean to say that an artificial panic may not do considerable
harm; that it has done such I do not deny. The hope that has been
expressed by your mayor, that I may be able to restore peace, harmony, and
prosperity to the country, is most worthy of him; and most happy, indeed,
will I be if I shall be able to verify and fulfil that hope. I promise
you that I bring to the work a sincere heart. Whether I will bring a head
equal to that heart will be for future times to determine. 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. When
I do speak, I shall take such ground as I deem best calculated to restore
peace, harmony, and prosperity to the country, and tend to the 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 in 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
have never asked anything 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, I have addressed you longer than I expected to do, and
now allow me to bid you goodnight.
ADDRESS IN THE HALL OF INDEPENDENCE, PHILADELPHIA,
FEBRUARY 22, 1861
MR. CUYLER:--I am filled with deep emotion at finding myself standing
here, in this place, where were collected together the wisdom, 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 the confederacy so long together. It was not the mere
matter of separation of the colonies from the motherland, 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 the sentiment embodied in
the Declaration of Independence. 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. 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 is 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 toward 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, die by.
REPLY TO THE WILMINGTON DELEGATION,
FEBRUARY 22, 1861
MR. CHAIRMAN:--I feel highly flattered by the encomiums you have seen fit
to bestow upon me. Soon after the nomination of General Taylor, I attended
a political meeting in the city of Wilmington, and have since carried with
me a fond remembrance of the hospitalities of the city on that occasion.
The programme established provides for my presence in Harrisburg in
twenty-four hours from this time. I expect to be in Washington on
Saturday. It is, therefore, an impossibility that I should accept your
kind invitation. There are no people whom I would more gladly accommodate
than those of Delaware; but circumstances forbid, gentlemen. With many
regrets for the character of the reply I am compelled to give you, I bid
you adieu.
ADDRESS AT LANCASTER, PENNSYLVANIA,
FEBRUARY 22, 1860
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN OF OLD LANCASTER:--I appear not to make a speech. I
have not time to make a speech at length, and not strength to make them on
every occasion; and, worse than all, I have none to make. There is plenty
of matter to speak about in these times, but it is well known that the
more a man speaks the less he is understood--the more he says one thing,
the more his adversaries contend he meant something else. I shall soon
have occasion to speak officially, and then I will endeavor to put my
thoughts just as plain as I can express myself--true to the Constitution
and Union of all the States, and to the perpetual liberty of all the
people. Until I so speak, there is no need to enter upon details. In
conclusion, I greet you most heartily, and bid you an affectionate
farewell.
ADDRESS TO THE LEGISLATURE OF PENNSYLVANIA, AT HARRISBURG,
FEBRUARY 22, 1861
MR. SPEAKER OF THE SENATE, AND ALSO MR. SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES, AND GENTLEMEN OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF
PENNSYLVANIA:--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 me personally, but the cause which I think a
just one, in the late election.
Allusion has been made to the fact--the interesting fact perhaps we
should say--that I for the first time appear at the capital of the great
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 kind conduct of gentlemen there, I was for the first time allowed
the privilege of standing in old Independence Hall to have a few words
addressed to me there, and opening up to me an opportunity of manifesting
my deep regret that I had not more time to express something of my own
feelings excited by the occasion, 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 I was pleased that it went
to its place by the strength of my own feeble arm. When, according to the
arrangement, the cord was pulled, and it floated gloriously to the wind,
without an accident, in the 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 have often felt, that in the whole of that
proceeding I was a very humbled 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 even my feeble strength in raising it. In the
whole transaction I was in the hands of the people who had arranged it,
and if I can have the same generous co-operation of the people of
this 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 I am
exceedingly gratified to see the manifestation upon your streets of your
military force here, and exceedingly gratified at your promise 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
remarks recently made by myself at Pittsburg in regard to what is supposed
to be the especial interest of this great commonwealth of Pennsylvania. I
now wish only to say in regard to that matter, that the few remarks which
I uttered on that occasion were rather carefully worded. I took pains
that they should be so. I have seen no occasion since to add to them or
subtract from them. I leave them precisely as they stand, adding only
now that I am pleased to have an expression from you, gentlemen of
Pennsylvania, signifying that they are satisfactory to you.
And now, gentlemen of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania, allow me again to return to you my most sincere thanks.
REPLY TO THE MAYOR OF WASHINGTON, D.C.,
FEBRUARY 27, 1861
Mr. MAYOR:--I thank you, and through you the municipal authorities of this
city who accompany you, for this welcome. And as it is the first time in
my life, since the present phase of politics has presented itself in this
country, that I have said anything 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 section from which I came and the people
here, is dependent upon a misunderstanding of one another. I therefore
avail myself of this opportunity to assure you, Mr. Mayor, and all the
gentlemen present, that I have not now, and never have had, any other than
as kindly feelings toward you as to 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 own
neighbors; and I hope, in a word, that when we shall become better
acquainted--and I say it with great confidence--we shall like each other
better. I thank you for the kindness of this reception.
REPLY TO A SERENADE AT WASHINGTON, D.C.,
FEBRUARY 28, 1861
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 among 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 no wise 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 these 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 more of
your good music, I bid you good-night.
WASHINGTON, SUNDAY, MARCH 3, 1861
[During the struggle over the appointments of LINCOLN's Cabinet, the
President-elect spoke as follows:]
Gentlemen, it is evident that some one must take the responsibility
of these appointments, and I will do it. My Cabinet is completed. The
positions are not definitely assigned, and will not be until I announce
them privately to the gentlemen whom I have selected as my Constitutional
advisers.
FIRST INAUGURAL ADDRESS, MARCH 4, 1861
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."
Those who nominated and elected me did so with full knowledge that I had
made this and 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 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 amongst 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 any wise 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 much as to 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
should any one in any case be content that his oath shall go unkept on a
merely unsubstantial controversy as to how it shall be kept?
Again, in any law upon this subject, ought not all the safeguards of
liberty known in 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 privileges and immunities of citizens in
the several States"?
I take the official oath to-day with no mental reservations, and with no
purpose to construe the Constitution or laws by any hypercritical rules.
And, while I do not choose now to specify particular acts of Congress as
proper to be enforced, I do 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 greatly distinguished citizens have, in succession, administered the
executive branch of the Government. They have conducted it through many
perils, and generally with great success. Yet, with all this scope of
precedent, I now enter upon the same task for the brief constitutional
term of four years under great and peculiar difficulty. A disruption of
the Federal Union, heretofore only menaced, is now formidably attempted.
I hold that, in contemplation of universal law and of the Constitution,
the Union of these States is perpetual. Perpetuity is implied, if not
expressed, in the fundamental law of all national governments. It is safe
to assert that no government proper ever had a provision in its organic
law for its own 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 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. The Union is much older than the Constitution. It was
formed, in fact, by the Articles of Association in 1774. It was matured
and continued by the Declaration of Independence in 1776. It was further
matured, and the faith of all the then thirteen States expressly plighted
and engaged that it should be perpetual, by the 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 perfect than before the
Constitution, having lost the vital element of perpetuity.
It follows from these views that no State upon its own mere motion can
lawfully get out of the Union; that resolves and ordinances to that effect
are legally void; and that acts of violence, within any State or States,
against the authority of the United States, are insurrectionary or
revolutionary, according to circumstances.
I therefore consider that, in view of the Constitution and the laws, the
Union is unbroken; and to the extent of my ability I shall take care, as
the Constitution itself expressly enjoins upon me, that the laws of the
Union be faithfully executed in all the States. Doing this I deem to
be only a simple duty on my part; and I shall perform it so far as
practicable, unless my rightful masters, the American people, shall
withhold the requisite means, or in some authoritative manner direct the
contrary. I trust this will not be regarded as a menace, but only as the
declared purpose of the Union that it will constitutionally defend and
maintain itself.
In doing this there needs to be no bloodshed or violence; and there
shall be none, unless it be forced upon the national authority. The power
confided to me will be used to hold, occupy, and possess the property and
places belonging to the Government, and to 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, in any interior locality, shall be so
great and universal as to prevent competent resident citizens from holding
the Federal offices, there will be no attempt to force obnoxious strangers
among the people for that object. While the strict legal right may exist
in the government to enforce the exercise of these offices, the attempt to
do so would be so irritating, and so nearly impracticable withal, that I
deem it better to forego for the time the uses of such offices.
The mails, unless repelled, will continue to be furnished in all parts of
the Union. So far as possible, the people everywhere shall have that
sense of perfect security which is most favorable to calm thought and
reflection. The course here indicated will be followed unless current
events and experience shall show a modification or change to be proper,
and in every case and exigency my best discretion will be exercised
according to circumstances actually existing, and with a view and a hope
of a peaceful solution of the national troubles and the restoration of
fraternal sympathies and affections.
That there are persons in one section or another who seek to destroy the
Union at all events, and are glad of any pretext to do it, I will neither
affirm nor deny; but if there be such, I need address no word to them. To
those, however, who really love the Union may I not speak?
Before entering upon so grave a matter as the destruction of our national
fabric, with all its benefits, its memories, and its hopes, would it not
be wise to ascertain precisely why we do it? Will you hazard so desperate
a step while there is any possibility that any portion of the ills you fly
from have no real existence? Will you, while the certain ills you fly
to are greater than all the real ones you fly from--will you risk the
commission of so fearful a mistake?