VOLUME 2.
ECLO«V
ON THE
HFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF
ABRAHAM LINCOLN,
Delivered Thursday, June 1, 1805,
In Christ M. E. Church, Penn St.
By Hon. Thos. Williams.
We meet in gloom. Hut yesterday our
streets were jubilant, and the very Heav
ens ablaze with the bright pomp of a re
joicing mnltiude. Hut yesterday our
(temples were vocal with of raptur
ous thanksgiving ■for the great victories
that had been vouchsafed to our arms.
To-day no jubilee solicits us. No loud
huzzas —no 'aves vehement, —-no hurry
ing feet—llo hymns of triumph salute
,our ears. It is the hour of darkness, as
these sad emblems indicate. A nation
mourns. A mighty people throng h
wide spread sanctuaries, to lament its
martyred Chief, but just returned from
the overthrow of the armed array that
menaced it-s own life, to die in the very
Jhour of his triumph—iu the fancied se
,curity of its own capital—under the
(blaze of a thousand lights, and a tlious
and admiring eyes —and in the midst of
the brave hearts that belte l him around,
and would have spilled their life's best
blood to shelter him from harm—and to
die, oh (ioil id' .Justice! by the stealthy
and felonii is blow of nn assassin. In
such a presence, an 1 with such surround
ings, the chosen Ruler of this great Re
public—the kind, the generous, the pa
rental magiktrate, who knew no resent
ments and had never done aught to de-
an enemy—has Imwed bis venera
,ble heuil upon bis bosom, itvd laid down
the high commission with which he bad
been so lately re invested by the popular
acclaim. ".Most sacri'eg.ous mm I. r
hath broke ope the temple of the I.ord s
anointed, and stolen out the lile ot the
building." The pulse of the world ha
stood almost suspended by the earth
quake jar that shook its continent and
isles, as no event of modern times has
done. A multitudinous people—'in
numbers numberless" almost as the stars
of Heaven—thrilled with horror, and
smitten dumb by the fearful atrocity
which flashed upon them, unheralded by
any note of warning over the eelectric j
wires, have uncovered their heads and
wept, as no people ever wept before, a<
the funeral cortege swept by with itsjire
cious but unconscious burthen .over 111 tin
tain and plain, ami along the rivers and
the lakes, n its lunu' and melancholy jour
ney to the far Wes'crn Tioiuc, which he
was to see in the body no more. The j
earth has opened to receive all that the j
nation could give hack to that now dosn- |
latcd home. and we arc hero to-day, by
the appointment of his successor, to bow !
in reverential submission and acknowl
edgment before the hand that has smit
ten us. and to draw such consolations as
are possible, from (lie consideration that
the chastisements ol tSod are sometimes
mercies in disguise. while we water with
.ourtears the fresh gravi of the heroic'
martyr, who has enwnc I his meat work
by the offering of his own life upon the j
same altar where the blood of so many j
victims had already smoked to Heaven.
Yes! Abraham Lincoln is no more.
Alt that could die of him who has del'eu- ;
ded and reb.udt the tottering structrue of
ojjr fathers,.has passed trouieiithly view,
by a transition as abrupt as bis who laid
the foundation of the Internal City, and
then, according to the legendary epic of
the Roman State, was rapt from mortal
vision in a chariot of fire. Tho shadow
,of the destroyer has mounted behind the
trooper, and the grim sceptre of the gris
ly king followed close upon the pageant
of the avenue. The wise and prudent
ruler who was commissioned of God to
i lead this people through the fiery trials
from which thov have just emerged—
;the chief who had just been lifted on
their bucklers fir a second time -to the
supreme command—the idol of tho pop
ular heart, who had so recently been
crowned anew at th£ Capitol with the
symbols of a nations power, the insignia
of a nation's trust, and ihe rewards of a
nations gratitude, amidst the thundering
salvos of artillery, and the responsive
voices of an innumerable throng, has
.ceased to listen to I lie app auding shout,
aud passed from tho regards of men, in
to the serener light of an abode beyond
the tiuis when: the banner of war is furl
ed. and the hoarse summons of the trum
pet, and the roll of the stirring drum, no
longer awaken cither to the battle or the
triumph.
On two occasions only in our brief but
eveutful history, the hand of death has
fallen upon the bead of this great lie
public. On both, however, it descend
ed in a period of public tranquility, by
the quiet and gentle ministration of na
ture, without shock and without disturb
ance. The fruit fell when it was ripe,
and the nation grieved, but not as those
who are without hope. It paused but for
a moment to cast its tributes of affection
on the tomb, and then hurried onward in
its high and prosperous career. For the
first time now, the v.ery . hurrieaue of
civil strife, a bloody tragedy of fearful
aspect, and more than mediaeval horror,
forestalling the dissolving processes that
are interwoven with the law of life has
snatched away the man who, above all
o hers, was most dear to us almost in the
twinkling of ait eye. in high health, aud
in the very crisis of Jiis great work, when
the regards of the, WH ld were most in
teuth tix''.l,ji]>on him, uud the destinies
of a nation .were Iretnlding in his hands.
It i« as tbou«,!i au apparatiou had stalled,
,in the viidst of our rejoicings, into the
-very presence "112 the festal board, and it
oliuer the projecting shadow, with
AMERICAN CITIZEN
Let us have Faith that Right markes Might j and in that Faith let us, to the end, dare to do our tfjty as we understand jj".— A.. Lincoln
which that ghastly shape lias darkened
the whole land as with a general eclipse,
that I am asked to discourse to you of the
merits and services of the extraordinary
man,'who has thus disappeared from
amongst us, after having enacted so large
a part in the greatest and most import
ant era of the world's history. It is a
task which is never easy in performance,
and cannot be faithfully executed until
tne lapse of years shall withdraw the ob
server from a proximity which is always
unfavorable to the clearest vision, and
the work is consigned!!) the pen of im
partial history. It is one, however, which
I ha,ve not felt at liberty todeeline.
Of Abraham Lincoln, there is little tp
be said, until the voire of tne people call
ed him from the comparative obscurity
of a Provincial Town in the remote West,
to preside over the destinies of this Re
public. The story of his lilS auteccdcut
to his appearaoce on that broader stage,
where he was destined to command more
vf the observation of the world than any
other man either of ancient or modern
times, is soon told. Horn in a frontier
settlement in Kentucky, of humble pa
rentage. and with no prospective inheri
tance, but that of the coarsest toil, it Was
not his hard fate to wear out his life in
the hopeless struggle for success, to
which that nativity would have consigned
hiiu. At the age of six -years, his pa
rents. warned by no vision, but by the
stern necessities of life, removed from
ths bouse of bondage, taking the young
child with them, to grow up in the freer
air of that great Territory, whose funda
nientcl ordnance had insured the respec
tability of labor, by forbidding any bonds
men from ever setting his foot upon its
soil. There, in the vigorous young State
of Indiana, without even the aid of a
mother's care beyond bis infant years, he
shot up—we know not how—into the
lofty stature, and robust manhood which
have since become so familiar to us all,
diversifying his labors, and indulging
that spirit of adventure that is so coiy
mou to the I'ionecr by cinbarj.ing at the
asie of nineteen years, as a wovkhand at
the scanty wages of ten dollars a month,
on one of those prim itive flat boats, on
which the Western Farmer of those times
was wont to launch his pro luue on the
bosom of the Ohio, to find it- only mark
et at New Orleans. At the age of twen
ty one years without any better prospects
in life, and inheriting apparently the
migratory instinct* of his father, who
had perhaps grown weary id' his Indi
ana home, ho plunged with him into the
further West, ami <Oll lit an I t and a
new settUmeiit on mi unreclaimed (pi ti
ter section .I'ilie Public Lands in i'en
tral lllino That he must have shared
the ham ic i.i or- of that parefft in win
ning h;s new acquisition fioni a elate of
nature into a ha itable abode for man, is
obyi ii- I oin tin- fact that so limited an
area, on the extremest frontier of civili
zation, could have afforded no great scope
for employment, but with the axe, or
plow. and no means whatever for mental
culture or development., except those
powers ot thought and observation, which
tli.%-ilintdes of nature, an 1 the commu
nion oftlie forest an I the Geld, have
sometimes awaken in those gifted spirits
that seem to be immediately inspired of
(rod. Within a year or two, however,
tho occurrence, of what was called the
'• Black Hawk War," drew him from a
seclusion which must have bee i extreme
ly rksoino to youth of lively tempera
ment. and overflowing health, by offering
the temptation, which ttie pursuit of
arms altno t invaiiably presents to tho
young and imbitious spirits of the land.
He enlisted in a company of volunteers,
who forthwith selected him as their cap
tain, but his aspirations for military re
nown were soon cut short tiy tho uuex
pected termination of the war. His next
appearance, is as a candidste for the Leg
is ature of the State, to which he was re
peatedly elected, and about tho same time
he turned his attention to tho study of
law, and was duly admitted to the Bar.
What preparation he may havo made for
this transition to another and a higher
field of labor is unknown to us. He has
the credit of confessing, with that sim
plicity which drew from him the ac
knowledgment that ho had never read
the W'jrss of the great Master of the
drama, that he had enjtiyed the advan
tage of butsix month's schooling in the
whole course of his life. That he bad
read such books as were accessible to him,
is not to be doubted, llepoit says That
he had picked up iu somo way a little
kuowledgc of surveying, which may
have .served to train and discipline his
leasooiug faculty, and was, as will be re
membered, tho youthful employment o!
the great Washington himself. Beyond
this, however, little was required iu the
infant condition of a frontier settlement
which would have tew attractions for
men of such acquirments as only an old
community could afford : although it is
not to be questioned that sonic. • the most
robust intellects iu the 'and have been
nurtured in those primative aud truly
republican schools, where no hot-bed cul
ture was admissible, and ever sickly plant
was doomed to die. Whether he suc
ceeded in attaining any great distinction
in his new profession, where success is
depeudent generally on a peculiarity of
taste or meutal structure, and where in
dustry is so oftcu an over match for tal
ent, is by uo meaus clear. We know how
ever, t[iat his abilities and worth v.-ere
duly recognized at home by his triumph
ant election in to tho Congress of
ihe Uuiled States—where he served,
however, bu> tor a in-le term —as well
as by the .wail t. 11 iu, by common con
sent, of ilit; chapionsbip ol the free
i State |a ton the occasion of the <■ >n
troversy which grew ojgi of the Kanaas-
I Nebraska Bill. In 1&.J6 he was pre.seijt
| ed by his State, .aud sujiporied largely, as
BUTLER. BUTLER COUNTY, PA., WEDNESDAY, JULY 12 1805.
a candidate for the office of Vice Presi
dent on the Republican ticket of that
year, and in the eagvass of as the
accepted candidate for Senator, he dis
cussed before the people of Illinois, the
question of the extension of ela' cry into
the territories, iu a series id' debates
which rivited the attentiou of tho uation,
by the clearness of their statements nod
the immense logical power which they
disployed. It was perhaps to the public
ity of those efforts that bo was mainly
indebted for tho great distinction con
ferred on him by the Convention of 18Gd
in singling him out. above all competitors
as the standard Tjearer of the army of
freedom, in that memorable campaign.
And this brief narrative—oompiled
from authenticated sources, and making
no pretension to the accuracy of biogra
phy—is a summary of his career until
called by Providence to enact a part that
baa beeu assigned to few uisu in history.
How lie performed his duty is perhaps
best evidenced by the difficulties he had
to meet, and the final result of the war
which pervaded his whole administration,
lie bargaiped only for a peaceful rule
like that of his predecessor. If he could
have lorseen the magnitude of the task
that was before him, he might well have
shrank from the trial, lie would have
been a bold man who, wi'li such fore
knowledge, would willingly have taken
the helm in such a storm as howled around
him on bis advent, an 1 straiue-l the tim
bers of the ship-of. lain for so many loiiif
and weary years. To hi in the place,how
ever exalted and honorable, was one ol j
anxious and a steeple s care. No man |
can tell how much of agony it cost a
beaVt bke his. It is to that point of bis
yareer however, that our inquiries am to
be directed, if we would know the man.
The history of the great rebellion, com
prehending all or nearly all of bis pub
lic life. is emphatically hit history. It
be.run and ended with Ins a mini-(ration
of the Government, lie succeeded to a
divided sceptre. He lived just long
enough tore unite the broken fragments
—to re plant the starry banner Ol' our
fathers on the battlements whence trea
son had expelled ii—to i-ee the arch
apostate, .vho had selueed a third part of
the States from their allegiance, a wau
dcrsr and a I'ugative—and to leave his
successor a once more-undivided I'nion.
With this t-I.aider preparation however
and with no previous training iu tho
uiyst. lies of 'government, he was transla
ted to the Federal Cap tol in the most
eventful crisis of our history,lntake upon j
bis shoulder.-such a burthen of rosp n- .
sibdity as no president bef>re him. hil i
ever been called upon to bear. The is
sas-in lurked upoti bis path. Ai>ea iy I
the Southern h in-.u wa red v Ui ie |
tires ot incipient rebellion. Already I
State after State encouraged either by j
the premeditated troasou, or the helpless
p>il it hini mity id the iiiisera le inibeed j
who stood pale aud trembling at the I
Capital, had shot madly from its orbit.—
The strongholds of the I'nion, cms ru t
ed at great expense for the protection of
tho South, has beeu either seized by vio
lence, or basely surrendered by tlnfir gar
risons. Tho seat of our Na ional Gov
ernment was reeking with disloyal,y,—
Wlilo treason was the badge of respecta
bility there, ilepublicani*ni was tabooed
as something-that was only vulgar and
vile 'the llureatrs of the several lit
p irtmcnt? were swarming with malign silts
who were looking anxiously ill the direc
tion of the South for an irruption of the
rebel hordes, and ready to surrender the
keys of their offices on the first summons
of the ptiblic enemy. There was no di
lection in which the President could turn
for support, in the contingency of any
concerted movement to prevent his man
guration. The army, inconsiderable in
itself, had been detached to distant can
ton incuts where it could afford no aid,
and was sure to become an easy pray. —
Its officers—the ckve* of our military
school—the most of Southern birtb, but
some of Northern origin, debauched by
their associations, or with naturally sla
vish instincts aud unbounded admiration
for Southern institutions aud Southern
men, were generally disaffected to the
Union, whose bread they ate, and whose
flag they were sworn to defend. Mot a
ship of war was to be found upon our
coast; not a soldier at the Capital to de
fend the person of the Chief .Magistrate
of the country, except, perhaps, a slen
der escort, of more than doubtful loyalty,
improvised for the urgent importunity of
men who realized the danger of a coup
d'etat, as the Dew President himself did
not. There was nothing, in fact, but the
mere prestige of the office, the habitual
respect f<»r ihe person of the Chief Magis
trate. ana the probable re action that
would ensue upou any demonstration of
violence, and, above all, the well under
stood determination of the thousands of
brave men who were assembled there from
tho freo States, secretely armed and ready
for such emergency, to prevent or punish
any attempt that might be made on the
life of the President. And yet he did
not shrink from the ordeal, but there, ou
the steps of the Capitol, under the Ida
zing sun-light, in the presence of all that
innumerable concourse, aud iu the hear
ing of a listening world, in terms of
kindness, aud not of menace, but wilh a
seriousness aud solemnity that were not
to be mistaken, he proclaimed his firm
aud unalterable determination to employ
all the powers vested iu him by the Con
stitution. in maintaining the integrity and
inviolability of the Union, f'roui sea to
sea, and from the lakes to the gulf, and
restoring to its authority every State and
fortress that had been wrested from it by
the hands of treason. Rebellion already
organized and armed, and confident of it -
superior powers, received the 'announce
ment with derisive laughter.as but an idle
vaunt ou the part of a President who was
without a soldier or a ship to batter down
the vory feeblest of its strongholds. lh
knew that there was an army iu the fields
and Work shops of the north, which on
ly awaited his call to do this woik. A
million of stalwart men sprang to their
arms upon his summons, and ttie pledge
was redeemed. The boastful chivalry
went dowu before the sturdy arms and
stormy valor of the lifen they had so fool
ishly despised : and where are they now
who laughed to scorn the admonitions of
that day, and arrogantly proclaimed to
thc r deluded followers, that the capital
of the nation, and Ihe rich spoils of the
opulent and crowded cities of the North
should be given to their victorious arms?
1 hey have found only a grave, where they
meditated an easy conquest. Hut Abra
ham Lin-iln lived to see his pledge-i'ul
ti led. II is Work was done, aud he too
sleeps with bis Fathers. It had cost many
priceless lives to do that, work. It was
to be consummated by the saci ificc of bis
own—tho mo- t priceless perhaps of all.
! demon which lie exorcised was to
collect al\ Ins remaining streugth into one
expiring bluw at tin head of his destroy
er its he fled howling, all 1 in despair,
from the seat of bis long cherished, but
now forever lost don.;u'iju upon earth.—
Ibe final caia-trophc \i j n precise keep
ing with tho whole spirt, 0 p t |, e bloody
drama which it .concluded llcgintiiii"'
in treason, with pt»rjury and -obbery. and
starvation anil murder, as its maids
it could not have ended more
than in ihe cruel, aud ciwardly. uh| ~J
voi g f'ul as-assin of the lioroio
wli i bad stricken down tho sacrilegioV,
hand that was lifted against tho nation's
life. iMisreublo and short sighted re
venge ! Ihe blow which prostrated our
honored chief, while it made no interreg
num. and paralyzed no norvo of the (Jov
crument, has been his apotheosis. Tho
ban 1 of the assassin is already cold. A
swift retribution has overtaken Ihe mis
creant who was put upon this work, while
tho hands of justice are already laid upon
the highest of its guilty authors, ami the
avenger of bio d is tracking his aceoiu
plicS to their retreal. Hut they oj will
not altogether die. The obscurity that.
t ,v ey might well pray for, is no! for sueh
its iheui. There can bo no oblivion for
sin 11 a parjicido. 1 lio fla-.li <>i' 111 at I:•*-
lal pistol in tlio Xiicatre at Washington,
which j-ent its loviltm content.-) crushing
through the brains of our honore I magis
trate, will blaze around them like the
of I lie a-as lis' il t._ jers that soitjthl
| In' great bents >1 Henry of Navarre.
..ml the heroic Prince of Orange, and
:i in luir hi urories dow i, from »ga to
! - j'-, I iir 'U r ',b i i.e lon ; com.lons oi bis
it was a .1 .-ailvant.ioe. too, of no small
i moment to an untried man, to find Itiin
i .« 'f s.i ».mm cd by c.iuu ell it's oi' iia r re
j pate, who had either nothing to propose,
I o, doubled the power or rightfulness of
J coercion in a Uovernmeii' like this, or
nought that even separation itself was
oeiter than war, or Imped to'patch up an
ignoble irace, by compromising the ques
i."ii in i-i ire, in. J.iiii hing addition
ii and |ci I'l tu d ga ii.intc ' to (be insen
jihie ill.ere whiell ha t (Mm t to lospise
even I lie priviieg' i iu in:; ih.s nation,
a-.i lit i done bcl . It will cane.y l-e
believed hi In.iin 'iiii. .i■ ■ w many there
wens, enjoy i;.e rcpo ns of States
men, who w re coliiui t ■ I t • onu or other
of these opinion. IJiit while the ipies
tion hung suspeinle I he; ween these eou
dieting views, although every concession
had been proposed, and every effort to
ward compromise hid failed, ami while
tne nation was sweatiu mortal agony, with
seven States defying its autnority, and
formidable batteries rising from day hi
day under the shadow of our own guns,
ar mi I our l-'oi tiesess iu ( ha leston bar
bor, the knot was happily united by the
imia'icnt hands of the conspirators them
selves. To secure the cooperation of
the States that still stoi.il hesitating, it
was deemed necessary "to fire the South
ern heart by some tufttplous act of vio
lence, that should dig an iiupMaibk gulf
between them and ns; and their gnus
wore accordingly trained amid the sounds
of revelry, and the exultant huzzas of an
intoxicated populace, upon the old
that was still floating over the ieebie gar
rison of Sumpter. It was a gay tourney
for tair lailies and gallant knights—an
easy victory, but a .short lived truiuph.—
the waits ot Sumpter crumbled under
the terrific storm lhat burst upon them
from the hundred iroui throats that gir
dled them around as with a cataract of
fire, and its garrison gnccuml ed. But the
echoes of those guns lighted up a flame
in the colder North that melted down
all party ties with more than furnace heat,
aud was only to be extinguished in the
blood of the fuoLs aud madmen who hud*
been taught by their Northern auxiliaries
to look for no such answer to their defi
ant challenge. Tlwj President could hesi
tate no longer. .Menace aud iusult had
developed into open war, and the time
had uow come to redeem the pledge that
he had made, by summoning the free
meu of America to defend their flag.—
lie called, and such an answer was re
turned as no people had ever bofore given
to the summons of its Chief, t rinii town
aud country, from the lumbermen of the
pine woods of the Madawaska to the
trappers of the upper Missouri, and the
gold huuters of the more distant Sierras,
as the revei beiatious of that trumpet
bla*t leaped from mountain to mountaiu,
and pealed over the great plaius and along
the uughty rivers of the laod, the old,
the middle agetf, and the young, with one
common impulse, ajid without distinction
ol party or of creed, wilh but a hurried
farewell to wife and children and home,
Were seen thronging the iron highways to
j their respective capitals and Legging for
the- privilege of enrolling themselves
i amount he del'euders <j their country, and
dying, if need be, under the shadow of
its flag. It was no monarch's battle. It
was their own honored and glorious ban
ner, the symbol alike to their power and
their privileges,.that had beeu insulted
and defied. Away with tho idea of cau
tion aud slow resolve, when such huge
iuterestsare at stake. That is for diplo
matists and strategists. Men do not stop
to calculate the odds, the chances, or the
tiaugers. when it is a question of resent
ing contumely, or defending the object
of their love. They did not wait to
be schooled top souse of their interests,
or duties, or the necessities of the times
any more than to the knowledge or the
use of arms. fo affirm, as has not been
unusual in high places, that they require
to be educated by I heir rulers up io tin
level ol such an occasion, is tore the
whole experience of (hit mem arable di \.
whose manifestations too., the doubling ijy
surprise, and so utterly confomide i all the
calculations of the few amongst ourselvis
who looked for, aud hail promised i ait'i
ded North, The call itself wis bu: a re
spouse to the popular desire, which hi I
anticipated it. Tho answer wi au as;u
ranee to the Government that it would be
sustained in every measure of severity
that the crisis might demand.
Hut it was a still greater disadvantage
to the ui'tf I xecutive :liat the full import
ol this rebellion was jjot even eouipre
bended by many of those to whom he was
expected to look for advice, in a crisis
where ihe ordiuary responsibilities ol the
oiiiee were so much enlarge 1. Althouoii
its causes, its history, ind its objects were
obviously sucii as to render a compromise
impossible—although tiio le;iiieis of the
olt had voluntarily abdie ite 1 their pla
\ the Government, an 1 gone out fr iui
" ' «\u they might have dictate I then-
OA n tery^—--.inii although they had eon
temptu 11 \. spurue I eve -y overture for
n ( g" t 'at">'i\ 1 ,,|( affocte Ino en raiment
their deefr ae d an I im .cade b,-
t red not only o|V, u . (>iilnii (j .
lorm of governX h ~.c w
■sanguine and -re
positji ns, who believX h;lt ~, . r(; „ t ,|| M|l
could be stipprosse I i.V, l0 ,
war, but by diplomacy—, strikflllt
a- its causes, bul, by igiioriN. | | U . IM uo'
bv punishing its autlurs, indul
ging thom*—not by a changeVj. UICH .
ores, but by a persistence in the Vi
icy that had brought it on. In
of men like these, every forward stefC
fraught with danger. Kven tha s ui\
and obvKius proposition lo repeal tin: li\
iliat made the capital of a free nation the
home and market of the slave, and the
fruitful nursery of the rebellion itself,
was represouted as so full of mischief, at
such a time, (hat tho President hiuis.oi
was almost staggered by the shadowy
forms of tenor that were evoked to May
his band. If lie had yielded to them,
we should not have read el tho great
measure of tiic proclamation lor at least
another year, if ever. It met tho same
resistance as the other, but the practical
good sense of the President, backeiL up
aud foitifieil by the hii:li courage and nil
answerable logic of a" leist one member
of bis < abinet. at length ovei mastered all
t ie-e iitlu lues ijid * Li■ eit ciurtor of
the lil ick tn i.i \v;,.- iVrodui e I befo'e tlicin
an tt tne;', lire iron which he hi lal'ealy
pr vaooy detei m 'ue l, u.ioli bis own re
s|.'nisi I). oiy to iho II itioii. It is >luo to
the jo-. lai no of Abraham Lincoln that
die world, instead of d.viding the hfmor
ol the act with other possible claimants
in future times, should know how little
hew. s aided in the task —how much ol
opposition be was called upon to nn-el—
and how much of moral heroism that ic.
involved. It was no tiilliirjt lisadv.intaj
ceitainly to a new and unprncticed stall---
man. iu a [xwitionof such unusii il respon
nihility to be siirrruudeil with men >1
weak nerves, who had not the courage to
face the exigency, which their owe no
se.s hinl p. ei ipi I.i ted. 'I he occasion cail
ed for mtrepi'i statesmen. I.S well an ;fii
erals, who, with a just confidence m h
people, instead of stopping to calculate tin
possible odds, and betraying a hesitation
lha 1-44 ieast resembled fear, an i iherel>y
throwiliy away nil the advantages which
the possession of the Government gave
them, would have struck at mice, and with
lightning like rapidity at the very heart
ol :lie rebellion, ihe sublime re-pone
wnic i lie people bait already made. w. -
an .insurance that they conla l>e mi ted.
It was a sore trial too for them to see
their fiery legions condemned to stagnate
iu inglorious repose until, in some inst m
oes, their terms of service weie about ex
piring, while their very capitol was be
leagured by au insolent banditti, whom
they could have swept like chaff hetore
them. Nogoverumeut in the world could
have survived it but our own. audit is
no marvel therefore that some of the most
eulighteued statesmen of Europe, educa
ted io the traditional notion that the dem
ocratic idea Was a delusion, and tint a
government like ours, though formidable
iu external w.ir, was helpless for self-eon
servation, and must fall a prey to the first
intestine convulsion, aud reasoning from
tile abject condition aud low intelligence
ol the people around them, should have
hurried to recognize the rebels as bedig
ereuts, aud staked their reputations on the
ppiuion that the great American Repub
lic, the wonder and terror of the world,
and the standing reproach of all its mon
archies, was reut irreparably iu twain.—
1 do not speak of this now as a thing to
be regretted. It seems as though, iu the rovideuce
rovideuce ot God, it had been intended
not ouly to cleause this laud of its great
sin, but to confound the unbelievers in
the high capabilities aud lofty destinies of
our race, by passing us through the iier
cest lire, aud coutriviug every possible
; test, even to the final catastrophe of the
i assassination of our Federal II ad-Jnr
| establish„the great fact of the
i man to fcovoru himself, and to uisj',cuse,
under all circumstances, with themachin
ery of hereditary rule. A differeut pfll
icy, by rendering the fci-k an easier and »
speedier one, would have left the world
aid ourgelves, much to learn of our re
sources and capabilities, and much of the
barbarism of that institution which il
would have left substantially intact, ti
breed now rebellions, antl exact new sue
lifices from our posterity.
It was uuder these influences, strength
ened as they were, by an apprehension
not apparently removed by tiio enthusi
asm with which they responded t<>the call
ol the President, that the people were
not yet tip to the leal level of tho crisis,
ami not prepared for tho adoption of sucli
earnest measures if repression as u state
of war demanded, that the armies of the
Union were brought into the field. Ji
was not for tho Chief Magistrate of eourst
to direct their operations i,i person, liui
his Generals were uiifnrtuua'ely e-ilioi
men of Southern birth, or men who ban
leen educated in a feeling of prntVun i
H'vertii'u Jiir iSoUthern institutions.—
With n'in it wasyjm -si pr if. nation t>
invade the saered soil of a sovereign
."• ale \\ itli them the treas »n of theii
ancient comrades, it nit a chivalrous vir
tue, was only tho inflimity of a nubk
wind. I'erjury and ingratitude, the black
est .and must damning rebellion an'
t . achery, the must Wanton and unprovo
voke I—implied iii stain upon the person
at honor of their enemy, Loiigstn xt and
Jackson were models of christian virtu l
ljC'i at'l tieanregarit uubletnished spec
111 'tis of elegant and well bred gentle
men—every Migrate especially, who had
betrayed tho (iovermneot that reared him
an honorable man. No "Kind regard'
was forfeited by their base defection ; n>
hand refused in friendly greeting, though
red with a brothers blo.d; no fervorr
" (rod Idoss you," left unutteied, because
the recipient bad blackened his soul will
the fullest mid basest crime that history
records. To have opened their camps t'i
a loyal negro would have be»n n vinl itioi
ot the constitutional rights of bis rebe
mister. Knigli ly cour ■<y required hi
return, 'lo have be irkene l to the evi
donee ho brought of the strength and pi
sitioii of the onemy, w mid have boon :i
violation of tho rule which disqualified
liini as a witness against his master. Iteli
exaggerations for purposes of effect,
wore more acceptable thari the simple, tin
varnished truth from tho lips of a run a
way contraband. What success waste
S")ho|iel for, with such instrument-;'!—.
resident himself both saw and felt
'ficuhy. His patience was severely
dcreiil Ut wh lt Wilß 1,0 te ( l° ' W ho or "
ci advance, tho weath
.Njer too old or too hot—tho mud
was ax e\ 112 intolerable. 11
made, it \X , , 4 .
, < • 7v one reluctantly, or with a
protest H;.''\ ri ,spo„sib,lit/„f a failure
was with him.X,. ' , ', , ,
i . r i \ refused, and be thraat
eiieo 11 „.
i , \3 officer it was per
haps suggested tV ~ , 1
the people would r >, the army or
actually chalin witX w . •>>«>'
i *| * , Vitience thore
i) :iliiinL'rowin'' hi Htrenlk. .
, . ' . . . \and the friend •«
•>I the tfoveruinODt i
in this dilemma, it hcotiiiK' ' ''V 5 *' 1 "-
niin r«» 'akt; uj» the otie-ti upy 1 "^ ar 3 112 "
, i . vin entire
(iiin .c ot iMiiey. I tie -truV
i . ~ , , V was a
long an Ipalii thi OIK. Il lie #f
liberty to c ui-u.t ilie prompt,. nAL , |
own niiii I and heart, in i ca-e whX ,
life of a nation was depending uti h\
eis! hi. il W ;uii( have ell le I as soon
lie.niii l iitl his lii i n ■ I caution. iuiH
allied by a just cow of his great respoi
-iliilily as mi officer, held hi judgniei
in abeyaiiQjL ills own good sense, liovt
it. triumphed af fast. Unaided bu
by ihe'cMtuisels o a faithful \< />. he tool
up the casi calculated a'l the elew->nt
ihat entcrci into ii, and arrived, by i
sirioiy logical process, of winch the step
a..- ntw ob»i< us, at the C <ni-!ilsiun tlia
tiie icoeil mi eouid only be c nqueriid : '
llie emancipation ut (he slave We pu
that result n the shape of a I'roclania
tion. and then summoned his Cabino
uether, not to mfoi* ••, but to hear whal
he had determined. The picture of tin
tm.iu/rati'jn over this important doeunien
is the merest fancy-piece. The point wa
decided by him before met, and then
was'do demur, because there was no fur
tber room tor objection.
Nothing; howcAer, is clearer than th(
taotthat it was not the original p'uipose 01
Mr. liiucoiii to interfere with slavery
.11 the States. With all his stron.
convictions that it was a ciimo that, ii
his own terse language, "'if slavery waf
not wrong, there was nothing wrong" -
his respect for the constitutional right.-
of the South was such as to over-iidt
his own private sympathies for the bonds
man. With him, tiie leading, over-rul
ing thought—the idea nearest to hi.-
heart —was the preservation of our g!o
rious Union, as God's chosen instrument
on earth, and the one best fitted, with al
its defects, to secure the peace and hap
piness of man. The ether question wa;
entirely subordinate to (his. He w;r
willing— to quote from him c^ain —' t<
save the Union, with slavery if he could
or i cithnut it, >f he could." His -firs
idea encouraged, if not inspired by thi
men who had then his confidence, was
that it could only be so.ved by teuder
ness to that inteaest whose extreme scus
ibility to danger—to say no worse of it
had brought all these troubels—thes<
almost apocalyptic wwis upon the land
Under these impressions the, war wa 1
waged for eighteen months in such a wir
as to do as little iiarju as possible to that
institution, in the hope that the
might be conciliated—us they had nevei
iieen before —by tffc forbearance of tin
(iovernmeot It Was only the current o:
eveuts— the failure of this policy —th<
tu«l turnished by the great expense, tin
tardy progress, and the inadequate resell
of the war to the growing discontent oi
the friuu^s /if 1 th«s UoveiotiienW ia th<
NUMBER 30.
North—and the conviction that rite pol
icy of saving the Union with slavery,
must give way to the oppsite policy, if it
was to bo saved at all—that drifted him
into tho position assumed for the first
tinio in the Proclamation, «Ad maintain
ed with unwavering constancy until tho
last hour of his life. That he should
over have beeu persuaded to believe it
possible to conciliate the man who had
voluntarily abdicated their places in the
Government, only because it was obvi
ous that they could no louger,|iope tOvi»l<f
it permanently, is to be self down more to
theaccauntot his habitual caution, his
strong conservative temperament, his del',
erenoo to older heads, and his dpsiro to
give full scope to HU experiment of an up
parently iuconcuous character, enforced
by the coun.-els of almost every wait
aroun.l hire, than tTT tho convictions of
his own unbiased judgment. 'JfliV case
w is one ot conflicting sy-'sms and ideas,
that might admit of a truce , but of no
compr imiso. It would have been but an
adjournment of the tjuestiou nntTl tho
ant:igmi"tic feces ha: tak n breato for
•' I'tsli struggle, -vh.lu tho rebel clement
wis stiengt honing itself in tho mean
wbile for new aggressions. Tho onforff
ed ei iinexion between Liberty and
was worse than incestuous. God and
nature had decreed an eternal divorco
between tlicm. Our father, it is 'tpme
hail made the experiment of reconciling
tlie-c hostile elements—not, however, un
der the modern hallucination that thoy
would permanently combine, or coalesce,
but only to keep the peace betwoen them,
until t lie weaker should disappear. The
President had aprehended this, when ho
declared that this Government could not
be ''halt frir and half slave." Mr. .Se
ward himself had comprehended it, when
he characterized tho war between the two
systemes, as an "irrepressablo confiiot."
As well attempt to burn darkness with
}ight. Ihe intermingled elements would
produce only a disastrous twilight witTi
perpetual jars, or as tho one »r other in
terest predominated, either deepen into
chaotic glooin where the lost spirits are
supposed to dwell, or flinh into tho rosy
light of liberty. 'lhc Union could ,not
li ive been saved ic'th slavery, any more
than a man could be made immortal with
the seeds of death in his constitution.
1 ho inherent vices of the system were
sure to bring about a conflict at last, bu
engendering fostering the spirit that in
augurated it here, as they were equally
sure to give to the Contest itself a charac
ter of fierceness and atrocity which has
appertained to no modern wjr. It was
but a new phase of the old quarrol—as
■II as Government itself—which has
diaken the kingdoms and the "h'teny-ar
shies of the world, and wes destineo to
I'O fought out hero/ upon a wider arena
ha.i iiny that the old world could offer,
Hit >v.m not comprehende 1, however, by
niselves, the governing Classes in
huropc,and the advocates of unliiuitod
power everywhere, had not failed to un
Jerstand it from tlie begiriing. • >
The proclamation of freedom was the
list decisive measure of tho war It in
mgurated a new era, and pr iolaimcd tho
purpose of tho government to wrest from
he rebels their most effective weapon., if
"112. to turn it against thai* r~l • i i ,
Ihe men... ■- «s f at urst derided »»
i mere hrutam fulmni, by those who knew
vh it was to be its effect, and dreaded it
ice >r lingly. As soon as it be ■ one obvi
»us that this mode of attack w>s about
k> faii, tho poti'-y of the auxiliary rebel
\ -'cs of tho north was changed. One
iheir denunciations then, of a maus
resented to be fraught with Woe t«
hell\ s w ,,manhood and feeble inlancy,
and w ith the unutterable horrors of a
se; vileV ir Its promulgation wis soon
liter foiPyp.j i,y the elections of IHG-',
wVi >« an\-ori.hlo results—attribute mi'.y
to i'jo pii.'liivfe.'.rihess of the inaction of
our ! ■!,, were adroitly placed to the
account ~ this thr«: ( teued measure. By
those who<iiii not uudcioUnd the tamper
of the fres.leut, or lie priJcai# of reas
oning by whicil he had reached that point
it was gieitiy fe.red that be Would' tatter
when the hi.urof tr'.al came- Hut alike
regardless of the gloomy uusuries of the
timid, and the storm of obloquy and d.e
nilnciation th it burst upon hiui from the
sympathherS with t,bo rebellion he r e, Tie
stood unmoved, and the bolt sped at tho
appointed hour and shook tho rebel capi
tal to its foundations, as it lodged in tne
very heart of the Conlo 'efacy. Dismay
sat on every face at Richmond. If a shell
had exploded in that paudemoniuuijwliere
those dark conspirators against the rights
of man were then assembled, a greater
consternation could not have followed.—
In the midst of "a universal hubbub wild
of stunning sounds, and voices all confu
sed," like that of ohoas, which "assailed
the ear with the loudest vehemence,"
a dozen members were on their feet at
once, with retaliatory propositions of tho
wildest and most atrocious character.—
Bnt ! f there was gloom thee, thore was
joy elsewhere. The great heart of Jb\l
nianity dilated at tho tidings. Tho wea
ried soldier, stretched by his camp-Sre,
and joined till then, in unequal battle,
was lifted up and comforted. Four ,-jniJ
lious of bondsmen raised their
hands to Heaven to call down blessipgo
on the head of tho deliverer who V?
broken their chains. The .patriot ,fslt
that the arm of the country -,va» strength
ened at home and abroad »y tho act that
had at last vindicated tho solemn triitjj
of our immortal Declaration, and placed
our < JovjjrnmCnt .puce more in harmony
with its own fundamental principles.—.
instead of any further necessity of biiin-,
bling ourselves, by hnJdiDg out to Fofylgflj
powers a ins aoe of emancipation, fca tne
signal for a servile war, in order to
them from an intervention which ,thqy.
never yrould have ventured <?n, and -ifc ■>■s#/
could, without the risk of ruin thetp