THE WIT AND WISDOM OF

4 s Reflected in His Briefer Letters and Speeches

EDITED BY
H. JACK LANG
 THE WIT AND WISDOM
OF
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
by H. Jack Lang
These words and thoughts of
stirring
the Great Emancipator are today as
much alive as when they first were
written or uttered. The grave issues
that confront us at present are no
different from those Abraham Lincoln
had to face. War and peace, democracy
and slavery, tolerance and blind hatred
— we, like Lincoln, must choose be-
tween them. For those of us who dwell
in doubt and confusion Lincoln's words
on these critical issues ring with the
clarity, vigor, and simplicity of truth.
So amazingly applicable to present
conditions are the Emancipator's ob-
servations that the reader will find it
difficult to believe they were meant for
any time but our own. To fifth column-
istswho paid lip-service to liberty but
covertly plotted its assassination, to
sincere conscientious objectors, to those
who sought to shatter national unity,
Lincoln spoke the truth and spoke it
home. Always he placed his faith not
in material resources but in the reso-
lute spirit of the American people.
"Gold is good in its place," said he,
"but living, brave, patriotic men are
better than gold."
With malice toward none, with
charity for all, Lincoln the man speaks
to us from these pages. Writing to a
spendthrift brother, a bereaved daugh-
ter, or an angry general, he reveals his
keen understanding of human nature.
He can be firm as well as yielding: his
letters embody a comprehensive study
in the strategy of handling people.

{Continued on back flap)

LINCOLN ROOM
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
LIBRARY

MEMORIAL
the Class of 1901

founded by
HARLAN HOYT HORNER
and
HENRIETTA CALHOUN HORNER
THE WIT AND
WISDOM OF
ABRAHAM
LINCOLN
 Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2012 with funding from
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

http://archive.org/details/witwisdomofabrahamOOIinc
 The Wit and Wisdom of

p L

as Reflected in His Briefer Letters

and Speeches

EDITED DY H. JACK LANG

GREENBERG : PUBLISHER
 Copyright 1941 by
H. Jack Lang

Manufactured in the United States of America

by H. Wolff, New York
 ^ns.iLk*
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Contents

VVVVV\VV\\^VV\VVUVVVV\VVV\AA,\^VVU\V\VVU\VVvV\V\lV\V\\\V\VV*VWVVVVVU\VVVVVVVV\V«VVVV\V\\V.VVVUVVVVVVV\VVVVVV

Postmaster, Lawyer, Representative of the

People (1832-1861) PAGE
First Political Speech 1

To George Spears 2
To the Editor of the Sangamon Journal 3
To Robert Allen 5
To Mary Owens 7
To Mary Speed 10
To Joshua F. Speed 15
To William H. Herndon 16
To William H. Herndon 19
To Thomas Lincoln and John D Johnston . 21
To Judge Stephen T. Logan 25
To C. U. Schlater 26
To Abraham Bale 27
Notes For a Law Lecture 29
To John D. Johnston 33
To L. M. Hays 35
Fragment 36
To Joseph Gillespie 38
To W. H. Henderson 40
To Joshua F. Speed 42
To R. P. Morgan 5°
To George P. Floyd 51
To Henry Walker Bishop 52
To Julian M. Sturtevant 53
To Stephen A. Douglas 55
To Stephen A. Douglas 56

[v]
 To N. B. Judd 57
To Henry Asbury 59
Lincoln Autograph 60
To H. L. Pierce and Others 61
To a New York Firm 65
To T. J. Pickett 66
To Dr. Theodore Canisius 68
To J. W. Fell 70
To O. P. Hall, J. R. Fullenwider and U. F.
Correll 74
Reply Chicago Convention Committee
to 77
To Charles C. Nott 79
To George Ashmun 82
To George Latham 83
To Professor Gardner 85
To William D.Kelly 86
To Grace Bedell 87
To William S. Speer 89
To Alexander H. Stephens 91
Address at Springfield 93
Address at Indianapolis 95
Address at Philadelphia 98
The President (1861-1865)
To William H. Seward 101
To William H. Seward 102
To Leonard Swett 105
To Major Robert Anderson 106
To Gustavus V. Fox 108
To Colonel Ellsworth's Parents 110
To Major Ramsey 112
To Edwin M. Stanton 113
To Major-General Hunter 114
To Edwin M. Stanton 118
To George B. McClellan 120

[vi]
 11

To John W. Crisfield 1 2

To William H. Seward 123

To Reverdy Johnson 125
To August Belmont 128
Note to Colonel Fielding 130
To Horace Greeley 1 3
Reply to Interdenominational Religious
Committee 134
To Hannibal Hamlin 141
Speech at Frederick, Maryland 143
Telegram to General George B. McClellan 144
Telegram to General George B. McClellan 145
To General Nathaniel P. Banks 147
Telegram to Governor John A. Andrew 149
To the Army of the Potomac 150
To Fanny McCullough 152
Final Emancipation Proclamation 154
To General Samuel R. Curtis 159
To "Fighting Joe" Hooker 162
To Governor Horatio Seymour 165
Telegram to "Fighting Joe" Hooker 167
Telegram to General Daniel Tyler 169
Speech Before the Treasury Building 170
To General John M. Schofield 1 7
Response to a Serenade 173
To Ulysses S. Grant 176
To General George G. Meade 1 78

To General Oliver O. Howard 181

To Postmaster-General Montgomery Blair 183
To James C. Conkling 1
85
To General William S. Rosecrans 193
Telegram to J. K. Dubois and O. M. Hatch 195
To O. M. Hatch and J. K. Dubois 196
To Thurlow Weed 197

[vii]
To Montgomery Blair 198
LetterQuoted by the Washington Star 200
To James H. Hackett 201
To Secretary-of-War Edwin M. Stanton 203
Address at the Gettysburg National Cemetery 204
To Edward Everett 206
To General George G. Meade 208
Indorsement on Document to Edwin M.
Stanton 210
To Salmon P. Chase 211
To A. G. Hodges 214
Address at Baltimore 220
To Ulysses S. Grant 225
To Edwin M. Stanton 227
To William Cullen Bryant 228
To Salmon P. Chase 231
To Edwin M. Stanton 232
Telegram to Ulysses S. Grant 234
Secret Memorandum 235
Address to the 148th Ohio Regiment 236
To Eliza P. Gurney 239
To Postmaster-General Montgomery Blair 241
Response to Serenade 243
To Mrs. Bixby 246
To John Phillips 248
Response to Serenade 250
To William Tecumseh Sherman 251
To Edwin M. Stanton 253
To Ulysses S. Grant 254
Reply to Congressional Committee 256
Second Inaugural Address 257
To Thurlow Weed 261
Telegram to Ulysses S. Grant 263
The President's Last, Shortest, and Best Speech 264
[ viii ]
AMVVVVVVt\VVVVl\VWVVVVVVl*VVVVVWVlVVVVVVVU\VW

Introduction

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All art does but consist in

the removal of surplusage.
—Walter Pater

"The artist," said Schiller, "may be known rather

by what he omits; and in literature, too, the true artist

may be best recognized by his tact of omission." Abra-

ham Lincoln exercised this "tact of omission" to an
amazing degree.
In the following pages an attempt has been made to

collect, for the first time, Lincoln's masterpieces of

brevity; the brevity which was not only the soul of his

wit, but the sinew of his strength and the heart of his

compassion.
Lincoln, said the London Spectator, could never
tolerate the tyranny of mere words, but always pressed
through them to the reality beyond. When Lincoln
spoke he was an orator, never an elocutionist. Said
Robert G. Ingersoll, in drawing this distinction:

[ix]
 "The elocutionists believe in the virtue of voice,
the sublimity of syntax, the majesty of long
sentences, and the genius of gesture.
"The orator loves the real, the simple, the na-
tural. He places the thought above all. He knows
that the greatest ideas should be expressed in the

shortest words— that the greatest statues need the

least drapery."

Lincoln's lessons in brevity began early. Everyone is

familiar with the picture of gangling, young Abe, book

in hand, stretched full-length before the fire, in his
rough-hewn log-cabin. His first efforts at composition
were written in charcoal, on the small area he was able
to scrape clean on the back of a wood shovel. Paper was
a precious commodity in the Lincoln household, and
when young Abe was able to find a small scrap, he was
forced "to cut his words close."
What formal education he had was picked up in
"blab schools," where all writing and reading were
done out loud. Lincoln never gave up this habit of

reading out loud as he wrote, and as William E. Barton

observed, "His verbal precision came in part from his
weighing the word, both the sense and the sound, as he
wrote it."

The subjects of Lincoln's study, as well as the manner,

pointed toward a lucidity and conciseness of style. He
formed a pattern of logic and clarity from his studies
of Euclid and he drank deeply from the "Grand Sim-
plicities of the Bible."

His early legal training contributed, too. "In law,"

wrote Lincoln to Usher F. Linder, "it is a good policy
never to plead what you need not, lest you oblige your-
self to prove what you cannot/' Linder was the lawyer
young Abe had once "let down" in a criminal case, by
making a brief appeal when he was expected to make a

very long one. "I shall never be old enough," said Lin-
many later occasions, "to speak without
coln on this and
embarrassment when I have nothing to say."
Throughout his whole life we find that brevity had
an important influence on Lincoln. We learn, too, that

it frequently served him as an evaluation of the merit

of others. After reading one of the speeches General
Grant had made to his army, Lincoln declared, "The
modesty and brevity of that address shows that the
officer issuing it ... is the man to command."
When Henry Clay died in 1852 Lincoln said in his
Eulogy:
"Mr. Clay's eloquence did not consist, as many
fine specimens of eloquence do, of types and figures,
of antithesis and elegant arrangement of words and
sentences, but rather of that deeply earnest and im-
passioned tone and manner which can proceed only
from great sincerity, and a thorough conviction in
the speaker of the justice and importance of his

[xi]
 cause. This it is that truly touches the chords of
sympathy; and those who heard Mr. Clay never
failed to be moved by it, or ever afterward forgot
the impression. All his efforts were made for prac-
tical effect. He never spoke merely to be heard."
Having little of the magniloquent in his own nature
Lincoln had little patience when he found it in others.
When he read an unnecessarily long and verbose brief
a lawyer had prepared, Lincoln remarked,— 'It's like

the lazy preacher that used to write long sermons, and

the explanation was, he got to writin' and was too lazy

to stop."

There are many incidents reminiscent of the great

philosopher Pascal who once apologized to a friend for

having written a twenty-page letter, saying that he had
"no leisure to make it shorter." General Cameron, Lin-
coln's first Secretary of War, wrote the President-Elect
in 1860, "You may as well be getting your inaugural
address ready, so as to have plenty of time to make it

short."
Even in formal state papers, Lincoln believed in
saying what he had to say in the fewest possible words,
without frills or ornamentation of any kind. "What a
sharpshooter's bead he could draw in one sentence,"
said Carl Sandburg who related the story of one occa-
sion when Secretary of State Seward suggested that Lin-
coln's message to the British Prime Minister could be

[xii]
couched in more diplomatic terms, to befit that digni-

tary's lofty station. Said Mr. Lincoln:

"Mr. Secretary, do you suppose Palmerston will

understand our position from my letter, just as

it is?"

"Certainly, Mr. President."

"Do you suppose the London Times will?"

"Certainly."
"Do you suppose the average Englishman of
affairs will?"

"Certainly. It cannot be mistaken in England."

"Do you suppose that a hackman on his box will

understand it?"

"Very readily, Mr. President."

"Very well, Mr. Secretary, I guess we'll let her
slide just as she is."

There is evidence after evidence that brevity of style

was not only inborn in Abraham Lincoln but that it

was an objective which he assiduously pursued. He con-

cluded a terse note to John Bennett by saying, "This is

not a long letter but it contains the whole story."

Lincoln's Wit and Wisdom makes fascinating read-
ing because he was a master of the art of economizing
your— the reader's— time. There is no extraneous verbi-
age to cloud the light of his shining truths. The Cam-
bridge History of American Literature's seventeen-page
tribute to Lincoln's writings testifies that they will for-

[xiii]
ever rank among the world's models of brevity. Their
greatness is best summed up by Harriet Beecher Stowe:

"We say of Lincoln's writing, that for all true,

manly purposes of writing, there are passages in
his state papers that could not be better put— they
are absolutely perfect. They are brief, condensed,
intense, and with a power of insight and expression
which make them worthy to be inscribed in letters

of gold."

II

And when he fell in whirlwind, he went down

As when a kingly cedar green with boughs,
Goes down with a great shout upon the hills,

And leaves a lonesome space against the sky.

—Edwin Markham

Abraham Lincoln left "a lonesome place against the

sky," but his words live on because their ringing truths

were not for the ears of his age alone.

"I am little inclined to say anything unless I hope

to produce some good by it," wrote Lincoln. It is be-

cause of this determination that we find so much mean-

ingful counsel compressed into every sentence he
uttered or wrote.

[xiv]
 Lincoln's words were words of wisdom whether he
was advising a faltering general, a shiftless stepbrother,

an influential newspaper editor, or a young man

struggling to make his way in the world.

Lincoln, the lawyer, the father, the leader of his

country, asked himself the same questions we are asking
ourselves today. "What is Democracy?" queried Lin-
coln and then proceeded to give an admirable definition
in two short sentences.
"Shall the liberties of this country be preserved?"
wondered Lincoln and then told the assembled citizens

of Indianapolis, "When the people rise in mass in be-

half of the liberties of this country, truly it may be
"
said, 'The gates of hell cannot prevail against them.'
"It has long been a grave question," observed Lin-
coln on another occasion, "whether any government,
not too strong for the liberties of its people, can be
strong enough to maintain its existence in great emerg-
encies." The answer Lincoln found not in material
resources but in the resolute spirit of the American
people. "Gold is good in its place, but living, brave,

patriotic men are better than gold."

So amazingly applicable to present conditions are the
observations of Lincoln that we find it difficult to be-

lieve they were uttered for any time but our own. Is it

really Lincoln, and not a contemporary, who said that

when the "Know-Nothings," who preached the doctrine
[XV]
of racial hatred, should come into control, "I shall pre-
fer emigrating to some country where they make no
pretense of loving liberty,— to Russia, for instance,
where despotism can be taken pure, and without the
base alloy of hypocrisy."
Is Lincoln not speaking of our own fifth-columnists
when he writes John W. Crisfield decrying the attitude

of the courts in finding "a safe place for certain men to

stand on the Constitution, whilst they should stab it

in another place/' Again, when a minister used his

pulpit to preach un-American doctrines, Lincoln in-
structed General Curtis: "When an individual in a
church or out of it becomes dangerous to the public

interest, he must be checked; but let the churches, as

such, take care of themselves.
There is modern problem which Lincoln has
hardly a
not thought through for us with his great and good
judgment. He recognized the "hard dilemma' which '

every conscientious objector and true pacifist faces,

opposed as he is, "on principle and faith," to both war
and oppression. In his inspired letter of September 4,

1864 he answers this perplexing question not only for

Eliza P. Gurney of the Quaker Society of Friends but

for all conscientious objectors to come.

Lincoln's wisdom is not only revealed in his judg-
ments on the great issues of the day but in his counsel on
everyday affairs. Lincoln was always a keen student of

[xvi]
human psychology. His letters to his generals comprise
a comprehensive study in the strategy of handling
people. He knew just when to be firm and unyielding,
when to praise or to censure, and when to be humbly
apologetic to gain his end.
In his famous letter to "Fighting Joe" Hooker, Lin-
coln knew he could safely say, "I have heard, in such a
way as to believe it, of your recently saying that both
the army and the government needed a dictator. What
I now ask of you is military success, and I will risk the

dictatorship. " To the complaining General Hunter he

admonished, "He who does something at the head of
one Regiment, will eclipse him who does nothing at

the head of a hundred."

In a gentler vein he could chide General McClellan
for his over-cautiousness and inaction, or write letters of

encouragement and grateful appreciation. Most remark-

able of his expressions of gratitude were those written
not in appreciation of successes gained, but in dark
hours of defeat, when he knew that his generals had
exerted their best efforts. His letters to Gustavus Fox,
who failed in his attempt to provision Fort Sumter; to
General Meade, who failed to pursue his advantage after
Gettysburg; and to the Army of the Potomac after their

crushing defeat at Fredericksburg, best show Lincoln's

sympathetic understanding.
Among Lincoln's earlier writings we find many ex-

[ xvii ]
amples of his unfailing sense of humor— his *
'rat-hole"

letter to a New York firm, his soap testimonial to Pro-

fessor Gardner, his much-quoted letter to little Grace

Bedell— to name just a few. It is a commentary on his

greatness of spirit that in later years, even in times of

most serious crises, his sense of humor never deserted
him.
Lincoln's instinctive faculty for finding the right
word for every occasion makes his letters and speeches
a source of inspiration and guidance for everyone. His

letters of consolation are classic examples for all to fol-

low—not only the famous note to Mrs. Bixby, but those

to the parents of Colonel Ellsworth and to the daughter
of Colonel McCullough. The same may be said of his

letters of apology, acceptance, acknowledgment, and

recommendation, for each is a perfect pattern of its

type.

[ xviii 3
 Acknowledgments

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No collection of Lincoln's writings would be possible

were it not for the "spade work" of those who ferreted
out his precious documents from collectors' albums,
dealers' shelves, newspaper morgues, and library and
government archives. The first seven important works
listed below— upon which this editor has drawn heavily
—include virtually all of Lincoln's known writings. A
debt of gratitude is due to: Dr. Louis A. Warren, Di-
rector, and M. A. Cook, Librarian, of The Lincoln Na-
tional Life Foundation, for supplying a number of
items hitherto unpublished in any of these standard
works; Paul M. Angle, Librarian of The Illinois State

Library in Springfield, for rendering needed assistance

in checking the authenticity of certain letters and
speeches included in this selection; Carl W. Schaefer,
Cleveland lawyer and trustee of The Lincoln Memorial
University, for offering helpful suggestions.

Complete Works of Abraham Lincoln (12 volumes).

Edited by John G. Nicolay and John Hay. Tandy-
Gettysburg Edition.

[xix]
Uncollected Letters of Abraham Lincoln. By Gilbert A.
Tracy. Houghton Mifflin Company.
Abraham Lincoln, A New Portrait, (2 volumes). By
Emanuel Hertz. Horace Liveright, Inc.

New Letters and Papers of Lincoln. Compiled by Paul

M. Angle. Houghton Mifflin Company.
Lincoln Letters, Hitherto Unpublished, In The Library
of Brown University. The University Library.
Abraham Lincoln, The Prairie Years (2 volumes). By
Carl Sandburg. Harcourt, Brace & Company.
Abraham Lincoln, The War Years (4 volumes). By
Carl Sandburg. Harcourt, Brace & Company.
The Real Lincoln. By Jesse W. Weik. Houghton Mifflin
Company.
Abraham Lincoln and The Hooker Letter. By William
E. Barton.The Bowling Green Press.
The Life and Writings of Abraham Lincoln. By Philip
Van Doren Stern. Random House.

[xx]
vvvv\\vvvv\\^v\*\vvvvwivvvvvvv\\vvv\vvvv%*vv\vw^

". . . short and sweet li\e the old woman s dance"

*MMMAMMMM/WVWVVWW\MM/\M/^^

L.'INCOLN'S first political speech, as later remembered by

his friend A. Y. Ellis, was the very essence of brevity. It won
respect for Young Abe but not the election— the only time he

ever was defeated by popular vote.

FIRST POLITICAL SPEECH

AT PAPPSVILLE, ILL.-MARCH, 1832

ELLOW-CITIZENS:
F I presume you
humble Abraham Lincoln.
all know who
I
I am.
have been solicited
I am

by many friends to become a candidate for the

Legislature. My politics are short and sweet, like

the old woman's dance. I am in favor of a national

bank. I am in favor of the internal improvement

system, and a high protective tariff. These are my
sentiments and political principles. If elected, I

shall be thankful: if not it will be all the same.

[i]
 Lincoln — The Postmaster

*MM*MMMXW\MMAMMMMMMH^^

IN 1833 Lincoln served as postmaster of the small town of

New Salem. He accepted this federal post, which none of his

fellow townsmen wanted, so that he could read the newspa-

pers. These pointed words were addressed to a publisher who

demanded a postage receipt.

LETTER TO GEORGE SPEARS

Circa 1833

M R.

the postage
SPEARS:
At your request
on your paper.
I send you a receipt for
I am somewhat sur-

prised at your request. I will, however, comply

with it. The law requires Newspaper postage to

be paid in advance, and now that I have waited a

full year you choose to wound my feelings by in-
sinuating that unless you get a receipt I will prob-

ably make you pay it again.

Respectfully,

A. Lincoln

[21
 Young Abe "Shows His Hand"

*vwv\\v\vvwvvvvvvvvvvvvvwv»*vvvvvwm\^

IN 1836 Lincoln again ran for the State Legislature and once

more stated his platform in the fewest possible words. This

time he was elected by a comfortable majority.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR OF THE

SANGAMON JOURNAL
New Salem, June 13, 1836

THE EDITOR OF THE " JOURNAL":

TO In your paper of last Saturday I see a

communication, over the signature of "Many Vo-

ters," in which the candidates who are announced
in the "Journal" are called upon to "show their

hands." Agreed. Here's mine.

I go for all sharing the privileges of the govern-
ment who assist in bearing its burdens. Conse-
quently, I go for admitting all whites to the right
of suffrage who pay taxes or bear arms (by no
means excluding females).

[3]
 If elected, I shall consider the whole people of
Sangamon my constituents, as well those that op-

pose as those that support me.

While acting as their representative, I shall be
governed by their will on all subjects upon which
I have the means of knowing what their will is;

and upon all others, I shall do what my own judg-

ment teaches me will best advance their interests.

Whether elected or not, I go for distributing the

proceeds of the sales of the public lands to the
several States, to enable our State, in common with
others, to dig canals and construct railroads with-
out borrowing money and paying the interest

on it.

If alive on the first Monday in November, I

shall vote for Hugh L. White for President.

Very respectfully,

A. Lincoln

[4]
VVVVV\VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV\VVMVlVl\iV\\**VVVVVV^^

let the worst come"

w*HEN Colonel Robert Allen, opposing candidate for

the Illinois Legislature, hinted that he "knew unspeakable

things" about Lincoln and his running-mate, Lincoln chal-

lenged him to tell all.

LETTER TO ROBERT ALLEN

New Salem, June 21, 1836

D EAR COLONEL:

week you passed through

I am told that during my
this place,
absence
and
last

stated

publicly that you were in possession of a fact or

facts which, if known to the public, would entirely

destroy the prospects of N. W. Edwards and my-

self at the ensuing election; but that, through
favor to us, you should forbear to divulge them.
No one has needed favors more than I, and, gen-
erally, few have been less unwilling to accept
them; but in this case favor to me would be in-

[5]
justice to the public, and therefore I must beg
your pardon for declining it. That I once had the
confidence of the people of Sangamon, is suffi-

ciently evident; and if I have since done anything,

either by design or misadventure, which if known
would subject me to a forfeiture of that confi-

dence, he that knows of that thing, and conceals

it, is a traitor to his country's interest.

I find myself wholly unable to form any con-

jecture of what fact or facts, real or supposed, you
spoke; but my opinion of your veracity will not
permit me for a moment to doubt that you at least

believed what you said. I am flattered with the

personal regard you manifested for me; but I do
hope that, on more mature reflection, you will

view the public interest as a paramount considera-

tion, and therefore determine to let the worst
come. I here assure you that the candid statement
of facts on your part, however low it may sink me,
shall never break the tie of personal friendship
between us. I wish an answer to this, and you are
at liberty to publish both, if you choose.

Very respectfully,

A. Lincoln

[6]
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVWAA\VVWVVVV\A\VVWV^^

'Whatever woman may cast her lot with mine. . .

."

VVVVVVVV\VV\\\V\VVVVVVt\VVVl\Vl\\VlVVVVVVV\*VVVW^^

F.EW men have survived more bitter disappointments than

did Abraham Lincoln. The one that nearly spelled his un-

doing was the death of Ann Rutledge in 1835. This great loss

resulted in Lincoln's hypochondria and many impulsive re-

actions including his courting of Miss Mary Owens. We

probably never shall know whether the realization that he

was not truly in love or whether caution and a sense of fair-

ness prompted this letter.

LETTER TO MARY OWENS

Springfield, May 7, 1837

FRIEND MARY:
I have commenced two letters to send
you before this, both of which displeased me be-
fore I got half done, and so I tore them up. The
first I thought was not serious enough, and the
second was on the other extreme. I shall send this,

turn out as it may.

[7]
 This thing of living in Springfield is rather a
dull business, after all; at least it is to me. I am
quite as lonesome here as I ever was anywhere in
my life. I have been spoken to by but one woman
since I have been here, and should not have been
by her if she could have avoided it. I've never
been to church yet, and probably shall not be
soon. I stay away because I am conscious I should
not know how to behave myself.
I am often thinking of what we said about your
coming to live at Springfield. I am afraid you
would not be satisfied. There is a great deal of
flourishing about in carriages here, which it would
be your doom to see without sharing it. You
would have to be poor, without the means of hid-
ing your poverty. Do you believe you could bear
that patiently? Whatever woman may cast her lot
with mine, should any ever do so, it is my inten-
tion to do all in my power to make her happy and
contented; and there is nothing I can imagine
that would make me more unhappy than to fail

in the effort. I know I should be much happier

with you than the way I am, provided I saw no
signs of discontent in you. What you have said

to me may have been in the way of jest, or I may

have misunderstood it. If so, then let it be for-

gotten; if otherwise, I much wish you would think

[8]
seriously before you decide. What I have said I

will most positively abide by, provided you wish

it. My opinion is that you had better not do it.

You have not been accustomed to hardship, and

it may be more severe than you now imagine. I

know you are capable of thinking correctly on

any subject, and if you deliberate maturely upon
this before you decide, then I am willing to abide
your decision.
You must write me a good long letter after you
get this. You have nothing else to do, and though
it might not seem interesting to you after you had
written it, it would be a good deal of company to

me in this "busy wilderness." Tell your sister I

don't want to hear any more about selling out and
moving. That gives me the "hypo" whenever I
think of it.

Yours, etc.,

Lincoln

[9]
\VVVV\\\\V\\\\\V\V\VV\\\VVVVVV\\\%\\\VVVV\VVVV\\V\V\\\V\VV\\VV\\\VV\VVVVV\\V\\VVV\VVVVV\\\\\VV'V.\'VVVNVVV\V\VV\V.\V\\

". . . \i\e so many fish upon a trotline"

MVVMWWWVVVVVVWVVVVIVWVVVVWVW^

R:ETURNING from a visit to Kentucky, Lincoln writes to

the sister of his friend "Josh" Speed, giving news of her

brother's health and a vivid word picture of slaves being

transported south.

LETTER TO MARY SPEED

Bloomington, 111., September 27, 1841

MY FRIEND:
Having resolved to write to some of
your mother's family, and not having the express
permission of anyone of them to do so, I have had
some little difficulty in determining on which to
inflict the task of reading what now feel must be
I

a most dull and silly letter; but when I remem-

bered that you and I were something of cronies
while I was at Farmington, and that while there
I was under the necessity of shutting you up in a

[10]
room to prevent your committing an assault and
battery upon me, I instantly decided that you
should be the devoted one. I assume that you have
not heard from Joshua and myself since we left,

because I think it doubtful whether he has writ-

ten. You remember there was some uneasiness
about Joshua's health when we left. That little

indisposition of his turned out to be nothing seri-

ous, and it was pretty nearly forgotten when we
reached Springfield. We got on board the steam-
boat Lebanon in the locks of the canal, about
twelve o'clock M. of the day we left, and reached
St. Louis the next Monday at 8 P. M. Nothing of

interest happened during the passage, except the

vexatious delays occasioned by the sand-bars be
thought interesting. By the way, a fine example
was presented on board the boat for contemplat-
ing the effect of condition upon human happiness.
A gentleman had purchased twelve negroes in dif-

ferent parts of Kentucky, and was taking them to

a farm in the South. They were chained six and

six together. A small iron clevis was around the
left wrist of each, and this was fastened to the main
chain by a shorter one, at a convenient distance
from the others, so that the negroes were strung
together precisely like so many fish upon a trot-
line. In this condition they were being separated

[11]
forever from the scenes of their childhood, their
friends, their fathers and mothers, and brothers
and sisters, and many of them from their wives

and children, and going into perpetual slavery,

where the lash of the master is proverbially more

ruthless and unrelenting than any other where;
and yet amid all these distressing circumstances,

as we would think them, they were the most cheer-

ful and apparently happy creatures on board. One
whose offense for which he had been sold was an
over-fondness for his wife, played the fiddle almost
continually, and the others danced, sang, cracked

jokes, and played various games with cards from

day to day. How true it is that "God tempers the

wind to the shorn lamb," or in other words, that

he renders the worst of human conditions toler-
able, while he permits the best to be nothing bet-
ter than tolerable. To return to the narrative.
When we reached Springfield, I stayed but one
day, when I started on this tedious circuit where
I now am. Do you remember my going to the city,

while I was in Kentucky, to have a tooth extracted,

and making a failure of it? Well, that same old
tooth got to paining me so much that about a

week since I had it torn out, bringing with it a bit

of the jaw-bone, the consequence of which is that

[12]
my mouth is now so sore that I can neither talk

nor eat.

I am literally "subsisting on savory remem-

brances"— that is, being unable to eat, I am living

upon the remembrance of the delicious dishes of

peaches and cream we used to have at your house.

When we left, Miss Fanny Henning was owing
you a visit, as I understood. Has she paid it yet?

If she has, are you not convinced that she is one

of the sweetest girls in the world? There is but
one thing about her, so far as I could perceive,
that I would have otherwise than as it is— that is,

something of a tendency to melancholy. This, let

it be observed, is a misfortune, not a fault.

Give her an assurance of my very highest regard

when you see her. Is little Siss Eliza Davis at your
house yet? If she is, kiss her "o'er and o'er again"
for me.
Tell your mother that I have not got her "pres-
ent" (an "Oxford" Bible) with me, but I intend
to read it regularly when I return home. I doubt
not that it is really, as she says, the best cure for
the blues, could one but take it according to the
truth. Give my respects to all your sisters (includ-
ing Aunt Emma) and brothers. Tell Mrs. Peay, of

whose happy face I shall long retain a pleasant

[13]
remembrance, that I have been trying to think of
a name for her homestead, but as yet cannot sat-

isfy myself with one. I shall be very happy to re-

ceive a line from you soon after you receive this,

and in case you choose to favor me with one, ad-

dress it to Charleston, Coles County, 111., as I shall

be there about the time to receive it. Your sincere

friend,

A. Lincoln

[14]
 .

VWl\VVVlVl\Vl*VVV\VVVVVVVVVVVV\VWA*\\\VVVVVVVV^

". . . groomsman to a man that has cut him out.

\VWVI\VVVI\*W1A\VWVVVVVVVIVVVIVWVVVVVVVWWW

L>INCOLN'S
r
first efforts toward election to Congress ended

in disappointment. The Whigs determined upon his friend

Edxuard D. Baker and then, somewhat ironically, elected Lincoln

a delegate with instructions to vote for Baker.

LETTER TO JOSHUA F. SPEED

Springfield, March 24, 1843

D EAR SPEED:
.We had a meeting of the Whigs of
the county here
. .

on last Monday to appoint delegates

to a district convention; and Baker beat me, and
got the delegation instructed to go for him. The
meeting, in spite of my attempt to decline it, ap-
pointed me one of the delegates; so that in get-

ting Baker the nomination I shall be fixed a good

deal like a fellow who is made a groomsman to a
man that has cut him out and is marrying his own
dear "gal." About the prospects of your having a
namesake at our town, can't say exactly yet.

A. Lincoln

[15]
VVl\VW\V*AA\VVVVVVV\VWVV\\MMMAA\VVVm\VVVV^

'As to s]peech'ma\ing.

V^VVVVVVVVVVVVVV\VVVVVVVVVVVV\WVVVVVVVV\V\WVVV\\Vm

OHORTLY after he had taken his seat in Congress, Lincoln

wrote home to Billy Herndon, his young law partner, con-
fessing mild stage fright in addressing the House and dis-

cussing his aspirations to a second term.

LETTER TO WILLIAM H. HERNDON

Washington, January 8, 1848

DEAR WILLIAM:
Your letter of December 27 was re-

ceived a day or two ago. I am much obliged to

you for the trouble you have taken, and promise
to take in my little business there. As to speech-

making, by way of getting the hang of the House

I made a little speech two or three days ago on a

post-office question of no general interest. I find

speaking here and elsewhere about the same thing.

I was about as badly scared, and no worse, as I am
[16]
when I speak in court. I expect to make one
within a week or two, in which I hope to succeed
well enough to wish you to see it.

It is very pleasant to learn from you that there

are some who desire that I should be reelected. I

most heartily thank them for their kind partiality;

and I can say, as Mr. Clay said of the annexation

'

of Texas, that 'personally I would not object" to

a reelection, although I thought at the time, and

still think, it would be quite as well for me to re-

turn to the law at the end of a single term. I made

the declaration that I would not be a candidate

again, more from a wish to deal fairly with others,

to keep peace among our friends, and to keep the

district from going to the enemy, than for any
cause personal to myself; so that, if it should so
happen that nobody else wishes to be elected, I

could not refuse the people the right of sending

me again. But to enter myself as a competitor of

others, or to authorize anyone so to enter me, is

what my word and honor forbid.

I got some letters intimating a probability of so

much difficulty amongst our friends as to lose us

the district; but I remember such letters were

written to Baker when my own case was under
consideration, and I trust there is no more ground

[17]
for such apprehension now than there was then.
Remember I am always glad to receive a letter
from you.
Most truly your friend,

A. Lincoln

[18]
,v^\vuvvvvvvvvu\v\v\vv\vvv\vivvv\vwtvw*v^^

"the very best speech ... I ever heard."

JT OR myself/' said Alexander Stephens in a speech before

Congress, "I can only say, if the last funeral pile of liberty

were lighted, I would mount it and expire in its flames before

I would be coerced by any power, however great and strong,

to sell or surrender the land of my home." These words, from

the man who became vice president of the Confederacy, we

find echoed in Lincoln's own speeches of later years.

LETTER TO WILLIAM H. HERNDON

Washington, February 2, 1848

D EAR WILLIAM:
I

Stephens, of Georgia, a
just take my pen
little,
to say that

slim, pale-faced, con-

Mr.

sumptive man, with a voice like Logan's, has just

concluded the very best speech of an hour's length
I ever heard. My old withered dry eyes are full of
tears yet.

[19]
 If he writes it out anything like he delivered it s

our people shall see a good many copies of it.

Yours truly,

A. Lincoln

[20]
,VVVVVVVVVW\VVVVWVl*VVtVVWl\V\\MM

". . . I do not mean to be un\ind to you."

WWWWWWWWWAAMMM^^

a N one and the same sheet of paper Lincoln grants

father's request for $20 with a bit of good-natured chiding:
his

and then refuses a larger amount to his step-brother, John D.

Johnston, who was considering the possibility of supporting a

wife, although a poor hand at providing for himself.

LETTER TO THOMAS LINCOLN

JOHN D. JOHNSTON
8c

Washington, December 24, 1848

MY DEAR Your
FATHER:
letter of the 7th was received
night before last. I very cheerfully send you the
twenty dollars, which sum you say is necessary to
save your land from sale. It is singular that you
should have forgotten a judgment against you;
and it is more singular that the plaintiff should
have let you forget it so long, particularly as I

[21]
suppose you always had property enough to sat-

isfy a judgment of that amount. Before you pay it,

it would be well to be sure you have not paid, or

at least that you cannot prove that you have paid
it.

Give my love to mother and all the connections.

Affectionately your son,
A. Lincoln

DEAR JOHNSTON:
Your request for eighty dollars I do not
think it best to comply with now. At the various
times when I have helped you a little you have
said to me, "We can get along very well now;"
but in a very short time I find you in the same
difficulty again. Now, this can only happen by
some defect in your conduct. What that defect is,

I think I know. You are not lazy, and still you are
an idler. I doubt whether, since I saw you, you
have done a good whole day's work in any one
day. You do not very much dislike to work, and
still you do not work much, merely because it does
not seem to you that you could get much for it.

This habit of uselessly wasting time is the whole

difficulty; it is vastly important to you, and still

more so to your children, that you should break

[22]
the habit. It more important to them, because
is

they have longer to live, and can keep out of an

idle habit before they are in it, easier than they
can get out after they are in.

You are now in need of some money; and what

I propose is, that you shall go to work, "tooth
and nail," for somebody who will give you money
for it. Let father and your boys take charge of
your things at home, prepare for a crop, and make
a crop, and you go to work for the best money
wages, or in discharge of any debt you owe, that
you can get; and, to secure you a fair reward for
your labor, I now promise you, that for every
dollar you will, between this and the first of May,
get for your own labor, either in money or as
your own indebtedness, I will then give you one
other dollar. By this, if you hire yourself at ten

dollars a month, from me you will get ten more,

making twenty dollars a month for your work. In
this I do not mean you shall go off to St. Louis,

or the lead mines, or the gold mines in California,

but I mean for you to go at it for the best wages
you can get close to home in Coles County. Now,
if you will do this, you will be soon out of debt,
and, what is better, you will have a habit that will
keep you from getting in debt again. But, if I

should now clear you out of debt, next year you

[23]
would be just as deep in as ever. You say you
would almost give your place in heaven for sev-

enty or eighty dollars. Then you value your place

in heaven very cheap, for I am sure you can, with
the offer I make, get the seventy or eighty dollars
for four or five months' work. You say if I will

furnish you the money you will deed me the land,

and, if you don't pay the money back, you will

deliver possession. Nonsense! If you can't now

live with the land, how will you then live without
it?You have always been kind to me, and I do
not mean to be unkind to you. On the contrary,
if you will but follow my advice, you will find it

worth more than eighty times eighty dollars to

you.
Affectionately your brother,

A. Lincoln

[24]
rV\\VV\\tV\VVVWVVV\AAVVVVVVV\/vvvVWVVVVVVWWWV\A^^

91
". . . smarter than he loo\s to be.

,\M*\MAMWMMMMMMM*MHWWVUH^

A YOUNG man by the name of Jonathan Birch, applying

for admission to the bar, was given this note which said little

but told much to Judge Logan, a co-member of the examining

committee.

LETTER TO JUDGE STEPHEN T. LOGAN

MY DEAR JUDGE- The bearer of this is a young man who

thinks he can be a lawyer. Examine him if you
want to. I have done so and am satisfied. He's a
good deal smarter than he looks to be.

Yours,
Lincoln

[25]
/V\\VlVt\VVVVWVVlVVVt\VVVVVVVVVVlVVVWVlVVVWAMVW^

."
"I am not a very sentimental man. . .

V\VWVVV\\\VVVV\WW\\VVVWVWVVVVIVVWYVW^

L ITTLE suspecting that he would someday be besieged by

autograph seekers, Lincoln couldn't understand why anyone

should want his signature.

LETTER TO C. U. SCHLATER
Washington, Jan. 5, 1849

MR. C. U. SCHLATER

D EAR
Your
SIR:

note, requesting
with a sentiment' was received, and should have
my 'signature

been answered long since, but that it was mislaid.

I am not a very sentimental man; and the best
sentiment I can think of is, that if you collect the

signatures of all persons who are no less distin-

guished than I, you will have a very undistinguish-

ing mass of names.

Yours respectfully,
A. Lincoln

[26]
 1
". . . and than\ you to boot.'

\\MMMMMMMMMMV\MM^^

IN Lincoln's law dealings, his sense of fairness always pre-

vailed over considerations of fee. What a surprised client

Abraham Bale must have been upon opening this note from

his lawyer.

LETTER TO ABRAHAM BALE

Springfield, Feb. 22, 1850

MR. ABRAHAM BALE,

D EAR
I
SIR:

understand Mr. Hickox will go, or

send to Petersburg tomorrow, for the purpose of
meeting you to settle the difficulty about the
wheat. I sincerely hope you will settle it. I think
you can if you will, for I have always found Mr.
Hickox a fair man in his dealings. If you settle,

I will charge nothing for what I have done, and

[27]
thank you to boot. By settling, you will most
likely get your money sooner and with much less

trouble and expense.

Yours truly,

A. Lincoln

[28]
^vwvvvvvvvvvlvvvvvw^VWVVVVVVVVVVvvvivv^^

"if . . . you cannot be an honest lawyer,

resolve to be honest without being a lawyer"

\\VVV\X\\\\\\\%\VtV\VVi\\\V^\\\\\VV\V\V\'VVVVVVVVVV\\\\\\VVVVVV\\VVVV\\''.VV'V\V\\\\\VV\VV'VV\\A.\\V\VVVVVVVVV\VVV\\V\V\V

T*HIS "Lawyer's Creed" was prepared by Lincoln for a con-

templated lecture. The ideals expressed make it worthy of

inscription on the walls of every law office. That Lincoln

practiced what he preached is clearly indicated by many of

his letters in this collection.

NOTES FOR A LAW LECTURE

Circa July, 1850

AM not an accomplished lawyer. I find quite

I as much material for a lecture in those points

wherein I have failed, as in those wherein I have

been moderately successful. The leading rule for
the lawyer, as for the man of every other calling,
is diligence. Leave nothing for to-morrow which
can be done to-day. Never let your correspondence
fall behind. Whatever piece of business you have

[29]
in hand, before stopping, do all the labor pertain-
ing to it which can then be done. When you
bring a common-law suit, if you have the facts

for doing so, write the declaration at once. If a

law point be involved, examine the books, and
note the authority you rely on upon the declara-
tion itself, where you are sure to find it when
wanted. The same of defenses and pleas. In busi-
ness not likely to be litigated,— ordinary collection

cases, foreclosures, partitions, and the like,—make

all examinations of titles, and note them, and
even draft orders and decrees in advance. This
course has a triple advantage; it avoids omissions
and neglect, saves your labor when once done,
performs the labor out of court when you have
leisure, rather than in court when you have not.

Extemporaneous speaking should be practised and

cultivated. It is the lawyer's avenue to the public.
However able and faithful he may be in other

respects, people are slow to bring him business

if he cannot make a speech. And yet there is not a
more fatal error to young lawyers than relying
too much on speech-making. If any one, upon his

rare powers of speaking, shall claim an exemption

from the drudgery of the law, his case is a failure

in advance.

Discourage litigation. Persuade your neighbors

[30]
to compromise whenever you can. Point out to
them how the nominal winner is often a real loser
—in fees, expenses, and waste of time. As a peace-
maker the lawyer has a superior opportunity of
being a good man. There will still be business
enough.
Never stir up litigation. A worse man can
scarcely be found than one who does this. Who
can be more nearly a fiend than he who habitually
overhauls the register of deeds in search of defects
in titles, whereon to stir up strife, and put money
in his pocket? A moral tone ought to be infused
into the profession which should drive such men
out of it.

The matter of fees is important, far beyond the

mere question of bread and butter involved. Prop-
erly attended to, fuller justice is done to both
lawyer and client. An exorbitant fee should never
be claimed. As a general rule never take your
whole fee in advance, nor any more than a small
retainer. When fully paid beforehand, you are
more than a common mortal if you can feel the

same interest in the case, as if something was still

in prospect for you, as well as for your client. And

when you lack interest in the case the job will
very likely lack skill and diligence in the perform-
ance. Settle the amount of fee and take a note in

[31]
advance. Then you will feel that you are working
for something, and you are sure to do your work
faithfully and well. Never sell a fee note— at least

not before the consideration service is performed.

It leads to negligence and dishonesty— negligence
by losing interest in the case, and dishonesty in re-

fusing to refund when you have allowed the con-

sideration to fail.

There is a vague popular belief that lawyers are

necessarily dishonest. I say vague, because when
we consider to what extent confidence and honors
are reposed in and conferred upon lawyers by the
people, it appears improbable that their impres-
sion of dishonesty is very distinct and vivid. Yet
the impression is common, almost universal. Let

no young man choosing the law for a calling for a

moment yield to the popular belief— resolve to be

honest at all events; and if in your own judgment

you cannot be an honest lawyer, resolve to be
honest without being a lawyer. Choose some other
occupation, rather than one in the choosing of
which you do, in advance, consent to be a knave.

[32]
vvvwvvvwmvwvivwvvvvvwwvwv^^

."
"Go to wor\ is the only cure. . .

\vwmviivvvvvwvi\vwvwwvwwt\wi\\vivi\vv^

L.LINCOLN'S anxiety for his step-mother, for whom he felt

a deep affection, explains the harsh note which runs through

this sound advice to his step-brother, John D. Johnston.

LETTER TO JOHN D. JOHNSTON

Shelbyville, November 4, 1851

EAR BROTHER:
D When I

fore yesterday, I learned that

came into Charleston day be-
you are anxious to

sell the land where you live and move to Missouri.

I have been thinking of this ever since, and can-

not but think such a notion is utterly foolish.

What can you do in Missouri better than here?

Is the land any richer? Can you there, any more
than here, raise corn and wheat and oats without
work? Will anybody there, any more than here, do
your work for you? If you intend to go to work,
there is no better place than right where you are;

[33]
if you do not intend to go to work, you cannot get
along anywhere. Squirming and crawling about
from place to place can do no good. You have
raised no corn this year; and what you really want
is to sell the land, get the money, and spend it.

Part with the land you have, and, my life upon it,

you will never after own a spot big enough to

bury you in. Half you will get for the land you
will spend in moving to Missouri, and the other
half you will eat, drink, and wear out, and no foot

of land will be bought. Now, I feel it my duty to

have no hand in such a piece of foolery. I feel that

it is so even on your own account, and particu-

larly on mother's account. The eastern forty acres

I intend to keep for mother while she lives; if you

will not cultivate it, it will rent for enough to sup-

port her—at least, it will rent for something. Her

dower in the other two forties she can let you
have, and no thanks to me. Now, do not misunder-
stand this letter; I do not write it in any unkind-

ness. I write it in order, if possible, to get you to

face the truth, which truth is, you are destitute

because you have idled away all your time. Your
thousand pretenses for not getting along better are
all nonsense; they deceive nobody but yourself.
Go to work is the only cure for your case.
A. Lincoln

[34]
 ". . . poor and a cripple as he is.

L.rINCOLN explains to a client why he has not taken judg-

ment for him against a poor cripple.

LETTER TO L. M. HAYS

Springfield, Oct. 27, 1852

L. M. HAYS, Esq.

D EAR SIR:

Yours of Sept. 30th just received. At

our court, just passed, I could have got a judg-
ment against Turley, if I had pressed to the ut-

most; but I am really sorry for him—poor, and a

cripple as he is— He begged time to try to find

evidence to prove that the deceased on his death

bed, ordered the note to be given up to him or
destroyed. I do not suppose he will get any such
evidence, but I allowed him until next court to try.

Yours &c
A. Lincoln

[35]
u\vvvvvt^vvvv\vvvvvvwu\\\vvv\\vvw^

"Most governments have been based on the denial

of equal rights of men. ..."

vvv\vvvvv\wvv\vvvvmvuvvm^\vvv\vvv\\wm

MONG the many papers assiduously preserved by his

secretaries Nicolay and Hay is this fragment in Lincoln's

handwriting summing up his early views on slavery.

FRAGMENT
Circa July, 1854

THEcrumb ant who has toiled

to his nest will furiously

and dragged a
defend the
fruit of his labor against whatever robber assails

him. So plain that the most dumb and stupid slave

that ever toiled for a master does constantly know
that he is wronged. So plain that no one, high or
low, ever does mistake it, except in a plainly selfish

way; for although volume upon volume is written

to prove slavery a very good thing, we never hear
of the man who wishes to take the good of it by
being a slave himself.

[36]
 Most governments have been based, practically,

on the denial of the equal rights of men, as I have,

in part, stated them; ours began by affirming those

rights. They said, some men are too ignorant and
vicious to share in government. Possibly so, said
we; and, by your system, you would always keep
them ignorant and vicious. We proposed to give
all a chance; and we expected the weak to grow
stronger, the ignorant wiser, and all better and
happier together.
We made the experiment, and the fruit is be-
fore us. Look at it, think of it. Look at it in its

aggregate grandeur, of extent of country, and

numbers of population— of ship, and steamboat,
and railroad.

[37]
'VVV\VV\VWWVVVV\\VVVVVV\V\VVV.VV\\V\/VVVm^

.'
I have really got it into my head. . .

4MMMM*VVVVV\fVVlVVVVmMVVVVVVVWVlVVM^^

L,'INCOLN "takes it into his head" to run for the Senate

but first makes sure to win the support of an influential friend

and potential rival.

LETTER TO JOSEPH GILLESPIE

Springfield, December 1, 1854

MY DEAR I
SIR:

have really got it into my head to

try to be United States Senator, and, if I could

have your support, my chances would be reason-
ably good. But I know, and acknowledge, that you
have as just claims to the place as I have; and
therefore I cannot ask you to yield to me, if you
are thinking of becoming a candidate, yourself. If,

however, you are not, then I should like to be re-

membered affectionately by you; and also to have

you make a mark for me with the Anti-Nebraska
members, down your way.

[38]
 If you know, and have no objection to tell, let

me know whether Trumbull intends to make a

push. If he does, I suppose the two men in St.

Clair, and one, or both, in Madison, will be for

him. We have the legislature, clearly enough, on

joint ballot, but the Senate is very close, and Cul-
lom told me to-day that the Nebraska men will

stave off the election, if they can. Even if we get

into joint vote, we shall have difficulty to unite

our forces. Please write me, and let this be con-

fidential.
Your friend as ever,

A. Lincoln

[39]
VVlVl\VVVlVVl\VVVVVV\\\VWUWWU\VVWVl\VW^

. . . I am not Senator"

"VVVWWVVWVVWVVVVVVW\VtUVlVVVl\\WVVV^

L:'INCOLN announces that he has thrown his senatorial

votes to Trumbull to further the cause of the Party.

LETTER TO W. H. HENDERSON
Springfield, 111., Feb. 21, 1855

HON. W. H. HENDERSON

MY DEAR The
SIR:

election is over, the session is

ended and I am not Senator. I have to content my-

self with the honor of having been the first choice
of a large majority of the fifty-one members who
finally made the election. My larger number of

friends had to surrender to Trumbull's smaller

number, in order to prevent the election of Mat-
teson, which would have been a Douglas victory.

I started with 44 votes and T. with 5. It is rather

hard for the 44 to have to surrender to the 5 and

[40]
a less good humored man than I, perhaps, would
not have consented to it,— and it would not have
been done without my consent. I could not, how-
ever, let the whole political result go to smash, on
a point merely personal to myself.
Yours, etc.

A. Lincoln

[41]
,V\VW\\WUVVVVmVlWU\VlVv\V\AVVVVVVV\AM.V^^

"1/ for this you and I must differ, differ we must"

K .NOWING full well that this letter

his long-time friendship with

would severely test

Josh Speed, Lincoln completely

unburdens himself on the question of slavery and individual

liberty.

LETTER TO JOSHUA F. SPEED

Springfield, August 24, 1855

D EAR

am. Ever since

SPEED:
You know what
I
a poor correspondent

received your very agreeable

I

let-

ter of the 22d of May I have been intending to

write you an answer to it. You suggest that in
political action, now, you and I would differ. I

suppose we would; not quite as much, however,

as you may think. You know I dislike slavery, and
you fully admit the abstract wrong of it. So far
there is no cause of difference. But you say that
sooner than yield your legal right to the slave,

[42]
especially at the bidding of those who are not

themselves interested, you would see the Union

dissolved. I am not aware that any one is bidding
you yield that right; very certainly I am not. I

leave that matter entirely to yourself. I also

acknowledge your rights and my obligations under

the Constitution in regard to your slaves. I confess

I hate to see the poor creatures hunted down and

caught and carried back to their stripes and un-
requited toil; but I bite my lips and keep quiet.

In 1841 you and I had together a tedious low-

water trip on a steamboat from Louisville to St.

Louis. You may remember, as I well do, that from

Louisville to the mouth of the Ohio there were

on board ten or a dozen slaves shackled together

with irons. That sight was a continued torment

to me, and I see something like it every time I

touch the Ohio or any other slave border. It is

not fair for you to assume that I have no interest

in a thing which has, and continually exercises,

the power of making me miserable. You ought

rather to appreciate how much the great body of

the Northern people do crucify their feelings, in

order to maintain their loyalty to the Constitution
and the Union. I do oppose the extension of

slavery because my judgment and feeling so

[43]
prompt me, and I am under no obligations to the
contrary. If for this you and I must differ, differ

we must. You say, if you were President, you

would send an army and hang the leaders of the
Missouri outrages upon the Kansas elections; still,

if Kansas fairly votes herself a slave State she must

be admitted, or the Union must be dissolved. But
how if she votes herself a slave State unfairly, that
is, by the very means for which you say you would
hang men? Must she still be admitted, or the
Union dissolved? That will be the phase of the

question when it first becomes a practical one. In

your assumption that there may be a fair decision

of the slavery question in Kansas, I plainly see

you and I would differ about the Nebraska law.

I look upon that enactment not as a law, but as
a violence from the beginning. It was conceived
in violence, is maintained in violence, and is being
executed in violence. I say it was conceived in
violence, because the destruction of the Missouri

Compromise, under the circumstances, was noth-

ing less than violence. It was passed in violence,
because it could not have passed at all but for
the votes of many members in violence of the

known will of their constituents. It is maintained

in violence, because the elections since clearly de-

[44]
mand its repeal; and the demand is openly disre-
garded.
You say men ought to be hung for the way they
are executing the law; I say the way it is being
executed is quite as good as any of its antecedents.
It is being executed in the precise way which was
intended from the first, else why does no Nebraska
man express astonishment or condemnation? Poor
Reeder is the only public man who has been silly

enough to believe that anything like fairness was

ever intended, and he has been bravely unde-
ceived.

That Kansas will form a slave constitution, and

with it will ask to be admitted into the Union, I

take to be already a settled question, and so set-

tled by the very means you so pointedly condemn.

By every principle of law ever held by any court
North or South, every negro taken to Kansas is

free; yet, in utter disregard of this,— in the spirit

of violence merely,— that beautiful legislature

gravely passes a law to hang any man who shall

venture to inform a negro of his legal rights. This

is the subject and real object of the law. If, like

Haman, they should hang upon the gallows of

their own building, I shall not be among the
mourners for their fate. In my humble sphere, I

[45]
shall advocate the restoration of the Missouri
Compromise so long as Kansas remains a Terri-

tory, and when, by all these foul means, it seeks

to come into the Union as a slave State, I shall

oppose it. I am very loath in any case to withhold

my assent to the enjoyment of property acquired
or located in good faith; but I do not admit that
good faith in taking a negro to Kansas to be held
in slavery is a probability with any man. Any man
who has sense enough to be the controller of his
own property has too much sense to misunderstand
the outrageous character of the whole Nebraska
business. But I digress. In my opposition to the
admission of Kansas I shall have some company,
but we may be beaten. If we are, I shall not on
that account attempt to dissolve the Union. I

think it probable, however, we shall be beaten.

Standing as a unit among yourselves, you can, di-

rectly and indirectly, bribe enough of our men to

carry the day, as you could on the open proposi-

tion to establish a monarchy. Get hold of some
man in the North whose position and ability is

such that he can make the support of your meas-

ure, whatever it may be, a Democratic party ne-
cessity, and the thing is done. Apropos of this, let

me tell you an anecdote. Douglas introduced the

[46]
Nebraska bill in January. In February afterward
there was a called session of the Illinois legislature.
Of the one hundred members composing the two
branches of that body, about seventy were Demo-
crats. These latter held a caucus, in which the
Nebraska bill was talked of, if not formally dis-

cussed. It was thereby discovered that just three,

and no more, were in favor of the measure. In a

day or two Douglas's orders came on to have reso-

lutions passed approving the bill; and they were
passed by large majorities!!! The truth of this is

vouched for by a bolting Democratic member.

The masses, too, Democratic as well as Whig,
were even nearer unanimous against it; but, as

soon as the party necessity of supporting it became

apparent, the way the Democrats began to see the

wisdom and justice of it was perfectly astonishing.

You say that if Kansas fairly votes herself a free

State, as a Christian you will rejoice at it. All de-

cent slaveholders talk that way, and I do not doubt
their candor. But they never vote that way. Al-
though in a private letter or conversation you will

express your preference that Kansas shall be free,

you would vote for no man for Congress who
would say the same thing publicly. No such man
could be elected from any district in a slave State.

[47]
You think Stringfellow and company ought to be
hung; and yet at the next presidential election
you will vote for the exact type and representative
of Stringfellow. The slave-breeders and slave-

traders are a small, odious, and detested class

among you; and yet in politics they dictate the

course of all of you, and are as completely your
masters as you are the master of your own negroes.
You inquire where I now stand. That is a disputed
point. I think I am a Whig; but others say there

are no Whigs, and that I am an Abolitionist.

When I was at Washington, I voted for the Wil-
mot proviso as good as forty times; and I never
heard of any one attempting to unwhig me for

that. I now do no more than oppose the extension

of slavery. I am not a Know-nothing; that is cer-

tain. How could I be? How can any one who

abhors the oppression of negroes be in favor of
degrading classes of white people? Our progress

in degeneracy appears to me to be pretty rapid.

As a nation we began by declaring that "all men

are created equal.
,,
We now practically read it

"all men are created equal, except negroes."

When the Know-nothings get control, it will read

"all men are created equal, except negroes and

foreigners and Catholics.' ' When it comes to this,

[48]
I shall prefer emigrating to some country where
they make no pretense of loving liberty,— to Rus-
sia, for instance, where despotism can be taken
pure, and without the base alloy of hypocrisy.
Mary will probably pass a day or two in Louis-
ville in October. My kindest regards to Mrs.
Speed. On the leading subject of this letter, I have
more of her sympathy than I have of yours; and
yet let me say I am
Your friend forever,

A. Lincoln

[49]
vvmvvv\v\vvvvvvv\vwvvvv\vvvvvvm\\vvvvm^^

"Heres your old chal\ed hat.'

v\vwwwvvvvv\vvvvvvwvvvvwvvv\vvvv\\vw^

IN the backwoods jargon that characterizes much of his

hardy humor, Lincoln asks for a new railroad pass from the

superintendent of the Alton.

LETTER TO R. P. MORGAN
Springfield, February 13, 1856

DEAR SIR:
Says Tom to John: "Here's your old
rotten wheelbarrow. I've broke it, usin' on it. I

wish you would mend it, case I shall want to bor-

row it this arter-noon."

Acting on this as a precedent, I say, "Here's

your old, chalked hat.' I wish you would take it,

and send me a new one; case I shall want to use

,,
it the first of March.
Yours truly,

A. Lincoln

[50]
M/VWVWVVVV\*VVVV\VVVVtVlVWVW»W^

"You must thin\ I am a high' priced man"

T*HIS letter typifies the many acts that earned for its writer

the sobriquet ''Honest Abe"

LETTER TO GEORGE P. FLOYD

Springfield, Illinois, February 21, 1856

MR. GEORGE P. FLOYD,

QUINCY, ILLINOIS

DEAR SIR:
I have just received yours of 16th, with
check on Flagg & Savage for twenty-five dollars.
You must think I am a high-priced man. You are
too liberal with your money.
Fifteen dollars is enough for the job. I send you
a receipt for fifteen dollars, and return to you a
ten-dollar bill.
Yours truly,

A. Lincoln

[51]
\VVVVVWVWVUWVVlVVVVWWt\AM\\\VtVVWW^

."
". . . I argued your case better than my own. . .

.VVVWVtVVVV\\VVV\VV\VVVV\VWlWAVVVVUWVVW

WhHEN a young lawyer who opposed him lacked sufficient

funds to stay a week in Springfield until the case came up,

Lincoln volunteered to argue both sides before the Supreme

Court. In this letter Lincoln announces the judges' decision

to his absent adversary.

LETTER TO HENRY WALKER BISHOP

MY DEAR MR. BISHOP:

The Supreme Court came in on the
appointed day and I did my best to keep faith
with you. Apparently I argued your case better
than my own, for the court has just sent down a
rescript in your favor. Accept my heartiest con-

gratulations.
Very sincerely yours,

A. Lincoln

[52]
AA*VW\U\VVVV\VVVVVVtVlVVVVV\VVVVVVVVVVVl\VVW^

• • • my running would hurt and

1

not help the cause.'

VVV\\VVVVVVVVVVV\\\\VVVV\.VVWVV\V\VVV\.VVVV\V\VWVV\WV\VV\VVVWVVVVV\VV\\V\VV\\VVV\VV\VWVVWVV\WVVVWVVVVW\\\VV\

IN the year The Republican Party was formed Lincoln

worked hard for its success, but declined when the President

of Illinois College suggested that he himself be the young

party's candidate for Congress.

LETTER TO JULIAN M. STURTEVANT

Springfield, Sept. 27, 1856

M Y DEAR
Owing
SIR:

to absence yours of the 16th,

was not received until the day before yesterday.

I thank you for your good opinion of me person-
ally, and still more for the deep interest you take
in the cause of our common country. It pains me
a little that you have deemed it necessary to point
out to me how I may be compensated for throw-
ing myself in the breach now. This assumes that

[53]
I am merely calculating the chances of personal
advancement. Let me assure you that I decline to

be a candidate for congress, on my clear convic-

tion that my running would hurt and not help

the cause. I am willing to make any personal sacri-
fice, but I am not willing to do, what in my own

judgment, is a sacrifice of the cause itself.

Very truly yours,

A. Lincoln

[54]
<VVVV\VVVVVVVVV/VVVVVVIVVVVVVVV\VVVVI\VW\\^^

Lincoln s Challenge to Douglas

W«HEN Lincoln first determined to pose to Stephen Doug-

las the question of the legality of slavery in the Territories,

his friends warned him that he would lose the election. "Gen-
tlemen" said Lincoln, "I am killing larger game; if Douglas
answers, he can never be President, and the battle of 1860 is

worth a hundred of this." In these simple terms Lincoln pro-

posed the historic debates:

TO STEPHEN A. DOUGLAS
Chicago, Illinois, July 24, 1858

M Y DEAR
Will
an arrangement for you and myself
SIR:

it be agreeable to you to make

to divide time,

and address the same audiences the present can-

vass? Mr. Judd, who will hand you this, is author-
ized to receive your answer; and, if agreeable to
you, to enter into the terms of such arrangement.
Your obedient servant,
A. Lincoln

[55]
\vwwvw\\\vuvmvww\vvmvvvvvmvvvwvvvwvvvm^

I accede. .

IIVWIWWIVIVVWVVWWVVVWWUVWIVWW^

IN equally simple words Lincoln accepted Douglas's terms,

choosing to waive but not to overlook the advantage "The

Little Giant" had taken.

TO STEPHEN A. DOUGLAS
Springfield, July 31, 1858

DEAR SIR:
Yours of yesterday, naming places,

times, and terms for joint discussions between us,

was received this morning. Although by the terms,

as you propose, you take four openings and closes

to my three, I accede, and thus close the arrange-

ment. I direct this to you at Hillsboro, and shall

try to have both your letter and this appear in the

"Journal" and "Register" of Monday morning.
Your obedient servant,

A. Lincoln

[56]
,
VVV\VVVVV\VVVVVV\\VVV\V\V\'VV\VVVVV\\\V\V\VV\\VVVV\VWX\\V\\\VV\VVWVVVVVV.VVVWVVVVAA\\V\V\VVV1VVW\V\VW\\VW\\A(VV\

'And this too shall pass away"

VV\\V\\V\\V\\\\\VV\VV\VVV\VVV\\Vv\VVV\VVVV\A/VVV/VVAA\\VV\VVV\VVV\\VV\\VVV\\VVt\VVVAA.\VVVV\VVV\VVVVVVVVVVVVVV\VVVVV\

I N one of his speeches Lincoln alludes to the Eastern monarch

who once charged his wise men to invent him a sentence
to be ever in view, and which would be true and appropriate

in all times and situations. They presented him the words,

"And this, too, shall pass away." Lincoln found this quota-

tion particularly apt in writing to the Republican State Chair-

man, after the unsuccessful election of 1858.

LETTER TO N. B. JUDD
Springfield, November 16, 1858

DEAR SIR:
Yours of the 15th is just received. I

wrote you the same day. As to the pecuniary mat-

ter, I am willing to pay according to my ability;

but I am the poorest hand living to get others to

pay.
I have been on expenses so long without earn-

[57]
ing anything that I am absolutely without money
now for even household purposes. Still, if you can
put in two hundred and fifty dollars for me toward
discharging the debt of the committee, I will

allow it when you and I settle the private matter

between us.

This, with what I have already paid, and with

an outstanding note of mine, will exceed my sub-
scription of five hundred dollars. This, too, is ex-

clusive of my ordinary expenses during the cam-

paign, all of which being added to my loss of time
and business, bears pretty heavily upon one no
better off in [this] world's goods than I; but as

I had the post of honor, it is not for me to be over

nice. You are feeling badly,— "And this too shall
pass away," never fear.
Yours as ever,

A. Lincoln

[58]
\\VUVV\VV\VVV^V\V\VV\V\VVV\VA,VV\\V\VVV.VVW^

"The cause of civil liberty must not be

."
surrendered. . .

L:INCOLN lost the election to Douglas as his friends had

predicted, but never wavered from his conviction that right

would prevail.

LETTER TO HENRY ASBURY

Springfield, November 19, 1858

DEAR SIR:
Yours of the 13th was received some
days ago. The fight must go on. The cause of civil

liberty must not be surrendered at the end of one

or even one hundred defeats. Douglas had the in-

genuity to be supported in the late contest both

as the best means to break down and to uphold
the slave interest. No ingenuity can keep these
antagonistic elements in harmony long. Another
explosion will soon come.
Yours truly,

A. Lincoln

[59]
wvwvvvvvvvmvwvvwivwvwwvivvvwvvv^^

Definition of Democracy

*\vv\\vm\\vmvvvvuvvvvmvA\vu\v\\\vvv^^

JLhE essence of democracy, as Lincoln saw it, was succinctly

expressed in his own handwriting in the form of an autograph.

LINCOLN AUTOGRAPH
would not be would not be
AS L
I

master. This expresses

a slave, so I
my idea of democ-
a

racy. Whatever differs from this, to the extent of

the difference, is no democracy.
A. Lincoln

[60]
 "The principles of Jefferson "

ECAUSE of the simple majesty of its phrase, this is one

of Lincoln's most distinguished letters. It was written to a

committee who had invited him to attend a celebration of the

birthday of Thomas Jefferson.

LETTER TO H. L. PIERCE & OTHERS

Springfield, 111., April 6, 1859

G ENTLEMEN:
Your kind note
festival in Boston, on the 28th
inviting me
instant, in
to attend a

honor of
the birthday of Thomas Jefferson, was duly re-
ceived. My engagements are such that I cannot
attend.
Bearing in mind that about seventy years ago
two great political parties were first formed in this
country, that Thomas Jefferson was the head of
one of them and Boston the headquarters of the

[61]
other, it is both curious and interesting that those
supposed to descend politically from the party
opposed to Jefferson should now be celebrating his
birthday in their own original seat of empire,
while those claiming political descent from him
have nearly ceased to breathe his name every-
where.
Remembering, too, that the Jefferson party was
formed upon its supposed superior devotion to
the personal rights of men, holding the rights of

property to be secondary only, and greatly in-

ferior, and assuming that the so-called Democracy
of to-day are the Jefferson, and their opponents
the anti-Jefferson, party, it will be equally interest-

ing to note how completely the two have changed

hands as to the principle upon which they were
originally supposed to be divided. The Democracy
of to-day hold the liberty of one man to be abso-
lutely nothing, when in conflict with another

man's right of property; Republicans, on the con-

trary, are for man and the dollar, but in
both the
case of conflict the man before the dollar.

I remember being once much amused at seeing

two partially intoxicated men engaged in a fight

with their great-coats on, which fight, after a long
and rather harmless contest, ended in each having

[62]
fought himself out of his own coat and into that

of the other. If the two leading parties of this day

are really identical with the two in the days of

Jefferson and Adams, they have performed the

same feat as the two drunken men.
But, soberly, it is now no child's play to save

the principles of Jefferson from total overthrow

in this nation. One would state with great confi-
dence that he could convince any sane child that
the simpler propositions of Euclid are true; but
nevertheless he would fail, utterly, with one who
should deny the definitions and axioms. The prin-

ciples of Jefferson are the definitions and axioms

of free society. And yet they are denied and
evaded, with no small show of success. One dash-
ingly calls them "glittering generalities." Another
bluntly calls them "self-evident lies." And others
insidiously argue that they apply to "superior
races." These expressions, differing in form, are

identical in object and effect— the supplanting of

the principles of free government, and restoring
those of classification, caste, and legitimacy. They
would delight a convocation of crowned heads plot-

ting against the people. They are the vanguard, the

miners and sappers of returning despotism. We

must repulse them, or they will subjugate us. This

[63]
is a world of compensation; and he who would be
no slave must consent to have no slave. Those who
deny freedom to others deserve it not for them-
selves, and, under a just God, cannot long retain
it. All honor to Jefferson— to the man, who, in the
concrete pressure of a struggle for national inde-
pendence by a single people, had the coolness,
forecast, and capacity to introduce into a merely
revolutionary document an abstract truth, applic-
able to all men and all times, and so to embalm it

there that to-day and in all coming days it shall be

a rebuke and a stumbling-block to the very har-
bingers of reappearing tyranny and oppression.
Your obedient servant,

A. Lincoln

[64]
\VVVVVVVV\VVVVVVVVVVVVVUVVVVVVVVVVVVV\VVVVVVVVVVVVV^^

.'

a large raphole. . .

\VIVIVIVVI\VVVVVVVWIWVVVVVIVVVVV\VI\WVVV^^

'ELIEVING material possessions to be a poor measure of

a man's true mettle, Lincoln had little patience with a New

York firm that wrote inquiring about a man he knew in

Springfield.

LETTER TO NEW YORK FIRM

YOURS OF THE 10TH RECEIVED. First

of all, he has a wife and a baby; together

they ought to be worth $500,000 to any man. Sec-
ondly, he has an office in which there is a table
worth $1.50 and three chairs worth, say, $1. Last

of all, there is in one corner a large rat-hole, which

will bear looking into.
Respectfully,

A. Lincoln

[65]
 . I do not thin\ myself fit for the presidency,

TcO the editor of a Rock Island newspaper, who wished to

start a "Lincoln for President" boom, "Humble Abe" ex-

pressed his appreciation and, at the same time, his feeling of

inadequacy. This was selected by John G. Nicolay as one of

three letters most representative of Lincoln at his best.

LETTER TO T. J. PICKETT

Springfield, April 16, 1859

MY DEAR SIR:

Yours of the 13th is just received. My

engagements are such that I cannot at any very
early day visit Rock Island to deliver a lecture, or
for any other object. As to the other matter you
kindly mention, I must in candor say I do not
think myself fit for the presidency. I certainly am
flattered and gratified that some partial friends

think of me in that connection; but I really think

[66]
it best for our cause that no concerted effort, such
as you suggest, should be made. Let this be con-
sidered confidential.
Yours very truly,

A. Lincoln

[67]
 .

in regard to naturalized citizens. .

R..EPLYING to the editor of one of the largest German

newspapers, Lincoln declares himself upon the "anti-alien"

issue in words that cannot be misunderstood.

LETTER TO DR. THEODORE CANISIUS

Springfield, May 17, 1859

DEAR SIR:
Your note asking, in behalf of yourself
and other German citizens, whether I am for or

against the constitutional provision in regard to

naturalized citizens, lately adopted by Massachu-
setts, and whether I am for or against a fusion of

the Republicans, and other opposition elements,

for the canvass of 1860, is received.

Massachusetts is a sovereign and independent

State; and it is no privilege of mine to scold her

for what she does. Still, if from what she has done
an inference is sought to be drawn as to what I

[68]
would do, I may without impropriety speak out.
I say, then, that, as I understand the Massachusetts
provision, I am against its adoption in Illinois, or
in any other place where I have a right to oppose
it. Understanding the spirit of our institutions to

aim at the elevation of men, I am opposed to what-

ever tends to degrade them. I have some little no-

toriety for commiserating the oppressed negro;
and I should be strangely inconsistent if I could
favor any project for curtailing the existing rights
of white men, even though born in different lands,

and speaking different languages from myself. As

to the matter of fusion, I am for it, if it can be had
on Republican grounds; and I am not for it on
any other terms. A fusion on any other terms
would be as foolish as unprincipled. It would lose

the whole North, while the common enemy would

still carry the whole South. The question of men is

a different one. There are good patriotic men and

able statesmen in the South whom I would cheer-
fully support, if they would now place themselves
on Republican ground, but I am against letting
down the Republican standard a hair's-breadth.
I have written this hastily, but I believe it an-
swers your questions substantially.
Yours truly,

A. Lincoln

[69]
vm\VVWVVWVWVVVVVlWVU*VVWV\\WVVWVVV^

Lincoln s Skfitch of His Life

WWMMMMMMMMMMMMMHMMMMM*^^

H:IDING his modesty behind a screen of humor, Lincoln

pens a two-page sketch of his life for his friend and ardent
booster, J. W. Fell

LETTER TO J. W. FELL

Springfield, December 20, 1859

M
quested.
Y DEAR

There is
SIR:

Herewith
not
is

much
a little

of
sketch, as

it,
you
for the reason,
re-

I suppose, that there is not much of me. If any-

thing be made out of it, I wish it to be modest,
and not to go beyond the material. If it were
thought necessary to incorporate anything from
any of my speeches, I suppose there would be no
objection. Of course it must not appear to have

been written by myself.

Yours very truly,

A. Lincoln

[70]
I was born February 12, 1809, in Hardin County,
Kentucky. My parents were both born in Vir-
ginia, of undistinguished families— second fam-

ilies, perhaps I should say. My mother, who died

in my tenth year, was of a family of the name of
Hanks, some of whom now reside in Adams, and
others in Macon County, Illinois. My paternal
grandfather, Abraham Lincoln, emigrated from
Rockingham County, Virginia, to Kentucky about
1781 or 1782, where a year or two later he was
killed by the Indians, not in battle, but by stealth,

when he was laboring to open a farm in the forest.

His ancestors, who were Quakers, went to Virginia
from Berks County, Pennsylvania. An effort to

identify them with the New England family of

the same name ended in nothing more definite

than a similarity of Christian names in both fam-

ilies, such as Enoch, Levi, Mordecai, Solomon,
Abraham, and the like.

My father, at the death of his father, was but

six years of age, and he grew up literally without
education.He removed from Kentucky to what is
now Spencer County, Indiana, in my eighth year.
We reached our new home about the time the
State came into the Union. It was a wild region,

with many bears and other wild animals still in the

[71]
woods. There I grew up. There were some schools,
so called, but no qualification was ever required

of a teacher beyond "readin', writin', and cipher-

in ' " to the rule of three. If a straggler supposed
to understand Latin happened to sojourn in the
neighborhood, he was looked upon as a wizard.

There was absolutely nothing to excite ambition

for education. Of course, when I came of age I did

not know much. Still, somehow, I could read,

write, and cipher to the rule of three, but that was
all. I have not been to school since. The little ad-

vance I now have upon this store of education, I

have picked up from time to time under the pres-

sure of necessity.
I was raised to farm work, which I continued till

I was twenty-two. At twenty-one I came to Illinois,

Macon County. Then I got to New Salem, at that

time in Sangamon, now in Menard County, where
I remained a year as a sort of clerk in a store. Then
came the Black Hawk war; and I was elected a
captain of volunteers, a success which gave me
more pleasure than any I have had since. I went
the campaign, was elated, ran for the legislature
the same year (1832), and was beaten— the only
time I ever have been beaten by the people. The
next and three succeeding biennial elections I was

[72]
elected to the legislature. I was not a candidate
afterward. During this legislative period I had
studied law, and removed to Springfield to prac-
tise it. In 1846 I was once elected to the lower
House of Congress. Was not a candidate for re-

election. From 1849 to 1854, both inclusive, prac-

tised law more assiduously than ever before. Al-

ways a Whig in politics; and generally on the
Whig electoral tickets, making active canvasses. I

was losing interest in politics when the repeal of

the Missouri compromise aroused me again. What
I have done since then is pretty well known.
If any personal description of me is thought de-
sirable, it may be said I am, in height, six feet four
inches, nearly; lean in flesh, weighing on an aver-
age one hundred and eighty pounds; dark com-
plexion, with coarse black hair and gray eyes. No
other marks or brands recollected.
Yours truly,

A. Lincoln

[73]
vvv\vwvvwvvvvvvvwwwmvvvwwi\vwvvvw\v^^

"A house divided against itself cannot stand"

4AVVVM\fVVVt\VVVlVWWl\VVVVVVlVVVlVVVMWVV^

LirINCOLN'S famous "House Divided Speech" placed him

squarely in the middle of a raging national controversy. Many
persons, including Douglas, sought to discredit him by placing
upon his words interpretations which he had never intended.
Lincoln replied to this heckling by plainly stating, "I meant

all I said, and did not mean anything I did not say."

LETTER TO
O. P. HALL, J. R. FULLENWIDER &
U. F. CORRELL

Springfield, Feb. 14, 1860

MESSRS. O. P. HALL,
J. R. FULLENWIDER &
U. F. CORRELL

GENTLEMEN:
Your letter in among other
which,
things, you ask what I meant when I said this

[74]
"Union could not stand half slave and half free";

and also what I meant when I said "a house di-

vided against itself could not stand" is received
and I very cheerfully answer it as plainly as I may
be able. You misquote, to some material extent,
what I did say, which induces me to think you
have not very carefully read the speech in which
the expressions occur which puzzle you to under-
stand. For this reason and because the language I

used is as plain as I can make it, I now quote at

length the whole paragraph in which the expres-

sions which puzzle you occur. It is as follows: "We
are now far into the fifth year since a policy was
initiated with the avowed object and confident
promise of putting an end to slavery agitation.
Under the operation of that policy that agitation

has not only not ceased, but constantly augmented.

I believe it will not cease until a crisis shall have
been reached, and passed. A house divided against
itself can not stand. I believe this government can
not endure permanently, half slave, and half free.

I do not expect the Union to be dissolved: I do

not expect the house to fall; but I do expect it will

cease to be divided. It will become all one thing, or

all the other. Either the opponents of slavery will

avert the further spread of it and place it where

[75]
the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in
course of ultimate extinction; or its advocates will
push it forward till it will become alike lawful in

all the states, old as well as new, North as well as

South."
That is the whole paragraph; and it puzzles me
to make my meaning plainer. Look over it care-

fully, and conclude I meant all I said, and did not

mean any thing I did not say, and you will have
my meaning. Douglas attacked me upon this, say-

ing it was a declaration of war between the slave

and the free states. You will perceive, I said no
such thing, and I assure you I thought of no such
thing. If I had said I believe the Government can-
not last always half slave and half free, would you
understand it any better than you do? Endure
permanently and last always have exactly the same
meaning. If you, or [sic] if you will state to me
some meaning which you suppose I had, I can
and will instantly tell you whether that was my
meaning.
Yours very truly,

A. Lincoln

[76]
 ". . . painfully sensible of the great
."
responsibility. . .

\VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV\MAAVV*VVVVl*VlVVVl^^

F:INDING it difficult to realize that he has been singled

out for the highest position in the nation, Lincoln replies to

the committee sent by the Chicago Convention notifying him

of his nomination.

REPLY TO CHICAGO CONVENTION

COMMITTEE
Springfield, Illinois, May 21, 1860

AND GENTLEMEN
MR.OFCHAIRMAN
THE COMMITTEE:
I tender to you, and through you to
the Republican National Convention, and all the
people represented in it, my profoundest thanks
for the high honor done me, which you now for-

mally announce.
Deeply and even painfully sensible of the great

[77]
responsibility which is inseparable from this high
honor— a responsibility which I could almost wish
had fallen upon some one of the far more eminent
men and experienced statesmen whose distin-

guished names were before the convention— I shall,

by your leave, consider more fully the resolutions

of the convention, denominated [in] the plat-

form, and without any unnecessary or unreason-
able delay respond to you, Mr. Chairman, in writ-
ing, not doubting that the platform will be found
satisfactory, and the nomination gratefully ac-

cepted.
And now I will not longer defer the pleasure of
taking you, and each of you, by the hand.

[78]
VVV\\VV\VVVV\VVVVVV\VVV\\VVV\V\VVVVVVVVVVVV\V\\VVVVVVV\VVV\\VVV.VVVVVt\\V\\VV\\\VVV\A.VVVVVVVVV\VVVVVV\\\VV\\\\VVVVV\

Cooper Institute Speech

VVVVV\\\\\V\\\VVVVVVVVVV\\VVVVVWVV\\VV\VVV\V\Vm

c HARLES NOTT, writing on behalf of The Young Men's

Republican Union and wishing to publish Lincoln's already

famous speech delivered at The Cooper Institute, suggested

certain changes to make it "as nearly perfect as may be." Lin-

coln's reply reveals many secrets of his style and lends proof
to Nott's own observation that "like a good arch— moving one

word tumbles a whole sentence down."

LETTER TO CHARLES C. NOTT

Springfield, Ills., May 31, 1860

CHARLES C. NOTT, ESQ.

M Y DEAR

copy of the speech delivered by

SIR:

Yours of the 23rd, accompanied by a

me at the Cooper
Institute, and upon which you have made some
notes for emendations, was received some days
ago. Of course I would not object to, but would be

[79]
pleased rather, with a more perfect edition of that
speech.
I did not preserve memoranda of my investiga-
tions; and I could not now re-examine, and make
notes, without an expenditure of time which I can
not bestow upon it. Some of your notes I do not
understand.
So far as it is intended merely to improve in
grammar and elegance of composition, I am quite
agreed; but I do not wish the sense changed, or
modified, to a hair's breadth. And you, not having
studied the particular points so closely as I have,
can not be quite sure that you do not change the
sense when you do not intend it. For instance, in
a note at bottom of first page, you propose to sub-

stitute "Democrats" for "Douglas." But what I am

saying there is true of Douglas, and is not true of
"Democrats" generally; so that the proposed sub-
stitution would be a very considerable blunder.
Your proposed insertion of "residences" though it

would do little or no harm, is not at all necessary

to the sense I was trying to convey. On page 5 your

proposed grammatical change would certainly do

no harm. The "impudently absurd" I stick to. The
striking out "he" and inserting "we" turns the
sense exactly wrong. The striking out "upon it"

leaves the sense too general and incomplete. The

[80]
sense is "act as they acted upon that question"—
not as they acted generally.
After considering your proposed changes on
page 7, I do not think them material, but I am
willing to defer to you in relation to them.
On page 9, striking out "to us" is probably
right. The word "lawyer's" I wish retained. The
word "Courts" struck out twice, I wish reduced to
"Court" and retained. "Court" as a collective

noun properly governs the plural "have" as I

understand. "The" preceding "Court," in the lat-
ter case, must also be retained. The words "quite,"
"as," and "or" on the same page, I wish retained.
The italicising, and quotation marking, I have no
objection to.

As to the note at bottom, I do not think any too

much is admitted. What you propose on page 11,
is right. I return your copy of the speech, together
with one printed here, under my own hasty super-
vising. That at New York was printed without any
supervision by me. If you conclude to publish a
new edition, allow me to see the proof-sheets.

And now thanking you for your very compli-

mentary letter, and your interest for me generally,
I subscribe myself.
Your friend and servant,
A. Lincoln

[81]
iVVVVVVl\VVV\VVVWVWVVVVVW/.VVVVVVVVVMWVVVVVW

"Abraham'' or "Abram

i N this letter to the Republican Chairman, Lincoln concludes

that the spelling of his first name really doesn't make much
difference.

LETTER TO GEORGE ASHMUN

Springfield, Illinois, June 4, 1860

MY DEAR It seems
SIR:

as if the question whether my

,,
first name is "Abraham" or "Abram will never

be settled. It is "Abraham," and if the letter of

acceptance is not yet in print, you may, if you
think fit, have my signature thereto printed
"Abraham Lincoln." Exercise your judgment
about this.

Yours as ever,

A. Lincoln

[82]
I\IVVVVVVVVW\VWWVI\VVWVWAVVVVIWI\\\VV^

'Must" is the word,

^M/\/\MM^W\MM*M^M^/W\^/^^

L,LINCOLN, who knew only too well the need for persever-
ance, sends a few words of advice and encouragement to a

friend of his son who failed to enter Harvard.

LETTER TO GEORGE LATHAM

Springfield, Ills., July 22, 1860

MY DEAR I
GEORGE:
have scarcely felt greater pain in my
life than on learning yesterday from Bob's letter,

that you had failed to enter Harvard University.

And yet there is very little in it, if you will allow

no feeling of discouragement to seize, and prey

upon you. It is a certain truth, that you can enter,

and graduate in, Harvard University; and having

made the attempt, you must succeed in it. 'Must'
is the word.
I know not how to aid you, save in the assur-

[83]
ance of one of mature age, and much severe ex-
perience, that you can not fail, if you resolutely
determine that you will not.
The President of the institution, can scarcely
be other than a kind man; and doubtless he would
grant you an interview, and point out the readiest
way to remove, or overcome, the obstacles which
have thwarted you.
In your temporary failure there is no evidence
that you may not yet be a better scholar, and a

more man in the

successful great struggle of life,

than many others, who have entered College more

easily.

Again I say let no feeling of discouragement

prey upon you, and in the end you are sure to
succeed.
With more than a common interest I subscribe

myself
Very truly your friend,

A. Lincoln

[84]
vv^v\vvv^v^\vv^vvvv\\vv\\^v^^AV^^\vv\v\^vv\^^^vvv\\^vvvv\\\^\vv\\vvv^^vvv^^^^\\^\vvvv^vvvvvv^v\\^^^v^vv\\'vvv^.^^vv\^

i •»>

. the 'soap question

w«HEN a Professor Gardner applied to the President-Elect

for a soap testimonial, he good-humoredly complied, quoting

his "superior officer" in domestic affairs.

LETTER TO PROFESSOR GARDNER

Springfield, 111., September 28, 1860

D EAR SIR:

Some specimens of your Soap have been

used at our house and Mrs. L. declares it is a
superior article. She at the same time protests that
/ have never given sufficient attention to the "soap
question" to be a competent judge.
Yours very truly,

A. Lincoln

[851
iVVVVVVVWVVVVVVWVttVVVVWVYVVVVlVVVVWl^^

I give the leave. . . /

YVWmVUVVVtVUiVVVVVVVVWVttVWVVWV^^

TfHOMAS MADIGAN, the famous dealer in Lincoln manu-

scripts, considered this one of the sixteenth President's most

characteristic letters, both in sentiment and phraseology.

LETTER TO WILLIAM D. KELLY

Private.

Springfield, Ills., Oct, 13, 1860

HON. WILLIAM D. KELLY.

M
inscribe your
Y DEAR SIR:

Yours of the 6th asking permission

new legal work to me, is received.
to

Gratefully accepting the proffered honor, I give

the leave, begging only that the inscription may
be in modest terms, not representing me as a man
of great learning, or a very extraordinary one in
any respect.
Yours very truly,

A. Lincoln

[86]
A characteristically modest letter, only recently
brought to light, and not included in any of the
standard Lincoln collections.
4~>p, <*« Jfe^w /h^C X^c^L fueof*** +rv**-*>

Facsimile reproduction of Lincoln's famed "whisk-

ers" letter to little Grace Bedell.
VVVVVVV\VVVV\VW\VVVVVVVVVVWVWtVVVVVVVVVVWVW^

'As to the w\\is\ers.

'VVVVW\VVV\WlVVW\VV\\V\VVWlVViVVVVV^^

LITTLE girl of West field, New York, wrote Mr. Lin-

coln: "I am a little girl, eleven years old. . . . have you any

little girls about as large as I am. . . . if you will let your

whiskers grow. . . . you would look a great deal better for

your face is so thin. . . . I must not write any more answer

this right off. Good Bye." Grace Bedell.

LETTER TO GRACE BEDELL

Springfield, Illinois, October 19, 1860

M
is received.
Y DEAR LITTLE
Your very agreeable
I regret the necessity of saying
MISS:

letter of the 15th

I have
no daughter. I have three sons— one seventeen, one
nine, and one seven years of age. They, with their
mother, constitute my whole family. As to the

whiskers, having never worn any, do you not think

[87]
people would call it a piece of silly affectation if

I were to begin it now?

Your very sincere well-wisher,
A. Lincoln

Not long afterwards, Lincoln let his beard grow.

Happening to pass through Westfield, he asked for
his little friend and said, "You see I let these

whiskers grow for you, Grace."

[88]
 '

\vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv\vvvvvwvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvuvvvvvv\vvvv\vv^

.
"1/ they hear not Moses. . .

VVV\VVVVVVV\A*VVVVVV\VVVVIVIVIVI\VI\\\VVVWVVVV\^^

L:INCOLN, having many times declared his intentions to

prevent the spread of slavery to the Territories and not to in-

terfere with slavery in the States, sees no possible good in re-

stating his position to those who will not "read or heed."

LETTER TO WILLIAM S. SPEER

(Confidential)

Springfield, Illinois, October 23, 1860

I
M Y DEAR

appreciate your motive

SIR:

Yours of the 13th was duly received.

when you suggest the
propriety of my writing for the public something
disclaiming all intention to interfere with slaves
or slavery in the States; but in my judgment it

would do no good. I have already done this many,

many times; and it is in print, and open to all
who will read. Those who will not read or heed
[89]
what I have already publicly said would not read
or heed a repetition of it. "If they hear not Moses
and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded
though one rose from the dead."
Yours truly,

A. Lincoln

[90]
^VVWAV\\\\VVVVV\V\\\\\VVVV\A\VV\W\\VWVVV\\VV\V^^^

'That, I suppose is the rub.'

4MWSMX*MMMMMM*MMMMMMM/V*^

T^
.WO days after the Southern States had seceded, Lincoln

sent this concise summation of the difference in Northern and

Southern viewpoints to the man who was destined to assume

the second highest office in the Confederacy.

LETTER TO ALEXANDER H. STEPHENS

(For your own eye only.)

Springfield, Illinois, December 22, 1860

MY DEAR SIR:

Your obliging answer to my short note

is just received, and for which please accept my
thanks. I fully appreciate the present peril the

country is in, and the weight of responsibility on

me. Do the people of the South really entertain
fears that a Republican administration would, di-

rectly or indirectly, interfere with the slaves, or

with them about the slaves? If they do, I wish to

[91]
assure you, as once a friend, and still, I hope, not
an enemy, that there is no cause for such fears.
The South would be in no more danger in this

respect than it was in the days of Washington. I

suppose, however, this does not meet the case. You

think slavery is right and ought to be extended,
while we think it is wrong and ought to be re-

stricted. That, I suppose, is the rub. It certainly

is the only substantial difference between us.
Yours very truly,

A. Lincoln

[92]
VVV\VV\VWWAVVVVVVVVVl\VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVWVV^

Lincoln s Farewell Address

JlHERE was an unusual quiver on his lip, and a still more

unusual tear on his furrowed cheek" said Ward Lamon, who
witnessed the sad parting when Lincoln, pausing on the rear

platform of his train, addressed these few, unprepared words

to his friends in Springfield.

ADDRESS AT SPRINGFIELD
FEB. 11, 1861

MY FRIENDS:
No one, not in my situation, can ap-

preciate my feeling of sadness at this parting. To

this place, and the kindness of these people, I owe
everything. Here I have lived a quarter of a cen-
tury, and have passed from a young to an old man.
Here my children have been born, and one is

buried. Inow leave, not knowing when or whether

ever I may return, with a task before me greater
than that which rested upon Washington. With-

[93]
out the assistance of that Divine Being who ever
attended him, I cannot succeed. With that as-
sistance, I cannot fail. Trusting in Him who can
go with me, and remain with you, and be every-
where for good, let us confidently hope that all

will yet be well. To His care commending you,

as I hope in your prayers you will commend me,
I bid you an affectionate farewell.

[94]
 ". . . shall the liberties of this Country be
preserved?"

WhHEN the Presidential train stopped at Indianapolis on

its way to Washington, Lincoln delivered this abbreviated ad-

dress, reminding the people that the preservation of liberty

was their business and not his.

ADDRESS AT INDIANAPOLIS
FEB. 11, 1861

GOVERNOR MORTON and Fellow-citi-

zens of the State of Indiana: Most heartily

do I thank you for this magnificent reception;

and while I cannot take to myself any share
of the compliment thus paid, more than that
which pertains to a mere instrument— an ac-

cidental instrument perhaps I should say—of a

great cause, I yet must look upon it as a magnifi-

cent reception, and as such most heartily do I

thank you for it. You have been pleased to address

[95]
yourself to me chiefly in behalf of this glorious

Union in which we live, in all of which you have

my hearty sympathy, and, as far as may be within
my power, will have, one and inseparably, my
hearty cooperation. While I do not expect, upon
this occasion, or until I get to Washington, to at-

tempt any lengthy speech, I will only say that to

the salvation of the Union there needs but one

single thing, the hearts of a people like yours.

When the people rise in mass in behalf of the

Union and the liberties of this country, truly may
it be said, "The gates of hell cannot prevail against

them." In all trying positions in which I shall be

placed, and doubtless I shall be placed in many
such, my reliance will be upon you and the people
of the United States; and I wish you to remember,
now and forever, that it is your business, and not
mine; that if the union of these States and the
liberties of this people shall be lost, it is but little

to any one man of fifty-two years of age, but a

great deal to the thirty millions of people who in-

habit these United States, and to their posterity

in all coming time. It is your business to rise up
and preserve the Union and liberty for yourselves,

and not for me. I appeal to you again to constantly

bear in mind that not with politicians, not with

[96]
Presidents, not with office-seekers, but with you,
is the question: Shall the Union and shall the lib-

erties of this country be preserved to the latest

generations?

[97]
 Speech at Independence Hall

VVV\\VVVVVVVVVVVVWV\VVVVVVVVVVVVVWVVVVVV^^

D:ETECTIVE Allan Pinkerton intercepted the Presidential

party at Philadelphia to warn Lincoln of a plot for his assassi-

nation. Speaking that evening at Independence Hall, Lincoln

had proclaimed he would rather be assassinated on the spot

than sacrifice the principles of the Declaration of Inde-
pendence,

ADDRESS AT PHILADELPHIA
FEB. 22, 1861

M R. CUYLER:
I am filled

ing myself standing in this place, where were

with deep emotion at find-

collected together the wisdom, the patriotism, the

devotion to principle, from which sprang the in-

stitutions under which we live. You have kindly

suggested to me that in my hands is the task of
restoring peace to our distracted country. I can
say in return, sir, that all the political sentiments

[98]
I entertain have been drawn, so far as I have been
able to draw them, from the sentiments which
originated in 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. I have pondered over
the toils that were endured by the officers and sol-

diers of the army who achieved that independence.

I have often inquired of myself what great prin-

ciple or idea it was that kept this Confederacy so
long together. It was not the mere matter of sepa-
ration 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 hope to all the world, for all future

time. It was that which gave promise that in due
time the weights would be lifted from the shoul-
ders of all men, and that all should have an equal
chance. This is the sentiment embodied in the

Declaration of Independence. Now, my friends,

can this country be saved on 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

[99]
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 af-

fairs, there is no need of bloodshed and 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 gov-
ernment. The government will not use force, un-

less force is used against it.

My friends, this is wholly an unprepared speech.

I did not expect to be called on to say a word when
I came here. I supposed I was merely to do some-
thing toward raising a flag. I may, therefore, have
said something indiscreet. But I have said nothing
but what I am willing to live by, and, if it be the
pleasure of Almighty God, to die by.

[100]
 T feel constrained to beg.

vvvvvv\\\\\\\\vvvvuv\vvvvvv\vvvv\\v\\v\v\^

WiHEN Lincoln refused to let Seward dictate the mem-

bers of his Cabinet, the Secretary of State handed in his resig-

nation. Saying, "I can't afford to let Seward take the first

trick" the President immediately dispatched this note.

LETTER TO WILLIAM H. SEWARD

Executive Mansion, March 4, 1861

M
to
Y DEAR
Your note
withdraw your acceptance of
SIR:

of the 2d
my
instant, asking

invitation to
take charge of the State Department, was duly
received. It is the subject of the most painful
solicitude with me, and I feel constrained to beg
that you will countermand the withdrawal. The
public interest, I think, demands that you should;
and my personal feelings are deeply enlisted in
the same direction. Please consider and answer
by 9 A.M. to-morrow.
Your obedient servant,
A. Lincoln
[ioi]
wwvwt\v\vvvvvvv\vvivtvmvvvvvi\vtvi\\^

'''Some Thoughts for the President's

Consideration''

'ELIEVING the President incompetent to run the affairs

of State in times of crisis, Secretary Seward attempted to take

over the reins by submitting a detailed plan of action. Said the

noted Civil War journalist, Henry Watterson, in commenting

on Lincoln's reply, "Not a word was omitted that was neces-

sary, and not a hint or allusion is contained that could be dis-

pensed with. It was conclusive."

LETTER TO WILLIAM H. SEWARD

Executive Mansion, April 1, 1861

M Y DEAR SIR:

Since parting with you

considering your paper dated this day, and en-
I have been

titled "Some Thoughts for the President's Con-

sideration." The first proposition in it is, "First,

We are at the end of a month's administration,

[102]
and yet without a policy either domestic or for-

eign."
At the beginning of that month, in the inau-
gural, I said: "The power confided in me will be
used to hold, occupy, and possess the property
and places belonging to the government, and to

collect the duties and imposts." This had your

distinct approval at the time; and, taken in con-

nection with the order I immediately gave Gen-

eral Scott, directing him to employ every means
in his power to strengthen and hold the forts, com-
prises the exact domestic policy you now urge,
with the single exception that it does not propose
to abandon Fort Sumter.
Again, I do not perceive how the reinforcement
of Fort Sumter would be done on a slavery or a

party issue, while that of Fort Pickens would be

on a more national and patriotic one.

The news received yesterday in regard to St.

Domingo certainly brings a new item within the

range of our foreign policy; but up to that time

we have been preparing circulars and instructions
to ministers and the like, all in perfect harmony,
without even a suggestion that we had no foreign
policy.

Upon your closing propositions— that "what-

[103]
ever policy we adopt, there must be an energetic
prosecution of it.

'Tor this purpose it must be somebody's busi-

ness to pursue and direct it incessantly.

"Either the President must do it himself, and

be all the while active in it, or
"Devolve it on some member of his cabinet.
Once adopted, debates on it must end, and all

agree and abide"— I remark that if this must be

done, I must do it. When a general line of policy
is adopted, I apprehend there is no danger of its

being changed without good reason, or continuing

to be a subject of unnecessary debate; still, upon
points arising in its progress I wish, and suppose
I am entitled to have, the advice of all the cabinet.
Your obedient servant,

A. Lincoln

[104]
 .

rvvvvvvvv\vvvvvvvvvv\vvvvvvv\vwi\vu\vvvvtvvvvvviv\vv^

'.
. . pecuniarily responsible. .

\VVVVVVVVVVVlVWlWlVVVV\<VVVMVtVlVWV^^

W« ISHING neither to hurt the feelings of a man who re-

quested a letter of recommendation nor to mislead his friend

Swett, Lincoln carefully and shrewdly worded this note to serve

both purposes.

LETTER TO LEONARD SWETT

HON. L. SWETT

DEAR SIR:
This introduces Mr. William Yates,
who visits Bloomington on some business matter.
He is pecuniarily responsible for anything he will
say; and, in fact, for anything he will say on any
subject.
Yours very truly,

A. Lincoln

[105]
*VV\VVWV\\\VVVVVVV\VVV*\Vl\VV\VWV*\\\\\VVVVVVVV\\\\*\VVWVV\\Vl\\*V\\V^^

'You will hold out if possible. • • •

JlHIS letter was addressed to the besieged Union forces at Fort

Sumter. Drafted by the President and signed by the Secretary

of War, it bore an indorsement in Lincoln's handwriting read-

ing, "This was sent by Captain Talbot on April 6, 1861, to be

delivered to Major Anderson, if permitted. On reaching Charles-

ton, he was refused permission to deliver it to Major Anderson."

LETTER TO MAJOR ROBERT ANDERSON

War Department, Washington, April 4, 1861

IR:

S
some anxiety
Your letter of the

to the President.
1st instant occasions

On the information of Captain Fox, he had sup-

posed you could hold out till the 15th instant
without any great inconvenience, and had pre-
pared an expedition to relieve you before that
period.

[106]
 Hoping still that you will be able to sustain
yourself till the 11th or 12th instant, the expedi-
tion will go forward, and, finding your flag flying,
will attempt to provision you, and in case the ef-

fort is resisted, will endeavor also to reinforce

you.
You will therefore hold out, if possible, till the
arrival of the expedition.

It is not, however, the intention of the Presi-

dent to subject your command to any danger or
hardship beyond what, in your judgment, would
be usual in military life; and he has entire confi-

dence that you will act as becomes a patriot and

a soldier under all circumstances.
Whenever, if at all, in your judgment, to save
yourself and command, a capitulation becomes a
necessity, you are authorized to make it.

Respectfully,
Simon Cameron

[1071
vvvvvuvwivvvv\\vt\vivvvwvvvvv/vvvvvvvvvvvvv^^

."
'For a daring and dangerous enterprise, . .

V\\\AVVVVVAA\\VVVVVVWV\\AM,V\/WUVVVVVVm^

IT was such letters as this, written to Gustavus Fox after his

failure to provision Fort Sumter, that won for Lincoln the

loyal devotion and supreme efforts of his commanders.

LETTER TO GUSTAVUS V. FOX

Washington, May 1, 1861

M Y DEAR
I sincerely
SIR:

regret that the failure of

the late attempt to provision Fort Sumter should
be the source of any annoyance to you.
The practicability of your plan was not, in fact,

brought to a test. By reason of a gale, well known

in advance to be possible and not improbable, the
tugs, an essential part of the plan, never reached
the ground; while, by an accident for which you
were in no wise responsible, and possibly I to some
extent was, you were deprived of a war vessel, with

[108]
her men, which you deemed of great importance
to the enterprise.

I most cheerfully and truly declare that the

failure of the undertaking has not lowered you a
particle, while the qualities you developed in the
effort have greatly heightened you in my esti-

mation.
For a daring and dangerous enterprise of a
similar character you would to-day be the man of
all my acquaintances whom I would select. You
and I both anticipated that the cause of the coun-
try would be advanced by making the attempt to
provision Fort Sumter, even if it should fail; and
it is no small consolation now to feel that our
anticipation is justified by the result.

Very truly your friend,

A. Lincoln

[109]
vvmvvi\vvmvvi*vvvvvwvvv\AAAA\\v\vvv\w

'.
. . beyond all earthly power.

WV\MMMMMMMMMWWMMMMMM^^

L:'INCOLN had a fatherly affection for Colonel Ellsworth,

who, in the early days of the war, was fatally shot while lower-

ing a Confederate flag from the roof of a house in Alexandria,

Virginia. Lincoln's letter to the young officer's parents ranks

with the famous Bixby letter as a masterpiece of compassion.

LETTER TO COLONEL ELLSWORTH'S

PARENTS

Washington, D. C, May 25, 1861

M
son, our
Y DEAR SIR AND MADAM:
In the untimely
affliction here is
loss of your noble
scarcely less than your
own. So much of promised usefulness to one's
country, and of bright hopes for one's self and
friends, have rarely been so suddenly dashed as

in his fall. In size, in years, and in youthful ap-

pearance a boy only, his power to command men

[no]
was surpassingly great. This power, combined
with a fine intellect, an indomitable energy, and
a taste altogether military, constituted in him, as
seemed to me, the best natural talent in that de-
partment I ever knew.
And yet he was singularly modest and defer-
ential in social intercourse. My acquaintance with
him began less than two years ago; yet through
the latter half of the intervening period it was as

intimate as the disparity of our ages and my en-

grossing engagements would permit. To me he
appeared to have no indulgences or pastimes; and
I never heard him utter a profane or an intem-
perate word. What was conclusive of his good
heart, he never forgot his parents. The honors he
labored for so laudably, and for which in the sad
end he so gallantly gave his life, he meant for them
no less than for himself.
In the hope that it may be no intrusion upon
the sacredness of your sorrow, I have ventured to
address you this tribute to the memory of my
young friend and your brave and early fallen

child.
May God give you that consolation which is

beyond all earthly power.

Sincerely your friend in a common affliction,

A. Lincoln

[in]
VVVVVVVWVVVIVIVVIVVVVVIWVVUVIVMMVVVIV^

Wanting to wor\ is so rare '

VVWWVWVVVVWVW^\VVVVVVVVVVWVV\Vl\\\VVVVA^

Li'INCOLN grants the request of a mother seeking employ-

ment for her two sons.

LETTER TO MAJOR RAMSEY

Executive Mansion, October 17, 1861

M
two sons
Y DEAR
The lady
who want to
SIR:

bearer of this says she has

work. Set them at it if pos-

sible. Wanting to work is so rare a want that it

should be encouraged.
Yours truly,

A. Lincoln

[112]
tA,VVV\\\VVV.VVV\\V\VVVVVVVVVV\VV\\VV\\VVVV\V\\\VVVV\\A.VVV\V\V\VVVV\V\VVVVV'VV\VVVVX\\\\V\VV\\\,\V\V\\\\\VV«V\W.\VWVV

"Hadnt we better span\ this drummer boy . . .

?"

vA\vvv\\vvvv\vvvvvvu\vvvv«.vvvvvvvm^

L,'INCOLN recommends a more appropriate punishment to

fit the crime of 14-year old Daniel Winger who had been
sentenced to be shot.

LETTER TO EDWIN M. STANTON

M Y DEAR

boy and send him back home

SIR:

Hadn't we better spank

to
this

Leavenworth?
drummer

A. Lincoln

[113]
 "He who does something at the head of one
."
regiment. . .

*vvvv\\\\%%vvv\\viMAVvw*vvvvmvvvvvvvvwwvvw*vvvvvvvvvv^

w,HEN Major-General Hunter was assigned the command

of the Department of Kansas he considered the appointment
far beneath his capacity and wrote the President saying so.

On Lincoln's answering letter the General made this notation:

"The President's reply to my 'ugly letter/ This lay on his table

a month after it was written, and when finally sent was by a

special conveyance, with the direction that it was only to be

given to me when I was in good humor."

LETTER TO MAJOR-GENERAL HUNTER

Executive Mansion, Washington, December 31, 1861

DEAR SIR:
Yours of the 23d is received, and I am
constrained to say it is difficult to answer so ugly
a letter in good temper. I am, as you intimate,
losing much of the great confidence I placed in

[114]
you, not from any act or omission of yours touch-
ing the public service, up to the time you were
sent to Leavenworth, but from the flood of grum-
bling despatches and letters I have seen from you
since. I knew you were being ordered to Leaven-
worth at the time it was done; and I aver that
with as tender a regard for your honor and your
sensibilities as I had for my own, it never oc-
curred to me that you were being "humiliated,
insulted and disgraced!" nor have I, up to this

day, heard an intimation that you have been

wronged, coming from any one but yourself. No
one has blamed you for the retrograde movement
from Springfield, nor for the information you gave
General Cameron; and this you could readily
understand, if it were not for your unwarranted
assumption that the ordering you to Leavenworth
must necessarily have been done as a punishment
for some fault. I thought then, and think yet, the

position assigned to you is as responsible, and as

honorable, as that assigned to Buell— I know that

General McClellan expected more important re-

sults from it. My impression is that at the time

you were assigned to the new Western Depart-

ment, it had not been determined to replace Gen-
eral Sherman in Kentucky; but of this I am not
certain, because the idea that a command in Ken-
tucky was very desirable, and one in the farther
West undesirable, had never occurred to me. You
constantly speak of being placed in command of

only 3,000. Now tell me, is this not mere impa-

tience? Have you not known all the while that
you are to command four or five times that many?
I have been, and am sincerely your friend; and
if, as such, I dare to make a suggestion, I would
say you are adopting the best possible way to ruin

yourself. "Act well your part, there all the honor

lies." He who does something at the head of one
Regiment, will eclipse him who does nothing at

the head of a hundred.

Your friend, as ever,

A. Lincoln

[116]
 *L^t.-^r»s/

(thy c^t^^r Ji^

US-fa tSF^Ju A *SA/fr— JGfiJ<S~ £*£~D

fa*-, ^5

An excellent example of Lincoln's faculty for in-

jecting wit and wisdom into routine correspond-
ence. From the Oliver R. Barrett collection.
v\v\\\v\v\vvv*v\v\\vv\vwwvvvvvv\\\\\\\\vvv^^^

l .'

I wish to he free to go at once. . .

vvvv\*vwmvivwivvww*vivvvvvvwvvuvvvivvw^^

L]'INCOLN advises the Secretary of War that the precau-

tions taken for the safety of the President are neither necessary

nor convenient.

LETTER TO EDWIN M. STANTON

Executive Mansion, January 22, 1862

M Y DEAR SIR:

On reflection
a rule, for the adjutant-general to attend
I think it will not do, as

me wher-
ever I go: not that I have any objection to his
presence, but that it would be an uncompensating
encumbrance both to him and me. When it shall

occur to me to go anywhere, I wish to be free to

go at once, and not to have to notify the adjutant-
general and wait till he can get ready.
It is better, too, for the public service that he
shall give his time to the business of his office, and
not to personal attendance on me.

[118]
 While I thank you for the kindness of the sug-
gestion, my view of the matter is as I have stated.
Yours truly,

A. Lincoln

[119]
 . . the Comrnander'iri'Chief may order what he
pleases"

HEN he found it necessary to over-rule General Mc-

Clellan, Lincoln was direct and firm, but careful not to offend

his sensitive commander.

LETTER TO GEORGE B. McCLELLAN

Executive Mansion, March 21, 1862

M Y DEAR SIR:

This morning I felt

der Blenker's division to Fremont, and

constrained to or-
I write
this to assure you that I did so with great pain,
understanding that you would wish it otherwise.
If you could know the full pressure of the case, I

am confident you would justify it, even beyond a

mere acknowledgment that the Commander-in-
Chief may order what he pleases.

Yours, very truly,

Abraham Lincoln
[120]
V \\VVVV\VV\\VVVVVV\VV\V\VV\\VV\\VVVV\VV\\VV\VV\\VV'VVVV\\\\VV\V\\VVXVVV\\VV\\\VVVVV\,V\\\V\VW\VVW\\WVV\VV\\\V\A,VVV

". . . a safe place for certain men to stand on the

Constitution. . .
."

A\VVVVVVVV\\VVVVVVV\\\\\V\VV\V\\\VV\VVV\\\VUVVVVVV\\\VVV\VVVV\VVV\VVV\\VVV\A,V\\\V\VVV'VV\\VVVV\VV\V\\\VU\V\VVV\VV

L 'INCOLN decries the acts of a judge

tion of the Constitution to shield certain

who uses the protec-

men who would seek

to destroy it.

LETTER TO JOHN W. CRISFIELD

Executive Mansion, Washington, June 26, 1862

M
made by
Y DEAR
I

yourself
SIR:

have been considering the appeal

and Senator Pearce in behalf of

Judge Carmichael. His charge to the Grand Jury

was left with me by the senator, and on reading
it I must confess I was not very favorably im-
pressed toward the judge. The object of the charge,
I understand, was to procure prosecution and
punishment of some men for arresting or doing
violence to some secessionists— that is, the judge

[121]
was trying to help a little by giving the protection
of law to those who were endeavoring to over-

throw the supreme law— trying if he could find a

safe place for certain men to stand on the Constitu-
tion, whilst they should stab it in another place.

But possibly I am mistaken.

The Secretary of War and I have agreed that
if the judge will take the oath of allegiance usually
taken in such cases, he may be discharged. Please
ascertain and inform me whether he will do it.

Yours very truly,

A. Lincoln

1122]
A\\VVVV^VVV\\\V\\V\\\*\VV\V\\VVVV\\VVVV\\VV\\VV\V\\\VVVV\VVVVVVVV^^

"M;y view of the present condition of the war "

A HIS letter is one of three selected by John G. Nicolay,

the President's secretary and biographer, as being representa-

tive of "Lincoln at his best."

LETTER TO WILLIAM H. SEWARD

Executive Mansion, June 28, 1862

MY DEAR My
SIR:

view of the present condition of

the war is about as follows:

The evacuation of Corinth and our delay by

the flood in the Chickahominy have enabled the
enemy to concentrate too much force in Richmond
for McClellan to successfully attack. In fact there

soon will be no substantial rebel force anywhere

else. we send all the force from here to Mc-
But if

Clellan, the enemy will, before we can know of

it, send a force from Richmond and take Wash-

[123]
ington. Or if a large part of the western army be
brought here to McClellan, they will let us have
Richmond, and retake Tennessee, Kentucky, Mis-
souri, etc. What should be done is to hold what
we have in the West, open the Mississippi, and
take Chattanooga and East Tennessee without
more. A reasonable force should in every event
be kept about Washington for its Then
protection.
let the country give us a hundred thousand new
troops in the shortest possible time, which, added
to McClellan directly or indirectly, will take Rich-
mond without endangering any other place which
we now hold, and will substantially end the war.
I expect to maintain this contest until successful,
or till I die, or am conquered, or my term expires,
or Congress or the country forsake me; and I

would publicly appeal to the country for this new

force were it not that I fear a general panic and
stampede would follow, so hard it is to have a
thing understood as it really is. I think the new
force should be all, or nearly all, infantry, prin-

cipally because such can be raised most cheaply

and quickly.
Yours very truly,

A. Lincoln

[124]
 l

I am a patient man.

LiLINCOLN'S patience is sorely tried in answering Reverdy

Johnson, Baltimore Unionist, who had joined the chorus of

criticism of the Louisiana Military Authority.

LETTER TO REVERDY JOHNSON

(Private)

Executive Mansion, Washington, July 26, 1862

M Y DEAR

Governor Shepley,
SIR:

Yours of the 16th, by the hand of

is received. It seems the Union
feeling in Louisiana is being crushed out by the
course of General Phelps. Please pardon me for

believing that is a false pretense. The people of

Louisiana— all intelligent people everywhere—
know full well that I never had a wish to touch
the foundations of their society, or any right of
theirs. With perfect knowledge of this they forced

[125]
a necessity upon me to send armies among them,
and it is their own fault, not mine, that they are
annoyed by the presence of General Phelps. They
also know the remedy—know how to be cured of

General Phelps. Remove the necessity of his pres-

ence. And might it not be well for them to con-
sider whether they have not already had time
enough to do this? If they can conceive of anything
worse than General Phelps within my power,
would they not better be looking out for it? They
very well know the way to avert all this is simply
to take their place in the Union upon the old
terms. If they will not do this, should they not
receive harder blows rather than lighter ones? You
are ready to say I apply to friends what is due only
to enemies. I distrust the wisdom if not the sin-

cerity of friends who would hold my hands while

my enemies stab me. This appeal of professed
friends has paralyzed me more in this struggle

than any other one thing. You remember telling

me, the day after the Baltimore mob in April,

1861, that it would crush all Union feeling in

Maryland for me to attempt bringing troops over

Maryland soil to Washington. I brought the troops

notwithstanding, and yet there was Union feeling

enough left to elect a legislature the next autumn,

[126]
which in turn elected a very excellent Union
United States senator! I am a patient man— always
willing to forgive on the Christian terms of re-

pentance, and also to give ample time for repent-

ance. Still, I must save this government, if possible.

What I cannot do, of course I will not do; but it

may as well be understood, once for all, that I shall
not surrender this game leaving any available card
unplayed.
Yours truly,

A. Lincoln

[127]
-\vvv\\\v%\\v\vvmw\\vvv\vvv\\vvv\\\\\\vt\w^

'Bro\en eggs cannot be mended '

A*VVWVVVVVUWVVMVVVVVWVVV\\Vl\M^^

H: IS dander up, Lincoln replies vigorously to another critic

of the government's Louisiana policy, through August Bel-

mont, the New York financier.

LETTER TO AUGUST BELMONT

July 31, 1862

DEAR SIR:
You send to Mr. W an extract from
a letter written at New Orleans the 9th instant,
which is shown to me. You do not give the writer's
name; but plainly he is a man of ability, and
probably of some note. He says: "The time has
arrived when Mr. Lincoln must take a decisive
course. Trying to please everybody, he will satisfy

nobody. A vacillating policy in matters of im-

portance is the very worst. Now is the time, if ever,
for honest men who love their country to rally to
its support. Why will not the North say officially
that it wishes for the restoration of the Union as

it was?"

[128]
 And so, it seems, this is the point on which the
writer thinks I have no policy. Why will he not
read and understand what I have said?
The substance of the very declaration he desires
is in the inaugural, in each of the two regular mes-
sages to Congress, and in many, if not all, the
minor documents issued by the Executive since
the inauguration.
Broken eggs cannot be mended; but Louisiana
has nothing to do now but to take her place in the
Union as it was, barring the already broken eggs.
The sooner she does so, the smaller will be the
amount of that which will be past mending. This
government cannot much longer play a game in
which it stakes all, and its enemies stake nothing.
Those enemies must understand that they cannot
experiment for ten years trying to destroy the gov-

ernment, and if they fail still come back into the

Union unhurt. If they expect in any contingency
to ever have the Union as it was, I join with the
writer in saying, "Now is the time."
How much better it would have been for the
writer to have gone at this, under the protection
of the army at New Orleans, than to have sat down
in a closet writing complaining letters northward!

Yours truly,

A. Lincoln

[129]
AV\VWWVM«VMVlVVVV\M/VM**WWW\MA/VVVVWVtW

'Cant you give him a chance?'

^\\*AAMM\Wi\\\\*\\\WM\Vl\WM\*^^

c.ARL SANDBURG, in his "War Years," tells of the time

Lincoln met a man in the street and said, "You look like an
able-bodied man— why don't you join the army?" When the

man answered that he'd be glad to die for his country if only

given a chance, Lincoln wrote out and sealed this note, ad-

dressed to 714 Fifteenth Street, and instructed the man to take

it there.

NOTE TO COLONEL FIELDING

OL. FIELDING-
C
and die for
The bearer is

his country. Can't

anxious to go to the front
you give him a
chance?
A. Lincoln

[130]
AVVWM%WIVV\M*\W\V»*VIVI\\MM*VVVVWVVVV\^^

I would save the Union'

\\\\vv\\vv\\\v\\\vvvvvvvvv\vvvvv\\\\vvvwvv\vvv^^

WhHEN the New York Tribune assailed the President edi-

torially for not taking a more radical stand on the question

of slavery, Lincoln sent to Horace Greeley this famous reply,

which ranks near the top of his greatest State Papers.

LETTER TO HORACE GREELEY

Executive Mansion, Washington, August, 22, 1862

D EAR
I
SIR:

have just read yours of the 19th, ad-

dressed to myself through the New 4

York 'Trib-
une." If there be in it any statements or assump-
tions of fact which I may know to be erroneous,
I do not now and here, controvert them. If there
be in it any inferences which I may believe to
be falsely drawn, I do not, now and here, argue
against them. If there be perceptible in it an im-
patient and dictatorial tone, I waive it in deference

[131]
to an old friend whose heart I have always sup-
posed to be right.
As to the policy I "seem to be pursuing," as you
say, I have not meant to leave any one in doubt.
I would save the Union. I would save it the
shortest way under the Constitution. The sooner
the national authority can be restored, the nearer

the Union will be "the Union as it was." If there

be those who would not save the Union unless
they could at the same time save slavery, I do not
agree with them. If there be those who would not
save the Union unless they could at the same time

destroy slavery, I do not agree with them. My para-

mount object in this struggle is to save the Union,
and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I

could save the Union without freeing any slave,

I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing all

the slaves, I would do it; and if I could save it by

freeing some and leaving others alone, I would
also do that. What I do about slavery and the
colored race, I do because I believe it helps to

save the Union; and what I forbear, I forbear be-

cause I do not believe it would help to save the

Union. I shall do less whenever I shall believe

what I am doing hurts the cause, and I shall do

more whenever I shall believe doing more will

[132]
help the cause. I shall try to correct errors when
shown to be errors, and I shall adopt new views so
fast as they shall appear to be true views.
I have here stated my purpose according to my
view of official duty; and I intend no modification
of my oft-expressed personal wish that all men
everywhere could be free.

Yours,

A. Lincoln

[133]
AVlVWlVWVWVlVlWWVWVWVlWlVWVUVfcVV^^

"These are not the days of miracles. . .

."

.VVlWVVVVVVVlViVlWVlVVVVlVVVWVWVVVlWVV^^

.LTHOUGH in this reply to a religious delegation Lin-

coln explained why he should not issue an Emancipation

Proclamation, he had at that very moment a draft of the
Proclamation in his desk and was only holding it for the right

occasion. Three days later the Battle of Antietam provided

the long-awaited opportunity, and on September 24 Lincoln

released the Proclamation to the press.

REPLY TO INTERDENOMINATIONAL
RELIGIOUS COMMITTEE

September 13, 1862

THE
one upon which
subject presented in the memorial
I have thought much
is

for

weeks past, and I may even say for months. I am

approached with the most opposite opinions and
advice, and that by religious men who are equally
certain that they represent the divine will. I am
[134]
sure that either the one or the other class is mis-

taken in that belief, and perhaps in some respects

both. I hope it will not be irreverent for me to say

that if it is probable that God would reveal his

will to others on a point so connected with my

duty, it might be supposed he would reveal it

directly to me; am more deceived in

for, unless I

myself than I often am, it is my earnest desire to

know the will of Providence in this matter. And
if I can learn what it is, I will do it.

These are not, however, the days of miracles,

and I suppose it will be granted that I am not to
expect a direct revelation. I must study the plain
physical facts of the case, ascertain what is possible,

and learn what appears to be wise and right.

The subject is difficult, and good men do not

agree. For instance, the other day four gentlemen
of standing and intelligence from New York called

as a delegation on business connected with the

war; but, before leaving, two of them earnestly
beset me to proclaim general emancipation, upon
which the other two at once attacked them. You
know also that the last session of Congress had
a decided majority of anti-slavery men, yet they
could not unite on this policy. And the same is

true of the religious people. Why, the rebel sol-

[135]
diers are praying with a great deal more earnest-

ness, I fear, than our own troops, and expecting

God to favor their side; for one of our soldiers

who had been taken prisoner told Senator Wilson

a few days since that he met with nothing so dis-
couraging as the evident sincerity of those he was
among in their prayers. But we will talk over the

merits of the case.

What good would a proclamation of emancipa-
tion from me do, especially as we are now situated?

I do not want to issue a document that the whole

world will see must necessarily be inoperative,
like the Pope's bull against the comet. Would my
word free the slaves, when I cannot even enforce
the Constitution in the rebel States? Is there a

single court, or magistrate, or individual that

would be influenced by it there? And what reason
is there to think it would have any greater effect

upon the slaves than the late law of Congress,

which I approved, and which offers protection
and freedom to the slaves of rebel masters who
come within our lines? Yet I cannot learn that
that law has caused a single slave to come over to

us. And suppose they could be induced by a proc-

lamation of freedom from me to throw themselves
upon us, what should we do with them? How can

[136]
we feed and care for such a multitude? General
Butler wrote me a few days since that he was issu-

ing more rations to the slaves who have rushed to

him than to all the white troops under his com-

mand. They eat, and that is all; though it is true
General Butler is feeding the whites also by the
thousand, for it nearly amounts to a famine there.
If, now, the pressure of the war should call off our
forces from New Orleans to defend some other
point, what is to prevent the masters from reduc-
ing the blacks to slavery again? For I am told that

whenever the rebels take any black prisoners, free

or slave, they immediately auction them off. They

did so with those they took from a boat that was
aground in the Tennessee River a few days ago.
And then I am very ungenerously attacked for it!

For instance, when, after the late battles at and

near Bull Run, an expedition went out from
Washington under a flag of truce to bury the dead
and bring in the wounded, and the rebels seized

the blacks who went along to help, and sent them

into slavery, Horace Greeley said in his paper that
the government would probably do nothing about
it. What could I do?
Now, then, tell me, if you please, what possible
result of good would follow the issuing of such a

[137]
proclamation as you desire? Understand, I raise no
objections against it on legal or constitutional

grounds; for, as commander-in-chief of the army

and navy, in time of war I suppose I have a right
to take any measure which may best subdue the
enemy; nor do I urge objections of a moral na-
ture, in view of possible consequences of insurrec-
tion and massacre at the South.

I view this matter as a practical war measure, to

be decided on according to the advantages or dis-

advantages it may offer to the suppression of the

rebellion.

I admit that slavery is the root of the rebellion,

or at least its sine qua non. The ambition of poli-

ticians may have instigated them to act, but they

would have been impotent without slavery as their

instrument. I will also concede that emancipation

would help us in Europe, and convince them that

we are incited by something more than ambition.

I grant, further, that it would help somewhat at

the North, though not so much, I fear, as you and

those you represent imagine. Still some additional
strength would be added in that way to the war,

and then, unquestionably, it would weaken the

rebels by drawing off their laborers, which is of

great importance; but I am not so sure we could

[138]
do much with the blacks. If we were to arm them,
I fear that in a few weeks the arms would be in

the hands of the rebels; and, indeed, thus far we

have not had arms enough to equip our white
troops. I will mention another thing, though it

meet only your scorn and contempt. There are

fifty thousand bayonets in the Union armies from
the border slave States. It would be a serious mat-
ter if, in consequence of a proclamation such as

you desire, they should go over to the rebels. I do

not think they all would— not so many, indeed, as

a year ago, or six months ago— not so many to-day

as yesterday. Every day increases their Union feel-

ing. They are also getting their pride enlisted, and

want to beat the rebels.

Let me say one thing more: I think you should

admit that we already have an important principle
to rally and unite the people, in the fact that con-

stitutional government is at stake. This is a funda-

mental idea going down about as deep as any-

thing.

Do not misunderstand me because I have men-

tioned these objections. They indicate the diffi-

culties that have thus far prevented my action in

some such way as you desire. I have not decided
against a proclamation of liberty to the slaves, but

[139]
hold the matter under advisement; and I can as-

sure you that the subject is on my mind, by day

and night, more than any other. Whatever shall

appear to be God's will, I will do. I trust that in

the freedom with which I have canvassed your

views I have not in any respect injured your
feelings.

[140]
/VVVVWVVVVVVWVlVVVVVlViVVVVVWVVVlVtVVWWVVV^

breath alone \ills no rebels"

AVVV*W\\\VVVWl\\Vl\VWVVWWA/VVV*/VVVVVU**\\^

L
by the
'INCOLN
comments on
writes Vice-President

his
Hamlin that he

Proclamation, but sadly disappointed

is flattered

in its results.

LETTER TO HANNIBAL HAMLIN

(Strictly Private)

Executive Mansion, Washington, September 28, 1862

MY DEAR Your kind

SIR:

letter of the 25th is just re-

ceived. It is known to some that while I hope

something from the proclamation, my expectations
are not as sanguine as are those of some friends.

The time for its effect southward has not come;

but northward the effect should be instantaneous.
It is six days old, and while commendation in
newspapers and by distinguished individuals is all

that a vain man could wish, the stocks have de-

[141]
clined, and troops come forward more slowly than
ever. This, looked soberly in the face, is not very
satisfactory. We have fewer troops in the field at

the end of six days than we had at the beginning—

the attrition among the old outnumbering the ad-

dition by the new. The North responds to the

proclamation sufficiently in breath; but breath

alone kills no rebels.

I wish I could write more cheerfully; nor do I

thank you the less for the kindness of your letter.

Yours very truly,

A. Lincoln

[142]
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV\V\V\V\VVVVVVVVV\VV\\VVVVVVVVV\V\VV\VV\VtV\VVU^VVV'VVVV\\VXV\VVVV\\VVVVVVVVVVVV\V\\V\\VV\V\V\V\\«

. . hardly proper for me to ma\e speeches."

\^vvv\vvvv\vv\\v\\vvvvv\\v\\\\vvvv\vvvv\vvvvvvvv\^^

c -ALLED upon for a speech at Frederick, Maryland, Lin-

coln reiterates his great aversion to speaking when he has

nothing to say.

SPEECH AT FREDERICK, MARYLAND

October 4, 1862

my present position it is hardly proper for

INme to make speeches. Every word is so closely

noted that it will not do to make foolish ones, and

I cannot be expected to be prepared to make sen-
sible ones. If I were as I have been for most of my
life, I might, perhaps, talk nonsense to you for half
an hour, and it wouldn't hurt anybody. As it is,

I can only return thanks for the compliment paid

our cause. Please accept my sincere thanks for the
compliment to our country.

[143]
<VW\\VVVVlVlVVl\W/lWMMWVVlWtVVVVVVVVVW

'.
. . sore'tongued and fatigued horses"

L INCOLN, despairing of ever getting McClellan to

against the enemy, chides his able but cautious

move
commander
in a terse telegraphic despatch.

TELEGRAM TO
GENERAL GEORGE B. McCLELLAN

War Department, Washington City

October 24 [25?], 1862

MAJOR-GENERAL McCLELLAN:
I have just read your despatch about
sore-tongued and fatigued horses. Will you pardon
me for asking what the horses of your army have
done since the battle of Antietam that fatigues
anything?
A. Lincoln

[144]
VV*/VWV\V»\WVIVIVVVVVVVVVVVVIVWVV^

I intend no injustice.'

Li'INCOLN attempts to smooth over the ruffled temper of

McClellan but still pleads for action.

TELEGRAM TO
GENERAL GEORGE B. McCLELLAN
Executive Mansion
Washington, October 27, 1862. 12:10 P.M.

MAJOR-GENERAL McCLELLAN:
Yours of yesterday received. Most cer-

tainly I intend no injustice to any, and if I have

done any I deeply regret it. To be told, after more
than five weeks' total inaction of the army, and
during which period we sent to the army every
fresh horse we possibly could, amounting in the
whole to 7,918, that the cavalry horses were too
much fatigued to move, presents a very cheerless,
almost hopeless, prospect for the future, and it

[145]
may have forced something of impatience in my
dispatch. If not recruited and rested then, when
could they ever be? I suppose the river is rising,

and I am glad to believe you are crossing.

A. Lincoln

[1461
iwvvvuvvvvvvvvvvivvvtvwtvvivwvvw^

do not thin\ this is an ill-natured letter. .

."
.

VVV\\VVVV\\VVVV\VVVV\VVV\VVV\VVVVVVVVVVV^A,VVVVVVVV\VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV\\\VV\VVV\V\V^VVVV\A.VVVVVVVV^UVVVtVV\V\VVVV\

D:ESPERATELY needing action, Lincoln pleads again and

again with his Generals who seize every excuse for delay.

LETTER TO GENERAL NATHANIEL P. BANKS

Executive Mansion
Washington, November 22, 1862

M Y DEAR GENERAL BANKS:

Early last

hope with your assurance that you would be

week you left me in high
off

with your expedition at the end of that week, or

early in this. It is now the end of this, and I have
just been overwhelmed and confounded with the
sight of a requisition made by you which, I am as-

sured, cannot be filled and got off within an hour

short of two months. I inclose you a copy of the
requisition, in some hope that it is not genuine—
that you have never seen it. My dear general, this
expanding and piling up of impedimenta has

[147]
been, so far, almost our ruin, and will be our
final ruin if it is not abandoned. If you had the
articles of this requisition upon the wharf, with
the necessary animals to make them of any use,
and forage for the animals, you could not get ves-

sels together in two weeks to carry the whole, to

say nothing of your twenty thousand men; and
having the vessels, you could not put the cargoes
aboard in two weeks more. And, after all, where
you are going you have no use for them. When
you parted with me you had no such ideas in your
mind. I know you had not, or you could not have
expected to be off so soon as you said. You must get
back to something like the plan you had then, or
your expedition is a failure before you start. You
must be off before Congress meets. You would be
better off anywhere, and especially where you are
going, for not having a thousand wagons doing
nothing but hauling forage to feed the animals
that draw them, and taking at least two thousand
men to care for the wagons and animals, who
otherwise might be two thousand good soldiers.
Now, dear general, do not think this is an ill-

natured letter; it is the very reverse. The simple

publication of this requisition would ruin you.
Very truly your friend,

A. Lincoln

[148]
v\vvvvvv\vt\vmw\vvvvvvvv\A\\\vvvw*vvvvvv\\vm\vv\v^^

". . . I will ma\e quic\ wor\ with them"

AMM\\M/\MMAM*MMMMMMMMAMM^^

WhHEN pay for troops in Massachusetts had been held up

and Governor Andrew telegraphed that he could not get "quick

work" from the paymasters responsible, Lincoln sent him this

sizzling wire.

TELEGRAM TO
GOVERNOR JOHN A. ANDREW

PLEASE say to these gentlemen that if they

do not work quickly I will make quick work
with them. In the name of all that is reasonable,
how long does it take to pay a couple of regiments?
A. Lincoln

[149]
A\VW/IVVVVVVIVIWVVVV\WIVIVWMA\\VWVV\VW^^

"Although you were not successful.

AVWVIVWVIVWWVVWWVW\VIVVWVWV\VVWWVVVVW^^

L:'INCOLN encourages the Army of the Potomac, after the

Battle of Fredericksburg, where the Union forces suffered one

of the most crushing defeats of the war.

MESSAGE TO THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC

Executive Mansion
Washington, December 22, 1862

TO THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC:

I have just read your commanding gen-
eral's report of the battle of Fredericksburg. Al-
though you were not successful, the attempt was
not an error, nor the failure other than accident.
The courage with which you, in an open field,

maintained the contest against an intrenched foe,

and the consummate skill and success with which

you crossed and recrossed the river in the face of

the enemy, show that you possess all the qualities

[150]
of a great army, which will yet give victory to the

cause of the country and of popular government.

Condoling with the mourners for the dead, and
sympathizing with the severely wounded, I con-
gratulate you that the number of both is compara-
tively so small.

I tender to you, officers and soldiers, the thanks

of the nation.
A. Lincoln

[151]
\\\\Vl\\VVVUV\\VMVW/VVVVUVVVVWiVV\\\\VtV^

1*
"In this sad world of ours. • • •

VWl\VVWVVVVVVVmVWVl*VMA*VVVVVVVU^^

LirINCOLN consoles the daughter of his friend, Colonel

McCullough, who died heroically fighting with Grant's army

in Mississippi.

LETTER TO FANNY McCULLOUGH

Executive Mansion
Washington, December 23, 1862

DEAR FANNY:
It is with deep regret that I learn of
the death of your kind and brave father, and espe-

cially that it is affecting your young heart beyond

what is common in such cases. In this sad world

of ours sorrow comes to all, and to the young it

comes with bittered agony because it takes them

unawares. The older have learned ever to expect
it. I am anxious to afford some alleviation of your
present distress. Perfect relief is not possible, ex-

[152]
cept with time. You cannot now realize that you
will ever feel better. Is not this so? And yet it is

a mistake. You are sure to be happy again. To

know this, which is certainly true, will make you
some less miserable now. I have had experience
enough to know what I say, and you need only to

believe it to feel better at once. The memory of

your dear father, instead of an agony, will yet be
a sad, sweet feeling in your heart, of a purer and
holier sort than you have known before.
Please present my kind regards to your afflicted

mother.
Your sincere friend,

A. Lincoln

H531
AVWiv\AVVvwvvvmvvvvvvvm\vvvvm\vv\vv\v\v\AA\v^

The Emancipation Proclamation

AMW\MMMMMMAMMMMMMMWHAM^^

Tb.HE Emancipation Proclamation, premature though it was,

Lincoln considered the crowning achievement of his labors.

Secretary Seward records that on the first day of January,

1863, when the President was about to affix his signature to

this great document, Lincoln said, "I have been shaking hands
since nine o'clock this morning, and my right hand is nearly

paralyzed. If my name ever goes into history, it will be for

this act, and my whole soul is in it. If my hand trembles when

I sign the Proclamation all who examine the document here-

after, will say, 'he hesitated.' " The President firmly inscribed

his "Abraham Lincoln;" then looked up and said, "That will

do."

[154]
FINAL EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION
JANUARY 1, 1863

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:

A PROCLAMATION

WHEREAS, on the twenty-second day of

September, in the year of our Lord one
thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, a procla-
mation was issued by the President of the United
States, containing, among other things, the fol-

lowing, to wit:

"That on the first day of January, in the year

of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and
sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any
State, or designated part of a State, the people
whereof shall then be in rebellion against the
United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and
forever free; and the Executive Government of
the United States, including the military and naval
authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the
freedom of such persons, and will do no act or

acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any

efforts they may make for their actual freedom.
"That the Executive will, on the first day of

[155]
January aforesaid, by proclamation, designate the
States and parts of States, if any, in which the

people thereof respectively shall then be in re-

bellion against the United States; and the fact that

any State, or the people thereof, shall on that day

be in good faith represented in the Congress of
the United States by members chosen thereto at
elections wherein a majority of the qualified voters
of such State shall have participated, shall in the
absence of strong countervailing testimony be
deemed conclusive evidence that such State and
the people thereof are not then in rebellion against
the United States/'
Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President

of the United States, by virtue of the power in me

vested as commander-in-chief of the army and navy
of the United States, in time of actual armed re-

bellion against the authority and government of

the United States, and as a fit and necessary war
measure for suppressing said rebellion, do, on this

first day of January, in the year of our Lord one

thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and in ac-

cordance with my purpose so to do, publicly pro-

claimed for the full period of 100 days from the
day first above mentioned, order and designate as

the States and parts of States wherein the people

[156]
thereof, respectively, are this day in rebellion
against the United States, the following, to wit:
Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana (except the parishes
of St. Bernard, Plaquemines, Jefferson, St. John,

St. Charles, St. James, Ascension, Assumption,

Terre Bonne, Lafourche, St. Mary, St. Martin, and
Orleans, including the city of New Orleans) , Mis-
sissippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Caro-
lina, North Carolina, and Virginia (except the
forty-eight counties designated as West Virginia,
and also the counties of Berkeley, Accomac, North-
ampton, Elizabeth City, York, Princess Anne, and
Norfolk, including the cities of Norfolk and
Portsmouth) , and which excepted parts are for the

present left precisely as if this proclamation were

not issued.
And by virtue of the power and for the purpose
aforesaid, I do order and declare that all persons
held as slaves within said designated States and
parts of States are, and henceforward shall be, free;

and that the Executive Government of the United

States, including the military and naval authori-
ties thereof, will recognize and maintain the free-
dom of said persons.

And I hereby enjoin upon the people so de-

clared to be free to abstain from all violence, un-
less in necessary self-defense; and I recommend to

[157]
them that, in all cases where allowed, they labor
faithfully for reasonable wages.

And I further declare and make known that

such persons of suitable condition will be received

into the armed service of the United States to garri-

son forts, positions, stations, and other places, and

to man vessels of all sorts in said service.
And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an
act of justice, warranted by the Constitution upon
military necessity, I invoke the considerate judg-
ment of mankind and the gracious favor of Al-
mighty God.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my
hand and caused the seal of the United States to

be affixed.

Done at the city of Washington, this first

day of January, in the year of our Lord

one thousand eight hundred and sixty-

three, and of the independence of the

United States of America the eighty-

seventh.
Abraham Lincoln
By the President:
William H. Seward, Secretary of State

[158]
AVIVWIVI\VIVWIVVVVVW\\VWVVVVVVI^^

"Let the churches ta\e care of themselves."

Vv HEN an individual in a church or out of it becomes

dangerous to the public interest, he must be checked; but let

the churches, as such, take care of themselves," counsels the

President in a letter to his Commander of the Department of

Missouri.

LETTER TO GENERAL SAMUEL R. CURTIS

Executive Mansion
Washington, January 2, 1863

MY DEAR SIR:

Yours of December 29 by the hand of

Mr. Strong is just received. The day I telegraphed
you suspending the order in relation to Dr.
McPheeters, he, with Mr. Bates, the Attorney-Gen-
eral, appeared before me and left with me a copy
of the order mentioned. The doctor also showed
me the copy of an oath which he said he had taken,

[159]
which is, indeed, very strong and specific. He also

verbally assured me that he had constantly prayed

in church for the President and government, as he
had always done before the present war. In look-
ing over the recitals in your order, I do not see that

this matter of prayer, as he states it, is negatived,

nor that any violation of his oath is charged, nor, in
fact, that anything specific is alleged against him.
The charges are all general: that he has a rebel
wife and rebel relations, that he sympathizes with
rebels, and that he exercises rebel influence. Now,
after talking with him, I tell you frankly I believe
he does sympathize with the rebels, but the ques-
tion remains whether such a man, of unquestioned
good moral character, who has taken such an oath
as he has, and cannot even be charged with violat-

ing it, and who can be charged with no other

specific act or omission, can, with safety to the
government, be exiled upon the suspicion of his
secret sympathies. But I agree that this must be

left to you, who are on the spot; and if, after all,

you think the public good requires his removal,

my suspension of the order is withdrawn, only

with this qualification, that the time during the
suspension is not to be counted against him. I have
promised him this. But I must add that the United

[160]
States Government must not, as by this order,

undertake to run the churches. When an indi-

vidual in a church or out of it becomes dangerous

to the public interest, he must be checked; but
let the churches, as such, take care of themselves.
It will not do for the United States to appoint
trustees, supervisors, or other agents for the
churches.
Yours very truly,

A. Lincoln

[1611
A\VVVVWVW.WVWWWWWV\VWVVVVWVVVVMWmV^^

."
I will ris\ the dictatorship. . .

AVVV\A/VVVVVW\M\\VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVWUVVVVVVV\V^^

L,'INCOLN was having nothing but trouble with the Army

of the Potomac. McClellan had been too wary; Burnside had
been too rash. And now the President was to have thrust upon
him, by the pressure of a disapproving Senate, a general of

questionable merit. In one of his most remarkable letters,

Lincoln warns his new general, without resentment but with

amazing directness, of the faults he must surmount if he is to

succeed.

LETTER TO 'FIGHTING JOE" HOOKER

Executive Mansion
Washington, D. C., January 26, 1863

GENERAL:
I have placed you at the head of the
Army of the Potomac. Of course I have done this

upon what appear to me to be sufficient reasons.

And yet I think it best for you to know that there

[162]
are some things in regard to which, I am not quite
satisfied with you. I believe you to be a brave and
skilful soldier, which, of course, I like. I also be-
lieve you do not mix politics with your profession,
in which you are right. You have confidence in
yourself, which is a valuable, if not an indispens-
able quality. You are ambitious, which, within
reasonable bounds, does good rather than harm.
But I think that during Gen. Burnside's com-
mand of the Army, you have taken counsel of your
ambition, and thwarted him as much as you could,
in which you did a great wrong to the country, and
to a most meritorious and honorable brother
officer. I have heard, in such a way as to believe it,

of your recently saying that both the army and

the government needed a dictator. Of course it was
not for this, but in spite of it, that I have given
you the command. Only those generals who gain
successes can set up dictators. What I now ask of
you is military success, and I will risk the dictator-

ship. The government will support you to the ut-

most of its ability, which is neither more nor less

than it has done and will do for all commanders.

I much fear that the spirit which you have aided
to infuse into the army, of criticising their com-
mander and withholding confidence from him,

[163]
will now turn upon you. I shall assist you as far

as I can to put it down. Neither you nor Napoleon,

if he were alive again, could get any good out of
an army while such a spirit prevails in it; and
now beware of rashness. Beware of rashness, but

with energy and sleepless vigilance go forward and

give us victories.
Yours very truly,

A. Lincoln

[164]
AVV\*VVV\\*VVVWVVVVVVVVVWVVVVVV1A\\\^^

"You and I are substantially strangers.

AMM/\MMMM/\MMMMMMMW\M^^

Li'INCOLN makes a friendly overture to one of the bitterest

enemies of his administration, Governor Seymour of New York.

LETTER TO GOVERNOR HORATIO SEYMOUR

March, 1863

MY DEAR You and

SIR:

I are substantially strangers,

and I write this chiefly that we may become better
acquainted. I, for the time being, am at the head
of a nation which is in great peril, and you are at

the head of the greatest State of that nation. As to

maintaining the nation's life and integrity, I as-

sume and believe there cannot be a difference of

purpose between you and me. If we should differ

as to the means, it is important that such differ-

ence should be as small as possible; that it should

not be enhanced by unjust suspicions on one side
or the other. In the performance of my duty the

[165 1
cooperation of your State, as that of others, is

needed— in fact, is indispensable. This alone is a

sufficient reason why I should wish to be at a good

understanding with you. Please write me at least

as long a letter as this, of course saying in it just

what you think fit.

A. Lincoln

[166]
AVVWVVVWVVVVlWV\VVVVlVl\VVVVVVVVVWVllVVt^

."
li\e an ox jumped half over the fence. . .

Ke,1EPING an ever closer eye on the operations of his army,

Lincoln warns General Hooker to be alert and not to fall

into Lee's trap.

TELEGRAM TO "FIGHTING JOE" HOOKER

Washington, June 5, 1863. 4 P.M.

MAJOR-GENERAL HOOKER:
Yours of to-day was received an hour
ago. So much of professional military skill is requi-
site to answer it, that I have turned the task over
to General Halleck. He promises to perform it

with his utmost care. I have but one idea which

I think worth suggesting to you, and that is, in

case you find Lee coming to the north of the Rap-

pahannock, I would by no means cross to the south

of it. If he should leave a rear force at Fredericks-

burg, tempting you to fall upon it, it would fight

[167]
in intrenchments and have you at disadvantage,

and so, man for man, worst you at that point,

while his main force would in some way be getting

an advantage of you northward. In one word, I

would not take any risk of being entangled upon

the river, like an ox jumped half over a fence and
liable to be torn by dogs front and rear without a
fair chance to gore one way or kick the other. If

Lee would come to my side of the river, I would

keep on the same side, and fight him or act on the
defense, according as might be my estimate of
his strength relatively to my own. But these are
mere suggestions which I desire to be controlled

by the judgment of yourself and General Halleck.

A. Lincoln

[168]
A\vv\\vv\vv\>vvvvvvvvi\v\*vvvvv\vmvvvvmvvvvvvvw\^

'If you are besieged.

AVV\VV\\V^VV\\N\\VV\\\\VVV\^V\\A^VM^\W*VVVWVVVVVV\VVVVV^^

N urgent S.O.S. from General Tyler draws a pertinent,

if not impertinent, response from his much harried Com-

mander-in-Chief.

TELEGRAM TO GENERAL DANIEL TYLER

War Department, June 14, 1863

GENERAL TYLER, MARTINSBURG:

If you are besieged how do you
despatch me? Why did you not leave before being
besieged?
A. Lincoln

[169]
 Lincoln s Shortest Speech

JLHIS one-sentence speech, delivered at the flag-raising be-

fore the Treasury Building, is very likely the briefest address

ever given upon a public occasion.

SPEECH BEFORE THE TREASURY BUILDING

THE part assigned to

which, if there be
me
no
is to raise the flag,

fault in the ma-

chinery, I will do, and when up, it will be for the
people to keep it up.

[no]
 "Beware of being assailed by one
and praised by the other"

Li'INCOLN tells his new Commander in Missouri how best

to preserve peace among the quarrelsome factions in his terri-

tory.

LETTER TO GENERAL JOHN M. SCHOFIELD

Executive Mansion, May 27, 1863

MY DEAR SIR:

Having relieved General Curtis and

assigned you to the command of the Department
of the Missouri, I think it may be of some ad-
vantage for me to state to you why I did it. I did
not relieve General Curtis because of any full con-
viction that he had done wrong by commission
or omission. I did it because of a conviction in
my mind that the Union men of Missouri, con-

stituting, when united, a vast majority of the whole

[ni]
people, have entered into a pestilent factional

quarrel among themselves— General Curtis, per-

haps not of choice, being the head of one faction

and Governor Gamble that of the other. After

months of labor to reconcile the difficulty, it

seemed to grow worse and worse, until I felt it my

duty to break it up somehow; and as I could not
remove Governor Gamble, I had to remove Gen-
eral Curtis. Now that you are in the position, I

wish you to undo nothing merely because General

Curtis or Governor Gamble did it, but to exercise

your own judgment, and do right for the public

interest. Let your military measures be strong
enough to repel the invader and keep the peace,
and not so strong as to unnecessarily harass and
persecute the people. It is a difficult role, and so

much greater will be the honor if you perform it

well. If both factions, or neither, shall abuse you,

you will probably be about right. Beware of being

assailed by one and praised by the other.

Yours truly,

A. Lincoln

[172]
Av\v\vvww\\v\vmv\\\vvv\vvivvv\vvvvvvv\vvvvvvvvm^

. . this is a glorious theme '

AVVVWVVVVVVVWWVVVIVVVVVVVVVW\WWW\VV\VV^^

IN an impromptu speech Lincoln points to the many unique

coincidences which occurred on the 4th of July, including the

deaths of Presidents Jefferson, Adams, Monroe, and the vic-

tories just gained at Gettysburg and Vicksburg.

RESPONSE TO A SERENADE

July 7, 1863

FELLOW-CITIZENS:
I am very glad indeed to see you to-

night, and yet I will not say I thank you for this

call; but I do most sincerely thank Almighty God

for the occasion on which you have called. How
long ago is it?— eighty-odd years since, on the
Fourth of July, for the first time in the history of
the world, a nation, by its representatives, assem-

bled and declared, as a self-evident truth, "that

all men are created equal." That was the birthday
[173]
of the United States of America. Since then the
Fourth of July has had several very peculiar rec-

ognitions. The two men most distinguished in the

framing and support of the Declaration were
Thomas Jefferson and John Adams— the one hav-
ing penned it, and the other sustained it the most

forcibly in debate— the only two of the fifty-five

who signed it that were elected Presidents of the

United States. Precisely fifty years after they put
their hands to the paper, it pleased Almighty God
to take both from this stage of action. This was
indeed an extraordinary and remarkable event in
our history. Another President, five years after,

was called from this stage of existence on the same

day and month of the year; and now on this last
Fourth of July just passed, when we have a gi-
gantic rebellion, at the bottom of which is an
effort to overthrow the principle that all men are

created equal, we have the surrender of a most

powerful position and army on that very day. And
not only so, but in a succession of battles in Penn-
sylvania, near to us, through three days, so rapidly
fought that they might be called one great battle,
on the first, second, and third of the month of

July; and on the fourth the cohorts of those who

opposed the Declaration that all men are created

[174]
equal "turned tail" and run. Gentlemen, this is

a glorious theme, and the occasion for a speech,

but I am not prepared to make one worthy of the

occasion. I would like to speak in terms of praise

due to the many brave officers and soldiers who

have fought in the cause of the Union and liber-

ties of their country from the beginning of the

war. These are trying occasions, not only in suc-
cess, but for the want of success. I dislike to men-
tion the name of one single officer, lest I might
do wrong to those I might forget. Recent events
bring up glorious names, and particularly promi-
nent ones; but these I will not mention. Having
said this much, I will now take the music.

1175]
*vivvi\\v\wvvvvvvvi\vvvvvvvvvvvvv\\vvvvvv^

you were right and I was wrong"

vvm\vwvvvv\\vvwv\vv\\\vvw.vi\\vvv\vvwvviw^

LirINCOLN expresses his appreciation for the all-important

victory at Vicksburg and, with characteristic frankness, admits

that his own theories had been proved wrong.

LETTER TO ULYSSES S. GRANT

Executive Mansion, July 13, 1863

M
met
Y DEAR GENERAL:

personally.
I do not remember that you and
I write this now
I ever
as a grateful ac-

knowledgment for the almost inestimable service

you have done the country. I wish to say a word

further. When you first reached the vicinity of
Vicksburg, I thought you should do what you
finally did— march the troops across the neck, run
the batteries with the transports, and thus go be-
low; and I never had any faith, except a general
hope that you knew better than I, that the Yazoo

[176]
Pass expedition and the like could succeed. When
you got below and took Port Gibson, Grand Gulf,
and vicinity, I thought you should go down the
river and join General Banks, and when you turned
northward, east of the Big Black, I feared it was a
mistake. I now wish to make the personal acknowl-
edgment that you were right and I was wrong.
Yours very truly,

A. Lincoln

[177]
v\vvw*vvvwvv^v*vv\\vvvwvvvvvvvvvwvv\\\*vvv^

The Letter Lincoln Wrote But Did 7<iot Send

M,-OST military authorities agreed that had General Meade

pursued his advantage after his victory at Gettysburg, the war
might have been ended then and there. Overcome with grief,

Lincoln wrote this reproachful letter —mild enough, in view

of the magnitude of the error— but never sent it, knowing the
loss to be irreparable.

LETTER TO GENERAL GEORGE G. MEADE

Executive Mansion
Washington, D. C., July 14, 1863

MAJOR-GENERAL MEADE:
I have just seen your despatch to Gen-
eral Halleck, asking to be relieved of your com-
mand because of a supposed censure of mine. I

am very, very grateful to you for the magnificent

success you gave the cause of the country at Gettys-

burg; and I am sorry now to be the author of

[178]
the slightest pain to you. But I was in such deep
distress myself that I could not restrain some ex-
pression of it. I have been oppressed nearly ever
since the battles of Gettysburg by what appeared
to be evidences that yourself and General Couch
and General Smith were not seeking a collision

with the enemy, but were trying to get him across

the river without another battle. What these evi-

dences were, if you please, I hope to tell you at

some time when we shall both feel better. The

case, summarily stated, is this: You fought and beat
the enemy at Gettysburg and, of course, to say
the least, his loss was as great as yours. He re-

treated, and you did not, as it seemed to me, pres-

singly pursue him; but a flood in the river de-

tained him till, by slow degrees, you were again

upon him. You had at least twenty thousand vet-
eran troops directly with you, and as many more
raw ones within supporting distance, all in addi-

tion to those who fought with you at Gettysburg,

while it was not possible that he had received a
single recruit, and yet you stood and let the flood

run down, bridges be built, and the enemy move

away at his leisure without attacking him. And
Couch and Smith! The latter left Carlisle in time,

upon all ordinary calculation, to have aided you

[179]
in the last battle at Gettysburg, but he did not

arrive. At the end of more than ten days, I believe

twelve, under constant urging, he reached Hagers-
town from Carlisle, which is not an inch over fifty-

five miles, if so much, and Couch's movement was

very little different.

Again, my dear general, I do not believe you

appreciate the magnitude of the misfortune in-
volved in Lee's escape. He was within your easy
grasp, and to have closed upon him would, in
connection with our other late successes, have
ended the war. As it is, the war will be prolonged
indefinitely. If you could not safely attack Lee last

Monday, how can you possibly do so south of the

river, when you can take with you very few more
than two thirds of the force you then had in hand?
It would be unreasonable to expect, and I do
not expect [that], you can now effect much. Your
golden opportunity is gone, and I am distressed

immeasurably because of it.

I beg you will not consider this a prosecution

or persecution of yourself. As you had learned that
I was dissatisfied, I have thought it best to kindly
tell you why.

[180]
 without criticism for what was not done"

NE week after he has magnanimously withheld his letter

of censure to General Meade, Lincoln informs General Howard

that he is "profoundly grateful for what was done, without
criticism for what was not done."

LETTER TO GENERAL OLIVER O. HOWARD

Executive Mansion, July 21, 1863

MY DEAR GENERAL HOWARD:

Your letter of the 18th is received. I

was deeply mortified by the escape of Lee across

the Potomac, because the substantial destruction

of his army would have ended the war, and be-

cause I believed such destruction was perfectly

easy— believed that General Meade and his noble
army had expended all the skill, and toil, and
blood, up to the ripe harvest, and then let the crop
go to waste.

[181]
 Perhaps my mortification was heightened be-
cause I had always believed— making my belief a

hobby, possibly— that the main rebel army going

north of the Potomac could never return, if well
attended to; and because I was so greatly flattered

in this belief by the operations at Gettysburg. A

few days having passed, I am now profoundly
grateful for what was done, without criticism for

what was not done.

General Meade has my confidence as a brave
and skilful officer and a true man.
Yours very truly,

A. Lincoln

[182]
 .

,vv•^\v^^u\\^\\^v^\vuvvvv^\vvv^,v\vvvv\vv\vvvvvvvvvv^vvv\vvvvvvvvv^\v\vvvvvvv\vvvv\vvvvvv^v^.vvv^^A,vvvvA.^AVV^vv^A,^,vv

'.
. . they have the better right. .

uvwvvvvvvv\\\\\w\\vwvvv\\v\\vvvv\\vvvvvvvvvvvvvvv\\v\vvvv^

Li'INCOLN seized every possible opportunity to express his

gratitude to those "who bear the chief burthen of saving our

country/' This is the third of three letters selected by John G.

Nicolay as representative of Lincoln at his best.

LETTER TO POSTMASTER-GENERAL
MONTGOMERY BLAIR
Executive Mansion, July 24, 1863

S
went to
Yesterday
you in two
little endorsements of mine
cases of postmasterships sought
for widows whose husbands have fallen in the bat-

tles of this war. These cases occurring on the same

day brought me to reflect more attentively than

I had before done, as to what is fairly due from

us here in the dispensing of patronage toward the
men who, by fighting our battles, bear the chief

[183]
burthen of saving our country. My conclusion is

that, other claims and qualifications being equal,

they have the better right; and this is especially

applicable to the disabled soldier and the deceased

soldier's family.
Your obedient servant,

A. Lincoln

[184]
,VVVVVVVVVWlVVVVVV\\VVVWlVVVVVVlVtVVV\M/VW^^

". . . no successful appeal from the ballot

."
to the bullet. . .

VV\VWV\VWVVVVWVVVVVVV\VVVV\VVVU\V\V^

A: ,S a rule, a message of more than six pages would not be

considered a model of brevity, but into this letter, written to

be read at a Republican meeting in Springfield, Lincoln com-

presses a lifetime of philosophy.

LETTER TO JAMES C. CONKLING

Executive Mansion, August 26, 1863

MY DEAR Your
SIR:

letter inviting me to attend a

mass-meeting of unconditional Union men, to be

held at the capital of Illinois on the 3d day of
September has been received. It would be very
agreeable to me to thus meet my old friends at
my own home, but I cannot just now be absent
from here so long as a visit there would require.
The meeting is to be of all those who maintain
[185]
unconditional devotion to the Union; and I am
sure my old political friends will thank me for
tendering, as I do, the nation's gratitude to those
and other noble men whom no partisan malice
or partisan hope can make false to the nation's life.

There who are dissatisfied with me.

are those
To such I would say: You desire peace, and you
blame me that we do not have it. But how can we
attain it? There are but three conceivable ways:
First, to suppress the rebellion by force of arms.
This I am trying to do. Are you for it? If you are,

so far we are agreed. If you are not for it, a second

way is to give up the Union. I am against this.

Are you for it? If you are, you should say so plainly.

If you are not for force, nor yet for dissolution,

there only remains some imaginable compromise.

I do not believe any compromise embracing the
maintenance of the Union is now possible. All I

learn leads to a directly opposite belief. The

strength of the rebellion is its military, its army.
That army dominates all the country and all the
people within its range. Any offer of terms made
by any man or men within that range, in opposi-
tion to that army, is simply nothing for the pres-
ent, because such man or men have no power
whatever to enforce their side of a compromise, if

one were made with them.

[186]
 To illustrate: Suppose refugees from the South
and peace men of the North get together in con-

vention, and frame and proclaim a compromise

embracing a restoration of the Union. In what way
can that compromise be used to keep Lee's army
out of Pennsylvania? Meade's army can keep Lee's
army out of Pennsylvania, and, I think, can ul-

timately drive it out of existence. But no paper

compromise to which the controllers of Lee's army
are not agreed can at all affect that army. In an
effort at such compromise we should waste time
which the enemy would improve to our disad-
vantage; and that would be all. A compromise, to

be effective, must be made either with those who

control the rebel army, or with the people first

liberated from the domination of that army by

the success of our own army. Now, allow me to

assure you that no word or intimation from that

rebel army, or from any of the men controlling it,

in relation to any peace compromise, has ever

come to my knowledge or belief. All charges and

insinuations to the contrary are deceptive and
groundless. And I promise you that if any such
proposition shall hereafter come, it shall not be
rejected and kept a secret from you. I freely

acknowledge myself the servant of the people, ac-

[187]
cording to the bond of service— the United States
Constitution— and that, as such, I am responsible
to them.
But to be plain. You are dissatisfied with me
about the negro. Quite likely there is a difference

of opinion between you and myself upon that sub-

ject. I certainly wish that all men could be free,

while I suppose you do not. Yet, I have neither

adopted nor proposed any measure which is not
consistent with even your view, provided you are
for the Union. I suggested compensated emanci-
pation, to which you replied you wished not to

be taxed to buy negroes. But I had not asked you

to be taxed to buy negroes, except in such way
as to save you from greater taxation to save the

Union exclusively by other means.

You dislike the emancipation proclamation, and

perhaps would have it retracted. You say it is un-
constitutional. I think differently. I think the Con-
stitution invests its commander-in-chief with the
law of war in time of war. The most that can be

said— if so much— is that slaves are property. Is

there— has there ever been— any question that by
the law of war, property, both of enemies and
friends, may be taken when needed? And is it not
needed whenever taking it helps us, or hurts the

[188]
enemy? Armies, the world over, destroy enemies*

property when they cannot use it; and even destroy

their own to keep it from the enemy. Civilized
belligerents do all in their power to help them-
selves or hurt the enemy, except a few things
regarded as barbarous or cruel. Among the excep-
tions are the massacre of vanquished foes and non-
combatants, male and female.
But the proclamation, as law, either is valid or

is not valid. If it is not valid, it needs no retraction.

If it is valid, it cannot be retracted any more than
the dead can be brought to life. Some of you pro-
fess to think its retraction would operate favorably
for the Union. Why better after the retraction
than before the issue? There was more than a
year and a half of trial to suppress the rebellion
before the proclamation issued; the last one hun-
dred days of which passed under an explicit notice
that it was coming, unless averted by those in revolt
returning to their allegiance. The war has cer-
tainly progressed as favorably for us since the issue

of the proclamation as before.

You say you will not fight to free negroes. Some

of them seem willing to fight for you; but no
matter. Fight you, then, exclusively, to save the
Union. I issued the proclamation on purpose to

[189]
 aid you in saving the Union. Whenever you shall

have conquered all resistance to the Union, if I

shall urge you to continue fighting, it will be an

apt time then for you to declare you will not fight
to free negroes.

I thought that in your struggle for the Union,

to whatever extent the negroes should cease help-
ing the enemy, to that extent it weakened the
enemy in his resistance to you. Do you think dif-

ferently? I thought that whatever negroes can be

got to do as soldiers, leaves just so much less for

white soldiers to do in saving the Union. Does it

appear otherwise to you? But negroes, like other

people, act upon motives. Why should they do
anything for us if we will do nothing for them? If

they stake their lives for us they must be prompted

by the strongest motive, even the promise of free-

dom. And the promise, being made, must be kept.

The signs look better. The Father of Waters

V again goes unvexed to the sea. Thanks to the great
Northwest for it. Nor yet wholly to them. Three
hundred miles up they met New England, Empire,
Keystone, and Jersey, hewing their way right and
left. The sunny South, too, in more colors than

one, also lent a hand. On the spot, their part of

the history was jotted down in black and white.

[190]
The job was a great national one, and let none be
banned who bore an honorable part in it. And
while those who have cleared the great river may
well be proud, even that is not all. It is hard to
say that anything has been more bravely and well
done than at Antietam, Murfreesboro', Gettys-
burg, and on many fields of lesser note. Nor must
Uncle Sam's web-feet be forgotten. At all the

watery margins they have been present. Not only

on the deep sea, the broad bay, and the rapid
river, but also up the narrow, muddy bayou, and
wherever the ground was a little damp, they have
been and made their tracks. Thanks to all: for

the great republic— for the principle it lives by

and keeps alive— for man's vast future— thanks to
all.

Peace does not appear so distant as it did. I hope

it will come soon, and come to stay: and so come
as to be worth the keeping in all future time. It

will then have been proved that among free men

there can be no successful appeal from the ballot
to the bullet, and that they who take such appeal
are sure to lose their case and pay the cost. And
then there will be some black men who can re-

member that with silent tongue, and clenched

teeth, and steady eye, and well-poised bayonet,

[191]
they have helped mankind on to this great con-

summation, while I fear there will be some white

ones unable to forget that with malignant heart
and deceitful speech they strove to hinder it.

Still, let us not be over-sanguine of a speedy

final triumph. Let us be quite sober. Let us dili-

gently apply the means, never doubting that a

just God, in his own good time, will give us the
rightful result.
Yours very truly,
A. Lincoln

[192]
A\\V\\VV\V\V\\VV\V\VVVV\V\VVVVV\\WVVVVVl\VVVV\^

". . . the plain truth. . .

."

AV\VVV\\VV\\\VVV\V\\\\\\VV\\VV\VVV\\VV\\\\VVVVVVVVVVVV\VVVVV\VVVVV\\VVVVVVM.V\\\VV\VVV\\V\\VVVVVVV\VV\VVV\\VVVVVVV

VJENERAL ROSECRANS, Commander of the Army of

Cumberland, was another "problem child" of Lincoln's. When

the President's repeated prodding finally penetrated "Old
Rosy's" skin, Lincoln was quick to apply the palliative.

LETTER TO GENERAL
WILLIAM S. ROSECRANS

Executive Mansion, August 31, 1863

MY DEAR GENERAL Yours of the 22d was received yesterday.

ROSECRANS:

When I wrote you before, I did [not] intend, nor

do I now, to engage in an argument with you on
military questions. You had informed me you
were impressed through General Halleck that I

was dissatisfied with you; and I could not bluntly

deny that I was without unjustly implicating him.
I therefore concluded to tell you the plain truth,

[193]
being satisfied the matter would thus appear much
smaller than it would if seen by mere glimpses.
I repeat that my appreciation of you has not
abated. I can never forget whilst I remember any-
thing that about the end of last year and begin-
ning of this, you gave us a hard-earned victory,

which, had there been a defeat instead, the nation

could scarcely have lived over. Neither can I for-

get the check you so opportunely gave to a dan-

gerous sentiment which was spreading in the

North.
Yours as ever,

A. Lincoln

[194]
AV\VVV\V\\^VVVV\\\\\\\\VV\\VV\\VV\N\V^V\\VVVV\^\V\VV\\V\\\\\\VA,\V\\VV\«.V\\\VV\V\V\V\V\V\,\V\VV\\\VV/VV\VVV\\\\\

"This nation already has a quarter 'master'general.

A\\vvv\vv\vvvvvv\vv\\\vvvv\vvvvtvvv\vvvm\vv\\vvvv\\^

L:INCOLN's unfailing sense of humor would sometimes get

him into trouble, as in this amusing incident told by the two
following dispatches.

TELEGRAMS TO J. K. DUBOIS AND

O. M. HATCH
Washington, September 13, 1863

HON. J.K.DUBOIS, HON. O. M. HATCH:

What nation do you desire General
Allen to be made quarter-master-general of? This
nation already has a quarter-master-general.
A. Lincoln

[195]
 Executive Mansion, September 22, 1863

H ON. O. M. HATCH, HON. J. K. DUBOIS,

SPRINGFIELD, ILL.:
Your letter is just received. The par-

ticular form of my despatch was jocular, which I

supposed you gentlemen knew me well enough to

understand. General Allen is considered here as a

very faithful and capable officer, and one who
would be at least thought of for quartermaster-
general if that office were vacant.
A. Lincoln

[196]
Av^vvv^vvv\vv^^v^vvv^\vvvv\vv\\\vvvv^vvv^\\vv\vv\\vvvvvvv\vvv\vvvvvvtvvvvvv^vvvtvvvvvvvvvvvvvv^vv'vvvv\vvvvvvvvv\v\

."
". . . by commission or omission, . .

avvvv,\\\vvvv\vvvvvvvv\vvv\vv\vv\\\\vvvvvv\vvvv\\vv\vvvv\vvvv'i.\vvvv\\vv\vvvvvv\vv,vvvvvvvvvvv\\v\\vvvv^vv\'Vvvv\vv\.\v

T,HURLOW WEED'S sudden coolness toward the President

leads Lincoln to believe that he has in some way offended the
prominent politico.

LETTER TO THURLOW WEED

Executive Mansion, October 14, 1863

MY DEAR I
SIR:

have been brought to fear recently

that somehow, by commission or omission, I have
caused you some degree of pain. I have never en-
tertained an unkind feeling or a disparaging
thought toward you; and if I have said or done
anything which has been construed into such un-
kindness or disparagement, it has been miscon-
strued. I arn sure if we could meet we would not
part with any unpleasant impression on either
Slde *
Yours as ever,
A. Lincoln

[197]
A\vvvwi\\\vvvv\vvv\vivvmv\v\vvvwvvv\w

."
". . . if Fran\ Blair were my brother. . .

A\VWVVY\\WvWVVVVVVY^WVVVVVi\\VVVVVV\*^

JLO Postmaster-General Montgomery Blair Lincoln writes a

Chesterfieldian letter full of friendly advice for the welfare of

Blair's brother.

LETTER TO MONTGOMERY BLAIR

Executive Mansion
Washington, D. C, November 2, 1863

MY DEAR Some
SIR:

days ago I understood you to say

that your brother, General Frank Blair, desires

to be guided by my wishes as to whether he will

occupy his seat in Congress or remain in the field.

My wish, then, is compounded of what I believe

will be best for the country and best for him, and
it is that he will come here, put his military com-
mission in my hands, take his seat, go into caucus
with our friends, abide the nominations, help elect

[198]
the nominees, and thus aid to organize a House of

Representatives which will really support the gov-

ernment in the war. If the result shall be the elec-

tion of himself as Speaker, let him serve in that

position; if not, let him retake his commission and
return to the army. For the country this will heal
a dangerous schism; for him it will relieve from a
dangerous position. By a misunderstanding, as I

think, he is in danger of being permanently sepa-

rated from those with whom only he can ever have
a real sympathy— the sincere opponents of slavery.
It will be a mistake if he shall allow the provoca-
tions offered him by insincere time-servers to drive

him out of the house of his own building. He is

young yet. He has abundant talent— quite enough

to occupy all his time without devoting any to
temper. He is rising in military skill and useful-

ness. His recent appointment to the command of

a corps by one so competent to judge as General

Sherman proves this. In that line he can serve both
the country and himself more profitably than he
could as a member of Congress on the floor. The
foregoing is what I would say if Frank Blair were
my brother instead of yours.
Yours truly,

A. Lincoln

[199]
 here's your autograph.'

A\Vl\VVVVVV\VVtVVVVVVVVWVVV\VVVVVWWVV^^

.LTHOUGH very likely apocryphal, and not consistent

with Lincoln's usual courteous treatment of all requests for

favors— no matter how small— this terse note is included be-

cause it has been so often quoted.

LETTER QUOTED BY THE WASHINGTON

STAR

EAR MADAM:
D
which is
When you ask from a stranger
of interest only to yourself, always en-
that

close a stamp. There's your sentiment, and here's

your autograph.
A. Lincoln

[200]
AV\VV\V\\VVVVVV\\VVV\\\VU\V\\\V\\VVVV\VV\\VVV\V\\VVVVVVVVVV\\\VVVVVVV\\\V\V\\VU\VVVV\\VVVVVVVIVVVVV\\V\\V\VV.\V\V

'.
. . not quite free from ridicule.'

»VVVVV\VVV\AVA*\\V\A^\VV\VVVV\\VVVtVV\\V\VV>^

L,LINCOLN assures the Shakespearean actor, James H.

Hackett, that he need not be uneasy jo* having allowed one of

the President's letters to get into the hands of the press.

LETTER TO JAMES H. HACKETT

(Private)

Washington, D. C, November 2, 1863

M Y DEAR

was in due course that of October

SIR

Yours of October 22 is received, as also

3. I look for-
ward with pleasure to the fulfilment of the promise
made in the former.

Give yourself no uneasiness on the subject men-

tioned in that of the 22d.
My note to you I certainly did not expect to

see in print; yet I have not been much shocked by

the newspaper comments upon it. Those com-

[201]
merits constitute a fair specimen of what has oc-

curred to me through life. I have endured a great

deal of ridicule without much malice; and have
received a great deal of kindness, not quite free
from ridicule. I am used to it.

Yours truly,

A. Lincoln

[202]
AV\\vv\v\v\v\vvvv\vwAVvv\vvvxvvm\vmvvvvvvmvm\\v^

the exact shade of Julius Caesar s hair.'

HHMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMA^^

M..ANY different interpretations have been placed by

biographers upon these laconic lines of Lincoln. One of the

most plausible is that of Jesse W. Weik, who said, "He be-

lieved there were other if not better ways of determining a

man's fitness for a given task or position than the regulation

test questions."

LETTER TO SECRETARY OF WAR

EDWIN M. STANTON

Executive Mansion, November 11, 1863

DEAR SIR:
I personally wish Jacob Freese, of New
Jersey, to be appointed colonel for a colored regi-
ment, and this regardless of whether he can tell the
exact shade of Julius Caesar's hair.
Yours, etc.,

A. Lincoln

[203]
 The Gettysburg Address

JlHE Gettysburg Address, which gained immortality for its

author, and ranks as one of the greatest speeches in the Eng-

lish language, consists of only 10 sentences and 266 words, of

which 193 are one-syllable words; and took but two short min-
utes to deliver.

ADDRESS AT THE GETTYSBURG

NATIONAL CEMETERY
November 19, 1863

FOURSCORE and seven years ago our fathers

brought forth on this continent a new nation,
conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the propo-
sition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing

whether that nation, or any nation so conceived

and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on
a great battle-field of that war. We have come to
[204]
dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting-
place for those who here gave their lives that that
nation might live. It is altogether fitting and
proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate— we

cannot consecrate— we cannot hallow— this ground.
The brave men, living and dead, who struggled
here, have consecrated it far above our poor power
to add or The world will little note nor
detract.

long remember what we say here, but it can never

forget what they did here. It is for us, the living,
rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work
which they who fought here have thus far so nobly
advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated
to the great task remaining before us— that from
these honored dead we take increased devotion to

that cause for which they gave the last full measure
of devotion; that we here highly resolve that these
dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation,

under God, shall have a new birth of freedom;

and that government of the people, by the people,
for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

[205]
VVV\VVVWVV\\VVVVVVVVVVkWWWVVV\VW

". . . you could not have been excused ma\e

to
a short address, nor I a long one"

VVVVVVVVVUMAVVVVVVIVVIVVVVWVVVW^

F,OLLOWING the ceremonies at Gettysburg, Edward Ev-

erett, who was the principal speaker of the day, wrote to

Lincoln, "I should be glad if I could flatter myself that I came

as near the central idea of the occasion in two hours as you
did in two minutes/*

LETTER TO EDWARD EVERETT

Executive Mansion
Washington, D. C, November 20, 1863

MY DEAR SIR:

Your kind note of to-day is received.

In our respective parts yesterday, you could not
have been excused to make a short address, nor I a
long one. I am pleased to know that, in your judg-
ment, the little I did say was not entirely a failure.
Of course I knew Mr. Everett would not fail,

[206]
and yet, while the whole discourse was eminently
satisfactory, and will be of great value, there were
passages in it which transcended my expectations.
The made against the theory of the Gen-
point
eral Government being only an agency whose

principals are the States, was new to me, and, as I

think, is one of the best arguments for the na-
tional supremacy. The tribute to our noble women
for their angel ministering to the suffering soldiers

surpasses in its way, as do the subjects of it, what-

ever has gone before.
Our sick boy, for whom you kindly inquire, we
hope is past the worst.
Your obedient servant,

A. Lincoln

[207]
VVVVVlVtt\VVvvMfVVVVVVVVvVV\MMA\VVVVVWVVW

."
'An intelligent woman in deep distress. . .

N November 20, 1863 Lincoln wired Meade, "If there is

a man by the name of King under sentence to be shot, please

suspend execution till further order and send record." This

explanatory letter followed.

LETTER TO GENERAL GEORGE G. MEADE

Executive Mansion, November 20, 1863

M AJOR-GENERAL MEADE, ARMY OF

POTOMAC:
An intelligent woman in deep distress,

called this morning, saying her husband, a lieu-

tenant in the Army of Potomac, was to be shot next

Monday for desertion, and putting a letter in

my hand, upon which I relied for particulars,

she left without mentioning a name or other par-

ticular by which to identify the case. On open-
ing the letter I found it equally vague, having

[208]
nothing to identify by, except her own signature,

which seems to be "Mrs. Anna S. King." I could

not again find her. If you have a case which you
shall think is probably the one intended, please
apply my despatch of this morning to it.

A. Lincoln

[209]
WVVWVWl*VVVWlM*VVVVWV*VWbV\M^^

if the man does no wrong hereafter.

TeHE principle expressed in this brief endorsement on a

document submitted to the Secretary of War, premised Lin-

coln's whole theory of Reconstruction.

INDORSEMENT ON DOCUMENT TO EDWIN

M. STANTON

February 5, 1864

SUBMITTED TO THE SECRETARY OF

WAR.
On principle I dislike an oath which re-

quires a man to swear he has not done wrong. It

rejects the Christian principle of forgiveness on

terms of repentance. I think it is enough if the
man does no wrong hereafter.
A. Lincoln

[210]
VVVV\\VV\%\\VVV\\VV\V\\V\V\VVVV\\VVV\VVW\\VVV\VU\\\V\V\\VV\VVVVWVVVVVVV\VVU\VV\VV\VVVVVVV\\\V\VVV\%\\VVVA\V\VVW

". . . I do not perceive occasion for a changed

V\VVVV\\\VVV\V%\\\VVVVVVVV\\\A\\\V\VVVVVVV\\\VV\VV\\\VV\V\\VVVVVV\VVVW,N\\\V\\V\VVVVVV\\VVV\V\V>iV\VV'V\V\\\VV\lVVVVV

IN early 1864 a committee, headed by Senator Pomeroy of

Kansas, created considerable clamor by publishing a letter

vigorously attacking Lincoln and advocating Secretary of the

Treasury Salmon P. Chase for the presidency. Somewhat taken

aback, Chase wrote to Lincoln disclaiming any knowledge of

the letter and saying, "If there is any thing in my action or

position, which in your judgment will prejudice the public

interest under my charge, I beg you to say so. I do not wish

to administer the Treasury Department one day without your

entire confidence/' Lincoln deferred answering for a few days

and then replied with his customary greatness of spirit.

LETTER TO SALMON P. CHASE

Executive Mansion, February 29, 1864

MY DEAR I
SIR:

would have taken time to answer

yours of the 22d sooner, only that I did not sup-

[211]
pose any evil could result from the delay, espe-
cially as, by a note, I promptly acknowledged the
receipt of yours, and promised a fuller answer.

Now, on consideration, I find there is really very

little to say. My knowledge of Mr. Pomeroy's let-

ter having been made public came to me only the

day you wrote but I had, in spite of myself, known
of its existence several days before. I have not yet
read it, and I think I shall not. I was not shocked
or surprised by the appearance of the letter, be-

cause I had had knowledge of Mr. Pomeroy's com-

mittee, and of secret issues which I supposed came
from it, and of secret agents who I supposed were
sent out by it, for several weeks. I have known just
as little of these things as my friends have allowed

me to know. They bring the documents to me, but

I do not read them; they tell me what they think fit

to tell me, but I do not inquire for more. I fully

concur with you that neither of us can be justly

held responsible for what our respective friends
may do without our instigation or countenance;

and I assure you, as you have assured me, that no

assault has been made upon you by my investiga-

tion or with my countenance. Whether you shall

remain at the head of the Treasury Department is

a question which I will not allow myself to con-

[212]
sider from any standpoint other than my judg-
ment of the public service, and, in that view, I do
not perceive occasion for a change.
Yours truly,

A. Lincoln

[213]
VVVVVWVVVVVVVVVWVVUVVVVVVVVVVVVWVVVWVVIVWWV^^

"God alone can claim it."

mvvu\\\vmvv\\vvvv\\vvvv\vwi\vuvvv\VY^

JLWO of Lincoln's best letters on slavery were written to

Kentuckians—the first to Joshua Speed in 1855 and this one

to A. G. Hodges nine years later.

LETTER TO A. G. HODGES

Executive Mansion, April 4, 1864

MY DEAR You ask

SIR:

me to put in writing the sub-

stance of what I verbally said the other day in your
presence, to Governor Bramlette and Senator
Dixon. It was about as follows:

"I am naturally antislavery. If slavery is not

wrong, nothing is wrong. I cannot remember when
I did not so think and feel, and yet I have never
understood that the presidency conferred upon me
an unrestricted right to act officially upon this

judgment and feeling. It was in the oath I took

[214]
that I would, to the best of my ability, preserve,

protect, and defend the Constitution of the United

States. I could not take the office without taking
the oath. Nor was it my view that I might take an
oath to get power, and break the oath in using the
power. I understood, too, that in ordinary civil
administration this oath even forbade me to prac-

tically indulge my primary abstract judgment on

the moral question of slavery. I had publicly de-
clared this many times, and in many ways. And I

aver that, to this day, I have done no official act

in mere deference to my abstract judgment and

feeling on slavery. I did understand, however, that
my oath to preserve the Constitution to the best
of my ability imposed upon me the duty of pre-
serving, by every indispensable means, that gov-
ernment—that nation, of which that Constitution
was the organic law. Was it possible to lose the

nation and yet preserve the Constitution? By gen-

eral law, life and limb must be protected, yet often
a limb must be amputated to save a life; but a life

is never wisely given to save a limb. I felt that

measures otherwise unconstitutional might be-
come lawful by becoming indispensable to the

preservation of the Constitution through the

preservation of the nation. Right or wrong, I as-

[215]
sume this ground, and now avow it. I could not
feel that, to the best of my ability, I had even tried

to preserve the Constitution, if, to save slavery or

any minor matter, I should permit the wreck of

government, country, and Constitution all to-

gether. When, early in the war, General Fremont

attempted military emancipation, I forbade it, be-
cause I did not then think it an indispensable
necessity. When, a little later, General Cameron,
then Secretary of War, suggested the arming of the
blacks, I objected because I did not yet think it an
indispensable necessity. When, still later, General
Hunter attempted military emancipation, I again
forbade it, because I did not yet think the indis-
pensable necessity had come. When in March and
May and July, 1862, I made earnest and successive

appeals to the border States to favor compensated

emancipation, I believed the indispensable neces-
sity for military emancipation and arming the
blacks would come unless averted by that meas-

ure. They declined the proposition, and I was, in

my best judgment, driven to the alternative of

either surrendering the Union, and with it the

Constitution, or of laying strong hand upon the

colored element. I chose the latter. In choosing it,

I hoped for greater gain than loss; but of this, I

[216]
 '

was not entirely confident. More than a year of

trial now shows no loss by it in our foreign rela-
tions, none in our home popular sentiment, none

in our white military force— no loss by it anyhow

or anywhere. On the contrary it shows a gain of
quite a hundred and thirty thousand soldiers, sea-
men, and laborers. These are palpable facts, about
which, as facts, there can be no caviling. We have
the men; and we could not have had them without
the measure.
"And now let any Union man who complains
of the measure test himself by writing down in one

line that he is for subduing the rebellion by force

of arms; and in the next, that he is for taking

these hundred and thirty thousand men from the

Union side, and placing them where they would
be but for the measure he condemns. If he cannot
face his case so stated, it is only because he cannot
face the truth.'

I add a word which was not in the verbal con-

versation. In telling this tale I attempt no compli-

ment to my own sagacity. I claim not to have con-
trolled events, but confess plainly that events have
controlled me. Now, at the end of three years'

struggle, the nation's condition is not what either

party, or any man, devised or expected. God alone

[217]
can claim it. Whither it is tending seems plain. If

God now wills the removal of a great wrong, and

wills also that we of the North, as well as you of
the South, shall pay fairly for our complicity in
that wrong, impartial history will find therein new
cause to attest and revere the justice and goodness
of God.
Yours truly,

A. Lincoln

[2181
 timntixt fjjnnjsijon.

/0^ /?&£> j~sfc&J ^?~e^/ *

^r^^.

fy-i^Ctr ^*Cc-W ^CDk~4J /*^r& /-&Z,

A newly discovered letter, not included in any of

the standard collections, in which Lincoln urges
that Sherman keep the enemy "going," while he is

on the "down-hill."
 the wolfs dictionary has been repudiated"

wvvvw\vv,vvvwv\\vvv\v\vv\vm\\\\vvvv^^

L,1NCOLN frequently was entreated to speak at Sanitary

Fairs, which resembled modern Red Cross Benefits. The speech

he delivered at Baltimore was not, when considered as a whole,

one of his best, but reflects in many passages the flash of his

genius.

ADDRESS AT BALTIMORE
APRIL 18, 1864

ADIES AND GENTLEMEN

E
more, we cannot
Calling to mind
fail to
that we are in Balti-
note that the world moves.
Looking upon these many people assembled here
to serve, as they best may, the soldiers of the
Union, it occurs at once that three years ago the
same soldiers could not so much as pass through
Baltimore. The change from then till now is both
great and gratifying. Blessings on the brave men
who have wrought the change, and the fair women
who strive to reward them for it!
[220]
 But Baltimore suggests more than could happen
within Baltimore. The change within Baltimore is

part only of a far wider change. When the war be-

gan, three years ago, neither party, nor any man,

expected it would last till now. Each looked for
the end, in some way, long ere to-day. Neither did
any anticipate that domestic slavery would be
much affected by the war. But here we are; the

war has not ended, and slavery has been much af-

fected—how much needs not now to be recounted.

So true is it that man proposes and God disposes.

But we can see the past, though we may not

claim to have directed it; and seeing it, in this case,

we feel more hopeful and confident for the future.

The world has never had a good definition of

the word liberty, and the American people, just

now, are much in want of one. We all declare for

liberty; but in using the same word we do not all

mean the same thing. With some the word liberty

may mean for each man to do as he pleases with
himself, and the product of his labor; while with

others the same word may mean for some men

to do as they please with other men, and the prod-
uct of other men's labor. Here are two, not only
different, but incompatible things, called by the
same name, liberty. And it follows that each of the

[221]
things is, by the respective parties, called by two
different and incompatible names—liberty and
tyranny.
The shepherd drives the wolf from the sheep's
throat, for which the sheep thanks the shepherd
as his liberator, while the wolf denounces him for

the same act, as the destroyer of liberty, especially

as the sheep was a black one. Plainly, the sheep
and the wolf are not agreed upon a definition of
the word liberty; and precisely the same difference
prevails to-day among us human creatures, even in

the North, and all professing to love liberty.

Hence we behold the process by which thousands

are daily passing from under the yoke of bondage
hailed by some as the advance of liberty, and be-

wailed by others as the destruction of all liberty.

Recently, as it seems, the people of Maryland have

been doing something to define liberty, and thanks
to them that, in what they have done, the wolf's

dictionary has been repudiated.

It is not very becoming for one in my position

to make speeches at great length; but there is an-

other subject upon which I feel that I ought to

say a word.

A painful rumor— true, I fear— has reached us

of the massacre by the rebel forces at Fort Pillow,

[222]
in the west end or Tennessee, on the Mississippi
River, of some three hundred colored soldiers and
white officers, who had just been overpowered by
their assailants. There seems to be some anxiety
in the public mind whether the government is do-
ing its duty to the colored soldier, and to the serv-
ice, at this point. At the beginning of the war, and
for some time, the use of colored troops was not

contemplated; and how the change of purpose was

wrought I will not now take time to explain. Upon
a clear conviction of duty I resolved to turn that
element of strength to account; and I am responsi-

ble for it to the American people, to the Christian

world, to history, and in my final account to God.

Having determined to use the negro as a soldier,
there is no way but to give him all the protection

given to any other soldier. The difficulty is not in

stating the principle, but in practically applying it.

It is a mistake to suppose the government is indif-

ferent to this matter, or is not doing the best it can

in regard to it. We do not to-day know that a col-

ored soldier, or white officer commanding colored

soldiers, has been massacred by the rebels when
made a prisoner. We fear it,— believe it, I may
say,— but we do not know it. To take the life of
one of their prisoners on the assumption that they

[223]
murder ours, when it is short of certainty that they
do murder ours, might be too serious, too cruel, a

mistake. We are having the Fort Pillow affair thor-

oughly investigated; and such investigation will
probably show conclusively how the truth is. If

after all that has been said it shall turn out that
there has been no massacre at Fort Pillow, it will

be almost safe to say there has been none, and will

be none, elsewhere. If there has been the massacre
of three hundred there, or even the tenth part of
three hundred, it will be conclusively proved; and
being so proved, the retribution shall as surely

come. It will be matter of grave consideration in

what exact course to apply the retribution; but in
the supposed case it must come.

[224]
VVV\VVVV\V\\VVVVVV\\VVVVVVVVVVV\VVV^ViVVVV\VVVV\\VV\\\VVV\VVVV\X\%AVVV\\VVV\V\VV\VVVVVVWWVVVVVVVVVVVV\\VVVVVVWV

". . . with a brave army and a just cause.

VA\\V\\\\V\\\V\\\\VV\VVVVVVVV\V\\V\\V\\VVV\VV\VV\\\VV\VV\\VVV\VVV^V\V\\VVVV\VVV\V\V^\\VVVVV\VV\^VVVVV\VA\VVVVVVV

L:'INCOLN, keenly understanding the psychology of his

generals, knew just when to maintain a close surveillance and

when, as in this case of General Grant, to invest them with
complete authority.

LETTER TO ULYSSES S. GRANT

Executive Mansion
Washington, April 30, 1864

IEUTENANT GENERAL GRANT:

L Not expecting
the Spring campaign opens,
to see

I
you again before
wish to express, in
this way, my entire satisfaction with what you have
done up to this time, so far as I understand it. The
particulars of your plans I neither know, or seek to

know. You are vigilant and self-reliant, and,

pleased with this, I wish not to obtrude any con-
straints or restraints upon you. While I am very

[225]
anxious that any great disaster, or the capture of
our men in great numbers, shall be avoided, I
know these points are less likely to escape your at-
tention than they would be mine— If there is any-
thing wanting which is within my power to give,

do not fail to let me know it.

And now with a brave army, and a just cause,

may God sustain you.
Yours very truly,

A. Lincoln

[226]
^\VV\NVV^\\V\V\^\\\^\\V\V\\\V\\\\XVVV\VV\\V\\VVVV\VVVV\WAVVW^\\\M,VVVVVVVVVV\\VVV\\>AVV\\1VVX\VVVVVVVVV\V\\VV

'.
. . \nowing of your weakness for oddities.

vv\\vwvv\\\vvv\vvv\vwvvi\vmvvvw\vvmv^

Li1TTLE suspecting that his own signature might some day

prove to be of greater value, Lincoln sends along a "John

Quincy Adams" autograph to the Secretary of War.

LETTER TO EDWIN M. STANTON

June 14, 1864

M Y DEAR STANTON:
Finding the above signature of Adams
in an obscure place in the Mansion this morning
and knowing of your weakness for oddities, I am
sending it to you, hold on to it.—
It will no doubt be much more valuable some
day.

Yours,

A. Lincoln

[227]
 notwithstanding any newspaper assaults"

WWHMMMMVV\MMMM\^^

IN the matter of granting pardons Lincoln was lenient to a

degree that, it was feared, would affect the discipline of the

army; but his firmness could not be shaken in cases where he

felt no mercy was due.

LETTER TO WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT

Executive Mansion, June 27, 1864

MY DEAR SIR:

Yours of the twenty-fifth has just been

handed me by the Secretary of the Navy. The tone
of the letter, rather than any direct statement in it,

impresses me as a complaint that Mr. Henderson

should have been removed from office, and ar-

rested; coupled with the single suggestion that he

be restored if he shall establish his innocence.
Iknow absolutely nothing of the case except as
follows: Monday last, Mr. Welles came to me with

[228]
the letter of dismissal already written, saying he
thought proper to show it to me before sending it,

I asked him the charges, which he stated in a gen-

eral way. With as much emphasis as I could, I said:

"Are you entirely certain of his guilt?" He an-

swered that he was, to which I replied: "Then

send the letter."

Whether Mr. Henderson was a supporter of my

second nomination, I neither knew nor inquired,
nor even thought of. I shall be very glad indeed if

he shall, as you anticipate, establish his innocence;

or, to state it more strongly and properly, "if the

government shall fail to establish his guilt." I be-

lieve, however, the man who made the affidavit

was of as spotless reputation as Mr. Henderson,
until he was arrested on what his friends insist was
outrageously insufficient evidence. I know the en-
tire city government of Washington, with many
other respectable citizens, appealed to me in his be-

half as a greatly injured gentleman.

While the subject is up, may I ask whether the

"Evening Post" has not assailed me for supposed

too lenient dealing with persons charged with

fraud and crime? And that in cases of which the
"Post" could know but little of the facts? I shall

certainly deal as leniently with Mr. Henderson as

[229]
I have felt it my duty to deal with others, notwith-
standing any newspaper assaults.
Your obedient servant,

A. Lincoln

[230]
VVVVV\VVV\VV\V\VVVV\\\\\VV\VVV\\\\\V\V\VVVVVVVV\VVVVVVVVV\\AVV\VU^VVVVV\VVVVVV\V^\VVA\\VV\VV\\VV\V\V\V\\\\\VVAA.\V

."
*\ . . a point of mutual embarrassment. . .

V\V\W\V\\Vv\V\V\\VVVAA.VV\VVWVV\VV\VVW

JL HREE times Salmon P. Chase had resigned as Secretary of

the Treasury; three times a patient Lincoln had persuaded

him to reconsider; but when Chase handed in his resignation

for the fourth time, Lincoln decided it was time to "call quits'*

LETTER TO SALMON P. CHASE

Executive Mansion, June 30, 1864

MY DEAR SIR:

Your resignation of the office of Sec-

retary of the Treasury sent me yesterday is ac-

cepted. Of all I have said in commendation of your

ability and fidelity I have nothing to unsay; and
yet you and I have reached a point of mutual em-
barrassment in our official relations which it seems
cannot be overcome or longer sustained consist-
ently with the public service.
Your obedient servant,

A. Lincoln

[231]
 'X propose continuing myself to be the judge,

tvv\v\\vvvv\VA\\vnvvvvvvvvvvvvm\vivvvvvv>A\vvvv^

WfHEN General Halleck, Chief of Staff, virtually de-

manded the dismissal of Postmaster-General Blair, Lincoln

refused, saying, "I propose continuing myself to be the judge

as to when a member of the Cabinet shall be dismissed/' Two

months later, seeing that the breach between his Cabinet mem-
bers could never be healed, Lincoln asked for Blair's resig-

nation.

LETTER TO EDWIN M STANTON .

Executive Mansion, July 14, 1864

IR:

S Your note of to-day inclosing General

Halleck's letter of yesterday relative to offensive
remarks supposed to have been made by the Post-
master-General concerning the military officers on
duty about Washington is received. The general's

letter in substance demands of me that if I approve

[232]
the remarks I shall strike the names of those of-

ficers from the rolls; and that if I do not approve

them the Postmaster-General shall be dismissed
from the Cabinet.
Whether the remarks were really made I do not
know, nor do I suppose such knowledge is neces-

sary to a correct response. If they were made, I do

not approve them; and yet, under the circum-
stances, I would not dismiss a member of the Cabi-
net therefor. I do not consider what may have been
hastily said in a moment of vexation at so severe
a loss is sufficient ground for so grave a step. Be-
sides this, truth is generally the best vindication
against slander. I propose continuing to be myself
the judge as to when a member of the Cabinet
shall be dismissed.
Yours truly,

A. Lincoln

[233]
m\MM^vv\w\\vvvm\vv\wvv\vv\vv\vw\vvviv\vvvvvw^

."
'Hold on with a bull-dog grip. . .

vwvt/vvvvvv\v\vv\vuvvv\vvv\\vv\vvwvvuvvvvvvvvvvvv\vvv^

HEN a number of State Governors had appealed to Gen-

eral Grant to release troops to suppress draft uprisings, Grant
flatly refused to weaken his lines and was strongly backed in

his decision by the Commander-in-Chief.

TELEGRAM TO ULYSSES S. GRANT

Executive Mansion, Washington, D. C.
August 17, 1864, 10:30 A.M.

IEUTENANT-GENERAL GRANT, City

E Point, Va.:

I have seen your despatch expressing

your unwillingness to break your hold where you
are. Neither am I willing. Hold on with a bull-

dog grip, and chew and choke as much as possible.

A. Lincoln

[234]
VVVVV\VVVVVVV\\VV\\\*VVVVIW\VV\VVIVIVVIVI\VVVVVV\V^

Secret Pledge

FTER his reelection Lincoln drew from his desk drawer

this sealed memorandum, which he had asked his Cabinet
members to sign, unseen, several months before.

SECRET MEMORANDUM
SIGNED BY CABINET MEMBERS

Executive Mansion
Washington, August 23, 1864

THIS morning, as for some days past, it

seems exceedingly probable that this ad-

ministration will not be reelected. Then it will be
my duty to so cooperate with the President-elect
as to save the Union between the election and the
inauguration; as he will have secured his election
on such ground that he cannot possibly save it

afterward.
A. Lincoln

[235]
 ". . . inflammatory appeals to your passions
and your prejudices"

L INCOLN addresses a few words of caution to an Ohio

regiment, returning home long after their original 3-months
term of enlistment had expired.

ADDRESS TO THE 148TH OHIO REGIMENT

AUGUST 31, 1864

SOLDIERS OF THE 148TH OHIO:

I am most happy to meet you on this oc-

casion. I understand that it has been your honor-

able privilege to stand, for a brief period, in the
defense of your country, and that now you are on
your way to your homes. I congratulate you, and
those who are waiting to bid you welcome home
from the war; and permit me in the name of the
people to thank you for the part you have taken in
this struggle for the life of the nation. You are
soldiers of the republic, everywhere honored and

[236]
respected. Whenever I appear before a body of sol-

diers I feel tempted to talk to them of the nature

of the struggle in which we are engaged. I look

upon it as an attempt on the one hand to over-
whelm and destroy the national existence, while
on our part we are striving to maintain the gov-

ernment and institutions of our fathers, to enjoy

them ourselves, and transmit them to our children

and our children's children forever.

To do this the constitutional administration of

our government must be sustained, and I beg of
you not to allow your minds or your hearts to be
diverted from the support of all necessary meas-
ures for that purpose, by any miserable picayune
arguments addressed to your pockets, or inflamma-
tory appeals made to your passions and your preju-
dices.

It is vain and foolish to arraign this man or that

for the part he has taken or has not taken, and to

hold the government responsible for his acts. In

no administration can there be perfect equality of

action and uniform satisfaction rendered by all.

But this government must be preserved in spite

of the acts of any man or set of men. It is worthy

of your every effort. Nowhere in the world is pre-

sented a government of so much liberty and

[237]
equality. To the humblest and poorest amongst us
are held out the highest privileges and positions.

The present moment finds me at the White House,

yet there is as good a chance for your children as

there was for my father's.

Again I admonish you not to be turned from

your stern purpose of defending our beloved coun-
try and its free institutions by any arguments
urged by ambitious and designing men, but to
stand fast for the Union and the old flag.

Soldiers, I bid you God-speed to your homes.

[2381
UVVVVVVVVVVVVWA\\VVVVV\VV\\V\V\\VVV\VVVV\V\V\\VVVV\VVVVVV,VVVVVV%\\\\VVV\AAA,'V\VV\\V\VVVVVVV\VV\V\\VV^V\\\VVV\\VVV

.'

opposed to both war and oppression. . .

R,.ECOGNIZING the "hard dilemma'* which confronts the

Quakers by reason of their faith, Lincoln points out that "they
can only practically oppose oppression by war."

LETTER TO ELIZA P. GURNEY

- Executive Mansion, September 4, 1864

MY ESTEEMED FRIEND:
I have not forgotten— probably never
shall forget— the very impressive occasion when
yourself and friends visited me on a Sabbath fore-

noon two years ago. Nor has your kind letter, writ-
ten nearly a year later, ever been forgotten. In all it

has been your purpose to strengthen my reliance

on God. I am much indebted to the good Christian

people of the country for their constant prayers
and consolations; and to no one of them more than
to yourself. The purposes of the Almighty are

[239]
perfect, and must prevail, though we erring mor-
tals may fail to accurately perceive them in ad-

vance. We hoped for a happy termination of this

terrible war long before this; but God knows best,

and has ruled otherwise. We shall yet acknowledge

his wisdom, and our own error therein. Mean-
while we must work earnestly in the best lights he
gives us, trusting that so working still conduces
to the great ends he ordains. Surely he intends
some great good to follow this mighty convulsion,
which no mortal could make, and no mortal could
stay. Your people, the Friends, have had, and are
having, a very great trial. On principle and faith

opposed to both war and oppression, they can only

practically oppose oppression by war. In this hard
dilemma some have chosen one horn, and some
the other. For those appealing to me on conscien-
tious grounds, I have done, and shall do, the best I

could and can, in my own conscience, under my

oath to the law. That you believe this I doubt
not; and, believing it, I shall still receive for our
country and myself your earnest prayers to our
Father in heaven.
Your sincere friend,

A. Lincoln

[240]
VVVVlWVVV*VVWWWV*VV\*YVV\*VVMVVVVVl\VVl\VVV^

"The time has come"

vmvvA*vvv\vv\v\\v^vvvv\\\\vvvvvv\vvvvvvv\\^^

H.AVING decided that a Cabinet-split can be avoided in

no other way, Lincoln assumes the unpleasant task of asking

for the resignation of his friend Montgomery Blair.

LETTER TO POSTMASTER-GENERAL
MONTGOMERY BLAIR
Executive Mansion, September 23, 1864

MY DEAR SIR:

You have generously said to me more

than once that whenever your resignation could
be a relief to me it was at my disposal. The time
has come. You very well know that this proceeds

from no dissatisfaction of mine with you person-

ally or officially. Your uniform kindness has been
unsurpassed by that of any friend; and while it is

true that the war does not so greatly add to the

difficulties of your department as to those of some

[241]
others, it is yet much to say, as I most truly can,
that in the three years and a half during which
you have administered the general post-office, I

remember no single complaint against you in con-

nection therewith.
Yours,

A. Lincoln

[242]
V\VVVXVV\\\\\\\V\VVVV\\VV\\VV\VV\^>\VV\V\VV>\\\\VVVVVV\V\VV\V\VVV\VVVVVVV\\VVV\V\VVV*VVNVVVVVVV\\\VVVV\A.\V\\\V^VVV

". . . whether any government not too strong

."
for the liberties of its people. . .

W\\\\\\\\\\V\VV\WWWV\N\V\V\\N\VVVV\\V\\\VV\VV\\^^

PEAKING to a cheering crowd after his victorious reelection,

Lincoln put his finger on a principle which is both the strength

and weakness of a Democracy.

RESPONSE TO SERENADE
NOVEMBER 10, 1864

has long been a grave question whether any

ITgovernment, not too strong for the liberties
of its people, can be strong enough to maintain its

existence in great emergencies. On this point the

present rebellion brought our republic to a severe
test, and a presidential election occurring in reg-

ular course during the rebellion, added not a little

to the strain.

If the loyal people united were put to the ut-

most of their strength by the rebellion, must they
not fail when divided and partially paralyzed by a

[243]
political war among themselves? But the election
was a necessity. We cannot have free government
without elections; and if the rebellion could force
us to forego or postpone a national election, it

might fairly claim to have already conquered and

ruined us. The strife of the election is but human
nature practically applied to the facts of the case.

What has occurred in this case must ever recur in

similar cases. Human nature will not change. In
any future great national trial, compared with the
men of this, we shall have as weak and as strong,

as silly and as wise, as bad and as good. Let us,

therefore, study the incidents of this as philosophy

to learn wisdom from, and none of them as wrongs

to be revenged. But the election, along with its in-

cidental and undesirable strife, has done good too.

It has demonstrated that a people's government
can sustain a national election in the midst of a
great civil war. Until now, it has not been known
to the world that this was a possibility. It shows,

also, how sound and how strong we still are. It

shows that, even among candidates of the same
party, he who is most devoted to the Union and

most opposed to treason can receive most of the

people's votes. It shows, also, to the extent yet
known, that we have more men now than we had

[244]
when the war began. Gold is good in its place, but
living, brave, patriotic men are better than gold.
But the rebellion continues, and now that the
election is may not all having a common in-
over,

terest reunite in a common effort to save our com-

mon country? For my own part, I have striven and

shall strive to avoid placing any obstacle in the
way. So long as I have been here I have not will-

ingly planted a thorn in any man's bosom. While

I am deeply sensible to the high compliment of a
reelection, and duly grateful, as I trust, to Al-

mighty God for having directed my countrymen

to a right conclusion, as I think, for their own
good, it adds nothing to my satisfaction that any
other man may be disappointed or pained by the
result.

May I ask those who have not differed from me

to join with me in this same spirit toward those
who have? And now let me close by asking three
hearty cheers for our brave soldiers and seamen
and their gallant and skilful commanders.

[245]
wvvvvwvvv\vmvm\\vv\vvv\\\\vvuvwv\\\vv\\vvvvvw

Lincoln s Letter to Mrs. Bixby

m%VVVVVVVV\\VVV\\\VVV\VVVVV\*VVWVV*\\WV\VVVW^

F,EW will disagree with George S. Boutwell, delegate to

the Convention that nominated Lincoln, and Congressman in

the most critical years of the war, who said, "All history and
all literature may be searched and in vain, for a funeral tribute

so touching, so comprehensive, so fortunate in expression as

thisr

LETTER TO MRS. BIXBY

Executive Mansion
November 2 1,1864

EAR MADAM:
D
War Department
I have been shown in the
a statement of the Adjutant-
files of the

General of Massachusetts that you are the mother

of five sons who have died gloriously on the field
of battle. I feel how weak and fruitless must be

any word of mine which should attempt to be-

[246]
guile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming.
But I cannot refrain from tendering you the conso-
lation that may be found in the thanks of the Re-

public they died to save. I pray that our heavenly

Father may assuage the anguish of your bereave-
ment, and leave you only the cherished memory of
the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must
be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the
altar of freedom.
Yours very sincerely and respectfully,
Abraham Lincoln

[247]
V\Vl\\Vl\\\\VVVVVW\\\VVV\VVVVVVW\VWt1A\VV\W^

the incident at the polls.

XMMMMMMMMMMMM/VW^^

T«HE President thanks Deacon Phillips of Sturbridge, Massa-

chusetts, not only for casting his vote for him, but for having
exercised his right of suffrage at every Presidential election since

the country was founded.

LETTER TO JOHN PHILLIPS

Executive Mansion, November 21, 1864

MY DEAR I
SIR:

have heard of the incident at the

polls in your town, in which you acted so hon-

orable a part, and I take the liberty of writing to
you to express my personal gratitude for the com-
pliment paid me by the suffrage of a citizen so

venerable.
The example of such devotion to civic duties

in one whose days have already been extended an

average lifetime beyond the Psalmist's limit, can-

[248]
not but be valuable and fruitful. It is not for
myself only, but for the country which you have
in your sphere served so long and so well, that I

thank you.
Your friend and servant,

Abraham Lincoln

[2491
vv\vv\\vmvvwAvvv\vv\vwvv\vvvvvmvmv\*vvvvv\\vv\w^

when I have nothing to tal\ about.

L.'INCOLN adheres to his lifelong principle of wasting

neither his own words nor his listeners* time.

RESPONSE TO SERENADE
DECEMBER 6, 1864

RIENDS AND FELLOW-CITIZENS:

F I believe
speak without embarrassment
I shall never be old enough to
when I have noth-
ing to talk about. I have no good news to tell you,
and yet I have no bad news to tell. We have talked
of elections until there is nothing more to say
about them. The most interesting news we now
have is from Sherman. We all know where he
went in, but I can't tell where he will come out.

I will now close by proposing three cheers for

General Sherman and his army.

[250]
wvvvivvvvvv\vvvww\awvvv\vvwvvw<vvvwi\vwvvvw

."
'.
. . than\s for your Christmas gift, . .

t^^vv\\^vvvvv\^A^vvvA^^vv^\vv\v^v\\v\\vv^^\vvvvA,\^\v^vv\^v^A,vvvvv^vvvv«.vvvv\\^vvvvv\vvv^vvvvvvvv^\vv^v^vv^^^v^A,vvv

L INCOLN thanks General Sherman for his Christmas gift

—the capture of Savannah— making sure to reserve none of the

credit for himself.

LETTER TO WILLIAM TECUMSEH SHERMAN

Executive Mansion, December 26, 1864

MY DEAR GENERAL SHERMAN: Many, many thanks for your Christ-

mas gift, the capture of Savannah.
When you were about leaving Atlanta for the
Atlantic coast, I was anxious, if not fearful; but
feeling that you were the better judge, and re-

membering that "nothing risked, nothing gained/'

I did not interfere. Now, the undertaking being

a success, the honor is all yours; for I believe none
of us went further than to acquiesce.

And taking the work of General Thomas into

[251]
the count, as it should be taken, it is indeed a
great success. Not only does it afford the obvious

and immediate military advantages; but in show-

ing to the world that your army could be divided,

putting the stronger part to an important new
service, and yet leaving enough to vanquish the
old opposing force of the whole,— Hood's army,—
it brings those who sat in darkness to see a great
light. But what next?
I suppose it will be safe if I leave General Grant
and yourself to decide.

make my grateful acknowledgments

Please to

your whole army—officers and men.

Yours very truly,

A. Lincoln

[252]
 ."
'.
. . get a good ready. . .

OEEING the end drawing near, Lincoln hopes that General

Sherman will keep the enemy "going."

LETTER TO EDWIN M. STANTON

Executive Mansion
Washington, Jan. 5, 1865

HON. SEC. OF WAR

DEAR SIR:
Since parting with you, it has occurred
to me to say that while Gen. Sherman's "get a
good ready" is appreciated, and is not to be over-
looked, time, now that the enemy is wavering, is

more important than ever before. Being on the

down-hill, somewhat confirms keeping him going.
Please say so much to Gen. S.

Yours truly,

A. Lincoln

[253]
 .'
'.
. . as though I was not President. . .

W\vvv\vvi\vvv\\\vmvvvmvvvwv\vwvvvvvwvvwwvvm

T,.HIS letter to General Grant was written upon one of the

extremely rare occasions when Lincoln sought a personal favor

for himself. As was the case with so many of Lincoln's writings,

it was flawless in sentiment, if not in syntax.

LETTER TO ULYSSES S. GRANT

Executive Mansion, January 19, 1865

1IEUTENANT-GENERAL GRANT:
-i Please read and answer this letter as
though I was not President, but only a friend. My
son, now in his twenty-second year, having gradu-

ated at Harvard, wishes to see something of the

war before it ends. I do not wish to put him in
the ranks, nor yet to give him a commission, to

which those who have already served long are bet-

ter entitled and better qualified to hold. Could

he, without embarrassment to you or detriment to

[254]
the service, go into your military family with some
nominal rank, I, and not the public, furnishing
his necessary means? If no, say so without the least
hesitation, because I am as anxious and as deeply
interested that you shall not be encumbered as
you can be yourself.
Yours truly,

A. Lincoln

[255]
Vl\VVVVVW\VVVVVVVVVVV\WVVVVVVVVVVVlVVVUVVV^

". . . with a distrust of my own ability.

WWWAMWWAMAJVWVW\MMMn^^

L,INCOLN responds, with his usual diffidence, to the Com-

mittee informing him of the result of the Electoral count.

REPLY TO CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE

FEBRUARY 9, 1865*

WITH for this

deep gratitude to
mark
my countrymen
of their confidence; with
a distrust of my own ability to perform the duty
required under the most favorable circumstances,
and now rendered doubly difficult by existing na-

tional perils; yet with a firm reliance on the

strength of our free government, and the eventual
loyalty of the people to the just principles, upon
which it is founded, and above all with an un-
shaken faith in the Supreme Ruler of nations, I

accept this trust. Be pleased to signify this to the

respective Houses of Congress.

*Although the letter hears this date in many standard collections, Paul M.
Angle has uncovered evidence which incontrovertibly establishes the date as
February 26, 1861— at the time of Lincoln's first election.

[256]
 : .

tV\V\YV\VV\VVY\\Vm*VVVVWV\MAMMA\lWl*VWVVVVVVVVVVVVW

With malice toward none. .

vmvvvvvw\\vvvvwAvvvi\vwv\\v\\vvvw^

L ORD CURZON, Chancellor of the University of Oxford,

named as the "three supreme masterpieces of English Elo-

quence" the Toast of William Pitt after the Victory of Trafal-
y
gar, Lincoln s Gettysburg Speech, and Lincoln's Second
Inaugural Address. Dr. Louis A. Warren interestingly observes
that "One-third of the entire address, or to be exact, 267 of

the 702 words were direct quotations from the Bible and words
of application made to them."

SECOND INAUGURAL ADDRESS

MARCH 4, 1865

FELLOW-COUNTRYMEN
At this second appearing to take the
oath of the presidential office, there is less occasion
for an extended address than there was at the first.

Then a statement, somewhat in detail, of a course

to be pursued, seemed fitting and proper. Now, at

the expiration of four years, during which public

[257]
declarations have been constantly called forth on
every point and phase of the great contest which
still absorbs the attention and engrosses the ener-
gies of the nation, little that is new could be pre-

sented. The progress of our arms, upon which all

else chiefly depends, is as well known to the public

as to myself; and it is, I trust, reasonably satisfac-

tory and encouraging to all. With high hope for

the future, no prediction in regard to it is ven-

tured.

On the occasion corresponding to this four

years ago, all thoughts were anxiously directed to

an impending civil war. All dreaded it— all sought
to avert it. While the inaugural address was being
delivered from this place, devoted altogether to
saving the Union without war, insurgent agents
were in the city seeking to destroy it without war
—seeking to dissolve the Union, and divide effects,

by negotiation. Both parties deprecated war; but

one of them would make war rather than let the

nation survive; and the other would accept war

rather than let it perish. And the war came.
One-eighth of the whole population were col-

ored slaves, not distributed generally over the

Union, but localized in the Southern part of it.

These slaves constituted a peculiar and powerful

[258]
interest. All knew that this interest was, somehow,
the cause of the war. To strengthen, perpetuate,
and extend this interest was the object for which
the insurgents would rend the Union, even by
war; while the government claimed no right to
do more than to restrict the territorial enlarge-

ment of it.

Neither party expected for the war the magni-

tude or the duration which it has already attained.
Neither anticipated that the cause of the conflict
might cease with, or even before, the conflict itself

should cease. Each looked for an easier triumph,

and a result less fundamental and astounding.
Both read the same Bible, and pray to the same
God; and each invokes his aid against the other.

It may seem strange that any men should dare to

ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread
from the sweat of other men's faces; but let us
judge not, that we be not judged. The prayers of
both could not be answered— that of neither has
been answered fully.

The Almighty has his own purposes. "Woe unto

the world because of offenses! for it must needs
be that offenses come; but woe to that man by
whom the offense cometh." If we shall suppose
that American slavery is one of those offenses

[259]
which, in the providence of God, must needs come,
but which, having continued through his ap-
pointed time, he now wills to remove, and that
he gives to both North and South this terrible war,

as the woe due to those by whom the offense came,

shall we discern therein any departure from those
divine attributes which the believers in a living
God always ascribe to him? Fondly do we hope-
fervently do we pray— that this mighty scourge of
war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that

it continue until all the wealth piled by the bond-

man's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited

toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood

drawn with the lash shall be paid by another
drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand
years ago, so still it must be said, "The judgments
of the Lord are true and righteous altogether."
With malice toward none; with charity for all;

with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see

the right, let us strive on to finish the work we

are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care
for him who shall have borne the battle, and for

his widow, and his orphan— to do all which may

achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among
ourselves, and with all nations.

[260]
V\\VVV\\\\\\VV\\VV\VV\Vm\V\V\A\VW\\VVVVV\VVV\VWVA\V^

"It is a truth which I thought needed to he told. .

F,EW letters give a better insight into the mind and soul of
Lincoln than this short classic, written to Thurlow Weed, who
had complimented the President upon his Second Inaugural
Address.

LETTER TO THURLOW WEED

Executive Mansion, March 15, 1865

DEAR MR. WEED:

Every one likes a compliment. Thank
you for yours on my little notification speech and
on the recent inaugural address. I expect the latter
to wear as well as— perhaps better than—anything
I have produced; but I believe it is not imme-
diately popular. Men are not flattered by being
shown that there has been a difference of purpose
between the Almighty and them. To deny it, how-

[261]
ever, in this case, is to deny that there is a God
governing the world. It is a truth which I thought
needed to be told, and, as whatever of humiliation
there is in it falls most directly on myself, I thought
others might afford for me to tell it.

Truly yours,
A. Lincoln

[262]
VVVVVVV\\VVV\\\VVVVVV\\VVVVVVV>A,VYVVVVVVV\\VVVVVV^

"Let the thing be pressed."

VVV\VWlVVVVA^VWVVl\\VVVVVVVVVVWAMM/VVVVVVVVVVV\VV^

IN a telegram that is almost epigrammatic, Lincoln urges

General Grant to make "the final effort."

TELEGRAM TO ULYSSES S. GRANT

Headquarters Armies of the U. S.,

City Point, April 7, 1865, 11 A.M.

IIEUTENANT-GENERAL GRANT:
Ji Gen. Sheridan says "If the thing is

pressed I think that Lee will surrender." Let the

thing be pressed.
A. Lincoln

[2631
VWV\\*VVVW*UVVV\VVVVW\\VVVWVVVVVIVIW\^^

"The President's last, shortest, and best speech.'

W\MMMMMMMWW\MXWWW\HM\M^^

NE day in December of 1864 Lincoln handed a sheet of

paper to newspaper correspondent Noah Brooks. On it was

written the following message, with the heading heavily un-

descored.

The President's last, shortest, and best speech

ON Thursday of last week two

Tennessee came before the President
ladies from
ask-

ing the release of their husbands held as prisoners

of war at Johnson's Island— They were put off till

Friday, when they came again; and were again

put off to Saturday— At each of the interviews
one of the ladies urged that her husband was a
religious man— On Saturday the President or-
dered the release of the prisoners, and then said
to this lady "You say your husband is a religious

man; tell him when you meet him, that I say I am

not much of a judge of religion, but that, in my
[264]
opinion, the religion that sets men to rebel and
fight against their government, because, as they

think, that government does not sufficiently help

some men to eat their bread in the sweat of other
men's faces, is not the sort of religion upon which
people can get to heaven!"
A. Lincoln

[265]
 As postmaster, country lawyer, legislator, and
president, in his darkest hour just as in his

brightest, Lincoln never permitted his sense of

humor to desert him. His witty testimonial for
Professor Gardner's soap, his "whiskers" letter
to little Grace Bedell, and many others are in-

stinct with earthy, human laughter. At times,

too, he sounds a sharper, satirical note, as in his

"rat-hole" letter to a New York firm. The reader

will find these delightful letters and many more
assembled in this volume.

All Americans will welcome the appearance

of this collection of briefer letters and speeches.
Its compiler, H. Jack Lang, has sifted treasuries

of Lincolniana in every corner of the United

States in order to gather choice, fresh material,
some of which has never hitherto been published
in any standard volume of Lincoln's writings.

Cover drawing by
William P. Welsh

Courtesy of
Lincoln National Life Insurance Co.

GREENBERG : PUBLISHERS
67 West 44th Street New York
 THE NEW AMERICAN
Edited by Francis Kalnay
Associate Editor Richard Collins

THHIS book answers practically every ques-

--tion the alien, the refugee, or the new citi-
zen may ask about his status or welfare in this
country. It brings together information now
scattered through hundreds of government
publications, statute books and other sources,
and clears a path through the jungle of our
laws and institutions.

It presents facts hitherto hard to find and

harder to verify, concerning his rights and
obligations, his opportunities and limitations.
It reduces to simple terms complicated legal
information so that even a beginner in
English may easily understand the informa-
tion it presents.

Besides the subjects noted on the front of

the book contains a wealth of data
this jacket,
on
Marriage, divorce, military training and service, quali-
fications for voting in various states, immigration,
loans, the Constitution, American institutions, educa-
tion, immigrant aid organizations, foreign language
organizations and press, educational requirements for
citizenship, legal aid societies, loss of citizenship,
registration of aliens, unemployment insurance, alien
rights and restrictions, etc., etc.

Here is a volume that should prove helpful

not only to the new American, himself, but
to librarians, social workers, teachers, govern-
ment agencies, editors —
everyone who deals
with problems of the foreign-born.

GREENBERG PUBLISHER :

67 West 44th St. New York City