in any respect otherwise than as my own neighbors. I have not now any purpose to withhold from you any of the benefits of the Constitution, under any circumstances, that I would not feel myself constrained to withhold from my own neighbors; and I hope, in a word, that when we shall become better acquaintedand I say it with great confidence-we shall like each other better. I thank you for the kindness of this reception. President of the Whole Country. REPLY TO A SERENADE AT WASHINGTON, D. C. FEBRUARY 28, 1861. My Friends: I suppose that I may take this as a compliment paid to me, and as such please accept my thanks for it. I have reached this city of Washington under circumstances considerably differing from those under which any other man has ever reached it. I am here for the purpose of taking an official position amongst the people, almost all of whom were politically opposed to me, and are yet opposed to me, as I suppose. I propose no lengthy address to you. I only propose to say, as I did on yesterday, when your worthy mayor and board of aldermen called upon me, that I thought much of the ill feeling that has existed between you and the people of your surroundings and that people from among whom I came, has depended, and now depends, upon a misunderstanding. I hope that, if things shall go along as prosperously as I believe we all desire they may, I may have it in my power to remove something of this. misunderstanding; that I may be enabled to convince you, and the people of your section of the country, that we regard you as in all things our equals, and in all things entitled to the same respect and the same treatment that we claim for ourselves; that we are in no wise disposed, if it were in our power, to oppress you, to deprive you of any of your rights under the Constitution of the United States, or even narrowly to split hairs with you in regard to these rights, but are determined to give you, as far as lies in our hands, all your rights under the Constitution— not grudgingly, but fully and fairly. I hope that, by thus dealing with you, we will become better acquainted, and be better friends. And now, my friends, with these few remarks, and again returning my thanks for this compliment, and expressing my desire to hear a little more of your good music, I bid you good-night. PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESSES First Inaugural Address.* DELIVERED AT WASHINGTON, D. C. MARCH 4, 1861. Fellow-citizens of the United States: In compliance with a custom as old as the government itself, I appear before you to address you briefly, and to take in your presence the oath prescribed by the Constitution of the United States to be taken by the President "before he enters on the execution of his office." * Lincoln wrote and privately printed a tentative draft of the message while at Springfield, Ill. On his way to Washington he gave a copy to his friend O. H. Browning, at Indianapolis, who suggested that the statement therein that Lincoln would "reclaim" the Federal property in the hand of the secessionists should be omitted, as subject to construction as a threat, and as such unnecessarily aggravating to the South. This suggestion the President adopted. On arriving at Washington, Mr. Lincoln gave a copy of the draft to Mr. Seward, his appointee as Secretary of State. Mr. Seward suggested two important changes, one that was virtually Mr. Browning's emendation, and the other, the omission of a statement that the President would follow the principles of the Republican platform. Referring to the latter, he reminded Lincoln that Jefferson, at a similar crisis when the opposing party sought to dismember the Government, "sank the partisan in the patriot in his inaugural address, and propitiated his adversaries by declaring: 'We are all Federalists, all Republicans.' Most of Seward's other suggestions related to improvements in rhetoric. "general remarks" were as follows: His "The argument is strong and conclusive, and ought not to be in any way abridged or modified. "But something besides or in addition to argument is 133 |