474 



LINCOLN, ABEAHAM. 



and was enthusiastically received by the Re- 

 publican party throughout the country. 



His opponents were divided (purposely, there 

 was reason to believe, it being the design of the 

 leaders at the South to make his election cer- 

 tain, that it might be used to effect a disruption 

 of the nation) to a greater extent than ever be- 

 fore, there being three other tickets in the field, 

 viz., Messrs. Breckinridge and Lane, the candi- 

 dates of the Pro-slavery Democrats; Messrs. 

 Douglas and H. V. Johnson, the candidates of 

 the Progressive Democrats ; and Messrs Bell 

 and Everett, the representatives of a conserva- 

 tive party, mostly composed of those who had 

 belonged to the old Whig party. On the 6th 

 of November, 1860, the election took place, and 

 Mr. Lincoln received 180 electoral votes out 

 of 303, Breckinridge having 72, Bell 39, and 

 Douglas 12. The popular vote was somewhat 

 different in its proportions, Mr. Lincoln having 

 a plurality of nearly 600,000, but not an abso- 

 lute majority, while Douglas came next, Breck- 

 inridge next, and Bell last. The exact popular 

 vote was: for Lincoln, 1,857,610; for Douglas, 

 1,291,574; for Breckinridge, 850,082; for Bell, 

 646,124. 



No sooner was his election ascertained, than 

 the conspiracy which had long been smoulder- 

 ing in the Southern States burst out in fall 

 flame. During the four months which inter- 

 vened between his election and his inaugura- 

 tion, six States South Carolina, Mississippi, 

 Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, and Texas passed 

 ordinances of secession, and appointed delegates 

 to meet in convention at Montgomery, Ala- 

 bama, on the 4th of February, a month before 

 the inauguration. This convention adopted a 

 provisional constitution for what they denomi- 

 nated the Confederate States, and chose Jeffer- 

 son Davis President and Alexander H. Stephens 

 Vice-President of their new government. Thus, 

 before he had even left his home in Illinois to 

 come to the capital and assume office, and 

 nearly a month before his taking his official 

 oath, the insurrectionists had organized a sepa- 

 ration involving six States, and with a certainty 

 that others would join them. It was not in 

 consequence of any thing he had done, for he 

 could not as yet perform any official act; nor 

 was it in consequence of any thing which the 

 leaders saw he had power to do, for they knew 

 his views of the sanctity of an oath, and he 

 would swear to maintain the Constitution in- 

 violate. Secession had been a foregone con- 

 clusion, to be carried out at this time, if it could 

 be made practicable. 



On the llth of February, 1801, Mr. Lincoln 

 left his home in Springfield, Illinois, to go to 

 Washington, and enter upon his presidential 

 duties. In the course of his journey he passed 

 through Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Columbus, 

 Pittsburg, Cleveland, Buffalo, Albany, New 

 York, Trenton, Philadelphia, and Ilarrisbnrg. 

 He met the Legislatures of Indiana, Ohio, New 

 York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, which 

 were then in session, at the capitals of thoso 



States, and everywhere along his way made 

 brief addresses, the main scope of whicli was, 

 that if the people only stood firm in maintain- 

 ing the Constitution and the Government, no 

 power on earth could overthrow them. At 

 Philadelphia, information was communicated to 

 him that a plot existed to assassinate him at 

 Baltimore. The only precaution he took was 

 to leave Harrisburg one train earlier than had 

 been expected, the telegraph wires being mean- 

 time disconnected. He arrived in Washington 

 on the morning of Saturday, February 23d. 



On the ^th of March, 1861, he took the oath 

 of office, and delivered his inaugural address, a 

 plain, straightforward talk with the nation. He 

 began by showing, in the clearest way, that 

 there was no ground for the apprehension 

 which seemed to exist at the South that " their 

 property, their peace, and their personal se- 

 curity were to be endangered." He declared 

 that he took the oath to support the Constitu- 

 tion " with no mental reservations." He argued 

 briefly and clearly the question of secession, 

 averring that, in spite of all that had been done 

 at the South, the Union was unbroken, and ho 

 should, to the extent of his ability, take care 

 " that the laws of the Union be faithfully ex- 

 ecuted in all the States ; " that in doing this 

 there would be no bloodshed, " unless it be 

 forced xipon the national authority," but that 

 the power of the Government would be used 

 " to hold, occupy, and possess the property and 

 places belonging to the Government, and to 

 collect the duties and imposts ; " and he closed 

 his address with an earnest appeal to all who 

 really loved the Union, to pause and consider 

 " before entering upon so grave a matter as the 

 destruction of our national fabric, with all its 

 benefits, its memories, and its hope?." "In 

 your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen," 

 said he, "and not in mine, is the momentous 

 issue of civil war. The Government will not 

 assail you. You can have no conflict without 

 being yourselves the aggressors. You have no 

 oath registered in heaven to destroy the Gov- 

 ernment, while I shall have the most solemn 

 one to ' preserve, protect, and defend ' it. I 

 am loth to close. We are not enemies, but 

 friends. We must not be enemies. Though 

 passion may have strained, it must not break 

 our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of 

 memory, stretching from every battle-field and 

 patriot grave to every living heart and hearth- 

 stone all over this broad land, will yet swell 

 the chorus of the Union, when again touched, 

 as surely they will be, by the better angels of 

 our nature." 



Mr. Lincoln found, upon entering upon the 

 duties of his office, the credit of the Govern- 

 ment greatly impaired by the uncertainty of 

 the future, its navy scattered, and loss ihan a 

 dozen ships in serviceable condition to guard 

 our coasts; the larger part of the small-arms 

 and cannon belonging to the Government in 

 the hands of the States which had ahv:i<!y se- 

 ceded ; forts, arsenals, mints, and vessels, seized 



