LINCOLN, ABRAHAM. 



411 





firemen. On reaching the " Bates House " the 

 procession halted, and Mr. Lincoln was escorted 

 to the balcony, from which he addressed the 

 people : 



" Fellow-citizens of the State of Indiana : I 

 am here to thank you much for this magnificent 

 welcome, and still more for the very generous 

 support given by your State to that political 

 cause, which I think is the true and just cause 

 of the whole country and the whole world. 

 Solomon says ' there is a time to keep silence ; ' 

 and when men wrangle by the mouth, with no 

 certainty that they mean the same thing Avhile 

 using the same words, it perhaps were as well 

 if they would keep silence. The words ' coer- 

 cion ' and 'invasion' are much used in these 

 days, and often with some temper and hot 

 blood. Let us make sure, if we can, that we 

 do not misunderstand the meaning of those 

 who use them. Let us get the exact definitions 

 of these words, not from dictionaries, but from 

 the men themselves, who certainly deprecate 

 the things they would represent by the use of 

 the words. What, then, is ' coercion ' ? What 

 is ' invasion ' ? Would the marching of an 

 army into South Carolina, without the consent 

 of her people, and with hostile intent towards 

 them, be invasion ? I certainly think it would, 

 and it would be ' coercion ' also if the South 

 Carolinians were forced to submit. But if the 

 United States should merely hold and retake its 

 ovrn forts and other property, and collect the 

 duties on foreign importations, or even with- 

 hold the mails from places where they were 

 habitually violated, would any or all of these 

 things be 'invasion' or 'coercion'? Do our 

 professed lovers of the Union, but who spite- 

 fully resolve that they will resist coercion and 

 invasion, understand that such things as these, 

 on the part of the United States, would be co- 

 ercion or invasion of a State ? If so, their idea 

 of means to preserve the object of their great 

 affection would seem to be exceedingly thin 

 and airy. If sick, the little pills of the homceo- 

 pathist would be much too large for it to swal- 

 low. In their view, the Union, as a family re- 

 lation, would seem to be no regular marriage, 

 but rather a sort of ' free-love ' arrangement, 

 to be maintained on passional attraction. By 

 the way, in what consists the special sacredness 

 of a State ? I speak not of the position as- 

 signed to a State in the Union by the Constitu- 

 tion, for that is the bond we all recognize. 

 That position, however, a State cannot carry 

 out of the Union with it. I speak of that as- 

 sumed primary right of a State to rule all 

 which is less than itself, and to ruin all 

 which is larger than itself. If a State and a 

 County, in a given case, should be equal in ex- 

 tent of territory and equal in number of inhab- 

 itants, in what, as a matter of principle, is the 

 State better than the County ? Would an ex- 

 change of name be an exchange of rights? 

 Upon what principle, upon what rightful prin- 

 ciple, may a State, being no more than one- 

 fiftieth part of the nation in soil and population, 



break up the nation, and then coerce a propor- 

 tionably larger subdivision of itself in the most 

 arbitrary way ? What mysterious right to play 

 tyrant is conferred on a district of country with 

 its people, by merely calling it a State ? Fel- 

 low-citizens, I am not asserting any thing. I 

 am merely asking questions for you to consider. 

 And now allow me to bid you farewell." 



In the evening Mr. Lincoln held a levee until 

 9 o'clock, when he retired. In the morning, 

 before his departure for Cincinnati, he took oc- 

 casion to thank his friends for the reception 

 they had given him, and said he trusted they 

 all might meet again nnder one tiag and one 

 Union. 



Proceeding thence to Cincinnati, he arrived 

 in the afternoon, and received a most enthusi- 

 astic welcome. Having been addressed by the 

 mayor of the city, and escorted by a civic and 

 military procession to the Burnet House, he 

 there addressed the multitude in these words : 



" Fellow-citizens : I have spoken but once 

 before this in Cincinnati. That was a year 

 previous to the late Presidential election. On 

 that occasion, in a playful manner, but with 

 sincere words, I addressed much of what I said 

 to the Kentuckians. I gave my opinion that 

 we, as Republicans, would ultimately beat them 

 as Democrats, but that they could postpone the 

 result longer by nominating Senator Douglas 

 for the Presidency than they could in any other 

 way. They did not, in any true sense of the 

 word, nominate Mr. Douglas, and the result 

 has come certainly as soon as ever I expected. 



" I also told them how I expected they would 

 be treated after they should have been beaten, 

 and now wish to call their attention to what I 

 then said : 



" ' When we do, as we say we will, beat yon, 

 you perhaps want to know what we will do 

 with you. I will tell you as far as I am an- 

 thorized to speak for the opposition what we 

 mean to do with you. We mean to treat yon 

 as near as we possibly can, as Washington, Jef- 

 ferson, and Madison treated you. We mean to 

 leave yon alone, and in no way to interfere 

 with your institutions; to abide by all and 

 every compromise of the Constitution. In a 

 word, coming back to the original proposition, 

 to treat you, as far as degenerate men if we 

 have degenerated may, according to the ex- 

 ample of those noble fathers, Washington, Jef- 

 ferson, and Madison. We mean to remember 

 that you are as good as we ; that there is no 

 difference between us other than the difference 

 of circumstances. We mean to recognize and 

 bear in mind always that you have as good 

 hearts in your bosoms as other people, or as 

 we claim to have, and to treat you accordingly.' 



" Fellow-citizens of Kentucky, friends, breth- 

 ren : May I call you such ? In my new posi- 

 tion I see no occasion and feel no inclination 

 to retract a word of this. If it shall not be 

 made good be assured that the fault shall not 

 be mine." In the evening he had a reception, 

 when large crowds called upon him. 



