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SHALL THE UNION

“In all trying positions in which I shall be placed, and doubtless I shall be placed in many such, my reliance will be placed upon you and the people of the United States. I wish you to remember, now and for ever, 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 inhabit 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, as already intimated, am but an accidental instrument, temporary, and to serve but for a limited time; and I appeal to

you again to constantly bear in mind that with you, and not with politicians, not with Presidents, not with office-seekers, but with you, is the question:-'Shall the Union, and shall the liberties of this country be preserved to the latest generations?'"-Speech at Indianopolis, Feb. 11.

BE PRESERVED?

He insists on his own insignificance:

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"I cannot but know what you all know, that without a name, perhaps without a reason why I should have a name, there has fallen upon me a task such as did not rest even upon the Father of his Country; and so feeling, I cannot but turn and look for the support without which it will be impossible for me to perform that great task. I turn, then, and look to the great American people, and to that God who has never forsaken them."-Speech at Columbus, Ohio, Feb. 13.

He appeals to his political opponents for sup-port :

"I understand myself to be received here by the representatives of the people of New Jersey, a majority of whom differ in opinion from those with whom I have acted. This manifestation is therefore to be regarded by me as expressing their devotion to the Union, the Constitution, and the liberties of the people. I shall do all that may be in my power to promote a peaceful settlement of all our difficulties. The man does not live who is more devoted to peace than I am.

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THE DECLARATION

None who would do more to preserve it: but it may be necessary to put the foot down firmly. And if I do my duty, and do right, you will. sustain me, will you not? Received as I am by the members of a legislature, the majority of whom do not agree with me in political sentiments, I trust that I may have their assistance in piloting the ship of State through this voyage, surrounded by perils as it is; for if it should suffer wreck now, there will be no pilot ever needed for another voyage."-Speech at Trenton, New Jersey, Feb. 21.

He asserts his unchangeable faith in the principles of that famous Declaration of American Independence, which declared all men to be "created equal," and endowed by their Creator with the "inalienable rights" of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness":

"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

OF INDEPENDENCE.

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I

adopted that Declaration of Independence. have pondered over the toils that were endured by the officers and soldiers of the army who achieved that Independence. I have often inquired of myself what great principle or idea it was that kept this Confederacy so long together. It was not the mere matter of the separation of the colonies from the mother land, but that sentiment in the Declaration of Independence which gave liberty, not alone to the people of this country, but, I hope, to the world, for all future time. It was that which gave promise

that in due time the weight should be lifted from the shoulders of all men. Now, my

friends, can this country be saved upon that basis? If it can, I will consider myself one of the happiest men in the world if I can help to save it. . . . 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.”—Speech at Philadelphia in 'Independence Hall,' Feb. 21.

The effort successfully made by Mr. Lincoln,

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MR. LINCOLN'S SILENCE

during all this series of speeches, to preserve silence as to all questions of detail, must have been a violent one; for no stag at bay amidst the unleashed hounds could be more beset than he was by throngs of anxious questioners, whilst he himself must have been often sorely tempted to speak out.

He said at New York (February 19):—

"I have been in the habit of thinking and speaking sometimes upon political questions that have for some years past agitated the country; and if I were disposed to do so, and we could take up some one of the issues, as the lawyers call them, and I were called upon to make an argument about it to the best of my ability, I could do it without much preparation.

I have not kept silence since the Presidential election from any party wantonness, or from any indifference to the anxiety that pervades the minds of men about the aspect of the political affairs of their country. . . . . I do suppose that, while the political drama being enacted in this country at this time is rapidly